Martin Chuzzlewit

Charles Dickens

ESL Easy Read

Reading Comprehension B1 • Original Text • Português Support

AMOSTRA - contém apenas 15% do texto

Copyright

Fonte original - domínio público

Esta edição ESL Easy Read foi adaptada a partir de Martin Chuzzlewit, de Charles Dickens, publicado originalmente em 1844.

A obra original encontra-se em domínio público e pode ser utilizada, reproduzida, distribuída e adaptada de acordo com a legislação aplicável.

Autor

Charles Dickens

Estados Unidos

Esta obra foi publicada originalmente em 1844.

Nos Estados Unidos, obras publicadas antes de 1930 encontram-se normalmente em domínio público.

Com base no ano de publicação disponível, esta obra encontra-se em domínio público nos Estados Unidos desde 1º de janeiro de 1940.

Brasil

Autor: Charles Dickens

De acordo com a Lei nº 9.610/1998, os direitos patrimoniais expiram 70 anos após a morte do autor, contados a partir de 1º de janeiro do ano seguinte ao falecimento.

Charles Dickens faleceu em 1870.

Situação no Brasil: DOMÍNIO PÚBLICO.

Portugal

Autor: Charles Dickens

De acordo com o Código do Direito de Autor e dos Direitos Conexos, a proteção patrimonial dura 70 anos após a morte do autor.

Charles Dickens faleceu em 1870.

Situação em Portugal: DOMÍNIO PÚBLICO.

Dados da publicação original

Obra original: Martin Chuzzlewit

Autor: Charles Dickens

Primeira publicação: 1844

Local: London

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Introdução

Como ler este livro

Cada livro desta coleção é apresentado em um nível de leitura simplificada, de acordo com o CEFR - Quadro Europeu Comum de Referência para Línguas.

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B2 - Intermediário avançado: indicado para leitores que já conseguem compreender textos mais complexos, acompanhar descrições detalhadas e reconhecer uma variedade maior de vocabulário e estruturas gramaticais.

Este livro foi adaptado para o nível B1.

Você pode começar a lê-lo mesmo sem dominar completamente o inglês. O texto foi simplificado para facilitar a compreensão, preservando a história, os personagens, o ambiente e os principais acontecimentos da obra original.

O objetivo não é substituir a obra original, mas criar uma passagem gradual entre o inglês que você já conhece e a linguagem literária do texto completo.

Como usar En/Pt

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A página En/Pt apresenta três camadas independentes, sempre nesta ordem: a tradução em português do texto simplificado; o trecho correspondente do original em inglês; e a tradução em português do original.

No texto original em inglês, Pt abre diretamente o mesmo parágrafo na versão portuguesa. Nessa versão, En retorna ao mesmo parágrafo no texto original em inglês. Na página En/Pt, Original English retorna de Português Integral ao mesmo parágrafo original.

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• a palavra ou expressão original em inglês;

• a sua pronúncia fonética;

• a tradução em português;

• um exemplo de uso em português;

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• até seis trechos do livro em que a palavra ou expressão aparece, ou todos os trechos disponíveis quando houver menos de seis ocorrências.

Cada ocorrência apresentada no glossário inclui um link direto para o ponto exato do livro em que a palavra ou expressão foi usada.

Depois de consultar uma ocorrência, o leitor pode retornar diretamente ao ponto do texto de onde abriu o glossário ou navegar para qualquer outra ocorrência da mesma palavra ou expressão dentro do livro.

A função da tradução em português

Procuramos oferecer traduções em português claras, naturais e literariamente agradáveis, tanto para o texto simplificado quanto para o texto original.

Ainda assim, a tradução deve ser entendida apenas como instrumento de apoio. Este livro não foi concebido para ser lido principalmente em português: seu objetivo é ajudar você a ler em inglês e recorrer ao português somente quando necessário.

Sempre que possível, tente primeiro compreender o trecho em inglês. Consulte a tradução para confirmar o sentido, esclarecer uma dificuldade ou comparar estruturas; depois, retorne ao texto em inglês.

Sobre este livro

Young Martin Chuzzlewit quarrels with his wealthy grandfather and enters the household of the hypocritical architect Seth Pecksniff. While relatives compete for money and inheritance, Martin travels to America and learns hard lessons about selfishness, loyalty, and responsibility. Dickens combines satire, mystery, and adventure in a story of moral change.

Declaração sobre conteúdo gerado por inteligência artificial

Esta edição contém conteúdo gerado por ferramentas baseadas em inteligência artificial, incluindo o texto em inglês simplificado, traduções em português e elementos visuais da capa e/ou do interior. O conteúdo foi submetido a revisão editorial humana.

AI-generated content disclosure: This edition contains content generated by AI-based tools, including simplified English text, Portuguese translations, and visual elements used in the cover and/or interior. The content received human editorial review.

Como usar este livro

En/Pt → abre Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1), Original English Version e Tradução Integral em Português no mesmo bloco.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada e Go to the Original English Version retornam ao ponto exato.

Os links pontilhados do glossário voltam diretamente ao uso real da palavra.

Contato

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Contato: admin@esleasyread.com

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Reading Comprehension B1

1. Preface

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Contents

Preface

En/Pt → by Charles Dickens

LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT

by Charles Dickens

PREFACE

What seems exaggerated to one person may seem plainly true to another. A person with a long view sees many details that a short-sighted person cannot see. I sometimes wonder whether writers always use too much colour, or whether some readers simply do not see enough of it.

I have direct experience of exaggeration, stranger than this idea. I have never copied a person exactly, yet someone like that character has asked me, "Now really, did I ever really, see one like it?"

I believe that every member of the Pecksniff family agrees that Mr Pecksniff is an exaggerated character and that no such person ever existed. I will not defend him before such a powerful and respectable group. Instead, I will comment on Jonas Chuzzlewit.

En/Pt → Jonas's low, rough, and cruel nature would seem unnatural without his early education. The lessons and examples always before him helped his faults grow. He was born and raised this way, praised for what made him hateful, and taught from childhood that trickery, betrayal, and greed were right. His father's teaching shaped him, and those same faults now return to punish his father in his shameful old age. This is not only justice in a story, but a clear example of a direct truth.

I ask readers to remember this, because people often fail to think about the causes of wrong acts and crimes that shock them. What is true of families is also true of a whole country: as we sow, we reap. Visit the children's section of any prison in England or, sadly, of many workhouses. Then judge whether people who shame our streets, fill our prison ships and prisons, and crowd our distant prison settlements are monsters, or people we knowingly allowed to grow up in misery and ruin.

En/Pt → The American part of this story is not a caricature except that it shows mainly a ridiculous side of American character, as Mr Bevan expected. Four-and-twenty years ago, that side was most noticeable to travellers like Young Martin and Mark Tapley. I never wished to soften what was ridiculous or wrong at home, so I hoped the good-humoured people of the United States would not object when I did the same abroad. I am glad that this confidence in that great nation was justified.

When this book first appeared, some authorities said the Watertoast Association and its speeches were impossible. I therefore record that Martin Chuzzlewit's experiences there closely repeat reports of public meetings in the United States, especially a Brandywine Association. The Times Newspaper printed them in June and July, 1843, while I was writing these parts; they remain in the Times Newspaper files.

En/Pt → In all my writings, I hope I have shown that poor people's neglected homes need better sanitation. Four-and-twenty years ago, Mrs Sarah Gamp was a fair example of a paid worker caring for poor sick people. The hospitals of London were noble Institutions in many ways, but very poor in others. Mrs Betsey Prig fairly represented a Hospital Nurse, which showed serious bad management. Although the Hospitals had money and resources, they left private, caring people to improve these workers. Good women have since improved them greatly.

POSTSCRIPT

At a Public Dinner for me on Saturday the 18th of April, 1868, in New York, two hundred representatives of the Press of the United States of America heard, among other remarks, the following:--

En/Pt → "My voice has lately been heard so much in this land that I might have said no more. But here and everywhere suitable, I must express my deep gratitude for my second reception in America and testify to the nation's generosity and greatness. "I have been astonished by the changes everywhere: moral and physical changes; more land settled and peopled; vast new cities; old cities grown almost beyond recognition; greater grace in life; and changes in the Press, without whose advance no advance can happen anywhere. "Nor am I arrogant enough to think that in five-and-twenty years I have not changed, learned, or corrected strong first impressions. Since I landed in the United States last November, I have kept silent on this point, though sometimes tempted to speak. The Press, being human, can be mistaken or misinformed. In one or two rare cases its news about me has not been strictly accurate. I have sometimes been more surprised by printed news about myself than by any other news I have read. "For months I have supposedly collected material and worked on a new book about America. Yet my publishers on both sides of the Atlantic have always known that no consideration on earth would make me write one. What I have intended and decided is this: when I return to England, I will use my own person and my own Journal to tell my countrymen about the great changes I have mentioned. "I will also record that in every place, small or large, I received unmatched politeness, delicacy, kindness, hospitality, consideration, and respect for the privacy required by my work and health. As long as I live, and while my descendants have legal rights in my books, I will have this statement republished as an appendix to every copy of my two books that refer to America. I do this not only from love and thanks, but because plain justice and honour require it."

En/Pt → I spoke these words as earnestly as possible, and repeat them here in print with the same feeling. While this book lasts, I hope they will remain in it and be read fairly as part of my experiences and impressions of America.

CHARLES DICKENS.

May, 1868.

Chapter One

En/Pt → INTRODUCTORY, CONCERNING THE PEDIGREE OF THE CHUZZLEWIT FAMILY

No well-bred lady or gentleman can sympathize with the Chuzzlewit Family without first knowing how ancient it is. Happily, the family clearly descends directly from Adam and Eve and, in the earliest days, was closely connected with farming. If jealous, malicious people say that any Chuzzlewit showed too much family pride, the weakness must seem pardonable, even praiseworthy, when the family's immense superiority to the rest of mankind in ancient origin is considered.

It is remarkable that the oldest recorded family had both a murderer and a vagabond, and old family records always repeat such characters. Indeed, the longer the ancestry, the more violence and wandering appear. In ancient days, these pursuits gave excitement and a hopeful way to repair ruined fortunes; they were the noble work and healthy recreation of the Quality of this land.

En/Pt → It is therefore a great comfort and joy to learn that, at various times in history, the Chuzzlewits took an active part in deadly plots and bloody fights. Records also say that they wore strong steel armor from head to foot. On many occasions, they bravely led their soldiers in leather jackets to death, and then returned gracefully to their family and friends.

At least one Chuzzlewit clearly came over with William the Conqueror. This great ancestor did not later "come over" that king, in the vulgar phrase, because the Family never seems to have owned much land. The Norman was famously liberal and grateful when giving such property to favourites, as great men often are when giving away what belongs to other people.

Here history may praise the enormous bravery, wisdom, speech, virtue, good birth, and true nobility that came into England with the Norman Invasion. Every ancient family's genealogy adds to this total. It would surely have been just as great, with equally long lines of noble descendants boasting of their origin, even if William the Conqueror had been William the Conquered. That change would make no difference in this respect.

En/Pt → A Chuzzlewit was certainly involved in the Gunpowder Plot, unless the chief traitor, Fawkes himself, belonged to this remarkable family. That could easily be true if another Chuzzlewit had moved to Spain in the previous generation, married a Spanish lady there, and had one son with olive-colored skin. Later facts make this likely guess even stronger because they show how tastes can pass down through a family without people knowing it. Many later Chuzzlewits failed in other kinds of work and became coal-merchants, although they had no reasonable hope of making money and no clear reason for doing it. Month after month, they sadly watched a small supply of coal without ever selling any. Their behavior is very similar to that of their Great Ancestor beneath the vaults of the Parliament House at Westminster, so no comment is needed.

Family tradition also proves that, at some unstated time, there was a matron with destructive principles who knew much about making and using explosive devices. She was called "The Match Maker," and the Family legends still know her by that name. Surely she was the Spanish lady, mother of Chuzzlewit Fawkes.

En/Pt → There is one more piece of evidence about the Family's close connection with this memorable event in English History. It must convince even anyone still unconvinced by these likely proofs.

A few years ago, a highly respectable, credible Chuzzlewit owned an ancient dark lantern, shaped much like lanterns used today. No enemy dared deny that he was wealthy. Before he died, he often swore that his grandmother had said, while looking at it, "Aye, aye! This was carried by my fourth son on the fifth of November, when he was a Guy Fawkes." He repeated these impressive words often. Their true meaning is plain and irresistible. The old lady was strong-minded but weak with age and famously liable to confuse ideas or speech. Correct her very small mistake: "Aye, aye! This lantern was carried by my forefather" - not "fourth son," which is absurd - "on the fifth of November. And HE was Guy Fawkes." The statement then becomes clear, natural, and suitable to its speaker. The story is worth preserving in its original form because it shows what ingenious work by a commentator can often do to historical prose and imaginative poetry.

En/Pt → People have said that no modern Chuzzlewit was friendly with the Great. But evidence silences these malicious critics. Family branches still own letters showing that Diggory Chuzzlewit constantly dined with Duke Humphrey. He was so often His Grace's guest that he seemed uneasy and unwilling. He wrote friends that, unless they did what was requested by bearer, he must dine again with Duke Humphrey, speaking as one tired of High Life and Gracious Company.

En/Pt → The same base people spread a rumour that a male Chuzzlewit, whose birth is unclear, came from very low origins. Yet when his son lay dying, he was solemnly asked, "Toby Chuzzlewit, who was your grandfather?" With his last breath he answered, "The Lord No Zoo." Six witnesses wrote this down and signed with their full names and addresses. Wicked people say no Lord had that name, nor any similar extinct title. Some well-meaning but mistaken people think the grandfather was a Mandarin. That cannot stand: there is no sign his grandmother left the country or that a Mandarin was here near his father's birth, except those in tea-shops, which have no bearing on the question. Clearly, Mr Toby Chuzzlewit either heard, remembered, or pronounced the name wrongly. Thus, even then, the Chuzzlewits were linked by a bend sinister, or heraldic over-the-left, to some unknown noble and famous House.

En/Pt → Family documents clearly show that, in Diggory Chuzzlewit's comparatively modern time, one member became very rich and influential. In surviving letters, despite damage by moths - the general registers of the Insect World because they consume deeds and papers - Diggory often mentions an uncle from whom he expected much. He tried to win the uncle's favour with plate, jewels, books, watches, and other valuables. He wrote his brother about a borrowed gravy-spoon: "Do not be angry, I have parted with it--to my uncle." He said much the same about a child's mug given to him for repair. On another occasion he wrote, "I have bestowed upon that irresistible uncle of mine everything I ever possessed." He apparently paid long visits to this uncle's mansion, or even lived there: "With the exception of the suit of clothes I carry about with me, the whole of my wearing apparel is at present at my uncle's." The uncle's influence must have been vast, for his nephew called it "too high," "too much," and "tremendous." Strangely, it got him no profitable post at court or elsewhere, and no distinction except the patronage of such a great man and invitations to entertainments so splendid and costly that he called them "Golden Balls."

En/Pt → There is no need for more examples of the Chuzzlewits' high rank and great importance. If more proof were likely to be required, it could be piled up like an Alps of testimony, crushing all doubt. A good mound already lies over the Family grave, so this chapter leaves it there. As a final spadeful, letters from their own mothers prove that many male and female Chuzzlewits had chiselled noses, clear chins, bodies fit for a sculptor, beautifully shaped limbs, and polished foreheads so transparent that blue veins showed like roads on an ethereal map. This one fact settles the matter, since all books on such subjects say these features, especially chiselling, appear only in people of the very best condition.

En/Pt → Having completely satisfied itself, and therefore all readers, that the Chuzzlewits had an origin and were once important enough to be desirable friends for right-minded people, this history may now begin its real work. Their ancient birth means they helped greatly to found and increase the human family. One day it will show that the members introduced here still have many counterparts and prototypes in the Great World around us. For now it makes two general remarks. First, without accepting Manboddo's theory that the human race may once have been monkeys, men certainly do very strange things. Second, without accepting Blumenbach's theory that Adam's descendants have many qualities belonging especially to swine, some men take unusually good care of themselves.

Chapter Two

En/Pt → WHEREIN CERTAIN PERSONS ARE PRESENTED TO THE READER, WITH WHOM HE MAY, IF HE PLEASE, BECOME BETTER ACQUAINTED

Late in autumn, the setting sun broke through mist that had hidden it all day. It shone brightly on a small Wiltshire village, an easy journey from the old town of Salisbury.

Like a sudden memory or a spirit waking an old man's mind, the sun gave glory to the scene, and its lost youth and freshness seemed alive again. Wet grass sparkled. Small green patches in the hedges, where a few twigs still resisted the cold winds and early frosts, brightened. The dull stream seemed cheerful; birds chirped on bare branches, half believing winter had passed and spring had come. The weather vane on the old church spire shone too. Light from ivy-shaded windows reflected the glowing sky, as if the quiet buildings stored the warmth and redness of twenty summers.

En/Pt → Even the signs that winter was coming made the landscape more beautiful, without bringing heavy sadness. Fallen leaves gave off a pleasant smell and softened the harsh sounds of distant feet and wheels. This peace matched the distant farmer scattering seed and the silent plough turning rich brown earth into patterns in the cut fields. Autumn berries hung on still branches like strings of coral beads, as if the fruit were jewels. Bare trees stood over small piles of bright red leaves and watched them slowly decay. Other trees still held dry leaves that cracked as if burned, while red piles of apples from that year lay around some trunks. The strong evergreens looked dark and serious, as if nature gave them long life instead of a sensitive and joyful nature. Yet sunlight made paths of deeper gold across their branches, and the red light used their darkness to make the dying day shine more brightly.

En/Pt → A moment later its glory was gone. The sun fell behind long dark hills and clouds, piled in the west like an airy city with walls and battlements. All light disappeared. The shining church became cold and dark, the stream lost its smile, the birds fell silent, and winter gloom lay over everything.

An evening wind rose. Thin branches cracked and rattled like skeletons dancing to its moaning music. Withering leaves hurried about seeking shelter from its cold chase. The labourer unyoked his horses and walked quickly home beside them, head down. Cottage lights began to wink over the dark fields.

En/Pt → Then the village forge stood out in all its bright importance. The strong bellows roared "Ha ha!" at the clear fire, and the fire roared back. Bright sparks danced to the cheerful sound of hammers on the anvil. The hot iron also sparkled and threw red-hot jewels around. The strong smith and his men struck with such force that even the sad night seemed glad. A glow lit its dark face as it looked through the door and windows, above the shoulders of a dozen idle men. Held by the scene, these men sometimes looked back at the darkness. Then they rested their elbows on the sill and leaned farther in, as unwilling to leave as crickets born around a burning fire.

En/Pt → Away with the angry wind! It stopped sighing and blew fiercely around the merry forge, banging the wicket and growling in the chimney, as if it bullied the cheerful bellows for working to order. Yet for all its noise it was powerless: it only made the bellows roar their cheerful song louder, the fire burn brighter, and the sparks dance more gaily. At last the sparks whizzed madly, which the sour wind could not bear. It fled howling, striking the old ale-house sign so hard that the Blue Dragon became more rampant than usual and, before Christmas, rose clean out of its broken frame.

It was petty tyranny for a respectable wind to punish fallen leaves. But after insulting the Dragon, it found a great heap and scattered it. The leaves fled everywhere, rolling over one another, spinning on their thin edges, flying into the air, and making wild movements in their distress. The cruel wind also drove small groups into the wheelwright's saw-pit and under planks and timber in the yard. It threw sawdust into the air, searched beneath it, and, whenever it found leaves, whistled and drove hard after them.

En/Pt → The frightened leaves flew faster, in a dizzy chase. They reached quiet places with no way out, where the wind kept them turning as it wished. They crept under house eaves, clung like bats to hay-ricks, rushed through open chamber windows, and hid close to hedges - anywhere safe. Their strangest act came when Mr Pecksniff's front-door suddenly opened and they dashed into his passage. The wind followed and found the back-door open. It blew out Miss Pecksniff's lighted candle and slammed the front-door against Mr Pecksniff as he entered. In a moment he lay on his back at the bottom of the steps. Tired of such small tricks, the roaring wanderer went happily over moor, meadow, hill, and flat until it reached the sea, met other winds of the same mind, and made a night of it.

En/Pt → Meanwhile, Mr Pecksniff lay calmly staring at his own street door. A sharp corner of the second step from the bottom had struck his head and made him imagine many bright, short candles burning. The door seemed more interesting than street doors usually are, because he lay there for a long, unreasonable time without even wondering whether he was hurt. Miss Pecksniff called through the key-hole in a sharp voice like a young wind, "Who's there?" He did not answer. Then she opened the door again, covered the candle with her hand, and looked around him, above him, and everywhere except at him. Still, he said nothing and gave no sign that he wanted to be picked up.

"I see you," cried Miss Pecksniff to the person she imagined had knocked and run away. "You'll catch it, sir!"

Mr Pecksniff, perhaps because he had already caught it, still said nothing.

En/Pt → "You're round the corner now," cried Miss Pecksniff. She said it by chance, but it suited the situation. Mr Pecksniff was quickly putting out the lights he had seen and reducing the brass knobs on his door from four or five hundred, which had strangely moved before his eyes, to about a dozen. In one sense, he was coming round the corner and turning it.

After sharply warning about the cage, constable, stocks, and gallows, Miss Pecksniff was about to shut the door. Mr Pecksniff, still at the bottom of the steps, raised himself on one elbow and sneezed.

"That voice!" cried Miss Pecksniff. "My parent!"

At this cry, another Miss Pecksniff jumped from the parlour. With many confused words, the two Miss Pecksniffs pulled Mr Pecksniff upright.

"Pa!" they cried together. "Pa! Speak, Pa! Do not look so wild, my dearest Pa!"

But in such a case a gentleman cannot control his looks. Mr Pecksniff kept his mouth and eyes wide open and dropped his lower jaw like a toy nut-cracker. His hat had fallen off; his face was pale, hair upright, and coat muddy. He looked so sad that both Miss Pecksniffs gave an involuntary screech.

En/Pt → "That'll do," said Mr Pecksniff. "I'm better."

'He has woken up!' cried the youngest Miss Pecksniff.

'He speaks again!' exclaimed the eldest.

With these joyful words, they kissed Mr Pecksniff on both cheeks and took him inside. The youngest Miss Pecksniff returned for his hat, brown paper parcel, umbrella, gloves, and other small things. Then, after closing the door, both ladies cared for his wounds in the back parlour.

His injuries were not serious. He had grazes on what the eldest called the 'knobby parts' of his body: his knees and elbows. He also had a large new swelling on the back of his head, unknown to phrenologists. They treated the injuries with patches of pickled brown paper. They also gave Mr Pecksniff strong brandy-and-water. The eldest Miss Pecksniff made the tea, which was ready. Meanwhile, the youngest brought a steaming dish of ham and eggs from the kitchen. She set it before her father and sat on a low stool at his feet. Her eyes were level with the tea table.

En/Pt → The youngest Miss Pecksniff did not sit on a stool because she was very young or had short legs. She sat there because she was so simple, innocent, playful, wild, and lively. She could be teasing but seemed to have no tricks, and this was her great charm. She was too fresh and childlike to wear combs or put her hair up in careful curls or braids. Instead, she wore it short and loose, with many rows of curls. The top row was one large curl. Her figure was quite full and womanly, but sometimes--yes, sometimes--she even wore a child's apron. A young gentleman had called her 'a gushing thing' in a poem in the Poet's Corner of a local newspaper.

En/Pt → Mr Pecksniff was a serious man who spoke of noble and moral ideas. He had named his youngest daughter Mercy, which seemed charming for such a pure young woman. Her sister was Charity. Charity had good sense and a gentle, serious manner that did not blame others, so her name also seemed right. The two sisters loved and depended on each other, while also correcting and balancing each other. Each admired her sister but seemed to run a different shop, with no connection to the one across the way. If one shop's goods did not please you, the other invited you to call. Yet neither sister understood this contrast. Nature had created it, and neither they nor Mr Pecksniff had done so.

En/Pt → Mr Pecksniff was especially moral in speech and letters. Perhaps no one was more moral. A simple admirer said he had a Fortunatus's purse of good feelings inside him. He was like the girl in the fairy tale whose words became jewels. Yet his words were not real diamonds, only very bright copies. He gave more good advice than a copy book. Some enemies compared him to a signpost that shows the way but never goes there. They were only shadows cast by his brightness. Even his throat looked moral. Above the low white fence of his cravat lay a smooth, hairless valley between two high collars. He fastened the tie of his cravat behind, where nobody could see it. His throat seemed to say, 'There is no deception, ladies and gentlemen. All is peace, and a holy calm fills me.' His grey hair was brushed back from his forehead. His heavy eyelids, slim and smooth body, and soft, oily manner gave the same message. So did his plain black suit, his state as a widower, and his hanging double eyeglass. All announced, 'Behold the moral Pecksniff!'

En/Pt → The brass plate on Mr Pecksniff's door said, 'PECKSNIFF, ARCHITECT,' and his business cards added, 'AND LAND SURVEYOR.' He was a land surveyor in one sense only: a wide view lay before his windows. Nothing was known of his architectural work except that he had never designed or built anything. Still, people believed that his knowledge of the subject was so deep that it was almost frightening.

En/Pt → Mr Pecksniff's work consisted almost entirely of taking pupils. Collecting rents was only an occasional change from his serious labours. He was skilled at trapping parents and guardians and taking their fees. After a young gentleman paid and arrived, Mr Pecksniff sometimes borrowed his case of mathematical instruments. He did this if it was silver-mounted or valuable in another way. He asked the young man to think of himself as part of the family. He also praised the pupil's parents or guardians. Then he left the pupil in a large front room two floors up, with drawing boards, parallel rulers, and very stiff compasses. Two or three other young gentlemen were there too. For three or five years, according to his agreement, the pupil drew Salisbury Cathedral from every possible view. He also built many Castles, Houses of Parliament, and other Public Buildings in his imagination. Many grand buildings were imagined in that room. There were especially many churches, with one of the Miss Pecksniffs at the altar marrying the architect. Just one-twentieth of them would give the parliamentary commissioners enough churches for at least five centuries.

En/Pt → 'Even the worldly goods we have just used,' said Mr Pecksniff, looking round the table after he finished, 'even cream, sugar, tea, toast, ham--'

'And eggs,' Charity added quietly.

'And eggs,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'They too have a moral. See how they come and go! Every pleasure passes. We cannot even eat for long. If we drink harmless fluids too much, we get dropsy; if we drink strong liquids, we get drunk. What a soothing thought!'

'Do not say WE get drunk, Pa,' urged the eldest Miss Pecksniff.

'When I say we, my dear,' her father replied, 'I mean people in general, not individuals. Morality is not personal, my love. Even this bald place reminds us that we are only--' Mr Pecksniff touched the brown paper patch on his head with the first finger of his left hand. He was about to say 'worms,' but remembered that worms have no hair. So he said, 'flesh and blood.'

En/Pt → After a pause, while he tried without success to find another moral, Mr Pecksniff cried, 'Which is also very soothing. Mercy, my dear, stir the fire and throw the cinders onto it.'

The young lady obeyed, then returned to her stool, rested one arm on her father's knee, and laid her fresh cheek on it. Miss Charity moved her chair nearer the fire, ready to talk, and looked at her father.

After a short pause, during which he smiled and silently shook his head at the fire, Mr Pecksniff said, 'Yes. Once again, I have achieved my goal. A new person will soon come to live with us.'

'A young man, papa?' asked Charity.

'Ye-es, a young man,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'He will take the good chance now offered. He will receive the best practical education in architecture and enjoy the comforts of a home. He will also have the constant company of people with a humble position and limited abilities. Yet these people remember their moral duties.'

En/Pt → 'Oh Pa!' cried Mercy, lifting her finger playfully. 'See advertisement!'

'Playful--playful warbler,' said Mr Pecksniff. Mercy did not sing at all. But Mr Pecksniff often used any word that sounded good and completed a sentence well, without caring much about its meaning. He spoke with such confidence and in such an impressive way that even the wisest people sometimes became confused and lost their breath.

His enemies said that his great trust in sounds and appearances was the key to Mr Pecksniff's character.

'Is he handsome, Pa?' asked the younger daughter.

'Silly Merry!' said the eldest; Merry was her pet name for Mercy. 'What is the premium, Pa? Tell us that.'

'Oh, good gracious, Cherry!' cried Miss Mercy, lifting her hands and giggling sweetly. 'What a money-minded girl you are! Oh, you naughty, thoughtful, careful thing!'

It was a charming sight that seemed fit for the Pastoral age. The two Miss Pecksniffs slapped each other and then settled into an embrace. Even their embrace showed their different natures.

En/Pt → 'He is good-looking,' said Mr Pecksniff slowly and clearly. 'Good-looking enough. I do not expect him to bring any fee at once.'

Despite their different natures, Charity and Mercy both opened their eyes very wide. For a moment, they looked blank, as if they had really been thinking about money.

'But what does that matter!' said Mr Pecksniff, still smiling at the fire. 'Some people in the world do good without seeking a reward, I hope. We are not all in two opposing ranks, the OFfensive and the DEfensive. A few people walk between them, help those in need, and take neither side. Umph!'

These small remarks about helping others reassured the sisters. They looked at each other and cheered up greatly.

Mr Pecksniff smiled more and more at the fire, as if he were joking with it. 'Oh, let us not always calculate, plan, and plot for the future,' he said. 'I am tired of such tricks. If our wishes are good and open-hearted, let us follow them boldly. We should do so even if they bring Loss instead of Profit. Eh, Charity?'

En/Pt → For the first time during these remarks, Mr Pecksniff looked at his daughters. Both were smiling. He gave them such a playful, almost saintly look that the younger one immediately sat on his knee. She put her arms round his neck and kissed him twenty times. She laughed without stopping, and even the careful Cherry joined in.

'Tut, tut,' said Mr Pecksniff, pushing his youngest away and running his fingers through his hair as his calm face returned. 'What foolishness is this! We must be careful about laughing for no reason, in case we later have good reason to cry. What news is there at home since yesterday? John Westlock has gone, I hope?'

'Indeed, no,' said Charity.

'And why not?' her father asked. 'His term ended yesterday. His box was packed, I know, because I saw it standing in the hall this morning.'

'He slept at the Dragon last night,' replied the young lady, 'and had Mr Pinch dine with him. They spent the evening together, and Mr Pinch did not return home until very late.'

En/Pt → 'When I saw him on the stairs this morning, Pa,' said Mercy brightly, 'he looked, oh goodness, SUCH a monster! His face was many colours, his eyes as dull as if boiled, and his head clearly ached badly. His clothes smelled--oh, so strongly!' She shuddered. 'Of smoke and punch.'

With his usual gentle manner, but looking like a man who was quietly hurt, Mr Pecksniff said, 'I think Mr Pinch could have chosen better company. He knew that John Westlock had tried to hurt my feelings at the end of our long time together. I am not sure that Mr Pinch acted with care or kindness. I am not even sure that he was properly thankful.'

'But what can anyone expect from Mr Pinch!' cried Charity. She spoke his name with such scorn that she seemed eager to act it out by pinching the calf of his leg.

En/Pt → 'Aye, aye,' her father replied, raising his hand mildly. 'It is easy to ask what we can expect from Mr Pinch. But he is a fellow human being, my dear, and part of humanity. We have a right and duty to expect better qualities in him. Those qualities in us give us our humble self-respect. Heaven forbid that I should say nothing can be expected from Mr Pinch or any living man, even the worst. Mr Pinch is not among the worst. But he has disappointed and hurt me. I think a little worse of him, but not of human nature. Oh, no, no!'

When a soft knock sounded at the street door, Miss Charity lifted her finger. 'Hark! There is the creature! Mark my words: he has returned with John Westlock for his box and will help him take it to the mail. Remember my words. That is certainly his plan!'

En/Pt → As she spoke, the box seemed to be leaving the house. But after a brief, low exchange of questions and answers, it was put down again, and someone knocked at the parlour door.

'Come in!' cried Mr Pecksniff, not angrily, but as if he were a very good man. 'Come in!'

An awkward, very short-sighted man who was bald too early came in. Mr Pecksniff sat with his back to him, looking at the fire. The man therefore stood by the open door and hesitated. He was not handsome and wore a badly shaped, snuff-coloured suit. Long use had made the suit shrink and twist into many strange shapes. His body was clumsy, his shoulders bent forward, and he pushed his head out in a comic way. Yet, unless Mr Pecksniff said otherwise, no one would think him a bad man. He was perhaps thirty, though he might have seemed any age from sixteen to sixty. He was one of those people who look oldest when young and then never seem to grow old.

En/Pt → Keeping his hand on the door lock, he looked several times from Mr Pecksniff to Mercy, from Mercy to Charity, and back to Mr Pecksniff. But the ladies watched the fire as closely as their father, and none of the three noticed him. At last he had to say,

'Oh! I beg your pardon, Mr Pecksniff. I beg your pardon for coming in, but--'

'No intrusion, Mr Pinch,' said Mr Pecksniff very sweetly, without looking round. 'Please sit down, Mr Pinch. Please shut the door, Mr Pinch.'

'Certainly, sir,' said Pinch. However, he held the door wider open and nervously waved to someone outside. 'Mr Westlock, sir, heard that you had come home--'

'Mr Pinch, Mr Pinch!' said Pecksniff, turning his chair and looking at him with deep sadness. 'I did not expect this from you. I have not deserved this from you!'

'No, but upon my word, sir--' urged Pinch.

En/Pt → 'The less you say, Mr Pinch,' the other interrupted, 'the better. I make no complaint. Do not defend yourself.'

'Please do, sir,' Pinch begged. 'Mr Westlock is leaving for good and wants to leave only friends behind. You and he differed the other day, and you have had many small differences.'

'Small differences!' cried Charity.

'Small differences!' echoed Mercy.

'My loves! My dears!' said Mr Pecksniff, calmly raising his hand. After a serious pause, he bowed humbly to Mr Pinch, meaning, 'Go on.' But Pinch did not know how to continue. He looked helplessly at the two Miss Pecksniffs. The talk might have ended there, but a handsome young man who had just become an adult stepped forward from the doorway and continued it.

'Come, Mr Pecksniff,' he said, smiling. 'Let there be no bad feeling between us. I am sorry we ever disagreed and very sorry I offended you. Please do not hold bad feelings against me when we part, sir.'

En/Pt → 'I have no bad feeling towards any man on earth,' Mr Pecksniff answered gently.

'I told you he did not,' Pinch said quietly. 'I knew it. He always says he does not.'

'Then you will shake hands, sir?' cried Westlock. He stepped forward and gave Mr Pinch a look that asked for close attention.

'Umph!' said Mr Pecksniff in his most pleasant voice.

'You will shake hands, sir.'

'No, John,' said Mr Pecksniff with perfect calm. 'I will not shake hands. I forgive you. In fact, I had forgiven you before you stopped blaming and insulting me. I have welcomed you in spirit, John, which is better than shaking hands.'

'Pinch,' said the young man, turning to him in disgust at his former master, 'what did I tell you?'

Poor Pinch looked uneasily down at Mr Pecksniff, who had watched him from the beginning. Then he looked at the ceiling again and said nothing.

En/Pt → 'As for your forgiveness, Mr Pecksniff,' said the young man, 'I will not accept it on those terms. I will not be forgiven.'

'Will you not, John?' Mr Pecksniff replied with a smile. 'You must; you cannot stop it. Forgiveness is a fine, noble virtue, far beyond your control, John. I will forgive you. You cannot make me remember any wrong you have done me.'

'Wrong!' cried the other with all the hot anger of youth. 'What a fine man! What wrong have I done him? He will not remember the five hundred pounds he got from me by false claims. Nor will he remember the seventy pounds a year for board and lodging, which would have been expensive even at seventeen pounds. What a martyr!'

En/Pt → 'Money, John,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'is the root of all evil. I am sad to see it already producing evil in you. But I will forget that it exists. I will also forget the misguided person who brought you here tonight. He tried, but failed, to disturb the peace of one who would have shed his dearest blood to serve him.' Though Mr Pecksniff sounded peaceful, his stress showed, 'I am watching the rascal now.'

Mr Pecksniff's voice shook as he spoke, and his daughters sobbed. Then two sounds seemed to float through the air: one said, 'Beast!' and the other, 'Savage!'

'Complete and pure forgiveness can exist with a hurt heart,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'Perhaps it is a greater virtue when the heart is hurt. That person's ingratitude still pains me deeply, but I proudly forgive him. Please do not speak now,' he cried when Pinch seemed ready to speak. 'Help me by saying nothing. I am not strong enough for this test. Soon, I hope I can talk to him as if these events never happened. But not now.' He turned to the fire and waved towards the door.

En/Pt → 'Bah!' cried John Westlock with great disgust and scorn. 'Ladies, good evening. Come, Pinch, this is not worth thinking about. I was right and you were wrong. That is a small matter; you will be wiser next time.'

He patted his unhappy companion on the shoulder, turned, and walked into the passage. After waiting uncertainly for a few seconds in the parlour, his face full of misery, poor Mr Pinch followed. Together they picked up the box and went out to meet the mail coach.

The fast coach passed the corner of a lane some distance away every night, so they walked there. For several minutes they were silent. Then young Westlock laughed loudly, and later laughed again and again. His companion still gave no response.

After another long silence, he suddenly said, 'Pinch, you have not half enough devil in you. Not half enough - you have none.'

'Well!' Pinch sighed. 'I am not sure. It is a compliment to say so. If I have none, I suppose I am better for it.'

En/Pt → 'All the better!' his companion repeated sharply. 'You mean all the worse.'

Ignoring his friend's last words, Pinch said, 'Yet I must have much of what you call the devil in me. How else could I make Pecksniff so uncomfortable? Please do not laugh. I would not cause him so much pain for any amount of money, though Heaven knows I could use it, John. How sad he was!'

'HE was sad!' the other replied.

'Did you not see that tears were nearly coming from his eyes?' cried Pinch. 'John, is it nothing to see a man so moved and know you caused it? Did you hear him say he could have shed his blood for me?'

His friend replied irritably, 'Do you want anyone to shed blood for you? Does he give you anything you do want? Does he give you work, teaching, or pocket money? Does he even give you enough legs of mutton compared with potatoes and vegetables?'

En/Pt → Pinch sighed again. 'I am afraid I eat a great deal. I cannot hide from myself that I do. You know that, John.'

'You eat a great deal!' his companion replied, just as angry. 'How do you know that?'

The question seemed hard to answer. Mr Pinch only said quietly that he strongly feared he really was a great eater.

'Besides, whether I do or not has little to do with his thinking me ungrateful,' he added. 'John, to me there is hardly any sin as terrible as ingratitude. When he accuses me of it and believes I am guilty, I feel miserable.'

'Do you think he does not know that?' the other replied scornfully. 'But before I say more, Pinch, tell me why you should be grateful to him. First move the box to your other hand, because it is heavy. Good. Now go on.'

'First,' said Pinch, 'he took me as his pupil for much less than he asked.'

En/Pt → His friend was not moved by this generosity. 'Well, what is second?'

'What is second?' cried Pinch desperately. 'Why, everything else is in second place. My poor old grandmother died happy because she thought she had placed me with such an excellent man. I grew up in his house, have his trust, work as his assistant, and receive a salary. When his business improves, my future should improve too. There is much more. And John, before all that, remember this: I was born for poorer, simpler things. I am not good at his business and have no talent for it, or for anything except useless little tasks.'

He spoke with such serious feeling that his companion changed his manner without thinking. By then they had reached the signpost at the end of the lane. His companion sat on the box, made a sign for Pinch to sit beside him, and put a hand on his shoulder.

En/Pt → 'I believe you are one of the best men in the world, Tom Pinch,' he said.

'Not at all,' Tom replied. 'If you knew Pecksniff as well as I do, you could truly say that of him.'

'I will say whatever you like about him,' the other replied, 'and no more against him.'

'Then it is for my sake, not his, I am afraid,' said Pinch, seriously shaking his head.

'For anyone's sake you choose, Tom, as long as it pleases you. Oh, he is a wonderful man! HE never put all your poor grandmother's hard-earned savings into his own pocket. She was a housekeeper, was she not, Tom?'

'Yes,' said Mr Pinch, holding one large knee and nodding. 'A gentleman's housekeeper.'

'HE never took all her hard-earned savings. He never filled her with hopes of your happiness and progress, though he knew better than anyone they would never come true! HE never used her pride in you and in the education she gave you. Nor did he use her wish that you should at least become a gentleman. Not he, Tom!'

En/Pt → 'No,' said Tom, looking at his friend as if he was unsure what he meant. 'Of course not.'

'That is what I say,' the young man replied. 'Of course he never did. HE did not accept less because it was all she had, and more than he expected. He does not keep you as his assistant because you are useful. Your belief in his false claims helps him in mean arguments, and your honesty makes him seem honest. People as far as Salisbury hear that you spend your free time here reading old books and foreign languages. This makes your master, Pecksniff, seem learned and important. HE gets no credit from you, Tom. Not he.'

'Why, of course he does not,' said Pinch, looking more troubled than before. 'Pecksniff get credit from me! Well!'

'I say it is ridiculous even to think of such a thing, do I not?' the other replied.

En/Pt → "Why, it's madness," said Tom.

"Madness!" said young Westlock. "Of course it's madness. Who but a madman would think Pecksniff likes hearing this on Sundays? The church organ volunteer, who practises on dark summer evenings, is called Mr Pecksniff's young man, eh, Tom? Who would think Pecksniff wants everyone talking about the thousand useless things you do, which he taught you? You advertise him here more cheaply and better than anyone writing on walls could, eh, Tom? One might even suppose he does not pour out his heart and soul to you or give you a very generous, even too generous, allowance. More wildly still, one might suppose Pecksniff uses your nature for his own gain. You are timid, doubt yourself, and trust everyone else, especially the man who least deserves it. That would be madness, Tom!"

En/Pt → Mr Pinch listened in confusion, partly because of his companion's words and partly because he spoke so quickly and fiercely. When the speech ended, Mr Pinch took a very long breath. He looked sadly at his companion's face, unable to decide what expression it wore. In the darkness, he tried to find the best possible clue to the man's real meaning. He was about to answer when the cheerful sound of the mail guard's horn ended their talk at once. This seemed to please the younger man greatly. He jumped up quickly and held out his hand.

"Both hands, Tom. I shall write to you from London, mind!"

"Yes," said Pinch. "Yes, do, please. Good-bye. Good-bye. I can hardly believe you're going. It seems only yesterday you came. Good-bye, my dear old fellow!"

John Westlock answered his farewell just as warmly and climbed to his seat on the roof. The mail cantered off down the dark road, its lamps bright and its horn waking echoes far and wide.

En/Pt → "Go your ways," said Pinch to the coach. "I can hardly believe you are not alive, a great monster that visits here at certain times to carry my friends into the world. You are more proud and wild than usual tonight, and may well boast of your prize. He is a fine, honest lad with only one fault: he does not mean it, but he is terribly unfair to Pecksniff!"

Chapter Three

En/Pt → IN WHICH CERTAIN OTHER PERSONS ARE INTRODUCED; ON THE SAME TERMS AS IN THE LAST CHAPTER

We have already mentioned the Dragon that swung and creaked before the village alehouse. It was old and faded. Many winter storms of rain, snow, sleet, and hail had changed its bright blue color to dull grey. Yet it still hung there, rising weakly on its back legs. Every month it became dimmer and lost more of its shape. From one side, it seemed to melt slowly through the sign-board and come out on the other.

En/Pt → It was also a polite and thoughtful dragon, or had been when its picture was clearer. Even in its weak standing pose, it kept one front paw near its nose, as if saying, "Don't mind me - it's only my fun." It held out the other paw to welcome guests. Modern dragons have clearly learned better manners. They no longer demand a beautiful virgin for breakfast each morning, as regularly as a single man expects his hot roll. They are content with idle unmarried men and married men away from home. Today, dragons avoid women and discourage their visits, especially on Saturday nights. Long ago, they rudely demanded women's company without caring what the women wanted.

This praise of reformed dragons is not as far from Natural History as it first seems. These pages are concerned with the dragon living near Mr Pecksniff; now that this polite creature is under discussion, nothing prevents us from dealing with it at once.

En/Pt → For many years, the Dragon had swung, creaked, and flapped before the two windows of the inn's best bedroom. The inn bore its name. Yet the Dragon had never seen such activity inside as on the evening after the last chapter's events. Feet hurried up and down the stairs. Lights flashed, voices whispered, and newly lit wood smoked and spat in a damp chimney. People aired linen, and hot pans for warming beds gave off a burned smell. No dragon, griffin, unicorn, or similar animal had ever watched such household activity since these creatures first took an interest in home affairs.

An old gentleman and a young lady arrived alone in a rusty old carriage pulled by post-horses. No one knew where they came from or where they were going. They had suddenly left the main road for the Blue Dragon because the gentleman became ill in the carriage. He suffered terrible cramps and sharp pains. Still, he swore that no doctor should be called. He would take only the medicines that the young lady gave him from a small medicine box. He did nothing but frighten the landlady out of her five wits and refuse every suggestion.

En/Pt → Of the five hundred plans for his relief that the good woman offered in less than half an hour, he accepted only one: he would go to bed. The room behind the Dragon was busy because his bed and chamber were being prepared.

He was clearly very ill and suffered greatly, perhaps even more because he was a strong, vigorous old man with an iron will and a brass voice. At times he plainly feared for his life, yet neither fear nor pain changed his decision. He would let no one be sent for. The worse he became, the firmer he was. If anyone - man, woman, or child - was called to attend him, he said he would leave at once, even if he walked out and died on the doorstep.

En/Pt → No doctor lived in the village. There was only a poor medicine seller who also sold food and other goods. At the first alarm, the landlady had decided to send for him. Of course, because he was needed, he was not at home. He had gone several miles away and would not return until late that night. The landlady was nearly out of her mind, so she quickly sent the same messenger for Mr Pecksniff. He was a learned man who could accept much responsibility and a moral man who could comfort a troubled mind. Her guest clearly needed comfort because he often made restless remarks. However, his worries seemed to concern this world more than his spirit.

The messenger came back from this secret errand with no better news: Mr Pecksniff was not at home. They got the patient to bed without him. Within two hours, his painful attacks gradually came farther apart. At last he stopped suffering, though he was sometimes so exhausted that it seemed almost as alarming as the pain had been.

En/Pt → During one quiet interval, the old gentleman looked cautiously around and reached uneasily from his nest of pillows. With a strange, secretive, distrustful manner, he tried to use the writing materials he had ordered beside his bed. The young lady and the mistress of the Blue Dragon sat together before the fire in the sick-room.

The mistress of the Blue Dragon looked just as a landlady should: broad, cheerful, comfortable, and pretty. Her clear red-and-white face showed that she heartily enjoyed the food and drink stored in the house, and that they kept her healthy. She was a widow, but she had stopped wearing mourning clothes years ago and had seemed to flower again. Roses covered her wide skirts, the top of her dress, her cap, her cheeks, and even her lips, which were worth gathering. She still had bright black eyes and deep black hair. She was pretty, round, dimpled, and firm as a gooseberry. She was not young, but one could swear to her beauty before any mayor or judge in Christendom. Many young ladies were less pleasant and beautiful than the shining hostess of the Blue Dragon.

En/Pt → By the fire, the fair landlady looked proudly around the large country bedroom. It had a low roof, and the floor went downhill from the door. Just inside were two unexpected steps. Despite warnings, strangers often went in head first, as if diving into a deep bath. It was not one of those silly, far too bright bedrooms where nobody could close an eye. Instead, it was a good, dull, heavy, sleepy place. Every piece of furniture reminded guests that they had come to sleep and were expected to do so. The fire made none of the bright reflections found in modern rooms. Shiny French polish seems awake even on dark nights. The old Spanish mahogany only winked sometimes, like a sleepy cat or dog. The great size, shape, and fixed position of the bed and wardrobe made visitors sleepy. Even the smaller chairs and tables looked heavy and ready to snore. There were no staring portraits to complain about laziness and no wide-eyed birds on the curtains to watch the guests. Thick, plain wall coverings, dark blinds, and heavy bed covers seemed designed to keep sleep in. They blocked out the day and the need to get up. Even the old stuffed fox on top of the wardrobe showed no watchfulness. Its glass eye had fallen out, and it slept as it stood.

En/Pt → The Blue Dragon's mistress looked at these things only two or three times, and only briefly. Her attention soon left them and even the distant bed with its strange burden for the young creature before her, who sat silently thinking, her lowered eyes fixed on the fire.

She seemed no more than seventeen. Her manner was shy and nervous, yet she controlled herself and her feelings better than most much older women. She had shown this clearly while caring for the sick gentleman. She was short and had a small figure, as suited her age. All the beauty of youth and young womanhood appeared in her gentle face. Her face was very pale, partly because of her recent fear. Her dark brown hair had also been disturbed and slipped loose, hanging around her neck. No man watching would have wished to blame her hair for behaving this way.

En/Pt → She wore a lady's clothes, but they were very plain. Even while she sat still, her manner matched her simple dress. At first, she looked anxiously toward the bed. When the patient stayed quiet and wrote, she softly moved her chair to its present place. She seemed to understand that he did not want anyone watching him. She also wanted to sit where he could not see her, so she could release feelings she had kept down until then.

The rosy landlady of the Blue Dragon noticed all this and much more. Only one woman can observe another so closely. At last, she spoke too softly for the old man in the bed to hear:

"You have seen the gentleman like this before, miss? Is he used to these attacks?"

"I have seen him very ill before, but never as ill as tonight."

"What a Providence," said the Dragon's landlady, "that you had the prescriptions and medicines with you, miss!"

En/Pt → "They are for such an emergency. We never travel without them."

"Oh!" thought the hostess. "Then we are used to travelling, and travelling together."

She knew this thought showed on her face. When she immediately met the young lady's eyes, the honest hostess felt rather confused.

"The gentleman - your grandpapa," she continued after a short pause, "being so determined to have no help, must frighten you very much, miss?"

"I have been very much alarmed tonight. He - he is not my grandfather."

"Father, I should have said," replied the hostess, knowing she had made an awkward mistake.

"Nor my father," said the young lady. Then, with a slight smile, quickly understanding what the landlady would add, she said, "Nor my uncle. We are not related."

"Oh dear me!" replied the landlady, now even more embarrassed. "How could I be so wrong? Anyone thinking clearly knows that a sick gentleman looks much older than he really is. And I called you 'Miss,' too, ma'am!" Then, without meaning to, she looked at the third finger of the young lady's left hand. There was no ring on it, so the landlady stopped in confusion again.

En/Pt → "When I said we were not related," said the other kindly, though confused herself, "I meant not in any way. Not even by marriage. Did you call me, Martin?"

"Call you?" cried the old man, looking up quickly. He hurriedly hid under the bed cover the paper on which he had been writing. "No."

She had moved one or two steps toward the bed, but stopped at once and went no farther.

"No," he repeated sharply. "Why ask me? If I had called you, why ask such a question?"

"It was the sign creaking outside, sir, I dare say," said the landlady. A moment later she felt that this was not at all a compliment to the old gentleman's voice.

"No matter what it was, ma'am," he replied. "It was not I. Why do you stand there, Mary, as if I had the plague? They are all afraid of me," he added, falling helplessly back on his pillow. "Even she! There is a curse upon me. What else can I expect?"

En/Pt → "Oh dear, no. Oh no, I'm sure," said the good-tempered landlady. She rose and went toward him. "Be more cheerful, sir. These are only sick fancies."

"What are only sick fancies?" he snapped. "What do you know about fancies? Who told you about fancies? The old story! Fancies!"

"See how you seize on one word!" said the mistress of the Blue Dragon, still good-humoured. "Dear heart alive, there is no harm in the word, sir, even if it is old. Healthy people have fancies too, and strange ones, every day."

Although the speech seemed harmless, it fed the traveller's distrust like oil on fire. He lifted his head in bed and searched her face closely. His two dark eyes looked brighter against his pale hollow cheeks. His long grey hair seemed whiter under the tight black velvet skullcap he wore.

"Ah! You begin too soon," he said so quietly that he seemed to think rather than speak it. "But you waste no time. You do your errand and earn your fee. Now, who is your client?"

En/Pt → The landlady looked with great surprise at the girl he called Mary. Finding no answer in her lowered face, she looked back at him. At first, she had stepped away without thinking because she believed his mind was confused. But his slow, calm manner showed that he knew what he meant. His strong face, especially his tight mouth, showed a firm purpose and made her reject that belief.

"Come," he said. "Tell me who it is. Here, it is not very hard for me to guess, as you may suppose."

"Martin," said the young lady, putting her hand on his arm, "remember how little time we have been in this house, and that even your name is unknown here."

'Unless you - ' he began. He seemed ready to suspect that she had betrayed his trust to the landlady. But perhaps he remembered her kind nursing, or was moved by her face. He stopped, shifted uneasily in bed, and was silent.

En/Pt → 'There!' said Mrs Lupin - the Blue Dragon was licensed under that name to serve people and animals. 'Now you will be well again, sir. For a moment, you forgot that everyone here is a friend.'

'Oh!' cried the old man with an impatient moan, tossing one restless arm onto the bedcover. 'Why speak to me of friends? Can you, or anyone, teach me who are my friends and who are my enemies?'

'At least, I am sure this young lady is your friend,' Mrs Lupin said gently.

'She has no reason to be otherwise,' cried the old man, with no hope or trust left. 'I suppose she is. Heaven knows. Let me try to sleep. Leave the candle there.'

When they moved away from the bed, he took out the writing he had worked on for so long. He held it in the candle flame until it became ashes. Then he put out the light and turned away with a heavy sigh. He pulled the bedcover over his head and lay still.

En/Pt → Mrs Lupin was very alarmed: he had worked hard on the paper, yet burnt it, and he might have set the Dragon on fire. But the young lady showed no surprise, interest, or fear. Thanking Mrs Lupin for her care and company, she whispered that she would stay longer. She asked her not to stay awake with her, because she was used to being alone and would read.

Mrs Lupin was very curious, as women were said to be, and at another time it might have been hard to make her leave. But these mysteries amazed her so much that she went at once to her little parlour downstairs and sat unusually calm in her easy-chair. Just then she heard a step in the entry. Mr Pecksniff looked kindly over the half-door of the bar into the private room beyond and murmured:

'Good evening, Mrs Lupin!'

'Oh dear me, sir!' she cried, coming to meet him. 'I am so very glad you have come.'

En/Pt → 'And I am very glad I came, if I can help,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'I am very glad I came. What is wrong, Mrs Lupin?'

'A gentleman fell ill on the road and has been very ill upstairs, sir,' said the tearful hostess.

'A gentleman fell ill on the road and has been very ill upstairs, has he?' Mr Pecksniff repeated. 'Well, well!'

There was nothing new, wise, or comforting in this remark. But Mr Pecksniff spoke pleasantly and nodded in a gentle way. He also seemed very sure of his own goodness. Because of this, anyone would be comforted by his voice and presence, just as Mrs Lupin was. He might only have said, 'A verb must agree with its subject in number and person, my good friend.' Or he might have said, 'eight times eight are sixty-four, my worthy soul.' Still, his listeners would have felt deeply grateful for his kindness and wisdom.

En/Pt → 'And how is he now?' asked Mr Pecksniff. He removed his gloves and warmed his hands at the fire as kindly as if they belonged to someone else.

'He is better and quite calm,' Mrs Lupin answered.

'He is better and quite calm,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'Very well! Ve-ry well!'

Again, although Mrs Lupin first gave the news, Mr Pecksniff made it his own and comforted her with it. It was not much when she said it, but it became a whole book when he said it. He seemed to say, 'I see, and through me morality itself sees, that he is better and quite calm.'

'But something serious must trouble him,' said the hostess, shaking her head. 'He talks in the strangest way you ever heard. His mind is far from calm, and he needs proper advice from people who are good enough to make their advice worth having.'

En/Pt → 'Then he is the kind of customer for me,' said Mr Pecksniff. Yet though this was the clear meaning, he said nothing. He only shook his head, as if speaking badly of himself.

The landlady looked around to make sure no one could hear, then looked at the floor. 'I am very much afraid, sir, that his conscience troubles him because he is not related to - or even married to - a very young lady - '

'Mrs Lupin!' said Mr Pecksniff, raising his hand. His gentle manner became as firm as it could ever be. 'Person! Young person?'

'A very young person,' said Mrs Lupin, curtsying and blushing. 'Forgive me, sir; I have been so hurried tonight that I do not know what I say. She is with him now.'

'Who is with him now,' Mr Pecksniff considered. He warmed his back as he had warmed his hands. He did so as kindly as if it belonged to a widow, an orphan, or an enemy. It might even be a back that a less excellent man would let stay cold. 'Oh dear me, dear me!'

En/Pt → 'But I must say, with all my heart,' the hostess said earnestly, 'that her looks and manner almost remove suspicion.'

'Your suspicion, Mrs Lupin,' said Mr Pecksniff seriously, 'is very natural.'

To shame them, it should be written down that this worthy man's enemies boldly made a claim. They said he always called very bad things 'very natural.' By doing so, he showed his own nature without knowing it.

'Your suspicion, Mrs Lupin,' he repeated, 'is very natural and no doubt right. I will visit these travellers.'

Then he took off his greatcoat and ran his fingers through his hair. He put one hand gently inside his waistcoat and humbly signed for her to lead the way.

'Shall I knock?' asked Mrs Lupin when they reached the bedroom door.

'No,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'Please enter.'

They went in on tiptoe - or rather, the hostess did, because Mr Pecksniff always walked softly. The old gentleman still slept, and his young companion still read beside the fire.

En/Pt → Mr Pecksniff paused at the door and sadly rolled his head. 'I am afraid this looks clever and dishonest. Mrs Lupin, I am afraid it looks very clever and dishonest!'

As he finished whispering, he walked ahead of the hostess. The young lady heard footsteps and stood up. Mr Pecksniff glanced at the book in her hand and whispered again to Mrs Lupin, sounding even more sad.

'Yes, ma'am,' he said. 'It is a good book. I feared that already. I am afraid this is a very carefully planned matter indeed!'

'What gentleman is this?' asked the young lady whom he so virtuously suspected.

'Hush, do not trouble yourself, ma'am,' said Mr Pecksniff as the landlady began to answer. He nearly said 'person,' but used 'stranger.' 'This young stranger will excuse a brief reply. I live in this village and may have influence I do not deserve. Mrs Lupin asked me here. I hope always to care for the sick and unhappy.'

En/Pt → After these impressive words, Mr Pecksniff went to the bed. He solemnly patted the bedcover once or twice, as if this showed him the patient's illness. Then he sat in a large armchair, looking thoughtful and very comfortable, and waited for him to wake. The young lady objected to Mrs Lupin, but said nothing more to Mr Pecksniff. He also said nothing more to anyone else.

For a full half hour, the old man did not move. At last he turned in bed, showing that he was nearly awake. Slowly he pulled the bedclothes from his head and turned more towards Mr Pecksniff. His eyes opened at last. For a few moments, like someone newly awake, he looked lazily at his visitor without clearly knowing he was there.

Nothing about the old man's movements was remarkable. Yet their effect on Mr Pecksniff was as great as any natural wonder. His hands slowly gripped the chair arms, his eyes grew wide, and his mouth opened. His hair also stood higher than usual. At last, the old man sat up and stared at him with almost as much emotion. Then Mr Pecksniff's doubts ended, and he cried aloud:

En/Pt → 'You ARE Martin Chuzzlewit!'

His shocked surprise was so real that the old man, though ready to think it false, became convinced that it was genuine.

'I am Martin Chuzzlewit,' he said bitterly, 'and Martin Chuzzlewit wishes you had been hanged before you came to disturb his sleep. Why, I dreamed of this fellow!' He lay down again and turned away. 'I dreamed of him before I knew he was near me!'

'My good cousin - ' said Mr Pecksniff.

'There! His first words!' cried the old man, shaking his grey head on the pillow and throwing up his hands. 'In his first words he claims we are related. I knew he would; they all do it! Near or distant, blood or water, it is all the same. Ugh! Any word about family brings before me a whole list of cheating, lies, and false claims!'

'Please do not act too quickly, Mr Chuzzlewit,' said Pecksniff in a deeply caring but calm voice. By then he had recovered from surprise and returned fully to his virtuous manner. 'You will regret acting too quickly. I know you will.'

En/Pt → 'You know!' Martin said coldly, showing that he had no respect for Mr Pecksniff.

'Yes,' Mr Pecksniff replied. 'Aye, aye, Mr Chuzzlewit, do not think I mean to seek your favour or flatter you. Nothing is further from my purpose. Do not fear that I will repeat the offensive word that upset you. Why should I? What could I want from you? As far as I know, nothing you own brings enough happiness to make others want it.'

'That is true enough,' the old man muttered.

Watching the effect of his words, Mr Pecksniff said, 'Apart from that, you must see something clearly by now. If I had wanted you to think well of me, I would have been careful not to call myself your relative. I know your temper. I knew that calling myself your relative would be the worst possible introduction.'

Martin said nothing, but a movement of his legs under the bed-clothes showed as clearly as words that this was reasonable and he could not deny it.

En/Pt → "No," said Mr Pecksniff, keeping a hand in his waistcoat as if ready to show Martin Chuzzlewit his heart. "I came to offer help to a stranger. I offer none to you because you would distrust me. But as you lie in that bed, sir, I regard you as a stranger. I feel only the concern I would feel for any stranger in your condition. Beyond that, Mr Chuzzlewit, I care as little about you as you care about me."

After this, Mr Pecksniff leaned back in his easy-chair, shining with such honest innocence that Mrs Lupin almost expected to see a stained-glass Glory, like the Saint's in church, around his head.

A long silence followed. The old man became more restless and changed position several times. Mrs Lupin and the young lady silently looked at the bedcover. Mr Pecksniff played absently with his eyeglass and kept his eyes shut so that he could think better.

En/Pt → "Eh?" he said at last, suddenly opening his eyes toward the bed. "I beg your pardon. I thought you spoke. Mrs Lupin," he added, slowly standing, "I do not see how I can help here. The gentleman is better, and you are as good a nurse as he can have. Eh?"

That last question referred to the old man moving again, which turned his face toward Mr Pecksniff for the first time since he had turned away.

"If you wish to speak before I go, sir," he continued after another pause, "you may have my time. But to be fair to myself, you must speak to me strictly as to a stranger."

En/Pt → If Mr Pecksniff understood from Martin Chuzzlewit's gestures that he wanted to speak, he must have used a rule from melodramas. There, an old farmer with a comic son always understands a girl who cannot speak. She hides in his garden and tells her life story through signs that make no sense. Without asking how he knew, Martin signalled his young companion to leave. She and the landlady left him alone with Mr Pecksniff. For a while they looked silently at each other. In fact, the old man watched Mr Pecksniff, while Mr Pecksniff closed his eyes to the outside world and examined his own heart. His expression showed that he found the view rich and delightful.

"You want me to speak to you as to a complete stranger?" said the old man.

Mr Pecksniff shrugged and seemed to roll his eyes before opening them. This showed that he still felt he had to ask Martin to treat him as a stranger.

En/Pt → "You shall have your wish," said Martin. "Sir, I am a rich man - not as rich as some think, perhaps, but wealthy. I am not a miser, though people say and believe that I am. I do not enjoy saving money or owning it. That devil, money, gives me nothing but unhappiness."

To say butter would not melt in Mr Pecksniff's mouth would not describe his gentleness. He looked rather as if endless butter could be made from him by churning the milk of human kindness that rose from his heart.

"For the same reason that I do not store up money," said the old man, "I do not spend it freely. Some people enjoy storing it, while others enjoy giving it away. I enjoy nothing about money. It has brought me only pain and bitterness. I hate it. It is a ghost that walks before me through the world and makes every social pleasure ugly."

En/Pt → A thought came into Pecksniff's mind and must have shown on his face, or Martin Chuzzlewit would not have continued so quickly and sternly:

"For my peace, you would advise me to give this misery to someone who could bear it. Perhaps even you would take the burden from me." His whole face darkened. "But, kind stranger, good Christian stranger, that is my chief trouble. Money has done good in other hands. People rightly praise it as the key to the strong gates of worldly honour, fortune, and enjoyment. What worthy, honest person, whom money cannot make bad, can I give it to now or when I die? Do you know one? Your virtues are of course beyond value, but can you name any other living person who can bear contact with me?"

"Contact with yourself, sir?" echoed Mr Pecksniff.

"Yes," said the old man, "the test of contact with me - with me. You know the man whose foolish wish made everything he touched turn to gold. The curse of my life, and the fulfilment of my mad wish, is that the gold I carry makes me test all other men and find their metal false and hollow."

En/Pt → Mr Pecksniff shook his head and said, "You think so."

En/Pt → "Oh yes, I think so!" cried the old man. "When you say 'I think so,' I hear the true unworldly sound of YOUR metal. I have gone as a rich man among every kind of person - relatives, friends, and strangers. When I was poor, I trusted them and was right. They never deceived me or, as far as I knew, wronged one another. Yet when I was wealthy and alone, I found hidden evil in everyone, waiting for me to bring it out. Treachery, deceit, low plans, jealousy of real or imagined rivals, meanness, lies, shameful acts, and acting like servants to please me - or," he said, looking into his cousin's eyes, "a show of honest independence, almost worse than all - these are what my wealth reveals. Brothers turn against brothers, children against parents, and friends walk on their friends' faces. This has been my company. Stories say rich men dressed as poor men have found and rewarded goodness. They were fools. They should have searched their own characters by showing themselves as rich targets for robbery, plots, and praise from crooks. Those crooks would have spat on their coffins after the rich men died as their victims. Then the search would have ended as mine has, and they would be what I am."

En/Pt → Mr Pecksniff did not know what best to say in the short pause. He carefully acted as if he meant to give a deeply wise speech, trusting the old man would interrupt before he spoke. He was right: when Martin Chuzzlewit had taken breath, he continued:

"Hear me out. Decide what profit you can gain by repeating this visit, then leave me. I have corrupted everyone who stayed near me by creating greedy plans and hopes. Even among my family, I have caused quarrels and conflict merely by remaining with them. I have been like a lighted torch in peaceful homes, setting fire to moral gases and vapours that might otherwise have stayed harmless. I have fled all who knew me and lately lived in secret places like a hunted man. The young girl you saw - what! Your eye brightens when I mention her. You hate her already, do you?"

En/Pt → "Upon my word, sir!" said Mr Pecksniff, putting his hand on his breast and lowering his eyelids.

"I forgot," cried the old man, looking sharply at him, though Mr Pecksniff did not raise his eyes. "I ask your pardon. You are a stranger. For a moment you reminded me of my cousin, one Pecksniff. The young girl is an orphan whom I have raised and educated, or, if you prefer, adopted for one steady purpose. For a year or more she has been my constant and only companion. She knows I have solemnly sworn not to leave her even sixpence when I die. While I live, I give her a yearly allowance that is neither large nor too small. We agree never to flatter each other with loving words. She calls me by my first name, and I call her by hers. Interest binds her to me while I live. She loses this support when I die but expects no inheritance, so perhaps she will mourn me. I care little about that. This is the only kind of friend I will have. Judge what profit your visit has brought, then leave me and never return."

En/Pt → With these words the old man slowly sank back on his pillow. Mr Pecksniff rose just as slowly and, after clearing his throat, began:

"Mr Chuzzlewit."

"There. Go!" the other broke in. "Enough. I am tired of you."

"I am sorry, sir," replied Mr Pecksniff, "because I have a duty to perform, and I assure you I shall not avoid it. No, sir, I shall not avoid it."

Sadly, while Mr Pecksniff stood beside the bed in all the dignity of Goodness, the old man looked angrily at the candlestick as if strongly tempted to throw it at his cousin's head. He controlled himself, pointed to the door, and told him his way lay there.

En/Pt → "Thank you," said Mr Pecksniff. "I know that and am going. But first I ask to speak. More than that, Mr Chuzzlewit, I must and will - yes, must and will - be heard. Nothing you have said tonight surprises me. It is natural, very natural, and I knew most of it already." He pulled out his pocket-handkerchief and blinked both eyes at once, as if against his will. "I will not say that you are mistaken about me. In your present mood, I would not say so for the world. I almost wish I had a different nature, so I could hold back even this small sign of weakness. I cannot hide it, and I find it shameful, but please excuse it. Let us say," he added very gently, "that it comes from a cold in the head, snuff, smelling-salts, onions, or anything except the true cause."

He paused for a moment and hid his face behind his pocket-handkerchief. Then he smiled faintly, held the bed curtains with one hand, and continued:

En/Pt → "Mr Chuzzlewit, though I forget myself, I owe a duty to my character - yes, I HAVE a character, dear to me and the best inheritance for my two daughters - and must speak for another. Your conduct is wrong, unnatural, impossible to defend, and terrible. Without fear or favour, I tell you not to neglect your grandson, young Martin, who has the strongest natural claim on you." Mr Pecksniff stood on tiptoe among the curtains, seeming to rise above worldly concerns. He held tight as if to stop himself shooting skyward like a rocket. "It will not do, sir. You may think it will, but it will not. You must, shall, and WILL provide for him. I believe," he added, looking at the pen and ink, "that you have already done so in secret. Bless you for doing so, doing right, and hating me. Good night!"

Mr Pecksniff solemnly waved his right hand, put it again into his waistcoat, and left. His manner showed emotion, but his step was firm. Though subject to human weakness, conscience supported him.

En/Pt → Martin lay for a time in silent wonder mixed with anger. At last he whispered:

"What can this mean? Has the false-hearted boy chosen that fellow who has just left as his tool? Why not? He has plotted against me like the rest; they are birds of one feather. A new plot! Oh self, self, self! Everywhere, nothing but self!"

When he stopped speaking, he played with the ashes of the burned paper in the candlestick. At first he did it without thought, but soon the ashes became what he thought about.

"Another will made and destroyed," he said. "Nothing decided or done; I might have died tonight! I see the evil uses this money will serve." He almost twisted in bed. "It filled my life with worry and will cause quarrels after I die. Rich men's graves create lawsuits every day. Close relatives lie under oath, hate each other, and tell lies when they should only love. Heaven help us; we have much to answer for! Oh self, self, self! Every man for himself, and no creature for me!"

En/Pt → Selfishness everywhere! Was there no shadow of it in these thoughts and in Martin Chuzzlewit's own account of his life?

Chapter Four

En/Pt → FROM WHICH IT WILL APPEAR THAT IF UNION BE STRENGTH, AND FAMILY AFFECTION BE PLEASANT TO CONTEMPLATE, THE CHUZZLEWITS WERE THE STRONGEST AND MOST AGREEABLE FAMILY IN THE WORLD

After leaving his cousin so solemnly, worthy Mr Pecksniff went home and stayed there for three full days. He did not even walk beyond his garden, in case his repentant, sorry relative suddenly called him to the bedside. In his great kindness, he had decided to forgive and love him without condition. But the stern old man was so stubborn and bitter that no repentant call arrived. On the fourth day, Mr Pecksniff seemed even farther from his Christian goal than on the first.

Throughout this time, he kept visiting the Dragon at every hour of day and night. Returning good for evil, he showed deep concern for the stubborn patient's health. He often told Mrs Lupin he would do the same for any stranger or poor person in that condition. His unselfish concern moved her to tears of admiration and delight.

En/Pt → Meanwhile old Martin Chuzzlewit stayed shut in his room and saw no one except his young companion and, at times, the Blue Dragon's hostess. Whenever she entered, Martin pretended to fall asleep. He spoke, even to answer simple questions, only when alone with the young lady. By listening hard at the door, Mr Pecksniff could tell that Martin was talkative enough when they were together.

En/Pt → On the fourth evening, Mr Pecksniff went as usual into the Dragon bar. He found no Mrs Lupin there, so he went straight upstairs. In his loving concern, he meant to listen at the keyhole again. He hoped to calm himself by learning that the hard-hearted patient was getting well. In the dark passage, a narrow ray of light usually shone through that keyhole, but now he saw none. At the bedroom door, he quickly bent down to check whether the suspicious old man had blocked the hole from inside. His head struck another head so violently that pain forced a loud "Oh!" from him. Something at once seized him by the collar. It smelled like several damp umbrellas, a beer barrel, a cask of warm brandy-and-water, and a small room full of stale tobacco smoke. It led him straight downstairs into the bar. There a complete stranger of even stranger appearance held him. With his free hand, the stranger rubbed his own head hard and gave Pecksniff an angry look.

En/Pt → The gentleman had the poor but respectable look often called shabby-genteel. His clothes were in a terrible state. His fingers stuck far out of his gloves, and the soles had separated from the tops of his boots. His blue-grey trousers had once been very bright, but age and dirt had made them dull. They were pulled so hard between his braces and straps that they seemed ready to split at the knees. His blue military-style coat was buttoned and braided to his chin. His neck cloth had the colour and pattern of the cloth a hairdresser puts around a customer. His hat was so worn that no one could tell whether it had once been white or black. He also had a huge rough moustache. It looked fierce and proud rather than gentle and kind, almost like Satan's, and he had a great mass of unbrushed hair. He was very dirty but acted lively and confident, very bold but very low, and loud and proud in one moment but nervous the next. He looked like a man who might once have been better, but even more like a man who deserved to be worse.

En/Pt → "You were eavesdropping at that door, you vagabond!" said the gentleman.

Mr Pecksniff pushed him off as Saint George might have rejected the Dragon in its last moments, and said:

"Where is Mrs Lupin, I wonder? Can the good woman know there is a person here who - "

"Stay!" said the gentleman. "Wait a bit. She DOES know. What then?"

"What then, sir?" cried Mr Pecksniff. "Do you know that I am the friend and relative of that sick gentleman? His protector, guardian, his - "

"Not his niece's husband," the stranger interrupted. "I am sure of that, because he was here before you."

'What do you mean?' asked Mr Pecksniff in angry surprise. 'What are you telling me, sir?'

'Wait a moment!' cried the other. 'Perhaps you are a cousin--the cousin who lives here?'

'I AM the cousin who lives here,' replied the worthy man.

'Your name is Pecksniff?' asked the gentleman.

En/Pt → 'It is.'

'I am proud to know you, and I ask your pardon,' said the gentleman. He touched his hat, then searched behind his cravat for a shirt collar but could not bring it out. 'You see before you, sir, someone who also has an interest in that gentleman upstairs. Wait a moment.'

As he spoke, he touched the end of his high nose to show Mr Pecksniff that he would soon tell him a secret. He took off his hat and searched its crown among crumpled papers and little pieces of broken cigar covering. At last he chose the cover of an old letter, dirty and smelling of tobacco.

'Read that,' he cried, giving it to Mr Pecksniff.

'This is addressed to Chevy Slyme, Esquire,' said Mr Pecksniff.

'You know Chevy Slyme, Esquire, I believe?' replied the stranger.

Mr Pecksniff shrugged as if to say, 'I know there is such a person, and I am sorry for it.'

En/Pt → 'Very good,' said the gentleman. 'That is my interest and business here.' Then he searched again for his shirt collar and brought up a string.

Shaking his head and smiling calmly, Mr Pecksniff said, 'This is very distressing, my friend. I must say that you are not the person you claim to be. I know Mr Slyme. This will not do. Honesty is the best policy; you had better not--you had indeed.'

'Stop!' cried the gentleman, stretching out his right arm. It was so tightly stuck in its worn sleeve that it looked like a cloth sausage. 'Wait a moment!'

He paused and placed himself directly before the fire, with his back to it. Then he gathered his coat tails under his left arm, smoothed his moustache with his right thumb and first finger, and went on:

En/Pt → 'I understand your mistake and am not offended. Why? It is a compliment. You think I would pretend to be Chevy Slyme. Sir, if a gentleman could be proud and honoured to be mistaken for any man, it would be my friend Slyme. He is the highest-minded, most independent, original, spiritual, classical, talented, most Shakspearian, if not Miltonic, and most terribly unappreciated man I know. But I am not vain enough to pass for Slyme. I am equal to any other man in the world, but Slyme is, I admit, many levels above me. Therefore you are wrong.'

Holding out the letter cover, Mr Pecksniff said, 'I judged from this.'

En/Pt → 'No doubt you did,' said the gentleman. 'But, Mr Pecksniff, this is simply a special habit of genius. Every true genius has one. My friend Slyme's special habit is always waiting round the corner. He is always round the corner, sir. He is there at this instant.' Shaking his first finger before his nose and standing with his legs wider apart, he looked closely at Mr Pecksniff. 'That is a very curious and interesting part of Mr Slyme's character. When Slyme's life is written, the writer must explain it fully or society will not be satisfied. Mark me: society will not be satisfied!'

Mr Pecksniff coughed.

'Whoever writes Slyme's life,' the gentleman continued, 'must ask me. If I am gone to that what's-his-name from which no thingumbob returns, the writer must ask those managing my affairs to search my papers. I made a few poor notes about my adopted brother, sir. His actions would amaze you. On the fifteenth of last month, he could not pay a small bill. The other party refused to renew it. He then used words worthy of Napoleon Bonaparte addressing the French army.'

En/Pt → Clearly uneasy, Mr Pecksniff asked, 'And what may be Mr Slyme's business here, if I may ask? Because I care for my own character, I must deny all interest in his actions.'

'First,' replied the gentleman, 'I object to that remark and strongly protest against it for my friend Slyme. Next, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tigg. Perhaps the name Montague Tigg is familiar to you from the most remarkable events of the Peninsular War?'

Mr Pecksniff gently shook his head.

'No matter,' said the gentleman. 'That man was my father, and I bear his name. So I am proud--proud as Lucifer. Excuse me for one moment. I want my friend Slyme present for the rest of this meeting.'

After this, he hurried to the outer door of the Blue Dragon and soon returned with a shorter companion. The man wore an old blue camlet cloak lined with faded scarlet. Long waiting in the cold had pinched his sharp face and made his thin red whiskers and untidy hair even more wild. He looked unhealthy and uncomfortable, not Shakspearian or Miltonic.

En/Pt → Mr Tigg put one hand on his attractive friend's shoulder and pointed him out with the other. 'Now, you two are related. Relations never have agreed and never will. This is wise and cannot be avoided. Otherwise, there would be only family parties, and everyone would bore everyone else to death. If you were friendly, I would call you a very unnatural pair. But because you are not, I see two deep thinkers who can be reasoned with freely.'

Here Mr Chevy Slyme, whose great abilities all seemed to point toward dishonesty, secretly nudged his friend with his elbow and whispered in his ear.

En/Pt → 'Chiv,' said Mr Tigg aloud in the proud tone of someone who would not be controlled, 'I shall come to that soon. I act on my own responsibility, or not at all. I see Mr Pecksniff as certain to make such a small loan as a crownpiece to a man of your talents.' Mr Pecksniff's face did not show that he agreed. So Mr Tigg put his finger on his nose again, privately asking him to understand. Slyme's requests for small loans were another special habit of genius. Tigg allowed them because those weaknesses were deeply interesting to him. When Tigg supported these small loans, he did it only to please his friend, with no thought of his own benefit or needs.

En/Pt → After this show, Mr Tigg looked deeply at his adopted brother. 'Oh, Chiv, Chiv! Upon my life, you show how small weaknesses trouble a great mind. If no telescope had ever existed, Chiv, watching you would prove that there were spots on the sun. Mr Pecksniff, this is the strangest life, and we do not know why we are in it. Still, never mind. We may make moral speeches, but the world goes on. As Hamlet says, Hercules may strike with his club in every direction. But he cannot stop cats making a terrible noise on roofs. Nor can he stop dogs from being shot in hot weather when they run in the streets without muzzles. Life is a riddle, and a terribly hard one. Like the famous question, "Why's a man in jail like a man out of jail?" it has no answer. It is altogether very strange, but there is no use talking about it. Ha! Ha!'

En/Pt → After this cheerful conclusion to his gloomy thoughts, Mr Tigg made a great effort to rouse himself and continued in his earlier style.

'Now I will tell you. I am very soft-hearted in my way, and cannot watch you two cut each other's throats when there is nothing to gain. Mr Pecksniff, you are the cousin of the man upstairs who made the will, and we are his nephew--I say we, meaning Chiv. In important ways you may be closer to him than we are. Very good; if so, so be it. But neither you nor we can get to him. On my word of honour, I have looked through that keyhole, with short rests, since nine o'clock this morning. I expected an answer to the most modest and gentlemanly request for short-term help--only fifteen pounds, with MY promise to repay it--that anyone could imagine. Meanwhile, he is always shut in with a stranger and shares all his secrets with her. I say clearly that this will not do, cannot work, cannot be, and must not continue.'

En/Pt → Mr Pecksniff said, 'Every man has a clear right to follow his own likes and dislikes. I would never question that right if his choices were not morally wrong or against religion. I may feel that Mr Chuzzlewit does not treat me with the Christian love that should exist between us. I may be sad and hurt, but I must not quickly decide that he has no reason for his coldness. Heaven forbid! Besides, Mr Tigg,' he continued more seriously, 'how could anyone stop Mr Chuzzlewit from sharing these strange secrets with another person? I admit they exist and must regret them, for his sake. Consider, my good sir,' he added, looking at him sadly, 'how little you know about what you are saying.'

'Well, as to that,' replied Tigg, 'it certainly is a difficult question.'

'It is certainly a difficult question,' Mr Pecksniff answered. As he spoke, he stood taller and suddenly seemed more aware of the moral distance between himself and the creature he addressed. 'It is a very difficult question. I am far from sure that anyone is allowed to discuss it. Good evening.'

En/Pt → 'I suppose you do not know that the Spottletoes are here?' said Mr Tigg.

Stopping suddenly on his way to the door, Pecksniff asked, 'What do you mean, sir? What Spottletoes?'

For the first time, Chevy Slyme, Esquire, spoke aloud. His voice was angry and unfriendly, and he shuffled his legs. 'Mr and Mrs Spottletoe. Spottletoe married my father's brother's child, did he not? Mrs Spottletoe is Chuzzlewit's own niece, is she not? She was once his favourite. You may well ask what Spottletoes.'

Looking upward, Mr Pecksniff cried, 'Upon my sacred word! This is dreadful. These people's greed is absolutely frightening!'

Looking at Tigg but speaking to Mr Pecksniff, Slyme said, 'It is not only the Spottletoes, Tigg. Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son heard of it and came down this afternoon. I saw them not five minutes ago, when I was waiting round the corner.'

'Oh, Mammon, Mammon!' cried Mr Pecksniff, striking his forehead.

En/Pt → Ignoring the interruption, Slyme said, 'So there are his brother and another nephew for you already.'

'This is the whole point, sir,' said Mr Tigg. 'I was gradually reaching it when my friend Slyme hit it fully in six words. Mr Pecksniff, now that your cousin, and Chiv's uncle, has appeared, we must stop him from disappearing again. If possible, we must fight the influence that this favourite with secret plans now has over him. Everyone concerned knows it. The whole family is coming here. For a time, personal jealousies and interests must be forgotten, and everyone must unite against the common enemy. After the enemy is defeated, you can all act for yourselves again. Every lady and gentleman in the game can try to win from the man who made the will. No one will be worse off. Think about it. Do not commit yourself now. You will find us at the Half Moon and Seven Stars in this village at any time, open to any reasonable proposal. Hem! Chiv, my dear fellow, go out and see what sort of night it is.'

En/Pt → Mr Slyme disappeared at once, probably to go round the corner. Mr Tigg spread his legs as wide apart as even the most hopeful man could expect. Then he shook his head at Mr Pecksniff and smiled.

'We must not be too hard on our friend Slyme's small odd habits,' he said. 'You saw him whisper to me?'

Mr Pecksniff had seen him.

'You heard my answer, I think?'

Mr Pecksniff had heard it.

'Five shillings, eh?' said Mr Tigg thoughtfully. 'Ah, what an extraordinary fellow! Very moderate too!'

Mr Pecksniff gave no answer.

Thinking aloud, Mr Tigg continued, 'Five shillings! And to be paid back exactly next week; that is the best part. You heard that?'

Mr Pecksniff had not heard that.

"No! You surprise me!" cried Tigg. "That is the best part, sir. I never knew that man fail to keep a promise. You do not need change, do you?"

En/Pt → "No," said Mr Pecksniff. "Thank you, not at all."

"Just so," said Mr Tigg. "If you had, I would have got it for you." He began to whistle, but before a dozen seconds had passed, he stopped. Then he looked seriously at Mr Pecksniff and said:

"Perhaps you would rather not lend Slyme five shillings?"

"I would much rather not," Mr Pecksniff replied.

"Egad!" said Tigg, nodding seriously as if he had just noticed a reason against it. "You may be right. Would you have the same objection to lending me five shillings now?"

"Yes, I really could not do it," said Mr Pecksniff.

"Not even half-a-crown, perhaps?" urged Mr Tigg.

"Not even half-a-crown."

"Then we reach," said Mr Tigg, "the ridiculously small amount of eighteen pence. Ha! ha!"

"That too," said Mr Pecksniff, "would be equally objectionable."

En/Pt → On hearing this, Mr Tigg warmly shook both of Mr Pecksniff's hands. He called Mr Pecksniff one of the most consistent and remarkable men he had ever met. He also said he wanted the honour of knowing him better. As a strict man of honour, he could not approve of several small traits in his friend Slyme. Yet he would forgive these and much more because he had greatly enjoyed Mr Pecksniff's company. This gave him more lasting pleasure than any successful small loan for Slyme could give. He then wished Mr Pecksniff a very good evening. He left no more embarrassed by his failure than any gentleman might wish.

En/Pt → Mr Pecksniff's thoughts at the Dragon bar that evening and at home that night were very serious. Further inquiry fully confirmed Tigg and Slyme's news that other family members had arrived. The Spottletoes had gone straight to the Dragon, where they stayed on guard. Their arrival caused such a sensation that Mrs Lupin guessed their purpose within half an hour. She secretly carried the news to Mr Pecksniff's house. Her great caution caused her to miss him. He entered the Dragon's front door just as she left its back door. Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Jonas lodged cheaply at the obscure Half Moon and Seven Stars. The next coach brought many more affectionate family members. They quarrelled inside and outside throughout the journey, to the coachman's despair. Within four-and-twenty hours, the few tavern rooms were scarce. All private lodgings--a full four beds and a sofa--rose cent per cent in price.

En/Pt → Nearly the whole family camped before the Blue Dragon and formally besieged it. Martin Chuzzlewit was under siege. He resisted bravely and refused all letters, messages, and parcels. He would not deal with anyone or offer any hope of surrender. Meanwhile, family forces kept meeting throughout the neighbourhood. No branch of the Chuzzlewit family had ever agreed with another. They fought, mocked one another, exchanged sharp words, and called each other names. They raised their noses, wrinkled their brows, buried good feelings, and violently brought back old complaints. The quiet area had known nothing like it since its earliest civilized record.

At last, in complete despair, a few fighters began speaking in only moderately angry terms. Almost all addressed Mr Pecksniff with a show of decency, recognizing his high character and influence. Little by little they united against Martin Chuzzlewit's stubbornness. They agreed - if Chuzzlewits can agree - to hold a general council at Mr Pecksniff's house at noon on a certain day. Every family member within reach of the summons was formally invited to attend.

En/Pt → If Mr Pecksniff ever looked like an apostle, it was on that memorable day. His calm smile seemed to announce, "I am a messenger of peace!" He seemed to have the lamb's gentle nature and much of the dove. He had nothing of the crocodile or even the mildest touch of the serpent. And the two Miss Pecksniffs! Charity's calm face seemed to say, "All my family have wronged me beyond repair. But I forgive them because it is my duty." Mercy had such a happy, simple, and innocent manner. She seemed very charming and childlike. If she had walked out alone earlier in the season, robin-redbreasts might have covered her with leaves. They might have thought she was one of the sweet children in the wood. She had come out again to seek blackberries with the fresh heart of a child. What words can paint the Pecksniffs in that difficult hour? None, because words sometimes keep bad company, and the Pecksniffs were all goodness.

En/Pt → But when the company arrived, that was the time. Mr Pecksniff rose at the table's head, a daughter on each side, welcomed his guests into the best parlour, and pointed them to chairs. His eyes overflowed and his face shone with gracious sweat, so that he seemed covered in moist meekness. The company were jealous, hard-hearted, distrustful, closed within themselves, and trusting nobody. They would not be softened or put to sleep by the Pecksniffs, any more than hedgehogs or porcupines would.

En/Pt → First came Mr Spottletoe. He was so bald and had such large whiskers that his falling hair seemed to have been stopped by a powerful remedy. The remedy seemed to have fixed that hair forever on his face. Mrs Spottletoe was too thin for her years and had a poetic nature. She called the whiskers "the lodestar of her existence." Her love for her uncle Chuzzlewit was strong. She was also shocked that people suspected her of making plans for his will. As a result, she could do nothing but cry and moan. Then came Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Jonas. Lifelong caution and cunning had made the old man's face so sharp that it seemed to cut through the crowd. He moved behind the most distant chairs. Jonas had learned so well from his father that he looked a year or two older than his father. They stood together, winking their red eyes and quietly whispering. There was also the widow of Mr Martin Chuzzlewit's dead brother. She was almost unnaturally unpleasant, with a dreary face, thin body, and masculine voice. Because of these qualities, people called her a strong-minded woman. If she could, she would prove herself a mental Samson by putting her brother-in-law in a private madhouse. He would stay there until he proved he was sane by loving her very much. Beside her sat her three unmarried daughters, who had gentlemanly manners. Their tight stays had made their tempers smaller than their waists, and the sharp lacing showed in their noses. A young grandnephew was very dark and hairy. He seemed born only to save looking-glasses from showing more than a first rough idea of a face. A female cousin was known only for being very deaf, living alone, and always having toothache. George Chuzzlewit was a cheerful bachelor cousin who claimed to be young but had been younger. He tended to be fat and ate too much. His eyes strained in their sockets as if always surprised. The bright marks on his cravat, waistcoat, and trinkets looked like pimples breaking out on him. Last came Mr Chevy Slyme and his friend Tigg. Everyone disliked the others mainly because they DID belong to the family. However, they all hated Mr Tigg because he did not.

En/Pt → This pleasant family circle now filled Mr Pecksniff's best parlour, ready to attack Mr Pecksniff or anyone else who said anything on any subject.

Mr Pecksniff rose, folded his hands, and looked around. "This does me good. It does my daughters good. We thank you for meeting here. We are grateful with all our hearts. You have given us a blessed distinction, and" - he smiled beyond imagining - "we shall not easily forget it."

"I am sorry to interrupt, Pecksniff," said Mr Spottletoe, his whiskers looking dangerous, "but you assume too much, sir. Who do you imagine intends to honour YOU, sir?"

A general murmur repeated and approved this question.

Mr Spottletoe spoke angrily and struck the table hard with his knuckles. "If you intend to continue as you began, the sooner you stop and this meeting ends, the better. I know your absurd wish to be seen as head of this family, but I can tell YOU, sir - "

En/Pt → Oh yes, indeed! HE tell. HE! What? Was he the head? From the strong-minded woman down, everyone immediately attacked Mr Spottletoe. He tried in vain to silence them and make himself heard. Then he sat again with folded arms and angrily shook his head. Without speaking, he told Mrs Spottletoe that the scoundrel Pecksniff could continue for now. But he would soon interrupt and destroy him.

"I am not sorry," Mr Pecksniff continued, "really not sorry that this small incident happened. It is good to meet without disguise. It is good to know we have no reserve and appear freely in our true characters."

En/Pt → The strong-minded woman's eldest daughter rose partway and shook from head to foot, more with anger than fear. She hoped some people WOULD show their true characters, since this would at least be something new. When these people spoke of relations, they should notice who was present. Otherwise, those relations might hear about it in an unexpected way. She said red noses were no disgrace because people neither made nor coloured their own noses. They received their noses without being asked. She also doubted that certain noses were redder than others, or even half as red as some. Her two sisters gave a sharp laugh. Miss Charity Pecksniff politely asked whether those very low remarks were aimed at her. She received only the answer, "Those the cap fits, let them wear it." Charity then began an angry and personal reply. Mercy supported her and laughed with much more feeling than seemed natural. The narrator claims that women nearby always join any disagreement among women. The strong-minded lady, her two daughters, Mrs Spottletoe, and the deaf cousin all joined the quarrel. The deaf cousin knew nothing about the issue, but that did not stop her.

En/Pt → The two Miss Pecksniffs matched the three Miss Chuzzlewits well. All five had much "steam" to release. Their argument might have lasted a long time. But the strong-minded woman was famous for sharp insults and attacked Mrs Spottletoe with taunting words. Before two minutes had passed, the poor woman could only cry. Her many tears upset Mr Spottletoe greatly. He held his closed fist near Mr Pecksniff's eyes, as if it were a natural curiosity worth studying. For no clear reason, he also offered to kick Mr George Chuzzlewit for sixpence. Then he took his wife under his arm and left angrily. This distracted the fighters and ended the argument. It broke out two or three more times in small bursts before dying into silence.

Then Mr Pecksniff rose again. The two Miss Pecksniffs acted as if the three Miss Chuzzlewits did not exist anywhere in the world. At the same time, the three Miss Chuzzlewits acted equally unaware of the two Miss Pecksniffs.

En/Pt → "It is a pity," said Mr Pecksniff, forgivingly remembering Mr Spottletoe's fist, "that our friend left so quickly. Yet we may congratulate ourselves because we know he does not distrust anything we say or do while he is away. That is very comforting, is it not?"

"Pecksniff," said Anthony, who had watched everyone sharply from the start, "do not be a hypocrite."

"A what, my good sir?" asked Mr Pecksniff.

"A hypocrite."

"Charity, my dear," said Mr Pecksniff, "remind me of something when I take my chamber candlestick tonight. I must pray more carefully than usual for Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit, who has wronged me."

He said this softly to his daughter, seeming cheerful because of a clear conscience, almost lively. Then he continued:

"All our thoughts concern our dear but unkind relative. As he is beyond our reach, we meet today rather like a funeral party, except - blessedly - there is no body in the house."

En/Pt → The strong-minded lady was not at all certain this was a blessed exception; quite the opposite.

"Well, my dear madam," said Mr Pecksniff, "whatever that may be, we are here. So we must consider whether it is possible by any fair means - "

"You know as well as I that any means are fair in this case, do you not?" said the strong-minded lady.

"Very good, my dear madam, very good. Let us say by ANY means. Can we open our valued relative's eyes to his present foolishness? Can we show him the true character and purpose of that young female? Her strange, very strange position with him" - Mr Pecksniff lowered his voice - "casts disgrace and shame on this family. We know" - he raised his voice - "or why is she his companion? She has the worst plans to use his weakness and take his property."

En/Pt → Although they agreed about nothing else, they all agreed as one on this point. Good Heaven, she had plans for his property! The strong-minded lady wanted poison. Her three daughters wanted Bridewell and bread-and-water. The cousin with toothache wanted Botany Bay, while the two Miss Pecksniffs suggested flogging. Only Mr Tigg doubted whether these punishments were fair. Despite his very poor clothes, his upper lip and coat frogs made him something of a ladies' man. He looked admiringly at the three Miss Chuzzlewits, with a little teasing in his look. He seemed to say, "My sweet creatures, you are far too hard on her, upon my soul!"

Mr Pecksniff crossed his two first fingers, as if trying both to make peace and an argument. "On one hand, I will not say she deserves all the punishments so strongly and happily suggested." This was one of his ornamental sentences. "On the other hand, I will not insult my common sense by saying she does not. I suggest that practical means may persuade our respected, shall I say revered - ?"

En/Pt → "No!" interrupted the strong-minded woman loudly.

"Then I will not," said Mr Pecksniff. "You are right, my dear madam, and I value and thank you for your wise objection. Our respected relative might be persuaded to listen to nature's promptings, not to the - "

"Go on, Pa!" cried Mercy.

"The truth is, my dear," Mr Pecksniff told his relatives with a smile, "I cannot find the word. The name of those fabulous animals - pagan, sadly - that used to sing in the water has escaped me."

Mr George Chuzzlewit suggested "swans."

"No," said Mr Pecksniff. "Not swans. Very like swans, though. Thank you."

The nephew with only an outline of a face spoke for the first and last time that day: "Oysters."

En/Pt → "No," said Mr Pecksniff with his special politeness, "not oysters. But they are not at all unlike oysters. That is an excellent idea. Thank you very much, my dear sir. Wait! Sirens. Dear me, sirens, of course. We may persuade our respected relative to listen to nature, not the siren-like tricks of art. We must remember that our dear friend has a grandson whom he loved greatly until lately. I wish he were here today because I truly and deeply care for him. A fine young man, a very fine young man! We might remove Mr Chuzzlewit's distrust and prove that we seek no personal gain by - "

'If Mr George Chuzzlewit has anything to say to me,' the strong-minded woman said firmly, 'let him speak like a man, not look at me and my daughters as if he could eat us.'

'As for looking, Mrs Ned,' Mr George replied angrily, 'I have heard that a cat may look at a king. I was born into this family, so I hope I may look at someone who joined it by marriage. And whatever your jealousy and disappointment make you think, I am not a cannibal, ma'am.'

En/Pt → 'I do not know that!' cried the strong-minded woman.

'Anyway, if I were a cannibal,' said Mr George Chuzzlewit, encouraged by this reply, 'I would think a lady who outlived three husbands and suffered so little from their loss must be very tough.'

The strong-minded woman rose at once.

Mr George nodded fiercely at every second syllable. 'I will add this without naming names, so only people with guilty consciences need feel hurt. Those who entered this family by deceiving its members, then ruled over them until they were glad to die, should stop acting like vultures around other family members who are still alive. It would be better and more proper if those people stayed home. They should be content with what they already have instead of hovering around and putting their fingers into this family pie. They give it more than enough of their flavour even from fifty miles away.'

En/Pt → The strong-minded woman moved to the door with a scornful smile, followed by her three daughters. 'I might have expected this! I fully expected it from the beginning. What else could I expect in a place like this!'

'Please do not turn your half-pay officers' eyes at me, ma'am,' Miss Charity interrupted. 'I will not stand it.'

This was a sharp attack on the pension the strong-minded woman had received after her second husband died and before her last marriage. It hurt her deeply.

'You miserable girl,' said Mrs Ned, 'a grateful country forgot me when I entered this family. I now feel that it served me right. I lost my claim on the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland when I lowered myself in this way. Now, my dears, if you are ready and have learned enough from the polite example of these two young ladies, we will go. Mr Pecksniff, we thank you. We came to be entertained, and the amusement you provided has gone far beyond our greatest hopes. Thank you. Good-bye!'

En/Pt → These last words left the Pecksniffs helpless. The strong-minded woman swept out of the room and house with her daughters. All three lifted their noses and laughed scornfully. Passing the parlour window outside, they pretended to feel great delight together. With this final insult, which greatly discouraged those inside, they disappeared.

Before Mr Pecksniff or the remaining visitors could speak, someone rushed past the window in the other direction. Then Mr Spottletoe burst in. Compared with his present heat, he had left like a man of snow. Oil ran from his head onto his whiskers, his face was red, his limbs shook, and he gasped for breath.

'My good sir!' cried Mr Pecksniff.

'Oh yes!' the other replied. 'Oh yes, certainly! Oh, of course! Do you hear him? Do all of you hear him?'

'What is the matter?' several voices cried.

'Oh, nothing!' cried Spottletoe, still gasping. 'Nothing at all! It does not matter! Ask him! He will tell you!'

En/Pt → Mr Pecksniff looked around in complete surprise. 'I do not understand our friend. I assure you, he makes no sense to me.'

'Makes no sense, sir!' cried the other. 'Do you claim that you do not know what happened? Do you claim that you did not trick us into coming here and make a plan against us? Will you dare to say that you did not know Mr Chuzzlewit was leaving, and that you do not know he has gone?'

'Gone!' everyone cried.

'Gone,' echoed Mr Spottletoe. 'Gone while we sat here. Gone. No one knows where. Of course no one knew he was leaving! Until the last moment, the landlady thought they were only going for a ride; she suspected nothing else. Of course she is not this fellow's servant!'

The angry gentleman added an ironic howl, looked at the company for one moment in sudden silence, then rushed off again at the same great speed and was not seen again.

En/Pt → Mr Pecksniff tried in vain to assure them that this timely escape by the family shocked and surprised him as much as anyone. Each remaining relative said goodbye by attacking and blaming him with more energy and feeling than anyone had ever shown toward one unlucky person.

Mr Tigg took an extremely moral position. The deaf cousin had the extra pain of seeing everything but hearing only the final news. She scraped her shoes on the scraper, then left their marks all over the top step, to show she was shaking the dust from her feet before leaving that dishonest, treacherous house.

Mr Pecksniff had one comfort: all these relatives and friends had already hated him as much as possible, and he had given them no more love than he could easily spare from his large supply. This thought comforted him greatly. It shows how easily a good man may be comforted after failure and disappointment.

Chapter Five

En/Pt → CONTAINING A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE INSTALLATION OF MR PECKSNIFF'S NEW PUPIL INTO THE BOSOM OF MR PECKSNIFF'S FAMILY. WITH ALL THE FESTIVITIES HELD ON THAT OCCASION, AND THE GREAT ENJOYMENT OF MR PINCH

The excellent architect and land surveyor kept a horse. Enemies mentioned earlier claimed they saw an imagined likeness between the horse and its master. They did not mean its appearance, because it was thin, bony, and worn-looking. It also always received much less corn than Mr Pecksniff. They meant its character. The horse promised much but did nothing. It always seemed about to go, yet never went. Even at its slowest, it lifted its legs so high and moved with such action that it seemed to travel at fourteen miles an hour. It was perfectly satisfied with its speed and never worried when compared with the fastest horses. It filled strangers with lively hope but people who knew it with dark despair. Only Mr Pecksniff's enemies could explain how these qualities made it like its master. Sadly, the unkind world did make that comparison.

En/Pt → One bright, frosty morning, all Mr Pinch's thoughts and wishes centred on this horse and the covered vehicle it usually pulled. Whatever the vehicle's proper name was, it looked more like a gig with a swelling than anything else. In this fine carriage, Mr Pinch would drive alone to Salisbury, meet the new pupil, and bring him home in triumph.

En/Pt → Bless your simple heart, Tom Pinch. You proudly button your thin coat, wrongly called a 'great' coat for years. Cheerfully, you tell Sam the hostler not to let the horse go yet, fully believing it wants to go and would if allowed. Who would not smile lovingly, not to make fun of poor Tom, that this holiday excites you so much? You put down your large white mug, almost without tasting it; you had placed it there last night so breakfast would not delay you. You put a crust beside you to eat later on the road, when you are calmer. As you drive away happily and nod gratefully to Pecksniff in his nightcap at his chamber window, who would not cry, 'Heaven guide you, Tom. May you be leaving forever for a quiet home where you can live in peace and sorrow never touches you!'

En/Pt → What better time to travel than a fresh, frosty morning, when hope runs through the body with the quick blood? It was the happy start of a cold, fresh early-winter day, better than slow summer and spring that is only partly warm. Sheep bells rang clearly in the strong air, as if they were living things that also felt its healthy power. Instead of leaves and flowers, the trees dropped sparkling frost like diamond dust. At least that was how Tom saw it. Smoke rose high from cottage chimneys, as if the beautiful earth could not bear heavy smoke. The thin, clear ice on the brook seemed to have stopped the lively water so that it could look at the lovely morning. To keep the sun from breaking the charm too quickly, a mist like one around the moon on summer nights moved between the sun and the ground. To Tom, it seemed to ask the sun to melt it gently.

En/Pt → Tom Pinch went on, not fast but feeling as if he moved quickly, and many things kept him happy. When he was still far from the tollgate, he saw the tollman's wife run back into her little house after stopping a wagon, knowing Mr Pinch was coming. When he came near enough to call, the tollman's children ran out and shouted, 'Mr Pinch!' This delighted Tom. Even the tollman, usually ugly and someone people avoided, came out to take the toll and give a rough good morning. With this welcome and the sight of their breakfast on a round table by the fire, Tom's crust tasted as rich as bread from a fairy loaf.

But married people and children were not the only ones who welcomed Tom Pinch. Young women with bright eyes and snowy-white chests hurried to many upstairs windows as he passed. They returned his greeting seven times over. They were all cheerful and laughed. Some of the boldest even kissed their hands to him when Tom looked back. Who minded poor Mr Pinch? There was no harm in him.

En/Pt → The morning became so beautiful and lively that the sun seemed to say - Tom was sure it did - 'I cannot bear it any longer; I must look,' and shone out brightly. The mist, too shy and gentle for it, ran away. As it went, the hills, mounds, and far fields with quiet sheep and noisy crows appeared bright and new. The brook no longer stood still but ran quickly to carry the news to the water mill three miles away.

Mr Pinch rode along happily when he saw a traveller walking ahead in the same direction. The young man walked lightly and quickly, singing very loudly but not badly. He was about twenty-five or twenty-six and dressed in a loose, wild style. The ends of his red neckcloth flew behind him, and bright winter berries showed in the buttonhole of his velveteen coat as clearly from behind as from the front. He sang so strongly that he did not hear the wheels until they were close. Then he turned a playful face and merry blue eyes towards Mr Pinch, and stopped singing.

En/Pt → Tom Pinch stopped. 'Why, Mark? Who would have thought of seeing you here? This is surprising!'

Mark touched his hat and, suddenly much less lively, said he was going to Salisbury.

Mr Pinch looked at him with great pleasure. 'And how neat you are! I really did not think you were half such a well-made fellow, Mark!'

'Thank you, Mr Pinch. I believe I am fairly well made. It is not my fault. But being neat, sir - that is where the trouble is,' he said, looking especially gloomy.

'Where is what?' Mr Pinch asked.

'Where the trouble is. Any man can be cheerful and good-tempered when he is well dressed. There is no great credit in that. If I were very ragged and very happy, then I would begin to feel I had achieved something, Mr Pinch.'

'So you were singing just now to fight against being well dressed, Mark?' said Pinch.

En/Pt → Mark grinned broadly. 'Your talk is always as good as print, sir. That was it.'

'Well!' cried Pinch. 'Mark, you are the strangest young man I have ever known. I always thought so, but now I am sure. I am going to Salisbury too. Will you get in? I will be very glad of your company.'

The young man thanked him and accepted. He stepped into the carriage at once and sat on the very edge of the seat, with half his body outside, to show that he was there only because Mr Pinch was polite. As they travelled, they spoke as follows.

'Seeing you so smart, Mark,' said Pinch, 'I almost thought you must be going to marry.'

'Well, sir, I have thought of that too,' he replied. 'There might be some credit in being happy with a wife, especially if the children had measles and were very difficult. But I am almost afraid to try it. I do not see how.'

En/Pt → 'Perhaps you are not very fond of anyone?' said Pinch.

'Not anyone in particular, sir, I think.'

'But by your way of thinking, Mark,' said Mr Pinch, 'you should marry someone you did not like and who was very unpleasant.'

'So I should, sir. But that may take a principle a little too far, may it not?'

"Perhaps it might," said Mr Pinch. They both laughed happily.

"Lord bless you, sir," said Mark. "You do not half know me. I believe I could stay more cheerful than any man in conditions that made him miserable. I only need a chance, but I cannot get one. Nobody will know half of what is in me unless something unexpected happens, and I see no sign of it. I am going to leave the Dragon, sir."

"Leave the Dragon!" cried Mr Pinch, greatly astonished. "Why, Mark, you take my breath away!"

En/Pt → "Yes, sir," he said, looking straight ahead into the distance as people do when thinking deeply. "What is the use of staying at the Dragon? It is not the place for ME. When I left London - though I am Kentish by birth - and took this job, I decided it was England's dullest out-of-the-way corner. I thought there would be credit in being cheerful there. But, Lord, the Dragon is never dull! There are skittles, cricket, quoits, nine-pins, comic songs, choruses, and company around the fire every winter evening. Any man could be cheerful there. There is no credit in THAT."

"People may be telling the truth for once, Mark," said Mr Pinch. "I believe it because of what I know myself. You create half this fun and were the one who started it."

"There may be something in that, sir," Mark replied. "But it gives me no comfort."

En/Pt → After a short silence, Mr Pinch spoke even more quietly than usual. "I can hardly take in what you say. What will become of Mrs Lupin, Mark?"

Mark looked farther into the distance. He did not think it would matter much to her; many clever young men would gladly take the job, and he knew a dozen.

"That may be," said Mr Pinch, "but I am not sure Mrs Lupin would want them. I always thought you and Mrs Lupin would marry, Mark, and everyone I know thought so too."

"I never," Mark said, embarrassed, "said anything directly courting-like to her, nor she to me. But one of these days I might do something, and she might answer. Well, sir, THAT would not suit."

"Not be landlord of the Dragon, Mark?" cried Mr Pinch.

"No, sir, certainly not," he said, turning from the horizon to his fellow traveller. "That would ruin a man like me. I would sit comfortably for life and nobody would discover me. What credit is there in the Dragon's landlord being cheerful? He could not help it if he tried."

En/Pt → "Does Mrs Lupin know you mean to leave her?" Mr Pinch asked.

"I have not told her yet, sir, but I must. This morning I am searching in the city for a new and suitable job," he said, nodding toward the city.

"What sort of thing?" asked Mr Pinch.

"I was thinking," said Mark, "of work in grave-digging."

"Good gracious, Mark!" cried Mr Pinch.

"It is a good damp, wormy business, sir," said Mark, arguing with a shake of his head. "There might be credit in being cheerful while thinking about it - unless grave-diggers are usually cheerful, which would be a drawback. Do you know how they generally are, sir?"

"No," said Mr Pinch. "I do not indeed. I never thought about it."

"If grave-digging does not work," Mark thought aloud, "other jobs might. Funeral work is gloomy and could bring credit. Collecting goods for a broker in a poor area might do. A prison guard sees much misery. A doctor's assistant is in the middle of murder. Collecting debts is not cheerful. Even a tax collector must sometimes feel troubled. Many jobs would give me a chance."

En/Pt → Mr Pinch was so overwhelmed that he could only make occasional comments on unimportant subjects and look sideways at his bright-faced, odd friend, who seemed unaware. Near the city's edge, Mark said he would jump down there if Mr Pinch pleased.

"But bless my soul, Mark," said Mr Pinch. He had just noticed that his companion's shirt was open as if it were Midsummer, and every breath of air moved it. "Why do you not wear a waistcoat?"

"What is the good of one, sir?" Mark asked.

"The good?" said Mr Pinch. "To keep your chest warm."

"Lord love you, sir!" cried Mark. "You do not know me. My chest needs no warming. Even if it did, what might happen if I wore no waistcoat? Inflammation of the lungs, perhaps? Well, there would be some credit in staying cheerful with inflammation of the lungs."

En/Pt → Mr Pinch only breathed hard, opened his eyes wide, and nodded strongly. Mark thanked him for the ride and jumped lightly down without asking him to stop. He moved along a side lane, with his red neckerchief and open coat moving in the air. He turned back several times to nod. He looked like one of the most carefree, good-tempered, comic men alive. Thoughtful Mr Pinch continued toward Salisbury.

En/Pt → Mr Pinch imagined Salisbury as a dangerous, wild city full of pleasure. After leaving his horse at a stable, he spoke to the stable worker. He said he would return in an hour or two to watch the horse eat corn. Then he walked through the streets, enjoying the idea that they were full of mystery and wickedness. Market-day made the city seem even wilder to this quiet man. Streets around the market were packed with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, wagons, vegetables, meat, tripe, pies, poultry, and sellers' goods of every kind. Young and old farmers stood in groups or talked loudly on tavern steps. They wore loose work shirts, brown and grey coats, red wool scarves, leather leggings, strangely shaped hats, hunting whips, and carried rough sticks. They traded large amounts of greasy money, using huge wallets that were very hard to pull out and push back in. Farmers' wives in red cloaks and hats rode shaggy, calm horses. The horses went anywhere without asking why and could have stood still in a china shop, with a complete dinner set beside every hoof. Many dogs took a deep interest in the market and their masters' bargains. Human and animal voices made a great confusion.

En/Pt → Mr Pinch was delighted by everything for sale. He especially admired a travelling knife seller and bought a pocket knife with seven blades. He later found that not one blade could cut. After seeing the whole market and the farmers safely enter their market dinner, he returned to his horse. He watched it eat to its heart's content, then walked through the town again to enjoy the shop windows. First, he stared at the bank and wondered which underground direction led to the caves holding its money. He also looked back at one or two young men training as lawyers in the town. In his eyes, they were exciting fellows who knew a secret or two and lived very wildly.

En/Pt → But the shops! First were jewellers, showing all earth's treasures. Huge silver watches hung in every windowpane; if they were not excellent timekeepers, it could not be because their works lacked room. They were certainly big, perhaps ugly enough, to be perfect mechanical performers. To Mr Pinch they looked smaller than Geneva ware. When he saw an enormous watch called a repeater, able to strike every quarter hour inside its owner's pocket, he almost wished he were rich enough to buy it.

En/Pt → But gold, silver, gems, and clockwork meant little beside the bookshops. Fresh paper smelled pleasant and reminded him of a new school grammar from long ago. "Master Pinch, Grove House Academy" had been written perfectly on its first blank page. The smell of leather covers and neat rows of books promised happiness. New works from London lay open in windows at the title page or first page of the first chapter. They tempted people to read, then rush in and buy because they could not turn the page. Small pictures at the front pointed like road signs to rich stories inside. Other books showed serious portraits and famous old names. He knew those works well. He would have given mines to place them, in any form, on the narrow shelf beside his bed at Mr Pecksniff's. What a painful shop it was!

En/Pt → Another shop was less bad at first but still painful: it sold children's books. There stood poor Robinson Crusoe, with dog, hatchet, goat-skin cap, and guns, looking calmly at Philip Quarn and all his imitators. He seemed to call Mr Pinch as witness that only he had left one footprint on the shore of boyish memory, which generations would never disturb. There were Persian tales, flying chests, students of enchanted books shut for years in caverns, Abudah the merchant, and the terrible little old woman who came from a box in his bedroom. There was the great talisman, Arabian Nights, and Cassim Baba, divided by four and hanging bloody in the robbers' cave. These wonders stirred the lamp within Mr Pinch until, when he faced the busy street, phantoms waited for his command and he happily lived again the days before the Pecksniff era.

En/Pt → Mr Pinch cared less for the pharmacy shops, with their great glowing bottles and smaller lights in the stoppers. Their pleasant goods mixed medicine and perfume in the form of sweets and pure honey. He cared even less, as always, for tailors. The newest London waistcoat designs looked wonderful in their windows but never looked the same elsewhere. He stopped to read the theatre notice and stared at its doorway with wonder. A pale man with long dark hair came out and told a boy to fetch his large sword from home. Mr Pinch could not move after hearing this and might have stayed until dark. Then the old cathedral bell began to ring for the evening service, so he pulled himself away.

En/Pt → The organist's assistant was Mr Pinch's friend. This was fortunate because he too was quiet and gentle. Like Tom, he had been an old-fashioned boy at school, though noisy boys also liked him. By good luck, the assistant was working alone that afternoon, with only Tom in the dusty organ loft. While his friend played, Tom helped with the organ controls. When the service ended, Tom played the organ himself. Darkness was coming. Yellow light from the old choir windows mixed with dark red. The grand music seemed to echo in every old tomb and deep inside his heart. As the music filled the church, great thoughts and hopes crowded his mind. Among them were all the images of that day, now more serious but still the same, even the smallest childhood memory. At that moment, the sound seemed to contain his whole life. As stone, wood, and glass faded in the darkness, his visions grew brighter. Tom might have forgotten the new pupil and the waiting master and played gratefully until midnight. But a down-to-earth cathedral worker insisted on locking the building at once. Tom thanked his friend, felt his way into the lamp-lit streets, and hurried to dinner.

En/Pt → By then, all the farmers were riding home, so the tavern's sitting room, which had sand on the floor, was empty. This was where Mr Pinch had left the horse. His small table was drawn close to the fire, and he greatly enjoyed a well-cooked steak and steaming potatoes. Beside him stood a huge jug of Wiltshire beer. The meal was so excellent that he often put down his knife and fork, rubbed his hands, and thought about it. When the cheese and celery arrived, he took a book from his pocket. He ate a little, drank a little, read a little, and stopped to wonder about the new pupil. After that thought passed, he was deep in his book again. Then the door opened, and another guest brought in so much cold air that he seemed at first to put out the fire.

"A very hard frost tonight, sir," said the newcomer, politely noticing Mr Pinch move his little table to make room. "Please do not disturb yourself."

En/Pt → Although he seemed concerned about Mr Pinch's comfort, he pulled a great chair with a leather seat to the middle of the fireplace. He sat directly before the fire, with one foot on each side of the fireplace.

"My feet are quite numb. Ah, bitter cold indeed."

"You have been outside some time, I dare say?" said Mr Pinch.

"All day. On top of a coach too."

"That explains why he makes the room so cold," thought Mr Pinch. "Poor fellow! He must be thoroughly chilled."

The stranger also became thoughtful and watched the fire silently for five or ten minutes. At last he removed his shawl and great-coat, which, unlike Mr Pinch's, was very thick and warm. But without it he was no more talkative. He returned to the same seat and position, leaned back, and bit his nails. He was perhaps one-and-twenty and handsome, with keen dark eyes and a quick manner. The contrast made Tom notice his own manner and feel even shyer than usual.

En/Pt → A clock stood in the room, and the stranger looked at it often. Tom did too, partly from nervous sympathy with his silent companion and partly because the new pupil was to ask for him at half after six, which was near. Whenever the stranger caught Tom looking at the clock, Tom felt confused, as if caught doing something. Seeing this unease, the younger man perhaps smiled and said:

"We both seem rather concerned about the time. I have an engagement to meet a gentleman here."

"So have I," said Mr Pinch.

"At half-past six," said the stranger.

"At half-past six," said Tom in the same breath. The other looked at him with surprise.

"The young gentleman," Tom said timidly, "was to ask at that time for someone called Pinch."

"Dear me!" cried the other, jumping up. "And I have kept you from the fire all this time! I did not know you were Mr Pinch. I am the Mr Martin you were to ask for. Please excuse me. How do you do? Do come nearer!"

En/Pt → "Thank you," said Tom. "I am not cold, and you are; we have a cold ride ahead. But if you wish it, I will. I - I am very glad," he added with his own embarrassed, honest smile, which confessed his faults and asked kindness as clearly as a simple written statement. "I am very glad that you are the person I expected. A minute ago, I was wishing he would be like you."

"I am very glad to hear it," Martin replied, shaking his hand again. "For I assure you, I was thinking nothing could be luckier than Mr Pinch being like you."

"No, really!" said Tom with great pleasure. "Are you serious?"

"Upon my word, I am," replied his new friend. "You and I will get on excellently, I know. That is a great relief, because I cannot get on with everybody, and that was my greatest worry. It is gone now. Please ring the bell."

En/Pt → Mr Pinch eagerly rose and did so; the handle hung just above Martin's head as he warmed himself. Smiling, Tom listened to his friend say:

"If you like punch, let me order one hot glass each, so we may welcome our friendship properly. To tell you a secret, Mr Pinch, I have never wanted something warm and cheering more. But I did not want to be found drinking it before knowing what sort of person you were. First impressions often go far and last long."

Mr Pinch agreed, and hot, strong punch arrived. After they drank to each other in the steaming mixture, they became very open.

"I am a kind of relation of Pecksniff's," said the young man.

"Indeed!" cried Mr Pinch.

"Yes. My grandfather is his cousin, so he is somehow kith and kin to me, if you can understand it. I cannot."

"Then Martin is your Christian name?" said Mr Pinch thoughtfully. "Oh!"

En/Pt → "Of course," said his friend. "I wish it were my surname, because mine is not pretty and takes long to sign. My name is Chuzzlewit."

"Dear me!" cried Mr Pinch, starting without meaning to.

"You are not surprised that I have two names, I suppose?" the other said, lifting his glass. "Most people do."

"Oh no," said Mr Pinch. "Not at all. Oh dear no! Well!" Mr Pecksniff had privately told him not to mention the old gentleman named Chuzzlewit who had stayed at the Dragon, but to leave that for himself. Tom could only hide his confusion by raising his glass. For a few seconds they looked at each other through their tumblers, then set them down empty.

"I told the men in the stable ten minutes ago to have everything ready," said Mr Pinch, looking again at the clock. "Shall we go?"

"If you please," said the other.

En/Pt → "Would you like to drive?" asked Mr Pinch, his face shining with pride in the offer. "You may, if you wish."

"That depends, Mr Pinch," Martin laughed, "on your horse. If he is bad, I would rather keep my hands warm in my greatcoat pockets."

He thought this an excellent joke, so Mr Pinch was sure it was one. Tom laughed too and believed he enjoyed it greatly. He paid his bill; Mr Chuzzlewit paid for the punch. They wrapped up as well as their means allowed and went together to the front door, where Mr Pecksniff's property blocked the way.

"I will not drive, thank you, Mr Pinch," Martin said as he took the passenger seat. "By the way, can we take my box?"

"Certainly," said Tom. "Put it in, Dick, anywhere!"

En/Pt → The box was not small enough for any odd corner. Still, Dick the hostler somehow put it in with Mr Chuzzlewit's help. It all stood on Mr Pinch's side. Mr Chuzzlewit feared it would burden him, but Tom said, "Not at all." The box forced Tom into a position where he could see little except his knees. Yet every bad wind helps someone. The cold air came from Tom's side, and the wall of box and man fully protected the new pupil. This was a great comfort.

En/Pt → It was a clear evening with a bright moon. Moonlight and white frost made the beautiful landscape shine like silver. At first, the great calm made both men silent. Soon, the punch inside them and healthy air outside made them talk without stopping. Halfway home, they stopped to give the horse water. Martin was generous with money and ordered another glass of punch. They shared it and became no less talkative. Naturally, they spoke mainly about Mr Pecksniff and his family. With tears in his eyes, Tom Pinch described them and their many kindnesses. His picture might have made anyone with feeling almost honour them. Mr Pecksniff had no idea Tom would do this. Being humble, he would not have sent Tom to bring the pupil home if he had known.

So they went on and on, in story-book language, until village lights appeared. The church spire cast a long shadow across the graveyard grass. It was like a dial--alas, the truest in the world. Whatever light Heaven sent, each new shadow marked the passing days, weeks, and years on that solemn ground.

En/Pt → "A pretty church!" said Martin, seeing his companion slow the already slow horse as they came near.

"Is it not?" cried Tom proudly. "It has the sweetest little organ you ever heard. I play it for them."

"Indeed?" said Martin. "It hardly seems worth the trouble. What do you get for it?"

"Nothing," said Tom.

"Well," said his friend, "you ARE a very strange fellow!"

A short silence followed.

"When I say nothing," Mr Pinch said cheerfully, "I am wrong and do not mean it, because it gives me great pleasure and some of my happiest hours. It led to something else the other day, but you probably will not care to hear?"

"Oh yes, I will. What?"

"It led me," Tom said quietly, "to see one of the loveliest and most beautiful faces you can imagine."

"Yet I can imagine a beautiful face," said his friend thoughtfully, "or should, if I have any memory."

En/Pt → "She came for the first time very early one morning," said Tom, putting a hand on the other's arm. "It was hardly light. I saw her over my shoulder, standing just inside the porch. I turned cold and almost thought she was a spirit. Of course, I soon understood my mistake, luckily before I stopped playing."

"Why luckily?"

"Because she stood and listened. I wore my spectacles and saw her through gaps in the curtains as clearly as I see you. She was beautiful. After a while she glided away, and I played until she was out of hearing."

"Why did you do that?"

"Do you not see?" Tom replied. "She might think I had not seen her and come back."

"And did she?"

"Certainly. The next morning and the next evening, always alone and when nobody was nearby. I rose earlier and stayed later, so she would find the church door open and the organ playing, and would not be disappointed. For several days she walked that way and always listened. But she has gone now, and in this wide world nothing is less likely than that I shall see her face again."

En/Pt → "You know nothing more about her?"

"No."

"And you never followed her when she left?"

"Why should I upset her by following?" said Tom Pinch. "Was she likely to want my company? She came to hear the organ, not to see me. I would not frighten her away from a place she seemed to love. Heaven bless her! To give her one minute's pleasure each day, I would play at those times until I was old. I would be content if she sometimes thought of me as part of the music. I would be more than repaid if she connected me with anything she liked as much as that."

En/Pt → The new pupil was clearly amazed by Tom's weakness and would probably have given him advice. But they reached Mr Pecksniff's door at the right moment. This time they used the front door because it was an occasion of ceremony and joy. The same man was waiting for the horse. That morning, Tom had begged this man not to let the eager animal start. Tom now gave the horse into his care. He then whispered to Mr Chuzzlewit, begging him never to repeat a word of his heartfelt story. Finally, Tom led the pupil inside to be presented at once.

En/Pt → Mr Pecksniff had plainly not expected them for hours. Open books surrounded him. With a black pencil in his mouth and compasses in hand, he studied many strange mathematical diagrams. Their shapes looked like designs for fireworks. Miss Charity was not expecting them either. A large wicker basket stood before her as she made impossible nightcaps for the poor. Miss Mercy was also surprised. She sat on a stool and tied the petticoat of a large doll for a neighbour's child. It was truly a grown-up doll, which made the scene more confusing. Its little bonnet hung by its ribbon from one of her fair curls. She had fastened it there so it would not be lost or sat on. It would be difficult to imagine a family more completely surprised than the Pecksniffs.

"Bless my life!" said Mr Pecksniff, looking up and slowly changing his thoughtful face to joyful recognition. "Here already! Martin, my dear boy, I am delighted to welcome you to my poor house!"

En/Pt → With this kind greeting, Mr Pecksniff embraced him and patted his back several times with his right hand, as if his feelings were too strong for words.

"Here are my daughters, Martin," he said, recovering. "They are my only two children. If you ever saw them, you have not seen them since you were infants together--ah, these sad family divisions! My dears, why blush because your everyday work has been discovered? We meant to welcome you as a visitor in our little state room, Martin," Mr Pecksniff said with a smile. "But I like this better, I like this better!"

Oh blessed star of Innocence, wherever you are, how you shone in your heavenly home! The two Miss Pecksniffs each offered Martin a lily-white hand, with glowing cheeks. How you twinkled with sympathy when Mercy remembered the bonnet in her hair! She hid her fair face and turned aside. Her gentle sister pulled out the bonnet and gave Mercy a soft blow on her full shoulder.

En/Pt → 'And how,' asked Mr Pecksniff, taking Mr Pinch's elbow kindly, 'has our friend used you, Martin?'

'Very well indeed, sir. We are on the best terms.'

'Old Tom Pinch!' said Mr Pecksniff sadly. 'It seems only yesterday that Thomas was fresh from school. Yet many years have passed since Thomas Pinch and I first walked the world together!'

Mr Pinch was too moved to speak. He pressed his master's hand and tried to thank him.

'Thomas Pinch and I will walk it still in faithful friendship!' said Mr Pecksniff. 'If either is run over at life's busy crossings, the other will take him to Hope's hospital and sit beside his bed in Bounty!'

In a happier tone, he shook Mr Pinch's elbow. 'Well, well, well! No more of this. Martin, let me show you our home and way of life. Come!'

He took a lighted candle and, with his young relative, prepared to leave. At the door he stopped.

En/Pt → 'You will come with us, Tom Pinch?'

Tom would cheerfully have followed him even to death, glad to give his life for such a man.

Opening the opposite parlour, Mr Pecksniff said, 'This is the little state room. My girls are proud of it, Martin.' Opening another, he said, 'This is the little room where I made my works, slight things at best. A portrait of me by Spiller. A bust by Spoker. It is thought a good likeness; I recognize something in the left corner of the nose.'

Martin thought it a good likeness, though not intellectual enough. Mr Pecksniff said others had noticed the same fault. He was pleased that his young relation had an eye for art.

Mr Pecksniff waved at the books. 'They concern our work. I have written things but not published them. Be careful upstairs. This is my chamber. I read here when the family thinks I am asleep. It may hurt my health, but art is long and time short. There are ways to note rough ideas even here.'

En/Pt → He pointed to a small round table with a lamp, sheets of paper, an India-rubber eraser, and a case of instruments. Everything was ready in case an architectural idea came to Mr Pecksniff at night. Then he would leap from bed and record it forever.

Mr Pecksniff opened another door on that floor, then shut it quickly as if it were a Blue Chamber. But he smiled and said, 'Why not?'

Martin could not say why not because he knew nothing about it. Mr Pecksniff opened the door and answered himself:

'My daughters' room. A poor first floor for us, but a bower for them. Neat and airy. Plants, hyacinths, books, and birds.' The birds were only one old, tail-less sparrow, borrowed from the kitchen. 'Here are such small things as girls love, nothing more. Anyone seeking heartless splendour will seek in vain.'

Then he led them upstairs.

En/Pt → Mr Pecksniff opened the famous front room on the second floor. 'Some talent has developed in this room. Here I had an idea for a steeple which I may one day give the world. We work here, Martin. A few architects have been trained here, have they not, Mr Pinch?'

Tom fully agreed and fully believed it.

Passing the candle over paper rolls, Mr Pecksniff said, 'There are signs of our work: Salisbury Cathedral from north, south, east, west, south-east, and nor'west; a bridge, almshouse, jail, church, powder-magazine, wine-cellar, portico, summer-house, ice-house; plans, elevations, sections, everything.' In another large room with four little beds, he said, 'This is your room, which you will share with quiet Mr Pinch. It faces south, has a fine view and Mr Pinch's little library. Ask for any comfort you want, Martin. There is no restriction, even for strangers.'

It was true that any pupil was freely allowed to ask for anything. Some had asked for the same thing for five years without being stopped.

En/Pt → 'The domestic assistants sleep above, and that is all,' said Mr Pecksniff. Pleased by Martin's praise of the arrangements, he led them back to the parlour.

The parlour had changed: a large festive meal was ready, and the two Miss Pecksniffs waited with welcoming looks. There were two bottles of currant wine, one white and one red. There were also long thin sandwiches, apples, moist captain's biscuits, small gritty pieces of orange with sugar, and a geological-looking home-made cake. The size of the meal took Tom Pinch's breath away. New pupils were usually eased down slowly, especially with wine, and sometimes took two weeks to reach the water pump. But this was a banquet, a private Lord Mayor's feast to remember afterwards.

Mr Pecksniff asked them to do full justice to this light, cool entertainment, which suited the night.

'Martin will sit between you, my dears, and Mr Pinch beside me. Let us drink to our new inmate and be happy together! Martin, my love to you! Mr Pinch, if you spare the bottle, we shall quarrel.'

En/Pt → Mr Pecksniff drank to his toast, trying to seem as if the acidic wine did not make him wink.

Speaking of the party, not the wine, he said, 'This meeting repays much disappointment and trouble. Let us be merry.' He took a captain's biscuit. 'It is a poor heart that never rejoices, and our hearts are not poor. No!'

With such calls to be merry, he did the honours. Mr Pinch ate everything, especially an amazing number of thin sandwiches, perhaps to prove it was real. He drank plenty of wine, attacking the bottle hard. Whenever he filled his glass, Miss Charity stared coldly as if at a ghost. Mr Pecksniff also grew thoughtful or sad. Knowing the wine, he may have been thinking about Mr Pinch's state tomorrow and remedies for colic.

Martin and the ladies quickly became friends and happily compared childhood memories. Miss Mercy laughed hugely at everything and sometimes, after looking at Mr Pinch's happy face, nearly became hysterical. Her sister angrily whispered that it was no subject for jokes and she had no patience with the creature. Yet she usually laughed too, more moderately, saying it was too ridiculous and unbearable to take seriously.

En/Pt → At last it was time to follow the old rule for health, riches, and wisdom: early to bed and early to rise, a rule proved by the great fortunes of chimney-sweepers and others. The ladies sweetly said goodnight to Mr Chuzzlewit, dutifully to their father, and condescendingly to Mr Pinch, then went to their bower. Mr Pecksniff insisted on personally seeing to Martin's comfort. Taking his arm, he led him upstairs to his bedroom, with Mr Pinch carrying the light.

'Mr Pinch,' said Pecksniff, sitting with folded arms on a spare bed, 'there are no candle snuffers in that candlestick. Please go down and ask for a pair.'

Mr Pinch, delighted to be useful, left at once.

When he had gone, Mr Pecksniff said with pitying patronage, 'You will excuse Thomas Pinch's lack of polish, Martin. He means well.'

'He is a very good fellow, sir.'

'Oh, yes. Thomas Pinch means well and is very grateful. I have never regretted helping Thomas Pinch.'

En/Pt → 'I should think you never would, sir.'

'No, I hope not. Poor fellow, he always tries his best but is not gifted. Please make him useful to you, Martin. His fault is that he sometimes forgets his position, but that is soon corrected. Worthy soul! You will find him easy to manage. Good night!'

'Good night, sir.'

By then Mr Pinch had returned with the snuffers.

'And good night to YOU, Mr Pinch,' said Pecksniff. 'Sleep well, both of you. Bless you! Bless you!'

With great feeling he gave this blessing and went to his room. Tired, the young men soon slept. Martin's dreams may be understood from later pages. Thomas Pinch dreamed of holidays, church organs, and saintly Pecksniffs. Mr Pecksniff did not sleep or seek bed for two hours, but sat before his fire, looking at the coals and thinking deeply. At last he too slept and dreamed. At night one house can hold as many mixed fancies as a madman's mind.

Chapter Six

En/Pt → COMPRISES, AMONG OTHER IMPORTANT MATTERS, PECKSNIFFIAN AND ARCHITECTURAL, AND EXACT RELATION OF THE PROGRESS MADE BY MR PINCH IN THE CONFIDENCE AND FRIENDSHIP OF THE NEW PUPIL

It was morning. Beautiful Aurora, the Goddess of dawn whose story is often written and sung, seemed to pinch Miss Pecksniff's nose with rosy fingers. This was her playful custom with the fair Cherry. In plain words, the tip of the young woman's nose was always very red at breakfast. It usually looked scraped and frosty, almost as if someone had rubbed it with a rough tool. Her mood was similar at that hour: sharp and sour, as if an extra lemon had been squeezed into the sweet drink of her nature and spoiled its taste.

En/Pt → Usually this sharpness meant Mr Pinch's tea was very weak, he had little butter, or something similar. But after the Installation Banquet, she let him freely take food and drink. He was so amazed that, like an old prisoner set free, he barely knew how to use his freedom. He fluttered without someone to scrape his bread, limit his sugar to one lump, and give the small attentions he expected. The new pupil's confidence was almost frightening. He asked Mr Pecksniff for the loaf and took a rasher of Pecksniff's private bacon quite calmly. He even said Mr Pinch 'didn't get on,' as though it were normal and Tom should copy him. Before the family, this speech shocked Tom so much that he lowered his eyes as if he had done something dreadful against Mr Pecksniff. It was breakfast enough and destroyed his appetite for that meal.

The young ladies and Mr Pecksniff stayed in excellent spirits despite these trials, with a secret understanding among them. Near the end of the meal, Mr Pecksniff gladly explained it.

En/Pt → 'Martin, my daughters and I do not often leave our quiet home for the dizzy pleasures outside. But we mean to do so today.'

'Indeed, sir!' cried the new pupil.

'Yes,' said Mr Pecksniff, tapping his left hand with a letter in his right. 'I am called to London on professional business, strictly professional business, Martin. I promised my girls long ago that whenever this happened again, they would come with me. Tonight we leave by the heavy coach, like the dove of old, and for a week will not put our olive-branches in the passage again.' He explained, 'By olive-branches I mean our simple luggage.'

'I hope the young ladies enjoy their trip,' said Martin.

'Oh, I am sure we shall!' cried Mercy, clapping her hands. 'Good gracious, Cherry, my darling - the thought of London!'

En/Pt → 'Eager child!' said Mr Pecksniff, looking dreamily at her. 'There is a sad sweetness in young hopes. It is pleasant to know they can never come true. As a child, I thought pickled onions grew on trees and every elephant was born with a castle on its back. I found this was not true, but such ideas comforted me in hard times. Even when I discovered that I had cared for an ostrich, not a human pupil, they comforted me in that painful hour.'

At this terrible reference to John Westlock, Mr Pinch suddenly choked on his tea. That morning he had received a letter from John, as Mr Pecksniff knew very well.

Mr Pecksniff became cheerful again. 'My dear Martin, make sure the house does not run away while we are gone. We leave you in charge of everything. There is no secret; all is free and open. Unlike the young man in the Eastern story - called a one-eyed almanac, if I am not mistaken, Mr Pinch - '

En/Pt → 'A one-eyed calender, I think, sir,' Tom said uncertainly.

'They are almost the same thing, I believe,' said Mr Pecksniff with a pitying smile, 'or they were in my time. Unlike that young man, my dear Martin, you are forbidden from no part of this house. Make yourself fully at home everywhere. Be happy, and kill the fatted calf if you please!'

No doubt Martin could kill and use any calf, fat or thin, found on the property. But there was no calf on Mr Pecksniff's land then, so this was a polite speech, not real hospitality. It finished the talk. Mr Pecksniff rose and led the way to the front room on the second floor, his centre of architectural genius.

Searching among the papers, Mr Pecksniff said, 'Let me see how you can best work while I am away, Martin. Design a monument to a Lord Mayor of London, a tomb for a sheriff, or a cow-house for a nobleman's park. Do you know, I would very much like to see your idea of a cow-house?' He folded his hands and looked thoughtfully at his young relative.

En/Pt → But Martin clearly did not like this suggestion.

'A pump gives very good, simple practice,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'Designing a lamp post improves the mind and leads it toward a classical style. A decorative tollgate has a strong effect on the imagination. What do you say to starting with a decorative tollgate?'

'Whatever Mr Pecksniff pleases,' Martin said doubtfully.

'Wait,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'You are ambitious and draw very neatly, so - ha ha - you shall work on these plans for a grammar-school. Follow the printed details. I will be curious to see what you make. Perhaps a young man of your taste will find something impossible or unlikely that I can put into shape. My dear Martin, great experience and long study show themselves in the final touches alone. Ha, ha! It will amuse me to see your grammar-school.' He clapped the young man on the back.

En/Pt → Martin readily accepted and Mr Pecksniff gave him the materials. Meanwhile, Pecksniff spoke about the magic of a master's few final touches. His old enemies said this was almost miraculous: adding a back window, a kitchen door, six steps, or a water spout had sometimes changed a pupil's design into Mr Pecksniff's own work and brought him much money. Such is the magic of genius, which turns all it touches into gold.

'When you need a change of work,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'Thomas Pinch will teach you to measure the back garden. You might also find the exact level of the road from this house to the finger-post, or do another useful, pleasant task. In the back yard, there are a cartload of loose bricks and a score or two of old flower-pots. My dear Martin, pile them into any shape that reminds me of St. Peter's at Rome or the Mosque of St. Sophia at Constantinople. This will improve you and please me. Now let us leave work matters. We can talk privately in my room while I pack my travel bag.'

En/Pt → Martin went with him, and they spoke privately for an hour or more, leaving Tom Pinch alone. When Martin returned, he was quiet and dull all day. Tom tried once or twice to make ordinary conversation, then felt he should not interrupt Martin's thoughts and said no more.

Tom would not have had time to talk even if his new friend were very talkative. Mr Pecksniff first called him down to stand on his portmanteau like an ancient statue until it could be locked. Then Miss Charity asked him to tie her trunk, Miss Mercy asked him to mend her box, and he wrote full labels for all the luggage. He offered to carry it downstairs, have it taken in two wheelbarrows to the old finger-post, and watch it until the coach arrived. This was hard work even for a porter, but his good will made it nothing. Sitting on the luggage, waiting for the Pecksniffs and the new pupil, he felt happy, hoping he had pleased his benefactor.

En/Pt → Tom took a letter from his pocket and wiped his face. Although the day was cold, he was hot from hurrying. 'I feared I would not have time to write this, and that would be a thousand pities. Postage from so far away costs a lot when one is not rich. Poor Ruth will be glad to see my handwriting and hear that Pecksniff is as kind as ever. I would have asked John Westlock to visit her and speak for me. But he might criticize Pecksniff and worry her. Besides, the people there are strict. A visit from a young man like John might make her work situation difficult. Poor Ruth!'

Tom Pinch seemed sad for about half a minute, but soon found comfort and continued thinking:

En/Pt → 'I am a fine man, I do not think,' Tom thought, using John's old expression. 'I should not feel sad because we are far apart. John was kind and cheerful, though I wish he had liked Pecksniff better. Instead, I should remember my luck in coming here. I must have been born with a silver spoon to meet Pecksniff. My usual good luck has now brought the new pupil. I have never met such a friendly, generous, open man. We became friends at once! He is Pecksniff's relative and a clever, bold young man. He could cut his way through the world as if it were cheese. Here he comes,' said Tom, 'walking down the lane as if he owns it.'

As Mr Pinch spoke, the new pupil came towards them. He was not at all troubled by the honour of having Miss Mercy Pecksniff on his arm or by her loving goodbye. Miss Charity and Mr Pecksniff followed. As the coach appeared at that moment, Tom quickly begged Mr Pecksniff to deliver his letter.

En/Pt → Mr Pecksniff looked at the address. 'Oh! It is for your sister, Thomas. Yes, it will be delivered, Mr Pinch. Do not worry. She will certainly receive it.'

He promised so proudly and as if doing Tom a favour that Tom suddenly felt he had asked a great deal, and thanked him warmly. As usual, the Miss Pecksniffs found the mention of Mr Pinch's sister extremely funny. The thought of a Miss Pinch! How shocking!

Tom was very pleased that they laughed, taking it as a sign of their liking and good feeling. He laughed too, rubbed his hands, wished them a pleasant journey and safe return, and felt cheerful. Even after the coach rolled away, with olive branches in the luggage space and the family of doves inside, he waved and bowed. The young ladies had been so unusually polite that he forgot Martin Chuzzlewit for a moment. Martin, after leaving his beautiful companion, stood thoughtfully against the finger-post with his eyes nearly always on the ground.

En/Pt → The complete silence after the busy departure of the coach, together with the sharp winter afternoon air, brought them both back to themselves. As if by agreement, they turned and walked away arm in arm.

'How sad you are!' said Tom. 'What is wrong?'

'Nothing worth talking about,' said Martin. 'Very little more is wrong than yesterday, and I hope much less will be wrong tomorrow. I am low in spirits, Pinch.'

'Well,' cried Tom, 'I am in wonderful spirits today and hardly ever felt more ready to be good company. It was very kind of your predecessor, John, to write to me, was it not?'

'Why, yes,' Martin said carelessly. 'I should think he had enough to do enjoying himself, without thinking of you, Pinch.'

'That is just what I thought likely,' Tom replied. 'But no, he keeps his word. He writes, "My dear Pinch, I often think of you," and many other kind, thoughtful things.'

En/Pt → 'He must be a very kind fellow,' Martin said, sounding a little annoyed, 'because he cannot mean that, you know.'

Tom looked sadly at his companion. 'I suppose he cannot, then? You think he says it only to please me?'

Martin became more serious. 'Is that likely? He has just escaped this terrible place and is enjoying his freedom in London. Can such a young man have much time or desire to think kindly about anyone or anything he left here? I ask you, Pinch, is that natural?'

After thinking briefly, Mr Pinch answered more quietly. He said it was unreasonable to expect such a thing and that he had no doubt Martin knew best.

'Of course I know best,' Martin said.

'Yes, I feel that,' said Mr Pinch gently. 'I said so.' After that, they were silent again until they reached home, by which time it was dark.

En/Pt → Miss Charity Pecksniff did not want to carry the food in the coach. It could not be kept until the family returned. So she put the remains of yesterday's feast on two plates. In the parlour, Martin and Tom found two messy heaps: thin bits of orange, old sandwiches, broken pieces of the hard cake, and several whole captain's biscuits. The remains of two bottles of currant wine had been poured together and closed with paper used for curling hair. Everything was ready for a very heavy evening.

Martin Chuzzlewit looked at these wild preparations with complete contempt. He made the fire blaze, using much of Mr Pecksniff's coal, and sat sadly in the most comfortable chair he could find. To fit better into the little space left, Mr Pinch sat on Miss Mercy Pecksniff's stool, put his glass on the hearthrug and his plate on his knees, and began to enjoy himself.

En/Pt → If Diogenes came alive again in his tub and rolled into Mr Pecksniff's parlour, he could not stay hard and serious on seeing Tom Pinch on Mercy Pecksniff's stool with his plate and glass. He would have smiled kindly. Tom was completely satisfied. He enjoyed the dry sandwiches, which broke in his mouth like sawdust, and drank the thin wine one drop at a time, smacking his lips as if every bit of fruit flavour was precious. Sometimes he held his glass and made silent toasts. After happily looking around the safe, cosy room, he became worried when he saw his companion's dull face. No cynic could resist Thomas Pinch.

Some men would have patted Tom on the back and drunk a large glass of currant wine with him, even if it were the sharpest vinegar, and said they liked it. Some would have held his honest hand and thanked him for what his simple nature taught them. Some would laugh with him and others at him. Martin Chuzzlewit was in the last group and finally laughed loudly and for a long time.

En/Pt → 'That is right,' said Tom, nodding warmly. 'Cheer up! That is excellent!'

Encouraged by this, young Martin laughed again. When he had enough breath and seriousness, he said:

'I never saw anyone like you, Pinch.'

'Did you not?' said Tom. 'Well, you probably find me strange because I have seen almost nothing of the world, while you have seen a great deal, I expect?'

Martin moved his chair closer to the fire and put his feet on the fender. 'Quite a lot for my age. Damn it, I must speak openly to someone. I will speak openly to you, Pinch.'

'Do!' said Tom. 'I will take it as a very friendly act.'

Martin looked down at Mr Pinch, who now had to look over Martin's leg to see the fire. 'I am not in your way, am I?'

'Not at all!' cried Tom.

En/Pt → Martin began with an effort, as if he did not like this confession. 'To make a long story short, you must know that since childhood I was raised with great expectations and taught to believe I would one day be very rich. I would have been, except for some reasons I will tell you, which caused me to be disinherited.'

'By your father?' Mr Pinch asked with wide eyes.

'By my grandfather. I have had no parents for many years, hardly within my memory.'

"Neither have I," said Tom, touching the young man's hand and shyly drawing his own back. "Dear me!"

"Well, Pinch," the other said quickly as he stirred the fire, "it is right to love parents when we have them and remember them when they are dead, if we knew them. But I never knew mine personally, so I cannot be expected to feel sentimental about them. I do not; that is the truth."

En/Pt → Mr Pinch had been thoughtfully watching the fire bars. When his companion paused, he started and said, "Oh! Of course," then prepared to listen again.

"In short," said Martin, "my grandfather, whom I mentioned, raised me all my life. He has many good points, I will not hide that. But he has two great faults: the strongest stubbornness you ever saw in a human being, and the most terrible selfishness."

"Is he indeed?" cried Tom.

"In those ways, no one equals him," said Martin. "People who know say these have been our family's faults for ages, and I think that is true. I cannot judge from my own experience. I must be grateful they have not come down to me, and careful not to acquire them."

"Certainly," said Mr Pinch. "Very proper."

En/Pt → "His selfishness makes demands," Martin continued, moving closer to the fire, "and his stubbornness makes him firm in them. He has always demanded much respect, obedience, self-denial, and attention to his wishes from me. I have endured much because I owed him something - if anyone can owe a grandfather - and because I truly cared for him. Yet we quarrelled often because I could not adjust to his ways. Not for myself, understand, but because - " He stopped, unable to find words.

Mr Pinch, perhaps the worst person in the world to help someone from such a difficulty, said nothing.

"Well, you understand me," Martin quickly continued. "I need not seek the exact phrase. Now for the best part and why I am here: I am in love, Pinch."

Mr Pinch looked up at him with greater interest.

"I am in love with one of the most beautiful girls the sun has ever shone on. But she depends completely on my grandfather's pleasure. If he knew she returned my love, she would lose her home and everything. There is nothing very selfish in THAT love, I think."

En/Pt → "Selfish!" cried Tom. "You have acted nobly. You love her, I am sure, yet because she depends on him, you have not even told - "

"What are you talking about, Pinch?" Martin said sharply. "Do not be ridiculous. What do you mean by saying I had not told here"

"I beg your pardon," said Tom. "I thought that was what you meant, or I would not have said it."

"If I did not tell her I loved her, what good would being in love do?" said Martin. "It would only keep me worried and troubled all the time."

"That is true," Tom said. "Well, I can guess what SHE said when you told her," he added, looking at Martin's handsome face.

"Not exactly," Martin said with a slight frown. "She has girlish ideas about duty, gratitude, and the rest that are hard to understand. But mainly you are right. I found her heart was mine."

En/Pt → "Just as I thought," said Tom. "Quite natural!" In his great pleasure, he took a long drink of wine.

"Though I was very careful from the beginning," Martin continued, "my jealous, distrustful grandfather suspected I loved her. He said nothing to her, but privately accused me of trying to spoil the loyalty to him of a young creature he had raised and taught to be his only selfless, faithful companion, after he married me off as he wished. There, you see his selfishness. I immediately replied that I would choose my own marriage, with his permission, and would rather not be sold by him or any auctioneer to any bidder."

Mr Pinch opened his eyes wider and stared at the fire harder than before.

"This naturally angered him," said Martin, "and he began speaking very badly of me. One interview led to another and words made more words. In the end, I had to give her up or he would give me up. Remember, Pinch, that I love her desperately. Though poor, her beauty and intelligence would bring great credit to anyone, no matter how important, who became her husband. Also, a chief part of my nature is most determined - "

En/Pt → "Obstinacy," Tom suggested honestly. The young man did not receive this as well as Tom expected and replied irritably:

"What a fellow you are, Pinch!"

"I beg pardon," said Tom. "I thought you needed a word."

"I did not need that word. I told you stubbornness is no part of my character. I was going to say that a chief part of my nature is determined firmness."

"Oh!" said Tom, pursing his mouth and nodding. "Yes, yes, I see!"

"Being firm," Martin continued, "I would not yield to him by even a thousandth of an inch."

"No, no," said Tom.

"The more he urged, the more determined I was to oppose him."

"Certainly!" said Tom.

"Very well," said Martin, leaning back and waving both hands as if nothing more could be said. "That ends it, and here I am!"

Mr Pinch stared at the fire for minutes, puzzled as if asked an unusually difficult riddle. At last he said:

En/Pt → "You already knew Pecksniff, of course?"

"Only by name. I had never seen him because my grandfather kept himself and me apart from all relations. Our separation happened in a town in the neighbouring county. From there I came to Salisbury and saw Pecksniff's advertisement. I answered because I have always had some natural talent in the matters it mentioned and thought it might suit me. Once I learned it was his, I wanted even more to come, because he was - "

"Such an excellent man," Tom interrupted, rubbing his hands. "He is indeed. You were right."

"Not mainly for that reason, if truth be told," said Martin. "My grandfather hates him deeply. After the old man's unfair treatment, I naturally wanted to oppose all his opinions. So here I am. My engagement to the young lady will probably last a long time, because neither of our prospects is bright. I will not marry until I can support us. It would never do to throw myself into poverty, shabby clothes, and love in one room three flights up."

En/Pt → "Not to mention her," Tom Pinch said quietly.

"Exactly," Martin replied, standing to warm his back at the chimney-piece. "Not to mention her. Still, it is not very hard for her to accept necessity: first, because she loves me greatly, and second, because I have sacrificed much for her and might have done much better."

Tom waited very long before saying, "Certainly" - so long he might have slept - but he finally said it.

"There is one strange coincidence that ends this love story," said Martin. "Do you remember what you told me last night on the way here about your pretty church visitor?"

"Certainly," said Tom. He rose from his stool and sat in the chair Martin had left, so that he could see his face. "Without doubt."

"That was she."

"I knew what you would say," cried Tom, looking hard at him and speaking softly. "You do not tell me so?"

En/Pt → "That was she," the young man repeated. "From what Pecksniff told me, I am sure she came and went with my grandfather. Do not drink too much of that sour wine, Pinch, or I see you will have some sort of fit."

"I fear it is not very healthy," said Tom, putting down the empty glass he had held for some time. "So that was she?"

Martin nodded. Restlessly he said that, had he arrived a few days earlier, he would have seen her, while now she might be hundreds of miles away. After pacing the room a few times, he threw himself into a chair and fretted like a spoiled child.

Tom Pinch had a tender heart and could not bear to see even a stranger in distress. He was still less able to bear the pain of someone who interested him and seemed to treat him kindly. His face showed that his own thoughts had been serious only moments before. Yet he dismissed them at once and offered his young friend the best advice and comfort he could.

En/Pt → "All will be well in time," said Tom. "I am sure present trials and troubles will make you more devoted in better days. I have always read this, and feel it is natural and right. What has never run smooth cannot be expected to change for us." His smile, though his face was plain, was more pleasing than many proud beauties' brightest looks. "We must accept it and shape it as well as possible with patience and good humour. I have no power, as you know, but I have an excellent will. If I could ever help you in any way, how glad I would be!"

"Thank you," said Martin, shaking his hand. "You are a good fellow and speak kindly. Of course," he added after a pause, pulling his chair again to the fire, "I would gladly use your help if you could help at all. But mercy on us!" He impatiently roughened his hair and looked at Tom as if angry that he was not someone else. "You might as well be a toasting-fork or frying-pan, Pinch, for any help you can give me."

En/Pt → 'Except in the wish,' said Tom gently.

'Oh, certainly. I meant that. If wishing mattered, I would not need help. But there is something you can do now, if you will.'

'What is it?' Tom asked.

'Read to me.'

'I shall be delighted!' cried Tom, taking the candle eagerly. 'Forgive me for leaving you in the dark for a moment while I fetch a book. What would you like? Shakespeare?'

'Aye!' said his friend, yawning and stretching. 'He will do. I am tired by today's bustle and all this newness. Nothing is more pleasant, I think, than being read to sleep. You will not mind if I sleep?'

'Not at all!' cried Tom.

'Then start whenever you like. Do not stop when I get sleepy unless you are tired; it is pleasant to wake slowly to the sounds again. Have you tried it?'

'No, I never tried that,' said Tom.

En/Pt → 'Well, you can one day when we are both in the right mood. Do not mind leaving me dark. Be quick!'

Mr Pinch left at once and soon returned with a precious book from the shelf beside his bed. Martin had made himself as comfortable as possible before the fire. He lay at full length on a temporary sofa of three chairs, with Mercy's stool for a pillow.

'Please do not be too loud,' he said to Pinch.

'No, no,' said Tom.

'You are sure you are not cold?'

'Not at all!' cried Tom.

'I am ready then.'

After handling the pages like cherished living creatures, Mr Pinch chose a passage and read. Before fifty lines were done, his friend snored.

'Poor fellow!' Tom softly said, peeping over the chairs. 'He is very young for so much trouble. How trusting and generous he is to give me this confidence. And that was she?'

En/Pt → Remembering their agreement, Tom read on from where he stopped. He forgot to snuff the candle until its wick looked like a mushroom. He became so interested in the poem that he forgot the fire. After about an hour Martin suddenly rose, shivering.

'Why, it is nearly out! No wonder I dreamed I was freezing. Call for coals. What a fellow you are, Pinch!'

Chapter Seven

En/Pt → IN WHICH MR CHEVY SLYME ASSERTS THE INDEPENDENCE OF HIS SPIRIT, AND THE BLUE DRAGON LOSES A LIMB

Next morning Martin worked at the grammar-school with such energy and speed that Mr Pinch admired his natural gifts and felt far below him. The new pupil accepted Tom's praise kindly and had grown fond of him in his own way. He said they would always be best friends and would never regret meeting, especially Tom. Tom was delighted by these friendly promises and did not know how to show his pleasure. Their friendship had more chance of lasting than many sworn friendships: one liked to protect and the other liked to be protected, which suited their characters. Thus Envy and Pride were unlikely to come between them. In many friendships, unlike people cling together more than like people.

The afternoon after the family left, both were busy: Martin with the grammar-school and Tom balancing rent receipts and subtracting Mr Pecksniff's commission. Martin's loud whistling while drawing distracted Tom. Then a shaggy, rather alarming head suddenly appeared at the doorway of their sanctuary of genius, smiling warmly, jokingly, and approvingly.

En/Pt → 'I am not hardworking myself, gentlemen, but I value it in others,' said the head. 'Next to genius, it is one of the finest human qualities. I thank my friend Pecksniff for this delicious sight. You remind me strongly of Whittington, later three times Lord Mayor of London. You are two Whittingtons without the cat, which pleases me because I do not like cats. My name is Tigg. How do you do?'

Martin looked to Mr Pinch for an explanation. Tom, who had never seen Mr Tigg, looked to Tigg himself.

'Chevy Slyme?' said Mr Tigg, kissing his left hand as a friendly sign. 'Understand that I am Chevy Slyme's accredited agent, the ambassador from Chiv's court. Ha ha!'

'Heyday!' Martin asked, startled by a known name. 'What does he want with me?'

'If your name is Pinch--' Mr Tigg began.

'It is not,' said Martin, stopping himself. 'That is Mr Pinch.'

En/Pt → 'If that is Mr Pinch,' cried Tigg, kissing his hand again as he entered, 'let me say I greatly respect his character, which my friend Pecksniff has highly praised. I value his talent for the organ, though I do not play a street organ myself. I hope he is well and has no trouble from the east wind?'

'Thank you,' said Tom. 'I am very well.'

'That is a comfort,' said Mr Tigg. Then, shielding his lips and putting them near Tom's ear, he added, 'I have come for the letter.'

'For the letter?' Tom said aloud. 'What letter?'

'The letter,' Tigg whispered cautiously, 'which my friend Pecksniff addressed to Chevy Slyme, Esquire, and left with you.'

'He left no letter with me,' said Tom.

'Hush!' cried Tigg. 'It is the same thing, though my friend Pecksniff did it less delicately than I could wish. The money.'

'The money!' cried the frightened Tom.

En/Pt → 'Exactly,' said Mr Tigg. He tapped Tom's chest two or three times and nodded. His signs said that they understood each other and need not mention this before a third person. They also asked Tom, as a special favour, to put the money quietly into his hand.

But Mr Pinch was so shocked by this unexplained behaviour that he openly said there was some mistake. He had received no instruction concerning Mr Tigg or his friend. Mr Tigg gravely asked him to say it again. When Tom repeated it more clearly, Tigg checked off each sentence with a solemn nod. After it ended a second time, Tigg sat down and spoke to them.

En/Pt → 'Then I will tell you, gentlemen. At this moment, in this place, a perfect star of talent and genius is in a terrible situation through the guilty carelessness of my friend Pecksniff. At the Blue Dragon in this village--a common, low, pipe-smoking ale-house--is a man whom nobody can equal: my friend Chevy Slyme. He is held there for his bill. Ha ha! For his bill! We know Fox's Book of Martyrs, the Court of Requests, and the Star Chamber, but I fear no one when I say that holding Chevy Slyme for a bill is worse than any cockfighting I know.'

Martin and Mr Pinch looked first at each other, then at Mr Tigg. With folded arms, he looked at them half sadly and half bitterly.

En/Pt → 'Do not mistake me, gentlemen,' he said, stretching out his hand. 'If it were anything but a bill, I could bear it and still respect mankind. But when a man like Slyme is held for a score, a mean thing written on a slate or perhaps in chalk on a door, I feel society is shaken and first principles cannot be trusted. When a man like Slyme is held for a bill, I reject old beliefs and believe nothing. I do not even believe that I do not believe, curse me if I do!'

After a pause Tom said, 'I am very sorry, but Mr Pecksniff said nothing to me, and I cannot act without instructions. Would it not be better if you went back where you came from and sent the money to your friend?'

'How can I, when I too am detained?' asked Mr Tigg. 'Besides, through my friend Pecksniff's astonishing and guilty carelessness, I have no money for coach hire.'

En/Pt → Tom thought that the gentleman could write to a friend or agent through the post office for money, and that the chance was worth trying. But his good nature gave him reasons not to suggest this. After another pause, he asked:

'Did you say that you were detained too, sir?'

Mr Tigg rose. 'Come here. Do you mind if I open this window for a moment?'

'Certainly not,' said Tom.

Mr Tigg lifted the sash. 'Very good. Do you see a fellow down there with a red neckcloth and no waistcoat?'

"Of course," cried Tom. "That is Mark Tapley."

"Mark Tapley?" said the gentleman. "Then he politely followed me here and waits to see me home. For that attention, sir," said Mr Tigg, stroking his moustache, "Mark Tapley would have been better fed to suffocation by Mrs Tapley as an infant than kept alive until now."

Mr Pinch was not too frightened by this threat to call Mark inside and upstairs. Mark obeyed so fast that, almost as Tom and Mr Tigg shut the window, the threatened man stood before them.

En/Pt → "Come here, Mark," said Mr Pinch. "Good gracious! What is wrong between Mrs Lupin and this gentleman?"

"What gentleman, sir?" said Mark. "I see no gentleman except you and the new gentleman," he said, bowing roughly to Martin. "Nothing is wrong between Mrs Lupin and either of you, Mr Pinch."

"Nonsense, Mark!" cried Tom. "You see Mr - "

"Tigg," the gentleman cut in. "Wait. I shall crush him soon. In good time!"

"Oh HIM!" said Mark defiantly. "Yes, I see HIM. I could see him better if he shaved and cut his hair."

Mr Tigg shook his head fiercely and struck his own breast once.

"It is useless," said Mark. "Knock there as much as you like; no answer comes. I know. There is only padding there, and greasy padding too."

"Mark," said Mr Pinch, stopping a fight, "answer me. You are not angry, I hope?"

En/Pt → "Angry, sir?" Mark grinned. "There is little credit in being cheerful while fellows like him go about like roaring lions, if there are lions all roar and mane. What is between him and Mrs Lupin? A bill. She is kind not to charge him and his friend double for disgracing the Dragon. I would not have such a Peter the Wild Boy in my house, even for race-week prices. His looks could turn the beer sour, if beer had enough judgment."

"You are not answering my question, Mark," said Mr Pinch.

En/Pt → "There is little more," said Mark. "He and his friend stay at the Moon and Stars until they run up a bill, then do the same with us. Bills are common, Mr Pinch; we object to this fellow's ways. Nothing is good enough for him. He thinks every woman loves him and that a wink is more than enough payment for her attention. He thinks every man exists to be ordered. This morning he said, 'We leave tonight, my man.' I asked if he wanted the bill ready. He said, 'No, give Pecksniff orders to pay it.' The Dragon thanked him for the honour but said they knew no particular good of him. He had no luggage, and Mr Pecksniff was away, though perhaps he did not know it. Therefore, they wanted something safer. That is where it stands. I ask any sensible lady or gentleman whether Mr Tigg is not disagreeable-looking!" Mr Tapley finished by pointing his hat at him.

En/Pt → Martin stepped in before Mr Tigg could give some terrible curse. "What is the amount of this debt?"

"Very little in money, sir," said Mark. "Just over three pounds. But it is not that; it is the - "

"Yes, you said before," said Martin. "Pinch, a word."

"What is it?" Tom asked, going with him to a corner.

"I am ashamed to say Mr Slyme is a relation of mine, and I never heard anything good about him. I do not want him here now, and three or four pounds might cheaply get rid of him. You have not enough money for the bill, I suppose?"

Tom shook his head with complete sincerity.

"That is unlucky. I am poor too, and if you had it, I would borrow it. But if we tell the landlady we will see her paid, will that do?"

"Oh yes!" said Tom. "She knows me, bless you!"

En/Pt → "Then let us tell her now. The sooner they go, the better. As you have spoken to this gentleman so far, perhaps you will tell him what we mean to do?"

Tom immediately told Mr Tigg. Tigg warmly shook his hand, saying his faith in everything was restored. He valued the help less for its temporary relief than because it proved that Nature's Nobs felt for Nature's Nobs, and great souls understood great souls everywhere. It showed they admired genius even when, as in Slyme, its metal sometimes had flaws. He thanked them for Slyme as warmly as if it were his own cause. When they moved toward the stairs, he seized Mr Pinch's coat lapel at the street door to stop interruption and gave him highly improving talk until they reached the Dragon, with Mark and the new pupil close behind.

En/Pt → The rosy hostess hardly needed Mr Pinch's promise to free the two visitors. She was happy to lose them on any terms. Their brief detention was mainly Mr Tapley's doing. He naturally disliked shabby gentlemen living on false claims and especially disliked Mr Tigg and his friend. The matter was easily settled, and Mr Pinch and Martin would have left at once. But Mr Tigg begged urgently to introduce them to Slyme. Because of his requests and their own curiosity, they let themselves be shown to that important man.

En/Pt → Mr Slyme stared sadly at the remains of yesterday's brandy and made wet rings on the table with his glass. Miserable as he looked, he had once been a proud show-off who claimed to have endless taste and promise. Very little is needed to act as an amateur judge of taste. A trick with the nose and a curled lip can make a fair sneer. But this lazy member of the Chuzzlewit family was unfit for regular work and had wasted his money. He tried to earn a living as a professor of Taste. Too late, he learned that he needed more than his old tricks. He fell to his present state, keeping only his pride and anger, with no life apart from his friend Tigg. He was pitiful, drunken, rude, poor, and proud. Even Tigg, the follower who lived from him, looked like a Man beside him.

"Chiv," said Mr Tigg, clapping his back, "Pecksniff is away, so I have settled our small matter with Mr Pinch and friend. Mr Pinch and friend, Mr Chevy Slyme! Chiv, Mr Pinch and friend!"

En/Pt → "These are pleasant circumstances for meeting strangers," said Chevy Slyme, turning his bloodshot eyes to Tom Pinch. "I believe I am the most miserable man alive!"

Tom begged him not to mention it and, finding him in this condition, left after an awkward pause with Martin. But Mr Tigg urged them with coughs and signs to stay hidden in the doorway, so they did.

"I swear," cried Mr Slyme. He hit the table stupidly, then rested his weak head on his hand as drunken tears left his eyes. "I am the most miserable creature on record. Society plots against me. I am the most literary man alive, full of scholarship, genius, information, and new views. Yet look at me! I owe two strangers for a tavern bill!"

Mr Tigg filled his friend's glass, put it in his hand, and signalled the visitors that they would soon see a better side of him.

En/Pt → "Owe two strangers for a tavern bill!" Mr Slyme repeated after drinking sulkily. "Very pretty! Meanwhile crowds of frauds become famous, men no more equal to me than - Tigg, witness that I am the most persecuted hound on earth."

He whined like a deeply humiliated dog and drank again. This encouraged him; when he lowered the glass, he laughed scornfully. Mr Tigg gestured with great feeling that the visitors would now see Chiv's greatness.

"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed Mr Slyme. "Owe two strangers for a tavern bill! Yet I have a rich uncle, Tigg, who could buy the uncles of fifty strangers. Do I not? I come from a good family. Do I not? I am no ordinary man in talent or accomplishments. Am I?"

"You are the American aloe of the human race, dear Chiv," said Mr Tigg, "blooming only once in a hundred years!"

"Ha, ha, ha!" Mr Slyme laughed. "I owe two architect's apprentices for a tavern bill! Men who measure earth with iron chains and build houses like bricklayers. Tell me their names. How dare they oblige me!"

En/Pt → Mr Tigg showed Mr Pinch, in a neat little ballet he invented at once, how deeply he admired this noble trait in his friend.

"I will let them know, and all men know," cried Chevy Slyme, "that I am not one of their low, tame people. I have an independent spirit, a swelling heart, and a soul above base concerns."

"Oh Chiv, Chiv," murmured Mr Tigg, "what a nobly independent nature!"

"Go do your duty," Mr Slyme angrily told him, "and borrow travelling money. Whoever lends it, tell them I have a proud spirit and finely tuned feelings that will not bear patronage. Tell them I hate them - that is how I keep self-respect - and that no man respects himself more than I do!"

En/Pt → He might have said that he hated two kinds of men: those who helped him and those better off than himself. Both positions insulted his great merits. But he did not. Mr Slyme was too proud to work, beg, borrow, or steal. Yet he was mean enough to let any useful tool do these things for him. He was too rude to thank the hand that fed him, yet enough of a dog to bite it in the dark. After his final words, Mr Slyme fell forward onto the table and sank into a heavy drunken sleep.

"Was there ever such an independent spirit?" cried Mr Tigg as he joined the young men and carefully shut the door. "Was there ever such a Roman as Chiv? Was there ever such classical thought, such toga-like simplicity, or such flowing speech? Could he not have sat on a tripod in ancient times and made endless predictions, if public money supplied gin-and-water first?"

En/Pt → Mr Pinch was about to gently disagree, but saw his companion had gone downstairs and prepared to follow.

"You are not leaving, Mr Pinch?" said Tigg.

"Thank you," Tom said. "Yes. Do not come down."

"May I have one private word, Mr Pinch?" Tigg followed him. "One minute in the skittle-ground would greatly ease my mind. May I beg that favour?"

"Certainly, if you truly want it," Tom replied. At the skittle-ground, Mr Tigg took what looked like the fossil remains of an ancient pocket-handkerchief from his hat and wiped his eyes.

"You have not seen me today in a favourable light," said Mr Tigg.

"Please do not mention it," said Tom.

"But you have NOT!" cried Tigg. "I must keep that opinion. If you had seen me, Mr Pinch, leading my regiment on the coast of Africa, we would have charged in a hollow square. The women, children, and regimental plate-chest would have been in the centre. You would not have known me as the same man. You would have respected me, sir."

En/Pt → Tom had certain ideas of his own upon the subject of glory; and consequently he was not quite so much excited by this picture as Mr Tigg could have desired.

'But no matter!' said that gentleman. 'The school-boy writing home to his parents and describing the milk-and-water, said "This is indeed weakness." I repeat that assertion in reference to myself at the present moment; and I ask your pardon. Sir, you have seen my friend Slyme?'

'No doubt,' said Mr Pinch.

'Sir, you have been impressed by my friend Slyme?'

'Not very pleasantly, I must say,' answered Tom, after a little hesitation.

En/Pt → 'I am grieved but not surprised,' cried Mr Tigg, detaining him with both hands, 'to hear that you have come to that conclusion; for it is my own. But, Mr Pinch, though I am a rough and thoughtless man, I can honour Mind. I honour Mind in following my friend. To you of all men, Mr Pinch, I have a right to make appeal on Mind's behalf, when it has not the art to push its fortune in the world. And so, sir--not for myself, who have no claim upon you, but for my crushed, my sensitive and independent friend, who has--I ask the loan of three half-crowns. I ask you for the loan of three half-crowns, distinctly, and without a blush. I ask it, almost as a right. And when I add that they will be returned by post, this week, I feel that you will blame me for that sordid stipulation.'

En/Pt → Mr Pinch took from his pocket an old-fashioned red-leather purse with a steel clasp, which had probably once belonged to his deceased grandmother. It held one half-sovereign and no more. All Tom's worldly wealth until next quarter-day.

'Stay!' cried Mr Tigg, who had watched this proceeding keenly. 'I was just about to say, that for the convenience of posting you had better make it gold. Thank you. A general direction, I suppose, to Mr Pinch at Mr Pecksniff's--will that find you?'

'That'll find me,' said Tom. 'You had better put Esquire to Mr Pecksniff's name, if you please. Direct to me, you know, at Seth Pecksniff's, Esquire.'

'At Seth Pecksniff's, Esquire,' repeated Mr Tigg, taking an exact note of it with a stump of pencil. 'We said this week, I believe?'

'Yes; or Monday will do,' said Tom.

'No, no, I beg your pardon. Monday will NOT do,' said Mr Tigg. 'If we stipulated for this week, Saturday is the latest day. Did we stipulate for this week?'

En/Pt → 'Since you are so particular about it,' said Tom, 'I think we did.'

Mr Tigg added this condition to his memorandum; read the entry over to himself with a severe frown; and that the transaction might be the more correct and business-like, appended his initials to the whole. That done, he assured Mr Pinch that everything was now perfectly regular; and, after squeezing his hand with great fervour, departed.

Tom entertained enough suspicion that Martin might possibly turn this interview into a jest, to render him desirous to avoid the company of that young gentleman for the present. With this view he took a few turns up and down the skittle-ground, and did not re-enter the house until Mr Tigg and his friend had quitted it, and the new pupil and Mark were watching their departure from one of the windows.

'I was just a-saying, sir, that if one could live by it,' said Mark, pointing after their late guests, 'that would be the sort of service for me. Waiting on such individuals as them would be better than grave-digging, sir.'

En/Pt → 'And staying here would be better than either, Mark,' said Tom. 'So take my advice, and continue to swim easily in smooth water.'

'It's too late to take it now, sir,' said Mark. 'I have broke it to her, sir. I am off to-morrow morning.'

'Off!' cried Mr Pinch, 'where to?'

'I shall go up to London, sir.'

'What to be?' asked Mr Pinch.

'Well! I don't know yet, sir. Nothing turned up that day I opened my mind to you, as was at all likely to suit me. All them trades I thought of was a deal too jolly; there was no credit at all to be got in any of 'em. I must look for a private service, I suppose, sir. I might be brought out strong, perhaps, in a serious family, Mr Pinch.'

'Perhaps you might come out rather too strong for a serious family's taste, Mark.'

En/Pt → 'That's possible, sir. If I could get into a wicked family, I might do myself justice; but the difficulty is to make sure of one's ground, because a young man can't very well advertise that he wants a place, and wages an't so much an object as a wicked sitivation; can he, sir?'

'Why, no,' said Mr Pinch, 'I don't think he can.'

'An envious family,' pursued Mark, with a thoughtful face; 'or a quarrelsome family, or a malicious family, or even a good out-and-out mean family, would open a field of action as I might do something in. The man as would have suited me of all other men was that old gentleman as was took ill here, for he really was a trying customer. Howsever, I must wait and see what turns up, sir; and hope for the worst.'

'You are determined to go then?' said Mr Pinch.

En/Pt → 'My box is gone already, sir, by the waggon, and I'm going to walk on to-morrow morning, and get a lift by the day coach when it overtakes me. So I wish you good-bye, Mr Pinch--and you too, sir--and all good luck and happiness!'

They both returned his greeting laughingly, and walked home arm-in-arm. Mr Pinch imparting to his new friend, as they went, such further particulars of Mark Tapley's whimsical restlessness as the reader is already acquainted with.

En/Pt → In the meantime Mark, having a shrewd notion that his mistress was in very low spirits, and that he could not exactly answer for the consequences of any lengthened TETE-A-TETE in the bar, kept himself obstinately out of her way all the afternoon and evening. In this piece of generalship he was very much assisted by the great influx of company into the taproom; for the news of his intention having gone abroad, there was a perfect throng there all the evening, and much drinking of healths and clinking of mugs. At length the house was closed for the night; and there being now no help for it, Mark put the best face he could upon the matter, and walked doggedly to the bar-door.

'If I look at her,' said Mark to himself, 'I'm done. I feel that I'm a-going fast.'

'You have come at last,' said Mrs Lupin.

En/Pt → Aye, Mark said: There he was.

'And you are determined to leave us, Mark?' cried Mrs Lupin.

'Why, yes; I am,' said Mark; keeping his eyes hard upon the floor.

'I thought,' pursued the landlady, with a most engaging hesitation, 'that you had been--fond--of the Dragon?'

'So I am,' said Mark.

'Then,' pursued the hostess--and it really was not an unnatural inquiry--'why do you desert it?'

But as he gave no manner of answer to this question; not even on its being repeated; Mrs Lupin put his money into his hand, and asked him--not unkindly, quite the contrary--what he would take?

En/Pt → It is proverbial that there are certain things which flesh and blood cannot bear. Such a question as this, propounded in such a manner, at such a time, and by such a person, proved (at least, as far as, Mark's flesh and blood were concerned) to be one of them. He looked up in spite of himself directly; and having once looked up, there was no looking down again; for of all the tight, plump, buxom, bright-eyed, dimple-faced landladies that ever shone on earth, there stood before him then, bodily in that bar, the very pink and pineapple.

En/Pt → 'Why, I tell you what,' said Mark, throwing off all his constraint in an instant and seizing the hostess round the waist--at which she was not at all alarmed, for she knew what a good young man he was--'if I took what I liked most, I should take you. If I only thought what was best for me, I should take you. If I took what nineteen young fellows in twenty would be glad to take, and would take at any price, I should take you. Yes, I should,' cried Mr Tapley, shaking his head expressively enough, and looking (in a momentary state of forgetfulness) rather hard at the hostess's ripe lips. 'And no man wouldn't wonder if I did!'

Mrs Lupin said he amazed her. She was astonished how he could say such things. She had never thought it of him.

En/Pt → 'Why, I never thought if of myself till now!' said Mark, raising his eyebrows with a look of the merriest possible surprise. 'I always expected we should part, and never have no explanation; I meant to do it when I come in here just now; but there's something about you, as makes a man sensible. Then let us have a word or two together; letting it be understood beforehand,' he added this in a grave tone, to prevent the possibility of any mistake, 'that I'm not a-going to make no love, you know.'

There was for just one second a shade, though not by any means a dark one, on the landlady's open brow. But it passed off instantly, in a laugh that came from her very heart.

'Oh, very good!' she said; 'if there is to be no love-making, you had better take your arm away.'

'Lord, why should I!' cried Mark. 'It's quite innocent.'

En/Pt → 'Of course it's innocent,' returned the hostess, 'or I shouldn't allow it.'

'Very well!' said Mark. 'Then let it be.'

There was so much reason in this that the landlady laughed again, suffered it to remain, and bade him say what he had to say, and be quick about it. But he was an impudent fellow, she added.

'Ha ha! I almost think I am!' cried Mark, 'though I never thought so before. Why, I can say anything to-night!'

'Say what you're going to say if you please, and be quick,' returned the landlady, 'for I want to get to bed.'

'Well then, my dear good woman,' said Mark, 'no kinder woman has ever lived. Let me see any man who says otherwise! What would probably happen if we two were - '

'Oh nonsense!' cried Mrs Lupin. 'Don't talk about that any more.'

En/Pt → 'No, it is not nonsense,' said Mark, 'and I wish you would listen. What would probably happen if we married? If I cannot be happy in this lively Dragon now, why should I be happy then? You, even with your good nature, would always worry. You would fear that you were growing too old for my taste and imagine me chained to the Dragon door, wanting to escape. I do not know that this would happen, but it might. I am a man who likes to wander and enjoys change. With my good health and spirits, I think it would be more creditable to stay cheerful where there are reasons to be sad. I may be wrong, but only trying that kind of life will show me. So is it not best that I go? Your open manner has helped me say all this, and we can part as good friends. This noble Dragon,' Mr Tapley concluded, 'will have my good word and wishes until the day I die!'

En/Pt → The hostess sat quite silent for a little time, but she very soon put both her hands in Mark's and shook them heartily.

'You are a good man,' she said, looking into his face with a smile that was serious for her. 'I truly believe you have been a better friend to me tonight than anyone else in my life.'

'Oh, that is nonsense,' said Mark. Then he looked at her with delight and added, 'But bless my heart! If you ARE thinking of marriage, there are many suitable husbands whom you could drive mad!'

She laughed again at the compliment and warmly shook both his hands once more. She told him to remember her if he ever needed a friend. Then she cheerfully left the little bar and went up the Dragon staircase.

'She is humming as she goes,' said Mark, listening. 'She does not want me to think she is upset and become sad myself. At last, there is some credit in staying cheerful!'

En/Pt → After saying these comforting words very sadly, he went to bed in a mood that was not cheerful at all.

He rose early the next morning and was walking soon after sunrise. But he could not leave unseen. The whole place had risen to see Mark Tapley go: boys, dogs, children, old men, busy people, and idle people. They all called, 'Good-bye, Mark!' in their own ways, and all were sorry. He felt that his old mistress was watching from her bedroom window, but he could not make himself look back.

En/Pt → 'Good-bye, everyone!' cried Mark. He waved his hat on his walking stick and strode quickly up the little street. 'Those wheel-makers are hearty fellows - hurrah! Here comes the butcher's dog from the garden. Down, old fellow! There is Mr Pinch going to his organ - good-bye, sir! And here comes the female terrier from across the road. Hello, girl! There are enough children to carry human nature into the distant future - good-bye, boys and girls! Now there is some credit in being cheerful. These events would test an ordinary mind, but I am unusually cheerful. Not quite as cheerful as I would like, but nearly. Good-bye! Good-bye!'

Chapter Eight

En/Pt → ACCOMPANIES MR PECKSNIFF AND HIS CHARMING DAUGHTERS TO THE CITY OF LONDON; AND RELATES WHAT FELL OUT UPON THEIR WAY THITHER

When Mr Pecksniff and the two young ladies entered the heavy coach, they were glad to find it empty. The outside was full, and its passengers looked very cold. Mr Pecksniff and his daughters pushed their feet deep into the straw, wrapped themselves to their chins, and closed both windows. He said it was always pleasing in cold weather to know that many others were less warm. This beautiful arrangement, he explained, also existed throughout society. 'If everyone were warm and well fed, we could not admire how bravely certain people bear cold and hunger. If we were no better off than others, what would happen to our gratitude?' With tears in his eyes, Mr Pecksniff shook his fist at a beggar trying to climb on behind. Gratitude, he said, was one of humanity's holiest feelings.

En/Pt → His daughters listened respectfully to their father's moral lesson and smiled to show they agreed. To feed the holy flame of gratitude in his heart, Mr Pecksniff asked his eldest daughter for the brandy bottle, even at this early point in the journey. He then drank a large amount from the narrow neck of the stone bottle.

'What are we?' said Mr Pecksniff, 'but coaches? Some of us are slow coaches'--

'Goodness, Pa!' cried Charity.

'Some of us,' her father continued more strongly, 'are slow coaches, and some are fast. Our strong feelings are the horses, and wild animals they are!'

'Really, Pa,' cried both the daughters at once. 'How very unpleasant.'

'And wild animals too,' repeated Mr Pecksniff so firmly that he seemed rather wild himself. 'Virtue is the brake. We start from The Mother's Arms, and we run to The Dust Shovel.'

Exhausted by this speech, Mr Pecksniff drank some more brandy. Then he firmly put the cork in the bottle, as if he had also closed the subject. He went to sleep for three stages of the journey.

En/Pt → People who sleep in coaches often wake in a bad temper. Their legs seem to be in the way, and their painful feet annoy them. Mr Pecksniff was no different. After his sleep, these troubles made him want to punish his daughters. He had already begun with several random kicks and other sudden movements of his shoes when the coach stopped. After a short delay, the door opened.

'Now mind,' said a thin sharp voice in the dark. 'I and my son go inside, because the roof is full, but you agree only to charge us outside prices. It's quite understood that we won't pay more. Is it?'

'All right, sir,' said the guard.

'Is there anybody inside now?' asked the voice.

'Three passengers,' returned the guard.

'Then I ask the three passengers to witness this bargain, if they will be so good,' said the voice. 'My boy, I think we may safely get in.'

En/Pt → Following this decision, two people entered the coach. An Act of Parliament officially allowed it to carry any six people who could be pushed through its door.

'That was lucky!' whispered the old man when they moved again. 'It was very clever of you to notice the agreement. He, he, he! We could not have travelled outside. My joint pain would have killed me!'

Perhaps the dutiful son realised that he had helped his father live longer and had worked against his own interests. Or perhaps the cold had made him bad-tempered. In reply, he pushed his father so hard that the old man coughed without stopping for a full five minutes. This annoyed Mr Pecksniff so much that he suddenly said:

'There is no room! There is really no room in this coach for any gentleman with a cold in his head!'

'Mine,' said the old man, after a moment's pause, 'is upon my chest, Pecksniff.'

En/Pt → Now that the man spoke clearly, his voice, manner, and calm behaviour revealed who he was. The presence of his son and his knowledge of Mr Pecksniff made his identity impossible to mistake.

'Hem! I thought I was speaking to a stranger,' said Mr Pecksniff, becoming gentle again. 'I find I am speaking to a relative. Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Mr Jonas, who are travelling with us, will excuse my apparently harsh words. I do not wish to hurt anyone connected to me by family. I may be a Hypocrite,' he added sharply, 'but I am not a Brute.'

'Pooh, pooh!' said the old man. 'What does that word matter, Pecksniff? Hypocrite! We are all hypocrites. We were all hypocrites the other day, and everyone seemed to agree about that. Otherwise, I would not have called you one. None of us would have been there if we were honest. But there was one difference between you and the rest. Shall I tell you what it was, Pecksniff?'

En/Pt → 'If you please, my good sir; if you please.'

'The annoying thing about YOU,' said the old man, 'is that you never have a partner in YOUR tricks. You would deceive everyone, even people who play the same game. You act as if - he, he, he! - you truly believed yourself. If I ever placed bets, which I do not, I would bet a large sum that you secretly keep up this false appearance even before your daughters. When I have a business plan, I tell Jonas and we discuss it openly. You are not offended, Pecksniff?'

'Offended, my good sir!' cried Mr Pecksniff, as if the old man had given him the greatest possible praise.

'Are you travelling to London, Mr Pecksniff?' asked the son.

'Yes, Mr Jonas, we are travelling to London. We shall have the pleasure of your company all the way, I trust?'

'Oh! ecod, you had better ask Father that,' said Jonas. 'I am not going to make any promise.'

En/Pt → Mr Pecksniff was naturally very amused by this answer. When he stopped laughing, Mr Jonas explained that he and his father were travelling home to London. Since the great family meeting, they had stayed in the area to watch the sale of some useful investments they had already noticed. Mr Jonas said they always tried to achieve two aims at once. They never threw away small fish unless they could use them to catch whales. After sharing these brief facts, he said that, if Mr Pecksniff did not mind, he would leave him to Father and talk with the girls. He moved from the seat beside Mr Pecksniff to the opposite corner beside the fair Miss Mercy.

En/Pt → From birth, Mr Jonas had been educated to seek every possible advantage. The first word he learned to spell was 'gain,' and the second, when he reached two syllables, was 'money.' His careful father had not expected two results of this training. First, after learning to cheat everyone, Jonas began to enjoy cheating his respected teacher and father. Second, he had learned to see everything as property. He therefore began to view his father impatiently as personal wealth that should not be walking free. He thought this wealth should be locked in the kind of iron safe called a coffin and placed safely in the grave.

'Well, cousin!' said Mr Jonas--'Because we ARE cousins, you know, a few times removed--so you're going to London?'

Miss Mercy said yes while pinching her sister's arm and laughing a great deal.

'Many admirers in London, cousin!' said Mr Jonas, moving his elbow slightly towards her.

En/Pt → 'Indeed, sir!' cried the young lady. 'I am sure they will not hurt us.' She gave this answer with a very serious look, but found her own joke so funny that she had to hide her laughter in her sister's shawl.

'Merry,' cried her more sensible sister, 'I am truly ashamed of you. How can you behave like this? You wild thing!' Of course, Miss Merry only laughed more.

'I saw a wild look in her eye the other day,' Mr Jonas told Charity. 'But you are the serious one! I must say, you were very proper and stiff, cousin!'

'Oh, what an old-fashioned horror!' Merry whispered. 'Dear Cherry, you must sit next to him. I shall die if he talks to me again!' The lively girl jumped from her seat and pushed her sister into the empty place.

'Don't mind crowding me,' cried Mr Jonas. 'I like to be crowded by gals. Come a little closer, cousin.'

En/Pt → 'No, thank you, sir,' said Charity.

'That other one is laughing again,' said Mr Jonas. 'Perhaps she is laughing at my father. If he puts on his old flannel nightcap, I do not know what she will do! Is that my father snoring, Pecksniff?'

'Yes, Mr Jonas.'

'Please step on his foot,' said the young gentleman. 'The foot next to you is the one with gout.'

Mr Pecksniff hesitated to do this friendly act, so Mr Jonas did it himself and cried:

'Wake up, father, or you will have a nightmare and scream. Do you ever have nightmares, cousin?' he asked his neighbour, lowering his voice and trying to be charming.

'Sometimes,' answered Charity. 'Not often.'

'The other one,' said Mr Jonas, after a pause. 'Does SHE ever have the nightmare?'

'I don't know,' replied Charity. 'You had better ask her.'

'She laughs so much that I cannot talk to her,' said Jonas. 'Listen to her now! You are the sensible one, cousin!'

En/Pt → 'Tut, tut!' cried Charity.

'Oh! But you are! You know you are!'

'Mercy is a little foolish and excited,' said Miss Charity. 'But she will become calmer in time.'

'It'll be a very long time, then, if she does at all,' rejoined her cousin. 'Take a little more room.'

'I am afraid of crowding you,' said Charity. Yet she moved closer. After one or two remarks about the heavy coach and its many stops, everyone became silent until supper-time.

Mr Jonas led Charity into the hotel and sat beside her at the table. Yet he also watched 'the other one,' often looking at Mercy and comparing the sisters. He seemed to prefer the younger sister's fuller figure. He could not watch for long because he was busy eating supper. He whispered that the meal had one fixed price, so the more Charity ate, the better the bargain. His father and Mr Pecksniff followed the same rule. They ate everything they could reach, until their greasy faces showed satisfaction, if not complete fullness.

En/Pt → When they could eat no more, Mr Pecksniff and Mr Jonas each ordered hot brandy-and-water costing sixpence. Mr Jonas thought this wiser than one drink costing a shilling, because the innkeeper might put more brandy in two glasses. After drinking, Mr Pecksniff pretended to check the coach. Instead, he secretly filled his own small bottle at the bar, so he could drink in the dark coach unseen.

When these arrangements were complete and the coach was ready, they returned to their old seats and travelled on. Before sleeping, Mr Pecksniff offered these words like a prayer after the meal:

'Friends who study the body tell me that digestion is one of nature's most wonderful works. When I enjoy simple food, I am pleased to start the finest machine we know. I feel that I am serving the public. When I have wound myself up,' said Mr Pecksniff gently, 'and know that I am Going, the work inside me teaches a lesson. I am a Benefactor to my Kind!'

En/Pt → Nothing could be added, so nobody spoke. Mr Pecksniff, probably proud of his moral usefulness, went to sleep again.

The rest of the night passed as usual. Mr Pecksniff and Old Anthony kept falling against each other and waking in fear. They pressed their heads into opposite corners and somehow marked their faces while asleep. The coach stopped and started countless times. Passengers entered and left, and fresh horses came and went. To sleepy travellers, the changes seemed continuous; to those fully awake, each seemed a whole night apart. At last, the coach shook over very uneven stones. Mr Pecksniff looked out and said tomorrow morning had arrived and they were there.

Soon the coach stopped at its city office. The street was already busy, supporting Mr Pecksniff's claim that morning had come, though the sky looked like midnight. Thick fog made it seem like a city in the clouds, reached by a magic beanstalk. A thick layer covered the pavement like oilcake. One outside passenger told another it was Snow, though the speaker was clearly mad and the listener must have been his keeper.

En/Pt → Mr Pecksniff said a confused goodbye to Anthony and his son and left all the luggage at the office. With one daughter under each arm, he rushed across streets, through strange yards and alleys, and under dark arches. He jumped over drains, ran from coaches and horses, and repeatedly thought he had lost and found the way. His confidence rose and fell, but he was always sweating and hurried. At last they stopped in a paved yard near the Monument - or so he said. In the fog, they could see no Monument or anything beyond nearby buildings. They might as well have played blindman's buff at Salisbury.

Mr Pecksniff looked around, then knocked at a very dirty, dark building among many similar ones. A small oval sign like a tea tray read: 'Commercial Boarding-House: M. Todgers.'

M. Todgers did not seem awake. Mr Pecksniff knocked twice and rang three times, but only a dog reacted. At last, a chain and bolts moved with a rusty sound. A small boy appeared with a large red head, almost no nose, and a dirty Wellington boot on his left arm. Surprised, he rubbed his nose with a shoe brush and said nothing.

En/Pt → 'Still in bed, my man?' asked Mr Pecksniff.

'Still in bed!' replied the boy. 'I wish they were. They are noisy in bed, all calling for their boots together. I thought you were the Paper and wondered why you did not push through the usual opening. What do you want?'

The boy was young, but he asked this in a hard, challenging way. Mr Pecksniff did not take offence. He gave the boy a card, told him to take it upstairs, and asked for a room with a fire.

'If there is a fire in the dining room, I can find it myself,' said Mr Pecksniff. He led his daughters into a ground-floor room. A tablecloth, too small for the table, was ready for breakfast. It displayed pink boiled beef, a poorly baked soft loaf, many cups and saucers, and the usual other items.

En/Pt → Inside the fireplace were about half-a-dozen pairs of clean shoes and boots, turned upside down to dry. There was also a pair of short black gaiters. Someone had written 'Jinkins's Particular' in chalk on one. The other showed a side-view drawing of Jinkins. A gentleman had apparently come down while dressing, made the joke, and gone upstairs again.

En/Pt → M. Todgers's Commercial Boarding-House was always dark, but that morning especially so. The passage smelled as if every dinner cooked since the house was built still waited above the kitchen stairs. Like the Black Friar in Don Juan, it 'wouldn't be driven away.' Cabbage was strongest, as if every green vegetable boiled there lived forever. The wood-covered parlour made strangers think of rats and mice. Broad, dark stairs had rails heavy enough for a bridge. On the first landing stood a giant old clock wearing three brass balls like a crown. Few saw it clearly, and nobody looked it in the face. Its heavy ticking warned people not to walk into it. Nobody remembered Todgers's being painted or papered. It was black, dirty, and mouldy. Above the stairs, a broken skylight repaired in many ways watched everyone below with distrust. It covered the house like a frame for growing unusual human plants.

En/Pt → Mr Pecksniff and his daughters had warmed themselves for less than ten minutes when feet sounded on the stairs. The lady who ruled the house hurried in.

M. Todgers was a thin, hard-faced lady. Curls like small beer barrels lined her forehead. A piece of net on top looked like a black cobweb. She carried a small basket with ringing keys. In her other hand was a burning tallow candle. She studied Mr Pecksniff in its light, then put it down so she could welcome him warmly.

'Mr Pecksniff!' cried Mrs Todgers. 'Welcome to London! Who would have thought of such a visit as this, after so--dear, dear!--so many years! How do you DO, Mr Pecksniff?'

'As well as ever; and as glad to see you, as ever;' Mr Pecksniff made response. 'Why, you are younger than you used to be!'

'YOU are, I am sure!' said Mrs Todgers. 'You're not a bit changed.'

En/Pt → 'What do you say to this?' cried Mr Pecksniff, stretching out his hand towards the young ladies. 'Does this make me no older?'

'Not your daughters!' the lady cried. 'Oh no, Mr Pecksniff! Your second wife and her bridesmaid!'

Mr Pecksniff smiled with satisfaction, shook his head, and said, 'My daughters, Mrs Todgers. Only my daughters.'

'Ah!' sighed the good lady, 'I must believe you, for now I look at 'em I think I should have known 'em anywhere. My dear Miss Pecksniffs, how happy your Pa has made me!'

She hugged them both. Either her feelings or the bad morning weather had overcome her. She took a small handkerchief from her basket and held it to her face.

'My good lady,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'I know your rules and that you accept only gentlemen as boarders. But I thought you might give my daughters a room and make an exception for them.'

En/Pt → 'Perhaps?' cried Mrs Todgers with great excitement. 'Perhaps?'

'I may say then, that I was sure you would,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'I know that you have a little room of your own, and that they can be comfortable there, without appearing at the general table.'

'Dear girls!' said Mrs Todgers. 'I must hug you once more.'

Mrs Todgers meant that she must hug them again, and she did so warmly. In truth, the house was full except for one bed, which Mr Pecksniff would use. She needed time to decide where the sisters could sleep. Even after the second hug, she looked at them for several moments. Affection shone in one eye and practical calculation in the other.

'I think I can arrange it,' said Mrs Todgers. 'There is a sofa bed in the small third room opening from my sitting room. Oh, you dear girls!'

En/Pt → She hugged them again and said she could not decide which sister most resembled their poor mother. This made sense because she had never seen that lady. Still, she thought the youngest did. Then Mrs Todgers said the gentlemen would soon come down and the ladies were tired from travelling. Would they go into her room at once?

It was the back parlour on the same floor. Mrs Todgers said it had London's great advantage of not being overlooked, as they would see when fog cleared. This was true: two feet away stood a brown wall with a black cistern on top. A convenient little door, opening only when a strong person fell against it, led to the young ladies' bedroom. It viewed another corner of wall and cistern. "Not the damp side," said Mrs Todgers. "THAT is Mr Jinkins's."

En/Pt → The young porter quickly lit a fire in the first room. While Mrs Todgers was away, he whistled and drew figures on his corduroys with burned wood. When she caught him, she sent him away with a slap on the ears. She made the young ladies' breakfast herself. Then she went to lead the other room, where loud jokes about Mr Jinkins continued.

"I will not ask yet, my dears," said Mr Pecksniff at the door, "how you like London. Shall It"

"We have not seen much, Pa!" cried Merry.

"Nothing, I hope," said Cherry, both looking miserable.

"Indeed," said Mr Pecksniff, "that is true. Our pleasure and business are still before us. All in good time!"

Whether Mr Pecksniff's London business was as professional as he told his new pupil, we shall see, in his words, "all in good time."

Chapter Nine

En/Pt → TOWN AND TODGER'S

Surely no other borough, city, or hamlet had a place as strange as Todgers's. The London buildings around it crowded, pushed, and crushed it. They stuck their brick-and-mortar elbows into it and blocked its air and light. This part of London therefore seemed a proper relative of Todgers's and thousands of other odd houses like it.

En/Pt → You could not walk through Todgers's area as through another neighbourhood. For an hour, you felt your way through lanes, side roads, yards, and passages without reaching anything like a street. A stranger soon felt confused and accepted that he was lost. He went in, out, and around, turning back at a wall or iron railing. He could only wait and hope that escape would appear by itself. Some people invited to dinner at Todgers's went round for ages with its chimneys in sight. When they still could not reach it, they went home quietly sad. No one ever found Todgers's from spoken directions, even when only minutes away. Careful travellers from Scotland or northern England sometimes reached it safely. They brought a town charity-boy as a guide or held tightly to the postman. These rare cases only proved the rule: Todgers's stood in a maze whose secret was known to very few.

En/Pt → Fruit-brokers had markets near Todgers's. A visitor first noticed damaged oranges with blue and green bruises, rotting in boxes and cellars. All day, porters came from the river wharves with bursting chests of oranges on their backs. They moved slowly through the narrow passages. Under the public-house arch, groups of resting porters drank from morning until night. Strange lonely pumps hid in blind alleys beside fire-ladders. There were also dozens of churches with ghostly little churchyards. Damp, graves, and rubbish fed the wild plants growing there. Some of these dark resting places had tall but sickly trees. Each year, the trees produced leaves as if they weakly remembered their own kind. They were like caged birds remembering freedom. Old watchmen with little strength guarded the dead there at night, year after year. At last, the watchmen joined the dead. They then slept more soundly below ground in another kind of box, but little else about their condition changed.

En/Pt → Old carved-oak doorways remained in the narrow ways near Todgers's. Long ago, sounds of feasts came from them. Now the old houses were dark storehouses filled with wool, cotton, and other heavy goods. These goods stopped sound and made the empty buildings seem dead and grim. Gloomy courtyards held huge bags and packs hanging from tall cranes. Few people entered them except late travellers. Countless idle trucks blocked the narrow lanes outside their owners' doors. When a stray coach or heavy waggon came through, it caused a great noise. Even the nearby church bells shook. In dark dead ends, wine-merchants and wholesale food dealers had small towns of their own. Deep under these buildings were stables. On quiet Sundays, cart-horses troubled by rats rattled their halters like ghosts shaking chains in haunted-house tales.

En/Pt → Telling about half the strange old taverns near Todgers's would fill one book. Their odd old guests could fill a second. Most guests had been born and raised in the area. They were now wheezy and short of breath, except when telling very long stories. They opposed steam and every new fashion. They called balloon travel sinful and mourned the decline of their times. The club member who kept the nearest church keys blamed religious disagreement and lack of faith. Most of the others believed that goodness had disappeared with hair-powder. They thought Old England's greatness had also declined with barbers.

As a house, not a commercial boarding place, Todgers's suited its area. A ground-floor side stair window was said not to have opened for a hundred years. Dirty lane mud covered it so thickly that, though every pane was cracked and broken twenty times, none could fall out. Todgers's greatest mystery was its cellarage, reached only through a back door and rusty grate. It had long belonged to someone else, had no link with the house, and was said to hold wealth - silver, brass, gold, wine, or gunpowder. Nobody at Todgers's knew or cared which.

Original English Text

1. Preface

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Contents

Preface

Português → by Charles Dickens

LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT

by Charles Dickens

PREFACE

What is exaggeration to one class of minds and perceptions, is plain truth to another. That which is commonly called a long-sight, perceives in a prospect innumerable features and bearings non-existent to a short-sighted person. I sometimes ask myself whether there may occasionally be a difference of this kind between some writers and some readers; whether it is ALWAYS the writer who colours highly, or whether it is now and then the reader whose eye for colour is a little dull?

On this head of exaggeration I have a positive experience, more curious than the speculation I have just set down. It is this: I have never touched a character precisely from the life, but some counterpart of that character has incredulously asked me: "Now really, did I ever really, see one like it?"

All the Pecksniff family upon earth are quite agreed, I believe, that Mr Pecksniff is an exaggeration, and that no such character ever existed. I will not offer any plea on his behalf to so powerful and genteel a body, but will make a remark on the character of Jonas Chuzzlewit.

Português → I conceive that the sordid coarseness and brutality of Jonas would be unnatural, if there had been nothing in his early education, and in the precept and example always before him, to engender and develop the vices that make him odious. But, so born and so bred, admired for that which made him hateful, and justified from his cradle in cunning, treachery, and avarice; I claim him as the legitimate issue of the father upon whom those vices are seen to recoil. And I submit that their recoil upon that old man, in his unhonoured age, is not a mere piece of poetical justice, but is the extreme exposition of a direct truth.

I make this comment, and solicit the reader's attention to it in his or her consideration of this tale, because nothing is more common in real life than a want of profitable reflection on the causes of many vices and crimes that awaken the general horror. What is substantially true of families in this respect, is true of a whole commonwealth. As we sow, we reap. Let the reader go into the children's side of any prison in England, or, I grieve to add, of many workhouses, and judge whether those are monsters who disgrace our streets, people our hulks and penitentiaries, and overcrowd our penal colonies, or are creatures whom we have deliberately suffered to be bred for misery and ruin.

Português → The American portion of this story is in no other respect a caricature than as it is an exhibition, for the most part (Mr Bevan expected), of a ludicrous side, ONLY, of the American character--of that side which was, four-and-twenty years ago, from its nature, the most obtrusive, and the most likely to be seen by such travellers as Young Martin and Mark Tapley. As I had never, in writing fiction, had any disposition to soften what is ridiculous or wrong at home, so I then hoped that the good-humored people of the United States would not be generally disposed to quarrel with me for carrying the same usage abroad. I am happy to believe that my confidence in that great nation was not misplaced.

When this book was first published, I was given to understand, by some authorities, that the Watertoast Association and eloquence were beyond all bounds of belief. Therefore I record the fact that all that portion of Martin Chuzzlewit's experiences is a literal paraphrase of some reports of public proceedings in the United States (especially of the proceedings of a certain Brandywine Association), which were printed in the Times Newspaper in June and July, 1843--at about the time when I was engaged in writing those parts of the book; and which remain on the file of the Times Newspaper, of course.

Português → In all my writings, I hope I have taken every available opportunity of showing the want of sanitary improvements in the neglected dwellings of the poor. Mrs Sarah Gamp was, four-and-twenty years ago, a fair representation of the hired attendant on the poor in sickness. The hospitals of London were, in many respects, noble Institutions; in others, very defective. I think it not the least among the instances of their mismanagement, that Mrs Betsey Prig was a fair specimen of a Hospital Nurse; and that the Hospitals, with their means and funds, should have left it to private humanity and enterprise, to enter on an attempt to improve that class of persons--since, greatly improved through the agency of good women.

POSTSCRIPT

At a Public Dinner given to me on Saturday the 18th of April, 1868, in the city of New York, by two hundred representatives of the Press of the United States of America, I made the following observations, among others:--

Português → "So much of my voice has lately been heard in the land, that I might have been contented with troubling you no further from my present standing-point, were it not a duty with which I henceforth charge myself, not only here but on every suitable occasion, whatsoever and wheresoever, to express my high and grateful sense of my second reception in America, and to bear my honest testimony to the national generosity and magnanimity. Also, to declare how astounded I have been by the amazing changes I have seen around me on every side--changes moral, changes physical, changes in the amount of land subdued and peopled, changes in the rise of vast new cities, changes in the growth of older cities almost out of recognition, changes in the graces and amenities of life, changes in the Press, without whose advancement no advancement can take place anywhere. Nor am I, believe me, so arrogant as to suppose that in five-and-twenty years there have been no changes in me, and that I had nothing to learn and no extreme impressions to correct when I was here first. And this brings me to a point on which I have, ever since I landed in the United States last November, observed a strict silence, though sometimes tempted to break it, but in reference to which I will, with your good leave, take you into my confidence now. Even the Press, being human, may be sometimes mistaken or misinformed, and I rather think that I have in one or two rare instances observed its information to be not strictly accurate with reference to myself. Indeed, I have, now and again, been more surprised by printed news that I have read of myself, than by any printed news that I have ever read in my present state of existence. Thus, the vigour and perseverance with which I have for some months past been collecting materials for, and hammering away at, a new book on America has much astonished me; seeing that all that time my declaration has been perfectly well known to my publishers on both sides of the Atlantic, that no consideration on earth would induce me to write one. But what I have intended, what I have resolved upon (and this is the confidence I seek to place in you), is, on my return to England, in my own person, in my own Journal, to bear, for the behoof of my countrymen, such testimony to the gigantic changes in this country as I have hinted at to-night. Also, to record that wherever I have been, in the smallest places equally with the largest, I have been received with unsurpassable politeness, delicacy, sweet temper, hospitality, consideration, and with unsurpassable respect for the privacy daily enforced upon me by the nature of my avocation here and the state of my health. This testimony, so long as I live, and so long as my descendants have any legal right in my books, I shall cause to be republished, as an appendix to every copy of those two books of mine in which I have referred to America. And this I will do and cause to be done, not in mere love and thankfulness, but because I regard it as an act of plain justice and honour."

Português → I said these words with the greatest earnestness that I could lay upon them, and I repeat them in print here with equal earnestness. So long as this book shall last, I hope that they will form a part of it, and will be fairly read as inseparable from my experiences and impressions of America.

CHARLES DICKENS.

May, 1868.

Chapter One

Português → INTRODUCTORY, CONCERNING THE PEDIGREE OF THE CHUZZLEWIT FAMILY

As no lady or gentleman, with any claims to polite breeding, can possibly sympathize with the Chuzzlewit Family without being first assured of the extreme antiquity of the race, it is a great satisfaction to know that it undoubtedly descended in a direct line from Adam and Eve; and was, in the very earliest times, closely connected with the agricultural interest. If it should ever be urged by grudging and malicious persons, that a Chuzzlewit, in any period of the family history, displayed an overweening amount of family pride, surely the weakness will be considered not only pardonable but laudable, when the immense superiority of the house to the rest of mankind, in respect of this its ancient origin, is taken into account.

It is remarkable that as there was, in the oldest family of which we have any record, a murderer and a vagabond, so we never fail to meet, in the records of all old families, with innumerable repetitions of the same phase of character. Indeed, it may be laid down as a general principle, that the more extended the ancestry, the greater the amount of violence and vagabondism; for in ancient days those two amusements, combining a wholesome excitement with a promising means of repairing shattered fortunes, were at once the ennobling pursuit and the healthful recreation of the Quality of this land.

Português → Consequently, it is a source of inexpressible comfort and happiness to find, that in various periods of our history, the Chuzzlewits were actively connected with divers slaughterous conspiracies and bloody frays. It is further recorded of them, that being clad from head to heel in steel of proof, they did on many occasions lead their leather-jerkined soldiers to the death with invincible courage, and afterwards return home gracefully to their relations and friends.

There can be no doubt that at least one Chuzzlewit came over with William the Conqueror. It does not appear that this illustrious ancestor 'came over' that monarch, to employ the vulgar phrase, at any subsequent period; inasmuch as the Family do not seem to have been ever greatly distinguished by the possession of landed estate. And it is well known that for the bestowal of that kind of property upon his favourites, the liberality and gratitude of the Norman were as remarkable as those virtues are usually found to be in great men when they give away what belongs to other people.

Perhaps in this place the history may pause to congratulate itself upon the enormous amount of bravery, wisdom, eloquence, virtue, gentle birth, and true nobility, that appears to have come into England with the Norman Invasion: an amount which the genealogy of every ancient family lends its aid to swell, and which would beyond all question have been found to be just as great, and to the full as prolific in giving birth to long lines of chivalrous descendants, boastful of their origin, even though William the Conqueror had been William the Conquered; a change of circumstances which, it is quite certain, would have made no manner of difference in this respect.

Português → There was unquestionably a Chuzzlewit in the Gunpowder Plot, if indeed the arch-traitor, Fawkes himself, were not a scion of this remarkable stock; as he might easily have been, supposing another Chuzzlewit to have emigrated to Spain in the previous generation, and there intermarried with a Spanish lady, by whom he had issue, one olive-complexioned son. This probable conjecture is strengthened, if not absolutely confirmed, by a fact which cannot fail to be interesting to those who are curious in tracing the progress of hereditary tastes through the lives of their unconscious inheritors. It is a notable circumstance that in these later times, many Chuzzlewits, being unsuccessful in other pursuits, have, without the smallest rational hope of enriching themselves, or any conceivable reason, set up as coal-merchants; and have, month after month, continued gloomily to watch a small stock of coals, without in any one instance negotiating with a purchaser. The remarkable similarity between this course of proceeding and that adopted by their Great Ancestor beneath the vaults of the Parliament House at Westminster, is too obvious and too full of interest, to stand in need of comment.

It is also clearly proved by the oral traditions of the Family, that there existed, at some one period of its history which is not distinctly stated, a matron of such destructive principles, and so familiarized to the use and composition of inflammatory and combustible engines, that she was called 'The Match Maker;' by which nickname and byword she is recognized in the Family legends to this day. Surely there can be no reasonable doubt that this was the Spanish lady, the mother of Chuzzlewit Fawkes.

Português → But there is one other piece of evidence, bearing immediate reference to their close connection with this memorable event in English History, which must carry conviction, even to a mind (if such a mind there be) remaining unconvinced by these presumptive proofs.

There was, within a few years, in the possession of a highly respectable and in every way credible and unimpeachable member of the Chuzzlewit Family (for his bitterest enemy never dared to hint at his being otherwise than a wealthy man), a dark lantern of undoubted antiquity; rendered still more interesting by being, in shape and pattern, extremely like such as are in use at the present day. Now this gentleman, since deceased, was at all times ready to make oath, and did again and again set forth upon his solemn asseveration, that he had frequently heard his grandmother say, when contemplating this venerable relic, 'Aye, aye! This was carried by my fourth son on the fifth of November, when he was a Guy Fawkes.' These remarkable words wrought (as well they might) a strong impression on his mind, and he was in the habit of repeating them very often. The just interpretation which they bear, and the conclusion to which they lead, are triumphant and irresistible. The old lady, naturally strong-minded, was nevertheless frail and fading; she was notoriously subject to that confusion of ideas, or, to say the least, of speech, to which age and garrulity are liable. The slight, the very slight, confusion apparent in these expressions is manifest, and is ludicrously easy of correction. 'Aye, aye,' quoth she, and it will be observed that no emendation whatever is necessary to be made in these two initiative remarks, 'Aye, aye! This lantern was carried by my forefather'--not fourth son, which is preposterous--'on the fifth of November. And HE was Guy Fawkes.' Here we have a remark at once consistent, clear, natural, and in strict accordance with the character of the speaker. Indeed the anecdote is so plainly susceptible of this meaning and no other, that it would be hardly worth recording in its original state, were it not a proof of what may be (and very often is) affected not only in historical prose but in imaginative poetry, by the exercise of a little ingenious labour on the part of a commentator.

Português → It has been said that there is no instance, in modern times, of a Chuzzlewit having been found on terms of intimacy with the Great. But here again the sneering detractors who weave such miserable figments from their malicious brains, are stricken dumb by evidence. For letters are yet in the possession of various branches of the family, from which it distinctly appears, being stated in so many words, that one Diggory Chuzzlewit was in the habit of perpetually dining with Duke Humphrey. So constantly was he a guest at that nobleman's table, indeed; and so unceasingly were His Grace's hospitality and companionship forced, as it were, upon him; that we find him uneasy, and full of constraint and reluctance; writing his friends to the effect that if they fail to do so and so by bearer, he will have no choice but to dine again with Duke Humphrey; and expressing himself in a very marked and extraordinary manner as one surfeited of High Life and Gracious Company.

Português → It has been rumoured, and it is needless to say the rumour originated in the same base quarters, that a certain male Chuzzlewit, whose birth must be admitted to be involved in some obscurity, was of very mean and low descent. How stands the proof? When the son of that individual, to whom the secret of his father's birth was supposed to have been communicated by his father in his lifetime, lay upon his deathbed, this question was put to him in a distinct, solemn, and formal way: 'Toby Chuzzlewit, who was your grandfather?' To which he, with his last breath, no less distinctly, solemnly, and formally replied: and his words were taken down at the time, and signed by six witnesses, each with his name and address in full: 'The Lord No Zoo.' It may be said--it HAS been said, for human wickedness has no limits--that there is no Lord of that name, and that among the titles which have become extinct, none at all resembling this, in sound even, is to be discovered. But what is the irresistible inference? Rejecting a theory broached by some well-meaning but mistaken persons, that this Mr Toby Chuzzlewit's grandfather, to judge from his name, must surely have been a Mandarin (which is wholly insupportable, for there is no pretence of his grandmother ever having been out of this country, or of any Mandarin having been in it within some years of his father's birth; except those in the tea-shops, which cannot for a moment be regarded as having any bearing on the question, one way or other), rejecting this hypothesis, is it not manifest that Mr Toby Chuzzlewit had either received the name imperfectly from his father, or that he had forgotten it, or that he had mispronounced itâ and that even at the recent period in question, the Chuzzlewits were connected by a bend sinister, or kind of heraldic over-the-left, with some unknown noble and illustrious House?

Português → From documentary evidence, yet preserved in the family, the fact is clearly established that in the comparatively modern days of the Diggory Chuzzlewit before mentioned, one of its members had attained to very great wealth and influence. Throughout such fragments of his correspondence as have escaped the ravages of the moths (who, in right of their extensive absorption of the contents of deeds and papers, may be called the general registers of the Insect World), we find him making constant reference to an uncle, in respect of whom he would seem to have entertained great expectations, as he was in the habit of seeking to propitiate his favour by presents of plate, jewels, books, watches, and other valuable articles. Thus, he writes on one occasion to his brother in reference to a gravy-spoon, the brother's property, which he (Diggory) would appear to have borrowed or otherwise possessed himself of: 'Do not be angry, I have parted with it--to my uncle.' On another occasion he expresses himself in a similar manner with regard to a child's mug which had been entrusted to him to get repaired. On another occasion he says, 'I have bestowed upon that irresistible uncle of mine everything I ever possessed.' And that he was in the habit of paying long and constant visits to this gentleman at his mansion, if, indeed, he did not wholly reside there, is manifest from the following sentence: 'With the exception of the suit of clothes I carry about with me, the whole of my wearing apparel is at present at my uncle's.' This gentleman's patronage and influence must have been very extensive, for his nephew writes, 'His interest is too high'--'It is too much'--'It is tremendous'--and the like. Still it does not appear (which is strange) to have procured for him any lucrative post at court or elsewhere, or to have conferred upon him any other distinction than that which was necessarily included in the countenance of so great a man, and the being invited by him to certain entertainment's, so splendid and costly in their nature, that he calls them 'Golden Balls.'

Português → It is needless to multiply instances of the high and lofty station, and the vast importance of the Chuzzlewits, at different periods. If it came within the scope of reasonable probability that further proofs were required, they might be heaped upon each other until they formed an Alps of testimony, beneath which the boldest scepticism should be crushed and beaten flat. As a goodly tumulus is already collected, and decently battened up above the Family grave, the present chapter is content to leave it as it is: merely adding, by way of a final spadeful, that many Chuzzlewits, both male and female, are proved to demonstration, on the faith of letters written by their own mothers, to have had chiselled noses, undeniable chins, forms that might have served the sculptor for a model, exquisitely-turned limbs and polished foreheads of so transparent a texture that the blue veins might be seen branching off in various directions, like so many roads on an ethereal map. This fact in itself, though it had been a solitary one, would have utterly settled and clenched the business in hand; for it is well known, on the authority of all the books which treat of such matters, that every one of these phenomena, but especially that of the chiselling, are invariably peculiar to, and only make themselves apparent in, persons of the very best condition.

Português → This history having, to its own perfect satisfaction, (and, consequently, to the full contentment of all its readers,) proved the Chuzzlewits to have had an origin, and to have been at one time or other of an importance which cannot fail to render them highly improving and acceptable acquaintance to all right-minded individuals, may now proceed in earnest with its task. And having shown that they must have had, by reason of their ancient birth, a pretty large share in the foundation and increase of the human family, it will one day become its province to submit, that such of its members as shall be introduced in these pages, have still many counterparts and prototypes in the Great World about us. At present it contents itself with remarking, in a general way, on this head: Firstly, that it may be safely asserted, and yet without implying any direct participation in the Manboddo doctrine touching the probability of the human race having once been monkeys, that men do play very strange and extraordinary tricks. Secondly, and yet without trenching on the Blumenbach theory as to the descendants of Adam having a vast number of qualities which belong more particularly to swine than to any other class of animals in the creation, that some men certainly are remarkable for taking uncommon good care of themselves.

Chapter Two

Português → WHEREIN CERTAIN PERSONS ARE PRESENTED TO THE READER, WITH WHOM HE MAY, IF HE PLEASE, BECOME BETTER ACQUAINTED

It was pretty late in the autumn of the year, when the declining sun struggling through the mist which had obscured it all day, looked brightly down upon a little Wiltshire village, within an easy journey of the fair old town of Salisbury.

Like a sudden flash of memory or spirit kindling up the mind of an old man, it shed a glory upon the scene, in which its departed youth and freshness seemed to live again. The wet grass sparkled in the light; the scanty patches of verdure in the hedges--where a few green twigs yet stood together bravely, resisting to the last the tyranny of nipping winds and early frosts--took heart and brightened up; the stream which had been dull and sullen all day long, broke out into a cheerful smile; the birds began to chirp and twitter on the naked boughs, as though the hopeful creatures half believed that winter had gone by, and spring had come already. The vane upon the tapering spire of the old church glistened from its lofty station in sympathy with the general gladness; and from the ivy-shaded windows such gleams of light shone back upon the glowing sky, that it seemed as if the quiet buildings were the hoarding-place of twenty summers, and all their ruddiness and warmth were stored within.

Português → Even those tokens of the season which emphatically whispered of the coming winter, graced the landscape, and, for the moment, tinged its livelier features with no oppressive air of sadness. The fallen leaves, with which the ground was strewn, gave forth a pleasant fragrance, and subduing all harsh sounds of distant feet and wheels created a repose in gentle unison with the light scattering of seed hither and thither by the distant husbandman, and with the noiseless passage of the plough as it turned up the rich brown earth, and wrought a graceful pattern in the stubbled fields. On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels; others stripped of all their garniture, stood, each the centre of its little heap of bright red leaves, watching their slow decay; others again, still wearing theirs, had them all crunched and crackled up, as though they had been burnt; about the stems of some were piled, in ruddy mounds, the apples they had borne that year; while others (hardy evergreens this class) showed somewhat stern and gloomy in their vigour, as charged by nature with the admonition that it is not to her more sensitive and joyous favourites she grants the longest term of life. Still athwart their darker boughs, the sunbeams struck out paths of deeper gold; and the red light, mantling in among their swarthy branches, used them as foils to set its brightness off, and aid the lustre of the dying day.

Português → A moment, and its glory was no more. The sun went down beneath the long dark lines of hill and cloud which piled up in the west an airy city, wall heaped on wall, and battlement on battlement; the light was all withdrawn; the shining church turned cold and dark; the stream forgot to smile; the birds were silent; and the gloom of winter dwelt on everything.

An evening wind uprose too, and the slighter branches cracked and rattled as they moved, in skeleton dances, to its moaning music. The withering leaves no longer quiet, hurried to and fro in search of shelter from its chill pursuit; the labourer unyoked his horses, and with head bent down, trudged briskly home beside them; and from the cottage windows lights began to glance and wink upon the darkening fields.

Português → Then the village forge came out in all its bright importance. The lusty bellows roared Ha ha! to the clear fire, which roared in turn, and bade the shining sparks dance gayly to the merry clinking of the hammers on the anvil. The gleaming iron, in its emulation, sparkled too, and shed its red-hot gems around profusely. The strong smith and his men dealt such strokes upon their work, as made even the melancholy night rejoice, and brought a glow into its dark face as it hovered about the door and windows, peeping curiously in above the shoulders of a dozen loungers. As to this idle company, there they stood, spellbound by the place, and, casting now and then a glance upon the darkness in their rear, settled their lazy elbows more at ease upon the sill, and leaned a little further in: no more disposed to tear themselves away than if they had been born to cluster round the blazing hearth like so many crickets.

Português → Out upon the angry wind! how from sighing, it began to bluster round the merry forge, banging at the wicket, and grumbling in the chimney, as if it bullied the jolly bellows for doing anything to order. And what an impotent swaggerer it was too, for all its noise; for if it had any influence on that hoarse companion, it was but to make him roar his cheerful song the louder, and by consequence to make the fire burn the brighter, and the sparks to dance more gayly yet; at length, they whizzed so madly round and round, that it was too much for such a surly wind to bear; so off it flew with a howl giving the old sign before the ale-house door such a cuff as it went, that the Blue Dragon was more rampant than usual ever afterwards, and indeed, before Christmas, reared clean out of its crazy frame.

It was small tyranny for a respectable wind to go wreaking its vengeance on such poor creatures as the fallen leaves, but this wind happening to come up with a great heap of them just after venting its humour on the insulted Dragon, did so disperse and scatter them that they fled away, pell-mell, some here, some there, rolling over each other, whirling round and round upon their thin edges, taking frantic flights into the air, and playing all manner of extraordinary gambols in the extremity of their distress. Nor was this enough for its malicious fury; for not content with driving them abroad, it charged small parties of them and hunted them into the wheel wright's saw-pit, and below the planks and timbers in the yard, and, scattering the sawdust in the air, it looked for them underneath, and when it did meet with any, whew! how it drove them on and followed at their heels!

Português → The scared leaves only flew the faster for all this, and a giddy chase it was; for they got into unfrequented places, where there was no outlet, and where their pursuer kept them eddying round and round at his pleasure; and they crept under the eaves of houses, and clung tightly to the sides of hay-ricks, like bats; and tore in at open chamber windows, and cowered close to hedges; and, in short, went anywhere for safety. But the oddest feat they achieved was, to take advantage of the sudden opening of Mr Pecksniff's front-door, to dash wildly into his passage; whither the wind following close upon them, and finding the back-door open, incontinently blew out the lighted candle held by Miss Pecksniff, and slammed the front-door against Mr Pecksniff who was at that moment entering, with such violence, that in the twinkling of an eye he lay on his back at the bottom of the steps. Being by this time weary of such trifling performances, the boisterous rover hurried away rejoicing, roaring over moor and meadow, hill and flat, until it got out to sea, where it met with other winds similarly disposed, and made a night of it.

Português → In the meantime Mr Pecksniff, having received from a sharp angle in the bottom step but one, that sort of knock on the head which lights up, for the patient's entertainment, an imaginary general illumination of very bright short-sixes, lay placidly staring at his own street door. And it would seem to have been more suggestive in its aspect than street doors usually are; for he continued to lie there, rather a lengthy and unreasonable time, without so much as wondering whether he was hurt or no; neither, when Miss Pecksniff inquired through the key-hole in a shrill voice, which might have belonged to a wind in its teens, 'Who's there' did he make any reply; nor, when Miss Pecksniff opened the door again, and shading the candle with her hand, peered out, and looked provokingly round him, and about him, and over him, and everywhere but at him, did he offer any remark, or indicate in any manner the least hint of a desire to be picked up.

'I see you,' cried Miss Pecksniff, to the ideal inflicter of a runaway knock. 'You'll catch it, sir!'

Still Mr Pecksniff, perhaps from having caught it already, said nothing.

Português → 'You're round the corner now,' cried Miss Pecksniff. She said it at a venture, but there was appropriate matter in it too; for Mr Pecksniff, being in the act of extinguishing the candles before mentioned pretty rapidly, and of reducing the number of brass knobs on his street door from four or five hundred (which had previously been juggling of their own accord before his eyes in a very novel manner) to a dozen or so, might in one sense have been said to be coming round the corner, and just turning it.

With a sharply delivered warning relative to the cage and the constable, and the stocks and the gallows, Miss Pecksniff was about to close the door again, when Mr Pecksniff (being still at the bottom of the steps) raised himself on one elbow, and sneezed.

'That voice!' cried Miss Pecksniff. 'My parent!'

At this exclamation, another Miss Pecksniff bounced out of the parlour; and the two Miss Pecksniffs, with many incoherent expressions, dragged Mr Pecksniff into an upright posture.

'Pa!' they cried in concert. 'Pa! Speak, Pa! Do not look so wild my dearest Pa!'

But as a gentleman's looks, in such a case of all others, are by no means under his own control, Mr Pecksniff continued to keep his mouth and his eyes very wide open, and to drop his lower jaw, somewhat after the manner of a toy nut-cracker; and as his hat had fallen off, and his face was pale, and his hair erect, and his coat muddy, the spectacle he presented was so very doleful, that neither of the Miss Pecksniffs could repress an involuntary screech.

Português → 'That'll do,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'I'm better.'

'He's come to himself!' cried the youngest Miss Pecksniff.

'He speaks again!' exclaimed the eldest.

With these joyful words they kissed Mr Pecksniff on either cheek; and bore him into the house. Presently, the youngest Miss Pecksniff ran out again to pick up his hat, his brown paper parcel, his umbrella, his gloves, and other small articles; and that done, and the door closed, both young ladies applied themselves to tending Mr Pecksniff's wounds in the back parlour.

They were not very serious in their nature; being limited to abrasions on what the eldest Miss Pecksniff called 'the knobby parts' of her parent's anatomy, such as his knees and elbows, and to the development of an entirely new organ, unknown to phrenologists, on the back of his head. These injuries having been comforted externally, with patches of pickled brown paper, and Mr Pecksniff having been comforted internally, with some stiff brandy-and-water, the eldest Miss Pecksniff sat down to make the tea, which was all ready. In the meantime the youngest Miss Pecksniff brought from the kitchen a smoking dish of ham and eggs, and, setting the same before her father, took up her station on a low stool at his feet; thereby bringing her eyes on a level with the teaboard.

Português → It must not be inferred from this position of humility, that the youngest Miss Pecksniff was so young as to be, as one may say, forced to sit upon a stool, by reason of the shortness of her legs. Miss Pecksniff sat upon a stool because of her simplicity and innocence, which were very great, very great. Miss Pecksniff sat upon a stool because she was all girlishness, and playfulness, and wildness, and kittenish buoyancy. She was the most arch and at the same time the most artless creature, was the youngest Miss Pecksniff, that you can possibly imagine. It was her great charm. She was too fresh and guileless, and too full of child-like vivacity, was the youngest Miss Pecksniff, to wear combs in her hair, or to turn it up, or to frizzle it, or braid it. She wore it in a crop, a loosely flowing crop, which had so many rows of curls in it, that the top row was only one curl. Moderately buxom was her shape, and quite womanly too; but sometimes--yes, sometimes--she even wore a pinafore; and how charming THAT was! Oh! she was indeed 'a gushing thing' (as a young gentleman had observed in verse, in the Poet's Corner of a provincial newspaper), was the youngest Miss Pecksniff!

Português → Mr Pecksniff was a moral man--a grave man, a man of noble sentiments and speech--and he had had her christened Mercy. Mercy! oh, what a charming name for such a pure-souled Being as the youngest Miss Pecksniff! Her sister's name was Charity. There was a good thing! Mercy and Charity! And Charity, with her fine strong sense and her mild, yet not reproachful gravity, was so well named, and did so well set off and illustrate her sister! What a pleasant sight was that the contrast they presented; to see each loved and loving one sympathizing with, and devoted to, and leaning on, and yet correcting and counter-checking, and, as it were, antidoting, the other! To behold each damsel in her very admiration of her sister, setting up in business for herself on an entirely different principle, and announcing no connection with over-the-way, and if the quality of goods at that establishment don't please you, you are respectfully invited to favour ME with a call! And the crowning circumstance of the whole delightful catalogue was, that both the fair creatures were so utterly unconscious of all this! They had no idea of it. They no more thought or dreamed of it than Mr Pecksniff did. Nature played them off against each other; THEY had no hand in it, the two Miss Pecksniffs.

Português → It has been remarked that Mr Pecksniff was a moral man. So he was. Perhaps there never was a more moral man than Mr Pecksniff, especially in his conversation and correspondence. It was once said of him by a homely admirer, that he had a Fortunatus's purse of good sentiments in his inside. In this particular he was like the girl in the fairy tale, except that if they were not actual diamonds which fell from his lips, they were the very brightest paste, and shone prodigiously. He was a most exemplary man; fuller of virtuous precept than a copy book. Some people likened him to a direction-post, which is always telling the way to a place, and never goes there; but these were his enemies, the shadows cast by his brightness; that was all. His very throat was moral. You saw a good deal of it. You looked over a very low fence of white cravat (whereof no man had ever beheld the tie for he fastened it behind), and there it lay, a valley between two jutting heights of collar, serene and whiskerless before you. It seemed to say, on the part of Mr Pecksniff, 'There is no deception, ladies and gentlemen, all is peace, a holy calm pervades me.' So did his hair, just grizzled with an iron-grey which was all brushed off his forehead, and stood bolt upright, or slightly drooped in kindred action with his heavy eyelids. So did his person, which was sleek though free from corpulency. So did his manner, which was soft and oily. In a word, even his plain black suit, and state of widower and dangling double eye-glass, all tended to the same purpose, and cried aloud, 'Behold the moral Pecksniff!'

Português → The brazen plate upon the door (which being Mr Pecksniff's, could not lie) bore this inscription, 'PECKSNIFF, ARCHITECT,' to which Mr Pecksniff, on his cards of business, added, AND LAND SURVEYOR.' In one sense, and only one, he may be said to have been a Land Surveyor on a pretty large scale, as an extensive prospect lay stretched out before the windows of his house. Of his architectural doings, nothing was clearly known, except that he had never designed or built anything; but it was generally understood that his knowledge of the science was almost awful in its profundity.

Português → Mr Pecksniff's professional engagements, indeed, were almost, if not entirely, confined to the reception of pupils; for the collection of rents, with which pursuit he occasionally varied and relieved his graver toils, can hardly be said to be a strictly architectural employment. His genius lay in ensnaring parents and guardians, and pocketing premiums. A young gentleman's premium being paid, and the young gentleman come to Mr Pecksniff's house, Mr Pecksniff borrowed his case of mathematical instruments (if silver-mounted or otherwise valuable); entreated him, from that moment, to consider himself one of the family; complimented him highly on his parents or guardians, as the case might be; and turned him loose in a spacious room on the two-pair front; where, in the company of certain drawing-boards, parallel rulers, very stiff-legged compasses, and two, or perhaps three, other young gentlemen, he improved himself, for three or five years, according to his articles, in making elevations of Salisbury Cathedral from every possible point of sight; and in constructing in the air a vast quantity of Castles, Houses of Parliament, and other Public Buildings. Perhaps in no place in the world were so many gorgeous edifices of this class erected as under Mr Pecksniff's auspices; and if but one-twentieth part of the churches which were built in that front room, with one or other of the Miss Pecksniffs at the altar in the act of marrying the architect, could only be made available by the parliamentary commissioners, no more churches would be wanted for at least five centuries.

Português → 'Even the worldly goods of which we have just disposed,' said Mr Pecksniff, glancing round the table when he had finished, 'even cream, sugar, tea, toast, ham--'

'And eggs,' suggested Charity in a low voice.

'And eggs,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'even they have their moral. See how they come and go! Every pleasure is transitory. We can't even eat, long. If we indulge in harmless fluids, we get the dropsy; if in exciting liquids, we get drunk. What a soothing reflection is that!'

'Don't say WE get drunk, Pa,' urged the eldest Miss Pecksniff.

'When I say we, my dear,' returned her father, 'I mean mankind in general; the human race, considered as a body, and not as individuals. There is nothing personal in morality, my love. Even such a thing as this,' said Mr Pecksniff, laying the fore-finger of his left hand upon the brown paper patch on the top of his head, 'slight casual baldness though it be, reminds us that we are but'--he was going to say 'worms,' but recollecting that worms were not remarkable for heads of hair, he substituted 'flesh and blood.'

Português → 'Which,' cried Mr Pecksniff after a pause, during which he seemed to have been casting about for a new moral, and not quite successfully, 'which is also very soothing. Mercy, my dear, stir the fire and throw up the cinders.'

The young lady obeyed, and having done so, resumed her stool, reposed one arm upon her father's knee, and laid her blooming cheek upon it. Miss Charity drew her chair nearer the fire, as one prepared for conversation, and looked towards her father.

'Yes,' said Mr Pecksniff, after a short pause, during which he had been silently smiling, and shaking his head at the fire--'I have again been fortunate in the attainment of my object. A new inmate will very shortly come among us.'

'A youth, papa?' asked Charity.

'Ye-es, a youth,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'He will avail himself of the eligible opportunity which now offers, for uniting the advantages of the best practical architectural education with the comforts of a home, and the constant association with some who (however humble their sphere, and limited their capacity) are not unmindful of their moral responsibilities.'

Português → 'Oh Pa!' cried Mercy, holding up her finger archly. 'See advertisement!'

'Playful--playful warbler,' said Mr Pecksniff. It may be observed in connection with his calling his daughter a 'warbler,' that she was not at all vocal, but that Mr Pecksniff was in the frequent habit of using any word that occurred to him as having a good sound, and rounding a sentence well without much care for its meaning. And he did this so boldly, and in such an imposing manner, that he would sometimes stagger the wisest people with his eloquence, and make them gasp again.

His enemies asserted, by the way, that a strong trustfulness in sounds and forms was the master-key to Mr Pecksniff's character.

'Is he handsome, Pa?' inquired the younger daughter.

'Silly Merry!' said the eldest: Merry being fond for Mercy. 'What is the premium, Paã tell us that.'

'Oh, good gracious, Cherry!' cried Miss Mercy, holding up her hands with the most winning giggle in the world, 'what a mercenary girl you are! oh you naughty, thoughtful, prudent thing!'

It was perfectly charming, and worthy of the Pastoral age, to see how the two Miss Pecksniffs slapped each other after this, and then subsided into an embrace expressive of their different dispositions.

Português → 'He is well looking,' said Mr Pecksniff, slowly and distinctly; 'well looking enough. I do not positively expect any immediate premium with him.'

Notwithstanding their different natures, both Charity and Mercy concurred in opening their eyes uncommonly wide at this announcement, and in looking for the moment as blank as if their thoughts had actually had a direct bearing on the main chance.

'But what of that!' said Mr Pecksniff, still smiling at the fire. 'There is disinterestedness in the world, I hope? We are not all arrayed in two opposite ranks; the OFfensive and the DEfensive. Some few there are who walk between; who help the needy as they go; and take no part with either side. Umph!'

There was something in these morsels of philanthropy which reassured the sisters. They exchanged glances, and brightened very much.

'Oh! let us not be for ever calculating, devising, and plotting for the future,' said Mr Pecksniff, smiling more and more, and looking at the fire as a man might, who was cracking a joke with it: 'I am weary of such arts. If our inclinations are but good and open-hearted, let us gratify them boldly, though they bring upon us Loss instead of Profit. Eh, Charity?'

Português → Glancing towards his daughters for the first time since he had begun these reflections, and seeing that they both smiled, Mr Pecksniff eyed them for an instant so jocosely (though still with a kind of saintly waggishness) that the younger one was moved to sit upon his knee forthwith, put her fair arms round his neck, and kiss him twenty times. During the whole of this affectionate display she laughed to a most immoderate extent: in which hilarious indulgence even the prudent Cherry joined.

'Tut, tut,' said Mr Pecksniff, pushing his latest-born away and running his fingers through his hair, as he resumed his tranquil face. 'What folly is this! Let us take heed how we laugh without reason lest we cry with it. What is the domestic news since yesterday? John Westlock is gone, I hope?'

'Indeed, no,' said Charity.

'And why not?' returned her father. 'His term expired yesterday. And his box was packed, I know; for I saw it, in the morning, standing in the hall.'

'He slept last night at the Dragon,' returned the young lady, 'and had Mr Pinch to dine with him. They spent the evening together, and Mr Pinch was not home till very late.'

Português → 'And when I saw him on the stairs this morning, Pa,' said Mercy with her usual sprightliness, 'he looked, oh goodness, SUCH a monster! with his face all manner of colours, and his eyes as dull as if they had been boiled, and his head aching dreadfully, I am sure from the look of it, and his clothes smelling, oh it's impossible to say how strong, oh'--here the young lady shuddered--'of smoke and punch.'

'Now I think,' said Mr Pecksniff with his accustomed gentleness, though still with the air of one who suffered under injury without complaint, 'I think Mr Pinch might have done better than choose for his companion one who, at the close of a long intercourse, had endeavoured, as he knew, to wound my feelings. I am not quite sure that this was delicate in Mr Pinch. I am not quite sure that this was kind in Mr Pinch. I will go further and say, I am not quite sure that this was even ordinarily grateful in Mr Pinch.'

'But what can anyone expect from Mr Pinch!' cried Charity, with as strong and scornful an emphasis on the name as if it would have given her unspeakable pleasure to express it, in an acted charade, on the calf of that gentleman's leg.

Português → 'Aye, aye,' returned her father, raising his hand mildly: 'it is very well to say what can we expect from Mr Pinch, but Mr Pinch is a fellow-creature, my dear; Mr Pinch is an item in the vast total of humanity, my love; and we have a right, it is our duty, to expect in Mr Pinch some development of those better qualities, the possession of which in our own persons inspires our humble self-respect. No,' continued Mr Pecksniff. 'No! Heaven forbid that I should say, nothing can be expected from Mr Pinch; or that I should say, nothing can be expected from any man alive (even the most degraded, which Mr Pinch is not, no, really); but Mr Pinch has disappointed me; he has hurt me; I think a little the worse of him on this account, but not if human nature. Oh, no, no!'

'Hark!' said Miss Charity, holding up her finger, as a gentle rap was heard at the street door. 'There is the creature! Now mark my words, he has come back with John Westlock for his box, and is going to help him to take it to the mail. Only mark my words, if that isn't his intention!'

Português → Even as she spoke, the box appeared to be in progress of conveyance from the house, but after a brief murmuring of question and answer, it was put down again, and somebody knocked at the parlour door.

'Come in!' cried Mr Pecksniff--not severely; only virtuously. 'Come in!'

An ungainly, awkward-looking man, extremely short-sighted, and prematurely bald, availed himself of this permission; and seeing that Mr Pecksniff sat with his back towards him, gazing at the fire, stood hesitating, with the door in his hand. He was far from handsome certainly; and was drest in a snuff-coloured suit, of an uncouth make at the best, which, being shrunk with long wear, was twisted and tortured into all kinds of odd shapes; but notwithstanding his attire, and his clumsy figure, which a great stoop in his shoulders, and a ludicrous habit he had of thrusting his head forward, by no means redeemed, one would not have been disposed (unless Mr Pecksniff said so) to consider him a bad fellow by any means. He was perhaps about thirty, but he might have been almost any age between sixteen and sixty; being one of those strange creatures who never decline into an ancient appearance, but look their oldest when they are very young, and get it over at once.

Português → Keeping his hand upon the lock of the door, he glanced from Mr Pecksniff to Mercy, from Mercy to Charity, and from Charity to Mr Pecksniff again, several times; but the young ladies being as intent upon the fire as their father was, and neither of the three taking any notice of him, he was fain to say, at last,

'Oh! I beg your pardon, Mr Pecksniff: I beg your pardon for intruding; but--'

'No intrusion, Mr Pinch,' said that gentleman very sweetly, but without looking round. 'Pray be seated, Mr Pinch. Have the goodness to shut the door, Mr Pinch, if you please.'

'Certainly, sir,' said Pinch; not doing so, however, but holding it rather wider open than before, and beckoning nervously to somebody without: 'Mr Westlock, sir, hearing that you were come home--'

'Mr Pinch, Mr Pinch!' said Pecksniff, wheeling his chair about, and looking at him with an aspect of the deepest melancholy, 'I did not expect this from you. I have not deserved this from you!'

'No, but upon my word, sir--' urged Pinch.

Português → 'The less you say, Mr Pinch,' interposed the other, 'the better. I utter no complaint. Make no defence.'

'No, but do have the goodness, sir,' cried Pinch, with great earnestness, 'if you please. Mr Westlock, sir, going away for good and all, wishes to leave none but friends behind him. Mr Westlock and you, sir, had a little difference the other day; you have had many little differences.'

'Little differences!' cried Charity.

'Little differences!' echoed Mercy.

'My loves!' said Mr Pecksniff, with the same serene upraising of his hand; 'My dears!' After a solemn pause he meekly bowed to Mr Pinch, as who should say, 'Proceed;' but Mr Pinch was so very much at a loss how to resume, and looked so helplessly at the two Miss Pecksniffs, that the conversation would most probably have terminated there, if a good-looking youth, newly arrived at man's estate, had not stepped forward from the doorway and taken up the thread of the discourse.

'Come, Mr Pecksniff,' he said, with a smile, 'don't let there be any ill-blood between us, pray. I am sorry we have ever differed, and extremely sorry I have ever given you offence. Bear me no ill-will at parting, sir.'

Português → 'I bear,' answered Mr Pecksniff, mildly, 'no ill-will to any man on earth.'

'I told you he didn't,' said Pinch, in an undertone; 'I knew he didn't! He always says he don't.'

'Then you will shake hands, sir?' cried Westlock, advancing a step or two, and bespeaking Mr Pinch's close attention by a glance.

'Umph!' said Mr Pecksniff, in his most winning tone.

'You will shake hands, sir.'

'No, John,' said Mr Pecksniff, with a calmness quite ethereal; 'no, I will not shake hands, John. I have forgiven you. I had already forgiven you, even before you ceased to reproach and taunt me. I have embraced you in the spirit, John, which is better than shaking hands.'

'Pinch,' said the youth, turning towards him, with a hearty disgust of his late master, 'what did I tell you?'

Poor Pinch looked down uneasily at Mr Pecksniff, whose eye was fixed upon him as it had been from the first; and looking up at the ceiling again, made no reply.

Português → 'As to your forgiveness, Mr Pecksniff,' said the youth, 'I'll not have it upon such terms. I won't be forgiven.'

'Won't you, John?' retorted Mr Pecksniff, with a smile. 'You must. You can't help it. Forgiveness is a high quality; an exalted virtue; far above YOUR control or influence, John. I WILL forgive you. You cannot move me to remember any wrong you have ever done me, John.'

'Wrong!' cried the other, with all the heat and impetuosity of his age. 'Here's a pretty fellow! Wrong! Wrong I have done him! He'll not even remember the five hundred pounds he had with me under false pretences; or the seventy pounds a year for board and lodging that would have been dear at seventeen! Here's a martyr!'

Português → 'Money, John,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'is the root of all evil. I grieve to see that it is already bearing evil fruit in you. But I will not remember its existence. I will not even remember the conduct of that misguided person'--and here, although he spoke like one at peace with all the world, he used an emphasis that plainly said "I have my eye upon the rascal now"--'that misguided person who has brought you here to-night, seeking to disturb (it is a happiness to say, in vain) the heart's repose and peace of one who would have shed his dearest blood to serve him.'

The voice of Mr Pecksniff trembled as he spoke, and sobs were heard from his daughters. Sounds floated on the air, moreover, as if two spirit voices had exclaimed: one, 'Beast!' the other, 'Savage!'

'Forgiveness,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'entire and pure forgiveness is not incompatible with a wounded heart; perchance when the heart is wounded, it becomes a greater virtue. With my breast still wrung and grieved to its inmost core by the ingratitude of that person, I am proud and glad to say that I forgive him. Nay! I beg,' cried Mr Pecksniff, raising his voice, as Pinch appeared about to speak, 'I beg that individual not to offer a remark; he will truly oblige me by not uttering one word, just now. I am not sure that I am equal to the trial. In a very short space of time, I shall have sufficient fortitude, I trust to converse with him as if these events had never happened. But not,' said Mr Pecksniff, turning round again towards the fire, and waving his hand in the direction of the door, 'not now.'

Português → 'Bah!' cried John Westlock, with the utmost disgust and disdain the monosyllable is capable of expressing. 'Ladies, good evening. Come, Pinch, it's not worth thinking of. I was right and you were wrong. That's small matter; you'll be wiser another time.'

So saying, he clapped that dejected companion on the shoulder, turned upon his heel, and walked out into the passage, whither poor Mr Pinch, after lingering irresolutely in the parlour for a few seconds, expressing in his countenance the deepest mental misery and gloom followed him. Then they took up the box between them, and sallied out to meet the mail.

That fleet conveyance passed, every night, the corner of a lane at some distance; towards which point they bent their steps. For some minutes they walked along in silence, until at length young Westlock burst into a loud laugh, and at intervals into another, and another. Still there was no response from his companion.

'I'll tell you what, Pinch!' he said abruptly, after another lengthened silence--'You haven't half enough of the devil in you. Half enough! You haven't any.'

'Well!' said Pinch with a sigh, 'I don't know, I'm sure. It's compliment to say so. If I haven't, I suppose, I'm all the better for it.'

Português → 'All the better!' repeated his companion tartly: 'All the worse, you mean to say.'

'And yet,' said Pinch, pursuing his own thoughts and not this last remark on the part of his friend, 'I must have a good deal of what you call the devil in me, too, or how could I make Pecksniff so uncomfortable? I wouldn't have occasioned him so much distress--don't laugh, please--for a mine of money; and Heaven knows I could find good use for it too, John. How grieved he was!'

'HE grieved!' returned the other.

'Why didn't you observe that the tears were almost starting out of his eyes!' cried Pinch. 'Bless my soul, John, is it nothing to see a man moved to that extent and know one's self to be the cause! And did you hear him say that he could have shed his blood for me?'

'Do you WANT any blood shed for you?' returned his friend, with considerable irritation. 'Does he shed anything for you that you DO want? Does he shed employment for you, instruction for you, pocket money for you? Does he shed even legs of mutton for you in any decent proportion to potatoes and garden stuff?'

Português → 'I am afraid,' said Pinch, sighing again, 'that I am a great eater; I can't disguise from myself that I'm a great eater. Now, you know that, John.'

'You a great eater!' retorted his companion, with no less indignation than before. 'How do you know you are?'

There appeared to be forcible matter in this inquiry, for Mr Pinch only repeated in an undertone that he had a strong misgiving on the subject, and that he greatly feared he was.

'Besides, whether I am or no,' he added, 'that has little or nothing to do with his thinking me ungrateful. John, there is scarcely a sin in the world that is in my eyes such a crying one as ingratitude; and when he taxes me with that, and believes me to be guilty of it, he makes me miserable and wretched.'

'Do you think he don't know that?' returned the other scornfully. 'But come, Pinch, before I say anything more to you, just run over the reasons you have for being grateful to him at all, will you? Change hands first, for the box is heavy. That'll do. Now, go on.'

'In the first place,' said Pinch, 'he took me as his pupil for much less than he asked.'

Português → 'Well,' rejoined his friend, perfectly unmoved by this instance of generosity. 'What in the second place?'

'What in the second place?' cried Pinch, in a sort of desperation, 'why, everything in the second place. My poor old grandmother died happy to think that she had put me with such an excellent man. I have grown up in his house, I am in his confidence, I am his assistant, he allows me a salary; when his business improves, my prospects are to improve too. All this, and a great deal more, is in the second place. And in the very prologue and preface to the first place, John, you must consider this, which nobody knows better than I: that I was born for much plainer and poorer things, that I am not a good hand for his kind of business, and have no talent for it, or indeed for anything else but odds and ends that are of no use or service to anybody.'

He said this with so much earnestness, and in a tone so full of feeling, that his companion instinctively changed his manner as he sat down on the box (they had by this time reached the finger-post at the end of the lane); motioned him to sit down beside him; and laid his hand upon his shoulder.

Português → 'I believe you are one of the best fellows in the world,' he said, 'Tom Pinch.'

'Not at all,' rejoined Tom. 'If you only knew Pecksniff as well as I do, you might say it of him, indeed, and say it truly.'

'I'll say anything of him, you like,' returned the other, 'and not another word to his disparagement.'

'It's for my sake, then; not his, I am afraid,' said Pinch, shaking his head gravely.

'For whose you please, Tom, so that it does please you. Oh! He's a famous fellow! HE never scraped and clawed into his pouch all your poor grandmother's hard savings--she was a housekeeper, wasn't she, Tom?'

'Yes,' said Mr Pinch, nursing one of his large knees, and nodding his head; 'a gentleman's housekeeper.'

'HE never scraped and clawed into his pouch all her hard savings; dazzling her with prospects of your happiness and advancement, which he knew (and no man better) never would be realised! HE never speculated and traded on her pride in you, and her having educated you, and on her desire that you at least should live to be a gentleman. Not he, Tom!'

Português → 'No,' said Tom, looking into his friend's face, as if he were a little doubtful of his meaning. 'Of course not.'

'So I say,' returned the youth, 'of course he never did. HE didn't take less than he had asked, because that less was all she had, and more than he expected; not he, Tom! He doesn't keep you as his assistant because you are of any use to him; because your wonderful faith in his pretensions is of inestimable service in all his mean disputes; because your honesty reflects honesty on him; because your wandering about this little place all your spare hours, reading in ancient books and foreign tongues, gets noised abroad, even as far as Salisbury, making of him, Pecksniff the master, a man of learning and of vast importance. HE gets no credit from you, Tom, not he.'

'Why, of course he don't,' said Pinch, gazing at his friend with a more troubled aspect than before. 'Pecksniff get credit from me! Well!'

'Don't I say that it's ridiculous,' rejoined the other, 'even to think of such a thing?'

Português → 'Why, it's madness,' said Tom.

'Madness!' returned young Westlock. 'Certainly it's madness. Who but a madman would suppose he cares to hear it said on Sundays, that the volunteer who plays the organ in the church, and practises on summer evenings in the dark, is Mr Pecksniff's young man, eh, Tom? Who but a madman would suppose it is the game of such a man as he, to have his name in everybody's mouth, connected with the thousand useless odds and ends you do (and which, of course, he taught you), eh, Tom? Who but a madman would suppose you advertised him hereabouts, much cheaper and much better than a chalker on the walls could, eh, Tom? As well might one suppose that he doesn't on all occasions pour out his whole heart and soul to you; that he doesn't make you a very liberal and indeed rather an extravagant allowance; or, to be more wild and monstrous still, if that be possible, as well might one suppose,' and here, at every word, he struck him lightly on the breast, 'that Pecksniff traded in your nature, and that your nature was to be timid and distrustful of yourself, and trustful of all other men, but most of all, of him who least deserves it. There would be madness, Tom!'

Português → Mr Pinch had listened to all this with looks of bewilderment, which seemed to be in part occasioned by the matter of his companion's speech, and in part by his rapid and vehement manner. Now that he had come to a close, he drew a very long breath; and gazing wistfully in his face as if he were unable to settle in his own mind what expression it wore, and were desirous to draw from it as good a clue to his real meaning as it was possible to obtain in the dark, was about to answer, when the sound of the mail guard's horn came cheerily upon their ears, putting an immediate end to the conference; greatly as it seemed to the satisfaction of the younger man, who jumped up briskly, and gave his hand to his companion.

'Both hands, Tom. I shall write to you from London, mind!'

'Yes,' said Pinch. 'Yes. Do, please. Good-bye. Good-bye. I can hardly believe you're going. It seems, now, but yesterday that you came. Good-bye! my dear old fellow!'

John Westlock returned his parting words with no less heartiness of manner, and sprung up to his seat upon the roof. Off went the mail at a canter down the dark road; the lamps gleaming brightly, and the horn awakening all the echoes, far and wide.

Português → 'Go your ways,' said Pinch, apostrophizing the coach; 'I can hardly persuade myself but you're alive, and are some great monster who visits this place at certain intervals, to bear my friends away into the world. You're more exulting and rampant than usual tonight, I think; and you may well crow over your prize; for he is a fine lad, an ingenuous lad, and has but one fault that I know of; he don't mean it, but he is most cruelly unjust to Pecksniff!'

Chapter Three

Português → IN WHICH CERTAIN OTHER PERSONS ARE INTRODUCED; ON THE SAME TERMS AS IN THE LAST CHAPTER

Mention has been already made more than once, of a certain Dragon who swung and creaked complainingly before the village alehouse door. A faded, and an ancient dragon he was; and many a wintry storm of rain, snow, sleet, and hail, had changed his colour from a gaudy blue to a faint lack-lustre shade of grey. But there he hung; rearing, in a state of monstrous imbecility, on his hind legs; waxing, with every month that passed, so much more dim and shapeless, that as you gazed at him on one side of the sign-board it seemed as if he must be gradually melting through it, and coming out upon the other.

Português → He was a courteous and considerate dragon, too; or had been in his distincter days; for in the midst of his rampant feebleness, he kept one of his forepaws near his nose, as though he would say, 'Don't mind me--it's only my fun;' while he held out the other in polite and hospitable entreaty. Indeed it must be conceded to the whole brood of dragons of modern times, that they have made a great advance in civilisation and refinement. They no longer demand a beautiful virgin for breakfast every morning, with as much regularity as any tame single gentleman expects his hot roll, but rest content with the society of idle bachelors and roving married men; and they are now remarkable rather for holding aloof from the softer sex and discouraging their visits (especially on Saturday nights), than for rudely insisting on their company without any reference to their inclinations, as they are known to have done in days of yore.

Nor is this tribute to the reclaimed animals in question so wide a digression into the realms of Natural History as it may, at first sight, appear to be; for the present business of these pages in with the dragon who had his retreat in Mr Pecksniff's neighbourhood, and that courteous animal being already on the carpet, there is nothing in the way of its immediate transaction.

Português → For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs.

An old gentleman and a young lady, travelling, unattended, in a rusty old chariot with post-horses; coming nobody knew whence and going nobody knew whither; had turned out of the high road, and driven unexpectedly to the Blue Dragon; and here was the old gentleman, who had taken this step by reason of his sudden illness in the carriage, suffering the most horrible cramps and spasms, yet protesting and vowing in the very midst of his pain, that he wouldn't have a doctor sent for, and wouldn't take any remedies but those which the young lady administered from a small medicine-chest, and wouldn't, in a word, do anything but terrify the landlady out of her five wits, and obstinately refuse compliance with every suggestion that was made to him.

Português → Of all the five hundred proposals for his relief which the good woman poured out in less than half an hour, he would entertain but one. That was that he should go to bed. And it was in the preparation of his bed and the arrangement of his chamber, that all the stir was made in the room behind the Dragon.

He was, beyond all question, very ill, and suffered exceedingly; not the less, perhaps, because he was a strong and vigorous old man, with a will of iron, and a voice of brass. But neither the apprehensions which he plainly entertained, at times, for his life, nor the great pain he underwent, influenced his resolution in the least degree. He would have no person sent for. The worse he grew, the more rigid and inflexible he became in his determination. If they sent for any person to attend him, man, woman, or child, he would leave the house directly (so he told them), though he quitted it on foot, and died upon the threshold of the door.

Português → Now, there being no medical practitioner actually resident in the village, but a poor apothecary who was also a grocer and general dealer, the landlady had, upon her own responsibility, sent for him, in the very first burst and outset of the disaster. Of course it followed, as a necessary result of his being wanted, that he was not at home. He had gone some miles away, and was not expected home until late at night; so the landlady, being by this time pretty well beside herself, dispatched the same messenger in all haste for Mr Pecksniff, as a learned man who could bear a deal of responsibility, and a moral man who could administer a world of comfort to a troubled mind. That her guest had need of some efficient services under the latter head was obvious enough from the restless expressions, importing, however, rather a worldly than a spiritual anxiety, to which he gave frequent utterance.

From this last-mentioned secret errand, the messenger returned with no better news than from the first; Mr Pecksniff was not at home. However, they got the patient into bed without him; and in the course of two hours, he gradually became so far better that there were much longer intervals than at first between his terms of suffering. By degrees, he ceased to suffer at all; though his exhaustion was occasionally so great that it suggested hardly less alarm than his actual endurance had done.

Português → It was in one of his intervals of repose, when, looking round with great caution, and reaching uneasily out of his nest of pillows, he endeavoured, with a strange air of secrecy and distrust, to make use of the writing materials which he had ordered to be placed on a table beside him, that the young lady and the mistress of the Blue Dragon found themselves sitting side by side before the fire in the sick chamber.

The mistress of the Blue Dragon was in outward appearance just what a landlady should be: broad, buxom, comfortable, and good looking, with a face of clear red and white, which, by its jovial aspect, at once bore testimony to her hearty participation in the good things of the larder and cellar, and to their thriving and healthful influences. She was a widow, but years ago had passed through her state of weeds, and burst into flower again; and in full bloom she had continued ever since; and in full bloom she was now; with roses on her ample skirts, and roses on her bodice, roses in her cap, roses in her cheeks,--aye, and roses, worth the gathering too, on her lips, for that matter. She had still a bright black eye, and jet black hair; was comely, dimpled, plump, and tight as a gooseberry; and though she was not exactly what the world calls young, you may make an affidavit, on trust, before any mayor or magistrate in Christendom, that there are a great many young ladies in the world (blessings on them one and all!) whom you wouldn't like half as well, or admire half as much, as the beaming hostess of the Blue Dragon.

Português → As this fair matron sat beside the fire, she glanced occasionally with all the pride of ownership, about the room; which was a large apartment, such as one may see in country places, with a low roof and a sunken flooring, all downhill from the door, and a descent of two steps on the inside so exquisitely unexpected, that strangers, despite the most elaborate cautioning, usually dived in head first, as into a plunging-bath. It was none of your frivolous and preposterously bright bedrooms, where nobody can close an eye with any kind of propriety or decent regard to the association of ideas; but it was a good, dull, leaden, drowsy place, where every article of furniture reminded you that you came there to sleep, and that you were expected to go to sleep. There was no wakeful reflection of the fire there, as in your modern chambers, which upon the darkest nights have a watchful consciousness of French polish; the old Spanish mahogany winked at it now and then, as a dozing cat or dog might, nothing more. The very size and shape, and hopeless immovability of the bedstead, and wardrobe, and in a minor degree of even the chairs and tables, provoked sleep; they were plainly apoplectic and disposed to snore. There were no staring portraits to remonstrate with you for being lazy; no round-eyed birds upon the curtains, disgustingly wide awake, and insufferably prying. The thick neutral hangings, and the dark blinds, and the heavy heap of bed-clothes, were all designed to hold in sleep, and act as nonconductors to the day and getting up. Even the old stuffed fox upon the top of the wardrobe was devoid of any spark of vigilance, for his glass eye had fallen out, and he slumbered as he stood.

Português → The wandering attention of the mistress of the Blue Dragon roved to these things but twice or thrice, and then for but an instant at a time. It soon deserted them, and even the distant bed with its strange burden, for the young creature immediately before her, who, with her downcast eyes intently fixed upon the fire, sat wrapped in silent meditation.

She was very young; apparently no more than seventeen; timid and shrinking in her manner, and yet with a greater share of self possession and control over her emotions than usually belongs to a far more advanced period of female life. This she had abundantly shown, but now, in her tending of the sick gentleman. She was short in stature; and her figure was slight, as became her years; but all the charms of youth and maidenhood set it off, and clustered on her gentle brow. Her face was very pale, in part no doubt from recent agitation. Her dark brown hair, disordered from the same cause, had fallen negligently from its bonds, and hung upon her neck; for which instance of its waywardness no male observer would have had the heart to blame it.

Português → Her attire was that of a lady, but extremely plain; and in her manner, even when she sat as still as she did then, there was an indefinable something which appeared to be in kindred with her scrupulously unpretending dress. She had sat, at first looking anxiously towards the bed; but seeing that the patient remained quiet, and was busy with his writing, she had softly moved her chair into its present place; partly, as it seemed, from an instinctive consciousness that he desired to avoid observation; and partly that she might, unseen by him, give some vent to the natural feelings she had hitherto suppressed.

Of all this, and much more, the rosy landlady of the Blue Dragon took as accurate note and observation as only woman can take of woman. And at length she said, in a voice too low, she knew, to reach the bed:

'You have seen the gentleman in this way before, miss? Is he used to these attacks?'

'I have seen him very ill before, but not so ill as he has been tonight.'

'What a Providence!' said the landlady of the Dragon, 'that you had the prescriptions and the medicines with you, miss!'

Português → 'They are intended for such an emergency. We never travel without them.'

'Oh!' thought the hostess, 'then we are in the habit of travelling, and of travelling together.'

She was so conscious of expressing this in her face, that meeting the young lady's eyes immediately afterwards, and being a very honest hostess, she was rather confused.

'The gentleman--your grandpapa'--she resumed, after a short pause, 'being so bent on having no assistance, must terrify you very much, miss?'

'I have been very much alarmed to-night. He--he is not my grandfather.'

'Father, I should have said,' returned the hostess, sensible of having made an awkward mistake.

'Nor my father' said the young lady. 'Nor,' she added, slightly smiling with a quick perception of what the landlady was going to add, 'Nor my uncle. We are not related.'

'Oh dear me!' returned the landlady, still more embarrassed than before; 'how could I be so very much mistaken; knowing, as anybody in their proper senses might that when a gentleman is ill, he looks so much older than he really is? That I should have called you "Miss," too, ma'am!' But when she had proceeded thus far, she glanced involuntarily at the third finger of the young lady's left hand, and faltered again; for there was no ring upon it.

Português → 'When I told you we were not related,' said the other mildly, but not without confusion on her own part, 'I meant not in any way. Not even by marriage. Did you call me, Martin?'

'Call you?' cried the old man, looking quickly up, and hurriedly drawing beneath the coverlet the paper on which he had been writing. 'No.'

She had moved a pace or two towards the bed, but stopped immediately, and went no farther.

'No,' he repeated, with a petulant emphasis. 'Why do you ask me? If I had called you, what need for such a question?'

'It was the creaking of the sign outside, sir, I dare say,' observed the landlady; a suggestion by the way (as she felt a moment after she had made it), not at all complimentary to the voice of the old gentleman.

'No matter what, ma'am,' he rejoined: 'it wasn't I. Why how you stand there, Mary, as if I had the plague! But they're all afraid of me,' he added, leaning helplessly backward on his pillow; 'even she! There is a curse upon me. What else have I to look for?'

Português → 'Oh dear, no. Oh no, I'm sure,' said the good-tempered landlady, rising, and going towards him. 'Be of better cheer, sir. These are only sick fancies.'

'What are only sick fancies?' he retorted. 'What do you know about fancies? Who told you about fancies? The old story! Fancies!'

'Only see again there, how you take one up!' said the mistress of the Blue Dragon, with unimpaired good humour. 'Dear heart alive, there is no harm in the word, sir, if it is an old one. Folks in good health have their fancies, too, and strange ones, every day.'

Harmless as this speech appeared to be, it acted on the traveller's distrust, like oil on fire. He raised his head up in the bed, and, fixing on her two dark eyes whose brightness was exaggerated by the paleness of his hollow cheeks, as they in turn, together with his straggling locks of long grey hair, were rendered whiter by the tight black velvet skullcap which he wore, he searched her face intently.

'Ah! you begin too soon,' he said, in so low a voice that he seemed to be thinking it, rather than addressing her. 'But you lose no time. You do your errand, and you earn your fee. Now, who may be your client?'

Português → The landlady looked in great astonishment at her whom he called Mary, and finding no rejoinder in the drooping face, looked back again at him. At first she had recoiled involuntarily, supposing him disordered in his mind; but the slow composure of his manner, and the settled purpose announced in his strong features, and gathering, most of all, about his puckered mouth, forbade the supposition.

'Come,' he said, 'tell me who is it? Being here, it is not very hard for me to guess, you may suppose.'

'Martin,' interposed the young lady, laying her hand upon his arm; 'reflect how short a time we have been in this house, and that even your name is unknown here.'

'Unless,' he said, 'you--' He was evidently tempted to express a suspicion of her having broken his confidence in favour of the landlady, but either remembering her tender nursing, or being moved in some sort by her face, he checked himself, and changing his uneasy posture in the bed, was silent.

Português → 'There!' said Mrs Lupin; for in that name the Blue Dragon was licensed to furnish entertainment, both to man and beast. 'Now, you will be well again, sir. You forgot, for the moment, that there were none but friends here.'

'Oh!' cried the old man, moaning impatiently, as he tossed one restless arm upon the coverlet; 'why do you talk to me of friends! Can you or anybody teach me to know who are my friends, and who my enemies?'

'At least,' urged Mrs Lupin, gently, 'this young lady is your friend, I am sure.'

'She has no temptation to be otherwise,' cried the old man, like one whose hope and confidence were utterly exhausted. 'I suppose she is. Heaven knows. There, let me try to sleep. Leave the candle where it is.'

As they retired from the bed, he drew forth the writing which had occupied him so long, and holding it in the flame of the taper burnt it to ashes. That done, he extinguished the light, and turning his face away with a heavy sigh, drew the coverlet about his head, and lay quite still.

Português → This destruction of the paper, both as being strangely inconsistent with the labour he had devoted to it, and as involving considerable danger of fire to the Dragon, occasioned Mrs Lupin not a little consternation. But the young lady evincing no surprise, curiosity, or alarm, whispered her, with many thanks for her solicitude and company, that she would remain there some time longer; and that she begged her not to share her watch, as she was well used to being alone, and would pass the time in reading.

Mrs Lupin had her full share and dividend of that large capital of curiosity which is inherited by her sex, and at another time it might have been difficult so to impress this hint upon her as to induce her to take it. But now, in sheer wonder and amazement at these mysteries, she withdrew at once, and repairing straightway to her own little parlour below stairs, sat down in her easy-chair with unnatural composure. At this very crisis, a step was heard in the entry, and Mr Pecksniff, looking sweetly over the half-door of the bar, and into the vista of snug privacy beyond, murmured:

'Good evening, Mrs Lupin!'

'Oh dear me, sir!' she cried, advancing to receive him, 'I am so very glad you have come.'

Português → 'And I am very glad I have come,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'if I can be of service. I am very glad I have come. What is the matter, Mrs Lupin?'

'A gentleman taken ill upon the road, has been so very bad upstairs, sir,' said the tearful hostess.

'A gentleman taken ill upon the road, has been so very bad upstairs, has he?' repeated Mr Pecksniff. 'Well, well!'

Now there was nothing that one may call decidedly original in this remark, nor can it be exactly said to have contained any wise precept theretofore unknown to mankind, or to have opened any hidden source of consolation; but Mr Pecksniff's manner was so bland, and he nodded his head so soothingly, and showed in everything such an affable sense of his own excellence, that anybody would have been, as Mrs Lupin was, comforted by the mere voice and presence of such a man; and, though he had merely said 'a verb must agree with its nominative case in number and person, my good friend,' or 'eight times eight are sixty-four, my worthy soul,' must have felt deeply grateful to him for his humanity and wisdom.

Português → 'And how,' asked Mr Pecksniff, drawing off his gloves and warming his hands before the fire, as benevolently as if they were somebody else's, not his; 'and how is he now?'

'He is better, and quite tranquil,' answered Mrs Lupin.

'He is better, and quite tranquil,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'Very well! Ve-ry well!'

Here again, though the statement was Mrs Lupin's and not Mr Pecksniff's, Mr Pecksniff made it his own and consoled her with it. It was not much when Mrs Lupin said it, but it was a whole book when Mr Pecksniff said it. 'I observe,' he seemed to say, 'and through me, morality in general remarks, that he is better and quite tranquil.'

'There must be weighty matters on his mind, though,' said the hostess, shaking her head, 'for he talks, sir, in the strangest way you ever heard. He is far from easy in his thoughts, and wants some proper advice from those whose goodness makes it worth his having.'

Português → 'Then,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'he is the sort of customer for me.' But though he said this in the plainest language, he didn't speak a word. He only shook his head; disparagingly of himself too.

'I am afraid, sir,' continued the landlady, first looking round to assure herself that there was nobody within hearing, and then looking down upon the floor. 'I am very much afraid, sir, that his conscience is troubled by his not being related to--or--or even married to--a very young lady--'

'Mrs Lupin!' said Mr Pecksniff, holding up his hand with something in his manner as nearly approaching to severity as any expression of his, mild being that he was, could ever do. 'Person! young person?'

'A very young person,' said Mrs Lupin, curtseying and blushing; '--I beg your pardon, sir, but I have been so hurried to-night, that I don't know what I say--who is with him now.'

'Who is with him now,' ruminated Mr Pecksniff, warming his back (as he had warmed his hands) as if it were a widow's back, or an orphan's back, or an enemy's back, or a back that any less excellent man would have suffered to be cold. 'Oh dear me, dear me!'

Português → 'At the same time I am bound to say, and I do say with all my heart,' observed the hostess, earnestly, 'that her looks and manner almost disarm suspicion.'

'Your suspicion, Mrs Lupin,' said Mr Pecksniff gravely, 'is very natural.'

Touching which remark, let it be written down to their confusion, that the enemies of this worthy man unblushingly maintained that he always said of what was very bad, that it was very natural; and that he unconsciously betrayed his own nature in doing so.

'Your suspicion, Mrs Lupin,' he repeated, 'is very natural, and I have no doubt correct. I will wait upon these travellers.'

With that he took off his great-coat, and having run his fingers through his hair, thrust one hand gently in the bosom of his waist-coat and meekly signed to her to lead the way.

'Shall I knock?' asked Mrs Lupin, when they reached the chamber door.

'No,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'enter if you please.'

They went in on tiptoe; or rather the hostess took that precaution for Mr Pecksniff always walked softly. The old gentleman was still asleep, and his young companion still sat reading by the fire.

Português → 'I am afraid,' said Mr Pecksniff, pausing at the door, and giving his head a melancholy roll, 'I am afraid that this looks artful. I am afraid, Mrs Lupin, do you know, that this looks very artful!'

As he finished this whisper, he advanced before the hostess; and at the same time the young lady, hearing footsteps, rose. Mr Pecksniff glanced at the volume she held, and whispered Mrs Lupin again; if possible, with increased despondency.

'Yes, ma'am,' he said, 'it is a good book. I was fearful of that beforehand. I am apprehensive that this is a very deep thing indeed!'

'What gentleman is this?' inquired the object of his virtuous doubts.

'Hush! don't trouble yourself, ma'am,' said Mr Pecksniff, as the landlady was about to answer. 'This young'--in spite of himself he hesitated when "person" rose to his lips, and substituted another word: 'this young stranger, Mrs Lupin, will excuse me for replying briefly, that I reside in this village; it may be in an influential manner, however, undeserved; and that I have been summoned here by you. I am here, as I am everywhere, I hope, in sympathy for the sick and sorry.'

Português → With these impressive words, Mr Pecksniff passed over to the bedside, where, after patting the counterpane once or twice in a very solemn manner, as if by that means he gained a clear insight into the patient's disorder, he took his seat in a large arm-chair, and in an attitude of some thoughtfulness and much comfort, waited for his waking. Whatever objection the young lady urged to Mrs Lupin went no further, for nothing more was said to Mr Pecksniff, and Mr Pecksniff said nothing more to anybody else.

Full half an hour elapsed before the old man stirred, but at length he turned himself in bed, and, though not yet awake, gave tokens that his sleep was drawing to an end. By little and little he removed the bed-clothes from about his head, and turned still more towards the side where Mr Pecksniff sat. In course of time his eyes opened; and he lay for a few moments as people newly roused sometimes will, gazing indolently at his visitor, without any distinct consciousness of his presence.

There was nothing remarkable in these proceedings, except the influence they worked on Mr Pecksniff, which could hardly have been surpassed by the most marvellous of natural phenomena. Gradually his hands became tightly clasped upon the elbows of the chair, his eyes dilated with surprise, his mouth opened, his hair stood more erect upon his forehead than its custom was, until, at length, when the old man rose in bed, and stared at him with scarcely less emotion than he showed himself, the Pecksniff doubts were all resolved, and he exclaimed aloud:

Português → 'You ARE Martin Chuzzlewit!'

His consternation of surprise was so genuine, that the old man, with all the disposition that he clearly entertained to believe it assumed, was convinced of its reality.

'I am Martin Chuzzlewit,' he said, bitterly: 'and Martin Chuzzlewit wishes you had been hanged, before you had come here to disturb him in his sleep. Why, I dreamed of this fellow!' he said, lying down again, and turning away his face, 'before I knew that he was near me!'

'My good cousin--' said Mr Pecksniff.

'There! His very first words!' cried the old man, shaking his grey head to and fro upon the pillow, and throwing up his hands. 'In his very first words he asserts his relationship! I knew he would; they all do it! Near or distant, blood or water, it's all one. Ugh! What a calendar of deceit, and lying, and false-witnessing, the sound of any word of kindred opens before me!'

'Pray do not be hasty, Mr Chuzzlewit,' said Pecksniff, in a tone that was at once in the sublimest degree compassionate and dispassionate; for he had by this time recovered from his surprise, and was in full possession of his virtuous self. 'You will regret being hasty, I know you will.'

Português → 'You know!' said Martin, contemptuously.

'Yes,' retorted Mr Pecksniff. 'Aye, aye, Mr Chuzzlewit; and don't imagine that I mean to court or flatter you; for nothing is further from my intention. Neither, sir, need you entertain the least misgiving that I shall repeat that obnoxious word which has given you so much offence already. Why should I? What do I expect or want from you? There is nothing in your possession that I know of, Mr Chuzzlewit, which is much to be coveted for the happiness it brings you.'

'That's true enough,' muttered the old man.

'Apart from that consideration,' said Mr Pecksniff, watchful of the effect he made, 'it must be plain to you (I am sure) by this time, that if I had wished to insinuate myself into your good opinion, I should have been, of all things, careful not to address you as a relative; knowing your humour, and being quite certain beforehand that I could not have a worse letter of recommendation.'

Martin made not any verbal answer; but he as clearly implied though only by a motion of his legs beneath the bed-clothes, that there was reason in this, and that he could not dispute it, as if he had said as much in good set terms.

Português → 'No,' said Mr Pecksniff, keeping his hand in his waistcoat as though he were ready, on the shortest notice, to produce his heart for Martin Chuzzlewit's inspection, 'I came here to offer my services to a stranger. I make no offer of them to you, because I know you would distrust me if I did. But lying on that bed, sir, I regard you as a stranger, and I have just that amount of interest in you which I hope I should feel in any stranger, circumstanced as you are. Beyond that, I am quite as indifferent to you, Mr Chuzzlewit, as you are to me.'

Having said which, Mr Pecksniff threw himself back in the easy-chair; so radiant with ingenuous honesty, that Mrs Lupin almost wondered not to see a stained-glass Glory, such as the Saint wore in the church, shining about his head.

A long pause succeeded. The old man, with increased restlessness, changed his posture several times. Mrs Lupin and the young lady gazed in silence at the counterpane. Mr Pecksniff toyed abstractedly with his eye-glass, and kept his eyes shut, that he might ruminate the better.

Português → 'Eh?' he said at last, opening them suddenly, and looking towards the bed. 'I beg your pardon. I thought you spoke. Mrs Lupin,' he continued, slowly rising 'I am not aware that I can be of any service to you here. The gentleman is better, and you are as good a nurse as he can have. Eh?'

This last note of interrogation bore reference to another change of posture on the old man's part, which brought his face towards Mr Pecksniff for the first time since he had turned away from him.

'If you desire to speak to me before I go, sir,' continued that gentleman, after another pause, 'you may command my leisure; but I must stipulate, in justice to myself, that you do so as to a stranger, strictly as to a stranger.'

Português → Now if Mr Pecksniff knew, from anything Martin Chuzzlewit had expressed in gestures, that he wanted to speak to him, he could only have found it out on some such principle as prevails in melodramas, and in virtue of which the elderly farmer with the comic son always knows what the dumb girl means when she takes refuge in his garden, and relates her personal memoirs in incomprehensible pantomime. But without stopping to make any inquiry on this point, Martin Chuzzlewit signed to his young companion to withdraw, which she immediately did, along with the landlady leaving him and Mr Pecksniff alone together. For some time they looked at each other in silence; or rather the old man looked at Mr Pecksniff, and Mr Pecksniff again closing his eyes on all outward objects, took an inward survey of his own breast. That it amply repaid him for his trouble, and afforded a delicious and enchanting prospect, was clear from the expression of his face.

'You wish me to speak to you as to a total stranger,' said the old man, 'do you?'

Mr Pecksniff replied, by a shrug of his shoulders and an apparent turning round of his eyes in their sockets before he opened them, that he was still reduced to the necessity of entertaining that desire.

Português → 'You shall be gratified,' said Martin. 'Sir, I am a rich man. Not so rich as some suppose, perhaps, but yet wealthy. I am not a miser sir, though even that charge is made against me, as I hear, and currently believed. I have no pleasure in hoarding. I have no pleasure in the possession of money, The devil that we call by that name can give me nothing but unhappiness.'

It would be no description of Mr Pecksniff's gentleness of manner to adopt the common parlance, and say that he looked at this moment as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. He rather looked as if any quantity of butter might have been made out of him, by churning the milk of human kindness, as it spouted upwards from his heart.

'For the same reason that I am not a hoarder of money,' said the old man, 'I am not lavish of it. Some people find their gratification in storing it up; and others theirs in parting with it; but I have no gratification connected with the thing. Pain and bitterness are the only goods it ever could procure for me. I hate it. It is a spectre walking before me through the world, and making every social pleasure hideous.'

Português → A thought arose in Pecksniff's mind, which must have instantly mounted to his face, or Martin Chuzzlewit would not have resumed as quickly and as sternly as he did:

'You would advise me for my peace of mind, to get rid of this source of misery, and transfer it to some one who could bear it better. Even you, perhaps, would rid me of a burden under which I suffer so grievously. But, kind stranger,' said the old man, whose every feature darkened as he spoke, 'good Christian stranger, that is a main part of my trouble. In other hands, I have known money do good; in other hands I have known it triumphed in, and boasted of with reason, as the master-key to all the brazen gates that close upon the paths to worldly honour, fortune, and enjoyment. To what man or woman; to what worthy, honest, incorruptible creature; shall I confide such a talisman, either now or when I die? Do you know any such person? YOUR virtues are of course inestimable, but can you tell me of any other living creature who will bear the test of contact with myself?'

'Of contact with yourself, sir?' echoed Mr Pecksniff.

'Aye,' returned the old man, 'the test of contact with me--with me. You have heard of him whose misery (the gratification of his own foolish wish) was, that he turned every thing he touched into gold. The curse of my existence, and the realisation of my own mad desire is that by the golden standard which I bear about me, I am doomed to try the metal of all other men, and find it false and hollow.'

Português → Mr Pecksniff shook his head, and said, 'You think so.'

Português → 'Oh yes,' cried the old man, 'I think so! and in your telling me "I think so," I recognize the true unworldly ring of YOUR metal. I tell you, man,' he added, with increasing bitterness, 'that I have gone, a rich man, among people of all grades and kinds; relatives, friends, and strangers; among people in whom, when I was poor, I had confidence, and justly, for they never once deceived me then, or, to me, wronged each other. But I have never found one nature, no, not one, in which, being wealthy and alone, I was not forced to detect the latent corruption that lay hid within it waiting for such as I to bring it forth. Treachery, deceit, and low design; hatred of competitors, real or fancied, for my favour; meanness, falsehood, baseness, and servility; or,' and here he looked closely in his cousin's eyes, 'or an assumption of honest independence, almost worse than all; these are the beauties which my wealth has brought to light. Brother against brother, child against parent, friends treading on the faces of friends, this is the social company by whom my way has been attended. There are stories told--they may be true or false--of rich men who, in the garb of poverty, have found out virtue and rewarded it. They were dolts and idiots for their pains. They should have made the search in their own characters. They should have shown themselves fit objects to be robbed and preyed upon and plotted against and adulated by any knaves, who, but for joy, would have spat upon their coffins when they died their dupes; and then their search would have ended as mine has done, and they would be what I am.'

Português → Mr Pecksniff, not at all knowing what it might be best to say in the momentary pause which ensued upon these remarks, made an elaborate demonstration of intending to deliver something very oracular indeed; trusting to the certainty of the old man interrupting him, before he should utter a word. Nor was he mistaken, for Martin Chuzzlewit having taken breath, went on to say:

'Hear me to an end; judge what profit you are like to gain from any repetition of this visit; and leave me. I have so corrupted and changed the nature of all those who have ever attended on me, by breeding avaricious plots and hopes within them; I have engendered such domestic strife and discord, by tarrying even with members of my own family; I have been such a lighted torch in peaceful homes, kindling up all the inflammable gases and vapours in their moral atmosphere, which, but for me, might have proved harmless to the end, that I have, I may say, fled from all who knew me, and taking refuge in secret places have lived, of late, the life of one who is hunted. The young girl whom you just now saw--what! your eye lightens when I talk of her! You hate her already, do you?'

Português → 'Upon my word, sir!' said Mr Pecksniff, laying his hand upon his breast, and dropping his eyelids.

'I forgot,' cried the old man, looking at him with a keenness which the other seemed to feel, although he did not raise his eyes so as to see it. 'I ask your pardon. I forgot you were a stranger. For the moment you reminded me of one Pecksniff, a cousin of mine. As I was saying--the young girl whom you just now saw, is an orphan child, whom, with one steady purpose, I have bred and educated, or, if you prefer the word, adopted. For a year or more she has been my constant companion, and she is my only one. I have taken, as she knows, a solemn oath never to leave her sixpence when I die, but while I live I make her an annual allowance; not extravagant in its amount and yet not stinted. There is a compact between us that no term of affectionate cajolery shall ever be addressed by either to the other, but that she shall call me always by my Christian name; I her, by hers. She is bound to me in life by ties of interest, and losing by my death, and having no expectation disappointed, will mourn it, perhaps; though for that I care little. This is the only kind of friend I have or will have. Judge from such premises what a profitable hour you have spent in coming here, and leave me, to return no more.'

Português → With these words, the old man fell slowly back upon his pillow. Mr Pecksniff as slowly rose, and, with a prefatory hem, began as follows:

'Mr Chuzzlewit.'

'There. Go!' interposed the other. 'Enough of this. I am weary of you.'

'I am sorry for that, sir,' rejoined Mr Pecksniff, 'because I have a duty to discharge, from which, depend upon it, I shall not shrink. No, sir, I shall not shrink.'

It is a lamentable fact, that as Mr Pecksniff stood erect beside the bed, in all the dignity of Goodness, and addressed him thus, the old man cast an angry glance towards the candlestick, as if he were possessed by a strong inclination to launch it at his cousin's head. But he constrained himself, and pointing with his finger to the door, informed him that his road lay there.

Português → 'Thank you,' said Mr Pecksniff; 'I am aware of that. I am going. But before I go, I crave your leave to speak, and more than that, Mr Chuzzlewit, I must and will--yes indeed, I repeat it, must and will--be heard. I am not surprised, sir, at anything you have told me tonight. It is natural, very natural, and the greater part of it was known to me before. I will not say,' continued Mr Pecksniff, drawing out his pocket-handkerchief, and winking with both eyes at once, as it were, against his will, 'I will not say that you are mistaken in me. While you are in your present mood I would not say so for the world. I almost wish, indeed, that I had a different nature, that I might repress even this slight confession of weakness; which I cannot disguise from you; which I feel is humiliating; but which you will have the goodness to excuse. We will say, if you please,' added Mr Pecksniff, with great tenderness of manner, 'that it arises from a cold in the head, or is attributable to snuff, or smelling-salts, or onions, or anything but the real cause.'

Here he paused for an instant, and concealed his face behind his pocket-handkerchief. Then, smiling faintly, and holding the bed furniture with one hand, he resumed:

Português → 'But, Mr Chuzzlewit, while I am forgetful of myself, I owe it to myself, and to my character--aye, sir, and I HAVE a character which is very dear to me, and will be the best inheritance of my two daughters--to tell you, on behalf of another, that your conduct is wrong, unnatural, indefensible, monstrous. And I tell you, sir,' said Mr Pecksniff, towering on tiptoe among the curtains, as if he were literally rising above all worldly considerations, and were fain to hold on tight, to keep himself from darting skyward like a rocket, 'I tell you without fear or favour, that it will not do for you to be unmindful of your grandson, young Martin, who has the strongest natural claim upon you. It will not do, sir,' repeated Mr Pecksniff, shaking his head. 'You may think it will do, but it won't. You must provide for that young man; you shall provide for him; you WILL provide for him. I believe,' said Mr Pecksniff, glancing at the pen-and-ink, 'that in secret you have already done so. Bless you for doing so. Bless you for doing right, sir. Bless you for hating me. And good night!'

So saying, Mr Pecksniff waved his right hand with much solemnity, and once more inserting it in his waistcoat, departed. There was emotion in his manner, but his step was firm. Subject to human weaknesses, he was upheld by conscience.

Português → Martin lay for some time, with an expression on his face of silent wonder, not unmixed with rage; at length he muttered in a whisper:

'What does this mean? Can the false-hearted boy have chosen such a tool as yonder fellow who has just gone out? Why not! He has conspired against me, like the rest, and they are but birds of one feather. A new plot; a new plot! Oh self, self, self! At every turn nothing but self!'

He fell to trifling, as he ceased to speak, with the ashes of the burnt paper in the candlestick. He did so, at first, in pure abstraction, but they presently became the subject of his thoughts.

'Another will made and destroyed,' he said, 'nothing determined on, nothing done, and I might have died to-night! I plainly see to what foul uses all this money will be put at last,' he cried, almost writhing in the bed; 'after filling me with cares and miseries all my life, it will perpetuate discord and bad passions when I am dead. So it always is. What lawsuits grow out of the graves of rich men, every day; sowing perjury, hatred, and lies among near kindred, where there should be nothing but love! Heaven help us, we have much to answer for! Oh self, self, self! Every man for himself, and no creature for me!'

Português → Universal self! Was there nothing of its shadow in these reflections, and in the history of Martin Chuzzlewit, on his own showing?

Chapter Four

Português → FROM WHICH IT WILL APPEAR THAT IF UNION BE STRENGTH, AND FAMILY AFFECTION BE PLEASANT TO CONTEMPLATE, THE CHUZZLEWITS WERE THE STRONGEST AND MOST AGREEABLE FAMILY IN THE WORLD

That worthy man Mr Pecksniff having taken leave of his cousin in the solemn terms recited in the last chapter, withdrew to his own home, and remained there three whole days; not so much as going out for a walk beyond the boundaries of his own garden, lest he should be hastily summoned to the bedside of his penitent and remorseful relative, whom, in his ample benevolence, he had made up his mind to forgive unconditionally, and to love on any terms. But such was the obstinacy and such the bitter nature of that stern old man, that no repentant summons came; and the fourth day found Mr Pecksniff apparently much farther from his Christian object than the first.

During the whole of this interval, he haunted the Dragon at all times and seasons in the day and night, and, returning good for evil evinced the deepest solicitude in the progress of the obdurate invalid, in so much that Mrs Lupin was fairly melted by his disinterested anxiety (for he often particularly required her to take notice that he would do the same by any stranger or pauper in the like condition), and shed many tears of admiration and delight.

Português → Meantime, old Martin Chuzzlewit remained shut up in his own chamber, and saw no person but his young companion, saving the hostess of the Blue Dragon, who was, at certain times, admitted to his presence. So surely as she came into the room, however, Martin feigned to fall asleep. It was only when he and the young lady were alone, that he would utter a word, even in answer to the simplest inquiry; though Mr Pecksniff could make out, by hard listening at the door, that they two being left together, he was talkative enough.

Português → It happened on the fourth evening, that Mr Pecksniff walking, as usual, into the bar of the Dragon and finding no Mrs Lupin there, went straight upstairs; purposing, in the fervour of his affectionate zeal, to apply his ear once more to the keyhole, and quiet his mind by assuring himself that the hard-hearted patient was going on well. It happened that Mr Pecksniff, coming softly upon the dark passage into which a spiral ray of light usually darted through the same keyhole, was astonished to find no such ray visible; and it happened that Mr Pecksniff, when he had felt his way to the chamber-door, stooping hurriedly down to ascertain by personal inspection whether the jealousy of the old man had caused this keyhole to be stopped on the inside, brought his head into such violent contact with another head that he could not help uttering in an audible voice the monosyllable 'Oh!' which was, as it were, sharply unscrewed and jerked out of him by very anguish. It happened then, and lastly, that Mr Pecksniff found himself immediately collared by something which smelt like several damp umbrellas, a barrel of beer, a cask of warm brandy-and-water, and a small parlour-full of stale tobacco smoke, mixed; and was straightway led downstairs into the bar from which he had lately come, where he found himself standing opposite to, and in the grasp of, a perfectly strange gentleman of still stranger appearance who, with his disengaged hand, rubbed his own head very hard, and looked at him, Pecksniff, with an evil countenance.

Português → The gentleman was of that order of appearance which is currently termed shabby-genteel, though in respect of his dress he can hardly be said to have been in any extremities, as his fingers were a long way out of his gloves, and the soles of his feet were at an inconvenient distance from the upper leather of his boots. His nether garments were of a bluish grey--violent in its colours once, but sobered now by age and dinginess--and were so stretched and strained in a tough conflict between his braces and his straps, that they appeared every moment in danger of flying asunder at the knees. His coat, in colour blue and of a military cut, was buttoned and frogged up to his chin. His cravat was, in hue and pattern, like one of those mantles which hairdressers are accustomed to wrap about their clients, during the progress of the professional mysteries. His hat had arrived at such a pass that it would have been hard to determine whether it was originally white or black. But he wore a moustache--a shaggy moustache too; nothing in the meek and merciful way, but quite in the fierce and scornful style; the regular Satanic sort of thing--and he wore, besides, a vast quantity of unbrushed hair. He was very dirty and very jaunty; very bold and very mean; very swaggering and very slinking; very much like a man who might have been something better, and unspeakably like a man who deserved to be something worse.

Português → 'You were eaves-dropping at that door, you vagabond!' said this gentleman.

Mr Pecksniff cast him off, as Saint George might have repudiated the Dragon in that animal's last moments, and said:

'Where is Mrs Lupin, I wonder! can the good woman possibly be aware that there is a person here who--'

'Stay!' said the gentleman. 'Wait a bit. She DOES know. What then?'

'What then, sir?' cried Mr Pecksniff. 'What then? Do you know, sir, that I am the friend and relative of that sick gentleman? That I am his protector, his guardian, his--'

'Not his niece's husband,' interposed the stranger, 'I'll be sworn; for he was there before you.'

'What do you mean?' said Mr Pecksniff, with indignant surprise. 'What do you tell me, sir?'

'Wait a bit!' cried the other, 'Perhaps you are a cousin--the cousin who lives in this place?'

'I AM the cousin who lives in this place,' replied the man of worth.

'Your name is Pecksniff?' said the gentleman.

Português → 'It is.'

'I am proud to know you, and I ask your pardon,' said the gentleman, touching his hat, and subsequently diving behind his cravat for a shirt-collar, which however he did not succeed in bringing to the surface. 'You behold in me, sir, one who has also an interest in that gentleman upstairs. Wait a bit.'

As he said this, he touched the tip of his high nose, by way of intimation that he would let Mr Pecksniff into a secret presently; and pulling off his hat, began to search inside the crown among a mass of crumpled documents and small pieces of what may be called the bark of broken cigars; whence he presently selected the cover of an old letter, begrimed with dirt and redolent of tobacco.

'Read that,' he cried, giving it to Mr Pecksniff.

'This is addressed to Chevy Slyme, Esquire,' said that gentleman.

'You know Chevy Slyme, Esquire, I believe?' returned the stranger.

Mr Pecksniff shrugged his shoulders as though he would say 'I know there is such a person, and I am sorry for it.'

Português → 'Very good,' remarked the gentleman. 'That is my interest and business here.' With that he made another dive for his shirt-collar and brought up a string.

'Now, this is very distressing, my friend,' said Mr Pecksniff, shaking his head and smiling composedly. 'It is very distressing to me, to be compelled to say that you are not the person you claim to be. I know Mr Slyme, my friend; this will not do; honesty is the best policy you had better not; you had indeed.'

'Stop' cried the gentleman, stretching forth his right arm, which was so tightly wedged into his threadbare sleeve that it looked like a cloth sausage. 'Wait a bit!'

He paused to establish himself immediately in front of the fire with his back towards it. Then gathering the skirts of his coat under his left arm, and smoothing his moustache with his right thumb and forefinger, he resumed:

Português → 'I understand your mistake, and I am not offended. Why? Because it's complimentary. You suppose I would set myself up for Chevy Slyme. Sir, if there is a man on earth whom a gentleman would feel proud and honoured to be mistaken for, that man is my friend Slyme. For he is, without an exception, the highest-minded, the most independent-spirited, most original, spiritual, classical, talented, the most thoroughly Shakspearian, if not Miltonic, and at the same time the most disgustingly-unappreciated dog I know. But, sir, I have not the vanity to attempt to pass for Slyme. Any other man in the wide world, I am equal to; but Slyme is, I frankly confess, a great many cuts above me. Therefore you are wrong.'

'I judged from this,' said Mr Pecksniff, holding out the cover of the letter.

Português → 'No doubt you did,' returned the gentleman. 'But, Mr Pecksniff, the whole thing resolves itself into an instance of the peculiarities of genius. Every man of true genius has his peculiarity. Sir, the peculiarity of my friend Slyme is, that he is always waiting round the corner. He is perpetually round the corner, sir. He is round the corner at this instant. Now,' said the gentleman, shaking his forefinger before his nose, and planting his legs wider apart as he looked attentively in Mr Pecksniff's face, 'that is a remarkably curious and interesting trait in Mr Slyme's character; and whenever Slyme's life comes to be written, that trait must be thoroughly worked out by his biographer or society will not be satisfied. Observe me, society will not be satisfied!'

Mr Pecksniff coughed.

'Slyme's biographer, sir, whoever he may be,' resumed the gentleman, 'must apply to me; or, if I am gone to that what's-his-name from which no thingumbob comes back, he must apply to my executors for leave to search among my papers. I have taken a few notes in my poor way, of some of that man's proceedings--my adopted brother, sir,--which would amaze you. He made use of an expression, sir, only on the fifteenth of last month when he couldn't meet a little bill and the other party wouldn't renew, which would have done honour to Napoleon Bonaparte in addressing the French army.'

Português → 'And pray,' asked Mr Pecksniff, obviously not quite at his ease, 'what may be Mr Slyme's business here, if I may be permitted to inquire, who am compelled by a regard for my own character to disavow all interest in his proceedings?'

'In the first place,' returned the gentleman, 'you will permit me to say, that I object to that remark, and that I strongly and indignantly protest against it on behalf of my friend Slyme. In the next place, you will give me leave to introduce myself. My name, sir, is Tigg. The name of Montague Tigg will perhaps be familiar to you, in connection with the most remarkable events of the Peninsular War?'

Mr Pecksniff gently shook his head.

'No matter,' said the gentleman. 'That man was my father, and I bear his name. I am consequently proud--proud as Lucifer. Excuse me one moment. I desire my friend Slyme to be present at the remainder of this conference.'

With this announcement he hurried away to the outer door of the Blue Dragon, and almost immediately returned with a companion shorter than himself, who was wrapped in an old blue camlet cloak with a lining of faded scarlet. His sharp features being much pinched and nipped by long waiting in the cold, and his straggling red whiskers and frowzy hair being more than usually dishevelled from the same cause, he certainly looked rather unwholesome and uncomfortable than Shakspearian or Miltonic.

Português → 'Now,' said Mr Tigg, clapping one hand on the shoulder of his prepossessing friend, and calling Mr Pecksniff's attention to him with the other, 'you two are related; and relations never did agree, and never will; which is a wise dispensation and an inevitable thing, or there would be none but family parties, and everybody in the world would bore everybody else to death. If you were on good terms, I should consider you a most confoundedly unnatural pair; but standing towards each other as you do, I took upon you as a couple of devilish deep-thoughted fellows, who may be reasoned with to any extent.'

Here Mr Chevy Slyme, whose great abilities seemed one and all to point towards the sneaking quarter of the moral compass, nudged his friend stealthily with his elbow, and whispered in his ear.

Português → 'Chiv,' said Mr Tigg aloud, in the high tone of one who was not to be tampered with. 'I shall come to that presently. I act upon my own responsibility, or not at all. To the extent of such a trifling loan as a crownpiece to a man of your talents, I look upon Mr Pecksniff as certain;' and seeing at this juncture that the expression of Mr Pecksniff's face by no means betokened that he shared this certainty, Mr Tigg laid his finger on his nose again for that gentleman's private and especial behoof; calling upon him thereby to take notice that the requisition of small loans was another instance of the peculiarities of genius as developed in his friend Slyme; that he, Tigg, winked at the same, because of the strong metaphysical interest which these weaknesses possessed; and that in reference to his own personal advocacy of such small advances, he merely consulted the humour of his friend, without the least regard to his own advantage or necessities.

Português → 'Oh, Chiv, Chiv!' added Mr Tigg, surveying his adopted brother with an air of profound contemplation after dismissing this piece of pantomime. 'You are, upon my life, a strange instance of the little frailties that beset a mighty mind. If there had never been a telescope in the world, I should have been quite certain from my observation of you, Chiv, that there were spots on the sun! I wish I may die, if this isn't the queerest state of existence that we find ourselves forced into without knowing why or wherefore, Mr Pecksniff! Well, never mind! Moralise as we will, the world goes on. As Hamlet says, Hercules may lay about him with his club in every possible direction, but he can't prevent the cats from making a most intolerable row on the roofs of the houses, or the dogs from being shot in the hot weather if they run about the streets unmuzzled. Life's a riddle; a most infernally hard riddle to guess, Mr Pecksniff. My own opinions, that like that celebrated conundrum, "Why's a man in jail like a man out of jail?" there's no answer to it. Upon my soul and body, it's the queerest sort of thing altogether--but there's no use in talking about it. Ha! Ha!'

Português → With which consolatory deduction from the gloomy premises recited, Mr Tigg roused himself by a great effort, and proceeded in his former strain.

'Now I'll tell you what it is. I'm a most confoundedly soft-hearted kind of fellow in my way, and I cannot stand by, and see you two blades cutting each other's throats when there's nothing to be got by it. Mr Pecksniff, you're the cousin of the testator upstairs and we're the nephew--I say we, meaning Chiv. Perhaps in all essential points you are more nearly related to him than we are. Very good. If so, so be it. But you can't get at him, neither can we. I give you my brightest word of honour, sir, that I've been looking through that keyhole with short intervals of rest, ever since nine o'clock this morning, in expectation of receiving an answer to one of the most moderate and gentlemanly applications for a little temporary assistance--only fifteen pounds, and MY security--that the mind of man can conceive. In the meantime, sir, he is perpetually closeted with, and pouring his whole confidence into the bosom of, a stranger. Now I say decisively with regard to this state of circumstances, that it won't do; that it won't act; that it can't be; and that it must not be suffered to continue.'

Português → 'Every man,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'has a right, an undoubted right, (which I, for one, would not call in question for any earthly consideration; oh no!) to regulate his own proceedings by his own likings and dislikings, supposing they are not immoral and not irreligious. I may feel in my own breast, that Mr Chuzzlewit does not regard--me, for instance; say me--with exactly that amount of Christian love which should subsist between us. I may feel grieved and hurt at the circumstance; still I may not rush to the conclusion that Mr Chuzzlewit is wholly without a justification in all his coldnesses. Heaven forbid! Besides; how, Mr Tigg,' continued Pecksniff even more gravely and impressively than he had spoken yet, 'how could Mr Chuzzlewit be prevented from having these peculiar and most extraordinary confidences of which you speak; the existence of which I must admit; and which I cannot but deplore--for his sake? Consider, my good sir--' and here Mr Pecksniff eyed him wistfully--'how very much at random you are talking.'

'Why, as to that,' rejoined Tigg, 'it certainly is a difficult question.'

'Undoubtedly it is a difficult question,' Mr Pecksniff answered. As he spoke he drew himself aloft, and seemed to grow more mindful, suddenly, of the moral gulf between himself and the creature he addressed. 'Undoubtedly it is a very difficult question. And I am far from feeling sure that it is a question any one is authorized to discuss. Good evening to you.'

Português → 'You don't know that the Spottletoes are here, I suppose?' said Mr Tigg.

'What do you mean, sirâ what Spottletoes?' asked Pecksniff, stopping abruptly on his way to the door.

'Mr and Mrs Spottletoe,' said Chevy Slyme, Esquire, speaking aloud for the first time, and speaking very sulkily; shambling with his legs the while. 'Spottletoe married my father's brother's child, didn't he? And Mrs Spottletoe is Chuzzlewit's own niece, isn't she? She was his favourite once. You may well ask what Spottletoes.'

'Now upon my sacred word!' cried Mr Pecksniff, looking upwards. 'This is dreadful. The rapacity of these people is absolutely frightful!'

'It's not only the Spottletoes either, Tigg,' said Slyme, looking at that gentleman and speaking at Mr Pecksniff. 'Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son have got wind of it, and have come down this afternoon. I saw 'em not five minutes ago, when I was waiting round the corner.'

'Oh, Mammon, Mammon!' cried Mr Pecksniff, smiting his forehead.

Português → 'So there,' said Slyme, regardless of the interruption, 'are his brother and another nephew for you, already.'

'This is the whole thing, sir,' said Mr Tigg; 'this is the point and purpose at which I was gradually arriving when my friend Slyme here, with six words, hit it full. Mr Pecksniff, now that your cousin (and Chiv's uncle) has turned up, some steps must be taken to prevent his disappearing again; and, if possible, to counteract the influence which is exercised over him now, by this designing favourite. Everybody who is interested feels it, sir. The whole family is pouring down to this place. The time has come when individual jealousies and interests must be forgotten for a time, sir, and union must be made against the common enemy. When the common enemy is routed, you will all set up for yourselves again; every lady and gentleman who has a part in the game, will go in on their own account and bowl away, to the best of their ability, at the testator's wicket, and nobody will be in a worse position than before. Think of it. Don't commit yourself now. You'll find us at the Half Moon and Seven Stars in this village, at any time, and open to any reasonable proposition. Hem! Chiv, my dear fellow, go out and see what sort of a night it is.'

Português → Mr Slyme lost no time in disappearing, and it is to be presumed in going round the corner. Mr Tigg, planting his legs as wide apart as he could be reasonably expected by the most sanguine man to keep them, shook his head at Mr Pecksniff and smiled.

'We must not be too hard,' he said, 'upon the little eccentricities of our friend Slyme. You saw him whisper me?'

Mr Pecksniff had seen him.

'You heard my answer, I think?'

Mr Pecksniff had heard it.

'Five shillings, eh?' said Mr Tigg, thoughtfully. 'Ah! what an extraordinary fellow! Very moderate too!'

Mr Pecksniff made no answer.

'Five shillings!' pursued Mr Tigg, musing; 'and to be punctually repaid next week; that's the best of it. You heard that?'

Mr Pecksniff had not heard that.

'No! You surprise me!' cried Tigg. 'That's the cream of the thing sir. I never knew that man fail to redeem a promise, in my life. You're not in want of change, are you?'

Português → 'No,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'thank you. Not at all.'

'Just so,' returned Mr Tigg. 'If you had been, I'd have got it for you.' With that he began to whistle; but a dozen seconds had not elapsed when he stopped short, and looking earnestly at Mr Pecksniff, said:

'Perhaps you'd rather not lend Slyme five shillings?'

'I would much rather not,' Mr Pecksniff rejoined.

'Egad!' cried Tigg, gravely nodding his head as if some ground of objection occurred to him at that moment for the first time, 'it's very possible you may be right. Would you entertain the same sort of objection to lending me five shillings now?'

'Yes, I couldn't do it, indeed,' said Mr Pecksniff.

'Not even half-a-crown, perhaps?' urged Mr Tigg.

'Not even half-a-crown.'

'Why, then we come,' said Mr Tigg, 'to the ridiculously small amount of eighteen pence. Ha! ha!'

'And that,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'would be equally objectionable.'

Português → On receipt of this assurance, Mr Tigg shook him heartily by both hands, protesting with much earnestness, that he was one of the most consistent and remarkable men he had ever met, and that he desired the honour of his better acquaintance. He moreover observed that there were many little characteristics about his friend Slyme, of which he could by no means, as a man of strict honour, approve; but that he was prepared to forgive him all these slight drawbacks, and much more, in consideration of the great pleasure he himself had that day enjoyed in his social intercourse with Mr Pecksniff, which had given him a far higher and more enduring delight than the successful negotiation of any small loan on the part of his friend could possibly have imparted. With which remarks he would beg leave, he said, to wish Mr Pecksniff a very good evening. And so he took himself off; as little abashed by his recent failure as any gentleman would desire to be.

Português → The meditations of Mr Pecksniff that evening at the bar of the Dragon, and that night in his own house, were very serious and grave indeed; the more especially as the intelligence he had received from Messrs Tigg and Slyme touching the arrival of other members of the family, were fully confirmed on more particular inquiry. For the Spottletoes had actually gone straight to the Dragon, where they were at that moment housed and mounting guard, and where their appearance had occasioned such a vast sensation that Mrs Lupin, scenting their errand before they had been under her roof half an hour, carried the news herself with all possible secrecy straight to Mr Pecksniff's house; indeed it was her great caution in doing so which occasioned her to miss that gentleman, who entered at the front door of the Dragon just as she emerged from the back one. Moreover, Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Jonas were economically quartered at the Half Moon and Seven Stars, which was an obscure ale-house; and by the very next coach there came posting to the scene of action, so many other affectionate members of the family (who quarrelled with each other, inside and out, all the way down, to the utter distraction of the coachman), that in less than four-and-twenty hours the scanty tavern accommodation was at a premium, and all the private lodgings in the place, amounting to full four beds and sofa, rose cent per cent in the market.

Português → In a word, things came to that pass that nearly the whole family sat down before the Blue Dragon, and formally invested it; and Martin Chuzzlewit was in a state of siege. But he resisted bravely; refusing to receive all letters, messages, and parcels; obstinately declining to treat with anybody; and holding out no hope or promise of capitulation. Meantime the family forces were perpetually encountering each other in divers parts of the neighbourhood; and, as no one branch of the Chuzzlewit tree had ever been known to agree with another within the memory of man, there was such a skirmishing, and flouting, and snapping off of heads, in the metaphorical sense of that expression; such a bandying of words and calling of names; such an upturning of noses and wrinkling of brows; such a formal interment of good feelings and violent resurrection of ancient grievances; as had never been known in those quiet parts since the earliest record of their civilized existence.

At length, in utter despair and hopelessness, some few of the belligerents began to speak to each other in only moderate terms of mutual aggravation; and nearly all addressed themselves with a show of tolerable decency to Mr Pecksniff, in recognition of his high character and influential position. Thus, by little and little, they made common cause of Martin Chuzzlewit's obduracy, until it was agreed (if such a word can be used in connection with the Chuzzlewits) that there should be a general council and conference held at Mr Pecksniff's house upon a certain day at noon; which all members of the family who had brought themselves within reach of the summons, were forthwith bidden and invited, solemnly, to attend.

Português → If ever Mr Pecksniff wore an apostolic look, he wore it on this memorable day. If ever his unruffled smile proclaimed the words, 'I am a messenger of peace!' that was its mission now. If ever man combined within himself all the mild qualities of the lamb with a considerable touch of the dove, and not a dash of the crocodile, or the least possible suggestion of the very mildest seasoning of the serpent, that man was he. And, oh, the two Miss Pecksniffs! Oh, the serene expression on the face of Charity, which seemed to say, 'I know that all my family have injured me beyond the possibility of reparation, but I forgive them, for it is my duty so to do!' And, oh, the gay simplicity of Mercy; so charming, innocent, and infant-like, that if she had gone out walking by herself, and it had been a little earlier in the season, the robin-redbreasts might have covered her with leaves against her will, believing her to be one of the sweet children in the wood, come out of it, and issuing forth once more to look for blackberries in the young freshness of her heart! What words can paint the Pecksniffs in that trying hour? Oh, none; for words have naughty company among them, and the Pecksniffs were all goodness.

Português → But when the company arrived! That was the time. When Mr Pecksniff, rising from his seat at the table's head, with a daughter on either hand, received his guests in the best parlour and motioned them to chairs, with eyes so overflowing and countenance so damp with gracious perspiration, that he may be said to have been in a kind of moist meekness! And the company; the jealous stony-hearted distrustful company, who were all shut up in themselves, and had no faith in anybody, and wouldn't believe anything, and would no more allow themselves to be softened or lulled asleep by the Pecksniffs than if they had been so many hedgehogs or porcupines!

Português → First, there was Mr Spottletoe, who was so bald and had such big whiskers, that he seemed to have stopped his hair, by the sudden application of some powerful remedy, in the very act of falling off his head, and to have fastened it irrevocably on his face. Then there was Mrs Spottletoe, who being much too slim for her years, and of a poetical constitution, was accustomed to inform her more intimate friends that the said whiskers were 'the lodestar of her existence;' and who could now, by reason of her strong affection for her uncle Chuzzlewit, and the shock it gave her to be suspected of testamentary designs upon him, do nothing but cry--except moan. Then there were Anthony Chuzzlewit, and his son Jonas; the face of the old man so sharpened by the wariness and cunning of his life, that it seemed to cut him a passage through the crowded room, as he edged away behind the remotest chairs; while the son had so well profited by the precept and example of the father, that he looked a year or two the elder of the twain, as they stood winking their red eyes, side by side, and whispering to each other softly. Then there was the widow of a deceased brother of Mr Martin Chuzzlewit, who being almost supernaturally disagreeable, and having a dreary face and a bony figure and a masculine voice, was, in right of these qualities, what is commonly called a strong-minded woman; and who, if she could, would have established her claim to the title, and have shown herself, mentally speaking, a perfect Samson, by shutting up her brother-in-law in a private madhouse, until he proved his complete sanity by loving her very much. Beside her sat her spinster daughters, three in number, and of gentlemanly deportment, who had so mortified themselves with tight stays, that their tempers were reduced to something less than their waists, and sharp lacing was expressed in their very noses. Then there was a young gentleman, grandnephew of Mr Martin Chuzzlewit, very dark and very hairy, and apparently born for no particular purpose but to save looking-glasses the trouble of reflecting more than just the first idea and sketchy notion of a face, which had never been carried out. Then there was a solitary female cousin who was remarkable for nothing but being very deaf, and living by herself, and always having the toothache. Then there was George Chuzzlewit, a gay bachelor cousin, who claimed to be young but had been younger, and was inclined to corpulency, and rather overfed himself; to that extent, indeed, that his eyes were strained in their sockets, as if with constant surprise; and he had such an obvious disposition to pimples, that the bright spots on his cravat, the rich pattern on his waistcoat, and even his glittering trinkets, seemed to have broken out upon him, and not to have come into existence comfortably. Last of all there were present Mr Chevy Slyme and his friend Tigg. And it is worthy of remark, that although each person present disliked the other, mainly because he or she DID belong to the family, they one and all concurred in hating Mr Tigg because he didn't.

Português → Such was the pleasant little family circle now assembled in Mr Pecksniff's best parlour, agreeably prepared to fall foul of Mr Pecksniff or anybody else who might venture to say anything whatever upon any subject.

'This,' said Mr Pecksniff, rising and looking round upon them with folded hands, 'does me good. It does my daughters good. We thank you for assembling here. We are grateful to you with our whole hearts. It is a blessed distinction that you have conferred upon us, and believe me'--it is impossible to conceive how he smiled here--'we shall not easily forget it.'

'I am sorry to interrupt you, Pecksniff,' remarked Mr Spottletoe, with his whiskers in a very portentous state; 'but you are assuming too much to yourself, sir. Who do you imagine has it in contemplation to confer a distinction upon YOU, sir?'

A general murmur echoed this inquiry, and applauded it.

'If you are about to pursue the course with which you have begun, sir,' pursued Mr Spottletoe in a great heat, and giving a violent rap on the table with his knuckles, 'the sooner you desist, and this assembly separates, the better. I am no stranger, sir, to your preposterous desire to be regarded as the head of this family, but I can tell YOU, sir--'

Português → Oh yes, indeed! HE tell. HE! What? He was the head, was he? From the strong-minded woman downwards everybody fell, that instant, upon Mr Spottletoe, who after vainly attempting to be heard in silence was fain to sit down again, folding his arms and shaking his head most wrathfully, and giving Mrs Spottletoe to understand in dumb show, that that scoundrel Pecksniff might go on for the present, but he would cut in presently, and annihilate him.

'I am not sorry,' said Mr Pecksniff in resumption of his address, 'I am really not sorry that this little incident has happened. It is good to feel that we are met here without disguise. It is good to know that we have no reserve before each other, but are appearing freely in our own characters.'

Português → Here, the eldest daughter of the strong-minded woman rose a little way from her seat, and trembling violently from head to foot, more as it seemed with passion than timidity, expressed a general hope that some people WOULD appear in their own characters, if it were only for such a proceeding having the attraction of novelty to recommend it; and that when they (meaning the some people before mentioned) talked about their relations, they would be careful to observe who was present in company at the time; otherwise it might come round to those relations' ears, in a way they little expected; and as to red noses (she observed) she had yet to learn that a red nose was any disgrace, inasmuch as people neither made nor coloured their own noses, but had that feature provided for them without being first consulted; though even upon that branch of the subject she had great doubts whether certain noses were redder than other noses, or indeed half as red as some. This remark being received with a shrill titter by the two sisters of the speaker, Miss Charity Pecksniff begged with much politeness to be informed whether any of those very low observations were levelled at her; and receiving no more explanatory answer than was conveyed in the adage 'Those the cap fits, let them wear it,' immediately commenced a somewhat acrimonious and personal retort, wherein she was much comforted and abetted by her sister Mercy, who laughed at the same with great heartiness; indeed far more naturally than life. And it being quite impossible that any difference of opinion can take place among women without every woman who is within hearing taking active part in it, the strong-minded lady and her two daughters, and Mrs Spottletoe, and the deaf cousin (who was not at all disqualified from joining in the dispute by reason of being perfectly unacquainted with its merits), one and all plunged into the quarrel directly.

Português → The two Miss Pecksniffs being a pretty good match for the three Miss Chuzzlewits, and all five young ladies having, in the figurative language of the day, a great amount of steam to dispose of, the altercation would no doubt have been a long one but for the high valour and prowess of the strong-minded woman, who, in right of her reputation for powers of sarcasm, did so belabour and pummel Mrs Spottletoe with taunting words that the poor lady, before the engagement was two minutes old, had no refuge but in tears. These she shed so plentifully, and so much to the agitation and grief of Mr Spottletoe, that that gentleman, after holding his clenched fist close to Mr Pecksniff's eyes, as if it were some natural curiosity from the near inspection whereof he was likely to derive high gratification and improvement, and after offering (for no particular reason that anybody could discover) to kick Mr George Chuzzlewit for, and in consideration of, the trifling sum of sixpence, took his wife under his arm and indignantly withdrew. This diversion, by distracting the attention of the combatants, put an end to the strife, which, after breaking out afresh some twice or thrice in certain inconsiderable spurts and dashes, died away in silence.

It was then that Mr Pecksniff once more rose from his chair. It was then that the two Miss Pecksniffs composed themselves to look as if there were no such beings--not to say present, but in the whole compass of the world--as the three Miss Chuzzlewits; while the three Miss Chuzzlewits became equally unconscious of the existence of the two Miss Pecksniffs.

Português → 'It is to be lamented,' said Mr Pecksniff, with a forgiving recollection of Mr Spottletoe's fist, 'that our friend should have withdrawn himself so very hastily, though we have cause for mutual congratulation even in that, since we are assured that he is not distrustful of us in regard to anything we may say or do while he is absent. Now, that is very soothing, is it not?'

'Pecksniff,' said Anthony, who had been watching the whole party with peculiar keenness from the first--'don't you be a hypocrite.'

'A what, my good sir?' demanded Mr Pecksniff.

'A hypocrite.'

'Charity, my dear,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'when I take my chamber candlestick to-night, remind me to be more than usually particular in praying for Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit; who has done me an injustice.'

This was said in a very bland voice, and aside, as being addressed to his daughter's private ear. With a cheerfulness of conscience, prompting almost a sprightly demeanour, he then resumed:

'All our thoughts centring in our very dear but unkind relative, and he being as it were beyond our reach, we are met to-day, really as if we were a funeral party, except--a blessed exception--that there is no body in the house.'

Português → The strong-minded lady was not at all sure that this was a blessed exception. Quite the contrary.

'Well, my dear madam!' said Mr Pecksniff. 'Be that as it may, here we are; and being here, we are to consider whether it is possible by any justifiable means--'

'Why, you know as well as I,' said the strong-minded lady, 'that any means are justifiable in such a case, don't you?'

'Very good, my dear madam, very good; whether it is possible by ANY means, we will say by ANY means, to open the eyes of our valued relative to his present infatuation. Whether it is possible to make him acquainted by any means with the real character and purpose of that young female whose strange, whose very strange position, in reference to himself'--here Mr Pecksniff sunk his voice to an impressive whisper--'really casts a shadow of disgrace and shame upon this family; and who, we know'--here he raised his voice again--'else why is she his companion? harbours the very basest designs upon his weakness and his property.'

Português → In their strong feeling on this point, they, who agreed in nothing else, all concurred as one mind. Good Heaven, that she should harbour designs upon his property! The strong-minded lady was for poison, her three daughters were for Bridewell and bread-and-water, the cousin with the toothache advocated Botany Bay, the two Miss Pecksniffs suggested flogging. Nobody but Mr Tigg, who, notwithstanding his extreme shabbiness, was still understood to be in some sort a lady's man, in right of his upper lip and his frogs, indicated a doubt of the justifiable nature of these measures; and he only ogled the three Miss Chuzzlewits with the least admixture of banter in his admiration, as though he would observe, 'You are positively down upon her to too great an extent, my sweet creatures, upon my soul you are!'

'Now,' said Mr Pecksniff, crossing his two forefingers in a manner which was at once conciliatory and argumentative; 'I will not, upon the one hand, go so far as to say that she deserves all the inflictions which have been so very forcibly and hilariously suggested;' one of his ornamental sentences; 'nor will I, upon the other, on any account compromise my common understanding as a man, by making the assertion that she does not. What I would observe is, that I think some practical means might be devised of inducing our respected, shall I say our revered--?'

Português → 'No!' interposed the strong-minded woman in a loud voice.

'Then I will not,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'You are quite right, my dear madam, and I appreciate and thank you for your discriminating objection--our respected relative, to dispose himself to listen to the promptings of nature, and not to the--'

'Go on, Pa!' cried Mercy.

'Why, the truth is, my dear,' said Mr Pecksniff, smiling upon his assembled kindred, 'that I am at a loss for a word. The name of those fabulous animals (pagan, I regret to say) who used to sing in the water, has quite escaped me.'

Mr George Chuzzlewit suggested 'swans.'

'No,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'Not swans. Very like swans, too. Thank you.'

The nephew with the outline of a countenance, speaking for the first and last time on that occasion, propounded 'Oysters.'

Português → 'No,' said Mr Pecksniff, with his own peculiar urbanity, 'nor oysters. But by no means unlike oysters; a very excellent idea; thank you, my dear sir, very much. Wait! Sirens. Dear me! sirens, of course. I think, I say, that means might be devised of disposing our respected relative to listen to the promptings of nature, and not to the siren-like delusions of art. Now we must not lose sight of the fact that our esteemed friend has a grandson, to whom he was, until lately, very much attached, and whom I could have wished to see here to-day, for I have a real and deep regard for him. A fine young man, a very fine young man! I would submit to you, whether we might not remove Mr Chuzzlewit's distrust of us, and vindicate our own disinterestedness by--'

'If Mr George Chuzzlewit has anything to say to ME,' interposed the strong-minded woman, sternly, 'I beg him to speak out like a man; and not to look at me and my daughters as if he could eat us.'

'As to looking, I have heard it said, Mrs Ned,' returned Mr George, angrily, 'that a cat is free to contemplate a monarch; and therefore I hope I have some right, having been born a member of this family, to look at a person who only came into it by marriage. As to eating, I beg to say, whatever bitterness your jealousies and disappointed expectations may suggest to you, that I am not a cannibal, ma'am.'

Português → 'I don't know that!' cried the strong-minded woman.

'At all events, if I was a cannibal,' said Mr George Chuzzlewit, greatly stimulated by this retort, 'I think it would occur to me that a lady who had outlived three husbands, and suffered so very little from their loss, must be most uncommonly tough.'

The strong-minded woman immediately rose.

'And I will further add,' said Mr George, nodding his head violently at every second syllable; 'naming no names, and therefore hurting nobody but those whose consciences tell them they are alluded to, that I think it would be much more decent and becoming, if those who hooked and crooked themselves into this family by getting on the blind side of some of its members before marriage, and manslaughtering them afterwards by crowing over them to that strong pitch that they were glad to die, would refrain from acting the part of vultures in regard to other members of this family who are living. I think it would be full as well, if not better, if those individuals would keep at home, contenting themselves with what they have got (luckily for them) already; instead of hovering about, and thrusting their fingers into, a family pie, which they flavour much more than enough, I can tell them, when they are fifty miles away.'

Português → 'I might have been prepared for this!' cried the strong-minded woman, looking about her with a disdainful smile as she moved towards the door, followed by her three daughters. 'Indeed I was fully prepared for it from the first. What else could I expect in such an atmosphere as this!'

'Don't direct your halfpay-officers' gaze at me, ma'am, if you please,' interposed Miss Charity; 'for I won't bear it.'

This was a smart stab at a pension enjoyed by the strong-minded woman, during her second widowhood and before her last coverture. It told immensely.

'I passed from the memory of a grateful country, you very miserable minx,' said Mrs Ned, 'when I entered this family; and I feel now, though I did not feel then, that it served me right, and that I lost my claim upon the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland when I so degraded myself. Now, my dears, if you're quite ready, and have sufficiently improved yourselves by taking to heart the genteel example of these two young ladies, I think we'll go. Mr Pecksniff, we are very much obliged to you, really. We came to be entertained, and you have far surpassed our utmost expectations, in the amusement you have provided for us. Thank you. Good-bye!'

Português → With such departing words, did this strong-minded female paralyse the Pecksniffian energies; and so she swept out of the room, and out of the house, attended by her daughters, who, as with one accord, elevated their three noses in the air, and joined in a contemptuous titter. As they passed the parlour window on the outside, they were seen to counterfeit a perfect transport of delight among themselves; and with this final blow and great discouragement for those within, they vanished.

Before Mr Pecksniff or any of his remaining visitors could offer a remark, another figure passed this window, coming, at a great rate in the opposite direction; and immediately afterwards, Mr Spottletoe burst into the chamber. Compared with his present state of heat, he had gone out a man of snow or ice. His head distilled such oil upon his whiskers, that they were rich and clogged with unctuous drops; his face was violently inflamed, his limbs trembled; and he gasped and strove for breath.

'My good sir!' cried Mr Pecksniff.

'Oh yes!' returned the other; 'oh yes, certainly! Oh to be sure! Oh, of course! You hear him? You hear himâ all of you!'

'What's the matter?' cried several voices.

'Oh nothing!' cried Spottletoe, still gasping. 'Nothing at all! It's of no consequence! Ask him! HE'll tell you!'

Português → 'I do not understand our friend,' said Mr Pecksniff, looking about him in utter amazement. 'I assure you that he is quite unintelligible to me.'

'Unintelligible, sir!' cried the other. 'Unintelligible! Do you mean to say, sir, that you don't know what has happened! That you haven't decoyed us here, and laid a plot and a plan against us! Will you venture to say that you didn't know Mr Chuzzlewit was going, sir, and that you don't know he's gone, sir?'

'Gone!' was the general cry.

'Gone,' echoed Mr Spottletoe. 'Gone while we were sitting here. Gone. Nobody knows where he's gone. Oh, of course not! Nobody knew he was going. Oh, of course not! The landlady thought up to the very last moment that they were merely going for a ride; she had no other suspicion. Oh, of course not! She's not this fellow's creature. Oh, of course not!'

Adding to these exclamations a kind of ironical howl, and gazing upon the company for one brief instant afterwards, in a sudden silence, the irritated gentleman started off again at the same tremendous pace, and was seen no more.

Português → It was in vain for Mr Pecksniff to assure them that this new and opportune evasion of the family was at least as great a shock and surprise to him as to anybody else. Of all the bullyings and denunciations that were ever heaped on one unlucky head, none can ever have exceeded in energy and heartiness those with which he was complimented by each of his remaining relatives, singly, upon bidding him farewell.

The moral position taken by Mr Tigg was something quite tremendous; and the deaf cousin, who had the complicated aggravation of seeing all the proceedings and hearing nothing but the catastrophe, actually scraped her shoes upon the scraper, and afterwards distributed impressions of them all over the top step, in token that she shook the dust from her feet before quitting that dissembling and perfidious mansion.

Mr Pecksniff had, in short, but one comfort, and that was the knowledge that all these his relations and friends had hated him to the very utmost extent before; and that he, for his part, had not distributed among them any more love than, with his ample capital in that respect, he could comfortably afford to part with. This view of his affairs yielded him great consolation; and the fact deserves to be noted, as showing with what ease a good man may be consoled under circumstances of failure and disappointment.

Chapter Five

Português → CONTAINING A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE INSTALLATION OF MR PECKSNIFF'S NEW PUPIL INTO THE BOSOM OF MR PECKSNIFF'S FAMILY. WITH ALL THE FESTIVITIES HELD ON THAT OCCASION, AND THE GREAT ENJOYMENT OF MR PINCH

The best of architects and land surveyors kept a horse, in whom the enemies already mentioned more than once in these pages pretended to detect a fanciful resemblance to his master. Not in his outward person, for he was a raw-boned, haggard horse, always on a much shorter allowance of corn than Mr Pecksniff; but in his moral character, wherein, said they, he was full of promise, but of no performance. He was always in a manner, going to go, and never going. When at his slowest rate of travelling he would sometimes lift up his legs so high, and display such mighty action, that it was difficult to believe he was doing less than fourteen miles an hour; and he was for ever so perfectly satisfied with his own speed, and so little disconcerted by opportunities of comparing himself with the fastest trotters, that the illusion was the more difficult of resistance. He was a kind of animal who infused into the breasts of strangers a lively sense of hope, and possessed all those who knew him better with a grim despair. In what respect, having these points of character, he might be fairly likened to his master, that good man's slanderers only can explain. But it is a melancholy truth, and a deplorable instance of the uncharitableness of the world, that they made the comparison.

Português → In this horse, and the hooded vehicle, whatever its proper name might be, to which he was usually harnessed--it was more like a gig with a tumour than anything else--all Mr Pinch's thoughts and wishes centred, one bright frosty morning; for with this gallant equipage he was about to drive to Salisbury alone, there to meet with the new pupil, and thence to bring him home in triumph.

Português → Blessings on thy simple heart, Tom Pinch, how proudly dost thou button up that scanty coat, called by a sad misnomer, for these many years, a 'great' one; and how thoroughly, as with thy cheerful voice thou pleasantly adjurest Sam the hostler 'not to let him go yet,' dost thou believe that quadruped desires to go, and would go if he might! Who could repress a smile--of love for thee, Tom Pinch, and not in jest at thy expense, for thou art poor enough already, Heaven knows--to think that such a holiday as lies before thee should awaken that quick flow and hurry of the spirits, in which thou settest down again, almost untasted, on the kitchen window-sill, that great white mug (put by, by thy own hands, last night, that breakfast might not hold thee late), and layest yonder crust upon the seat beside thee, to be eaten on the road, when thou art calmer in thy high rejoicing! Who, as thou drivest off, a happy, man, and noddest with a grateful lovingness to Pecksniff in his nightcap at his chamber-window, would not cry, 'Heaven speed thee, Tom, and send that thou wert going off for ever to some quiet home where thou mightst live at peace, and sorrow should not touch thee!'

Português → What better time for driving, riding, walking, moving through the air by any means, than a fresh, frosty morning, when hope runs cheerily through the veins with the brisk blood, and tingles in the frame from head to foot! This was the glad commencement of a bracing day in early winter, such as may put the languid summer season (speaking of it when it can't be had) to the blush, and shame the spring for being sometimes cold by halves. The sheep-bells rang as clearly in the vigorous air, as if they felt its wholesome influence like living creatures; the trees, in lieu of leaves or blossoms, shed upon the ground a frosty rime that sparkled as it fell, and might have been the dust of diamonds. So it was to Tom. From cottage chimneys, smoke went streaming up high, high, as if the earth had lost its grossness, being so fair, and must not be oppressed by heavy vapour. The crust of ice on the else rippling brook was so transparent, and so thin in texture, that the lively water might of its own free will have stopped--in Tom's glad mind it had--to look upon the lovely morning. And lest the sun should break this charm too eagerly, there moved between him and the ground, a mist like that which waits upon the moon on summer nights--the very same to Tom--and wooed him to dissolve it gently.

Português → Tom Pinch went on; not fast, but with a sense of rapid motion, which did just as well; and as he went, all kinds of things occurred to keep him happy. Thus when he came within sight of the turnpike, and was--oh a long way off!--he saw the tollman's wife, who had that moment checked a waggon, run back into the little house again like mad, to say (she knew) that Mr Pinch was coming up. And she was right, for when he drew within hail of the gate, forth rushed the tollman's children, shrieking in tiny chorus, 'Mr Pinch!' to Tom's intense delight. The very tollman, though an ugly chap in general, and one whom folks were rather shy of handling, came out himself to take the toll, and give him rough good morning; and that with all this, and a glimpse of the family breakfast on a little round table before the fire, the crust Tom Pinch had brought away with him acquired as rich a flavour as though it had been cut from a fairy loaf.

But there was more than this. It was not only the married people and the children who gave Tom Pinch a welcome as he passed. No, no. Sparkling eyes and snowy breasts came hurriedly to many an upper casement as he clattered by, and gave him back his greeting: not stinted either, but sevenfold, good measure. They were all merry. They all laughed. And some of the wickedest among them even kissed their hands as Tom looked back. For who minded poor Mr Pinch? There was no harm in HIM.

Português → And now the morning grew so fair, and all things were so wide awake and gay, that the sun seeming to say--Tom had no doubt he said--'I can't stand it any longer; I must have a look,' streamed out in radiant majesty. The mist, too shy and gentle for such lusty company, fled off, quite scared, before it; and as it swept away, the hills and mounds and distant pasture lands, teeming with placid sheep and noisy crows, came out as bright as though they were unrolled bran new for the occasion. In compliment to which discovery, the brook stood still no longer, but ran briskly off to bear the tidings to the water-mill, three miles away.

Mr Pinch was jogging along, full of pleasant thoughts and cheerful influences, when he saw, upon the path before him, going in the same direction with himself, a traveller on foot, who walked with a light quick step, and sang as he went--for certain in a very loud voice, but not unmusically. He was a young fellow, of some five or six-and-twenty perhaps, and was dressed in such a free and fly-away fashion, that the long ends of his loose red neckcloth were streaming out behind him quite as often as before; and the bunch of bright winter berries in the buttonhole of his velveteen coat was as visible to Mr Pinch's rearward observation, as if he had worn that garment wrong side foremost. He continued to sing with so much energy, that he did not hear the sound of wheels until it was close behind him; when he turned a whimsical face and a very merry pair of blue eyes on Mr Pinch, and checked himself directly.

Português → 'Why, Mark?' said Tom Pinch, stopping. 'Who'd have thought of seeing you here? Well! this is surprising!'

Mark touched his hat, and said, with a very sudden decrease of vivacity, that he was going to Salisbury.

'And how spruce you are, too!' said Mr Pinch, surveying him with great pleasure. 'Really, I didn't think you were half such a tight-made fellow, Mark!'

'Thankee, Mr Pinch. Pretty well for that, I believe. It's not my fault, you know. With regard to being spruce, sir, that's where it is, you see.' And here he looked particularly gloomy.

'Where what is?' Mr Pinch demanded.

'Where the aggravation of it is. Any man may be in good spirits and good temper when he's well dressed. There an't much credit in that. If I was very ragged and very jolly, then I should begin to feel I had gained a point, Mr Pinch.'

'So you were singing just now, to bear up, as it were, against being well dressed, eh, Mark?' said Pinch.

Português → 'Your conversation's always equal to print, sir,' rejoined Mark, with a broad grin. 'That was it.'

'Well!' cried Pinch, 'you are the strangest young man, Mark, I ever knew in my life. I always thought so; but now I am quite certain of it. I am going to Salisbury, too. Will you get in? I shall be very glad of your company.'

The young fellow made his acknowledgments and accepted the offer; stepping into the carriage directly, and seating himself on the very edge of the seat with his body half out of it, to express his being there on sufferance, and by the politeness of Mr Pinch. As they went along, the conversation proceeded after this manner.

'I more than half believed, just now, seeing you so very smart,' said Pinch, 'that you must be going to be married, Mark.'

'Well, sir, I've thought of that, too,' he replied. 'There might be some credit in being jolly with a wife, 'specially if the children had the measles and that, and was very fractious indeed. But I'm a'most afraid to try it. I don't see my way clear.'

Português → 'You're not very fond of anybody, perhaps?' said Pinch.

'Not particular, sir, I think.'

'But the way would be, you know, Mark, according to your views of things,' said Mr Pinch, 'to marry somebody you didn't like, and who was very disagreeable.'

'So it would, sir; but that might be carrying out a principle a little too far, mightn't it?'

'Perhaps it might,' said Mr Pinch. At which they both laughed gayly.

'Lord bless you, sir,' said Mark, 'you don't half know me, though. I don't believe there ever was a man as could come out so strong under circumstances that would make other men miserable, as I could, if I could only get a chance. But I can't get a chance. It's my opinion that nobody never will know half of what's in me, unless something very unexpected turns up. And I don't see any prospect of that. I'm a-going to leave the Dragon, sir.'

'Going to leave the Dragon!' cried Mr Pinch, looking at him with great astonishment. 'Why, Mark, you take my breath away!'

Português → 'Yes, sir,' he rejoined, looking straight before him and a long way off, as men do sometimes when they cogitate profoundly. 'What's the use of my stopping at the Dragon? It an't at all the sort of place for ME. When I left London (I'm a Kentish man by birth, though), and took that situation here, I quite made up my mind that it was the dullest little out-of-the-way corner in England, and that there would be some credit in being jolly under such circumstances. But, Lord, there's no dullness at the Dragon! Skittles, cricket, quoits, nine-pins, comic songs, choruses, company round the chimney corner every winter's evening. Any man could be jolly at the Dragon. There's no credit in THAT.'

'But if common report be true for once, Mark, as I think it is, being able to confirm it by what I know myself,' said Mr Pinch, 'you are the cause of half this merriment, and set it going.'

'There may be something in that, too, sir,' answered Mark. 'But that's no consolation.'

Português → 'Well!' said Mr Pinch, after a short silence, his usually subdued tone being even now more subdued than ever. 'I can hardly think enough of what you tell me. Why, what will become of Mrs Lupin, Mark?'

Mark looked more fixedly before him, and further off still, as he answered that he didn't suppose it would be much of an object to her. There were plenty of smart young fellows as would be glad of the place. He knew a dozen himself.

'That's probable enough,' said Mr Pinch, 'but I am not at all sure that Mrs Lupin would be glad of them. Why, I always supposed that Mrs Lupin and you would make a match of it, Mark; and so did every one, as far as I know.'

'I never,' Mark replied, in some confusion, 'said nothing as was in a direct way courting-like to her, nor she to me, but I don't know what I mightn't do one of these odd times, and what she mightn't say in answer. Well, sir, THAT wouldn't suit.'

'Not to be landlord of the Dragon, Mark?' cried Mr Pinch.

'No, sir, certainly not,' returned the other, withdrawing his gaze from the horizon, and looking at his fellow-traveller. 'Why that would be the ruin of a man like me. I go and sit down comfortably for life, and no man never finds me out. What would be the credit of the landlord of the Dragon's being jolly? Why, he couldn't help it, if he tried.'

Português → 'Does Mrs Lupin know you are going to leave her?' Mr Pinch inquired.

'I haven't broke it to her yet, sir, but I must. I'm looking out this morning for something new and suitable,' he said, nodding towards the city.

'What kind of thing now?' Mr Pinch demanded.

'I was thinking,' Mark replied, 'of something in the grave-digging way.'

'Good gracious, Mark?' cried Mr Pinch.

'It's a good damp, wormy sort of business, sir,' said Mark, shaking his head argumentatively, 'and there might be some credit in being jolly, with one's mind in that pursuit, unless grave-diggers is usually given that way; which would be a drawback. You don't happen to know how that is in general, do you, sir?'

'No,' said Mr Pinch, 'I don't indeed. I never thought upon the subject.'

'In case of that not turning out as well as one could wish, you know,' said Mark, musing again, 'there's other businesses. Undertaking now. That's gloomy. There might be credit to be gained there. A broker's man in a poor neighbourhood wouldn't be bad perhaps. A jailor sees a deal of misery. A doctor's man is in the very midst of murder. A bailiff's an't a lively office nat'rally. Even a tax-gatherer must find his feelings rather worked upon, at times. There's lots of trades in which I should have an opportunity, I think.'

Português → Mr Pinch was so perfectly overwhelmed by these remarks that he could do nothing but occasionally exchange a word or two on some indifferent subject, and cast sidelong glances at the bright face of his odd friend (who seemed quite unconscious of his observation), until they reached a certain corner of the road, close upon the outskirts of the city, when Mark said he would jump down there, if he pleased.

'But bless my soul, Mark,' said Mr Pinch, who in the progress of his observation just then made the discovery that the bosom of his companion's shirt was as much exposed as if it was Midsummer, and was ruffled by every breath of air, 'why don't you wear a waistcoat?'

'What's the good of one, sir?' asked Mark.

'Good of one?' said Mr Pinch. 'Why, to keep your chest warm.'

'Lord love you, sir!' cried Mark, 'you don't know me. My chest don't want no warming. Even if it did, what would no waistcoat bring it to? Inflammation of the lungs, perhaps? Well, there'd be some credit in being jolly, with a inflammation of the lungs.'

Português → As Mr Pinch returned no other answer than such as was conveyed in his breathing very hard, and opening his eyes very wide, and nodding his head very much, Mark thanked him for his ride, and without troubling him to stop, jumped lightly down. And away he fluttered, with his red neckerchief, and his open coat, down a cross-lane; turning back from time to time to nod to Mr Pinch, and looking one of the most careless, good-humoured comical fellows in life. His late companion, with a thoughtful face pursued his way to Salisbury.

Português → Mr Pinch had a shrewd notion that Salisbury was a very desperate sort of place; an exceeding wild and dissipated city; and when he had put up the horse, and given the hostler to understand that he would look in again in the course of an hour or two to see him take his corn, he set forth on a stroll about the streets with a vague and not unpleasant idea that they teemed with all kinds of mystery and bedevilment. To one of his quiet habits this little delusion was greatly assisted by the circumstance of its being market-day, and the thoroughfares about the market-place being filled with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, waggons, garden-stuff, meat, tripe, pies, poultry and huckster's wares of every opposite description and possible variety of character. Then there were young farmers and old farmers with smock-frocks, brown great-coats, drab great-coats, red worsted comforters, leather-leggings, wonderful shaped hats, hunting-whips, and rough sticks, standing about in groups, or talking noisily together on the tavern steps, or paying and receiving huge amounts of greasy wealth, with the assistance of such bulky pocket-books that when they were in their pockets it was apoplexy to get them out, and when they were out it was spasms to get them in again. Also there were farmers' wives in beaver bonnets and red cloaks, riding shaggy horses purged of all earthly passions, who went soberly into all manner of places without desiring to know why, and who, if required, would have stood stock still in a china shop, with a complete dinner-service at each hoof. Also a great many dogs, who were strongly interested in the state of the market and the bargains of their masters; and a great confusion of tongues, both brute and human.

Português → Mr Pinch regarded everything exposed for sale with great delight, and was particularly struck by the itinerant cutlery, which he considered of the very keenest kind, insomuch that he purchased a pocket knife with seven blades in it, and not a cut (as he afterwards found out) among them. When he had exhausted the market-place, and watched the farmers safe into the market dinner, he went back to look after the horse. Having seen him eat unto his heart's content he issued forth again, to wander round the town and regale himself with the shop windows; previously taking a long stare at the bank, and wondering in what direction underground the caverns might be where they kept the money; and turning to look back at one or two young men who passed him, whom he knew to be articled to solicitors in the town; and who had a sort of fearful interest in his eyes, as jolly dogs who knew a thing or two, and kept it up tremendously.

Português → But the shops. First of all there were the jewellers' shops, with all the treasures of the earth displayed therein, and such large silver watches hanging up in every pane of glass, that if they were anything but first-rate goers it certainly was not because the works could decently complain of want of room. In good sooth they were big enough, and perhaps, as the saying is, ugly enough, to be the most correct of all mechanical performers; in Mr Pinch's eyes, however they were smaller than Geneva ware; and when he saw one very bloated watch announced as a repeater, gifted with the uncommon power of striking every quarter of an hour inside the pocket of its happy owner, he almost wished that he were rich enough to buy it.

Português → But what were even gold and silver, precious stones and clockwork, to the bookshops, whence a pleasant smell of paper freshly pressed came issuing forth, awakening instant recollections of some new grammar had at school, long time ago, with 'Master Pinch, Grove House Academy,' inscribed in faultless writing on the fly-leaf! That whiff of russia leather, too, and all those rows on rows of volumes neatly ranged within--what happiness did they suggest! And in the window were the spick-and-span new works from London, with the title-pages, and sometimes even the first page of the first chapter, laid wide open; tempting unwary men to begin to read the book, and then, in the impossibility of turning over, to rush blindly in, and buy it! Here too were the dainty frontispiece and trim vignette, pointing like handposts on the outskirts of great cities, to the rich stock of incident beyond; and store of books, with many a grave portrait and time-honoured name, whose matter he knew well, and would have given mines to have, in any form, upon the narrow shell beside his bed at Mr Pecksniff's. What a heart-breaking shop it was!

Português → There was another; not quite so bad at first, but still a trying shop; where children's books were sold, and where poor Robinson Crusoe stood alone in his might, with dog and hatchet, goat-skin cap and fowling-pieces; calmly surveying Philip Quarn and the host of imitators round him, and calling Mr Pinch to witness that he, of all the crowd, impressed one solitary footprint on the shore of boyish memory, whereof the tread of generations should not stir the lightest grain of sand. And there too were the Persian tales, with flying chests and students of enchanted books shut up for years in caverns; and there too was Abudah, the merchant, with the terrible little old woman hobbling out of the box in his bedroom; and there the mighty talisman, the rare Arabian Nights, with Cassim Baba, divided by four, like the ghost of a dreadful sum, hanging up, all gory, in the robbers' cave. Which matchless wonders, coming fast on Mr Pinch's mind, did so rub up and chafe that wonderful lamp within him, that when he turned his face towards the busy street, a crowd of phantoms waited on his pleasure, and he lived again, with new delight, the happy days before the Pecksniff era.

Português → He had less interest now in the chemists' shops, with their great glowing bottles (with smaller repositories of brightness in their very stoppers); and in their agreeable compromises between medicine and perfumery, in the shape of toothsome lozenges and virgin honey. Neither had he the least regard (but he never had much) for the tailors', where the newest metropolitan waistcoat patterns were hanging up, which by some strange transformation always looked amazing there, and never appeared at all like the same thing anywhere else. But he stopped to read the playbill at the theatre and surveyed the doorway with a kind of awe, which was not diminished when a sallow gentleman with long dark hair came out, and told a boy to run home to his lodgings and bring down his broadsword. Mr Pinch stood rooted to the spot on hearing this, and might have stood there until dark, but that the old cathedral bell began to ring for vesper service, on which he tore himself away.

Português → Now, the organist's assistant was a friend of Mr Pinch's, which was a good thing, for he too was a very quiet gentle soul, and had been, like Tom, a kind of old-fashioned boy at school, though well liked by the noisy fellow too. As good luck would have it (Tom always said he had great good luck) the assistant chanced that very afternoon to be on duty by himself, with no one in the dusty organ loft but Tom; so while he played, Tom helped him with the stops; and finally, the service being just over, Tom took the organ himself. It was then turning dark, and the yellow light that streamed in through the ancient windows in the choir was mingled with a murky red. As the grand tones resounded through the church, they seemed, to Tom, to find an echo in the depth of every ancient tomb, no less than in the deep mystery of his own heart. Great thoughts and hopes came crowding on his mind as the rich music rolled upon the air and yet among them--something more grave and solemn in their purpose, but the same--were all the images of that day, down to its very lightest recollection of childhood. The feeling that the sounds awakened, in the moment of their existence, seemed to include his whole life and being; and as the surrounding realities of stone and wood and glass grew dimmer in the darkness, these visions grew so much the brighter that Tom might have forgotten the new pupil and the expectant master, and have sat there pouring out his grateful heart till midnight, but for a very earthy old verger insisting on locking up the cathedral forthwith. So he took leave of his friend, with many thanks, groped his way out, as well as he could, into the now lamp-lighted streets, and hurried off to get his dinner.

Português → All the farmers being by this time jogging homewards, there was nobody in the sanded parlour of the tavern where he had left the horse; so he had his little table drawn out close before the fire, and fell to work upon a well-cooked steak and smoking hot potatoes, with a strong appreciation of their excellence, and a very keen sense of enjoyment. Beside him, too, there stood a jug of most stupendous Wiltshire beer; and the effect of the whole was so transcendent, that he was obliged every now and then to lay down his knife and fork, rub his hands, and think about it. By the time the cheese and celery came, Mr Pinch had taken a book out of his pocket, and could afford to trifle with the viands; now eating a little, now drinking a little, now reading a little, and now stopping to wonder what sort of a young man the new pupil would turn out to be. He had passed from this latter theme and was deep in his book again, when the door opened, and another guest came in, bringing with him such a quantity of cold air, that he positively seemed at first to put the fire out.

'Very hard frost to-night, sir,' said the newcomer, courteously acknowledging Mr Pinch's withdrawal of the little table, that he might have place: 'Don't disturb yourself, I beg.'

Português → Though he said this with a vast amount of consideration for Mr Pinch's comfort, he dragged one of the great leather-bottomed chairs to the very centre of the hearth, notwithstanding; and sat down in front of the fire, with a foot on each hob.

'My feet are quite numbed. Ah! Bitter cold to be sure.'

'You have been in the air some considerable time, I dare say?' said Mr Pinch.

'All day. Outside a coach, too.'

'That accounts for his making the room so cool,' thought Mr Pinch. 'Poor fellow! How thoroughly chilled he must be!'

The stranger became thoughtful likewise, and sat for five or ten minutes looking at the fire in silence. At length he rose and divested himself of his shawl and great-coat, which (far different from Mr Pinch's) was a very warm and thick one; but he was not a whit more conversational out of his great-coat than in it, for he sat down again in the same place and attitude, and leaning back in his chair, began to bite his nails. He was young--one-and-twenty, perhaps--and handsome; with a keen dark eye, and a quickness of look and manner which made Tom sensible of a great contrast in his own bearing, and caused him to feel even more shy than usual.

Português → There was a clock in the room, which the stranger often turned to look at. Tom made frequent reference to it also; partly from a nervous sympathy with its taciturn companion; and partly because the new pupil was to inquire for him at half after six, and the hands were getting on towards that hour. Whenever the stranger caught him looking at this clock, a kind of confusion came upon Tom as if he had been found out in something; and it was a perception of his uneasiness which caused the younger man to say, perhaps, with a smile:

'We both appear to be rather particular about the time. The fact is, I have an engagement to meet a gentleman here.'

'So have I,' said Mr Pinch.

'At half-past six,' said the stranger.

'At half-past six,' said Tom in the very same breath; whereupon the other looked at him with some surprise.

'The young gentleman, I expect,' remarked Tom, timidly, 'was to inquire at that time for a person by the name of Pinch.'

'Dear me!' cried the other, jumping up. 'And I have been keeping the fire from you all this while! I had no idea you were Mr Pinch. I am the Mr Martin for whom you were to inquire. Pray excuse me. How do you do? Oh, do draw nearer, pray!'

Português → 'Thank you,' said Tom, 'thank you. I am not at all cold, and you are; and we have a cold ride before us. Well, if you wish it, I will. I--I am very glad,' said Tom, smiling with an embarrassed frankness peculiarly his, and which was as plainly a confession of his own imperfections, and an appeal to the kindness of the person he addressed, as if he had drawn one up in simple language and committed it to paper: 'I am very glad indeed that you turn out to be the party I expected. I was thinking, but a minute ago, that I could wish him to be like you.'

'I am very glad to hear it,' returned Martin, shaking hands with him again; 'for I assure you, I was thinking there could be no such luck as Mr Pinch's turning out like you.'

'No, really!' said Tom, with great pleasure. 'Are you serious?'

'Upon my word I am,' replied his new acquaintance. 'You and I will get on excellently well, I know; which it's no small relief to me to feel, for to tell you the truth, I am not at all the sort of fellow who could get on with everybody, and that's the point on which I had the greatest doubts. But they're quite relieved now.--Do me the favour to ring the bell, will you?'

Português → Mr Pinch rose, and complied with great alacrity--the handle hung just over Martin's head, as he warmed himself--and listened with a smiling face to what his friend went on to say. It was:

'If you like punch, you'll allow me to order a glass apiece, as hot as it can be made, that we may usher in our friendship in a becoming manner. To let you into a secret, Mr Pinch, I never was so much in want of something warm and cheering in my life; but I didn't like to run the chance of being found drinking it, without knowing what kind of person you were; for first impressions, you know, often go a long way, and last a long time.'

Mr Pinch assented, and the punch was ordered. In due course it came; hot and strong. After drinking to each other in the steaming mixture, they became quite confidential.

'I'm a sort of relation of Pecksniff's, you know,' said the young man.

'Indeed!' cried Mr Pinch.

'Yes. My grandfather is his cousin, so he's kith and kin to me, somehow, if you can make that out. I can't.'

'Then Martin is your Christian name?' said Mr Pinch, thoughtfully. 'Oh!'

Português → 'Of course it is,' returned his friend: 'I wish it was my surname for my own is not a very pretty one, and it takes a long time to sign. Chuzzlewit is my name.'

'Dear me!' cried Mr Pinch, with an involuntary start.

'You're not surprised at my having two names, I suppose?' returned the other, setting his glass to his lips. 'Most people have.'

'Oh, no,' said Mr Pinch, 'not at all. Oh dear no! Well!' And then remembering that Mr Pecksniff had privately cautioned him to say nothing in reference to the old gentleman of the same name who had lodged at the Dragon, but to reserve all mention of that person for him, he had no better means of hiding his confusion than by raising his own glass to his mouth. They looked at each other out of their respective tumblers for a few seconds, and then put them down empty.

'I told them in the stable to be ready for us ten minutes ago,' said Mr Pinch, glancing at the clock again. 'Shall we go?'

'If you please,' returned the other.

Português → 'Would you like to drive?' said Mr Pinch; his whole face beaming with a consciousness of the splendour of his offer. 'You shall, if you wish.'

'Why, that depends, Mr Pinch,' said Martin, laughing, 'upon what sort of a horse you have. Because if he's a bad one, I would rather keep my hands warm by holding them comfortably in my greatcoat pockets.'

He appeared to think this such a good joke, that Mr Pinch was quite sure it must be a capital one. Accordingly, he laughed too, and was fully persuaded that he enjoyed it very much. Then he settled his bill, and Mr Chuzzlewit paid for the punch; and having wrapped themselves up, to the extent of their respective means, they went out together to the front door, where Mr Pecksniff's property stopped the way.

'I won't drive, thank you, Mr Pinch,' said Martin, getting into the sitter's place. 'By the bye, there's a box of mine. Can we manage to take it?'

'Oh, certainly,' said Tom. 'Put it in, Dick, anywhere!'

Português → It was not precisely of that convenient size which would admit of its being squeezed into any odd corner, but Dick the hostler got it in somehow, and Mr Chuzzlewit helped him. It was all on Mr Pinch's side, and Mr Chuzzlewit said he was very much afraid it would encumber him; to which Tom said, 'Not at all;' though it forced him into such an awkward position, that he had much ado to see anything but his own knees. But it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good; and the wisdom of the saying was verified in this instance; for the cold air came from Mr Pinch's side of the carriage, and by interposing a perfect wall of box and man between it and the new pupil, he shielded that young gentleman effectually; which was a great comfort.

Português → It was a clear evening, with a bright moon. The whole landscape was silvered by its light and by the hoar-frost; and everything looked exquisitely beautiful. At first, the great serenity and peace through which they travelled, disposed them both to silence; but in a very short time the punch within them and the healthful air without, made them loquacious, and they talked incessantly. When they were halfway home, and stopped to give the horse some water, Martin (who was very generous with his money) ordered another glass of punch, which they drank between them, and which had not the effect of making them less conversational than before. Their principal topic of discourse was naturally Mr Pecksniff and his family; of whom, and of the great obligations they had heaped upon him, Tom Pinch, with the tears standing in his eyes, drew such a picture as would have inclined any one of common feeling almost to revere them; and of which Mr Pecksniff had not the slightest foresight or preconceived idea, or he certainly (being very humble) would not have sent Tom Pinch to bring the pupil home.

In this way they went on, and on, and on--in the language of the story-books--until at last the village lights appeared before them, and the church spire cast a long reflection on the graveyard grass; as if it were a dial (alas, the truest in the world!) marking, whatever light shone out of Heaven, the flight of days and weeks and years, by some new shadow on that solemn ground.

Português → 'A pretty church!' said Martin, observing that his companion slackened the slack pace of the horse, as they approached.

'Is it not?' cried Tom, with great pride. 'There's the sweetest little organ there you ever heard. I play it for them.'

'Indeed?' said Martin. 'It is hardly worth the trouble, I should think. What do you get for that, now?'

'Nothing,' answered Tom.

'Well,' returned his friend, 'you ARE a very strange fellow!'

To which remark there succeeded a brief silence.

'When I say nothing,' observed Mr Pinch, cheerfully, 'I am wrong, and don't say what I mean, because I get a great deal of pleasure from it, and the means of passing some of the happiest hours I know. It led to something else the other day; but you will not care to hear about that I dare say?'

'Oh yes I shall. What?'

'It led to my seeing,' said Tom, in a lower voice, 'one of the loveliest and most beautiful faces you can possibly picture to yourself.'

'And yet I am able to picture a beautiful one,' said his friend, thoughtfully, 'or should be, if I have any memory.'

Português → 'She came' said Tom, laying his hand upon the other's arm, 'for the first time very early in the morning, when it was hardly light; and when I saw her, over my shoulder, standing just within the porch, I turned quite cold, almost believing her to be a spirit. A moment's reflection got the better of that, of course, and fortunately it came to my relief so soon, that I didn't leave off playing.'

'Why fortunately?'

'Why? Because she stood there, listening. I had my spectacles on, and saw her through the chinks in the curtains as plainly as I see you; and she was beautiful. After a while she glided off, and I continued to play until she was out of hearing.'

'Why did you do that?'

'Don't you see?' responded Tom. 'Because she might suppose I hadn't seen her; and might return.'

'And did she?'

'Certainly she did. Next morning, and next evening too; but always when there were no people about, and always alone. I rose earlier and sat there later, that when she came, she might find the church door open, and the organ playing, and might not be disappointed. She strolled that way for some days, and always stayed to listen. But she is gone now, and of all unlikely things in this wide world, it is perhaps the most improbable that I shall ever look upon her face again.'

Português → 'You don't know anything more about her?'

'No.'

'And you never followed her when she went away?'

'Why should I distress her by doing that?' said Tom Pinch. 'Is it likely that she wanted my company? She came to hear the organ, not to see me; and would you have had me scare her from a place she seemed to grow quite fond of? Now, Heaven bless her!' cried Tom, 'to have given her but a minute's pleasure every day, I would have gone on playing the organ at those times until I was an old man; quite contented if she sometimes thought of a poor fellow like me, as a part of the music; and more than recompensed if she ever mixed me up with anything she liked as well as she liked that!'

Português → The new pupil was clearly very much amazed by Mr Pinch's weakness, and would probably have told him so, and given him some good advice, but for their opportune arrival at Mr Pecksniff's door; the front door this time, on account of the occasion being one of ceremony and rejoicing. The same man was in waiting for the horse who had been adjured by Mr Pinch in the morning not to yield to his rabid desire to start; and after delivering the animal into his charge, and beseeching Mr Chuzzlewit in a whisper never to reveal a syllable of what he had just told him in the fullness of his heart, Tom led the pupil in, for instant presentation.

Português → Mr Pecksniff had clearly not expected them for hours to come; for he was surrounded by open books, and was glancing from volume to volume, with a black lead-pencil in his mouth, and a pair of compasses in his hand, at a vast number of mathematical diagrams, of such extraordinary shapes that they looked like designs for fireworks. Neither had Miss Charity expected them, for she was busied, with a capacious wicker basket before her, in making impracticable nightcaps for the poor. Neither had Miss Mercy expected them, for she was sitting upon her stool, tying on the--oh good gracious!--the petticoat of a large doll that she was dressing for a neighbour's child--really, quite a grown-up doll, which made it more confusing--and had its little bonnet dangling by the ribbon from one of her fair curls, to which she had fastened it lest it should be lost or sat upon. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to conceive a family so thoroughly taken by surprise as the Pecksniffs were, on this occasion.

Bless my life!' said Mr Pecksniff, looking up, and gradually exchanging his abstracted face for one of joyful recognition. 'Here already! Martin, my dear boy, I am delighted to welcome you to my poor house!'

Português → With this kind greeting, Mr Pecksniff fairly took him to his arms, and patted him several times upon the back with his right hand the while, as if to express that his feelings during the embrace were too much for utterance.

'But here,' he said, recovering, 'are my daughters, Martin; my two only children, whom (if you ever saw them) you have not beheld--ah, these sad family divisions!--since you were infants together. Nay, my dears, why blush at being detected in your everyday pursuits? We had prepared to give you the reception of a visitor, Martin, in our little room of state,' said Mr Pecksniff, smiling, 'but I like this better, I like this better!'

Oh blessed star of Innocence, wherever you may be, how did you glitter in your home of ether, when the two Miss Pecksniffs put forth each her lily hand, and gave the same, with mantling cheeks, to Martin! How did you twinkle, as if fluttering with sympathy, when Mercy, reminded of the bonnet in her hair, hid her fair face and turned her head aside; the while her gentle sister plucked it out, and smote her with a sister's soft reproof, upon her buxom shoulder!

Português → 'And how,' said Mr Pecksniff, turning round after the contemplation of these passages, and taking Mr Pinch in a friendly manner by the elbow, 'how has our friend used you, Martin?'

'Very well indeed, sir. We are on the best terms, I assure you.'

'Old Tom Pinch!' said Mr Pecksniff, looking on him with affectionate sadness. 'Ah! It seems but yesterday that Thomas was a boy fresh from a scholastic course. Yet years have passed, I think, since Thomas Pinch and I first walked the world together!'

Mr Pinch could say nothing. He was too much moved. But he pressed his master's hand, and tried to thank him.

'And Thomas Pinch and I,' said Mr Pecksniff, in a deeper voice, 'will walk it yet, in mutual faithfulness and friendship! And if it comes to pass that either of us be run over in any of those busy crossings which divide the streets of life, the other will convey him to the hospital in Hope, and sit beside his bed in Bounty!'

'Well, well, well!' he added in a happier tone, as he shook Mr Pinch's elbow hard. 'No more of this! Martin, my dear friend, that you may be at home within these walls, let me show you how we live, and where. Come!'

With that he took up a lighted candle, and, attended by his young relative, prepared to leave the room. At the door, he stopped.

Português → 'You'll bear us company, Tom Pinch?'

Aye, cheerfully, though it had been to death, would Tom have followed him; glad to lay down his life for such a man!

'This,' said Mr Pecksniff, opening the door of an opposite parlour, 'is the little room of state, I mentioned to you. My girls have pride in it, Martin! This,' opening another door, 'is the little chamber in which my works (slight things at best) have been concocted. Portrait of myself by Spiller. Bust by Spoker. The latter is considered a good likeness. I seem to recognize something about the left-hand corner of the nose, myself.'

Martin thought it was very like, but scarcely intellectual enough. Mr Pecksniff observed that the same fault had been found with it before. It was remarkable it should have struck his young relation too. He was glad to see he had an eye for art.

'Various books you observe,' said Mr Pecksniff, waving his hand towards the wall, 'connected with our pursuit. I have scribbled myself, but have not yet published. Be careful how you come upstairs. This,' opening another door, 'is my chamber. I read here when the family suppose I have retired to rest. Sometimes I injure my health rather more than I can quite justify to myself, by doing so; but art is long and time is short. Every facility you see for jotting down crude notions, even here.'

Português → These latter words were explained by his pointing to a small round table on which were a lamp, divers sheets of paper, a piece of India rubber, and a case of instruments; all put ready, in case an architectural idea should come into Mr Pecksniff's head in the night; in which event he would instantly leap out of bed, and fix it for ever.

Mr Pecksniff opened another door on the same floor, and shut it again, all at once, as if it were a Blue Chamber. But before he had well done so, he looked smilingly round, and said, 'Why not?'

Martin couldn't say why not, because he didn't know anything at all about it. So Mr Pecksniff answered himself, by throwing open the door, and saying:

'My daughters' room. A poor first-floor to us, but a bower to them. Very neat. Very airy. Plants you observe; hyacinths; books again; birds.' These birds, by the bye, comprised, in all, one staggering old sparrow without a tail, which had been borrowed expressly from the kitchen. 'Such trifles as girls love are here. Nothing more. Those who seek heartless splendour, would seek here in vain.'

With that he led them to the floor above.

Português → 'This,' said Mr Pecksniff, throwing wide the door of the memorable two-pair front; 'is a room where some talent has been developed I believe. This is a room in which an idea for a steeple occurred to me that I may one day give to the world. We work here, my dear Martin. Some architects have been bred in this room; a few, I think, Mr Pinch?'

Tom fully assented; and, what is more, fully believed it.

'You see,' said Mr Pecksniff, passing the candle rapidly from roll to roll of paper, 'some traces of our doings here. Salisbury Cathedral from the north. From the south. From the east. From the west. From the south-east. From the nor'west. A bridge. An almshouse. A jail. A church. A powder-magazine. A wine-cellar. A portico. A summer-house. An ice-house. Plans, elevations, sections, every kind of thing. And this,' he added, having by this time reached another large chamber on the same story, with four little beds in it, 'this is your room, of which Mr Pinch here is the quiet sharer. A southern aspect; a charming prospect; Mr Pinch's little library, you perceive; everything agreeable and appropriate. If there is any additional comfort you would desire to have here at anytime, pray mention it. Even to strangers, far less to you, my dear Martin, there is no restriction on that point.'

It was undoubtedly true, and may be stated in corroboration of Mr Pecksniff, that any pupil had the most liberal permission to mention anything in this way that suggested itself to his fancy. Some young gentlemen had gone on mentioning the very same thing for five years without ever being stopped.

Português → 'The domestic assistants,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'sleep above; and that is all.' After which, and listening complacently as he went, to the encomiums passed by his young friend on the arrangements generally, he led the way to the parlour again.

Here a great change had taken place; for festive preparations on a rather extensive scale were already completed, and the two Miss Pecksniffs were awaiting their return with hospitable looks. There were two bottles of currant wine, white and red; a dish of sandwiches (very long and very slim); another of apples; another of captain's biscuits (which are always a moist and jovial sort of viand); a plate of oranges cut up small and gritty; with powdered sugar, and a highly geological home-made cake. The magnitude of these preparations quite took away Tom Pinch's breath; for though the new pupils were usually let down softly, as one may say, particularly in the wine department, which had so many stages of declension, that sometimes a young gentleman was a whole fortnight in getting to the pump; still this was a banquet; a sort of Lord Mayor's feast in private life; a something to think of, and hold on by, afterwards.

To this entertainment, which apart from its own intrinsic merits, had the additional choice quality, that it was in strict keeping with the night, being both light and cool, Mr Pecksniff besought the company to do full justice.

'Martin,' he said, 'will seat himself between you two, my dears, and Mr Pinch will come by me. Let us drink to our new inmate, and may we be happy together! Martin, my dear friend, my love to you! Mr Pinch, if you spare the bottle we shall quarrel.'

Português → And trying (in his regard for the feelings of the rest) to look as if the wine were not acid and didn't make him wink, Mr Pecksniff did honour to his own toast.

'This,' he said, in allusion to the party, not the wine, 'is a mingling that repays one for much disappointment and vexation. Let us be merry.' Here he took a captain's biscuit. 'It is a poor heart that never rejoices; and our hearts are not poor. No!'

With such stimulants to merriment did he beguile the time, and do the honours of the table; while Mr Pinch, perhaps to assure himself that what he saw and heard was holiday reality, and not a charming dream, ate of everything, and in particular disposed of the slim sandwiches to a surprising extent. Nor was he stinted in his draughts of wine; but on the contrary, remembering Mr Pecksniff's speech, attacked the bottle with such vigour, that every time he filled his glass anew, Miss Charity, despite her amiable resolves, could not repress a fixed and stony glare, as if her eyes had rested on a ghost. Mr Pecksniff also became thoughtful at those moments, not to say dejected; but as he knew the vintage, it is very likely he may have been speculating on the probable condition of Mr Pinch upon the morrow, and discussing within himself the best remedies for colic.

Martin and the young ladies were excellent friends already, and compared recollections of their childish days, to their mutual liveliness and entertainment. Miss Mercy laughed immensely at everything that was said; and sometimes, after glancing at the happy face of Mr Pinch, was seized with such fits of mirth as brought her to the very confines of hysterics. But for these bursts of gaiety, her sister, in her better sense, reproved her; observing, in an angry whisper, that it was far from being a theme for jest; and that she had no patience with the creature; though it generally ended in her laughing too--but much more moderately--and saying that indeed it was a little too ridiculous and intolerable to be serious about.

Português → At length it became high time to remember the first clause of that great discovery made by the ancient philosopher, for securing health, riches, and wisdom; the infallibility of which has been for generations verified by the enormous fortunes constantly amassed by chimney-sweepers and other persons who get up early and go to bed betimes. The young ladies accordingly rose, and having taken leave of Mr Chuzzlewit with much sweetness, and of their father with much duty and of Mr Pinch with much condescension, retired to their bower. Mr Pecksniff insisted on accompanying his young friend upstairs for personal superintendence of his comforts; and taking him by the arm, conducted him once more to his bedroom, followed by Mr Pinch, who bore the light.

'Mr Pinch,' said Pecksniff, seating himself with folded arms on one of the spare beds. 'I don't see any snuffers in that candlestick. Will you oblige me by going down, and asking for a pair?'

Mr Pinch, only too happy to be useful, went off directly.

'You will excuse Thomas Pinch's want of polish, Martin,' said Mr Pecksniff, with a smile of patronage and pity, as soon as he had left the room. 'He means well.'

'He is a very good fellow, sir.'

'Oh, yes,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'Yes. Thomas Pinch means well. He is very grateful. I have never regretted having befriended Thomas Pinch.'

Português → 'I should think you never would, sir.'

'No,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'No. I hope not. Poor fellow, he is always disposed to do his best; but he is not gifted. You will make him useful to you, Martin, if you please. If Thomas has a fault, it is that he is sometimes a little apt to forget his position. But that is soon checked. Worthy soul! You will find him easy to manage. Good night!'

'Good night, sir.'

By this time Mr Pinch had returned with the snuffers.

'And good night to YOU, Mr Pinch,' said Pecksniff. 'And sound sleep to you both. Bless you! Bless you!'

Invoking this benediction on the heads of his young friends with great fervour, he withdrew to his own room; while they, being tired, soon fell asleep. If Martin dreamed at all, some clue to the matter of his visions may possibly be gathered from the after-pages of this history. Those of Thomas Pinch were all of holidays, church organs, and seraphic Pecksniffs. It was some time before Mr Pecksniff dreamed at all, or even sought his pillow, as he sat for full two hours before the fire in his own chamber, looking at the coals and thinking deeply. But he, too, slept and dreamed at last. Thus in the quiet hours of the night, one house shuts in as many incoherent and incongruous fancies as a madman's head.

Chapter Six

Português → COMPRISES, AMONG OTHER IMPORTANT MATTERS, PECKSNIFFIAN AND ARCHITECTURAL, AND EXACT RELATION OF THE PROGRESS MADE BY MR PINCH IN THE CONFIDENCE AND FRIENDSHIP OF THE NEW PUPIL

It was morning; and the beautiful Aurora, of whom so much hath been written, said, and sung, did, with her rosy fingers, nip and tweak Miss Pecksniff's nose. It was the frolicsome custom of the Goddess, in her intercourse with the fair Cherry, so to do; or in more prosaic phrase, the tip of that feature in the sweet girl's countenance was always very red at breakfast-time. For the most part, indeed, it wore, at that season of the day, a scraped and frosty look, as if it had been rasped; while a similar phenomenon developed itself in her humour, which was then observed to be of a sharp and acid quality, as though an extra lemon (figuratively speaking) had been squeezed into the nectar of her disposition, and had rather damaged its flavour.

Português → This additional pungency on the part of the fair young creature led, on ordinary occasions, to such slight consequences as the copious dilution of Mr Pinch's tea, or to his coming off uncommonly short in respect of butter, or to other the like results. But on the morning after the Installation Banquet, she suffered him to wander to and fro among the eatables and drinkables, a perfectly free and unchecked man; so utterly to Mr Pinch's wonder and confusion, that like the wretched captive who recovered his liberty in his old age, he could make but little use of his enlargement, and fell into a strange kind of flutter for want of some kind hand to scrape his bread, and cut him off in the article of sugar with a lump, and pay him those other little attentions to which he was accustomed. There was something almost awful, too, about the self-possession of the new pupil; who 'troubled' Mr Pecksniff for the loaf, and helped himself to a rasher of that gentleman's own particular and private bacon, with all the coolness in life. He even seemed to think that he was doing quite a regular thing, and to expect that Mr Pinch would follow his example, since he took occasion to observe of that young man 'that he didn't get on'; a speech of so tremendous a character, that Tom cast down his eyes involuntarily, and felt as if he himself had committed some horrible deed and heinous breach of Mr Pecksniff's confidence. Indeed, the agony of having such an indiscreet remark addressed to him before the assembled family, was breakfast enough in itself, and would, without any other matter of reflection, have settled Mr Pinch's business and quenched his appetite, for one meal, though he had been never so hungry.

The young ladies, however, and Mr Pecksniff likewise, remained in the very best of spirits in spite of these severe trials, though with something of a mysterious understanding among themselves. When the meal was nearly over, Mr Pecksniff smilingly explained the cause of their common satisfaction.

Português → 'It is not often,' he said, 'Martin, that my daughters and I desert our quiet home to pursue the giddy round of pleasures that revolves abroad. But we think of doing so to-day.'

'Indeed, sir!' cried the new pupil.

'Yes,' said Mr Pecksniff, tapping his left hand with a letter which he held in his right. 'I have a summons here to repair to London; on professional business, my dear Martin; strictly on professional business; and I promised my girls, long ago, that whenever that happened again, they should accompany me. We shall go forth to-night by the heavy coach--like the dove of old, my dear Martin--and it will be a week before we again deposit our olive-branches in the passage. When I say olive-branches,' observed Mr Pecksniff, in explanation, 'I mean, our unpretending luggage.'

'I hope the young ladies will enjoy their trip,' said Martin.

'Oh! that I'm sure we shall!' cried Mercy, clapping her hands. 'Good gracious, Cherry, my darling, the idea of London!'

Português → 'Ardent child!' said Mr Pecksniff, gazing on her in a dreamy way. 'And yet there is a melancholy sweetness in these youthful hopes! It is pleasant to know that they never can be realised. I remember thinking once myself, in the days of my childhood, that pickled onions grew on trees, and that every elephant was born with an impregnable castle on his back. I have not found the fact to be so; far from it; and yet those visions have comforted me under circumstances of trial. Even when I have had the anguish of discovering that I have nourished in my breast on ostrich, and not a human pupil--even in that hour of agony, they have soothed me.'

At this dread allusion to John Westlock, Mr Pinch precipitately choked in his tea; for he had that very morning received a letter from him, as Mr Pecksniff very well knew.

'You will take care, my dear Martin,' said Mr Pecksniff, resuming his former cheerfulness, 'that the house does not run away in our absence. We leave you in charge of everything. There is no mystery; all is free and open. Unlike the young man in the Eastern tale--who is described as a one-eyed almanac, if I am not mistaken, Mr Pinch?--'

Português → 'A one-eyed calender, I think, sir,' faltered Tom.

'They are pretty nearly the same thing, I believe,' said Mr Pecksniff, smiling compassionately; 'or they used to be in my time. Unlike that young man, my dear Martin, you are forbidden to enter no corner of this house; but are requested to make yourself perfectly at home in every part of it. You will be jovial, my dear Martin, and will kill the fatted calf if you please!'

There was not the least objection, doubtless, to the young man's slaughtering and appropriating to his own use any calf, fat or lean, that he might happen to find upon the premises; but as no such animal chanced at that time to be grazing on Mr Pecksniff's estate, this request must be considered rather as a polite compliment that a substantial hospitality. It was the finishing ornament of the conversation; for when he had delivered it, Mr Pecksniff rose and led the way to that hotbed of architectural genius, the two-pair front.

'Let me see,' he said, searching among the papers, 'how you can best employ yourself, Martin, while I am absent. Suppose you were to give me your idea of a monument to a Lord Mayor of London; or a tomb for a sheriff; or your notion of a cow-house to be erected in a nobleman's park. Do you know, now,' said Mr Pecksniff, folding his hands, and looking at his young relation with an air of pensive interest, 'that I should very much like to see your notion of a cow-house?'

Português → But Martin by no means appeared to relish this suggestion.

'A pump,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'is very chaste practice. I have found that a lamp post is calculated to refine the mind and give it a classical tendency. An ornamental turnpike has a remarkable effect upon the imagination. What do you say to beginning with an ornamental turnpike?'

'Whatever Mr Pecksniff pleased,' said Martin, doubtfully.

'Stay,' said that gentleman. 'Come! as you're ambitious, and are a very neat draughtsman, you shall--ha ha!--you shall try your hand on these proposals for a grammar-school; regulating your plan, of course, by the printed particulars. Upon my word, now,' said Mr Pecksniff, merrily, 'I shall be very curious to see what you make of the grammar-school. Who knows but a young man of your taste might hit upon something, impracticable and unlikely in itself, but which I could put into shape? For it really is, my dear Martin, it really is in the finishing touches alone, that great experience and long study in these matters tell. Ha, ha, ha! Now it really will be,' continued Mr Pecksniff, clapping his young friend on the back in his droll humour, 'an amusement to me, to see what you make of the grammar-school.'

Português → Martin readily undertook this task, and Mr Pecksniff forthwith proceeded to entrust him with the materials necessary for its execution; dwelling meanwhile on the magical effect of a few finishing touches from the hand of a master; which, indeed, as some people said (and these were the old enemies again!) was unquestionably very surprising, and almost miraculous; as there were cases on record in which the masterly introduction of an additional back window, or a kitchen door, or half-a-dozen steps, or even a water spout, had made the design of a pupil Mr Pecksniff's own work, and had brought substantial rewards into that gentleman's pocket. But such is the magic of genius, which changes all it handles into gold!

'When your mind requires to be refreshed by change of occupation,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'Thomas Pinch will instruct you in the art of surveying the back garden, or in ascertaining the dead level of the road between this house and the finger-post, or in any other practical and pleasing pursuit. There are a cart-load of loose bricks, and a score or two of old flower-pots, in the back yard. If you could pile them up my dear Martin, into any form which would remind me on my return say of St. Peter's at Rome, or the Mosque of St. Sophia at Constantinople, it would be at once improving to you and agreeable to my feelings. And now,' said Mr Pecksniff, in conclusion, 'to drop, for the present, our professional relations and advert to private matters, I shall be glad to talk with you in my own room, while I pack up my portmanteau.'

Português → Martin attended him; and they remained in secret conference together for an hour or more; leaving Tom Pinch alone. When the young man returned, he was very taciturn and dull, in which state he remained all day; so that Tom, after trying him once or twice with indifferent conversation, felt a delicacy in obtruding himself upon his thoughts, and said no more.

He would not have had leisure to say much, had his new friend been ever so loquacious; for first of all Mr Pecksniff called him down to stand upon the top of his portmanteau and represent ancient statues there, until such time as it would consent to be locked; and then Miss Charity called him to come and cord her trunk; and then Miss Mercy sent for him to come and mend her box; and then he wrote the fullest possible cards for all the luggage; and then he volunteered to carry it all downstairs; and after that to see it safely carried on a couple of barrows to the old finger-post at the end of the lane; and then to mind it till the coach came up. In short, his day's work would have been a pretty heavy one for a porter, but his thorough good-will made nothing of it; and as he sat upon the luggage at last, waiting for the Pecksniffs, escorted by the new pupil, to come down the lane, his heart was light with the hope of having pleased his benefactor.

Português → 'I was almost afraid,' said Tom, taking a letter from his pocket and wiping his face, for he was hot with bustling about though it was a cold day, 'that I shouldn't have had time to write it, and that would have been a thousand pities; postage from such a distance being a serious consideration, when one's not rich. She will be glad to see my hand, poor girl, and to hear that Pecksniff is as kind as ever. I would have asked John Westlock to call and see her, and tell her all about me by word of mouth, but I was afraid he might speak against Pecksniff to her, and make her uneasy. Besides, they are particular people where she is, and it might have rendered her situation uncomfortable if she had had a visit from a young man like John. Poor Ruth!'

Tom Pinch seemed a little disposed to be melancholy for half a minute or so, but he found comfort very soon, and pursued his ruminations thus:

Português → 'I'm a nice man, I don't think, as John used to say (John was a kind, merry-hearted fellow; I wish he had liked Pecksniff better), to be feeling low, on account of the distance between us, when I ought to be thinking, instead, of my extraordinary good luck in having ever got here. I must have been born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I am sure, to have ever come across Pecksniff. And here have I fallen again into my usual good luck with the new pupil! Such an affable, generous, free fellow, as he is, I never saw. Why, we were companions directly! and he a relation of Pecksniff's too, and a clever, dashing youth who might cut his way through the world as if it were a cheese! Here he comes while the words are on my lips' said Tom; 'walking down the lane as if the lane belonged to him.'

In truth, the new pupil, not at all disconcerted by the honour of having Miss Mercy Pecksniff on his arm, or by the affectionate adieux of that young lady, approached as Mr Pinch spoke, followed by Miss Charity and Mr Pecksniff. As the coach appeared at the same moment, Tom lost no time in entreating the gentleman last mentioned, to undertake the delivery of his letter.

Português → 'Oh!' said Mr Pecksniff, glancing at the superscription. 'For your sister, Thomas. Yes, oh yes, it shall be delivered, Mr Pinch. Make your mind easy upon that score. She shall certainly have it, Mr Pinch.'

He made the promise with so much condescension and patronage, that Tom felt he had asked a great deal (this had not occurred to his mind before), and thanked him earnestly. The Miss Pecksniffs, according to a custom they had, were amused beyond description at the mention of Mr Pinch's sister. Oh the fright! The bare idea of a Miss Pinch! Good heavens!

Tom was greatly pleased to see them so merry, for he took it as a token of their favour, and good-humoured regard. Therefore he laughed too and rubbed his hands and wished them a pleasant journey and safe return, and was quite brisk. Even when the coach had rolled away with the olive-branches in the boot and the family of doves inside, he stood waving his hand and bowing; so much gratified by the unusually courteous demeanour of the young ladies, that he was quite regardless, for the moment, of Martin Chuzzlewit, who stood leaning thoughtfully against the finger-post, and who after disposing of his fair charge had hardly lifted his eyes from the ground.

Português → The perfect silence which ensued upon the bustle and departure of the coach, together with the sharp air of the wintry afternoon, roused them both at the same time. They turned, as by mutual consent, and moved off arm-in-arm.

'How melancholy you are!' said Tom; 'what is the matter?'

'Nothing worth speaking of,' said Martin. 'Very little more than was the matter yesterday, and much more, I hope, than will be the matter to-morrow. I'm out of spirits, Pinch.'

'Well,' cried Tom, 'now do you know I am in capital spirits today, and scarcely ever felt more disposed to be good company. It was a very kind thing in your predecessor, John, to write to me, was it not?'

'Why, yes,' said Martin carelessly; 'I should have thought he would have had enough to do to enjoy himself, without thinking of you, Pinch.'

'Just what I felt to be so very likely,' Tom rejoined; 'but no, he keeps his word, and says, "My dear Pinch, I often think of you," and all sorts of kind and considerate things of that description.'

Português → 'He must be a devilish good-natured fellow,' said Martin, somewhat peevishly: 'because he can't mean that, you know.'

'I don't suppose he can, eh?' said Tom, looking wistfully in his companion's face. 'He says so to please me, you think?'

'Why, is it likely,' rejoined Martin, with greater earnestness, 'that a young man newly escaped from this kennel of a place, and fresh to all the delights of being his own master in London, can have much leisure or inclination to think favourably of anything or anybody he has left behind him here? I put it to you, Pinch, is it natural?'

After a short reflection, Mr Pinch replied, in a more subdued tone, that to be sure it was unreasonable to expect any such thing, and that he had no doubt Martin knew best.

'Of course I know best,' Martin observed.

'Yes, I feel that,' said Mr Pinch mildly. 'I said so.' And when he had made this rejoinder, they fell into a blank silence again, which lasted until they reached home; by which time it was dark.

Português → Now, Miss Charity Pecksniff, in consideration of the inconvenience of carrying them with her in the coach, and the impossibility of preserving them by artificial means until the family's return, had set forth, in a couple of plates, the fragments of yesterday's feast. In virtue of which liberal arrangement, they had the happiness to find awaiting them in the parlour two chaotic heaps of the remains of last night's pleasure, consisting of certain filmy bits of oranges, some mummied sandwiches, various disrupted masses of the geological cake, and several entire captain's biscuits. That choice liquor in which to steep these dainties might not be wanting, the remains of the two bottles of currant wine had been poured together and corked with a curl-paper; so that every material was at hand for making quite a heavy night of it.

Martin Chuzzlewit beheld these roystering preparations with infinite contempt, and stirring the fire into a blaze (to the great destruction of Mr Pecksniff's coals), sat moodily down before it, in the most comfortable chair he could find. That he might the better squeeze himself into the small corner that was left for him, Mr Pinch took up his position on Miss Mercy Pecksniff's stool, and setting his glass down upon the hearthrug and putting his plate upon his knees, began to enjoy himself.

Português → If Diogenes coming to life again could have rolled himself, tub and all, into Mr Pecksniff's parlour and could have seen Tom Pinch as he sat on Mercy Pecksniff's stool with his plate and glass before him he could not have faced it out, though in his surliest mood, but must have smiled good-temperedly. The perfect and entire satisfaction of Tom; his surpassing appreciation of the husky sandwiches, which crumbled in his mouth like saw-dust; the unspeakable relish with which he swallowed the thin wine by drops, and smacked his lips, as though it were so rich and generous that to lose an atom of its fruity flavour were a sin; the look with which he paused sometimes, with his glass in his hand, proposing silent toasts to himself; and the anxious shade that came upon his contented face when, after wandering round the room, exulting in its uninvaded snugness, his glance encountered the dull brow of his companion; no cynic in the world, though in his hatred of its men a very griffin, could have withstood these things in Thomas Pinch.

Some men would have slapped him on the back, and pledged him in a bumper of the currant wine, though it had been the sharpest vinegar--aye, and liked its flavour too; some would have seized him by his honest hand, and thanked him for the lesson that his simple nature taught them. Some would have laughed with, and others would have laughed at him; of which last class was Martin Chuzzlewit, who, unable to restrain himself, at last laughed loud and long.

Português → 'That's right,' said Tom, nodding approvingly. 'Cheer up! That's capital!'

At which encouragement young Martin laughed again; and said, as soon as he had breath and gravity enough:

'I never saw such a fellow as you are, Pinch.'

'Didn't you though?' said Tom. 'Well, it's very likely you do find me strange, because I have hardly seen anything of the world, and you have seen a good deal I dare say?'

'Pretty well for my time of life,' rejoined Martin, drawing his chair still nearer to the fire, and spreading his feet out on the fender. 'Deuce take it, I must talk openly to somebody. I'll talk openly to you, Pinch.'

'Do!' said Tom. 'I shall take it as being very friendly of you,'

'I'm not in your way, am I?' inquired Martin, glancing down at Mr Pinch, who was by this time looking at the fire over his leg.

'Not at all!' cried Tom.

Português → 'You must know then, to make short of a long story,' said Martin, beginning with a kind of effort, as if the revelation were not agreeable to him; 'that I have been bred up from childhood with great expectations, and have always been taught to believe that I should be, one day, very rich. So I should have been, but for certain brief reasons which I am going to tell you, and which have led to my being disinherited.'

'By your father?' inquired Mr Pinch, with open eyes.

'By my grandfather. I have had no parents these many years. Scarcely within my remembrance.'

'Neither have I,' said Tom, touching the young man's hand with his own and timidly withdrawing it again. 'Dear me!'

'Why, as to that, you know, Pinch,' pursued the other, stirring the fire again, and speaking in his rapid, off-hand way; 'it's all very right and proper to be fond of parents when we have them, and to bear them in remembrance after they're dead, if you have ever known anything of them. But as I never did know anything about mine personally, you know, why, I can't be expected to be very sentimental about 'em. And I am not; that's the truth.'

Português → Mr Pinch was just then looking thoughtfully at the bars. But on his companion pausing in this place, he started, and said 'Oh! of course'--and composed himself to listen again.

'In a word,' said Martin, 'I have been bred and reared all my life by this grandfather of whom I have just spoken. Now, he has a great many good points--there is no doubt about that; I'll not disguise the fact from you--but he has two very great faults, which are the staple of his bad side. In the first place, he has the most confirmed obstinacy of character you ever met with in any human creature. In the second, he is most abominably selfish.'

'Is he indeed?' cried Tom.

'In those two respects,' returned the other, 'there never was such a man. I have often heard from those who know, that they have been, time out of mind, the failings of our family; and I believe there's some truth in it. But I can't say of my own knowledge. All I have to do, you know, is to be very thankful that they haven't descended to me, and, to be very careful that I don't contract 'em.'

'To be sure,' said Mr Pinch. 'Very proper.'

Português → 'Well, sir,' resumed Martin, stirring the fire once more, and drawing his chair still closer to it, 'his selfishness makes him exacting, you see; and his obstinacy makes him resolute in his exactions. The consequence is that he has always exacted a great deal from me in the way of respect, and submission, and self-denial when his wishes were in question, and so forth. I have borne a great deal from him, because I have been under obligations to him (if one can ever be said to be under obligations to one's own grandfather), and because I have been really attached to him; but we have had a great many quarrels for all that, for I could not accommodate myself to his ways very often--not out of the least reference to myself, you understand, but because--' he stammered here, and was rather at a loss.

Mr Pinch being about the worst man in the world to help anybody out of a difficulty of this sort, said nothing.

'Well! as you understand me,' resumed Martin, quickly, 'I needn't hunt for the precise expression I want. Now I come to the cream of my story, and the occasion of my being here. I am in love, Pinch.'

Mr Pinch looked up into his face with increased interest.

'I say I am in love. I am in love with one of the most beautiful girls the sun ever shone upon. But she is wholly and entirely dependent upon the pleasure of my grandfather; and if he were to know that she favoured my passion, she would lose her home and everything she possesses in the world. There is nothing very selfish in THAT love, I think?'

Português → 'Selfish!' cried Tom. 'You have acted nobly. To love her as I am sure you do, and yet in consideration for her state of dependence, not even to disclose--'

'What are you talking about, Pinch?' said Martin pettishly: 'don't make yourself ridiculous, my good fellow! What do you mean by not disclosing?'

'I beg your pardon,' answered Tom. 'I thought you meant that, or I wouldn't have said it.'

'If I didn't tell her I loved her, where would be the use of my being in love?' said Martin: 'unless to keep myself in a perpetual state of worry and vexation?'

'That's true,' Tom answered. 'Well! I can guess what SHE said when you told her,' he added, glancing at Martin's handsome face.

'Why, not exactly, Pinch,' he rejoined, with a slight frown; 'because she has some girlish notions about duty and gratitude, and all the rest of it, which are rather hard to fathom; but in the main you are right. Her heart was mine, I found.'

Português → 'Just what I supposed,' said Tom. 'Quite natural!' and, in his great satisfaction, he took a long sip out of his wine-glass.

'Although I had conducted myself from the first with the utmost circumspection,' pursued Martin, 'I had not managed matters so well but that my grandfather, who is full of jealousy and distrust, suspected me of loving her. He said nothing to her, but straightway attacked me in private, and charged me with designing to corrupt the fidelity to himself (there you observe his selfishness), of a young creature whom he had trained and educated to be his only disinterested and faithful companion, when he should have disposed of me in marriage to his heart's content. Upon that, I took fire immediately, and told him that with his good leave I would dispose of myself in marriage, and would rather not be knocked down by him or any other auctioneer to any bidder whomsoever.'

Mr Pinch opened his eyes wider, and looked at the fire harder than he had done yet.

'You may be sure,' said Martin, 'that this nettled him, and that he began to be the very reverse of complimentary to myself. Interview succeeded interview; words engendered words, as they always do; and the upshot of it was, that I was to renounce her, or be renounced by him. Now you must bear in mind, Pinch, that I am not only desperately fond of her (for though she is poor, her beauty and intellect would reflect great credit on anybody, I don't care of what pretensions who might become her husband), but that a chief ingredient in my composition is a most determined--'

Português → 'Obstinacy,' suggested Tom in perfect good faith. But the suggestion was not so well received as he had expected; for the young man immediately rejoined, with some irritation,

'What a fellow you are, Pinch!'

'I beg your pardon,' said Tom, 'I thought you wanted a word.'

'I didn't want that word,' he rejoined. 'I told you obstinacy was no part of my character, did I not? I was going to say, if you had given me leave, that a chief ingredient in my composition is a most determined firmness.'

'Oh!' cried Tom, screwing up his mouth, and nodding. 'Yes, yes; I see!'

'And being firm,' pursued Martin, 'of course I was not going to yield to him, or give way by so much as the thousandth part of an inch.'

'No, no,' said Tom.

'On the contrary, the more he urged, the more I was determined to oppose him.'

'To be sure!' said Tom.

'Very well,' rejoined Martin, throwing himself back in his chair, with a careless wave of both hands, as if the subject were quite settled, and nothing more could be said about it--'There is an end of the matter, and here am I!'

Mr Pinch sat staring at the fire for some minutes with a puzzled look, such as he might have assumed if some uncommonly difficult conundrum had been proposed, which he found it impossible to guess. At length he said:

Português → 'Pecksniff, of course, you had known before?'

'Only by name. No, I had never seen him, for my grandfather kept not only himself but me, aloof from all his relations. But our separation took place in a town in the adjoining country. From that place I came to Salisbury, and there I saw Pecksniff's advertisement, which I answered, having always had some natural taste, I believe, in the matters to which it referred, and thinking it might suit me. As soon as I found it to be his, I was doubly bent on coming to him if possible, on account of his being--'

'Such an excellent man,' interposed Tom, rubbing his hands: 'so he is. You were quite right.'

'Why, not so much on that account, if the truth must be spoken,' returned Martin, 'as because my grandfather has an inveterate dislike to him, and after the old man's arbitrary treatment of me, I had a natural desire to run as directly counter to all his opinions as I could. Well! As I said before, here I am. My engagement with the young lady I have been telling you about is likely to be a tolerably long one; for neither her prospects nor mine are very bright; and of course I shall not think of marrying until I am well able to do so. It would never do, you know, for me to be plunging myself into poverty and shabbiness and love in one room up three pair of stairs, and all that sort of thing.'

Português → 'To say nothing of her,' remarked Tom Pinch, in a low voice.

'Exactly so,' rejoined Martin, rising to warm his back, and leaning against the chimney-piece. 'To say nothing of her. At the same time, of course it's not very hard upon her to be obliged to yield to the necessity of the case; first, because she loves me very much; and secondly, because I have sacrificed a great deal on her account, and might have done much better, you know.'

It was a very long time before Tom said 'Certainly;' so long, that he might have taken a nap in the interval, but he did say it at last.

'Now, there is one odd coincidence connected with this love-story,' said Martin, 'which brings it to an end. You remember what you told me last night as we were coming here, about your pretty visitor in the church?'

'Surely I do,' said Tom, rising from his stool, and seating himself in the chair from which the other had lately risen, that he might see his face. 'Undoubtedly.'

'That was she.'

'I knew what you were going to say,' cried Tom, looking fixedly at him, and speaking very softly. 'You don't tell me so?'

Português → 'That was she,' repeated the young man. 'After what I have heard from Pecksniff, I have no doubt that she came and went with my grandfather.--Don't you drink too much of that sour wine, or you'll have a fit of some sort, Pinch, I see.'

'It is not very wholesome, I am afraid,' said Tom, setting down the empty glass he had for some time held. 'So that was she, was it?'

Martin nodded assent; and adding, with a restless impatience, that if he had been a few days earlier he would have seen her; and that now she might be, for anything he knew, hundreds of miles away; threw himself, after a few turns across the room, into a chair, and chafed like a spoilt child.

Tom Pinch's heart was very tender, and he could not bear to see the most indifferent person in distress; still less one who had awakened an interest in him, and who regarded him (either in fact, or as he supposed) with kindness, and in a spirit of lenient construction. Whatever his own thoughts had been a few moments before--and to judge from his face they must have been pretty serious--he dismissed them instantly, and gave his young friend the best counsel and comfort that occurred to him.

Português → 'All will be well in time,' said Tom, 'I have no doubt; and some trial and adversity just now will only serve to make you more attached to each other in better days. I have always read that the truth is so, and I have a feeling within me, which tells me how natural and right it is that it should be. That never ran smooth yet,' said Tom, with a smile which, despite the homeliness of his face, was pleasanter to see than many a proud beauty's brightest glance; 'what never ran smooth yet, can hardly be expected to change its character for us; so we must take it as we find it, and fashion it into the very best shape we can, by patience and good-humour. I have no power at all; I needn't tell you that; but I have an excellent will; and if I could ever be of use to you, in any way whatever, how very glad I should be!'

'Thank you,' said Martin, shaking his hand. 'You're a good fellow, upon my word, and speak very kindly. Of course you know,' he added, after a moment's pause, as he drew his chair towards the fire again, 'I should not hesitate to avail myself of your services if you could help me at all; but mercy on us!'--Here he rumpled his hair impatiently with his hand, and looked at Tom as if he took it rather ill that he was not somebody else--'you might as well be a toasting-fork or a frying-pan, Pinch, for any help you can render me.'

Português → 'Except in the inclination,' said Tom, gently.

'Oh! to be sure. I meant that, of course. If inclination went for anything, I shouldn't want help. I tell you what you may do, though, if you will, and at the present moment too.'

'What is that?' demanded Tom.

'Read to me.'

'I shall be delighted,' cried Tom, catching up the candle with enthusiasm. 'Excuse my leaving you in the dark a moment, and I'll fetch a book directly. What will you like? Shakespeare?'

'Aye!' replied his friend, yawning and stretching himself. 'He'll do. I am tired with the bustle of to-day, and the novelty of everything about me; and in such a case, there's no greater luxury in the world, I think, than being read to sleep. You won't mind my going to sleep, if I can?'

'Not at all!' cried Tom.

'Then begin as soon as you like. You needn't leave off when you see me getting drowsy (unless you feel tired), for it's pleasant to wake gradually to the sounds again. Did you ever try that?'

'No, I never tried that,' said Tom

Português → 'Well! You can, you know, one of these days when we're both in the right humour. Don't mind leaving me in the dark. Look sharp!'

Mr Pinch lost no time in moving away; and in a minute or two returned with one of the precious volumes from the shelf beside his bed. Martin had in the meantime made himself as comfortable as circumstances would permit, by constructing before the fire a temporary sofa of three chairs with Mercy's stool for a pillow, and lying down at full-length upon it.

'Don't be too loud, please,' he said to Pinch.

'No, no,' said Tom.

'You're sure you're not cold'

'Not at all!' cried Tom.

'I am quite ready, then.'

Mr Pinch accordingly, after turning over the leaves of his book with as much care as if they were living and highly cherished creatures, made his own selection, and began to read. Before he had completed fifty lines his friend was snoring.

'Poor fellow!' said Tom, softly, as he stretched out his head to peep at him over the backs of the chairs. 'He is very young to have so much trouble. How trustful and generous in him to bestow all this confidence in me. And that was she, was it?'

Português → But suddenly remembering their compact, he took up the poem at the place where he had left off, and went on reading; always forgetting to snuff the candle, until its wick looked like a mushroom. He gradually became so much interested, that he quite forgot to replenish the fire; and was only reminded of his neglect by Martin Chuzzlewit starting up after the lapse of an hour or so, and crying with a shiver.

'Why, it's nearly out, I declare! No wonder I dreamed of being frozen. Do call for some coals. What a fellow you are, Pinch!'

Chapter Seven

Português → IN WHICH MR CHEVY SLYME ASSERTS THE INDEPENDENCE OF HIS SPIRIT, AND THE BLUE DRAGON LOSES A LIMB

Martin began to work at the grammar-school next morning, with so much vigour and expedition, that Mr Pinch had new reason to do homage to the natural endowments of that young gentleman, and to acknowledge his infinite superiority to himself. The new pupil received Tom's compliments very graciously; and having by this time conceived a real regard for him, in his own peculiar way, predicted that they would always be the very best of friends, and that neither of them, he was certain (but particularly Tom), would ever have reason to regret the day on which they became acquainted. Mr Pinch was delighted to hear him say this, and felt so much flattered by his kind assurances of friendship and protection, that he was at a loss how to express the pleasure they afforded him. And indeed it may be observed of this friendship, such as it was, that it had within it more likely materials of endurance than many a sworn brotherhood that has been rich in promise; for so long as the one party found a pleasure in patronizing, and the other in being patronised (which was in the very essence of their respective characters), it was of all possible events among the least probable, that the twin demons, Envy and Pride, would ever arise between them. So in very many cases of friendship, or what passes for it, the old axiom is reversed, and like clings to unlike more than to like.

They were both very busy on the afternoon succeeding the family's departure--Martin with the grammar-school, and Tom in balancing certain receipts of rents, and deducting Mr Pecksniff's commission from the same; in which abstruse employment he was much distracted by a habit his new friend had of whistling aloud while he was drawing--when they were not a little startled by the unexpected obtrusion into that sanctuary of genius, of a human head which, although a shaggy and somewhat alarming head in appearance, smiled affably upon them from the doorway, in a manner that was at once waggish, conciliatory, and expressive of approbation.

Português → 'I am not industrious myself, gents both,' said the head, 'but I know how to appreciate that quality in others. I wish I may turn grey and ugly, if it isn't in my opinion, next to genius, one of the very charmingest qualities of the human mind. Upon my soul, I am grateful to my friend Pecksniff for helping me to the contemplation of such a delicious picture as you present. You remind me of Whittington, afterwards thrice Lord Mayor of London. I give you my unsullied word of honour, that you very strongly remind me of that historical character. You are a pair of Whittingtons, gents, without the cat; which is a most agreeable and blessed exception to me, for I am not attached to the feline species. My name is Tigg; how do you do?'

Martin looked to Mr Pinch for an explanation; and Tom, who had never in his life set eyes on Mr Tigg before, looked to that gentleman himself.

'Chevy Slyme?' said Mr Tigg, interrogatively, and kissing his left hand in token of friendship. 'You will understand me when I say that I am the accredited agent of Chevy Slyme; that I am the ambassador from the court of Chiv? Ha ha!'

'Heyday!' asked Martin, starting at the mention of a name he knew. 'Pray, what does he want with me?'

'If your name is Pinch'--Mr Tigg began.

'It is not' said Martin, checking himself. 'That is Mr Pinch.'

Português → 'If that is Mr Pinch,' cried Tigg, kissing his hand again, and beginning to follow his head into the room, 'he will permit me to say that I greatly esteem and respect his character, which has been most highly commended to me by my friend Pecksniff; and that I deeply appreciate his talent for the organ, notwithstanding that I do not, if I may use the expression, grind myself. If that is Mr Pinch, I will venture to express a hope that I see him well, and that he is suffering no inconvenience from the easterly wind?'

'Thank you,' said Tom. 'I am very well.'

'That is a comfort,' Mr Tigg rejoined. 'Then,' he added, shielding his lips with the palm of his hand, and applying them close to Mr Pinch's ear, 'I have come for the letter.'

'For the letter,' said Tom, aloud. 'What letter?'

'The letter,' whispered Tigg in the same cautious manner as before, 'which my friend Pecksniff addressed to Chevy Slyme, Esquire, and left with you.'

'He didn't leave any letter with me,' said Tom.

'Hush!' cried the other. 'It's all the same thing, though not so delicately done by my friend Pecksniff as I could have wished. The money.'

'The money!' cried Tom quite scared.

Português → 'Exactly so,' said Mr Tigg. With which he rapped Tom twice or thrice upon the breast and nodded several times, as though he would say that he saw they understood each other; that it was unnecessary to mention the circumstance before a third person; and that he would take it as a particular favour if Tom would slip the amount into his hand, as quietly as possible.

Mr Pinch, however, was so very much astounded by this (to him) inexplicable deportment, that he at once openly declared there must be some mistake, and that he had been entrusted with no commission whatever having any reference to Mr Tigg or to his friend, either. Mr Tigg received this declaration with a grave request that Mr Pinch would have the goodness to make it again; and on Tom's repeating it in a still more emphatic and unmistakable manner, checked it off, sentence for sentence, by nodding his head solemnly at the end of each. When it had come to a close for the second time, Mr Tigg sat himself down in a chair and addressed the young men as follows:

Português → 'Then I tell you what it is, gents both. There is at this present moment in this very place, a perfect constellation of talent and genius, who is involved, through what I cannot but designate as the culpable negligence of my friend Pecksniff, in a situation as tremendous, perhaps, as the social intercourse of the nineteenth century will readily admit of. There is actually at this instant, at the Blue Dragon in this village--an ale-house, observe; a common, paltry, low-minded, clodhopping, pipe-smoking ale-house--an individual, of whom it may be said, in the language of the Poet, that nobody but himself can in any way come up to him; who is detained there for his bill. Ha! ha! For his bill. I repeat it--for his bill. Now,' said Mr Tigg, 'we have heard of Fox's Book of Martyrs, I believe, and we have heard of the Court of Requests, and the Star Chamber; but I fear the contradiction of no man alive or dead, when I assert that my friend Chevy Slyme being held in pawn for a bill, beats any amount of cockfighting with which I am acquainted.'

Martin and Mr Pinch looked, first at each other, and afterwards at Mr Tigg, who with his arms folded on his breast surveyed them, half in despondency and half in bitterness.

Português → 'Don't mistake me, gents both,' he said, stretching forth his right hand. 'If it had been for anything but a bill, I could have borne it, and could still have looked upon mankind with some feeling of respect; but when such a man as my friend Slyme is detained for a score--a thing in itself essentially mean; a low performance on a slate, or possibly chalked upon the back of a door--I do feel that there is a screw of such magnitude loose somewhere, that the whole framework of society is shaken, and the very first principles of things can no longer be trusted. In short, gents both,' said Mr Tigg with a passionate flourish of his hands and head, 'when a man like Slyme is detained for such a thing as a bill, I reject the superstitions of ages, and believe nothing. I don't even believe that I DON'T believe, curse me if I do!'

'I am very sorry, I am sure,' said Tom after a pause, 'but Mr Pecksniff said nothing to me about it, and I couldn't act without his instructions. Wouldn't it be better, sir, if you were to go to--to wherever you came from--yourself, and remit the money to your friend?'

'How can that be done, when I am detained also?' said Mr Tigg; 'and when moreover, owing to the astounding, and I must add, guilty negligence of my friend Pecksniff, I have no money for coach-hire?'

Português → Tom thought of reminding the gentleman (who, no doubt, in his agitation had forgotten it) that there was a post-office in the land; and that possibly if he wrote to some friend or agent for a remittance it might not be lost upon the road; or at all events that the chance, however desperate, was worth trusting to. But, as his good-nature presently suggested to him certain reasons for abstaining from this hint, he paused again, and then asked:

'Did you say, sir, that you were detained also?'

'Come here,' said Mr Tigg, rising. 'You have no objection to my opening this window for a moment?'

'Certainly not,' said Tom.

'Very good,' said Mr Tigg, lifting the sash. 'You see a fellow down there in a red neckcloth and no waistcoat?'

'Of course I do,' cried Tom. 'That's Mark Tapley.'

'Mark Tapley is it?' said the gentleman. 'Then Mark Tapley had not only the great politeness to follow me to this house, but is waiting now, to see me home again. And for that attention, sir,' added Mr Tigg, stroking his moustache, 'I can tell you, that Mark Tapley had better in his infancy have been fed to suffocation by Mrs Tapley, than preserved to this time.'

Mr Pinch was not so dismayed by this terrible threat, but that he had voice enough to call to Mark to come in, and upstairs; a summons which he so speedily obeyed, that almost as soon as Tom and Mr Tigg had drawn in their heads and closed the window again, he, the denounced, appeared before them.

Português → 'Come here, Mark!' said Mr Pinch. 'Good gracious me! what's the matter between Mrs Lupin and this gentleman?'

'What gentleman, sir?' said Mark. 'I don't see no gentleman here sir, excepting you and the new gentleman,' to whom he made a rough kind of bow--'and there's nothing wrong between Mrs Lupin and either of you, Mr Pinch, I am sure.'

'Nonsense, Mark!' cried Tom. 'You see Mr--'

'Tigg,' interposed that gentleman. 'Wait a bit. I shall crush him soon. All in good time!'

'Oh HIM!' rejoined Mark, with an air of careless defiance. 'Yes, I see HIM. I could see him a little better, if he'd shave himself, and get his hair cut.'

Mr Tigg shook his head with a ferocious look, and smote himself once upon the breast.

'It's no use,' said Mark. 'If you knock ever so much in that quarter, you'll get no answer. I know better. There's nothing there but padding; and a greasy sort it is.'

'Nay, Mark,' urged Mr Pinch, interposing to prevent hostilities, 'tell me what I ask you. You're not out of temper, I hope?'

Português → 'Out of temper, sir!' cried Mark, with a grin; 'why no, sir. There's a little credit--not much--in being jolly, when such fellows as him is a-going about like roaring lions; if there is any breed of lions, at least, as is all roar and mane. What is there between him and Mrs Lupin, sir? Why, there's a score between him and Mrs Lupin. And I think Mrs Lupin lets him and his friend off very easy in not charging 'em double prices for being a disgrace to the Dragon. That's my opinion. I wouldn't have any such Peter the Wild Boy as him in my house, sir, not if I was paid race-week prices for it. He's enough to turn the very beer in the casks sour with his looks; he is! So he would, if it had judgment enough.'

'You're not answering my question, you know, Mark,' observed Mr Pinch.

Português → 'Well, sir,' said Mark, 'I don't know as there's much to answer further than that. Him and his friend goes and stops at the Moon and Stars till they've run a bill there; and then comes and stops with us and does the same. The running of bills is common enough Mr Pinch; it an't that as we object to; it's the ways of this chap. Nothing's good enough for him; all the women is dying for him he thinks, and is overpaid if he winks at 'em; and all the men was made to be ordered about by him. This not being aggravation enough, he says this morning to me, in his usual captivating way, "We're going to-night, my man." "Are you, sir?" says I. "Perhaps you'd like the bill got ready, sir?" "Oh no, my man," he says; "you needn't mind that. I'll give Pecksniff orders to see to that." In reply to which, the Dragon makes answer, "Thankee, sir, you're very kind to honour us so far, but as we don't know any particular good of you, and you don't travel with luggage, and Mr Pecksniff an't at home (which perhaps you mayn't happen to be aware of, sir), we should prefer something more satisfactory;" and that's where the matter stands. And I ask,' said Mr Tapley, pointing, in conclusion, to Mr Tigg, with his hat, 'any lady or gentleman, possessing ordinary strength of mind, to say whether he's a disagreeable-looking chap or not!'

Português → 'Let me inquire,' said Martin, interposing between this candid speech and the delivery of some blighting anathema by Mr Tigg, 'what the amount of this debt may be?'

'In point of money, sir, very little,' answered Mark. 'Only just turned of three pounds. But it an't that; it's the--'

'Yes, yes, you told us so before,' said Martin. 'Pinch, a word with you.'

'What is it?' asked Tom, retiring with him to a corner of the room.

'Why, simply--I am ashamed to say--that this Mr Slyme is a relation of mine, of whom I never heard anything pleasant; and that I don't want him here just now, and think he would be cheaply got rid of, perhaps, for three or four pounds. You haven't enough money to pay this bill, I suppose?'

Tom shook his head to an extent that left no doubt of his entire sincerity.

'That's unfortunate, for I am poor too; and in case you had had it, I'd have borrowed it of you. But if we told this landlady we would see her paid, I suppose that would answer the same purpose?'

'Oh dear, yes!' said Tom. 'She knows me, bless you!'

Português → 'Then let us go down at once and tell her so; for the sooner we are rid of their company the better. As you have conducted the conversation with this gentleman hitherto, perhaps you'll tell him what we purpose doing; will you?'

Mr Pinch, complying, at once imparted the intelligence to Mr Tigg, who shook him warmly by the hand in return, assuring him that his faith in anything and everything was again restored. It was not so much, he said, for the temporary relief of this assistance that he prized it, as for its vindication of the high principle that Nature's Nobs felt with Nature's Nobs, and that true greatness of soul sympathized with true greatness of soul, all the world over. It proved to him, he said, that like him they admired genius, even when it was coupled with the alloy occasionally visible in the metal of his friend Slyme; and on behalf of that friend, he thanked them; as warmly and heartily as if the cause were his own. Being cut short in these speeches by a general move towards the stairs, he took possession at the street door of the lapel of Mr Pinch's coat, as a security against further interruption; and entertained that gentleman with some highly improving discourse until they reached the Dragon, whither they were closely followed by Mark and the new pupil.

Português → The rosy hostess scarcely needed Mr Pinch's word as a preliminary to the release of her two visitors, of whom she was glad to be rid on any terms; indeed, their brief detention had originated mainly with Mr Tapley, who entertained a constitutional dislike to gentleman out-at-elbows who flourished on false pretences; and had conceived a particular aversion to Mr Tigg and his friend, as choice specimens of the species. The business in hand thus easily settled, Mr Pinch and Martin would have withdrawn immediately, but for the urgent entreaties of Mr Tigg that they would allow him the honour of presenting them to his friend Slyme, which were so very difficult of resistance that, yielding partly to these persuasions and partly to their own curiosity, they suffered themselves to be ushered into the presence of that distinguished gentleman.

Português → He was brooding over the remains of yesterday's decanter of brandy, and was engaged in the thoughtful occupation of making a chain of rings on the top of the table with the wet foot of his drinking-glass. Wretched and forlorn as he looked, Mr Slyme had once been in his way, the choicest of swaggerers; putting forth his pretensions boldly, as a man of infinite taste and most undoubted promise. The stock-in-trade requisite to set up an amateur in this department of business is very slight, and easily got together; a trick of the nose and a curl of the lip sufficient to compound a tolerable sneer, being ample provision for any exigency. But, in an evil hour, this off-shoot of the Chuzzlewit trunk, being lazy, and ill qualified for any regular pursuit and having dissipated such means as he ever possessed, had formally established himself as a professor of Taste for a livelihood; and finding, too late, that something more than his old amount of qualifications was necessary to sustain him in this calling, had quickly fallen to his present level, where he retained nothing of his old self but his boastfulness and his bile, and seemed to have no existence separate or apart from his friend Tigg. And now so abject and so pitiful was he--at once so maudlin, insolent, beggarly, and proud--that even his friend and parasite, standing erect beside him, swelled into a Man by contrast.

'Chiv,' said Mr Tigg, clapping him on the back, 'my friend Pecksniff not being at home, I have arranged our trifling piece of business with Mr Pinch and friend. Mr Pinch and friend, Mr Chevy Slyme! Chiv, Mr Pinch and friend!'

Português → 'These are agreeable circumstances in which to be introduced to strangers,' said Chevy Slyme, turning his bloodshot eyes towards Tom Pinch. 'I am the most miserable man in the world, I believe!'

Tom begged he wouldn't mention it; and finding him in this condition, retired, after an awkward pause, followed by Martin. But Mr Tigg so urgently conjured them, by coughs and signs, to remain in the shadow of the door, that they stopped there.

'I swear,' cried Mr Slyme, giving the table an imbecile blow with his fist, and then feebly leaning his head upon his hand, while some drunken drops oozed from his eyes, 'that I am the wretchedest creature on record. Society is in a conspiracy against me. I'm the most literary man alive. I'm full of scholarship. I'm full of genius; I'm full of information; I'm full of novel views on every subject; yet look at my condition! I'm at this moment obliged to two strangers for a tavern bill!'

Mr Tigg replenished his friend's glass, pressed it into his hand, and nodded an intimation to the visitors that they would see him in a better aspect immediately.

Português → 'Obliged to two strangers for a tavern bill, eh!' repeated Mr Slyme, after a sulky application to his glass. 'Very pretty! And crowds of impostors, the while, becoming famous; men who are no more on a level with me than--Tigg, I take you to witness that I am the most persecuted hound on the face of the earth.'

With a whine, not unlike the cry of the animal he named, in its lowest state of humiliation, he raised his glass to his mouth again. He found some encouragement in it; for when he set it down he laughed scornfully. Upon that Mr Tigg gesticulated to the visitors once more, and with great expression, implying that now the time was come when they would see Chiv in his greatness.

'Ha, ha, ha,' laughed Mr Slyme. 'Obliged to two strangers for a tavern bill! Yet I think I've a rich uncle, Tigg, who could buy up the uncles of fifty strangers! Have I, or have I not? I come of a good family, I believe! Do I, or do I not? I'm not a man of common capacity or accomplishments, I think! Am I, or am I not?'

'You are the American aloe of the human race, my dear Chiv,' said Mr Tigg, 'which only blooms once in a hundred years!'

'Ha, ha, ha!' laughed Mr Slyme again. 'Obliged to two strangers for a tavern bill! I obliged to two architect's apprentices. Fellows who measure earth with iron chains, and build houses like bricklayers. Give me the names of those two apprentices. How dare they oblige me!'

Português → Mr Tigg was quite lost in admiration of this noble trait in his friend's character; as he made known to Mr Pinch in a neat little ballet of action, spontaneously invented for the purpose.

'I'll let 'em know, and I'll let all men know,' cried Chevy Slyme, 'that I'm none of the mean, grovelling, tame characters they meet with commonly. I have an independent spirit. I have a heart that swells in my bosom. I have a soul that rises superior to base considerations.'

'Oh Chiv, Chiv,' murmured Mr Tigg, 'you have a nobly independent nature, Chiv!'

'You go and do your duty, sir,' said Mr Slyme, angrily, 'and borrow money for travelling expenses; and whoever you borrow it of, let 'em know that I possess a haughty spirit, and a proud spirit, and have infernally finely-touched chords in my nature, which won't brook patronage. Do you hear? Tell 'em I hate 'em, and that that's the way I preserve my self-respect; and tell 'em that no man ever respected himself more than I do!'

Português → He might have added that he hated two sorts of men; all those who did him favours, and all those who were better off than himself; as in either case their position was an insult to a man of his stupendous merits. But he did not; for with the apt closing words above recited, Mr Slyme; of too haughty a stomach to work, to beg, to borrow, or to steal; yet mean enough to be worked or borrowed, begged or stolen for, by any catspaw that would serve his turn; too insolent to lick the hand that fed him in his need, yet cur enough to bite and tear it in the dark; with these apt closing words Mr Slyme fell forward with his head upon the table, and so declined into a sodden sleep.

'Was there ever,' cried Mr Tigg, joining the young men at the door, and shutting it carefully behind him, 'such an independent spirit as is possessed by that extraordinary creature? Was there ever such a Roman as our friend Chiv? Was there ever a man of such a purely classical turn of thought, and of such a toga-like simplicity of nature? Was there ever a man with such a flow of eloquence? Might he not, gents both, I ask, have sat upon a tripod in the ancient times, and prophesied to a perfectly unlimited extent, if previously supplied with gin-and-water at the public cost?'

Português → Mr Pinch was about to contest this latter position with his usual mildness, when, observing that his companion had already gone downstairs, he prepared to follow him.

'You are not going, Mr Pinch?' said Tigg.

'Thank you,' answered Tom. 'Yes. Don't come down.'

'Do you know that I should like one little word in private with you Mr Pinch?' said Tigg, following him. 'One minute of your company in the skittle-ground would very much relieve my mind. Might I beseech that favour?'

'Oh, certainly,' replied Tom, 'if you really wish it.' So he accompanied Mr Tigg to the retreat in question; on arriving at which place that gentleman took from his hat what seemed to be the fossil remains of an antediluvian pocket-handkerchief, and wiped his eyes therewith.

'You have not beheld me this day,' said Mr Tigg, 'in a favourable light.'

'Don't mention that,' said Tom, 'I beg.'

'But you have NOT,' cried Tigg. 'I must persist in that opinion. If you could have seen me, Mr Pinch, at the head of my regiment on the coast of Africa, charging in the form of a hollow square, with the women and children and the regimental plate-chest in the centre, you would not have known me for the same man. You would have respected me, sir.'

Português → Tom had certain ideas of his own upon the subject of glory; and consequently he was not quite so much excited by this picture as Mr Tigg could have desired.

'But no matter!' said that gentleman. 'The school-boy writing home to his parents and describing the milk-and-water, said "This is indeed weakness." I repeat that assertion in reference to myself at the present moment; and I ask your pardon. Sir, you have seen my friend Slyme?'

'No doubt,' said Mr Pinch.

'Sir, you have been impressed by my friend Slyme?'

'Not very pleasantly, I must say,' answered Tom, after a little hesitation.

Português → 'I am grieved but not surprised,' cried Mr Tigg, detaining him with both hands, 'to hear that you have come to that conclusion; for it is my own. But, Mr Pinch, though I am a rough and thoughtless man, I can honour Mind. I honour Mind in following my friend. To you of all men, Mr Pinch, I have a right to make appeal on Mind's behalf, when it has not the art to push its fortune in the world. And so, sir--not for myself, who have no claim upon you, but for my crushed, my sensitive and independent friend, who has--I ask the loan of three half-crowns. I ask you for the loan of three half-crowns, distinctly, and without a blush. I ask it, almost as a right. And when I add that they will be returned by post, this week, I feel that you will blame me for that sordid stipulation.'

Português → Mr Pinch took from his pocket an old-fashioned red-leather purse with a steel clasp, which had probably once belonged to his deceased grandmother. It held one half-sovereign and no more. All Tom's worldly wealth until next quarter-day.

'Stay!' cried Mr Tigg, who had watched this proceeding keenly. 'I was just about to say, that for the convenience of posting you had better make it gold. Thank you. A general direction, I suppose, to Mr Pinch at Mr Pecksniff's--will that find you?'

'That'll find me,' said Tom. 'You had better put Esquire to Mr Pecksniff's name, if you please. Direct to me, you know, at Seth Pecksniff's, Esquire.'

'At Seth Pecksniff's, Esquire,' repeated Mr Tigg, taking an exact note of it with a stump of pencil. 'We said this week, I believe?'

'Yes; or Monday will do,' observed Tom.

'No, no, I beg your pardon. Monday will NOT do,' said Mr Tigg. 'If we stipulated for this week, Saturday is the latest day. Did we stipulate for this week?'

Português → 'Since you are so particular about it,' said Tom, 'I think we did.'

Mr Tigg added this condition to his memorandum; read the entry over to himself with a severe frown; and that the transaction might be the more correct and business-like, appended his initials to the whole. That done, he assured Mr Pinch that everything was now perfectly regular; and, after squeezing his hand with great fervour, departed.

Tom entertained enough suspicion that Martin might possibly turn this interview into a jest, to render him desirous to avoid the company of that young gentleman for the present. With this view he took a few turns up and down the skittle-ground, and did not re-enter the house until Mr Tigg and his friend had quitted it, and the new pupil and Mark were watching their departure from one of the windows.

'I was just a-saying, sir, that if one could live by it,' observed Mark, pointing after their late guests, 'that would be the sort of service for me. Waiting on such individuals as them would be better than grave-digging, sir.'

Português → 'And staying here would be better than either, Mark,' replied Tom. 'So take my advice, and continue to swim easily in smooth water.'

'It's too late to take it now, sir,' said Mark. 'I have broke it to her, sir. I am off to-morrow morning.'

'Off!' cried Mr Pinch, 'where to?'

'I shall go up to London, sir.'

'What to be?' asked Mr Pinch.

'Well! I don't know yet, sir. Nothing turned up that day I opened my mind to you, as was at all likely to suit me. All them trades I thought of was a deal too jolly; there was no credit at all to be got in any of 'em. I must look for a private service, I suppose, sir. I might be brought out strong, perhaps, in a serious family, Mr Pinch.'

'Perhaps you might come out rather too strong for a serious family's taste, Mark.'

Português → 'That's possible, sir. If I could get into a wicked family, I might do myself justice; but the difficulty is to make sure of one's ground, because a young man can't very well advertise that he wants a place, and wages an't so much an object as a wicked sitivation; can he, sir?'

'Why, no,' said Mr Pinch, 'I don't think he can.'

'An envious family,' pursued Mark, with a thoughtful face; 'or a quarrelsome family, or a malicious family, or even a good out-and-out mean family, would open a field of action as I might do something in. The man as would have suited me of all other men was that old gentleman as was took ill here, for he really was a trying customer. Howsever, I must wait and see what turns up, sir; and hope for the worst.'

'You are determined to go then?' said Mr Pinch.

Português → 'My box is gone already, sir, by the waggon, and I'm going to walk on to-morrow morning, and get a lift by the day coach when it overtakes me. So I wish you good-bye, Mr Pinch--and you too, sir--and all good luck and happiness!'

They both returned his greeting laughingly, and walked home arm-in-arm. Mr Pinch imparting to his new friend, as they went, such further particulars of Mark Tapley's whimsical restlessness as the reader is already acquainted with.

Português → In the meantime Mark, having a shrewd notion that his mistress was in very low spirits, and that he could not exactly answer for the consequences of any lengthened TETE-A-TETE in the bar, kept himself obstinately out of her way all the afternoon and evening. In this piece of generalship he was very much assisted by the great influx of company into the taproom; for the news of his intention having gone abroad, there was a perfect throng there all the evening, and much drinking of healths and clinking of mugs. At length the house was closed for the night; and there being now no help for it, Mark put the best face he could upon the matter, and walked doggedly to the bar-door.

'If I look at her,' said Mark to himself, 'I'm done. I feel that I'm a-going fast.'

'You have come at last,' said Mrs Lupin.

Português → Aye, Mark said: There he was.

'And you are determined to leave us, Mark?' cried Mrs Lupin.

'Why, yes; I am,' said Mark; keeping his eyes hard upon the floor.

'I thought,' pursued the landlady, with a most engaging hesitation, 'that you had been--fond--of the Dragon?'

'So I am,' said Mark.

'Then,' pursued the hostess--and it really was not an unnatural inquiry--'why do you desert it?'

But as he gave no manner of answer to this question; not even on its being repeated; Mrs Lupin put his money into his hand, and asked him--not unkindly, quite the contrary--what he would take?

Português → It is proverbial that there are certain things which flesh and blood cannot bear. Such a question as this, propounded in such a manner, at such a time, and by such a person, proved (at least, as far as, Mark's flesh and blood were concerned) to be one of them. He looked up in spite of himself directly; and having once looked up, there was no looking down again; for of all the tight, plump, buxom, bright-eyed, dimple-faced landladies that ever shone on earth, there stood before him then, bodily in that bar, the very pink and pineapple.

Português → 'Why, I tell you what,' said Mark, throwing off all his constraint in an instant and seizing the hostess round the waist--at which she was not at all alarmed, for she knew what a good young man he was--'if I took what I liked most, I should take you. If I only thought what was best for me, I should take you. If I took what nineteen young fellows in twenty would be glad to take, and would take at any price, I should take you. Yes, I should,' cried Mr Tapley, shaking his head expressively enough, and looking (in a momentary state of forgetfulness) rather hard at the hostess's ripe lips. 'And no man wouldn't wonder if I did!'

Mrs Lupin said he amazed her. She was astonished how he could say such things. She had never thought it of him.

Português → 'Why, I never thought if of myself till now!' said Mark, raising his eyebrows with a look of the merriest possible surprise. 'I always expected we should part, and never have no explanation; I meant to do it when I come in here just now; but there's something about you, as makes a man sensible. Then let us have a word or two together; letting it be understood beforehand,' he added this in a grave tone, to prevent the possibility of any mistake, 'that I'm not a-going to make no love, you know.'

There was for just one second a shade, though not by any means a dark one, on the landlady's open brow. But it passed off instantly, in a laugh that came from her very heart.

'Oh, very good!' she said; 'if there is to be no love-making, you had better take your arm away.'

'Lord, why should I!' cried Mark. 'It's quite innocent.'

Português → 'Of course it's innocent,' returned the hostess, 'or I shouldn't allow it.'

'Very well!' said Mark. 'Then let it be.'

There was so much reason in this that the landlady laughed again, suffered it to remain, and bade him say what he had to say, and be quick about it. But he was an impudent fellow, she added.

'Ha ha! I almost think I am!' cried Mark, 'though I never thought so before. Why, I can say anything to-night!'

'Say what you're going to say if you please, and be quick,' returned the landlady, 'for I want to get to bed.'

'Why, then, my dear good soul,' said Mark, 'and a kinder woman than you are never drawed breath--let me see the man as says she did!--what would be the likely consequence of us two being--'

'Oh nonsense!' cried Mrs Lupin. 'Don't talk about that any more.'

Português → 'No, no, but it an't nonsense,' said Mark; 'and I wish you'd attend. What would be the likely consequence of us two being married? If I can't be content and comfortable in this here lively Dragon now, is it to be looked for as I should be then? By no means. Very good. Then you, even with your good humour, would be always on the fret and worrit, always uncomfortable in your own mind, always a-thinking as you was getting too old for my taste, always a-picturing me to yourself as being chained up to the Dragon door, and wanting to break away. I don't know that it would be so,' said Mark, 'but I don't know that it mightn't be. I am a roving sort of chap, I know. I'm fond of change. I'm always a-thinking that with my good health and spirits it would be more creditable in me to be jolly where there's things a-going on to make one dismal. It may be a mistake of mine you see, but nothing short of trying how it acts will set it right. Then an't it best that I should go; particular when your free way has helped me out to say all this, and we can part as good friends as we have ever been since first I entered this here noble Dragon, which,' said Mr Tapley in conclusion, 'has my good word and my good wish to the day of my death!'

Português → The hostess sat quite silent for a little time, but she very soon put both her hands in Mark's and shook them heartily.

'For you are a good man,' she said; looking into his face with a smile, which was rather serious for her. 'And I do believe have been a better friend to me to-night than ever I have had in all my life.'

'Oh! as to that, you know,' said Mark, 'that's nonsense. But love my heart alive!' he added, looking at her in a sort of rapture, 'if you ARE that way disposed, what a lot of suitable husbands there is as you may drive distracted!'

She laughed again at this compliment; and, once more shaking him by both hands, and bidding him, if he should ever want a friend, to remember her, turned gayly from the little bar and up the Dragon staircase.

'Humming a tune as she goes,' said Mark, listening, 'in case I should think she's at all put out, and should be made down-hearted. Come, here's some credit in being jolly, at last!'

Português → With that piece of comfort, very ruefully uttered, he went, in anything but a jolly manner, to bed.

He rose early next morning, and was a-foot soon after sunrise. But it was of no use; the whole place was up to see Mark Tapley off; the boys, the dogs, the children, the old men, the busy people and the idlers; there they were, all calling out 'Good-b'ye, Mark,' after their own manner, and all sorry he was going. Somehow he had a kind of sense that his old mistress was peeping from her chamber-window, but he couldn't make up his mind to look back.

Português → 'Good-b'ye one, good-b'ye all!' cried Mark, waving his hat on the top of his walking-stick, as he strode at a quick pace up the little street. 'Hearty chaps them wheelwrights--hurrah! Here's the butcher's dog a-coming out of the garden--down, old fellow! And Mr Pinch a-going to his organ--good-b'ye, sir! And the terrier-bitch from over the way--hie, then, lass! And children enough to hand down human natur to the latest posterity--good-b'ye, boys and girls! There's some credit in it now. I'm a-coming out strong at last. These are the circumstances that would try a ordinary mind; but I'm uncommon jolly. Not quite as jolly as I could wish to be, but very near. Good-b'ye! good-b'ye!'

Chapter Eight

Português → ACCOMPANIES MR PECKSNIFF AND HIS CHARMING DAUGHTERS TO THE CITY OF LONDON; AND RELATES WHAT FELL OUT UPON THEIR WAY THITHER

When Mr Pecksniff and the two young ladies got into the heavy coach at the end of the lane, they found it empty, which was a great comfort; particularly as the outside was quite full and the passengers looked very frosty. For as Mr Pecksniff justly observed--when he and his daughters had burrowed their feet deep in the straw, wrapped themselves to the chin, and pulled up both windows--it is always satisfactory to feel, in keen weather, that many other people are not as warm as you are. And this, he said, was quite natural, and a very beautiful arrangement; not confined to coaches, but extending itself into many social ramifications. 'For' (he observed), 'if every one were warm and well-fed, we should lose the satisfaction of admiring the fortitude with which certain conditions of men bear cold and hunger. And if we were no better off than anybody else, what would become of our sense of gratitude; which,' said Mr Pecksniff with tears in his eyes, as he shook his fist at a beggar who wanted to get up behind, 'is one of the holiest feelings of our common nature.'

Português → His children heard with becoming reverence these moral precepts from the lips of their father, and signified their acquiescence in the same, by smiles. That he might the better feed and cherish that sacred flame of gratitude in his breast, Mr Pecksniff remarked that he would trouble his eldest daughter, even in this early stage of their journey, for the brandy-bottle. And from the narrow neck of that stone vessel he imbibed a copious refreshment.

'What are we?' said Mr Pecksniff, 'but coaches? Some of us are slow coaches'--

'Goodness, Pa!' cried Charity.

'Some of us, I say,' resumed her parent with increased emphasis, 'are slow coaches; some of us are fast coaches. Our passions are the horses; and rampant animals too--!'

'Really, Pa,' cried both the daughters at once. 'How very unpleasant.'

'And rampant animals too' repeated Mr Pecksniff with so much determination, that he may be said to have exhibited, at the moment a sort of moral rampancy himself;'--and Virtue is the drag. We start from The Mother's Arms, and we run to The Dust Shovel.'

When he had said this, Mr Pecksniff, being exhausted, took some further refreshment. When he had done that, he corked the bottle tight, with the air of a man who had effectually corked the subject also; and went to sleep for three stages.

Português → The tendency of mankind when it falls asleep in coaches, is to wake up cross; to find its legs in its way; and its corns an aggravation. Mr Pecksniff not being exempt from the common lot of humanity found himself, at the end of his nap, so decidedly the victim of these infirmities, that he had an irresistible inclination to visit them upon his daughters; which he had already begun to do in the shape of divers random kicks, and other unexpected motions of his shoes, when the coach stopped, and after a short delay the door was opened.

'Now mind,' said a thin sharp voice in the dark. 'I and my son go inside, because the roof is full, but you agree only to charge us outside prices. It's quite understood that we won't pay more. Is it?'

'All right, sir,' replied the guard.

'Is there anybody inside now?' inquired the voice.

'Three passengers,' returned the guard.

'Then I ask the three passengers to witness this bargain, if they will be so good,' said the voice. 'My boy, I think we may safely get in.'

Português → In pursuance of which opinion, two people took their seats in the vehicle, which was solemnly licensed by Act of Parliament to carry any six persons who could be got in at the door.

'That was lucky!' whispered the old man, when they moved on again. 'And a great stroke of policy in you to observe it. He, he, he! We couldn't have gone outside. I should have died of the rheumatism!'

Whether it occurred to the dutiful son that he had in some degree over-reached himself by contributing to the prolongation of his father's days; or whether the cold had effected his temper; is doubtful. But he gave his father such a nudge in reply, that that good old gentleman was taken with a cough which lasted for full five minutes without intermission, and goaded Mr Pecksniff to that pitch of irritation, that he said at last--and very suddenly:

'There is no room! There is really no room in this coach for any gentleman with a cold in his head!'

'Mine,' said the old man, after a moment's pause, 'is upon my chest, Pecksniff.'

Português → The voice and manner, together, now that he spoke out; the composure of the speaker; the presence of his son; and his knowledge of Mr Pecksniff; afforded a clue to his identity which it was impossible to mistake.

'Hem! I thought,' said Mr Pecksniff, returning to his usual mildness, 'that I addressed a stranger. I find that I address a relative, Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Mr Jonas--for they, my dear children, are our travelling companions--will excuse me for an apparently harsh remark. It is not MY desire to wound the feelings of any person with whom I am connected in family bonds. I may be a Hypocrite,' said Mr Pecksniff, cuttingly; 'but I am not a Brute.'

'Pooh, pooh!' said the old man. 'What signifies that word, Pecksniff? Hypocrite! why, we are all hypocrites. We were all hypocrites t'other day. I am sure I felt that to be agreed upon among us, or I shouldn't have called you one. We should not have been there at all, if we had not been hypocrites. The only difference between you and the rest was--shall I tell you the difference between you and the rest now, Pecksniff?'

Português → 'If you please, my good sir; if you please.'

'Why, the annoying quality in YOU, is,' said the old man, 'that you never have a confederate or partner in YOUR juggling; you would deceive everybody, even those who practise the same art; and have a way with you, as if you--he, he, he!--as if you really believed yourself. I'd lay a handsome wager now,' said the old man, 'if I laid wagers, which I don't and never did, that you keep up appearances by a tacit understanding, even before your own daughters here. Now I, when I have a business scheme in hand, tell Jonas what it is, and we discuss it openly. You're not offended, Pecksniff?'

'Offended, my good sir!' cried that gentleman, as if he had received the highest compliments that language could convey.

'Are you travelling to London, Mr Pecksniff?' asked the son.

'Yes, Mr Jonas, we are travelling to London. We shall have the pleasure of your company all the way, I trust?'

'Oh! ecod, you had better ask father that,' said Jonas. 'I am not a-going to commit myself.'

Português → Mr Pecksniff was, as a matter of course, greatly entertained by this retort. His mirth having subsided, Mr Jonas gave him to understand that himself and parent were in fact travelling to their home in the metropolis; and that, since the memorable day of the great family gathering, they had been tarrying in that part of the country, watching the sale of certain eligible investments, which they had had in their copartnership eye when they came down; for it was their custom, Mr Jonas said, whenever such a thing was practicable, to kill two birds with one stone, and never to throw away sprats, but as bait for whales. When he had communicated to Mr Pecksniff these pithy scraps of intelligence, he said, 'That if it was all the same to him, he would turn him over to father, and have a chat with the gals;' and in furtherance of this polite scheme, he vacated his seat adjoining that gentleman, and established himself in the opposite corner, next to the fair Miss Mercy.

Português → The education of Mr Jonas had been conducted from his cradle on the strictest principles of the main chance. The very first word he learnt to spell was 'gain,' and the second (when he got into two syllables), 'money.' But for two results, which were not clearly foreseen perhaps by his watchful parent in the beginning, his training may be said to have been unexceptionable. One of these flaws was, that having been long taught by his father to over-reach everybody, he had imperceptibly acquired a love of over-reaching that venerable monitor himself. The other, that from his early habits of considering everything as a question of property, he had gradually come to look, with impatience, on his parent as a certain amount of personal estate, which had no right whatever to be going at large, but ought to be secured in that particular description of iron safe which is commonly called a coffin, and banked in the grave.

'Well, cousin!' said Mr Jonas--'Because we ARE cousins, you know, a few times removed--so you're going to London?'

Miss Mercy replied in the affirmative, pinching her sister's arm at the same time, and giggling excessively.

'Lots of beaux in London, cousin!' said Mr Jonas, slightly advancing his elbow.

Português → 'Indeed, sir!' cried the young lady. 'They won't hurt us, sir, I dare say.' And having given him this answer with great demureness she was so overcome by her own humour, that she was fain to stifle her merriment in her sister's shawl.

'Merry,' cried that more prudent damsel, 'really I am ashamed of you. How can you go on so? You wild thing!' At which Miss Merry only laughed the more, of course.

'I saw a wildness in her eye, t'other day,' said Mr Jonas, addressing Charity. 'But you're the one to sit solemn! I say--You were regularly prim, cousin!'

'Oh! The old-fashioned fright!' cried Merry, in a whisper. 'Cherry my dear, upon my word you must sit next him. I shall die outright if he talks to me any more; I shall, positively!' To prevent which fatal consequence, the buoyant creature skipped out of her seat as she spoke, and squeezed her sister into the place from which she had risen.

'Don't mind crowding me,' cried Mr Jonas. 'I like to be crowded by gals. Come a little closer, cousin.'

Português → 'No, thank you, sir,' said Charity.

'There's that other one a-laughing again,' said Mr Jonas; 'she's a-laughing at my father, I shouldn't wonder. If he puts on that old flannel nightcap of his, I don't know what she'll do! Is that my father a-snoring, Pecksniff?'

'Yes, Mr Jonas.'

'Tread upon his foot, will you be so good?' said the young gentleman. 'The foot next you's the gouty one.'

Mr Pecksniff hesitating to perform this friendly office, Mr Jonas did it himself; at the same time crying:

'Come, wake up, father, or you'll be having the nightmare, and screeching out, I know.--Do you ever have the nightmare, cousin?' he asked his neighbour, with characteristic gallantry, as he dropped his voice again.

'Sometimes,' answered Charity. 'Not often.'

'The other one,' said Mr Jonas, after a pause. 'Does SHE ever have the nightmare?'

'I don't know,' replied Charity. 'You had better ask her.'

'She laughs so,' said Jonas; 'there's no talking to her. Only hark how she's a-going on now! You're the sensible one, cousin!'

Português → 'Tut, tut!' cried Charity.

'Oh! But you are! You know you are!'

'Mercy is a little giddy,' said Miss Charity. But she'll sober down in time.'

'It'll be a very long time, then, if she does at all,' rejoined her cousin. 'Take a little more room.'

'I am afraid of crowding you,' said Charity. But she took it notwithstanding; and after one or two remarks on the extreme heaviness of the coach, and the number of places it stopped at, they fell into a silence which remained unbroken by any member of the party until supper-time.

Although Mr Jonas conducted Charity to the hotel and sat himself beside her at the board, it was pretty clear that he had an eye to 'the other one' also, for he often glanced across at Mercy, and seemed to draw comparisons between the personal appearance of the two, which were not unfavourable to the superior plumpness of the younger sister. He allowed himself no great leisure for this kind of observation, however, being busily engaged with the supper, which, as he whispered in his fair companion's ear, was a contract business, and therefore the more she ate, the better the bargain was. His father and Mr Pecksniff, probably acting on the same wise principle, demolished everything that came within their reach, and by that means acquired a greasy expression of countenance, indicating contentment, if not repletion, which it was very pleasant to contemplate.

Português → When they could eat no more, Mr Pecksniff and Mr Jonas subscribed for two sixpenny-worths of hot brandy-and-water, which the latter gentleman considered a more politic order than one shillingsworth; there being a chance of their getting more spirit out of the innkeeper under this arrangement than if it were all in one glass. Having swallowed his share of the enlivening fluid, Mr Pecksniff, under pretence of going to see if the coach were ready, went secretly to the bar, and had his own little bottle filled, in order that he might refresh himself at leisure in the dark coach without being observed.

These arrangements concluded, and the coach being ready, they got into their old places and jogged on again. But before he composed himself for a nap, Mr Pecksniff delivered a kind of grace after meat, in these words:

'The process of digestion, as I have been informed by anatomical friends, is one of the most wonderful works of nature. I do not know how it may be with others, but it is a great satisfaction to me to know, when regaling on my humble fare, that I am putting in motion the most beautiful machinery with which we have any acquaintance. I really feel at such times as if I was doing a public service. When I have wound myself up, if I may employ such a term,' said Mr Pecksniff with exquisite tenderness, 'and know that I am Going, I feel that in the lesson afforded by the works within me, I am a Benefactor to my Kind!'

Português → As nothing could be added to this, nothing was said; and Mr Pecksniff, exulting, it may be presumed, in his moral utility, went to sleep again.

The rest of the night wore away in the usual manner. Mr Pecksniff and Old Anthony kept tumbling against each other and waking up much terrified, or crushed their heads in opposite corners of the coach and strangely tattooed the surface of their faces--Heaven knows how--in their sleep. The coach stopped and went on, and went on and stopped, times out of number. Passengers got up and passengers got down, and fresh horses came and went and came again, with scarcely any interval between each team as it seemed to those who were dozing, and with a gap of a whole night between every one as it seemed to those who were broad awake. At length they began to jolt and rumble over horribly uneven stones, and Mr Pecksniff looking out of window said it was to-morrow morning, and they were there.

Very soon afterwards the coach stopped at the office in the city; and the street in which it was situated was already in a bustle, that fully bore out Mr Pecksniff's words about its being morning, though for any signs of day yet appearing in the sky it might have been midnight. There was a dense fog too; as if it were a city in the clouds, which they had been travelling to all night up a magic beanstalk; and there was a thick crust upon the pavement like oilcake; which, one of the outsides (mad, no doubt) said to another (his keeper, of course), was Snow.

Português → Taking a confused leave of Anthony and his son, and leaving the luggage of himself and daughters at the office to be called for afterwards, Mr Pecksniff, with one of the young ladies under each arm, dived across the street, and then across other streets, and so up the queerest courts, and down the strangest alleys and under the blindest archways, in a kind of frenzy; now skipping over a kennel, now running for his life from a coach and horses; now thinking he had lost his way, now thinking he had found it; now in a state of the highest confidence, now despondent to the last degree, but always in a great perspiration and flurry; until at length they stopped in a kind of paved yard near the Monument. That is to say, Mr Pecksniff told them so; for as to anything they could see of the Monument, or anything else but the buildings close at hand, they might as well have been playing blindman's buff at Salisbury.

Mr Pecksniff looked about him for a moment, and then knocked at the door of a very dingy edifice, even among the choice collection of dingy edifices at hand; on the front of which was a little oval board like a tea-tray, with this inscription--'Commercial Boarding-House: M. Todgers.'

It seemed that M. Todgers was not up yet, for Mr Pecksniff knocked twice and rang thrice, without making any impression on anything but a dog over the way. At last a chain and some bolts were withdrawn with a rusty noise, as if the weather had made the very fastenings hoarse, and a small boy with a large red head, and no nose to speak of, and a very dirty Wellington boot on his left arm, appeared; who (being surprised) rubbed the nose just mentioned with the back of a shoe-brush, and said nothing.

Português → 'Still a-bed my man?' asked Mr Pecksniff.

'Still a-bed!' replied the boy. 'I wish they wos still a-bed. They're very noisy a-bed; all calling for their boots at once. I thought you was the Paper, and wondered why you didn't shove yourself through the grating as usual. What do you want?'

Considering his years, which were tender, the youth may be said to have preferred this question sternly, and in something of a defiant manner. But Mr Pecksniff, without taking umbrage at his bearing put a card in his hand, and bade him take that upstairs, and show them in the meanwhile into a room where there was a fire.

'Or if there's one in the eating parlour,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'I can find it myself.' So he led his daughters, without waiting for any further introduction, into a room on the ground-floor, where a table-cloth (rather a tight and scanty fit in reference to the table it covered) was already spread for breakfast; displaying a mighty dish of pink boiled beef; an instance of that particular style of loaf which is known to housekeepers as a slack-baked, crummy quartern; a liberal provision of cups and saucers; and the usual appendages.

Português → Inside the fender were some half-dozen pairs of shoes and boots, of various sizes, just cleaned and turned with the soles upwards to dry; and a pair of short black gaiters, on one of which was chalked--in sport, it would appear, by some gentleman who had slipped down for the purpose, pending his toilet, and gone up again--'Jinkins's Particular,' while the other exhibited a sketch in profile, claiming to be the portrait of Jinkins himself.

Português → M. Todgers's Commercial Boarding-House was a house of that sort which is likely to be dark at any time; but that morning it was especially dark. There was an odd smell in the passage, as if the concentrated essence of all the dinners that had been cooked in the kitchen since the house was built, lingered at the top of the kitchen stairs to that hour, and like the Black Friar in Don Juan, 'wouldn't be driven away.' In particular, there was a sensation of cabbage; as if all the greens that had ever been boiled there, were evergreens, and flourished in immortal strength. The parlour was wainscoted, and communicated to strangers a magnetic and instinctive consciousness of rats and mice. The staircase was very gloomy and very broad, with balustrades so thick and heavy that they would have served for a bridge. In a sombre corner on the first landing, stood a gruff old giant of a clock, with a preposterous coronet of three brass balls on his head; whom few had ever seen--none ever looked in the face--and who seemed to continue his heavy tick for no other reason than to warn heedless people from running into him accidentally. It had not been papered or painted, hadn't Todgers's, within the memory of man. It was very black, begrimed, and mouldy. And, at the top of the staircase, was an old, disjointed, rickety, ill-favoured skylight, patched and mended in all kinds of ways, which looked distrustfully down at everything that passed below, and covered Todgers's up as if it were a sort of human cucumber-frame, and only people of a peculiar growth were reared there.

Português → Mr Pecksniff and his fair daughters had not stood warming themselves at the fire ten minutes, when the sound of feet was heard upon the stairs, and the presiding deity of the establishment came hurrying in.

M. Todgers was a lady, rather a bony and hard-featured lady, with a row of curls in front of her head, shaped like little barrels of beer; and on the top of it something made of net--you couldn't call it a cap exactly--which looked like a black cobweb. She had a little basket on her arm, and in it a bunch of keys that jingled as she came. In her other hand she bore a flaming tallow candle, which, after surveying Mr Pecksniff for one instant by its light, she put down upon the table, to the end that she might receive him with the greater cordiality.

'Mr Pecksniff!' cried Mrs Todgers. 'Welcome to London! Who would have thought of such a visit as this, after so--dear, dear!--so many years! How do you DO, Mr Pecksniff?'

'As well as ever; and as glad to see you, as ever;' Mr Pecksniff made response. 'Why, you are younger than you used to be!'

'YOU are, I am sure!' said Mrs Todgers. 'You're not a bit changed.'

Português → 'What do you say to this?' cried Mr Pecksniff, stretching out his hand towards the young ladies. 'Does this make me no older?'

'Not your daughters!' exclaimed the lady, raising her hands and clasping them. 'Oh, no, Mr Pecksniff! Your second, and her bridesmaid!'

Mr Pecksniff smiled complacently; shook his head; and said, 'My daughters, Mrs Todgers. Merely my daughters.'

'Ah!' sighed the good lady, 'I must believe you, for now I look at 'em I think I should have known 'em anywhere. My dear Miss Pecksniffs, how happy your Pa has made me!'

She hugged them both; and being by this time overpowered by her feelings or the inclemency of the morning, jerked a little pocket handkerchief out of the little basket, and applied the same to her face.

'Now, my good madam,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'I know the rules of your establishment, and that you only receive gentlemen boarders. But it occurred to me, when I left home, that perhaps you would give my daughters house room, and make an exception in their favour.'

Português → 'Perhaps?' cried Mrs Todgers ecstatically. 'Perhaps?'

'I may say then, that I was sure you would,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'I know that you have a little room of your own, and that they can be comfortable there, without appearing at the general table.'

'Dear girls!' said Mrs Todgers. 'I must take that liberty once more.'

Mrs Todgers meant by this that she must embrace them once more, which she accordingly did with great ardour. But the truth was that the house being full with the exception of one bed, which would now be occupied by Mr Pecksniff, she wanted time for consideration; and so much time too (for it was a knotty point how to dispose of them), that even when this second embrace was over, she stood for some moments gazing at the sisters, with affection beaming in one eye, and calculation shining out of the other.

'I think I know how to arrange it,' said Mrs Todgers, at length. 'A sofa bedstead in the little third room which opens from my own parlour.--Oh, you dear girls!'

Português → Thereupon she embraced them once more, observing that she could not decide which was most like their poor mother (which was highly probable, seeing that she had never beheld that lady), but that she rather thought the youngest was; and then she said that as the gentlemen would be down directly, and the ladies were fatigued with travelling, would they step into her room at once?

It was on the same floor; being, in fact, the back parlour; and had, as Mrs Todgers said, the great advantage (in London) of not being overlooked; as they would see when the fog cleared off. Nor was this a vainglorious boast, for it commanded at a perspective of two feet, a brown wall with a black cistern on the top. The sleeping apartment designed for the young ladies was approached from this chamber by a mightily convenient little door, which would only open when fallen against by a strong person. It commanded from a similar point of sight another angle of the wall, and another side of the cistern. 'Not the damp side,' said Mrs Todgers. 'THAT is Mr Jinkins's.'

Português → In the first of these sanctuaries a fire was speedily kindled by the youthful porter, who, whistling at his work in the absence of Mrs Todgers (not to mention his sketching figures on his corduroys with burnt firewood), and being afterwards taken by that lady in the fact, was dismissed with a box on his ears. Having prepared breakfast for the young ladies with her own hands, she withdrew to preside in the other room; where the joke at Mr Jinkins's expense seemed to be proceeding rather noisily.

'I won't ask you yet, my dears,' said Mr Pecksniff, looking in at the door, 'how you like London. Shall I?'

'We haven't seen much of it, Pa!' cried Merry.

'Nothing, I hope,' said Cherry. (Both very miserably.)

'Indeed,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'that's true. We have our pleasure, and our business too, before us. All in good time. All in good time!'

Whether Mr Pecksniff's business in London was as strictly professional as he had given his new pupil to understand, we shall see, to adopt that worthy man's phraseology, 'all in good time.'

Chapter Nine

Português → TOWN AND TODGER'S

Surely there never was, in any other borough, city, or hamlet in the world, such a singular sort of a place as Todgers's. And surely London, to judge from that part of it which hemmed Todgers's round and hustled it, and crushed it, and stuck its brick-and-mortar elbows into it, and kept the air from it, and stood perpetually between it and the light, was worthy of Todgers's, and qualified to be on terms of close relationship and alliance with hundreds and thousands of the odd family to which Todgers's belonged.

Português → You couldn't walk about Todgers's neighbourhood, as you could in any other neighbourhood. You groped your way for an hour through lanes and byways, and court-yards, and passages; and you never once emerged upon anything that might be reasonably called a street. A kind of resigned distraction came over the stranger as he trod those devious mazes, and, giving himself up for lost, went in and out and round about and quietly turned back again when he came to a dead wall or was stopped by an iron railing, and felt that the means of escape might possibly present themselves in their own good time, but that to anticipate them was hopeless. Instances were known of people who, being asked to dine at Todgers's, had travelled round and round for a weary time, with its very chimney-pots in view; and finding it, at last, impossible of attainment, had gone home again with a gentle melancholy on their spirits, tranquil and uncomplaining. Nobody had ever found Todgers's on a verbal direction, though given within a few minutes' walk of it. Cautious emigrants from Scotland or the North of England had been known to reach it safely, by impressing a charity-boy, town-bred, and bringing him along with them; or by clinging tenaciously to the postman; but these were rare exceptions, and only went to prove the rule that Todgers's was in a labyrinth, whereof the mystery was known but to a chosen few.

Português → Several fruit-brokers had their marts near Todgers's; and one of the first impressions wrought upon the stranger's senses was of oranges--of damaged oranges--with blue and green bruises on them, festering in boxes, or mouldering away in cellars. All day long, a stream of porters from the wharves beside the river, each bearing on his back a bursting chest of oranges, poured slowly through the narrow passages; while underneath the archway by the public-house, the knots of those who rested and regaled within, were piled from morning until night. Strange solitary pumps were found near Todgers's hiding themselves for the most part in blind alleys, and keeping company with fire-ladders. There were churches also by dozens, with many a ghostly little churchyard, all overgrown with such straggling vegetation as springs up spontaneously from damp, and graves, and rubbish. In some of these dingy resting-places which bore much the same analogy to green churchyards, as the pots of earth for mignonette and wall-flower in the windows overlooking them did to rustic gardens, there were trees; tall trees; still putting forth their leaves in each succeeding year, with such a languishing remembrance of their kind (so one might fancy, looking on their sickly boughs) as birds in cages have of theirs. Here, paralysed old watchmen guarded the bodies of the dead at night, year after year, until at last they joined that solemn brotherhood; and, saving that they slept below the ground a sounder sleep than even they had ever known above it, and were shut up in another kind of box, their condition can hardly be said to have undergone any material change when they, in turn, were watched themselves.

Português → Among the narrow thoroughfares at hand, there lingered, here and there, an ancient doorway of carved oak, from which, of old, the sounds of revelry and feasting often came; but now these mansions, only used for storehouses, were dark and dull, and, being filled with wool, and cotton, and the like--such heavy merchandise as stifles sound and stops the throat of echo--had an air of palpable deadness about them which, added to their silence and desertion, made them very grim. In like manner, there were gloomy courtyards in these parts, into which few but belated wayfarers ever strayed, and where vast bags and packs of goods, upward or downward bound, were for ever dangling between heaven and earth from lofty cranes There were more trucks near Todgers's than you would suppose whole city could ever need; not active trucks, but a vagabond race, for ever lounging in the narrow lanes before their masters' doors and stopping up the pass; so that when a stray hackney-coach or lumbering waggon came that way, they were the cause of such an uproar as enlivened the whole neighbourhood, and made the bells in the next churchtower vibrate again. In the throats and maws of dark no-thoroughfares near Todgers's, individual wine-merchants and wholesale dealers in grocery-ware had perfect little towns of their own; and, deep among the foundations of these buildings, the ground was undermined and burrowed out into stables, where cart-horses, troubled by rats, might be heard on a quiet Sunday rattling their halters, as disturbed spirits in tales of haunted houses are said to clank their chains.

Português → To tell of half the queer old taverns that had a drowsy and secret existence near Todgers's, would fill a goodly book; while a second volume no less capacious might be devoted to an account of the quaint old guests who frequented their dimly lighted parlours. These were, in general, ancient inhabitants of that region; born, and bred there from boyhood, who had long since become wheezy and asthmatical, and short of breath, except in the article of story-telling; in which respect they were still marvellously long-winded. These gentry were much opposed to steam and all new-fangled ways, and held ballooning to be sinful, and deplored the degeneracy of the times; which that particular member of each little club who kept the keys of the nearest church, professionally, always attributed to the prevalence of dissent and irreligion; though the major part of the company inclined to the belief that virtue went out with hair-powder, and that Old England's greatness had decayed amain with barbers.

As to Todgers's itself--speaking of it only as a house in that neighbourhood, and making no reference to its merits as a commercial boarding establishment--it was worthy to stand where it did. There was one staircase-window in it, at the side of the house, on the ground floor; which tradition said had not been opened for a hundred years at least, and which, abutting on an always dirty lane, was so begrimed and coated with a century's mud, that no one pane of glass could possibly fall out, though all were cracked and broken twenty times. But the grand mystery of Todgers's was the cellarage, approachable only by a little back door and a rusty grating; which cellarage within the memory of man had had no connection with the house, but had always been the freehold property of somebody else, and was reported to be full of wealth; though in what shape--whether in silver, brass, or gold, or butts of wine, or casks of gun-powder--was matter of profound uncertainty and supreme indifference to Todgers's and all its inmates.

Versão em Português B1

1. Prefácio

Capítulo Um

Capítulo Dois

Capítulo Três

Capítulo Quatro

Capítulo Cinco

Capítulo Seis

Capítulo Sete

Capítulo Oito

10. Capítulo Nove

Contents

Prefácio

English → por Charles Dickens

VIDA E AVENTURAS DE MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT

por Charles Dickens

PREFÁCIO

O que parece exagerado para uma pessoa pode parecer claramente verdadeiro para outra. Uma pessoa com visão ampla vê muitos detalhes que alguém de visão curta não consegue ver. Às vezes me pergunto se os escritores sempre usam cores demais ou se alguns leitores simplesmente não enxergam o bastante.

Tenho experiência direta com exageros, mais estranha que essa ideia. Nunca copiei uma pessoa exatamente, mas alguém parecido com uma personagem já me perguntou: "Agora, sinceramente, alguma vez vi alguém assim?"

Acredito que todos os membros da família Pecksniff concordam que o Sr. Pecksniff é uma personagem exagerada e que ninguém assim jamais existiu. Não o defenderei diante de um grupo tão poderoso e respeitável. Em vez disso, comentarei sobre Jonas Chuzzlewit.

English → A natureza baixa, rude e cruel de Jonas pareceria artificial sem sua educação inicial. As lições e os exemplos sempre diante dele fizeram seus defeitos crescer. Ele nasceu e foi criado assim, elogiado pelo que o tornava odioso e ensinado desde criança que enganar, trair e ser ganancioso era certo. O ensino do pai o formou, e esses mesmos defeitos agora voltam para punir o pai em sua velhice vergonhosa. Isso não é apenas justiça numa história, mas um exemplo claro de uma verdade direta.

Peço aos leitores que se lembrem disso, pois muitas vezes não pensam nas causas dos atos errados e crimes que os chocam. O que vale para famílias também vale para um país inteiro: colhemos o que plantamos. Visitem a seção infantil de qualquer prisão inglesa ou, infelizmente, de muitos asilos. Depois julguem se as pessoas que envergonham nossas ruas, enchem nossos navios-prisão e prisões e lotam colônias penais distantes são monstros ou pessoas que conscientemente deixamos crescer na miséria e na ruína.

English → A parte americana desta história não é uma caricatura, exceto por mostrar principalmente um lado ridículo do caráter americano, como o Sr. Bevan esperava. Vinte e quatro anos atrás, esse lado era o mais visível para viajantes como o jovem Martin e Mark Tapley. Nunca quis suavizar o que era ridículo ou errado em casa, então esperava que o povo bem-humorado dos Estados Unidos não se incomodasse quando fiz o mesmo no exterior. Alegra-me que essa confiança naquela grande nação tenha sido justificada.

Quando este livro apareceu pela primeira vez, algumas autoridades disseram que a Associação Watertoast e seus discursos eram impossíveis. Por isso, registro que as experiências de Martin Chuzzlewit ali repetem de perto relatos de reuniões públicas nos Estados Unidos, especialmente de uma Associação Brandywine. O jornal The Times os publicou em junho e julho de 1843, enquanto eu escrevia essas partes; eles continuam nos arquivos do jornal.

English → Em todos os meus escritos, espero ter mostrado que as casas abandonadas dos pobres precisam de melhores condições sanitárias. Vinte e quatro anos atrás, a Sra. Sarah Gamp era um exemplo justo de trabalhadora paga para cuidar de pobres doentes. Os hospitais de Londres eram instituições nobres em muitos aspectos, mas muito ruins em outros. A Sra. Betsey Prig representava bem uma enfermeira hospitalar e mostrava uma grave má administração. Embora os hospitais tivessem dinheiro e recursos, deixavam para pessoas particulares e atenciosas a tarefa de melhorar essas trabalhadoras. Desde então, boas mulheres as melhoraram muito.

PÓS-ESCRITO

Num jantar público oferecido a mim no sábado, 18 de abril de 1868, em Nova York, duzentos representantes da imprensa dos Estados Unidos ouviram, entre outras observações, o seguinte:

English → "Minha voz foi ouvida tanto ultimamente neste país que eu poderia não dizer mais nada. Mas aqui e em todo lugar adequado, devo expressar minha profunda gratidão por minha segunda recepção na América e testemunhar a generosidade e a grandeza da nação. Fiquei espantado com as mudanças por toda parte: mudanças morais e físicas; mais terras ocupadas e povoadas; vastas cidades novas; cidades antigas crescidas quase além do reconhecimento; maior elegância na vida; e mudanças na imprensa, sem cujo avanço nenhum progresso pode ocorrer em lugar algum. Também não sou arrogante a ponto de pensar que em vinte e cinco anos não mudei, aprendi ou corrigi fortes primeiras impressões. Desde que desembarquei nos Estados Unidos em novembro passado, mantive silêncio sobre isso, embora às vezes tentado a falar. A imprensa, sendo humana, pode errar ou receber informações falsas. Em um ou dois casos raros, suas notícias sobre mim não foram totalmente exatas. Às vezes fiquei mais surpreso com notícias impressas sobre mim do que com qualquer outra notícia que li. Durante meses, supostamente venho reunindo material e trabalhando num novo livro sobre a América. No entanto, meus editores dos dois lados do Atlântico sempre souberam que nenhuma consideração no mundo me faria escrever um. O que pretendi e decidi foi isto: quando voltar à Inglaterra, usarei minha própria pessoa e meu próprio diário para contar aos meus compatriotas as grandes mudanças que mencionei. Também registrarei que em todos os lugares, pequenos ou grandes, recebi educação, delicadeza, bondade, hospitalidade, consideração e respeito incomparáveis pela privacidade exigida por meu trabalho e minha saúde. Enquanto eu viver, e enquanto meus descendentes tiverem direitos legais sobre meus livros, mandarei republicar esta declaração como apêndice em cada exemplar dos meus dois livros que tratam da América. Faço isso não apenas por amor e gratidão, mas porque a justiça simples e a honra o exigem."

English → Pronunciei essas palavras com toda a sinceridade possível e as repito aqui impressas com o mesmo sentimento. Enquanto este livro existir, espero que permaneçam nele e sejam lidas com justiça como parte de minhas experiências e impressões da América.

CHARLES DICKENS.

Maio de 1868.

Capítulo Um

English → INTRODUÇÃO SOBRE A LINHAGEM DA FAMÍLIA CHUZZLEWIT

Nenhuma senhora ou cavalheiro bem-educado pode simpatizar com a família Chuzzlewit sem primeiro saber quanto ela é antiga. Felizmente, a família descende claramente em linha direta de Adão e Eva e, nos primeiros tempos, esteve muito ligada à agricultura. Se pessoas ciumentas e maliciosas disserem que algum Chuzzlewit demonstrou orgulho familiar demais, essa fraqueza deve parecer perdoável, até elogiável, quando se considera a enorme superioridade da família sobre o resto da humanidade em antiguidade de origem.

É notável que a família mais antiga registrada tivesse tanto um assassino quanto um vagabundo, e antigos registros familiares sempre repetem tais personagens. Na verdade, quanto mais longa a linhagem, mais violência e viagens aparecem. Nos tempos antigos, essas atividades traziam emoção e uma maneira promissora de recuperar fortunas arruinadas; eram o nobre trabalho e a recreação saudável das classes superiores deste país.

English → Portanto, é grande conforto e alegria saber que, em vários momentos da história, os Chuzzlewit participaram ativamente de conspirações mortais e lutas sangrentas. Os registros também dizem que usavam fortes armaduras de aço da cabeça aos pés. Em muitas ocasiões, conduziram bravamente seus soldados de jaquetas de couro à morte e depois voltaram com elegância para a família e os amigos.

Pelo menos um Chuzzlewit certamente veio com Guilherme, o Conquistador. Esse grande antepassado não passou depois a enganar o rei, como diz a expressão popular, pois a família aparentemente nunca possuiu muita terra. O normando era famoso por sua generosidade e gratidão ao dar essas propriedades aos favoritos, como costumam ser os grandes homens quando dão o que pertence aos outros.

Aqui a história pode louvar a enorme coragem, sabedoria, eloquência, virtude, boa origem e verdadeira nobreza que entraram na Inglaterra com a invasão normanda. A genealogia de cada família antiga aumenta esse total. Certamente teria sido igualmente grande, com linhagens nobres tão longas orgulhando-se de sua origem, mesmo que Guilherme, o Conquistador, fosse Guilherme, o Conquistado. Essa mudança não faria diferença neste aspecto.

English → Um Chuzzlewit certamente esteve envolvido na Conspiração da Pólvora, a menos que o principal traidor, o próprio Fawkes, pertencesse a essa família notável. Isso poderia facilmente ser verdade se outro Chuzzlewit tivesse ido para a Espanha na geração anterior, se casado com uma espanhola e tido um filho de pele morena. Fatos posteriores tornam essa hipótese ainda mais provável, pois mostram como gostos podem passar pela família sem que as pessoas saibam. Muitos Chuzzlewit posteriores fracassaram em outros trabalhos e viraram comerciantes de carvão, embora não tivessem esperança razoável de ganhar dinheiro nem motivo claro para isso. Mês após mês, observavam tristemente um pequeno estoque de carvão sem vender nada. Seu comportamento lembra muito o de seu grande antepassado sob os porões do Parlamento em Westminster, portanto nenhum comentário é necessário.

A tradição familiar também prova que, em alguma época não indicada, houve uma matriarca de princípios destrutivos que sabia muito sobre fabricar e usar explosivos. Era chamada de "A Casamenteira", e as lendas da família ainda a conhecem por esse nome. Certamente era a espanhola, mãe de Chuzzlewit Fawkes.

English → Há mais uma prova da ligação próxima da família com esse acontecimento memorável da história inglesa. Ela deve convencer até quem ainda não foi convencido por essas provas prováveis.

Alguns anos atrás, um Chuzzlewit muito respeitável e confiável possuía uma antiga lanterna escura, parecida com as usadas hoje. Nenhum inimigo ousava negar que ele era rico. Antes de morrer, jurou muitas vezes que sua avó dissera ao olhá-la: "Sim, sim! Isto foi levado por meu quarto filho no dia cinco de novembro, quando ele era um Guy Fawkes." Ele repetia essas palavras impressionantes com frequência. Seu verdadeiro sentido é claro e irresistível. A velha senhora tinha personalidade forte, mas era fraca pela idade e famosa por confundir ideias ou palavras. Corrija seu pequeno erro: "Sim, sim! Esta lanterna foi levada por meu antepassado" - não "quarto filho", o que é absurdo - "no dia cinco de novembro. E ELE era Guy Fawkes." A declaração então se torna clara, natural e apropriada à pessoa que a disse. Vale conservar a história em sua forma original porque mostra o que o trabalho engenhoso de um comentarista pode fazer com a prosa histórica e a poesia imaginativa.

English → Alguns disseram que nenhum Chuzzlewit moderno tinha amizade com os poderosos. Mas as provas silenciam esses críticos maliciosos. Ramos da família ainda possuem cartas mostrando que Diggory Chuzzlewit jantava constantemente com Duke Humphrey. Era convidado de Sua Graça com tanta frequência que parecia inquieto e relutante. Escrevia aos amigos que, se não fizessem o que o portador pedia, teria de jantar novamente com Duke Humphrey, falando como alguém cansado da alta sociedade e da companhia nobre.

English → As mesmas pessoas baixas espalharam o boato de que um Chuzzlewit de origem incerta vinha de família muito humilde. Porém, quando seu filho estava morrendo, perguntaram solenemente: "Toby Chuzzlewit, quem era seu avô?" Com o último suspiro, respondeu: "O Lorde No Zoo." Seis testemunhas registraram isso e assinaram com nomes e endereços completos. Pessoas perversas dizem que nenhum lorde tinha esse nome nem título extinto parecido. Algumas pessoas bem-intencionadas, mas enganadas, acham que o avô era um mandarim. Isso não pode ser: não há sinal de que sua avó tenha saído do país ou de que um mandarim estivesse aqui perto do nascimento de seu pai, exceto os das lojas de chá, que nada têm a ver com a questão. Claramente, o Sr. Toby Chuzzlewit ouviu, lembrou ou pronunciou o nome de modo errado. Assim, mesmo então, os Chuzzlewit estavam ligados por uma linha ilegítima a alguma casa nobre e famosa desconhecida.

English → Documentos familiares mostram claramente que, na época relativamente moderna de Diggory Chuzzlewit, um membro ficou muito rico e influente. Nas cartas sobreviventes, apesar dos danos das traças - os registros gerais do mundo dos insetos, pois consomem escrituras e papéis - Diggory menciona muitas vezes um tio de quem esperava muito. Tentou conquistar seu favor com prataria, joias, livros, relógios e outros objetos valiosos. Escreveu ao irmão sobre uma colher de molho emprestada: "Não fique zangado, eu a dei ao meu tio." Disse quase o mesmo sobre uma caneca infantil entregue para conserto. Em outra ocasião escreveu: "Dei àquele tio irresistível tudo o que possuí." Aparentemente fazia longas visitas à mansão do tio ou até morava ali: "Com exceção da roupa que levo comigo, todo meu vestuário está atualmente na casa de meu tio." A influência do tio devia ser enorme, pois o sobrinho a chamava de "alta demais", "demais" e "tremenda". Estranhamente, ela não lhe trouxe cargo lucrativo na corte nem em outro lugar, nem distinção além do apoio de tão grande homem e convites para festas tão esplêndidas e caras que ele as chamava de "Bolas de Ouro".

English → Não é necessário dar mais exemplos da elevada posição e grande importância dos Chuzzlewit. Se fossem necessárias outras provas, poderiam ser empilhadas como Alpes de testemunhos, esmagando toda dúvida. Já existe um bom monte sobre o túmulo da família, então este capítulo o deixa ali. Como última pá de terra, cartas das próprias mães provam que muitos Chuzzlewit homens e mulheres tinham narizes esculpidos, queixos definidos, corpos dignos de escultor, membros belamente formados e testas polidas tão transparentes que veias azuis apareciam como estradas num mapa celestial. Esse único fato resolve a questão, pois todos os livros sobre o tema dizem que essas características, especialmente o aspecto esculpido, só aparecem em pessoas da melhor condição.

English → Depois de provar completamente para si mesma e, portanto, para todos os leitores que os Chuzzlewit tinham uma origem e já foram importantes o bastante para serem amigos desejáveis de pessoas corretas, esta história pode começar seu verdadeiro trabalho. Sua antiga origem significa que ajudaram muito a fundar e aumentar a família humana. Um dia ela mostrará que os membros apresentados aqui ainda têm muitos equivalentes e modelos no grande mundo ao redor. Por enquanto, faz duas observações gerais. Primeiro, sem aceitar a teoria de Manboddo de que a raça humana talvez tenha sido composta de macacos, os homens certamente fazem coisas muito estranhas. Segundo, sem aceitar a teoria de Blumenbach de que os descendentes de Adão têm muitas qualidades próprias dos porcos, alguns homens cuidam de si mesmos de modo extraordinariamente bom.

Capítulo Dois

English → NO QUAL CERTAS PESSOAS SÃO APRESENTADAS AO LEITOR, QUE PODERÁ CONHECÊ-LAS MELHOR SE DESEJAR

No fim do outono, o sol poente rompeu a névoa que o escondera o dia inteiro. Brilhou intensamente sobre uma pequena aldeia de Wiltshire, a uma viagem fácil da antiga cidade de Salisbury.

Como uma lembrança repentina ou um espírito despertando a mente de um velho, o sol deu glória à paisagem, e sua juventude e frescor perdidos pareceram reviver. A grama molhada brilhava. Pequenas partes verdes das sebes, onde alguns galhos ainda resistiam aos ventos frios e às primeiras geadas, ficaram luminosas. O riacho sem graça pareceu alegre; pássaros cantaram em galhos nus, quase acreditando que o inverno passara e a primavera chegara. O cata-vento na velha torre da igreja também brilhou. A luz das janelas cobertas de hera refletiu o céu ardente, como se os edifícios silenciosos guardassem o calor e a cor vermelha de vinte verões.

English → Até os sinais da chegada do inverno tornavam a paisagem mais bela, sem trazer tristeza profunda. Folhas caídas soltavam um cheiro agradável e suavizavam os sons duros de passos e rodas distantes. Essa paz combinava com o fazendeiro distante espalhando sementes e o arado silencioso desenhando formas na rica terra marrom dos campos cortados. Frutos de outono pendiam nos galhos imóveis como fios de contas de coral, como se fossem joias. Árvores nuas se erguiam sobre pequenos montes de folhas vermelhas e brilhantes e observavam sua lenta decomposição. Outras ainda seguravam folhas secas que estalavam como queimadas, enquanto montes de maçãs vermelhas daquele ano cercavam alguns troncos. As fortes árvores sempre-verdes pareciam escuras e sérias, como se a natureza lhes desse vida longa em vez de sensibilidade e alegria. Mesmo assim, a luz do sol abria caminhos de ouro mais profundo entre seus galhos e usava sua escuridão para fazer o dia moribundo brilhar mais.

English → Um momento depois, toda a glória desapareceu. O sol caiu atrás de longas colinas escuras e nuvens empilhadas no oeste como uma cidade aérea com muralhas e torres. Toda a luz sumiu. A igreja brilhante ficou fria e escura, o riacho perdeu o sorriso, os pássaros se calaram e a tristeza do inverno cobriu tudo.

Um vento noturno se levantou. Galhos finos estalaram e bateram como esqueletos dançando ao som de sua música triste. Folhas secas correram em busca de abrigo contra sua perseguição fria. O trabalhador soltou os cavalos e caminhou depressa para casa ao lado deles, de cabeça baixa. Luzes de casas começaram a piscar nos campos escuros.

English → Então a forja da aldeia apareceu em toda a sua importância brilhante. Os fortes foles rugiam "Ha, ha!" para o fogo claro, e o fogo respondia. Faíscas luminosas dançavam ao som alegre dos martelos na bigorna. O ferro quente também brilhava e lançava joias incandescentes ao redor. O forte ferreiro e seus homens batiam com tanta força que até a noite triste parecia contente. Um brilho iluminava seu rosto escuro enquanto ela olhava pelas portas e janelas, acima dos ombros de doze homens sem trabalho. Presos pela cena, esses homens às vezes olhavam para a escuridão. Depois apoiavam os cotovelos no peitoril e se inclinavam ainda mais para dentro, tão relutantes em partir quanto grilos nascidos junto ao fogo.

English → Fora com o vento zangado! Ele parou de suspirar e soprou com fúria em torno da alegre forja, batendo o portão e rosnando na chaminé, como se perseguisse os foles felizes por trabalharem sob comando. Apesar de todo o barulho, era impotente: apenas fazia os foles cantarem mais alto, o fogo queimar mais forte e as faíscas dançarem com mais alegria. Por fim, as faíscas voaram loucamente, o que o vento amargo não suportou. Ele fugiu uivando e atingiu a velha placa da taverna com tanta força que o Blue Dragon ficou mais feroz que de costume e, antes do Natal, saiu completamente de sua moldura quebrada.

Era uma pequena tirania um vento respeitável castigar folhas caídas. Mas, depois de insultar o Dragão, ele encontrou um grande monte e o espalhou. As folhas fugiram em todas as direções, rolando umas sobre as outras, girando nas bordas finas, voando pelo ar e fazendo movimentos selvagens em seu sofrimento. O vento cruel também empurrou pequenos grupos para o poço do serrador e para debaixo das tábuas e madeiras do pátio. Jogou serragem no ar, procurou sob ela e, sempre que encontrou folhas, assobiou e correu atrás delas.

English → As folhas assustadas voaram mais depressa numa perseguição vertiginosa. Chegaram a lugares fechados sem saída, onde o vento as fez girar como quis. Rastejaram sob os telhados, agarraram-se aos montes de feno como morcegos, entraram por janelas abertas e se esconderam junto às sebes - qualquer lugar seguro. O ato mais estranho aconteceu quando a porta da frente do Sr. Pecksniff se abriu de repente e elas correram para o corredor. O vento as seguiu e encontrou a porta dos fundos aberta. Apagou a vela acesa da Srta. Pecksniff e bateu a porta da frente contra o Sr. Pecksniff quando ele entrava. Num instante, ele estava de costas no fim dos degraus. Cansado dessas pequenas brincadeiras, o viajante ruidoso partiu alegremente sobre pântanos, prados, colinas e planícies até alcançar o mar, encontrar outros ventos com a mesma disposição e passar a noite em festa.

English → Enquanto isso, o Sr. Pecksniff estava deitado calmamente, olhando para a própria porta. Uma ponta afiada do penúltimo degrau atingira sua cabeça e o fizera imaginar muitas velas pequenas e brilhantes. A porta parecia mais interessante que o normal, pois ele ficou ali por um tempo longo e absurdo sem nem pensar se estava ferido. A Srta. Pecksniff chamou pelo buraco da fechadura com voz aguda como a de um jovem vento: "Quem está aí?" Ele não respondeu. Então ela abriu a porta novamente, protegeu a vela com a mão e olhou ao redor, acima e em todos os lugares, menos para ele. Mesmo assim, ele nada disse nem mostrou que queria ser levantado.

"Estou vendo você", gritou a Srta. Pecksniff para a pessoa que imaginava ter batido e fugido. "Você vai ver só, senhor!"

O Sr. Pecksniff, talvez porque já tivesse recebido o castigo, continuou sem dizer nada.

English → "Agora você está virando a esquina", gritou a Srta. Pecksniff. Disse isso por acaso, mas combinava com a situação. O Sr. Pecksniff apagava rapidamente as luzes que tinha visto e reduzia as maçanetas de latão da porta de quatrocentas ou quinhentas, que se moviam estranhamente diante de seus olhos, para cerca de doze. Em certo sentido, estava se recuperando e virando a esquina.

Depois de ameaçar com a cela, o policial, o tronco e a forca, a Srta. Pecksniff estava prestes a fechar a porta. O Sr. Pecksniff, ainda no pé dos degraus, ergueu-se sobre um cotovelo e espirrou.

"Essa voz!", gritou a Srta. Pecksniff. "Meu pai!"

Com esse grito, outra Srta. Pecksniff saltou da sala. Entre muitas palavras confusas, as duas colocaram o Sr. Pecksniff de pé.

"Papai!", gritaram juntas. "Papai! Fale, papai! Não fique com esse olhar tão estranho, meu querido papai!"

Mas numa situação assim um cavalheiro não consegue controlar a aparência. O Sr. Pecksniff manteve a boca e os olhos bem abertos e deixou o queixo cair como um quebra-nozes de brinquedo. Seu chapéu havia caído; o rosto estava pálido, o cabelo em pé e o casaco sujo de lama. Parecia tão triste que as duas senhoritas Pecksniff soltaram um grito involuntário.

English → "Está bom", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. "Estou melhor."

"Ele acordou!", gritou a Srta. Pecksniff mais nova.

"Ele voltou a falar!", exclamou a mais velha.

Com essas palavras alegres, beijaram o Sr. Pecksniff nas duas faces e o levaram para dentro. A mais nova voltou para buscar o chapéu, o pacote de papel pardo, o guarda-chuva, as luvas e outros objetos pequenos. Depois de fechar a porta, as duas cuidaram de seus ferimentos na sala dos fundos.

Seus ferimentos não eram graves. Tinha arranhões nas partes que a mais velha chamava de "pontudas" do corpo: joelhos e cotovelos. Também havia um grande inchaço novo na parte de trás da cabeça, desconhecido dos frenologistas. Elas trataram os ferimentos com pedaços de papel pardo em conserva. Também deram ao Sr. Pecksniff conhaque forte com água. A Srta. Pecksniff mais velha preparou o chá, que ficou pronto. Enquanto isso, a mais nova trouxe da cozinha um prato fumegante de presunto com ovos. Colocou-o diante do pai e sentou-se num banquinho baixo a seus pés, com os olhos na altura da mesa de chá.

English → A Srta. Pecksniff mais nova não se sentava no banquinho por ser muito jovem ou ter pernas curtas. Fazia isso porque era simples, inocente, brincalhona, selvagem e animada. Podia provocar, mas parecia não ter truques, e esse era seu grande encanto. Era fresca e infantil demais para usar pentes ou prender o cabelo em cachos ou tranças cuidadosas. Em vez disso, usava-o curto e solto, com muitas fileiras de cachos. A fileira de cima era um grande cacho. Seu corpo era cheio e feminino, mas às vezes - sim, às vezes - ela até usava avental de criança. Um jovem cavalheiro a chamara de "criatura transbordante" num poema publicado na seção poética de um jornal local.

English → O Sr. Pecksniff era um homem sério que falava de ideias nobres e morais. Dera à filha mais nova o nome Mercy, que parecia encantador para uma jovem tão pura. A irmã era Charity. Charity tinha bom senso e uma maneira gentil e séria que não culpava os outros, por isso seu nome também parecia certo. As duas irmãs se amavam e dependiam uma da outra, ao mesmo tempo em que se corrigiam e equilibravam. Cada uma admirava a irmã, mas parecia dirigir uma loja diferente, sem ligação com a da frente. Se os produtos de uma não agradassem, a outra convidava o cliente a entrar. Mesmo assim, nenhuma entendia esse contraste. A natureza o criara, e nem elas nem o Sr. Pecksniff eram responsáveis.

English → O Sr. Pecksniff era especialmente moral em discursos e cartas. Talvez ninguém fosse mais moral. Um admirador simples dizia que ele tinha dentro de si uma bolsa inesgotável de bons sentimentos. Era como a moça do conto de fadas cujas palavras viravam joias. Porém, suas palavras não eram diamantes verdadeiros, apenas cópias muito brilhantes. Dava mais bons conselhos que um caderno de caligrafia. Alguns inimigos o comparavam a uma placa que mostra o caminho, mas nunca vai até lá. Eram apenas sombras lançadas por seu brilho. Até sua garganta parecia moral. Acima da baixa cerca branca da gravata havia um vale liso e sem pelos entre dois colarinhos altos. Ele prendia a gravata atrás, onde ninguém via. Sua garganta parecia dizer: "Não há engano, senhoras e senhores. Tudo é paz, e uma calma sagrada me preenche." O cabelo grisalho era penteado para trás. As pálpebras pesadas, o corpo magro e liso e a maneira suave e oleosa transmitiam a mesma mensagem. Assim também o faziam seu terno preto simples, sua condição de viúvo e seus óculos duplos pendurados. Tudo anunciava: "Contemplem o moral Pecksniff!"

English → A placa de latão na porta do Sr. Pecksniff dizia "PECKSNIFF, ARQUITETO", e seus cartões acrescentavam "E AGRIMENSOR". Ele era agrimensor apenas num sentido: havia uma vista ampla diante de suas janelas. Nada se sabia de seu trabalho de arquitetura, exceto que nunca projetara nem construíra coisa alguma. Mesmo assim, as pessoas acreditavam que seu conhecimento do assunto era tão profundo que chegava a assustar.

English → O trabalho do Sr. Pecksniff consistia quase inteiramente em receber alunos. Cobrar aluguéis era apenas uma mudança ocasional de seus sérios trabalhos. Era hábil em prender pais e tutores e receber seus pagamentos. Depois que um jovem pagava e chegava, o Sr. Pecksniff às vezes tomava emprestado seu estojo de instrumentos matemáticos, caso tivesse detalhes de prata ou outro valor. Pedia ao jovem que se considerasse parte da família e elogiava seus pais ou tutores. Então o deixava numa grande sala da frente, dois andares acima, com pranchetas, réguas paralelas e compassos muito duros. Havia ali outros dois ou três jovens. Durante três ou cinco anos, conforme o acordo, o aluno desenhava a Catedral de Salisbury de todos os ângulos possíveis. Também construía na imaginação muitos castelos, parlamentos e outros edifícios públicos. Muitos prédios grandiosos eram imaginados naquela sala, especialmente igrejas, com uma das senhoritas Pecksniff no altar casando-se com o arquiteto. Apenas a vigésima parte delas daria aos comissários parlamentares igrejas suficientes para pelo menos cinco séculos.

English → "Até os bens deste mundo que acabamos de usar", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, olhando ao redor da mesa depois de terminar, "até o creme, o açúcar, o chá, as torradas, o presunto..."

"E os ovos", acrescentou Charity em voz baixa.

"E os ovos", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. "Eles também têm uma moral. Vejam como vêm e vão! Todo prazer passa. Nem conseguimos comer por muito tempo. Se bebermos líquidos inocentes demais, temos hidropisia; se bebermos líquidos fortes, ficamos bêbados. Que pensamento reconfortante!"

"Não diga que NÓS ficamos bêbados, papai", pediu a Srta. Pecksniff mais velha.

"Quando digo nós, minha querida", respondeu o pai, "quero dizer as pessoas em geral, não indivíduos. A moralidade não é pessoal, meu amor. Até esta parte careca nos lembra de que somos apenas..." O Sr. Pecksniff tocou com o indicador esquerdo o pedaço de papel pardo na cabeça. Estava prestes a dizer "vermes", mas lembrou que vermes não têm cabelo. Então disse: "carne e sangue".

English → Depois de uma pausa em que tentou sem sucesso encontrar outra moral, o Sr. Pecksniff exclamou: "O que também é muito reconfortante. Mercy, minha querida, mexa o fogo e jogue as cinzas nele."

A jovem obedeceu, voltou ao banquinho, apoiou um braço no joelho do pai e descansou nele a face fresca. A Srta. Charity aproximou a cadeira do fogo, pronta para conversar, e olhou para o pai.

Depois de uma pequena pausa, durante a qual sorriu e balançou a cabeça silenciosamente para o fogo, o Sr. Pecksniff disse: "Sim. Mais uma vez, alcancei meu objetivo. Uma nova pessoa virá morar conosco em breve."

"Um jovem, papai?", perguntou Charity.

"Si-im, um jovem", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. "Ele aproveitará a boa oportunidade agora oferecida. Receberá a melhor educação prática em arquitetura e desfrutará do conforto de um lar. Também terá a companhia constante de pessoas de posição humilde e capacidades limitadas. Mesmo assim, essas pessoas se lembram de seus deveres morais."

English → "Ah, papai!", gritou Mercy, levantando o dedo de brincadeira. "Veja o anúncio!"

"Brincalhona - passarinha brincalhona", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. Mercy não cantava. Mas o Sr. Pecksniff usava muitas vezes qualquer palavra que soasse bem e completasse uma frase, sem se importar muito com o significado. Falava com tanta confiança e de modo tão impressionante que até as pessoas mais sábias às vezes ficavam confusas e sem fôlego.

Seus inimigos diziam que a grande confiança nos sons e nas aparências era a chave do caráter do Sr. Pecksniff.

"Ele é bonito, papai?", perguntou a filha mais nova.

"Merry tola!", disse a mais velha; Merry era o apelido carinhoso de Mercy. "Qual é o pagamento, papai? Conte isso para nós."

"Meu Deus, Cherry!", gritou a Srta. Mercy, levantando as mãos e rindo docemente. "Como você pensa em dinheiro! Ah, sua criatura travessa, cuidadosa e prudente!"

Era uma cena encantadora, própria da era pastoral. As duas senhoritas Pecksniff deram tapas uma na outra e depois se abraçaram. Até o abraço mostrava suas naturezas diferentes.

English → "Ele tem boa aparência", disse o Sr. Pecksniff devagar e com clareza. "Boa aparência suficiente. Não espero que traga nenhum pagamento de imediato."

Apesar das naturezas diferentes, Charity e Mercy abriram muito os olhos. Por um momento, ficaram com uma expressão vazia, como se realmente estivessem pensando no dinheiro.

"Mas que importância tem isso?", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, ainda sorrindo para o fogo. "Espero que algumas pessoas no mundo façam o bem sem procurar recompensa. Não estamos todos divididos em dois grupos opostos, o OFensivo e o DEfensivo. Algumas pessoas caminham entre eles, ajudam os necessitados e não tomam partido. Hum!"

Essas pequenas observações sobre ajudar os outros tranquilizaram as irmãs. Elas se olharam e ficaram muito mais alegres.

O Sr. Pecksniff sorriu cada vez mais para o fogo, como se brincasse com ele. "Ah, não vamos sempre calcular, planejar e fazer projetos para o futuro", disse. "Estou cansado desses truques. Se nossos desejos são bons e sinceros, vamos segui-los com coragem. Devemos fazer isso mesmo que tragam perda em vez de lucro. Não é, Charity?"

English → Pela primeira vez durante essas observações, o Sr. Pecksniff olhou para as filhas. As duas sorriam. Ele lançou um olhar tão brincalhão e quase santo que a mais nova sentou-se imediatamente em seu colo. Passou os braços pelo pescoço dele e o beijou vinte vezes. Riu sem parar, e até a cuidadosa Cherry participou.

"Ora, ora", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, afastando a filha mais nova e passando os dedos pelo cabelo enquanto o rosto calmo voltava. "Que tolice é essa! Devemos ter cuidado ao rir sem motivo, para não termos depois um bom motivo para chorar. Que notícias há em casa desde ontem? John Westlock foi embora, espero?"

"Na verdade, não", disse Charity.

"E por que não?", perguntou o pai. "Seu período terminou ontem. A mala estava pronta, eu sei, porque a vi no corredor esta manhã."

"Ele dormiu no Dragon ontem à noite", respondeu a jovem, "e convidou o Sr. Pinch para jantar. Passaram a noite juntos, e o Sr. Pinch só voltou para casa muito tarde."

English → "Quando o vi na escada esta manhã, papai", disse Mercy alegremente, "ele parecia, meu Deus, um verdadeiro monstro! Seu rosto tinha muitas cores, seus olhos estavam opacos como se tivessem sido cozidos e sua cabeça claramente doía muito. Suas roupas cheiravam... ah, tão forte!" Ela estremeceu. "A fumaça e ponche."

Com sua habitual maneira gentil, mas parecendo um homem silenciosamente magoado, o Sr. Pecksniff disse: "Acho que o Sr. Pinch poderia ter escolhido companhia melhor. Sabia que John Westlock tentara ferir meus sentimentos ao fim de nossa longa convivência. Não tenho certeza de que o Sr. Pinch tenha agido com cuidado ou bondade. Nem tenho certeza de que tenha sido devidamente agradecido."

"Mas o que alguém pode esperar do Sr. Pinch!", gritou Charity. Pronunciou o nome dele com tanto desprezo que parecia ansiosa para representar a palavra beliscando-lhe a panturrilha.

English → "Sim, sim", respondeu o pai, levantando a mão com suavidade. "É fácil perguntar o que podemos esperar do Sr. Pinch. Mas ele é um ser humano, minha querida, e parte da humanidade. Temos o direito e o dever de esperar qualidades melhores nele. Essas qualidades em nós nos dão nosso humilde respeito próprio. Deus me livre de dizer que nada pode ser esperado do Sr. Pinch ou de qualquer homem vivo, mesmo o pior. O Sr. Pinch não está entre os piores. Mas me decepcionou e me feriu. Penso um pouco pior dele, mas não da natureza humana. Ah, não, não!"

Quando uma batida suave soou na porta da rua, a Srta. Charity levantou o dedo. "Escutem! É a criatura! Marquem minhas palavras: ele voltou com John Westlock para buscar a mala e vai ajudá-lo a levá-la até o correio. Lembrem-se do que digo. Esse certamente é o plano!"

English → Enquanto ela falava, a mala pareceu estar saindo da casa. Mas, depois de uma breve e baixa troca de perguntas e respostas, foi colocada no chão novamente, e alguém bateu à porta da sala.

"Entre!", gritou o Sr. Pecksniff, não com raiva, mas como se fosse um homem muito bom. "Entre!"

Entrou um homem desajeitado, muito míope e calvo antes da hora. O Sr. Pecksniff estava sentado de costas para ele, olhando o fogo. O homem ficou junto à porta aberta e hesitou. Não era bonito e usava um terno marrom mal cortado. O uso prolongado fizera a roupa encolher e se torcer em muitas formas estranhas. Seu corpo era desajeitado, os ombros se curvavam para a frente e ele projetava a cabeça de modo cômico. Mesmo assim, a menos que o Sr. Pecksniff dissesse o contrário, ninguém o consideraria um homem mau. Talvez tivesse trinta anos, embora pudesse parecer ter qualquer idade entre dezesseis e sessenta. Era uma dessas pessoas que parecem mais velhas quando jovens e depois nunca parecem envelhecer.

English → Mantendo a mão na fechadura da porta, ele olhou várias vezes do Sr. Pecksniff para Mercy, de Mercy para Charity e de volta para o Sr. Pecksniff. Mas as moças observavam o fogo com tanta atenção quanto o pai, e nenhum dos três o notou. Por fim, ele teve de dizer:

- Ah! Peço desculpas, Sr. Pecksniff. Peço desculpas por entrar, mas...

- Não é incômodo, Sr. Pinch - disse o Sr. Pecksniff com muita doçura, sem se virar. - Por favor, sente-se, Sr. Pinch. Por favor, feche a porta, Sr. Pinch.

- Claro, senhor - disse Pinch. No entanto, ele abriu ainda mais a porta e acenou nervosamente para alguém do lado de fora. - O Sr. Westlock, senhor, soube que o senhor tinha voltado para casa...

- Sr. Pinch, Sr. Pinch! - disse Pecksniff, virando a cadeira e olhando para ele com profunda tristeza. - Eu não esperava isso do senhor. Não merecia isso do senhor!

- Não, mas, palavra de honra, senhor... - insistiu Pinch.

English → - Quanto menos disser, Sr. Pinch - interrompeu o outro - , melhor. Não faço nenhuma queixa. Não tente se defender.

- Por favor, senhor - implorou Pinch. - O Sr. Westlock está indo embora de vez e quer deixar apenas amigos para trás. O senhor e ele discordaram outro dia, e tiveram muitas pequenas desavenças.

- Pequenas desavenças! - exclamou Charity.

- Pequenas desavenças! - repetiu Mercy.

- Minhas queridas! Minhas filhas! - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, erguendo a mão com calma. Depois de uma pausa solene, inclinou-se humildemente para o Sr. Pinch, querendo dizer: "Continue". Mas Pinch não sabia como prosseguir. Olhou desamparado para as duas senhoritas Pecksniff. A conversa poderia ter terminado ali, mas um jovem bonito, que acabara de chegar à idade adulta, avançou da porta e deu continuidade a ela.

- Vamos, Sr. Pecksniff - disse ele, sorrindo. - Que não haja ressentimento entre nós. Lamento que tenhamos discordado e lamento muito tê-lo ofendido. Por favor, não guarde rancor de mim quando nos separarmos, senhor.

English → - Não guardo rancor de nenhum homem na face da Terra - respondeu o Sr. Pecksniff gentilmente.

- Eu lhe disse que ele não guardava - disse Pinch em voz baixa. - Eu sabia. Ele sempre diz que não guarda.

- Então o senhor vai apertar minha mão? - exclamou Westlock. Ele avançou e lançou ao Sr. Pinch um olhar que pedia muita atenção.

- Hum! - disse o Sr. Pecksniff em seu tom mais agradável.

- O senhor vai apertar minha mão.

- Não, John - disse o Sr. Pecksniff com perfeita calma. - Não vou apertar sua mão. Eu o perdoo. Na verdade, já o havia perdoado antes que parasse de me culpar e insultar. Eu o acolhi em espírito, John, o que é melhor do que apertar as mãos.

- Pinch - disse o jovem, virando-se para ele com repulsa por seu antigo mestre - , o que foi que eu lhe disse?

O pobre Pinch olhou inquieto para o Sr. Pecksniff, que o observara desde o início. Depois voltou a olhar para o teto e não disse nada.

English → - Quanto ao seu perdão, Sr. Pecksniff - disse o jovem - , não o aceitarei nesses termos. Não quero ser perdoado.

- Não quer, John? - respondeu o Sr. Pecksniff com um sorriso. - Mas terá de aceitar; não pode impedir. O perdão é uma virtude bela e nobre, muito além do seu controle, John. Eu o perdoarei. Você não pode me fazer lembrar de nenhum mal que tenha me causado.

- Mal! - exclamou o outro com todo o ardor da juventude. - Que grande homem! Que mal eu lhe causei? Ele não se lembrará das quinhentas libras que tirou de mim com falsas alegações. Nem dos setenta libras por ano por comida e hospedagem, que seriam caras mesmo a dezessete libras. Que mártir!

English → - O dinheiro, John - disse o Sr. Pecksniff - , é a raiz de todo mal. Entristece-me vê-lo já produzindo o mal em você. Mas esquecerei que ele existe. Também esquecerei a pessoa desorientada que o trouxe aqui esta noite. Ela tentou, sem sucesso, perturbar a paz de alguém que teria derramado seu sangue mais precioso para servi-la. Embora o Sr. Pecksniff parecesse tranquilo, sua ênfase dizia: "Estou observando o patife agora".

A voz do Sr. Pecksniff tremia enquanto ele falava, e suas filhas soluçavam. Então dois sons pareceram flutuar pelo ar: um dizia "Besta!", e o outro, "Selvagem!".

- O perdão completo e puro pode existir com o coração ferido - disse o Sr. Pecksniff. - Talvez seja uma virtude ainda maior quando o coração está ferido. A ingratidão daquela pessoa ainda me dói profundamente, mas eu a perdoo com orgulho. Por favor, não fale agora - exclamou quando Pinch pareceu pronto para falar. - Ajude-me ficando em silêncio. Não sou forte o bastante para esta prova. Em breve, espero poder falar com ele como se esses acontecimentos nunca tivessem ocorrido. Mas agora não. - Ele se virou para o fogo e fez um gesto em direção à porta.

English → - Ora! - exclamou John Westlock com grande repulsa e desprezo. - Senhoritas, boa noite. Venha, Pinch, não vale a pena pensar nisso. Eu estava certo e você estava errado. Isso é pouca coisa; da próxima vez você será mais sensato.

Ele deu um tapinha no ombro do infeliz companheiro, virou-se e entrou no corredor. Depois de esperar indeciso por alguns segundos na sala, com o rosto cheio de tristeza, o pobre Sr. Pinch o seguiu. Juntos, pegaram a caixa e saíram para encontrar a diligência do correio.

A diligência rápida passava todas as noites pela esquina de uma estrada rural a certa distância, por isso caminharam até lá. Durante vários minutos ficaram em silêncio. Então o jovem Westlock riu alto e, mais tarde, riu de novo e de novo. Seu companheiro continuou sem reagir.

Depois de outro longo silêncio, ele disse de repente: - Pinch, você não tem nem metade do diabo dentro de si. Nem metade... não tem nada.

- Bem! - suspirou Pinch. - Não tenho certeza. Dizer isso é um elogio. Se não tenho nada, suponho que seja melhor assim.

English → - Muito melhor! - repetiu seu companheiro bruscamente. - Você quer dizer muito pior.

Ignorando as últimas palavras do amigo, Pinch disse: - Mesmo assim, devo ter muito do que você chama de diabo dentro de mim. De que outra forma eu deixaria Pecksniff tão incomodado? Por favor, não ria. Eu não lhe causaria tanta dor por dinheiro algum, embora Deus saiba como ele me faria falta, John. Como ele estava triste!

- ELE estava triste! - respondeu o outro.

- Você não viu que as lágrimas quase chegaram aos olhos dele? - exclamou Pinch. - John, não significa nada ver um homem tão comovido e saber que você causou isso? Ouviu quando ele disse que poderia ter derramado seu sangue por mim?

Seu amigo respondeu irritado: - Você quer que alguém derrame sangue por você? Ele lhe dá alguma coisa que você realmente quer? Dá trabalho, ensino ou dinheiro para suas despesas? Dá ao menos pernas de carneiro suficientes em comparação com as batatas e verduras?

English → Pinch suspirou novamente. - Receio que eu coma muito. Não posso esconder de mim mesmo que como. Você sabe disso, John.

- Você come muito! - respondeu o companheiro, igualmente irritado. - Como sabe disso?

A pergunta parecia difícil de responder. O Sr. Pinch apenas disse em voz baixa que temia muito ser realmente um grande comilão.

- Além disso, eu comer muito ou não tem pouca relação com ele me considerar ingrato - acrescentou. - John, para mim quase não existe pecado tão terrível quanto a ingratidão. Quando ele me acusa disso e acredita que sou culpado, sinto-me péssimo.

- Você acha que ele não sabe disso? - respondeu o outro com desprezo. - Mas, antes que eu diga mais, Pinch, explique por que deveria ser grato a ele. Primeiro passe a caixa para a outra mão, porque está pesada. Isso. Agora continue.

- Primeiro - disse Pinch - , ele me aceitou como aluno por muito menos do que pediu.

English → Seu amigo não se comoveu com essa generosidade. - Bem, e o segundo motivo?

- O segundo motivo? - exclamou Pinch desesperado. - Ora, todo o resto vem em segundo lugar. Minha pobre e velha avó morreu feliz porque achava que me havia colocado com um homem tão excelente. Cresci na casa dele, tenho sua confiança, trabalho como assistente e recebo um salário. Quando os negócios dele melhorarem, meu futuro também deverá melhorar. Há muito mais. E, John, antes de tudo isso, lembre-se: nasci para coisas mais pobres e simples. Não sou bom no trabalho dele e não tenho talento para isso, nem para coisa alguma além de pequenas tarefas inúteis.

Ele falou com tanta sinceridade que seu companheiro mudou de atitude sem perceber. A essa altura, tinham chegado à placa de sinalização no fim da estrada. O companheiro sentou-se na caixa, fez sinal para Pinch se sentar ao seu lado e pôs uma mão em seu ombro.

English → - Acredito que você seja um dos melhores homens do mundo, Tom Pinch - disse ele.

- De modo algum - respondeu Tom. - Se conhecesse Pecksniff tão bem quanto eu, poderia dizer isso dele com toda a verdade.

- Direi o que você quiser sobre ele - respondeu o outro - , e nada mais contra ele.

- Então é por minha causa, e não por causa dele, receio - disse Pinch, balançando seriamente a cabeça.

- Pela causa de quem você escolher, Tom, desde que isso o agrade. Ah, ele é um homem maravilhoso! ELE nunca colocou no próprio bolso todas as economias que sua pobre avó ganhou com tanto esforço. Ela era governanta, não era, Tom?

- Sim - disse o Sr. Pinch, segurando um dos grandes joelhos e assentindo. - Governanta na casa de um cavalheiro.

- ELE nunca tomou todas as economias que ela ganhou com tanto esforço. Nunca a encheu de esperanças sobre sua felicidade e seu progresso, embora soubesse melhor do que ninguém que elas jamais se realizariam! ELE nunca se aproveitou do orgulho que ela sentia de você e da educação que lhe deu. Nem se aproveitou do desejo dela de que você ao menos se tornasse um cavalheiro. Ele não, Tom!

English → - Não - disse Tom, olhando para o amigo como se não tivesse certeza do que ele queria dizer. - Claro que não.

- É isso que digo - respondeu o jovem. - Claro que ele nunca fez isso. ELE não aceitou menos porque era tudo o que ela tinha, e mais do que esperava. Ele não o mantém como assistente porque você é útil. Sua crença nas falsas alegações dele o ajuda em discussões mesquinhas, e sua honestidade faz com que ele pareça honesto. Pessoas até Salisbury ouvem dizer que você passa seu tempo livre aqui lendo livros antigos e línguas estrangeiras. Isso faz seu mestre, Pecksniff, parecer culto e importante. ELE não ganha nenhum prestígio graças a você, Tom. Ele não.

- Ora, é claro que não - disse Pinch, parecendo mais perturbado do que antes. - Pecksniff ganhar prestígio graças a mim! Ora essa!

- Eu digo que é ridículo até pensar numa coisa dessas, não digo? - respondeu o outro.

English → - Ora, é loucura - disse Tom.

- Loucura! - disse o jovem Westlock. - Claro que é loucura. Quem, senão um louco, pensaria que Pecksniff gosta de ouvir isto aos domingos? O voluntário do órgão da igreja, que pratica nas noites escuras de verão, é chamado de jovem do Sr. Pecksniff, não é, Tom? Quem pensaria que Pecksniff quer que todos falem das mil coisas inúteis que você faz e que ele lhe ensinou? Você faz propaganda dele aqui de forma mais barata e melhor do que qualquer pessoa que escrevesse nos muros, não é, Tom? Alguém poderia até supor que ele não abre o coração e a alma para você nem lhe dá uma ajuda muito generosa, generosa até demais. De modo ainda mais absurdo, alguém poderia supor que Pecksniff usa sua natureza em benefício próprio. Você é tímido, duvida de si mesmo e confia em todos os outros, especialmente no homem que menos merece. Isso seria loucura, Tom!

English → O Sr. Pinch ouviu confuso, em parte por causa das palavras do companheiro e em parte porque ele falava com tanta rapidez e ferocidade. Quando o discurso terminou, o Sr. Pinch respirou muito fundo. Olhou com tristeza para o rosto do companheiro, incapaz de decidir que expressão havia nele. No escuro, tentou encontrar a melhor pista possível sobre o verdadeiro sentido das palavras do homem. Estava prestes a responder quando o som alegre da corneta do guarda da diligência encerrou a conversa de imediato. Isso pareceu agradar muito ao jovem. Ele se levantou depressa e estendeu a mão.

- As duas mãos, Tom. Vou lhe escrever de Londres, não se esqueça!

- Sim - disse Pinch. - Sim, por favor, escreva. Adeus. Adeus. Mal consigo acreditar que você vai embora. Parece que foi ontem que chegou. Adeus, meu querido e velho amigo!

John Westlock respondeu à despedida com o mesmo carinho e subiu para seu assento no teto. A diligência partiu a meio galope pela estrada escura, com as lanternas acesas e a corneta despertando ecos por toda parte.

English → - Siga seu caminho - disse Pinch à diligência. - Mal consigo acreditar que você não está viva, um grande monstro que aparece aqui em certos horários para levar meus amigos para o mundo. Está mais orgulhosa e impetuosa do que de costume esta noite, e tem mesmo o direito de se gabar de seu prêmio. Ele é um rapaz excelente e honesto, com apenas um defeito: não faz por mal, mas é terrivelmente injusto com Pecksniff!

Capítulo Três

English → NO QUAL CERTAS OUTRAS PESSOAS SÃO APRESENTADAS; NAS MESMAS CONDIÇÕES DO CAPÍTULO ANTERIOR

Já mencionamos o Dragão que balançava e rangia diante da cervejaria da aldeia. Era velho e desbotado. Muitas tempestades de inverno, com chuva, neve, granizo fino e granizo, haviam transformado seu azul vivo em cinza opaco. Mesmo assim, ele ainda pendia ali, erguendo-se debilmente sobre as patas traseiras. A cada mês ficava mais apagado e perdia mais sua forma. Visto de um lado, parecia derreter lentamente através da placa e sair pelo outro.

English → Era também um dragão educado e atencioso, ou tinha sido quando sua imagem era mais nítida. Mesmo em sua fraca posição ereta, mantinha uma pata dianteira perto do nariz, como se dissesse: "Não liguem para mim, é só uma brincadeira". Estendia a outra pata para receber os hóspedes. É evidente que os dragões modernos aprenderam boas maneiras. Já não exigem uma bela virgem no café da manhã, com a mesma regularidade com que um solteiro espera seu pãozinho quente. Contentam-se com homens solteiros ociosos e homens casados longe de casa. Hoje, os dragões evitam as mulheres e desencorajam suas visitas, especialmente nas noites de sábado. Há muito tempo, exigiam rudemente a companhia delas, sem se importar com o que elas queriam.

Este elogio aos dragões reformados não está tão distante da História Natural quanto parece à primeira vista. Estas páginas tratam do dragão que vive perto do Sr. Pecksniff; agora que essa criatura educada está em discussão, nada nos impede de tratar dela imediatamente.

English → Durante muitos anos, o Dragão havia balançado, rangido e se agitado diante das duas janelas do melhor quarto da hospedaria. A hospedaria levava seu nome. No entanto, o Dragão nunca tinha visto tanta atividade lá dentro quanto na noite seguinte aos acontecimentos do último capítulo. Pés corriam para cima e para baixo nas escadas. Luzes piscavam, vozes sussurravam e a lenha recém-acesa soltava fumaça e estalava numa chaminé úmida. Arejavam-se roupas de cama, e as panelas quentes usadas para aquecer as camas exalavam cheiro de queimado. Nenhum dragão, grifo, unicórnio ou animal semelhante jamais observara tanta atividade doméstica desde que essas criaturas começaram a se interessar por assuntos do lar.

Um senhor idoso e uma jovem chegaram sozinhos numa velha carruagem enferrujada puxada por cavalos de posta. Ninguém sabia de onde vinham nem para onde iam. Tinham saído de repente da estrada principal e ido para o Dragão Azul porque o senhor adoecera na carruagem. Ele sofria de cólicas terríveis e dores agudas. Mesmo assim, jurou que nenhum médico seria chamado. Tomaria apenas os remédios que a jovem lhe dava de uma pequena caixa de medicamentos. Ele não fazia nada além de assustar a proprietária até fazê-la perder o juízo e rejeitar todas as sugestões.

English → Dos quinhentos planos para aliviá-lo que a boa mulher ofereceu em menos de meia hora, ele aceitou apenas um: iria para a cama. O quarto atrás do Dragão estava movimentado porque preparavam a cama e o aposento para ele.

Ele estava claramente muito doente e sofria bastante, talvez ainda mais por ser um velho forte e vigoroso, com vontade de ferro e voz de bronze. Às vezes, temia claramente por sua vida, mas nem o medo nem a dor mudavam sua decisão. Não permitiria que mandassem buscar ninguém. Quanto pior ficava, mais firme se mostrava. Se qualquer pessoa - homem, mulher ou criança - fosse chamada para atendê-lo, dizia que partiria imediatamente, ainda que saísse andando e morresse na soleira da porta.

English → Não havia médico na aldeia. Havia apenas um pobre vendedor de remédios que também vendia alimentos e outras mercadorias. Ao primeiro alarme, a proprietária decidira mandar chamá-lo. Naturalmente, justamente por ser necessário, ele não estava em casa. Tinha ido a vários quilômetros dali e não voltaria antes de tarde da noite. A proprietária estava quase fora de si, então depressa mandou o mesmo mensageiro buscar o Sr. Pecksniff. Ele era um homem culto, capaz de assumir muita responsabilidade, e um homem de moral, capaz de consolar uma mente perturbada. Seu hóspede claramente precisava de consolo, pois fazia comentários inquietos com frequência. Contudo, suas preocupações pareciam referir-se mais a este mundo do que ao espírito.

O mensageiro voltou dessa missão secreta sem notícias melhores: o Sr. Pecksniff não estava em casa. Levaram o paciente para a cama sem ele. Em duas horas, os ataques dolorosos começaram gradualmente a ficar mais espaçados. Por fim, ele parou de sofrer, embora às vezes ficasse tão exausto que isso parecia quase tão alarmante quanto a dor.

English → Durante um intervalo tranquilo, o velho senhor olhou cautelosamente ao redor e estendeu a mão, inquieto, para fora de seu ninho de travesseiros. Com um jeito estranho, reservado e desconfiado, tentou usar o material de escrita que mandara colocar ao lado da cama. A jovem e a proprietária do Dragão Azul estavam sentadas juntas diante do fogo no quarto do doente.

A proprietária do Dragão Azul tinha exatamente a aparência que uma dona de hospedaria deveria ter: corpulenta, alegre, confortável e bonita. Seu rosto claro, vermelho e branco, mostrava que ela apreciava de coração a comida e a bebida guardadas na casa, e que elas a mantinham saudável. Era viúva, mas deixara de usar roupas de luto havia anos e parecia ter florescido novamente. Rosas cobriam suas saias largas, a parte de cima do vestido, a touca, as faces e até os lábios, que valiam a pena colher. Ela ainda tinha olhos negros brilhantes e cabelos de um negro intenso. Era bonita, redonda, cheia de covinhas e firme como uma groselha. Não era jovem, mas alguém poderia jurar por sua beleza diante de qualquer prefeito ou juiz da cristandade. Muitas jovens eram menos agradáveis e belas do que a radiante anfitriã do Dragão Azul.

English → Junto ao fogo, a bela proprietária olhou com orgulho ao redor do grande quarto rural. O teto era baixo, e o piso descia da porta para dentro. Logo na entrada havia dois degraus inesperados. Apesar dos avisos, estranhos muitas vezes entravam de cabeça, como se mergulhassem numa banheira funda. Não era um daqueles quartos bobos e claros demais, onde ninguém consegue pregar os olhos. Ao contrário, era um lugar bom, apagado, pesado e sonolento. Cada móvel lembrava aos hóspedes que tinham vindo dormir e que se esperava que o fizessem. O fogo não produzia nenhum dos reflexos brilhantes encontrados nos aposentos modernos. O lustro francês reluzente parece desperto até nas noites escuras. O velho mogno espanhol apenas piscava às vezes, como um gato ou cão sonolento. O grande tamanho, o formato e a posição fixa da cama e do guarda-roupa davam sono aos visitantes. Até as cadeiras e mesas menores pareciam pesadas e prontas para roncar. Não havia retratos arregalados para reclamar da preguiça, nem pássaros de olhos bem abertos nas cortinas para vigiar os hóspedes. Revestimentos grossos e lisos nas paredes, persianas escuras e cobertas pesadas pareciam feitos para manter o sono lá dentro. Bloqueavam a luz do dia e a necessidade de se levantar. Até a velha raposa empalhada em cima do guarda-roupa não mostrava vigilância alguma. Seu olho de vidro havia caído, e ela dormia em pé.

English → A proprietária do Dragão Azul olhou para essas coisas apenas duas ou três vezes, e só de relance. Sua atenção logo se afastou delas e até da cama distante com seu estranho fardo, voltando-se para a jovem criatura à sua frente, que estava sentada em silêncio, pensativa, com os olhos baixos fixos no fogo.

Ela não parecia ter mais de dezessete anos. Seu jeito era tímido e nervoso, mas ela controlava a si mesma e aos próprios sentimentos melhor do que a maioria das mulheres muito mais velhas. Tinha demonstrado isso claramente enquanto cuidava do senhor doente. Era baixa e tinha uma figura pequena, como convinha à sua idade. Toda a beleza da juventude e do início da vida adulta aparecia em seu rosto gentil. O rosto estava muito pálido, em parte por causa do susto recente. Seus cabelos castanho-escuros também tinham se desarrumado e se soltado, caindo ao redor do pescoço. Nenhum homem que a observasse desejaria culpar seus cabelos por se comportarem assim.

English → Ela vestia roupas de dama, mas muito simples. Mesmo sentada e imóvel, seus modos combinavam com o vestido simples. A princípio, olhava ansiosamente para a cama. Quando o paciente permaneceu quieto e escrevendo, ela moveu suavemente a cadeira para o lugar onde agora estava. Parecia entender que ele não queria ser observado. Também queria sentar-se onde ele não pudesse vê-la, para poder liberar os sentimentos que mantivera contidos até então.

A rosada proprietária do Dragão Azul percebeu tudo isso e muito mais. Só uma mulher consegue observar outra tão atentamente. Por fim, falou baixo demais para que o velho na cama ouvisse:

- A senhorita já viu o cavalheiro assim antes? Ele costuma ter esses ataques?

- Já o vi muito doente antes, mas nunca tão doente quanto esta noite.

- Que providência divina - disse a proprietária do Dragão - a senhorita ter trazido as receitas e os remédios!

English → - São para uma emergência assim. Nunca viajamos sem eles.

- Ah! - pensou a anfitriã. - Então estão acostumados a viajar, e a viajar juntos.

Ela sabia que esse pensamento aparecia em seu rosto. Quando seus olhos encontraram imediatamente os da jovem, a honesta anfitriã sentiu-se um tanto constrangida.

- O cavalheiro... seu avô - continuou ela depois de uma breve pausa - , sendo tão decidido a não aceitar ajuda, deve assustá-la muito, não é, senhorita?

- Fiquei muito assustada esta noite. Ele... ele não é meu avô.

- Seu pai, eu deveria ter dito - respondeu a anfitriã, sabendo que cometera um erro embaraçoso.

- Também não é meu pai - disse a jovem. Então, com um leve sorriso, percebendo depressa o que a proprietária acrescentaria, disse: - Nem meu tio. Não somos parentes.

- Oh, meu Deus! - respondeu a proprietária, agora ainda mais constrangida. - Como pude me enganar tanto? Qualquer pessoa que pense com clareza sabe que um cavalheiro doente parece muito mais velho do que realmente é. E eu também a chamei de "senhorita", senhora! - Então, sem intenção, olhou para o terceiro dedo da mão esquerda da jovem. Não havia aliança ali, e a proprietária tornou a ficar confusa.

English → - Quando eu disse que não éramos parentes - disse a outra com bondade, embora ela própria estivesse constrangida - , quis dizer de modo algum. Nem mesmo por casamento. Você me chamou, Martin?

- Chamei você? - exclamou o velho, erguendo rapidamente os olhos. Às pressas, escondeu sob a colcha o papel em que estivera escrevendo. - Não.

Ela havia dado um ou dois passos em direção à cama, mas parou imediatamente e não avançou mais.

- Não - repetiu ele asperamente. - Por que me pergunta? Se eu a tivesse chamado, por que faria essa pergunta?

- Foi a placa rangendo lá fora, senhor, imagino - disse a proprietária. Um instante depois, percebeu que aquilo não era nenhum elogio à voz do velho senhor.

- Não importa o que foi, senhora - respondeu ele. - Não fui eu. Por que fica aí parada, Mary, como se eu estivesse com a peste? Todos têm medo de mim - acrescentou, caindo desamparado de volta no travesseiro. - Até ela! Há uma maldição sobre mim. O que mais posso esperar?

English → - Oh, meu Deus, não. Oh, não, tenho certeza - disse a proprietária bem-humorada. Ela se levantou e foi até ele. - Anime-se, senhor. Isso são apenas fantasias de doente.

- O que são apenas fantasias de doente? - retrucou ele. - O que sabe sobre fantasias? Quem lhe falou de fantasias? A velha história! Fantasias!

- Veja como o senhor se agarra a uma palavra! - disse a dona do Dragão Azul, ainda bem-humorada. - Valha-me Deus, não há mal na palavra, senhor, mesmo que seja antiga. Pessoas saudáveis também têm fantasias, e fantasias estranhas, todos os dias.

Embora o discurso parecesse inofensivo, alimentou a desconfiança do viajante como óleo no fogo. Ele ergueu a cabeça na cama e examinou atentamente o rosto dela. Seus dois olhos escuros pareciam mais brilhantes contra as faces pálidas e fundas. Os longos cabelos grisalhos pareciam mais brancos sob o justo gorro de veludo preto.

- Ah! Você começa cedo demais - disse ele tão baixo que parecia pensar, não falar. - Mas não perde tempo. Cumpre sua missão e ganha sua recompensa. Agora, quem é seu cliente?

English → A estalajadeira olhou muito surpresa para a jovem que ele chamava de Mary. Como não encontrou resposta no rosto abaixado dela, voltou a olhar para ele. A princípio, afastara-se sem pensar, pois acreditava que a mente dele estivesse confusa. Mas seus modos lentos e calmos mostravam que sabia o que queria dizer. Seu rosto forte, especialmente a boca apertada, revelava um propósito firme e fez com que ela rejeitasse aquela ideia.

- Vamos - disse ele. - Diga-me quem é. Aqui não é muito difícil para mim adivinhar, como pode imaginar.

- Martin - disse a jovem, colocando a mão no braço dele - , lembre-se de que estamos nesta casa há muito pouco tempo e que nem mesmo seu nome é conhecido aqui.

- A menos que você... - começou ele. Parecia pronto para suspeitar que ela traíra sua confiança diante da estalajadeira. Mas talvez tenha se lembrado dos cuidados bondosos dela ou se comovido com seu rosto. Parou, mexeu-se inquieto na cama e ficou em silêncio.

English → - Pronto! - disse a sra. Lupin - o Dragão Azul tinha licença naquele nome para servir pessoas e animais. - Agora o senhor ficará bem de novo. Por um momento, esqueceu que todos aqui são amigos.

- Ah! - exclamou o velho com um gemido impaciente, lançando um braço inquieto sobre a colcha. - Por que me falar de amigos? Você, ou qualquer pessoa, pode me ensinar quem são meus amigos e quem são meus inimigos?

- Pelo menos tenho certeza de que esta jovem é sua amiga - disse gentilmente a sra. Lupin.

- Ela não tem motivo para ser diferente - gritou o velho, sem esperança nem confiança. - Suponho que seja. Só Deus sabe. Deixe-me tentar dormir. Deixe a vela ali.

Quando se afastaram da cama, ele tirou o escrito em que trabalhara por tanto tempo. Segurou-o na chama da vela até virar cinzas. Depois apagou a luz e se virou com um suspiro profundo. Puxou a colcha sobre a cabeça e ficou imóvel.

English → A sra. Lupin ficou muito alarmada: ele trabalhara bastante no papel, mas o queimara, e poderia ter incendiado o Dragão. A jovem, porém, não demonstrou surpresa, interesse nem medo. Agradeceu à sra. Lupin pelo cuidado e companhia e sussurrou que ficaria mais tempo. Pediu-lhe que não permanecesse acordada com ela, pois estava acostumada a ficar sozinha e iria ler.

A sra. Lupin era muito curiosa, como se dizia que eram as mulheres, e em outra ocasião talvez fosse difícil fazê-la sair. Mas aqueles mistérios a espantaram tanto que ela desceu imediatamente para sua pequena sala e se sentou, estranhamente calma, na poltrona. Nesse instante ouviu passos na entrada. O sr. Pecksniff olhou bondosamente por cima da meia-porta do balcão para a sala particular e murmurou:

- Boa noite, sra. Lupin!

- Meu Deus, senhor! - exclamou ela, indo recebê-lo. - Fico muito feliz que tenha vindo.

English → - E eu fico muito feliz por ter vindo, se puder ajudar - disse o sr. Pecksniff. - Muito feliz mesmo. O que há de errado, sra. Lupin?

- Um cavalheiro passou mal na estrada e esteve muito doente lá em cima, senhor - disse a chorosa anfitriã.

- Um cavalheiro passou mal na estrada e esteve muito doente lá em cima, foi? - repetiu o sr. Pecksniff. - Bem, bem!

Não havia nada novo, sábio ou consolador nessa observação. Mas o sr. Pecksniff falou agradavelmente e assentiu de modo gentil. Também parecia muito seguro da própria bondade. Por isso, qualquer pessoa seria consolada por sua voz e presença, como foi a sra. Lupin. Ele poderia ter dito apenas: "O verbo deve concordar com o sujeito em número e pessoa, minha boa amiga." Ou: "Oito vezes oito são sessenta e quatro, minha digna alma." Ainda assim, os ouvintes teriam sentido profunda gratidão por sua bondade e sabedoria.

English → - E como ele está agora? - perguntou o sr. Pecksniff. Tirou as luvas e aqueceu as mãos junto ao fogo com tanta bondade como se pertencessem a outra pessoa.

- Está melhor e bastante calmo - respondeu a sra. Lupin.

- Está melhor e bastante calmo - disse o sr. Pecksniff. - Muito bem! Mui-to bem!

Mais uma vez, embora a sra. Lupin tivesse dado a notícia primeiro, o sr. Pecksniff tornou-a sua e a consolou com ela. Não era muita coisa quando ela dizia, mas virava um livro inteiro quando ele repetia. Parecia dizer: "Eu vejo, e por meu intermédio a própria moralidade vê, que ele está melhor e bastante calmo."

- Mas algo sério deve perturbá-lo - disse a anfitriã, balançando a cabeça. - Ele fala da maneira mais estranha que o senhor já ouviu. Sua mente está longe de estar calma, e ele precisa de conselhos adequados de pessoas boas o bastante para que seus conselhos tenham valor.

English → - Então ele é o tipo de cliente ideal para mim - pensou o sr. Pecksniff. Embora esse fosse o sentido claro, não disse nada. Apenas balançou a cabeça, como se falasse mal de si mesmo.

A estalajadeira olhou ao redor para garantir que ninguém pudesse ouvir e depois olhou para o chão. - Tenho muito medo, senhor, de que a consciência dele o perturbe porque não é parente - nem mesmo casado - com uma jovem muito nova...

- Sra. Lupin! - disse o sr. Pecksniff, levantando a mão. Seus modos gentis ficaram tão firmes quanto podiam ficar. - Pessoa! Jovem pessoa?

- Uma pessoa muito jovem - disse a sra. Lupin, fazendo uma reverência e corando. - Perdoe-me, senhor; estive tão agitada esta noite que não sei o que digo. Ela está com ele agora.

- Que está com ele agora - refletiu o sr. Pecksniff. Aqueceu as costas como aquecera as mãos, com tanta bondade como se pertencessem a uma viúva, um órfão ou um inimigo. Talvez fossem até costas que um homem menos excelente deixaria frias. - Meu Deus, meu Deus!

English → - Mas devo dizer, de todo o coração - afirmou seriamente a anfitriã - , que a aparência e os modos dela quase eliminam a suspeita.

- Sua suspeita, sra. Lupin - disse o sr. Pecksniff com seriedade - , é muito natural.

Para vergonha deles, deve-se registrar que os inimigos desse digno homem faziam uma afirmação ousada. Diziam que ele sempre chamava coisas muito ruins de "muito naturais". Assim, mostrava sua própria natureza sem perceber.

- Sua suspeita, sra. Lupin - repetiu ele - , é muito natural e sem dúvida correta. Visitarei esses viajantes.

Então tirou o sobretudo e passou os dedos pelos cabelos. Colocou delicadamente uma mão dentro do colete e fez um sinal humilde para que ela mostrasse o caminho.

- Devo bater? - perguntou a sra. Lupin quando chegaram à porta do quarto.

- Não - disse o sr. Pecksniff. - Por favor, entre.

Entraram na ponta dos pés - ou melhor, a anfitriã entrou assim, pois o sr. Pecksniff sempre caminhava suavemente. O velho cavalheiro ainda dormia, e sua jovem companheira ainda lia junto ao fogo.

English → O sr. Pecksniff parou à porta e balançou tristemente a cabeça. - Receio que isto pareça inteligente e desonesto. Sra. Lupin, receio que pareça muito inteligente e desonesto!

Ao terminar de sussurrar, avançou à frente da anfitriã. A jovem ouviu passos e se levantou. O sr. Pecksniff olhou de relance para o livro na mão dela e sussurrou novamente à sra. Lupin, parecendo ainda mais triste.

- Sim, senhora - disse ele. - É um bom livro. Eu já temia isso. Receio que este seja mesmo um assunto planejado com muito cuidado!

- Quem é este cavalheiro? - perguntou a jovem de quem ele tão virtuosamente suspeitava.

- Silêncio, não se preocupe, senhora - disse o sr. Pecksniff quando a estalajadeira começou a responder. Quase disse "pessoa", mas usou "estranha". - Esta jovem estranha desculpará uma resposta breve. Moro nesta aldeia e talvez tenha uma influência que não mereço. A sra. Lupin pediu que eu viesse. Espero sempre cuidar dos doentes e infelizes.

English → Depois dessas palavras impressionantes, o sr. Pecksniff foi até a cama. Deu solenemente uma ou duas palmadinhas na colcha, como se isso revelasse a doença do paciente. Depois se sentou numa grande poltrona, pensativo e muito confortável, e esperou que ele acordasse. A jovem protestou com a sra. Lupin, mas não disse mais nada ao sr. Pecksniff. Ele também não disse mais nada a ninguém.

Durante meia hora inteira, o velho não se moveu. Por fim, virou-se na cama, mostrando que estava quase acordado. Lentamente, tirou as cobertas da cabeça e se voltou mais para o sr. Pecksniff. Finalmente abriu os olhos. Por alguns instantes, como alguém que acabara de acordar, olhou preguiçosamente para o visitante sem perceber claramente que ele estava ali.

Nada nos movimentos do velho era extraordinário. No entanto, o efeito deles sobre o sr. Pecksniff foi tão grande quanto o de qualquer maravilha natural. Suas mãos agarraram lentamente os braços da cadeira, os olhos se arregalaram e a boca se abriu. Os cabelos também se levantaram mais do que o normal. Por fim, o velho sentou-se e o encarou com quase a mesma emoção. Então as dúvidas do sr. Pecksniff terminaram, e ele gritou:

English → - Você É Martin Chuzzlewit!

Sua surpresa chocada era tão verdadeira que o velho, embora pronto para considerá-la falsa, convenceu-se de que era sincera.

- Sou Martin Chuzzlewit - disse ele com amargura - , e Martin Chuzzlewit gostaria que você tivesse sido enforcado antes de vir perturbar seu sono. Ora, eu sonhei com este sujeito! - Deitou-se novamente e virou-se. - Sonhei com ele antes de saber que estava perto de mim!

- Meu bom primo... - disse o sr. Pecksniff.

- Aí está! As primeiras palavras dele! - gritou o velho, sacudindo a cabeça grisalha no travesseiro e erguendo as mãos. - Nas primeiras palavras, afirma que somos parentes. Eu sabia que faria isso; todos fazem! Próximo ou distante, de sangue ou de água, é tudo igual. Argh! Qualquer palavra sobre família traz diante de mim uma lista inteira de trapaças, mentiras e falsas reivindicações!

- Por favor, não aja depressa demais, sr. Chuzzlewit - disse Pecksniff numa voz profundamente cuidadosa, porém calma. A essa altura, recuperara-se da surpresa e voltara completamente aos seus modos virtuosos. - O senhor se arrependerá de agir depressa demais. Sei que sim.

English → - Você sabe! - disse Martin friamente, mostrando que não tinha respeito pelo sr. Pecksniff.

- Sim - respondeu o sr. Pecksniff. - Ora, ora, sr. Chuzzlewit, não pense que desejo conquistar seu favor ou adulá-lo. Nada está mais longe de meu propósito. Não tema que eu repita a palavra ofensiva que o perturbou. Por que faria isso? O que poderia querer do senhor? Pelo que sei, nada do que possui traz felicidade suficiente para que outros o desejem.

- Isso é bem verdade - murmurou o velho.

Observando o efeito de suas palavras, o sr. Pecksniff disse: - Além disso, o senhor já deve perceber uma coisa claramente. Se eu quisesse que pensasse bem de mim, teria o cuidado de não me chamar de seu parente. Conheço seu temperamento. Sabia que me apresentar como parente seria a pior introdução possível.

Martin não disse nada, mas um movimento das pernas sob as cobertas mostrou tão claramente quanto palavras que aquilo era razoável e ele não podia negar.

English → - Não - disse o sr. Pecksniff, mantendo a mão dentro do colete como se estivesse pronto para mostrar o coração a Martin Chuzzlewit. - Vim oferecer ajuda a um estranho. Não ofereço nenhuma ao senhor porque desconfiaria de mim. Mas enquanto está nessa cama, senhor, considero-o um estranho. Sinto apenas a preocupação que sentiria por qualquer estranho em sua condição. Além disso, sr. Chuzzlewit, importo-me tão pouco com o senhor quanto o senhor comigo.

Depois disso, o sr. Pecksniff recostou-se na poltrona, brilhando com uma inocência tão honesta que a sra. Lupin quase esperava ver ao redor da cabeça dele uma glória de vitral, como a do santo na igreja.

Seguiu-se um longo silêncio. O velho ficou mais inquieto e mudou de posição várias vezes. A sra. Lupin e a jovem olharam em silêncio para a colcha. O sr. Pecksniff brincava distraidamente com o monóculo e mantinha os olhos fechados para pensar melhor.

English → - Hein? - disse por fim, abrindo de repente os olhos na direção da cama. - Peço desculpas. Pensei que tivesse falado. Sra. Lupin - acrescentou, levantando-se lentamente - , não vejo como posso ajudar aqui. O cavalheiro está melhor, e a senhora é uma enfermeira tão boa quanto ele poderia ter. Hein?

Essa última pergunta se referia ao velho se mexer novamente, o que virou seu rosto para o sr. Pecksniff pela primeira vez desde que se afastara.

- Se deseja falar antes que eu vá, senhor - continuou depois de outra pausa - , pode usar meu tempo. Mas, para ser justo comigo, deve falar comigo estritamente como se eu fosse um estranho.

English → Se o sr. Pecksniff entendeu pelos gestos de Martin Chuzzlewit que ele queria falar, deve ter usado uma regra dos melodramas. Neles, um velho fazendeiro com um filho cômico sempre entende uma moça que não consegue falar. Ela se esconde no jardim dele e conta a história da própria vida por sinais sem sentido. Sem perguntar como ele sabia, Martin fez sinal para a jovem companheira sair. Ela e a estalajadeira o deixaram sozinho com o sr. Pecksniff. Por algum tempo, os dois se olharam em silêncio. Na verdade, o velho observava o sr. Pecksniff, enquanto este fechava os olhos para o mundo exterior e examinava o próprio coração. Sua expressão mostrava que achava a visão rica e agradável.

- Você quer que eu fale com você como se fosse um completo estranho? - perguntou o velho.

O sr. Pecksniff encolheu os ombros e pareceu revirar os olhos antes de abri-los. Isso mostrou que ainda precisava pedir a Martin que o tratasse como estranho.

English → - Terá seu desejo - disse Martin. - Senhor, sou um homem rico - talvez não tão rico quanto alguns pensam, mas abastado. Não sou avarento, embora as pessoas digam e acreditem que sou. Não sinto prazer em economizar dinheiro nem em possuí-lo. Esse demônio, o dinheiro, não me dá nada além de infelicidade.

Dizer que manteiga não derreteria na boca do sr. Pecksniff não descreveria sua gentileza. Ele parecia mais alguém de quem se poderia produzir manteiga sem fim, batendo o leite da bondade humana que subia de seu coração.

- Pela mesma razão que não acumulo dinheiro - disse o velho - , não o gasto livremente. Algumas pessoas gostam de acumulá-lo, enquanto outras gostam de distribuí-lo. Eu não gosto de nada relacionado ao dinheiro. Ele só me trouxe dor e amargura. Eu o odeio. É um fantasma que caminha diante de mim pelo mundo e torna feio todo prazer social.

English → Um pensamento surgiu na mente de Pecksniff e deve ter aparecido em seu rosto, caso contrário Martin Chuzzlewit não teria continuado tão depressa e severamente:

- Para minha paz, você me aconselharia a entregar esta desgraça a alguém capaz de suportá-la. Talvez até você tirasse esse peso de mim. - Seu rosto inteiro escureceu. - Mas, bondoso estranho, bom estranho cristão, esse é meu principal problema. O dinheiro fez o bem em outras mãos. É corretamente elogiado como a chave dos fortes portões da honra, da fortuna e dos prazeres terrenos. A que pessoa digna e honesta, que o dinheiro não possa corromper, posso entregá-lo agora ou quando morrer? Conhece alguém? Suas virtudes naturalmente não têm preço, mas consegue citar outra pessoa viva que suporte o contato comigo?

- Contato com o senhor mesmo? - repetiu o sr. Pecksniff.

- Sim - disse o velho - , a prova do contato comigo, comigo. Você conhece o homem cujo desejo insensato fez tudo o que tocava virar ouro. A maldição da minha vida, e a realização do meu desejo louco, é que o ouro que carrego me faz testar todos os outros homens e descobrir que seu metal é falso e oco.

English → O sr. Pecksniff balançou a cabeça e disse: - O senhor pensa assim.

English → - Ah, sim, penso assim! - gritou o velho. - Quando você diz "penso assim", ouço o som verdadeiro e nada mundano do SEU metal. Apresentei-me como homem rico diante de todo tipo de pessoa: parentes, amigos e estranhos. Quando era pobre, confiava neles e estava certo. Nunca me enganaram nem, pelo que soube, fizeram mal uns aos outros. Mas, quando fiquei rico e sozinho, encontrei um mal escondido em todos, esperando que eu o revelasse. Traição, engano, planos baixos, ciúme de rivais reais ou imaginários, mesquinhez, mentiras, atos vergonhosos e comportamento de criados para me agradar - ou - disse, olhando nos olhos do primo - uma demonstração de independência honesta, quase pior que tudo - é isso que minha riqueza revela. Irmãos se voltam contra irmãos, filhos contra pais, e amigos pisam no rosto dos amigos. Essa tem sido minha companhia. As histórias dizem que homens ricos vestidos como pobres encontraram e recompensaram a bondade. Eram tolos. Deveriam ter investigado o caráter das pessoas mostrando-se como alvos ricos para roubo, conspirações e elogios de trapaceiros. Esses trapaceiros teriam cuspido em seus caixões depois que os ricos morressem como vítimas deles. Então a busca teria terminado como a minha, e eles seriam o que eu sou.

English → O sr. Pecksniff não sabia o que seria melhor dizer na curta pausa. Fingiu cuidadosamente que pretendia fazer um discurso muito sábio, confiando que o velho o interromperia antes que falasse. Estava certo: quando Martin Chuzzlewit recuperou o fôlego, continuou:

- Escute-me até o fim. Decida que lucro pode obter repetindo esta visita e depois me deixe. Corrompi todos os que permaneceram perto de mim ao criar planos e esperanças gananciosos. Até entre minha família causei brigas e conflitos apenas por estar com eles. Fui como uma tocha acesa em lares pacíficos, incendiando gases e vapores morais que, de outro modo, poderiam ter permanecido inofensivos. Fugi de todos os que me conheciam e ultimamente vivi em lugares secretos como um homem caçado. A jovem que você viu... O quê! Seus olhos brilham quando falo dela. Já a odeia, não é?

English → - Dou-lhe minha palavra, senhor! - disse o sr. Pecksniff, colocando a mão no peito e baixando as pálpebras.

- Eu me esqueci - gritou o velho, olhando-o com atenção, embora o sr. Pecksniff não erguesse os olhos. - Peço desculpas. Você é um estranho. Por um momento, lembrou-me meu primo, um tal Pecksniff. A jovem é uma órfã que criei e eduquei ou, se preferir, adotei com um propósito firme. Há um ano ou mais, ela é minha companheira constante e única. Sabe que jurei solenemente não lhe deixar nem seis pence quando morrer. Enquanto vivo, dou-lhe uma renda anual que não é grande nem pequena demais. Concordamos em nunca nos adular com palavras carinhosas. Ela me chama pelo primeiro nome, e eu a chamo pelo dela. O interesse a liga a mim enquanto vivo. Ela perde esse sustento quando eu morrer, mas não espera herança, então talvez chore por mim. Pouco me importa. Esse é o único tipo de amigo que terei. Julgue que lucro sua visita trouxe, depois me deixe e nunca volte.

English → Com essas palavras, o velho afundou lentamente no travesseiro. O sr. Pecksniff levantou-se com a mesma lentidão e, depois de limpar a garganta, começou:

- Sr. Chuzzlewit.

- Pronto. Vá! - interrompeu o outro. - Chega. Estou cansado de você.

- Lamento, senhor - respondeu o sr. Pecksniff - , porque tenho um dever a cumprir e garanto que não o evitarei. Não, senhor, não o evitarei.

Infelizmente, enquanto o sr. Pecksniff permanecia ao lado da cama com toda a dignidade da Bondade, o velho olhava furioso para o castiçal, como se sentisse forte vontade de atirá-lo na cabeça do primo. Controlou-se, apontou para a porta e disse que aquele era o caminho dele.

English → - Obrigado - disse o sr. Pecksniff. - Sei disso e estou indo. Mas primeiro peço para falar. Mais que isso, sr. Chuzzlewit, devo e vou - sim, devo e vou - ser ouvido. Nada do que disse esta noite me surpreende. É natural, muito natural, e eu já sabia da maior parte. - Tirou o lenço do bolso e piscou os dois olhos ao mesmo tempo, como se fosse contra a vontade. - Não direi que está enganado sobre mim. Em seu estado atual, não diria isso por nada no mundo. Quase desejo ter uma natureza diferente, para poder conter até este pequeno sinal de fraqueza. Não consigo escondê-lo e o considero vergonhoso, mas por favor desculpe. Digamos - acrescentou com muita gentileza - que vem de um resfriado, rapé, sais aromáticos, cebolas ou qualquer coisa, menos a verdadeira causa.

Ele fez uma pausa e escondeu o rosto atrás do lenço. Depois sorriu levemente, segurou as cortinas da cama com uma mão e continuou:

English → - Sr. Chuzzlewit, embora eu me esqueça, tenho um dever para com meu caráter - sim, TENHO um caráter, que me é caro e é a melhor herança para minhas duas filhas - e devo falar em nome de outra pessoa. Sua conduta é errada, antinatural, indefensável e terrível. Sem medo nem favor, digo-lhe que não deve abandonar seu neto, o jovem Martin, que tem o mais forte direito natural sobre o senhor. - O sr. Pecksniff ficou na ponta dos pés entre as cortinas, parecendo elevar-se acima das preocupações mundanas. Segurou-se com força, como para impedir que subisse ao céu como um foguete. - Isso não servirá, senhor. Pode pensar que servirá, mas não servirá. O senhor deve, deverá e VAI cuidar dele. Creio - acrescentou, olhando para a pena e a tinta - que já fez isso em segredo. Abençoo-o por ter feito isso, por agir corretamente e por me odiar. Boa noite!

O sr. Pecksniff acenou solenemente com a mão direita, tornou a colocá-la dentro do colete e saiu. Seus modos mostravam emoção, mas seus passos eram firmes. Embora sujeito à fraqueza humana, a consciência o sustentava.

English → Martin ficou por algum tempo em espanto silencioso misturado com raiva. Por fim, sussurrou:

- O que isso pode significar? Será que o rapaz de coração falso escolheu aquele sujeito que acabou de sair como instrumento? Por que não? Ele conspirou contra mim como os outros; são todos farinha do mesmo saco. Uma nova conspiração! Ah, egoísmo, egoísmo, egoísmo! Em toda parte, nada além de egoísmo!

Quando parou de falar, brincou com as cinzas do papel queimado no castiçal. A princípio fez isso sem pensar, mas logo as cinzas se tornaram o assunto de seus pensamentos.

- Outro testamento feito e destruído - disse ele. - Nada decidido nem feito; eu poderia ter morrido esta noite! Vejo os usos malignos a que este dinheiro servirá. - Quase se contorceu na cama. - Ele encheu minha vida de preocupação e causará brigas depois que eu morrer. Os túmulos dos ricos criam processos todos os dias. Parentes próximos mentem sob juramento, odeiam-se e contam mentiras quando deveriam apenas amar. Que o Céu nos ajude; temos muito pelo que responder! Ah, egoísmo, egoísmo, egoísmo! Cada homem por si, e nenhuma criatura por mim!

English → Egoísmo em toda parte! Não havia nenhuma sombra dele nesses pensamentos e no próprio relato que Martin Chuzzlewit fazia de sua vida?

Capítulo Quatro

English → DO QUAL SE VERÁ QUE, SE A UNIÃO É FORÇA E A AFEIÇÃO FAMILIAR É AGRADÁVEL DE CONTEMPLAR, OS CHUZZWIT ERAM A FAMÍLIA MAIS FORTE E AGRADÁVEL DO MUNDO

Depois de deixar o primo de maneira tão solene, o digno sr. Pecksniff voltou para casa e ficou ali por três dias inteiros. Nem sequer caminhou além do jardim, caso o parente arrependido e pesaroso o chamasse de repente à cabeceira. Em sua grande bondade, decidira perdoá-lo e amá-lo sem condições. Mas o velho severo era tão teimoso e amargo que nenhum chamado arrependido chegou. No quarto dia, o sr. Pecksniff parecia ainda mais longe de seu objetivo cristão do que no primeiro.

Durante todo esse tempo, continuou visitando o Dragão a qualquer hora do dia e da noite. Retribuindo o mal com o bem, mostrava profunda preocupação com a saúde do paciente teimoso. Dizia com frequência à sra. Lupin que faria o mesmo por qualquer estranho ou pobre naquela condição. Sua preocupação desinteressada a levava às lágrimas de admiração e alegria.

English → Enquanto isso, o velho Martin Chuzzlewit permanecia fechado no quarto e não via ninguém, exceto sua jovem companheira e, às vezes, a anfitriã do Dragão Azul. Sempre que ela entrava, Martin fingia adormecer. Ele só falava, até para responder perguntas simples, quando estava sozinho com a jovem. Escutando atentamente à porta, o sr. Pecksniff percebia que Martin falava bastante quando estavam juntos.

English → Na quarta noite, o sr. Pecksniff entrou como de costume no bar do Dragão. Não encontrou a sra. Lupin, então subiu diretamente. Em sua preocupação amorosa, pretendia escutar outra vez pelo buraco da fechadura. Esperava se acalmar ao saber que o paciente de coração duro estava melhorando. No corredor escuro, um estreito raio de luz costumava brilhar pelo buraco, mas agora ele não viu nenhum. Junto à porta do quarto, abaixou-se depressa para verificar se o velho desconfiado havia tapado o buraco por dentro. Sua cabeça bateu em outra com tanta violência que a dor arrancou dele um forte "Ai!". Algo imediatamente o agarrou pelo colarinho. Cheirava a vários guarda-chuvas úmidos, um barril de cerveja, um tonel de conhaque com água morna e um quartinho cheio de fumaça velha de tabaco. Levou-o direto para baixo, até o bar. Ali, um completo estranho de aparência ainda mais estranha o segurava. Com a mão livre, o estranho esfregava a própria cabeça com força e lançava a Pecksniff um olhar furioso.

English → O cavalheiro tinha a aparência pobre, porém respeitável, muitas vezes chamada de elegância gasta. Suas roupas estavam em estado terrível. Os dedos saíam muito para fora das luvas, e as solas tinham se separado da parte superior das botas. As calças azul-acinzentadas já haviam sido muito brilhantes, mas a idade e a sujeira as deixaram opacas. Estavam tão esticadas entre os suspensórios e as tiras que pareciam prestes a rasgar nos joelhos. O casaco azul de estilo militar estava abotoado e enfeitado até o queixo. O lenço do pescoço tinha a cor e o desenho do pano que um barbeiro coloca ao redor do cliente. O chapéu estava tão gasto que ninguém saberia dizer se fora branco ou preto. Ele também tinha um enorme bigode áspero. Parecia feroz e orgulhoso, não gentil e bondoso, quase como o de Satanás, e possuía uma grande massa de cabelos despenteados. Era muito sujo, mas agia com vivacidade e confiança; muito ousado, porém muito vulgar; barulhento e orgulhoso num momento, nervoso no seguinte. Parecia um homem que talvez tivesse sido melhor um dia, mas ainda mais um homem que merecia ser pior.

English → "Você estava escutando atrás daquela porta, seu vagabundo!", disse o cavalheiro.

O Sr. Pecksniff o afastou como São Jorge poderia ter repelido o Dragão em seus últimos momentos e disse:

"Onde estará a Sra. Lupin? Será que a boa mulher sabe que há aqui uma pessoa que..."

"Pare!", disse o cavalheiro. "Espere um pouco. Ela SABE. E daí?"

"E daí, senhor?", gritou o Sr. Pecksniff. "Sabe que sou amigo e parente daquele cavalheiro doente? Seu protetor, tutor, seu..."

"Não o marido da sobrinha dele", interrompeu o desconhecido. "Tenho certeza disso, pois ele chegou antes de você."

"O que quer dizer?", perguntou o Sr. Pecksniff, surpreso e zangado. "O que está me dizendo, senhor?"

"Espere um momento!", gritou o outro. "Talvez você seja um primo - o primo que mora aqui?"

"EU SOU o primo que mora aqui", respondeu o digno homem.

"Seu nome é Pecksniff?", perguntou o cavalheiro.

English → "É."

"Tenho orgulho de conhecê-lo e peço perdão", disse o cavalheiro. Tocou o chapéu e depois procurou atrás da gravata um colarinho de camisa, mas não conseguiu puxá-lo. "O senhor vê diante de si alguém que também tem interesse naquele cavalheiro lá em cima. Espere um momento."

Enquanto falava, tocou a ponta do nariz alto para mostrar ao Sr. Pecksniff que logo lhe contaria um segredo. Tirou o chapéu e procurou em sua copa entre papéis amassados e pequenos pedaços de capa de charuto quebrada. Por fim, escolheu o envelope de uma velha carta, sujo e cheirando a tabaco.

"Leia isso", gritou, entregando-o ao Sr. Pecksniff.

"Isto está endereçado a Chevy Slyme, Esquire", disse o Sr. Pecksniff.

"Acredito que conheça Chevy Slyme, Esquire?", respondeu o desconhecido.

O Sr. Pecksniff encolheu os ombros como se dissesse: "Sei que essa pessoa existe e lamento isso."

English → "Muito bem", disse o cavalheiro. "Esse é meu interesse e meu assunto aqui." Então voltou a procurar o colarinho e puxou um barbante.

Balançando a cabeça e sorrindo com calma, o Sr. Pecksniff disse: "Isto é muito triste, meu amigo. Devo dizer que você não é quem afirma ser. Conheço o Sr. Slyme. Isso não funcionará. A honestidade é a melhor política; é melhor não fazer isso - realmente é melhor."

"Pare!", gritou o cavalheiro, estendendo o braço direito. Estava tão apertado na manga gasta que parecia uma salsicha de pano. "Espere um momento!"

Ele parou e se colocou diretamente diante do fogo, de costas para ele. Depois juntou as pontas do casaco sob o braço esquerdo, alisou o bigode com o polegar e o indicador direitos e continuou:

English → "Entendo seu engano e não fico ofendido. Por quê? É um elogio. O senhor acha que eu fingiria ser Chevy Slyme. Senhor, se um cavalheiro pudesse sentir orgulho e honra por ser confundido com alguém, seria com meu amigo Slyme. Ele é o homem de espírito mais elevado, independente, original, espiritual, clássico, talentoso, mais shakespeariano, talvez até miltoniano, e mais terrivelmente desprezado que conheço. Mas não sou vaidoso o bastante para fingir ser Slyme. Sou igual a qualquer outro homem no mundo, mas admito que Slyme está muitos níveis acima de mim. Portanto, o senhor está errado."

Estendendo o envelope da carta, o Sr. Pecksniff disse: "Julguei por isto."

English → "Sem dúvida", disse o cavalheiro. "Mas, Sr. Pecksniff, isto é apenas um hábito especial do gênio. Todo verdadeiro gênio tem um. O hábito especial de meu amigo Slyme é estar sempre esperando na esquina. Ele está sempre na esquina, senhor. Está lá neste instante." Balançando o indicador diante do nariz e abrindo mais as pernas, olhou atentamente para o Sr. Pecksniff. "Essa é uma parte muito curiosa e interessante do caráter do Sr. Slyme. Quando escreverem sua vida, o autor terá de explicá-la por completo ou a sociedade não ficará satisfeita. Marque minhas palavras: a sociedade não ficará satisfeita!"

O Sr. Pecksniff tossiu.

"Quem escrever a vida de Slyme", continuou o cavalheiro, "deverá me consultar. Se eu já tiver ido para aquele como-é-o-nome de onde nenhum não-sei-o-quê retorna, o autor deverá pedir aos responsáveis por meus assuntos que procurem meus papéis. Fiz algumas pobres anotações sobre meu irmão adotivo, senhor. Seus atos o espantariam. No dia quinze do mês passado, ele não conseguiu pagar uma pequena conta. A outra parte se recusou a renová-la. Então ele usou palavras dignas de Napoleão Bonaparte diante do exército francês."

English → Claramente inquieto, o Sr. Pecksniff perguntou: "E qual pode ser o assunto do Sr. Slyme aqui, se posso perguntar? Como me preocupo com meu caráter, devo negar qualquer interesse nos atos dele."

"Primeiro", respondeu o cavalheiro, "rejeito essa observação e protesto fortemente contra ela em nome de meu amigo Slyme. Depois, permita que eu me apresente. Meu nome é Tigg. Talvez o nome Montague Tigg lhe seja familiar pelos acontecimentos mais notáveis da Guerra Peninsular?"

O Sr. Pecksniff balançou suavemente a cabeça.

"Não importa", disse o cavalheiro. "Aquele homem era meu pai, e levo seu nome. Por isso sou orgulhoso - orgulhoso como Lúcifer. Desculpe-me por um momento. Quero meu amigo Slyme presente no restante desta reunião."

Depois disso, correu até a porta externa do Blue Dragon e logo voltou com um companheiro mais baixo. O homem usava uma velha capa azul forrada de vermelho desbotado. A longa espera no frio apertara seu rosto fino e deixara as costeletas vermelhas e o cabelo bagunçado ainda mais selvagens. Parecia doente e desconfortável, nada shakespeariano ou miltoniano.

English → O Sr. Tigg pôs uma mão no ombro do atraente amigo e o apontou com a outra. "Agora, vocês dois são parentes. Parentes nunca concordaram e nunca concordarão. Isso é sábio e inevitável. Caso contrário, só haveria festas de família e todos aborreceriam os outros até a morte. Se fossem amigos, eu os chamaria de uma dupla muito artificial. Mas, como não são, vejo dois pensadores profundos com quem se pode raciocinar livremente."

Nesse ponto, o Sr. Chevy Slyme, cujas grandes capacidades pareciam apontar todas para a desonestidade, cutucou secretamente o amigo com o cotovelo e sussurrou em seu ouvido.

English → "Chiv", disse o Sr. Tigg em voz alta, no tom orgulhoso de quem não aceitaria controle, "chegarei a isso em breve. Ajo por minha própria responsabilidade ou não ajo. Vejo o Sr. Pecksniff como alguém que certamente fará um empréstimo tão pequeno quanto uma moeda de cinco xelins a um homem de seus talentos." O rosto do Sr. Pecksniff não mostrou concordância. Então o Sr. Tigg pôs novamente o dedo no nariz, pedindo em segredo que ele entendesse. Os pedidos de pequenos empréstimos de Slyme eram outro hábito especial do gênio. Tigg os permitia porque essas fraquezas lhe interessavam profundamente. Quando apoiava tais empréstimos, fazia isso apenas para agradar ao amigo, sem pensar em benefício ou necessidade próprios.

English → Depois dessa demonstração, o Sr. Tigg olhou profundamente para o irmão adotivo. "Ah, Chiv, Chiv! Por minha vida, você mostra como pequenas fraquezas perturbam uma grande mente. Se nunca tivesse existido telescópio, Chiv, observá-lo provaria que há manchas no sol. Sr. Pecksniff, esta vida é muito estranha, e não sabemos por que estamos nela. Mesmo assim, não importa. Podemos fazer discursos morais, mas o mundo continua. Como diz Hamlet, Hércules pode golpear com seu bastão em todas as direções. Mas não consegue impedir os gatos de fazerem barulho terrível nos telhados. Nem pode impedir que cães sejam mortos no calor quando correm sem focinheira. A vida é um enigma, e muito difícil. Como a famosa pergunta 'Por que um homem preso é como um homem solto?', ela não tem resposta. Tudo é muito estranho, mas não adianta falar. Ha! Ha!"

English → Depois dessa alegre conclusão de seus pensamentos sombrios, o Sr. Tigg fez grande esforço para se animar e continuou no estilo anterior.

"Agora vou explicar. Sou muito bondoso à minha maneira e não posso ver vocês dois cortarem a garganta um do outro quando não há nada a ganhar. Sr. Pecksniff, o senhor é primo do homem lá em cima que fez o testamento, e nós somos seu sobrinho - digo nós, querendo dizer Chiv. Em aspectos importantes, talvez seja mais próximo dele que nós. Muito bem; se for assim, que seja. Mas nem o senhor nem nós conseguimos chegar até ele. Por minha honra, tenho olhado por aquela fechadura, com pequenos descansos, desde as nove desta manhã. Esperava resposta ao pedido mais modesto e cavalheiresco de ajuda por pouco tempo - apenas quinze libras, com MINHA promessa de pagar - que alguém poderia imaginar. Enquanto isso, ele fica trancado com uma desconhecida e compartilha todos os segredos com ela. Digo claramente que isso não serve, não pode funcionar, não pode existir e não deve continuar."

English → O Sr. Pecksniff disse: "Todo homem tem o claro direito de seguir seus gostos e desgostos. Eu jamais questionaria esse direito se suas escolhas não fossem moralmente erradas ou contrárias à religião. Posso sentir que o Sr. Chuzzlewit não me trata com o amor cristão que deveria existir entre nós. Posso ficar triste e magoado, mas não devo decidir depressa que ele não tem razão para sua frieza. Deus me livre! Além disso, Sr. Tigg", continuou com mais seriedade, "como alguém poderia impedir o Sr. Chuzzlewit de compartilhar esses estranhos segredos com outra pessoa? Admito que existem e devo lamentá-los, por ele. Pense, meu bom senhor", acrescentou, olhando tristemente, "como o senhor sabe pouco sobre o que está dizendo."

"Bem, quanto a isso", respondeu Tigg, "certamente é uma questão difícil."

"Certamente é uma questão difícil", respondeu o Sr. Pecksniff. Enquanto falava, ficou mais ereto e de repente pareceu mais consciente da distância moral entre ele e a criatura a quem se dirigia. "É uma questão muito difícil. Estou longe de ter certeza de que alguém tenha permissão para discuti-la. Boa noite."

English → "Suponho que não saiba que os Spottletoe estão aqui?", disse o Sr. Tigg.

Parando de repente a caminho da porta, Pecksniff perguntou: "O que quer dizer, senhor? Que Spottletoe?"

Pela primeira vez, Chevy Slyme falou em voz alta. Sua voz era zangada e hostil, e ele arrastou as pernas. "O Sr. e a Sra. Spottletoe. Spottletoe se casou com a filha do irmão de meu pai, não foi? A Sra. Spottletoe é sobrinha do próprio Chuzzlewit, não é? Já foi sua favorita. E você ainda pergunta quais Spottletoe."

Olhando para cima, o Sr. Pecksniff gritou: "Por minha palavra sagrada! Isto é terrível. A ganância dessas pessoas é absolutamente assustadora!"

Olhando para Tigg, mas falando com o Sr. Pecksniff, Slyme disse: "Não são apenas os Spottletoe, Tigg. Anthony Chuzzlewit e o filho souberam e chegaram esta tarde. Eu os vi há menos de cinco minutos, quando esperava na esquina."

"Ah, Mamon, Mamon!", gritou o Sr. Pecksniff, batendo na testa.

English → Ignorando a interrupção, Slyme disse: "Portanto, já estão aqui o irmão e outro sobrinho dele."

"Este é o ponto principal, senhor", disse o Sr. Tigg. "Eu chegava aos poucos até ele quando meu amigo Slyme o atingiu por completo em seis palavras. Sr. Pecksniff, agora que seu primo e tio de Chiv apareceu, precisamos impedi-lo de desaparecer novamente. Se possível, devemos combater a influência que essa favorita de planos secretos exerce sobre ele. Todos os interessados sabem disso. A família inteira está vindo. Por algum tempo, ciúmes e interesses pessoais devem ser esquecidos, e todos precisam se unir contra o inimigo comum. Depois que o inimigo for derrotado, cada um poderá voltar a agir por si. Toda senhora e cavalheiro no jogo poderá tentar ganhar do homem que fez o testamento. Ninguém ficará pior. Pense nisso. Não se comprometa agora. Poderá nos encontrar no Half Moon and Seven Stars desta aldeia a qualquer hora, abertos a qualquer proposta razoável. Hum! Chiv, meu caro, saia e veja como está a noite."

English → O Sr. Slyme desapareceu de imediato, provavelmente para ir à esquina. O Sr. Tigg abriu as pernas tanto quanto até o homem mais esperançoso poderia esperar. Depois balançou a cabeça para o Sr. Pecksniff e sorriu.

"Não devemos ser duros demais com os pequenos hábitos estranhos de nosso amigo Slyme", disse. "O senhor o viu sussurrar para mim?"

O Sr. Pecksniff o tinha visto.

"Ouviu minha resposta, creio?"

O Sr. Pecksniff a tinha ouvido.

"Cinco xelins, não é?", disse o Sr. Tigg pensativo. "Ah, que sujeito extraordinário! E tão moderado!"

O Sr. Pecksniff não respondeu.

Pensando em voz alta, o Sr. Tigg continuou: "Cinco xelins! E para serem pagos exatamente na próxima semana; essa é a melhor parte. O senhor ouviu?"

O Sr. Pecksniff não ouvira isso.

"Não! O senhor me surpreende!", gritou Tigg. "Essa é a melhor parte, senhor. Nunca vi aquele homem deixar de cumprir uma promessa. O senhor não precisa de troco, precisa?"

English → "Não", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. "Obrigado, de modo algum."

"Exatamente", disse o Sr. Tigg. "Se precisasse, eu conseguiria para o senhor." Começou a assobiar, mas antes de doze segundos parou. Depois olhou seriamente para o Sr. Pecksniff e disse:

"Talvez o senhor prefira não emprestar cinco xelins a Slyme?"

"Eu realmente prefiro não emprestar", respondeu o Sr. Pecksniff.

"Ora!", disse Tigg, concordando seriamente como se acabasse de notar uma razão contrária. "Talvez tenha razão. Teria a mesma objeção a me emprestar cinco xelins agora?"

"Sim, realmente não poderia fazer isso", disse o Sr. Pecksniff.

"Nem mesmo meia coroa, talvez?", insistiu o Sr. Tigg.

"Nem mesmo meia coroa."

"Então chegamos", disse o Sr. Tigg, "à quantia ridiculamente pequena de dezoito pence. Ha! Ha!"

"Isso também", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "seria igualmente inaceitável."

English → Ao ouvir isso, o Sr. Tigg apertou calorosamente as duas mãos do Sr. Pecksniff. Chamou-o de um dos homens mais coerentes e notáveis que já conhecera. Também disse desejar a honra de conhecê-lo melhor. Como homem rigorosamente honrado, não podia aprovar certos pequenos traços de seu amigo Slyme. Mesmo assim, perdoaria esses e muitos outros porque gostara muito da companhia do Sr. Pecksniff. Isso lhe dera prazer mais duradouro que qualquer pequeno empréstimo bem-sucedido a Slyme. Então desejou ao Sr. Pecksniff uma ótima noite. Saiu sem parecer mais envergonhado pelo fracasso do que qualquer cavalheiro desejaria.

English → Os pensamentos do Sr. Pecksniff no bar do Dragon naquela noite e em casa depois foram muito sérios. Outras perguntas confirmaram completamente a notícia de Tigg e Slyme de que outros membros da família haviam chegado. Os Spottletoe foram direto ao Dragon, onde permaneceram de guarda. Sua chegada causou tanta agitação que a Sra. Lupin adivinhou o objetivo em meia hora. Levou secretamente a notícia à casa do Sr. Pecksniff, mas seu grande cuidado fez com que não o encontrasse. Ele entrou pela porta da frente do Dragon quando ela saía pelos fundos. Anthony Chuzzlewit e seu filho Jonas hospedaram-se com economia no obscuro Half Moon and Seven Stars. A diligência seguinte trouxe muitos outros parentes carinhosos. Brigaram dentro e fora durante toda a viagem, para desespero do cocheiro. Em vinte e quatro horas, os poucos quartos das tavernas ficaram raros. Todos os alojamentos particulares - quatro camas e um sofá - dobraram de preço.

English → Quase toda a família acampou diante do Blue Dragon e o cercou formalmente. Martin Chuzzlewit estava sitiado. Resistiu com coragem e recusou todas as cartas, mensagens e pacotes. Não tratava com ninguém nem oferecia esperança de rendição. Enquanto isso, forças familiares continuavam se reunindo pela região. Nenhum ramo dos Chuzzlewit jamais concordara com outro. Brigavam, zombavam, trocavam palavras duras e se insultavam. Empinavam o nariz, franzindo a testa, enterravam bons sentimentos e traziam de volta antigas queixas com violência. A região tranquila não conhecia nada semelhante desde o início de sua história civilizada.

Por fim, em completo desespero, alguns combatentes começaram a falar em termos apenas moderadamente zangados. Quase todos se dirigiam ao Sr. Pecksniff com aparência de respeito, reconhecendo seu caráter elevado e influência. Pouco a pouco, uniram-se contra a teimosia de Martin Chuzzlewit. Concordaram - se Chuzzlewits conseguem concordar - em realizar um conselho geral na casa do Sr. Pecksniff ao meio-dia de certo dia. Todos os membros da família ao alcance da convocação foram formalmente convidados.

English → Se o Sr. Pecksniff alguma vez pareceu um apóstolo, foi naquele dia memorável. Seu sorriso calmo parecia anunciar: "Sou um mensageiro da paz!" Parecia ter a natureza gentil do cordeiro e muito da pomba. Não tinha nada do crocodilo nem o mais leve toque da serpente. E as duas senhoritas Pecksniff! O rosto calmo de Charity parecia dizer: "Toda minha família me prejudicou sem reparo, mas eu os perdoo porque é meu dever." Mercy tinha uma maneira tão feliz, simples e inocente. Parecia muito encantadora e infantil. Se tivesse saído sozinha mais cedo naquela estação, os pássaros poderiam tê-la coberto de folhas, pensando que era uma das doces crianças da floresta. Ela saíra novamente para procurar amoras com o coração fresco de uma criança. Que palavras poderiam pintar os Pecksniff naquela hora difícil? Nenhuma, pois as palavras às vezes andam em má companhia, e os Pecksniff eram toda bondade.

English → Mas a chegada da companhia foi o grande momento. O Sr. Pecksniff levantou-se à cabeceira da mesa, com uma filha de cada lado, recebeu os convidados na melhor sala e indicou-lhes cadeiras. Seus olhos transbordavam e o rosto brilhava com um suor bondoso, de modo que parecia coberto de humildade úmida. Os presentes eram ciumentos, duros, desconfiados, fechados em si e não confiavam em ninguém. Não seriam amolecidos nem adormecidos pelos Pecksniff, assim como ouriços ou porcos-espinhos não seriam.

English → Primeiro veio o Sr. Spottletoe. Era tão calvo e tinha costeletas tão grandes que seu cabelo caído parecia ter sido detido por um remédio poderoso e preso para sempre no rosto. A Sra. Spottletoe era magra demais para sua idade e tinha natureza poética. Chamava as costeletas de "estrela-guia de sua existência". Seu amor pelo tio Chuzzlewit era forte. Também estava chocada por suspeitarem que fazia planos para o testamento dele. Por isso, só conseguia chorar e gemer. Depois vieram Anthony Chuzzlewit e seu filho Jonas. Uma vida inteira de cuidado e astúcia tornara o rosto do velho tão afiado que parecia cortar a multidão. Ele se moveu atrás das cadeiras mais distantes. Jonas aprendera tão bem com o pai que parecia um ou dois anos mais velho que ele. Ficaram juntos, piscando os olhos vermelhos e sussurrando. Havia também a viúva do falecido irmão de Martin Chuzzlewit. Era desagradável de modo quase artificial, com rosto triste, corpo magro e voz masculina. Por essas qualidades, chamavam-na de mulher de personalidade forte. Se pudesse, provaria sua força mental colocando o cunhado num hospício particular até que ele provasse sua sanidade amando-a muito. Ao lado estavam suas três filhas solteiras, de modos masculinos. Os espartilhos apertados tornaram seus temperamentos menores que suas cinturas, e o aperto aparecia nos narizes. Um jovem sobrinho-neto era muito escuro e peludo. Parecia ter nascido apenas para evitar que os espelhos mostrassem mais que um primeiro rascunho de rosto. Uma prima era conhecida apenas por ser muito surda, morar sozinha e sempre ter dor de dente. George Chuzzlewit era um primo solteiro e alegre que dizia ser jovem, mas já fora mais jovem. Tinha tendência a engordar e comer demais. Seus olhos forçavam as órbitas como se estivessem sempre surpresos. As marcas brilhantes na gravata, colete e enfeites pareciam espinhas surgindo nele. Por fim vieram Chevy Slyme e seu amigo Tigg. Todos não gostavam dos outros principalmente porque pertenciam à família, mas odiavam o Sr. Tigg porque ele não pertencia.

English → Esse agradável círculo familiar agora enchia a melhor sala do Sr. Pecksniff, pronto para atacar o próprio Pecksniff ou qualquer outra pessoa que dissesse algo sobre qualquer assunto.

O Sr. Pecksniff levantou-se, juntou as mãos e olhou ao redor. "Isto me faz bem. Faz bem às minhas filhas. Agradecemos por se reunirem aqui. Somos gratos de todo o coração. Vocês nos deram uma distinção abençoada e" - ele sorriu além de toda imaginação - "não a esqueceremos facilmente."

"Lamento interromper, Pecksniff", disse o Sr. Spottletoe, com as costeletas parecendo perigosas, "mas o senhor presume demais. Quem imagina que pretende honrar VOCÊ, senhor?"

Um murmúrio geral repetiu e aprovou a pergunta.

O Sr. Spottletoe falou com raiva e bateu forte na mesa com os nós dos dedos. "Se pretende continuar como começou, quanto antes parar e esta reunião terminar, melhor. Conheço seu desejo absurdo de parecer o chefe desta família, mas posso dizer a VOCÊ, senhor..."

English → Ah, sim, ELE dizer! ELE! O quê? Era o chefe? Da mulher de personalidade forte para baixo, todos atacaram imediatamente o Sr. Spottletoe. Ele tentou em vão silenciá-los e ser ouvido. Então tornou a se sentar, cruzou os braços e balançou a cabeça com raiva. Sem falar, disse à Sra. Spottletoe que o canalha Pecksniff poderia continuar por enquanto, mas logo ele o interromperia e destruiria.

"Não lamento", continuou o Sr. Pecksniff, "realmente não lamento que esse pequeno incidente tenha ocorrido. É bom nos reunirmos sem disfarce. É bom saber que não temos reservas e aparecemos livremente com nosso verdadeiro caráter."

English → A filha mais velha da mulher de personalidade forte levantou-se parcialmente e tremeu da cabeça aos pés, mais de raiva que de medo. Esperava que certas pessoas MOSTRASSEM seu verdadeiro caráter, pois isso ao menos seria novidade. Quando essas pessoas falassem de parentes, deveriam notar quem estava presente. Caso contrário, esses parentes poderiam saber disso de modo inesperado. Disse que narizes vermelhos não eram vergonha, pois as pessoas não faziam nem pintavam o próprio nariz. Recebiam-no sem serem consultadas. Também duvidava que certos narizes fossem mais vermelhos que outros, ou sequer metade tão vermelhos quanto alguns. Suas duas irmãs riram com aspereza. A Srta. Charity Pecksniff perguntou educadamente se aquelas observações baixas eram dirigidas a ela. Recebeu apenas a resposta: "A quem servir a carapuça, que a vista." Charity começou uma resposta zangada e pessoal. Mercy a apoiou e riu com sentimento muito maior do que parecia natural. O narrador afirma que mulheres próximas sempre entram em qualquer discussão entre mulheres. A mulher de personalidade forte, suas duas filhas, a Sra. Spottletoe e a prima surda participaram da briga. A prima surda nada sabia sobre o assunto, mas isso não a impediu.

English → As duas senhoritas Pecksniff enfrentavam bem as três senhoritas Chuzzlewit. Todas as cinco tinham muito "vapor" para soltar. A discussão poderia ter durado muito. Mas a mulher de personalidade forte era famosa por insultos afiados e atacou a Sra. Spottletoe com palavras provocadoras. Em menos de dois minutos, a pobre mulher só conseguia chorar. Suas muitas lágrimas perturbaram muito o Sr. Spottletoe. Ele segurou o punho fechado perto dos olhos do Sr. Pecksniff, como se fosse uma curiosidade natural digna de estudo. Sem motivo claro, também ofereceu chutar o Sr. George Chuzzlewit por seis pence. Depois tomou a esposa pelo braço e saiu zangado. Isso distraiu os combatentes e encerrou a discussão, que voltou duas ou três vezes em pequenos surtos antes de morrer em silêncio.

Então o Sr. Pecksniff se levantou novamente. As duas senhoritas Pecksniff agiam como se as três senhoritas Chuzzlewit não existissem em lugar algum. Ao mesmo tempo, as três senhoritas Chuzzlewit agiam como se não soubessem da existência das duas senhoritas Pecksniff.

English → "É uma pena", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, lembrando com perdão o punho do Sr. Spottletoe, "que nosso amigo tenha saído tão depressa. Mesmo assim, podemos nos felicitar porque sabemos que ele não desconfia de nada que digamos ou façamos enquanto está ausente. Isso é muito reconfortante, não é?"

"Pecksniff", disse Anthony, que observara todos atentamente desde o início, "não seja hipócrita."

"Um quê, meu bom senhor?", perguntou o Sr. Pecksniff.

"Um hipócrita."

"Charity, minha querida", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "lembre-me de uma coisa quando eu pegar meu castiçal esta noite. Preciso rezar com mais cuidado que de costume pelo Sr. Anthony Chuzzlewit, que me fez mal."

Disse isso suavemente à filha, parecendo alegre por causa da consciência limpa, quase animado. Então continuou:

"Todos os nossos pensamentos dizem respeito ao nosso querido, porém pouco bondoso, parente. Como está fora de nosso alcance, reunimo-nos hoje um pouco como um grupo de funeral, exceto que - felizmente - não há corpo na casa."

English → A mulher de personalidade forte não tinha certeza de que essa fosse uma exceção feliz; muito pelo contrário.

"Bem, minha cara senhora", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "seja como for, estamos aqui. Portanto, devemos considerar se é possível, por algum meio justo..."

"O senhor sabe tão bem quanto eu que qualquer meio é justo neste caso, não sabe?", disse a mulher de personalidade forte.

"Muito bem, minha cara senhora, muito bem. Digamos então por QUALQUER meio. Podemos abrir os olhos de nosso estimado parente para sua atual tolice? Podemos mostrar-lhe o verdadeiro caráter e propósito daquela jovem? A posição estranha, muito estranha, dela junto a ele" - o Sr. Pecksniff baixou a voz - "traz desgraça e vergonha a esta família. Sabemos" - levantou a voz - "ou por que ela seria sua companheira? Ela tem os piores planos para usar a fraqueza dele e tomar sua propriedade."

English → Embora não concordassem em mais nada, todos concordaram como uma só pessoa nesse ponto. Meu Deus, ela tinha planos para a propriedade dele! A mulher de personalidade forte queria veneno. Suas três filhas queriam prisão e pão com água. A prima com dor de dente queria Botany Bay, enquanto as duas senhoritas Pecksniff sugeriam chicotadas. Apenas o Sr. Tigg duvidou se esses castigos eram justos. Apesar das roupas muito pobres, seu lábio superior e os enfeites do casaco faziam dele alguém que agradava às mulheres. Olhou com admiração para as três senhoritas Chuzzlewit, com um pouco de provocação no olhar. Parecia dizer: "Minhas doces criaturas, vocês são duras demais com ela, por minha alma!"

O Sr. Pecksniff cruzou os dois indicadores, como se tentasse ao mesmo tempo fazer paz e apresentar um argumento. "Por um lado, não direi que ela merece todos os castigos tão forte e alegremente sugeridos." Essa era uma de suas frases enfeitadas. "Por outro lado, não insultarei meu bom senso dizendo que não merece. Sugiro que meios práticos talvez convençam nosso estimado, devo dizer venerado...?"

English → "Não!", interrompeu em voz alta a mulher de personalidade forte.

"Então não direi", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. "A senhora tem razão, minha cara, e valorizo e agradeço sua sábia objeção. Nosso estimado parente talvez seja convencido a ouvir os impulsos da natureza, e não os..."

- Continue, papai! - gritou Mercy.

- A verdade é, minha querida - disse o sr. Pecksniff aos parentes com um sorriso - , que não consigo encontrar a palavra. Esqueci o nome daqueles animais fabulosos - pagãos, infelizmente - que costumavam cantar na água.

O sr. George Chuzzlewit sugeriu: - Cisnes.

- Não - disse o sr. Pecksniff. - Não são cisnes. Embora sejam muito parecidos. Obrigado.

O sobrinho que tinha apenas o esboço de um rosto falou pela primeira e última vez naquele dia: - Ostras.

English → - Não - disse o sr. Pecksniff com sua educação especial - , não são ostras. Mas também não são nada diferentes delas. É uma excelente ideia. Muito obrigado, meu caro senhor. Espere! Sereias. Meu Deus, sereias, é claro. Talvez possamos convencer nosso respeitado parente a ouvir a natureza, não os truques sedutores da arte. Devemos lembrar que nosso querido amigo tem um neto a quem amava muito até pouco tempo atrás. Gostaria que ele estivesse aqui hoje, pois me importo verdadeira e profundamente com ele. Um excelente jovem, um jovem excelente! Poderíamos eliminar a desconfiança do sr. Chuzzlewit e provar que não buscamos vantagem pessoal ao...

- Se o sr. George Chuzzlewit tem algo a me dizer - afirmou com firmeza a mulher de personalidade forte - , que fale como homem, em vez de olhar para mim e minhas filhas como se pudesse nos comer.

- Quanto a olhar, sra. Ned - respondeu irritado o sr. George - , ouvi dizer que um gato pode olhar para um rei. Nasci nesta família, então espero poder olhar para alguém que entrou nela pelo casamento. E, seja o que for que seu ciúme e sua decepção a façam pensar, não sou canibal, senhora.

English → - Não tenho certeza disso! - gritou a mulher de personalidade forte.

- De qualquer modo, se eu fosse canibal - disse o sr. George Chuzzlewit, encorajado pela resposta - , acharia muito dura uma senhora que sobreviveu a três maridos e sofreu tão pouco com a perda deles.

A mulher de personalidade forte levantou-se imediatamente.

O sr. George assentia ferozmente a cada duas sílabas. - Acrescentarei isto sem citar nomes, para que apenas pessoas de consciência culpada se sintam feridas. Quem entrou nesta família enganando seus membros e depois os dominou até que ficassem felizes por morrer deveria parar de agir como abutre em torno dos parentes ainda vivos. Seria melhor e mais correto que essas pessoas ficassem em casa. Deveriam se contentar com o que já têm, em vez de ficar rondando e enfiando os dedos na torta desta família. Mesmo a cinquenta milhas de distância, já lhe dão sabor mais que suficiente.

English → A mulher de personalidade forte foi até a porta com um sorriso de desprezo, seguida pelas três filhas. - Eu poderia ter esperado isso! Esperei desde o início. O que mais poderia esperar num lugar como este!

- Por favor, não volte para mim seus olhos de oficial reformado com meio soldo, senhora - interrompeu a srta. Charity. - Não vou tolerar isso.

Foi um ataque direto à pensão que a mulher de personalidade forte recebera depois da morte do segundo marido e antes do último casamento. Isso a feriu profundamente.

- Sua garota miserável - disse a sra. Ned - , um país agradecido se esqueceu de mim quando entrei nesta família. Agora sinto que foi justo. Perdi meu direito ao Reino Unido da Grã-Bretanha e Irlanda quando me rebaixei dessa maneira. Agora, minhas queridas, se estão prontas e aprenderam o bastante com o exemplo educado destas duas jovens, iremos embora. Sr. Pecksniff, agradecemos. Viemos para nos divertir, e o entretenimento que ofereceu superou muito nossas maiores esperanças. Obrigada. Adeus!

English → Essas últimas palavras deixaram os Pecksniff sem reação. A mulher de personalidade forte saiu rapidamente da sala e da casa com as filhas. As três ergueram o nariz e riram com desprezo. Ao passarem pela janela da sala, fingiram sentir grande alegria juntas. Com esse insulto final, que desanimou muito os que estavam dentro, desapareceram.

Antes que o sr. Pecksniff ou os visitantes restantes pudessem falar, alguém passou correndo pela janela na direção oposta. Então o sr. Spottletoe entrou de repente. Comparado ao calor atual, ele saíra como um homem de neve. Óleo escorria da cabeça para as suíças, o rosto estava vermelho, os membros tremiam e ele respirava com dificuldade.

- Meu bom senhor! - gritou o sr. Pecksniff.

- Ah, sim! - respondeu o outro. - Ah, sim, certamente! Ah, é claro! Estão ouvindo? Todos estão ouvindo?

- O que aconteceu? - gritaram várias vozes.

- Ah, nada! - gritou Spottletoe, ainda ofegante. - Absolutamente nada! Não importa! Perguntem a ele! Ele contará!

English → O sr. Pecksniff olhou ao redor completamente surpreso. - Não entendo nosso amigo. Garanto que ele não faz sentido para mim.

- Não faço sentido, senhor! - gritou o outro. - Afirma que não sabe o que aconteceu? Afirma que não nos enganou para virmos aqui e não fez um plano contra nós? Ousará dizer que não sabia que o sr. Chuzzlewit estava partindo e que não sabe que ele foi embora?

- Foi embora! - gritaram todos.

- Foi embora - repetiu o sr. Spottletoe. - Foi embora enquanto estávamos aqui sentados. Foi embora. Ninguém sabe para onde. É claro que ninguém sabia que ele partiria! Até o último momento, a estalajadeira pensava que eles apenas sairiam para passear; não suspeitou de nada. É claro que ela não é criada deste sujeito!

O cavalheiro irritado acrescentou um uivo irônico, olhou para o grupo durante um instante de silêncio repentino e saiu correndo outra vez com a mesma grande velocidade. Não foi visto novamente.

English → O sr. Pecksniff tentou em vão garantir que aquela fuga oportuna da família o chocava e surpreendia tanto quanto a qualquer pessoa. Cada parente restante se despediu atacando-o e culpando-o com mais energia e sentimento do que alguém jamais demonstrara contra uma única pessoa azarada.

O sr. Tigg adotou uma posição extremamente moral. A prima surda sofreu a dor adicional de ver tudo, mas ouvir apenas a notícia final. Esfregou os sapatos no limpador e depois deixou marcas por todo o degrau superior, mostrando que sacudia a poeira dos pés antes de deixar aquela casa desonesta e traiçoeira.

O sr. Pecksniff teve um consolo: todos aqueles parentes e amigos já o odiavam tanto quanto podiam, e ele não lhes dera mais amor do que podia facilmente retirar de sua grande reserva. Esse pensamento o consolou muito. Isso mostra como um homem bom pode ser facilmente consolado depois do fracasso e da decepção.

Capítulo Cinco

English → CONTENDO UM RELATO COMPLETO DA ENTRADA DO NOVO ALUNO DO SR. PECKSNIFF NO SEIO DA FAMÍLIA PECKSNIFF, COM TODAS AS FESTIVIDADES REALIZADAS NA OCASIÃO E A GRANDE ALEGRIA DO SR. PINCH

O excelente arquiteto e agrimensor possuía um cavalo. Inimigos mencionados antes afirmavam ver uma semelhança imaginária entre o cavalo e o dono. Não se referiam à aparência, pois o animal era magro, ossudo e gasto. Também recebia sempre muito menos milho que o sr. Pecksniff. Referiam-se ao caráter. O cavalo prometia muito, mas nada fazia. Parecia sempre prestes a andar, mas nunca andava. Mesmo em sua maior lentidão, levantava tanto as pernas e se movia com tanta ação que parecia viajar a vinte e dois quilômetros por hora. Estava perfeitamente satisfeito com a própria velocidade e nunca se preocupava ao ser comparado aos cavalos mais rápidos. Enchia desconhecidos de esperança viva, mas aqueles que o conheciam, de sombrio desespero. Somente os inimigos do sr. Pecksniff poderiam explicar como essas qualidades o tornavam parecido com o dono. Infelizmente, o mundo cruel fazia essa comparação.

English → Numa manhã clara e gelada, todos os pensamentos e desejos do sr. Pinch se concentravam naquele cavalo e no veículo coberto que ele costumava puxar. Qualquer que fosse o nome correto do veículo, parecia mais uma charrete inchada que qualquer outra coisa. Nessa bela carruagem, o sr. Pinch viajaria sozinho até Salisbury, encontraria o novo aluno e o traria para casa em triunfo.

English → Abençoe seu coração simples, Tom Pinch. Você abotoa com orgulho o casaco fino, chamado erradamente de "sobretudo" durante anos. Alegremente, diz a Sam, o cavalariço, que ainda não deixe o cavalo partir, acreditando plenamente que ele deseja ir e iria se pudesse. Quem não sorriria com carinho, sem zombar do pobre Tom, por essas férias deixarem você tão animado? Você larga a grande caneca branca quase sem prová-la; colocara-a ali na noite anterior para que o café da manhã não o atrasasse. Deixa uma crosta ao lado para comer mais tarde na estrada, quando estiver mais calmo. Enquanto parte feliz e assente agradecido para Pecksniff, de gorro na janela do quarto, quem não gritaria: "Que o Céu o guie, Tom. Que esteja partindo para sempre rumo a um lar tranquilo, onde possa viver em paz e a tristeza nunca o alcance!"

English → Que momento melhor para viajar do que uma manhã fresca e gelada, quando a esperança corre pelo corpo com o sangue rápido? Era o começo feliz de um dia frio e fresco do início do inverno, melhor que o verão lento e a primavera apenas meio quente. Os sinos das ovelhas tocavam claramente no ar forte, como seres vivos que também sentiam seu poder saudável. Em vez de folhas e flores, as árvores deixavam cair geada brilhante como pó de diamante. Pelo menos era assim que Tom via. A fumaça subia alto das chaminés das casas, como se a bela terra não suportasse fumaça pesada. O gelo fino e transparente sobre o riacho parecia ter parado a água viva para que ela contemplasse a linda manhã. Para impedir que o sol quebrasse o encanto cedo demais, uma névoa semelhante à que rodeia a lua nas noites de verão se movia entre o sol e o chão. Para Tom, parecia pedir ao sol que a derretesse suavemente.

English → Tom Pinch prosseguiu, não depressa, mas sentindo que avançava rapidamente, e muitas coisas o mantinham feliz. Quando ainda estava longe do pedágio, viu a esposa do cobrador correr de volta para a pequena casa depois de parar uma carroça, sabendo que o sr. Pinch se aproximava. Quando chegou perto o bastante para chamar, os filhos do cobrador correram para fora gritando: "Sr. Pinch!" Isso encantou Tom. Até o cobrador, geralmente feio e evitado pelas pessoas, saiu para receber a tarifa e dar um rude bom-dia. Com essa recepção e a visão do café da manhã deles numa mesa redonda junto ao fogo, a crosta de Tom teve o sabor rico do pão de um conto de fadas.

Mas casados e crianças não eram os únicos a receber Tom Pinch. Jovens de olhos brilhantes e peitos brancos como neve correram a muitas janelas dos andares superiores quando ele passou. Retribuíram seu cumprimento sete vezes. Todas estavam alegres e riam. Algumas das mais ousadas até lhe mandaram beijos quando Tom olhou para trás. Quem se preocupava com o pobre sr. Pinch? Ele não fazia mal a ninguém.

English → A manhã ficou tão bonita e viva que o sol pareceu dizer - Tom tinha certeza disso - "Não aguento mais; preciso olhar", e brilhou intensamente. A névoa, tímida e delicada demais para ele, fugiu. Enquanto ia embora, colinas, montes e campos distantes, com ovelhas quietas e corvos barulhentos, apareceram claros e novos. O riacho já não permanecia parado, mas correu depressa para levar a notícia ao moinho três milhas adiante.

O sr. Pinch viajava feliz quando viu um viajante caminhando à frente na mesma direção. O jovem andava leve e depressa, cantando muito alto, mas não mal. Tinha cerca de vinte e cinco ou vinte e seis anos e vestia-se num estilo solto e selvagem. As pontas do lenço vermelho voavam atrás dele, e frutas brilhantes de inverno apareciam na casa do botão do casaco de veludo, tão visíveis por trás quanto pela frente. Cantava com tanta força que não ouviu as rodas até estarem próximas. Então voltou um rosto brincalhão e alegres olhos azuis para o sr. Pinch e parou de cantar.

English → Tom Pinch parou. - Ora, Mark? Quem imaginaria encontrá-lo aqui? Que surpresa!

Mark tocou o chapéu e, de repente muito menos animado, disse que ia para Salisbury.

O sr. Pinch olhou para ele com grande prazer. - E como está elegante! Eu realmente não imaginava que fosse um sujeito tão bem-feito, Mark!

- Obrigado, sr. Pinch. Creio que sou razoavelmente bem-feito. Não é culpa minha. Mas estar elegante, senhor, aí está o problema - disse ele, parecendo especialmente sombrio.

- Aí está o quê? - perguntou o sr. Pinch.

- Aí está o problema. Qualquer homem pode ser alegre e bem-humorado quando está bem vestido. Não há grande mérito nisso. Se eu estivesse muito esfarrapado e muito feliz, então começaria a sentir que havia realizado alguma coisa, sr. Pinch.

- Então você cantava agora mesmo para lutar contra o fato de estar bem vestido, Mark? - perguntou Pinch.

English → Mark abriu um largo sorriso. - Suas palavras são sempre tão boas quanto um livro, senhor. Era isso mesmo.

- Bem! - gritou Pinch. - Mark, você é o jovem mais estranho que já conheci. Sempre pensei assim, mas agora tenho certeza. Também vou para Salisbury. Quer subir? Ficarei muito feliz com sua companhia.

O jovem agradeceu e aceitou. Entrou imediatamente na carruagem e sentou-se bem na borda, com metade do corpo para fora, para mostrar que estava ali apenas porque o sr. Pinch fora gentil. Enquanto viajavam, conversaram assim.

- Vendo você tão elegante, Mark - disse Pinch - , quase pensei que fosse se casar.

- Bem, senhor, também pensei nisso - respondeu. - Talvez houvesse algum mérito em ser feliz com uma esposa, especialmente se as crianças estivessem com sarampo e fossem muito difíceis. Mas quase tenho medo de tentar. Não vejo como.

English → - Talvez você não goste muito de ninguém? - perguntou Pinch.

- De ninguém em particular, senhor, creio.

- Mas, segundo seu modo de pensar, Mark - disse o sr. Pinch - , você deveria se casar com alguém de quem não gostasse e que fosse muito desagradável.

- Deveria mesmo, senhor. Mas isso talvez seja levar um princípio um pouco longe demais, não acha?

- Talvez seja - disse o sr. Pinch. Os dois riram alegremente.

- Deus o abençoe, senhor - disse Mark. - O senhor não me conhece nem pela metade. Creio que poderia permanecer mais alegre que qualquer homem em condições que o tornassem infeliz. Só preciso de uma oportunidade, mas não consigo encontrá-la. Ninguém saberá metade do que existe em mim, a menos que algo inesperado aconteça, e não vejo sinal disso. Vou deixar o Dragão, senhor.

- Deixar o Dragão! - gritou o sr. Pinch, muito espantado. - Ora, Mark, você me deixa sem fôlego!

English → - Sim, senhor - disse ele, olhando diretamente para a distância, como fazem as pessoas quando pensam profundamente. - De que serve ficar no Dragão? Não é lugar para MIM. Quando deixei Londres - embora seja natural de Kent - e aceitei este emprego, decidi que era o canto isolado mais monótono da Inglaterra. Pensei que haveria mérito em ser alegre ali. Mas, meu Deus, o Dragão nunca é monótono! Há jogos de boliche, críquete, argolas, pinos, canções cômicas, coros e companhia ao redor do fogo todas as noites de inverno. Qualquer homem poderia ser alegre ali. Não há mérito NISSO.

- Talvez as pessoas estejam dizendo a verdade uma vez, Mark - disse o sr. Pinch. - Acredito nisso pelo que eu mesmo sei. Você cria metade dessa diversão e foi quem a começou.

- Talvez haja algo nisso, senhor - respondeu Mark. - Mas não me consola.

English → Depois de um breve silêncio, o sr. Pinch falou ainda mais baixo que o normal. - Mal consigo entender o que diz. O que será da sra. Lupin, Mark?

Mark olhou ainda mais longe. Não achava que isso importaria muito para ela; muitos jovens inteligentes aceitariam o emprego com prazer, e ele conhecia uma dúzia.

- Talvez - disse o sr. Pinch - , mas não tenho certeza de que a sra. Lupin os desejaria. Sempre pensei que você e a sra. Lupin se casariam, Mark, e todos que conheço pensavam o mesmo.

- Eu nunca - disse Mark, constrangido - falei algo diretamente parecido com cortejo a ela, nem ela a mim. Mas um dia talvez eu faça alguma coisa, e ela talvez responda. Bem, senhor, ISSO não serviria.

- Não ser o dono do Dragão, Mark? - gritou o sr. Pinch.

- Não, senhor, certamente não - disse ele, desviando os olhos do horizonte para o companheiro de viagem. - Isso arruinaria um homem como eu. Eu viveria confortavelmente para sempre e ninguém me descobriria. Que mérito há no dono do Dragão ser alegre? Ele não conseguiria evitar, mesmo que tentasse.

English → - A sra. Lupin sabe que você pretende deixá-la? - perguntou o sr. Pinch.

- Ainda não contei, senhor, mas preciso contar. Esta manhã estou procurando na cidade um emprego novo e adequado - disse, assentindo na direção da cidade.

- Que tipo de trabalho? - perguntou o sr. Pinch.

- Estava pensando - disse Mark - em trabalhar cavando sepulturas.

- Meu Deus, Mark! - gritou o sr. Pinch.

- É um bom trabalho úmido e cheio de vermes, senhor - disse Mark, argumentando com um movimento da cabeça. - Talvez houvesse mérito em ser alegre ao pensar nisso, a menos que os coveiros sejam geralmente alegres, o que seria uma desvantagem. Sabe como eles costumam ser, senhor?

- Não - disse o sr. Pinch. - Realmente não sei. Nunca pensei nisso.

- Se cavar sepulturas não der certo - pensou Mark em voz alta - , outros empregos talvez sirvam. O trabalho funerário é sombrio e poderia trazer mérito. Recolher bens para um corretor numa área pobre talvez funcione. Um guarda de prisão vê muita desgraça. O assistente de um médico vive no meio da morte. Cobrar dívidas não é alegre. Até um cobrador de impostos deve às vezes se sentir perturbado. Muitos empregos me dariam uma oportunidade.

English → O sr. Pinch ficou tão impressionado que só conseguiu fazer comentários ocasionais sobre assuntos sem importância e olhar de lado para o amigo estranho de rosto alegre, que parecia não perceber. Perto da entrada da cidade, Mark disse que desceria ali, se o sr. Pinch não se importasse.

- Mas, pelo amor de Deus, Mark - disse o sr. Pinch. Acabara de notar que a camisa do companheiro estava aberta como se fosse pleno verão e cada sopro de ar a movia. - Por que não usa colete?

- Para que serve um, senhor? - perguntou Mark.

- Para que serve? - disse o sr. Pinch. - Para manter seu peito aquecido.

- Deus o abençoe, senhor! - gritou Mark. - O senhor não me conhece. Meu peito não precisa de aquecimento. Mesmo se precisasse, o que poderia acontecer se eu não usasse colete? Inflamação dos pulmões, talvez? Bem, haveria algum mérito em continuar alegre com inflamação dos pulmões.

English → O sr. Pinch apenas respirou fundo, arregalou os olhos e assentiu com força. Mark agradeceu a carona e saltou levemente sem pedir que ele parasse. Seguiu por uma rua lateral, com o lenço vermelho e o casaco aberto movendo-se ao vento. Virou-se várias vezes para acenar. Parecia um dos homens mais despreocupados, bem-humorados e cômicos do mundo. Pensativo, o sr. Pinch continuou rumo a Salisbury.

English → O sr. Pinch imaginava Salisbury como uma cidade perigosa e selvagem, cheia de prazeres. Depois de deixar o cavalo num estábulo, falou com o empregado. Disse que voltaria em uma ou duas horas para ver o cavalo comer milho. Então caminhou pelas ruas, gostando da ideia de que estavam cheias de mistério e maldade. O dia de mercado fazia a cidade parecer ainda mais selvagem para aquele homem quieto. As ruas ao redor do mercado estavam lotadas de carroças, cavalos, burros, cestos, vagões, legumes, carne, tripas, tortas, aves e mercadorias de todo tipo. Fazendeiros jovens e velhos ficavam em grupos ou falavam alto nos degraus das tavernas. Usavam camisas largas de trabalho, casacos marrons e cinzentos, cachecóis vermelhos de lã, perneiras de couro, chapéus de formas estranhas, chicotes de caça e carregavam bastões rústicos. Negociavam grandes quantias de dinheiro engordurado, usando enormes carteiras muito difíceis de tirar e guardar. As esposas dos fazendeiros, de capas vermelhas e chapéus, montavam cavalos peludos e calmos. Os cavalos iam a qualquer lugar sem perguntar por quê e poderiam ficar parados numa loja de porcelana, com um serviço de jantar completo ao lado de cada casco. Muitos cães se interessavam profundamente pelo mercado e pelos negócios dos donos. Vozes humanas e animais formavam uma grande confusão.

English → O sr. Pinch ficou encantado com tudo o que estava à venda. Admirou especialmente um vendedor ambulante de facas e comprou um canivete com sete lâminas. Mais tarde descobriu que nenhuma delas cortava. Depois de ver todo o mercado e os fazendeiros entrarem em segurança para o almoço, voltou ao cavalo. Observou-o comer quanto quis e então percorreu novamente a cidade para apreciar as vitrines. Primeiro encarou o banco e imaginou que direção subterrânea levava às cavernas onde o dinheiro era guardado. Também olhou para um ou dois jovens que estudavam para ser advogados na cidade. Aos seus olhos, eram sujeitos emocionantes que conheciam alguns segredos e levavam uma vida muito agitada.

English → Mas as lojas! Primeiro vieram as joalherias, exibindo todos os tesouros da terra. Enormes relógios de prata pendiam em cada vitrine; se não marcavam o tempo com excelência, não poderia ser por falta de espaço nos mecanismos. Eram certamente grandes, talvez feios o bastante, para funcionar perfeitamente. Para o sr. Pinch, pareciam menores que os relógios de Genebra. Quando viu um relógio enorme chamado repetidor, capaz de tocar a cada quinze minutos dentro do bolso do dono, quase desejou ser rico o bastante para comprá-lo.

English → Mas ouro, prata, pedras preciosas e relógios significavam pouco diante das livrarias. O papel novo tinha cheiro agradável e lembrava-lhe uma gramática escolar nova de muito tempo atrás. "Mestre Pinch, Academia Grove House" fora escrito perfeitamente na primeira página em branco. O cheiro das capas de couro e as fileiras organizadas de livros prometiam felicidade. Obras novas de Londres ficavam abertas nas vitrines na página do título ou na primeira página do primeiro capítulo. Tentavam as pessoas a ler e depois correr para dentro e comprar, pois não podiam virar a página. Pequenas imagens no início apontavam como placas de estrada para as ricas histórias no interior. Outros livros mostravam retratos sérios e famosos nomes antigos. Ele conhecia bem aquelas obras. Teria dado minas para colocá-las, em qualquer formato, na estreita prateleira ao lado da cama na casa do sr. Pecksniff. Que loja dolorosa!

English → Outra loja parecia menos ruim no começo, mas ainda era dolorosa: vendia livros infantis. Ali estava o pobre Robinson Crusoé, com cachorro, machadinha, gorro de pele de cabra e armas, olhando calmamente para Philip Quarll e todos os imitadores. Parecia chamar o sr. Pinch como testemunha de que somente ele deixara uma pegada na praia da memória infantil, que as gerações jamais apagariam. Havia contos persas, baús voadores, estudiosos de livros encantados presos durante anos em cavernas, o mercador Abudah e a terrível velhinha que saía de uma caixa em seu quarto. Havia o grande talismã, As Mil e Uma Noites, e Cassim Baba, dividido em quatro e pendurado ensanguentado na caverna dos ladrões. Essas maravilhas acenderam a lâmpada dentro do sr. Pinch até que, ao voltar à rua movimentada, fantasmas esperavam suas ordens e ele reviveu feliz os dias anteriores à era Pecksniff.

English → O sr. Pinch se importava menos com as farmácias, com suas grandes garrafas brilhantes e luzes menores nas tampas. Seus produtos agradáveis misturavam remédio e perfume em forma de doces e mel puro. Importava-se ainda menos, como sempre, com os alfaiates. Os mais novos modelos de coletes de Londres pareciam maravilhosos nas vitrines, mas nunca iguais em outro lugar. Parou para ler o anúncio do teatro e encarou a entrada com espanto. Um homem pálido de longos cabelos escuros saiu e mandou um menino buscar em casa sua grande espada. O sr. Pinch não conseguiu se mover depois de ouvir isso e poderia ter ficado até escurecer. Então o velho sino da catedral começou a tocar para a missa da tarde, e ele se afastou.

English → O assistente do organista era amigo do sr. Pinch. Isso era uma sorte, pois ele também era quieto e gentil. Como Tom, fora na escola um menino à moda antiga, embora os meninos barulhentos também gostassem dele. Por sorte, o assistente trabalhava sozinho naquela tarde, tendo apenas Tom no empoeirado coro do órgão. Enquanto o amigo tocava, Tom ajudava com os controles. Quando a missa terminou, o próprio Tom tocou. A escuridão chegava. A luz amarela das antigas janelas do coro se misturava ao vermelho escuro. A música grandiosa parecia ecoar em cada túmulo antigo e no fundo de seu coração. Enquanto enchia a igreja, grandes pensamentos e esperanças lotaram sua mente. Entre eles estavam todas as imagens daquele dia, agora mais sérias, mas ainda as mesmas, até a menor lembrança da infância. Naquele momento, o som parecia conter sua vida inteira. Enquanto pedra, madeira e vidro desapareciam na escuridão, suas visões ficavam mais claras. Tom poderia ter esquecido o novo aluno e o mestre que esperava e tocado com gratidão até meia-noite. Mas um funcionário prático da catedral insistiu em fechar o edifício imediatamente. Tom agradeceu ao amigo, tateou o caminho até as ruas iluminadas e correu para jantar.

English → A essa altura, todos os fazendeiros voltavam para casa, então a sala da taverna, com areia no chão, estava vazia. Era ali que o sr. Pinch deixara o cavalo. Sua pequena mesa foi colocada perto do fogo, e ele apreciou muito um bife bem-preparado e batatas fumegantes. Ao lado havia uma enorme jarra de cerveja de Wiltshire. A refeição era tão excelente que ele muitas vezes largava faca e garfo, esfregava as mãos e pensava nela. Quando chegaram o queijo e o aipo, tirou um livro do bolso. Comeu um pouco, bebeu um pouco, leu um pouco e parou para pensar no novo aluno. Depois que esse pensamento passou, voltou a mergulhar no livro. Então a porta se abriu, e outro hóspede trouxe tanto ar frio que a princípio pareceu apagar o fogo.

- Uma geada muito forte esta noite, senhor - disse o recém-chegado, notando educadamente que o sr. Pinch movia a pequena mesa para abrir espaço. - Por favor, não se incomode.

English → Embora parecesse preocupado com o conforto do sr. Pinch, puxou uma grande cadeira de assento de couro para o meio da lareira. Sentou-se diretamente diante do fogo, com um pé de cada lado.

- Meus pés estão completamente dormentes. Ah, que frio terrível.

- O senhor esteve ao ar livre por algum tempo, imagino? - disse o sr. Pinch.

- O dia inteiro. E no alto de uma carruagem.

- Isso explica por que ele deixa a sala tão fria - pensou o sr. Pinch. - Pobre sujeito! Deve estar completamente gelado.

O estranho também ficou pensativo e observou o fogo em silêncio por cinco ou dez minutos. Por fim, tirou o xale e o sobretudo, que, ao contrário do casaco do sr. Pinch, era muito grosso e quente. Mas sem ele não ficou mais falante. Voltou ao mesmo assento e posição, recostou-se e roeu as unhas. Tinha talvez vinte e um anos e era bonito, com olhos escuros e atentos e maneiras rápidas. O contraste fez Tom notar seus próprios modos e se sentir ainda mais tímido que o habitual.

English → Havia um relógio na sala, e o estranho olhava para ele com frequência. Tom também, em parte por simpatia nervosa com o companheiro silencioso e em parte porque o novo aluno deveria procurá-lo às seis e meia, hora que se aproximava. Sempre que o estranho o surpreendia olhando para o relógio, Tom ficava confuso, como se tivesse sido pego fazendo algo. Talvez percebendo esse desconforto, o jovem sorriu e disse:

- Nós dois parecemos bastante preocupados com a hora. Tenho um compromisso para encontrar um cavalheiro aqui.

- Eu também - disse o sr. Pinch.

- Às seis e meia - disse o desconhecido.

- Às seis e meia - disse Tom ao mesmo tempo. O outro olhou para ele com surpresa.

- O jovem cavalheiro - disse Tom timidamente - devia perguntar a essa hora por alguém chamado Pinch.

- Meu Deus! - exclamou o outro, levantando-se de um salto. - E eu o mantive longe do fogo todo esse tempo! Não sabia que o senhor era o Sr. Pinch. Eu sou o Sr. Martin por quem deveria perguntar. Por favor, desculpe-me. Como vai? Venha mais para perto!

English → - Obrigado - disse Tom. - Não estou com frio, mas o senhor está; e temos uma viagem fria pela frente. Porém, se desejar, eu me aproximarei. Eu... eu fico muito contente - acrescentou com seu sorriso sincero e constrangido, que confessava suas falhas e pedia bondade com a mesma clareza de uma simples declaração escrita. - Fico muito contente que o senhor seja a pessoa que eu esperava. Um minuto atrás, eu desejava que ele fosse como o senhor.

- Fico muito feliz em ouvir isso - respondeu Martin, apertando-lhe a mão novamente. - Pois lhe asseguro que eu pensava que nada poderia ser mais feliz do que o Sr. Pinch ser como o senhor.

- Não, sério! - disse Tom com grande satisfação. - Está falando sério?

- Palavra de honra - respondeu seu novo amigo. - Sei que nós dois nos daremos muito bem. Isso é um grande alívio, porque não consigo me dar bem com todo mundo, e essa era minha maior preocupação. Agora passou. Por favor, toque a campainha.

English → O Sr. Pinch levantou-se com entusiasmo e assim fez; a alça pendia logo acima da cabeça de Martin enquanto ele se aquecia. Sorrindo, Tom ouviu o amigo dizer:

- Se gosta de ponche, permita-me pedir um copo quente para cada um, para celebrarmos nossa amizade como convém. Para lhe contar um segredo, Sr. Pinch, nunca desejei tanto algo quente e reconfortante. Mas não queria ser encontrado bebendo antes de saber que tipo de pessoa o senhor era. As primeiras impressões muitas vezes têm grande alcance e duram muito.

O Sr. Pinch concordou, e chegou um ponche quente e forte. Depois de brindarem um ao outro com a bebida fumegante, tornaram-se muito francos.

- Sou uma espécie de parente de Pecksniff - disse o jovem.

- É mesmo? - exclamou o Sr. Pinch.

- Sim. Meu avô é primo dele, portanto ele é de algum modo meu parente, se é que consegue entender. Eu não consigo.

- Então Martin é seu nome de batismo? - disse o Sr. Pinch pensativo. - Ah!

English → - Claro - disse seu amigo. - Gostaria que fosse meu sobrenome, porque o meu não é bonito e demora para assinar. Meu nome é Chuzzlewit.

- Meu Deus! - exclamou o Sr. Pinch, sobressaltando-se sem querer.

- Imagino que não esteja surpreso por eu ter dois nomes - disse o outro, erguendo o copo. - A maioria das pessoas tem.

- Ah, não - disse o Sr. Pinch. - De modo algum. Claro que não! Ora! O Sr. Pecksniff lhe dissera em particular que não mencionasse o velho cavalheiro chamado Chuzzlewit que se hospedara no Dragão, deixando isso para ele próprio. Tom só conseguiu esconder sua confusão erguendo o copo. Por alguns segundos, olharam um para o outro através dos copos e depois os pousaram vazios.

- Há dez minutos pedi aos homens do estábulo que deixassem tudo pronto - disse o Sr. Pinch, olhando novamente para o relógio. - Vamos?

- Por favor - disse o outro.

English → - Gostaria de conduzir? - perguntou o Sr. Pinch, com o rosto brilhando de orgulho pela oferta. - Pode fazê-lo, se quiser.

- Isso depende, Sr. Pinch - riu Martin - , do seu cavalo. Se ele for ruim, prefiro manter as mãos aquecidas nos bolsos do sobretudo.

Ele achou aquela uma excelente piada, portanto o Sr. Pinch teve certeza de que era mesmo. Tom também riu e acreditou ter gostado muito. Pagou sua conta; o Sr. Chuzzlewit pagou o ponche. Agasalharam-se tão bem quanto seus recursos permitiam e foram juntos até a porta da frente, onde a propriedade do Sr. Pecksniff bloqueava o caminho.

- Não vou conduzir, obrigado, Sr. Pinch - disse Martin ao ocupar o assento de passageiro. - A propósito, podemos levar minha caixa?

- Claro - disse Tom. - Coloque-a aí, Dick, em qualquer lugar!

English → A caixa não era pequena o bastante para nenhum canto disponível. Mesmo assim, Dick, o cavalariço, de algum modo a colocou com a ajuda do Sr. Chuzzlewit. Ela ficou toda do lado do Sr. Pinch. O Sr. Chuzzlewit temeu que fosse um peso para ele, mas Tom disse: "De modo algum". A caixa obrigou Tom a ficar numa posição em que pouco via além dos próprios joelhos. Contudo, todo vento ruim ajuda alguém. O ar frio vinha do lado de Tom, e a parede formada pela caixa e pelo homem protegia completamente o novo aluno. Isso foi um grande conforto.

English → Era uma noite clara, de lua brilhante. O luar e a geada branca faziam a bela paisagem reluzir como prata. A princípio, a grande tranquilidade deixou os dois homens em silêncio. Logo, o ponche dentro deles e o ar saudável do lado de fora os fizeram conversar sem parar. No meio do caminho, pararam para dar água ao cavalo. Martin era generoso com dinheiro e pediu outro copo de ponche. Eles o dividiram e ficaram ainda mais falantes. Naturalmente, conversaram sobretudo sobre o Sr. Pecksniff e sua família. Com lágrimas nos olhos, Tom Pinch descreveu-os e falou de suas muitas bondades. Seu retrato poderia fazer quase qualquer pessoa sensível reverenciá-los. O Sr. Pecksniff não imaginava que Tom faria isso. Sendo humilde, não teria mandado Tom buscar o aluno se soubesse.

Assim seguiram sem parar, na linguagem dos livros de histórias, até surgirem as luzes da aldeia. A torre da igreja lançava uma longa sombra sobre a grama do cemitério. Era como um relógio de sol - ai de nós, o mais verdadeiro do mundo. Qualquer que fosse a luz enviada pelo Céu, cada nova sombra marcava a passagem dos dias, semanas e anos naquele solo solene.

English → - Uma igreja bonita! - disse Martin, vendo o companheiro diminuir ainda mais o passo do cavalo já lento enquanto se aproximavam.

- Não é? - exclamou Tom com orgulho. - Ela tem o órgão mais encantador que você já ouviu. Eu o toco para eles.

- É mesmo? - disse Martin. - Mal parece valer o esforço. O que você recebe por isso?

- Nada - disse Tom.

- Bem - disse o amigo - , você É mesmo um sujeito muito estranho!

Seguiu-se um breve silêncio.

- Quando digo nada - disse o Sr. Pinch alegremente - , estou errado e não é isso que quero dizer, porque isso me dá grande prazer e algumas das horas mais felizes da minha vida. Outro dia, levou a uma coisa diferente, mas provavelmente você não terá interesse em ouvir.

- Ah, sim, terei. O quê?

- Isso me levou - disse Tom em voz baixa - a ver um dos rostos mais encantadores e belos que se pode imaginar.

- Mas eu consigo imaginar um rosto bonito - disse seu amigo pensativo - , ou deveria conseguir, se ainda tenho memória.

English → - Ela veio pela primeira vez bem cedo, certa manhã - disse Tom, pousando a mão no braço do outro. - Mal havia luz. Eu a vi por cima do ombro, parada logo dentro do pórtico. Fiquei gelado e quase pensei que fosse um espírito. Naturalmente, logo percebi meu engano, por sorte antes de parar de tocar.

- Por que por sorte?

- Porque ela ficou parada ouvindo. Eu usava meus óculos e a vi pelas aberturas das cortinas com a mesma clareza com que vejo você. Ela era linda. Depois de algum tempo, deslizou para longe, e continuei tocando até que estivesse fora do alcance da música.

- Por que fez isso?

- Não entende? - respondeu Tom. - Ela poderia pensar que eu não a tinha visto e voltar.

- E voltou?

- Claro. Na manhã seguinte e na noite seguinte, sempre sozinha e quando não havia ninguém por perto. Eu me levantava mais cedo e ficava até mais tarde, para que ela encontrasse a porta da igreja aberta e o órgão tocando, e não se decepcionasse. Durante vários dias ela passou por ali e sempre escutou. Mas agora foi embora, e neste vasto mundo nada é menos provável do que eu voltar a ver seu rosto.

English → - Você não sabe mais nada sobre ela?

- Não.

- E nunca a seguiu quando ela foi embora?

- Por que eu a perturbaria seguindo-a? - disse Tom Pinch. - Era provável que ela quisesse minha companhia? Veio ouvir o órgão, não me ver. Eu não a afastaria, assustada, de um lugar que parecia amar. Deus a abençoe! Para lhe dar um minuto de prazer por dia, eu tocaria naqueles horários até ficar velho. Ficaria contente se às vezes ela pensasse em mim como parte da música. Seria mais do que recompensado se ela me associasse a algo de que gostasse tanto assim.

English → O novo aluno estava claramente espantado com a fraqueza de Tom e provavelmente lhe teria dado conselhos. Mas chegaram à porta do Sr. Pecksniff no momento certo. Dessa vez, usaram a porta da frente porque era uma ocasião de cerimônia e alegria. O mesmo homem esperava pelo cavalo. Naquela manhã, Tom pedira a esse homem que não deixasse o animal impaciente partir. Agora entregou o cavalo aos cuidados dele. Depois sussurrou ao Sr. Chuzzlewit, implorando-lhe que jamais repetisse uma palavra de sua história sincera. Por fim, Tom conduziu o aluno para dentro a fim de apresentá-lo imediatamente.

English → O Sr. Pecksniff claramente não os esperava por várias horas. Livros abertos o cercavam. Com um lápis preto na boca e um compasso na mão, estudava muitos diagramas matemáticos estranhos. As formas pareciam projetos de fogos de artifício. A senhorita Charity também não os esperava. Diante dela havia uma grande cesta de vime enquanto ela fazia toucas impossíveis para os pobres. A senhorita Mercy também ficou surpresa. Estava sentada num banquinho e amarrava a anágua de uma grande boneca para a filha de uma vizinha. Era realmente uma boneca adulta, o que tornava a cena mais confusa. O pequeno chapéu da boneca pendia pela fita de um dos cachos claros de Mercy. Ela o prendera ali para não o perder nem se sentar em cima dele. Seria difícil imaginar uma família mais completamente surpreendida do que os Pecksniff.

- Deus me abençoe! - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, erguendo os olhos e mudando lentamente sua expressão pensativa para uma alegre demonstração de reconhecimento. - Já chegaram! Martin, meu querido rapaz, tenho o prazer de recebê-lo em minha pobre casa!

English → Com essa bondosa saudação, o Sr. Pecksniff o abraçou e bateu várias vezes em suas costas com a mão direita, como se seus sentimentos fossem fortes demais para serem expressos em palavras.

- Aqui estão minhas filhas, Martin - disse ele, recuperando-se. - São minhas duas únicas filhas. Se alguma vez as viu, não as vê desde que vocês eram bebês juntos... ah, essas tristes divisões familiares! Minhas queridas, por que corar porque seu trabalho cotidiano foi descoberto? Pretendíamos recebê-lo como visitante em nossa pequena sala de cerimônias, Martin - disse o Sr. Pecksniff com um sorriso. - Mas gosto mais assim, gosto mais assim!

Ó estrela abençoada da Inocência, onde quer que esteja, como brilhava em sua morada celestial! As duas senhoritas Pecksniff ofereceram cada uma a Martin uma mão branca como lírio, com as faces radiantes. Como você cintilou de simpatia quando Mercy se lembrou do chapéu em seus cabelos! Ela escondeu o belo rosto e se virou. Sua gentil irmã tirou o chapéu e deu em Mercy uma pancadinha leve no ombro cheio.

English → - E como - perguntou o Sr. Pecksniff, segurando gentilmente o cotovelo do Sr. Pinch - nosso amigo o tratou, Martin?

- Muito bem, senhor. Estamos nos dando muito bem.

- O velho Tom Pinch! - disse o Sr. Pecksniff com tristeza. - Parece que foi ontem que Thomas acabara de sair da escola. No entanto, muitos anos se passaram desde que Thomas Pinch e eu caminhamos juntos pelo mundo pela primeira vez!

O Sr. Pinch estava comovido demais para falar. Apertou a mão do mestre e tentou agradecer-lhe.

- Thomas Pinch e eu ainda caminharemos por ele em fiel amizade! - disse o Sr. Pecksniff. - Se um de nós for atropelado nos cruzamentos movimentados da vida, o outro o levará ao hospital da Esperança e se sentará ao lado de sua cama na Caridade!

Num tom mais alegre, sacudiu o cotovelo do Sr. Pinch. - Bem, bem, bem! Chega disso. Martin, deixe-me lhe mostrar nossa casa e nosso modo de vida. Venha!

Pegou uma vela acesa e, acompanhado de seu jovem parente, preparou-se para sair. Na porta, parou.

English → - Você vem conosco, Tom Pinch?

Tom o teria seguido alegremente até para a morte, feliz em dar a vida por tal homem.

Abrindo a sala oposta, o Sr. Pecksniff disse: - Esta é a pequena sala de cerimônias. Minhas filhas se orgulham dela, Martin. - Abrindo outra, disse: - Esta é a salinha onde produzi minhas obras, coisas modestas, na melhor das hipóteses. Um retrato meu feito por Spiller. Um busto de Spoker. É considerado bem parecido; reconheço algo no canto esquerdo do nariz.

Martin achou que era bem parecido, embora não fosse intelectual o bastante. O Sr. Pecksniff disse que outros haviam notado o mesmo defeito. Ficou satisfeito por seu jovem parente ter sensibilidade para a arte.

O Sr. Pecksniff fez um gesto em direção aos livros. - Eles tratam de nosso trabalho. Escrevi algumas coisas, mas não as publiquei. Cuidado lá em cima. Este é meu quarto. Leio aqui quando a família pensa que estou dormindo. Isso pode prejudicar minha saúde, mas a arte é longa e o tempo é curto. Há meios de anotar ideias preliminares até aqui.

English → Apontou para uma pequena mesa redonda com uma lamparina, folhas de papel, uma borracha de apagar e um estojo de instrumentos. Tudo estava pronto para o caso de uma ideia arquitetônica ocorrer ao Sr. Pecksniff durante a noite. Então ele saltaria da cama e a registraria para sempre.

O Sr. Pecksniff abriu outra porta naquele andar e logo a fechou, como se fosse um Quarto Azul. Mas sorriu e disse: - Por que não?

Martin não podia dizer por que não, porque nada sabia a respeito. O Sr. Pecksniff abriu a porta e respondeu à própria pergunta:

- O quarto de minhas filhas. Um primeiro andar modesto para nós, mas um recanto para elas. Limpo e arejado. Plantas, jacintos, livros e pássaros. - Os pássaros eram apenas um pardal velho e sem cauda, emprestado da cozinha. - Aqui estão essas pequenas coisas que as moças amam, nada mais. Quem procurar um esplendor sem coração procurará em vão.

Então os conduziu ao andar de cima.

English → O Sr. Pecksniff abriu o famoso quarto da frente no segundo andar. - Algum talento se desenvolveu neste aposento. Aqui tive a ideia de uma torre de igreja que um dia talvez eu ofereça ao mundo. Trabalhamos aqui, Martin. Alguns arquitetos foram formados aqui, não foram, Sr. Pinch?

Tom concordou plenamente e acreditou plenamente nisso.

Passando a vela sobre rolos de papel, o Sr. Pecksniff disse: - Aqui estão sinais de nosso trabalho: a Catedral de Salisbury vista do norte, sul, leste, oeste, sudeste e noroeste; uma ponte, asilo, prisão, igreja, paiol, adega, pórtico, casa de verão, casa de gelo; plantas, elevações, cortes, tudo. - Em outro quarto grande com quatro camas pequenas, disse: - Este é seu quarto, que dividirá com o tranquilo Sr. Pinch. Está voltado para o sul, tem uma bela vista e a pequena biblioteca do Sr. Pinch. Peça qualquer conforto que desejar, Martin. Não há restrição, nem mesmo para estranhos.

Era verdade que qualquer aluno tinha plena liberdade para pedir qualquer coisa. Alguns haviam pedido a mesma coisa durante cinco anos sem que ninguém os impedisse.

English → - Os ajudantes domésticos dormem acima, e isso é tudo - disse o Sr. Pecksniff. Satisfeito com os elogios de Martin aos arranjos, ele os levou de volta à sala.

A sala havia mudado: uma grande refeição festiva estava pronta, e as duas senhoritas Pecksniff esperavam com olhares acolhedores. Havia duas garrafas de vinho de groselha, uma branca e outra vermelha. Havia também sanduíches longos e finos, maçãs, biscoitos de marinheiro úmidos, pedacinhos arenosos de laranja com açúcar e um bolo caseiro de aparência geológica. O tamanho da refeição deixou Tom Pinch sem fôlego. Em geral, os novos alunos eram introduzidos aos poucos, especialmente ao vinho, e às vezes levavam duas semanas para chegar à bomba d'água. Mas aquilo era um banquete, uma festa particular de prefeito para ser lembrada depois.

O Sr. Pecksniff pediu que fizessem plena justiça àquela refeição leve e fresca, adequada à noite.

- Martin se sentará entre vocês, minhas queridas, e o Sr. Pinch ao meu lado. Bebamos à saúde de nosso novo morador e sejamos felizes juntos! Martin, meu amor por você! Sr. Pinch, se poupar a garrafa, nós brigaremos.

English → O Sr. Pecksniff bebeu ao brinde, tentando parecer que o vinho ácido não o fazia piscar.

Falando da reunião, não do vinho, disse: - Este encontro compensa muitas decepções e dificuldades. Vamos nos divertir. - Pegou um biscoito de marinheiro. - Pobre é o coração que nunca se alegra, e nossos corações não são pobres. Não!

Com tais incentivos à alegria, ele fez as honras. O Sr. Pinch comeu de tudo, especialmente uma quantidade espantosa de sanduíches finos, talvez para provar que aquilo era real. Bebeu bastante vinho, atacando a garrafa com força. Sempre que enchia o copo, a senhorita Charity o encarava friamente como se olhasse para um fantasma. O Sr. Pecksniff também ficava pensativo ou triste. Conhecendo o vinho, talvez estivesse pensando no estado do Sr. Pinch no dia seguinte e em remédios para cólica.

Martin e as moças rapidamente se tornaram amigos e compararam alegremente lembranças da infância. A senhorita Mercy ria muito de tudo e, às vezes, depois de olhar para o rosto feliz do Sr. Pinch, quase ficava histérica. Sua irmã sussurrava com irritação que aquilo não era assunto para piadas e que não tinha paciência com a criatura. Mesmo assim, em geral ela também ria, com mais moderação, dizendo que era ridículo e insuportável demais para ser levado a sério.

English → Por fim, chegou a hora de seguir a velha regra da saúde, riqueza e sabedoria: dormir cedo e levantar cedo, regra comprovada pelas grandes fortunas dos limpadores de chaminés e de outros. As moças desejaram docemente boa-noite ao Sr. Chuzzlewit, obedientemente ao pai e com condescendência ao Sr. Pinch, e então foram para seu recanto. O Sr. Pecksniff insistiu em cuidar pessoalmente do conforto de Martin. Tomando-o pelo braço, levou-o escada acima até o quarto, enquanto o Sr. Pinch carregava a vela.

- Sr. Pinch - disse Pecksniff, sentado de braços cruzados numa cama vazia - , não há espevitadeiras nesse castiçal. Por favor, desça e peça uma.

O Sr. Pinch, encantado por ser útil, saiu imediatamente.

Quando ele se foi, o Sr. Pecksniff disse com condescendência piedosa: - Perdoe a falta de polimento de Thomas Pinch, Martin. Ele tem boas intenções.

- Ele é um sujeito muito bom, senhor.

- Ah, sim. Thomas Pinch tem boas intenções e é muito grato. Nunca me arrependi de ajudar Thomas Pinch.

English → - Imagino que nunca se arrependerá, senhor.

- Não, espero que não. Pobre sujeito, sempre dá o melhor de si, mas não tem talento. Por favor, faça com que ele lhe seja útil, Martin. Seu defeito é que às vezes esquece sua posição, mas isso logo se corrige. Alma digna! Verá que é fácil lidar com ele. Boa noite!

- Boa noite, senhor.

A essa altura, o Sr. Pinch havia voltado com as espevitadeiras.

- E boa noite para O SENHOR, Sr. Pinch - disse Pecksniff. - Durmam bem, os dois. Deus os abençoe! Deus os abençoe!

Com grande emoção, ele deu essa bênção e foi para seu quarto. Cansados, os jovens logo adormeceram. Os sonhos de Martin podem ser compreendidos pelas páginas seguintes. Thomas Pinch sonhou com feriados, órgãos de igreja e santos Pecksniffs. O Sr. Pecksniff não dormiu nem procurou a cama por duas horas, mas ficou sentado diante do fogo, olhando as brasas e pensando profundamente. Por fim, também dormiu e sonhou. À noite, uma casa pode conter tantas fantasias misturadas quanto a mente de um louco.

Capítulo Seis

English → CONTÉM, ENTRE OUTROS ASSUNTOS IMPORTANTES, PECKSNIFFIANOS E ARQUITETÔNICOS, UM RELATO EXATO DO PROGRESSO FEITO PELO SR. PINCH NA CONFIANÇA E AMIZADE DO NOVO ALUNO

Era manhã. A bela Aurora, a Deusa do amanhecer cuja história tantas vezes é escrita e cantada, parecia beliscar o nariz da senhorita Pecksniff com dedos rosados. Esse era seu costume brincalhão com a bela Cherry. Em palavras simples, a ponta do nariz da jovem estava sempre muito vermelha no café da manhã. Em geral parecia raspada e gelada, quase como se alguém a tivesse esfregado com uma ferramenta áspera. Seu humor era semelhante naquela hora: agudo e azedo, como se um limão extra tivesse sido espremido na bebida doce de sua natureza e estragado seu sabor.

English → Geralmente, essa severidade significava que o chá do Sr. Pinch era muito fraco, que ele recebia pouca manteiga ou algo parecido. Mas, depois do Banquete de Instalação, ela permitiu que ele comesse e bebesse à vontade. Ele ficou tão espantado que, como um velho prisioneiro posto em liberdade, mal sabia usar a própria liberdade. Ficou desorientado sem alguém para raspar seu pão, limitar seu açúcar a um torrão e prestar as pequenas atenções que esperava. A confiança do novo aluno era quase assustadora. Ele pediu o pão ao Sr. Pecksniff e pegou com toda a calma uma fatia do bacon particular de Pecksniff. Chegou até a dizer que o Sr. Pinch 'não sabia se virar', como se isso fosse normal e Tom devesse imitá-lo. Diante da família, essa fala chocou tanto Tom que ele baixou os olhos como se tivesse cometido algo terrível contra o Sr. Pecksniff. Aquilo bastou como desjejum e acabou com seu apetite para a refeição.

As jovens senhoras e o Sr. Pecksniff continuaram muito animados apesar dessas provações, com um entendimento secreto entre eles. Perto do fim da refeição, o Sr. Pecksniff explicou-o com satisfação.

English → 'Martin, minhas filhas e eu não costumamos deixar nosso lar tranquilo pelos prazeres vertiginosos do mundo lá fora. Mas pretendemos fazer isso hoje.'

'É mesmo, senhor!', exclamou o novo aluno.

'Sim', disse o Sr. Pecksniff, batendo na mão esquerda com uma carta que segurava na direita. 'Fui chamado a Londres por assuntos profissionais, estritamente profissionais, Martin. Há muito prometi às minhas meninas que, quando isso voltasse a acontecer, elas iriam comigo. Esta noite partiremos na diligência pesada, como a pomba de antigamente, e durante uma semana não tornaremos a pôr nossos ramos de oliveira no corredor.' Ele explicou: 'Por ramos de oliveira quero dizer nossa modesta bagagem.'

'Espero que as jovens aproveitem a viagem', disse Martin.

'Ah, tenho certeza de que vamos aproveitar!', exclamou Mercy, batendo palmas. 'Meu Deus, Cherry, querida... só de pensar em Londres!'

English → 'Criança ansiosa!', disse o Sr. Pecksniff, olhando para ela como quem sonhava. 'Há uma doce tristeza nas esperanças da juventude. É agradável saber que nunca poderão se realizar. Quando criança, eu pensava que cebolas em conserva cresciam em árvores e que todo elefante nascia com um castelo nas costas. Descobri que isso não era verdade, mas essas ideias me consolaram nos momentos difíceis. Até quando descobri que eu havia cuidado de uma avestruz, e não de um aluno humano, elas me consolaram naquela hora dolorosa.'

Diante dessa terrível referência a John Westlock, o Sr. Pinch de repente se engasgou com o chá. Naquela manhã ele recebera uma carta de John, como o Sr. Pecksniff sabia muito bem.

O Sr. Pecksniff tornou a ficar alegre. 'Meu caro Martin, cuide para que a casa não fuja enquanto estivermos fora. Deixamos tudo sob sua responsabilidade. Não há segredo; tudo é livre e aberto. Ao contrário do jovem da história oriental, chamado de almanaque caolho, se não me engano, Sr. Pinch...'

English → 'Um calênder caolho, creio eu, senhor', disse Tom, hesitante.

'Creio que são quase a mesma coisa', disse o Sr. Pecksniff com um sorriso de compaixão, 'ou eram no meu tempo. Ao contrário daquele jovem, meu caro Martin, nenhuma parte desta casa lhe é proibida. Sinta-se inteiramente em casa por toda parte. Seja feliz e mate o bezerro gordo, se quiser!'

Sem dúvida, Martin poderia matar e usar qualquer bezerro, gordo ou magro, encontrado na propriedade. Mas não havia bezerro algum nas terras do Sr. Pecksniff naquela época, portanto aquilo era uma frase cortês, não verdadeira hospitalidade. Assim terminou a conversa. O Sr. Pecksniff se levantou e conduziu os outros à sala da frente do segundo andar, o centro de seu gênio arquitetônico.

Procurando entre os papéis, o Sr. Pecksniff disse: 'Deixe-me ver qual é a melhor maneira de você trabalhar enquanto eu estiver fora, Martin. Projete um monumento para um Lorde Prefeito de Londres, um túmulo para um xerife ou um estábulo de vacas para o parque de um nobre. Sabe, eu gostaria muito de ver sua ideia de um estábulo de vacas.' Ele cruzou as mãos e olhou pensativo para seu jovem parente.

English → Mas Martin claramente não gostou da sugestão.

'Uma bomba-d'água oferece uma prática muito boa e simples', disse o Sr. Pecksniff. 'Projetar um poste de iluminação aprimora a mente e a conduz a um estilo clássico. Uma barreira de pedágio decorativa exerce forte efeito sobre a imaginação. O que acha de começar por uma barreira de pedágio decorativa?'

'Como o Sr. Pecksniff preferir', disse Martin, em dúvida.

'Espere', disse o Sr. Pecksniff. 'Você é ambicioso e desenha com muita precisão, então... ha, ha... trabalhará nestas plantas para uma escola de gramática. Siga os detalhes impressos. Terei curiosidade de ver o que fará. Talvez um jovem de seu gosto encontre algo impossível ou improvável que eu possa pôr em forma. Meu caro Martin, grande experiência e longo estudo revelam-se apenas nos retoques finais. Ha, ha! Será divertido ver sua escola de gramática.' Ele deu um tapinha nas costas do jovem.

English → Martin aceitou prontamente, e o Sr. Pecksniff lhe deu os materiais. Enquanto isso, Pecksniff falou sobre a magia dos poucos retoques finais de um mestre. Seus velhos inimigos diziam que isso era quase milagroso: acrescentar uma janela nos fundos, uma porta de cozinha, seis degraus ou uma calha às vezes transformava o projeto de um aluno em obra do próprio Sr. Pecksniff e lhe rendia muito dinheiro. Assim é a magia do gênio, que transforma em ouro tudo o que toca.

'Quando precisar mudar de tarefa', disse o Sr. Pecksniff, 'Thomas Pinch lhe ensinará a medir o jardim dos fundos. Você também pode determinar o nível exato da estrada desta casa até a placa indicadora, ou cumprir alguma outra tarefa útil e agradável. No quintal há uma carroça cheia de tijolos soltos e umas duas dezenas de vasos de flores velhos. Meu caro Martin, empilhe-os em qualquer forma que me faça lembrar a Basílica de São Pedro, em Roma, ou a Mesquita de Santa Sofia, em Constantinopla. Isso o aperfeiçoará e me dará prazer. Agora deixemos os assuntos de trabalho. Podemos conversar em particular no meu quarto enquanto arrumo minha mala de viagem.'

English → Martin foi com ele, e conversaram em particular por uma hora ou mais, deixando Tom Pinch sozinho. Quando Martin voltou, permaneceu calado e abatido o dia inteiro. Tom tentou uma ou duas vezes iniciar uma conversa comum, depois achou que não devia interromper os pensamentos de Martin e não disse mais nada.

Tom não teria tido tempo de conversar mesmo que seu novo amigo fosse muito falante. Primeiro, o Sr. Pecksniff o chamou para baixo para que ficasse em pé sobre seu baú, como uma estátua antiga, até que fosse possível fechá-lo. Depois, a Srta. Charity pediu que amarrasse seu baú, a Srta. Mercy pediu que consertasse sua caixa, e ele escreveu etiquetas completas para toda a bagagem. Ofereceu-se para levá-la para baixo, mandá-la em dois carrinhos de mão até a velha placa indicadora e vigiá-la até a chegada da diligência. Era trabalho pesado até para um carregador, mas sua boa vontade fazia com que não fosse nada. Sentado sobre a bagagem, à espera dos Pecksniff e do novo aluno, sentia-se feliz, esperando ter agradado a seu benfeitor.

English → Tom tirou uma carta do bolso e enxugou o rosto. Embora o dia estivesse frio, ele sentia calor de tanto correr. 'Temi não ter tempo para escrever isto, e seria uma enorme pena. A postagem de tão longe custa muito para quem não é rico. A pobre Ruth ficará contente ao ver minha letra e saber que Pecksniff continua tão bondoso quanto sempre. Eu teria pedido a John Westlock que a visitasse e falasse por mim. Mas ele poderia criticar Pecksniff e preocupá-la. Além disso, as pessoas de lá são rigorosas. A visita de um jovem como John poderia dificultar sua situação no trabalho. Pobre Ruth!'

Tom Pinch pareceu triste por cerca de meio minuto, mas logo encontrou consolo e continuou pensando:

English → 'Sou um belo sujeito, só que não', pensou Tom, usando a velha expressão de John. 'Não devo ficar triste porque estamos distantes. John era bondoso e alegre, embora eu quisesse que tivesse gostado mais de Pecksniff. Em vez disso, devo me lembrar da sorte que tive ao vir para cá. Devo ter nascido com uma colher de prata na boca para conhecer Pecksniff. Minha boa sorte de sempre agora trouxe o novo aluno. Nunca conheci um homem tão amigável, generoso e aberto. Ficamos amigos imediatamente! Ele é parente de Pecksniff e um jovem inteligente e corajoso. Poderia abrir caminho pelo mundo como se o mundo fosse queijo. Lá vem ele', disse Tom, 'descendo a estrada como se fosse dono dela.'

Enquanto o Sr. Pinch falava, o novo aluno aproximou-se deles. Ele não parecia nem um pouco perturbado pela honra de ter a Srta. Mercy Pecksniff em seu braço nem por sua despedida carinhosa. A Srta. Charity e o Sr. Pecksniff vinham atrás. Como a diligência apareceu naquele momento, Tom depressa pediu ao Sr. Pecksniff que entregasse sua carta.

English → O Sr. Pecksniff olhou o endereço. 'Ah! É para sua irmã, Thomas. Sim, será entregue, Sr. Pinch. Não se preocupe. Ela certamente a receberá.'

Ele prometeu isso com tanto orgulho e como se estivesse fazendo um favor a Tom que este de repente sentiu ter pedido muito e agradeceu calorosamente. Como sempre, as senhoritas Pecksniff acharam extremamente engraçada a menção à irmã do Sr. Pinch. Imaginem uma Srta. Pinch! Que coisa chocante!

Tom ficou muito contente por elas rirem, tomando aquilo como sinal de simpatia e bons sentimentos. Ele também riu, esfregou as mãos, desejou-lhes uma viagem agradável e um retorno seguro, e sentiu-se animado. Mesmo depois que a diligência partiu, com ramos de oliveira no compartimento de bagagem e a família de pombas dentro, ele continuou acenando e curvando-se. As jovens senhoras haviam sido tão excepcionalmente educadas que, por um momento, ele se esqueceu de Martin Chuzzlewit. Martin, depois de deixar sua bela companheira, ficou encostado pensativo na placa indicadora, quase sempre com os olhos no chão.

English → O silêncio completo após a partida agitada da diligência, junto com o ar cortante da tarde de inverno, trouxe ambos de volta a si mesmos. Como se tivessem combinado, viraram-se e se afastaram de braços dados.

'Como você está triste!', disse Tom. 'O que aconteceu?'

'Nada que valha a pena contar', disse Martin. 'Há muito pouca coisa errada além do que já havia ontem, e espero que amanhã haja muito menos. Estou desanimado, Pinch.'

'Bem', exclamou Tom, 'hoje estou com um ânimo maravilhoso e quase nunca me senti mais disposto a ser boa companhia. Foi muita bondade de seu antecessor, John, escrever para mim, não foi?'

'Sim, claro', disse Martin com indiferença. 'Eu diria que ele tem muito o que fazer aproveitando a vida, sem ficar pensando em você, Pinch.'

'Foi justamente o que achei provável', respondeu Tom. 'Mas não, ele cumpre sua palavra. Escreve: "Meu caro Pinch, penso muitas vezes em você", e muitas outras coisas bondosas e atenciosas.'

English → 'Ele deve ser um sujeito muito bondoso', disse Martin, parecendo um pouco irritado, 'porque não pode falar sério, você sabe.'

Tom olhou tristemente para o companheiro. 'Então suponho que ele não possa? Você acha que ele diz isso apenas para me agradar?'

Martin ficou mais sério. 'Isso é provável? Ele acabou de escapar deste lugar terrível e está aproveitando a liberdade em Londres. Será que um jovem assim tem muito tempo ou vontade para pensar com carinho em alguém ou em alguma coisa que deixou aqui? Pergunto a você, Pinch: isso é natural?'

Depois de pensar por um instante, o Sr. Pinch respondeu em voz mais baixa. Disse que não era razoável esperar tal coisa e que não tinha dúvida de que Martin sabia melhor.

'É claro que eu sei melhor', disse Martin.

'Sim, eu reconheço isso', disse o Sr. Pinch com delicadeza. 'Foi o que eu disse.' Depois disso, ficaram novamente em silêncio até chegarem em casa, quando já estava escuro.

English → A Srta. Charity Pecksniff não quis levar a comida na diligência. Ela não poderia ser guardada até a volta da família. Por isso, pôs em dois pratos os restos do banquete do dia anterior. Na sala de visitas, Martin e Tom encontraram dois montes desordenados: fatias finas de laranja, sanduíches velhos, pedaços quebrados do bolo duro e vários biscoitos de marinheiro inteiros. Os restos de duas garrafas de vinho de groselha haviam sido misturados e fechados com um papel usado para enrolar cabelos. Tudo estava pronto para uma noite muito pesada.

Martin Chuzzlewit contemplou aqueles preparativos extravagantes com total desprezo. Fez o fogo arder, usando grande parte do carvão do Sr. Pecksniff, e sentou-se, abatido, na cadeira mais confortável que encontrou. Para caber melhor no pequeno espaço restante, o Sr. Pinch sentou-se no banquinho da Srta. Mercy Pecksniff, pôs o copo sobre o tapete da lareira e o prato nos joelhos, e começou a se divertir.

English → Se Diógenes voltasse à vida dentro de seu barril e rolasse até a sala do Sr. Pecksniff, não conseguiria manter-se duro e sério ao ver Tom Pinch no banquinho de Mercy Pecksniff, com seu prato e seu copo. Teria sorrido com bondade. Tom estava completamente satisfeito. Saboreava os sanduíches secos, que se desfaziam em sua boca como serragem, e bebia o vinho ralo uma gota de cada vez, estalando os lábios como se cada traço do sabor da fruta fosse precioso. Às vezes erguia o copo e fazia brindes silenciosos. Depois de olhar feliz ao redor da sala segura e aconchegante, ficou preocupado ao ver o rosto abatido do companheiro. Cínico algum conseguiria resistir a Thomas Pinch.

Alguns homens teriam dado um tapinha nas costas de Tom e bebido com ele um grande copo de vinho de groselha, mesmo que fosse o vinagre mais azedo, dizendo que gostavam. Alguns teriam segurado sua mão honesta e lhe agradecido pelo que sua natureza simples lhes ensinava. Alguns ririam com ele, e outros, dele. Martin Chuzzlewit pertencia ao último grupo e, por fim, riu alto e por muito tempo.

English → 'Assim é que se faz', disse Tom, assentindo com entusiasmo. 'Anime-se! Isso é excelente!'

Encorajado por isso, o jovem Martin riu outra vez. Quando recuperou o fôlego e a seriedade, disse:

'Nunca vi ninguém como você, Pinch.'

'Não?', disse Tom. 'Bem, provavelmente me acha estranho porque quase nada vi do mundo, enquanto você viu muita coisa, imagino?'

Martin aproximou a cadeira do fogo e pôs os pés no para-fogo. 'Bastante para minha idade. Ora, preciso falar abertamente com alguém. Vou falar abertamente com você, Pinch.'

'Faça isso!', disse Tom. 'Vou considerar um gesto muito amistoso.'

Martin olhou para baixo, na direção do Sr. Pinch, que agora precisava olhar por cima da perna de Martin para ver o fogo. 'Não estou atrapalhando você, estou?'

'De maneira nenhuma!', exclamou Tom.

English → Martin começou com esforço, como se não gostasse daquela confissão. 'Para encurtar a história, você deve saber que desde criança fui criado com grandes expectativas e ensinado a acreditar que um dia seria muito rico. E teria sido, não fossem certas razões que vou lhe contar e que fizeram com que eu fosse deserdado.'

'Por seu pai?', perguntou o Sr. Pinch, arregalando os olhos.

'Por meu avô. Faz muitos anos que não tenho pais; mal consigo me lembrar deles.'

'Eu também não tenho', disse Tom, tocando a mão do jovem e recolhendo timidamente a sua. 'Meu Deus!'

'Bem, Pinch', disse o outro depressa, enquanto mexia o fogo, 'é certo amar os pais quando os temos e lembrar deles quando estão mortos, se os conhecemos. Mas eu nunca conheci os meus pessoalmente, portanto não se pode esperar que eu tenha sentimentos por eles. Não tenho; essa é a verdade.'

English → O Sr. Pinch estivera observando pensativo as grades da lareira. Quando seu companheiro fez uma pausa, ele se sobressaltou e disse: 'Ah! Claro', e então se preparou para ouvir de novo.

'Em resumo', disse Martin, 'meu avô, de quem falei, me criou durante toda a vida. Ele tem muitas qualidades, não vou esconder isso. Mas tem dois grandes defeitos: a maior teimosia que você já viu num ser humano e o egoísmo mais terrível.'

'É mesmo?', exclamou Tom.

'Nesses aspectos, ninguém se iguala a ele', disse Martin. 'Quem sabe diz que esses são defeitos de nossa família há gerações, e creio que seja verdade. Não posso julgar pela minha própria experiência. Devo agradecer por eles não terem passado para mim e tomar cuidado para não adquiri-los.'

'Sem dúvida', disse o Sr. Pinch. 'Muito correto.'

English → 'O egoísmo dele o leva a fazer exigências', continuou Martin, aproximando-se mais do fogo, 'e a teimosia o faz mantê-las com firmeza. Ele sempre exigiu de mim muito respeito, obediência, renúncia e atenção às vontades dele. Suportei muita coisa porque lhe devia algo - se é que alguém pode dever algo a um avô - e porque gostava sinceramente dele. Mesmo assim, discutíamos com frequência, pois eu não conseguia me adaptar aos modos dele. Não por mim mesmo, entenda, mas porque...' Ele parou, sem conseguir encontrar as palavras.

O Sr. Pinch, talvez a pior pessoa do mundo para ajudar alguém a sair de semelhante dificuldade, não disse nada.

'Bem, você me entende', continuou Martin rapidamente. 'Não preciso procurar a frase exata. Agora vem a melhor parte e a razão de eu estar aqui: estou apaixonado, Pinch.'

O Sr. Pinch ergueu os olhos para ele com maior interesse.

'Estou apaixonado por uma das moças mais bonitas sobre quem o sol já brilhou. Mas ela depende inteiramente da vontade de meu avô. Se ele soubesse que ela corresponde a meu amor, ela perderia o lar e tudo o mais. Não há nada de muito egoísta NESSE amor, eu acho.'

English → 'Egoísta!', exclamou Tom. 'Você agiu com nobreza. Tenho certeza de que a ama, mas, como ela depende dele, nem sequer contou...'

'Do que você está falando, Pinch?', disse Martin com rispidez. 'Não seja ridículo. O que quer dizer ao afirmar que eu não tinha contado a ela?'

'Peço desculpas', disse Tom. 'Pensei que fosse isso que você queria dizer, ou não teria falado.'

'Se eu não lhe contasse que a amava, de que serviria estar apaixonado?', disse Martin. 'Isso só me deixaria preocupado e perturbado o tempo todo.'

'É verdade', disse Tom. 'Bem, posso imaginar o que ELA disse quando você contou', acrescentou, olhando para o belo rosto de Martin.

'Não exatamente', disse Martin, franzindo um pouco a testa. 'Ela tem ideias de moça sobre dever, gratidão e todas essas coisas, difíceis de entender. Mas, no essencial, você tem razão. Descobri que o coração dela era meu.'

English → 'Exatamente como pensei', disse Tom. 'Muito natural!' Em seu grande contentamento, tomou um longo gole de vinho.

'Embora eu tenha sido muito cuidadoso desde o começo', continuou Martin, 'meu avô ciumento e desconfiado suspeitou que eu a amava. Não disse nada a ela, mas em particular me acusou de tentar estragar a lealdade que lhe dedicava uma jovem que ele criara e ensinara a ser sua única companheira fiel e desinteressada, depois que me casasse conforme a vontade dele. Aí está o egoísmo dele. Respondi de imediato que escolheria meu próprio casamento, com a permissão dele, e que preferia não ser vendido por ele nem por leiloeiro algum a quem desse o maior lance.'

O Sr. Pinch arregalou ainda mais os olhos e fitou o fogo com mais intensidade que antes.

'Isso naturalmente o enfureceu', disse Martin, 'e ele começou a falar muito mal de mim. Uma conversa levou a outra, e palavras produziram mais palavras. No fim, eu teria de renunciar a ela, ou ele renunciaria a mim. Lembre-se, Pinch, de que eu a amo desesperadamente. Embora pobre, sua beleza e inteligência dariam grande prestígio a qualquer pessoa, por mais importante que fosse, que se tornasse seu marido. Além disso, uma parte essencial de minha natureza é muito determinada...'

English → 'Obstinação', sugeriu Tom com sinceridade. O jovem não recebeu a sugestão tão bem quanto Tom esperava e respondeu irritado:

'Que sujeito você é, Pinch!'

'Peço desculpas', disse Tom. 'Pensei que estivesse precisando de uma palavra.'

'Eu não precisava dessa palavra. Já lhe disse que a teimosia não faz parte de meu caráter. Ia dizer que uma parte essencial de minha natureza é a firmeza determinada.'

'Ah!', disse Tom, apertando os lábios e assentindo. 'Sim, sim, entendo!'

'Sendo firme', continuou Martin, 'eu não cederia a ele nem um milésimo de polegada.'

'Não, não', disse Tom.

'Quanto mais ele insistia, mais decidido eu ficava a me opor.'

'Sem dúvida!', disse Tom.

'Muito bem', disse Martin, recostando-se e agitando as duas mãos como se nada mais pudesse ser dito. 'Isso encerra tudo, e aqui estou eu!'

O Sr. Pinch fitou o fogo por vários minutos, confuso como se lhe tivessem proposto um enigma excepcionalmente difícil. Por fim, disse:

English → 'É claro que você já conhecia Pecksniff?'

'Só de nome. Nunca o tinha visto, porque meu avô mantinha a si mesmo e a mim afastados de todos os parentes. Nossa separação aconteceu numa cidade do condado vizinho. De lá fui a Salisbury e vi o anúncio de Pecksniff. Respondi porque sempre tive certo talento natural para os assuntos que ele mencionava e achei que isso poderia me servir. Quando soube que o anúncio era dele, fiquei ainda mais desejoso de vir, porque ele era...'

'Um homem excelente', interrompeu Tom, esfregando as mãos. 'E é mesmo. Você fez bem.'

'Não principalmente por essa razão, para dizer a verdade', disse Martin. 'Meu avô o odeia profundamente. Depois do tratamento injusto do velho, era natural que eu quisesse me opor a todas as opiniões dele. Por isso estou aqui. Meu noivado com a jovem provavelmente durará muito tempo, pois as perspectivas de nenhum de nós são boas. Não vou me casar até poder sustentar nós dois. Não seria certo me lançar na pobreza, em roupas gastas e num amor vivendo num único cômodo, três andares acima.'

English → 'Sem falar nela', disse Tom Pinch em voz baixa.

'Exatamente', respondeu Martin, levantando-se para aquecer as costas diante da lareira. 'Sem falar nela. Mesmo assim, não é muito difícil para ela aceitar a necessidade: primeiro, porque me ama profundamente; segundo, porque sacrifiquei muito por ela e poderia ter conseguido coisa bem melhor.'

Tom demorou muito antes de dizer 'Sem dúvida' - tanto tempo que poderia ter adormecido - , mas finalmente disse.

'Há uma estranha coincidência que encerra esta história de amor', disse Martin. 'Lembra-se do que me contou ontem à noite, no caminho para cá, sobre sua bela visitante da igreja?'

'Sem dúvida', disse Tom. Ele se levantou do banquinho e sentou-se na cadeira que Martin deixara, para poder ver seu rosto. 'Com toda a certeza.'

'Era ela.'

'Eu sabia o que você ia dizer', exclamou Tom, olhando-o fixamente e falando em voz baixa. 'Não me diga!'

English → - Era ela - repetiu o jovem. - Pelo que Pecksniff me contou, tenho certeza de que ela veio e partiu com meu avô. Não beba tanto desse vinho azedo, Pinch, ou pelo que vejo você terá algum tipo de ataque.

- Receio que não seja muito saudável - disse Tom, pousando o copo vazio que segurava havia algum tempo. - Então era ela?

Martin assentiu. Inquieto, disse que, se tivesse chegado alguns dias antes, teria visto a moça, enquanto agora ela poderia estar a centenas de quilômetros. Depois de andar pelo quarto algumas vezes, atirou-se numa cadeira e se irritou como uma criança mimada.

Tom Pinch tinha um coração sensível e não suportava ver nem mesmo um desconhecido aflito. Suportava ainda menos a dor de alguém que lhe despertava interesse e parecia tratá-lo com bondade. Seu rosto mostrava que, apenas alguns instantes antes, seus próprios pensamentos haviam sido sérios. Mesmo assim, afastou-os imediatamente e ofereceu ao jovem amigo os melhores conselhos e o maior consolo que podia.

English → - Com o tempo, tudo ficará bem - disse Tom. - Tenho certeza de que as provações e dificuldades atuais o tornarão mais dedicado em dias melhores. Sempre li isso e sinto que é natural e correto. Não se pode esperar que aquilo que nunca correu tranquilamente mude por nossa causa. - Seu sorriso, embora seu rosto fosse comum, era mais agradável do que os olhares mais radiantes de muitas beldades orgulhosas. - Precisamos aceitar isso e moldá-lo da melhor maneira possível, com paciência e bom humor. Não tenho poder, como sabe, mas tenho excelente boa vontade. Se algum dia eu pudesse ajudá-lo de qualquer modo, como ficaria feliz!

- Obrigado - disse Martin, apertando-lhe a mão. - Você é um bom sujeito e fala com bondade. Claro - acrescentou depois de uma pausa, puxando novamente a cadeira para o fogo - , eu aceitaria de bom grado sua ajuda, se você pudesse ajudar em alguma coisa. Mas, misericórdia! - Ele despenteou os cabelos com impaciência e olhou para Tom como se estivesse zangado por ele não ser outra pessoa. - Pelo tanto que pode me ajudar, Pinch, você bem poderia ser um garfo de torrar pão ou uma frigideira.

English → - Exceto no desejo - disse Tom gentilmente.

- Ah, claro. Foi isso que quis dizer. Se desejar bastasse, eu não precisaria de ajuda. Mas há algo que pode fazer agora, se quiser.

- O que é? - perguntou Tom.

- Leia para mim.

- Será um prazer! - exclamou Tom, pegando a vela com entusiasmo. - Perdoe-me por deixá-lo no escuro por um momento enquanto busco um livro. O que gostaria? Shakespeare?

- Sim! - disse o amigo, bocejando e se espreguiçando. - Ele serve. Estou cansado com a agitação de hoje e com toda essa novidade. Acho que nada é mais agradável do que adormecer ouvindo alguém ler. Não se importará se eu dormir?

- De modo algum! - exclamou Tom.

- Então comece quando quiser. Não pare quando eu ficar sonolento, a menos que esteja cansado; é agradável despertar devagar e voltar a ouvir os sons. Já experimentou?

- Não, nunca experimentei - disse Tom.

English → - Bem, poderá experimentar um dia, quando nós dois estivermos no estado de espírito certo. Não se preocupe em me deixar no escuro. Seja rápido!

O Sr. Pinch saiu imediatamente e logo voltou com um livro precioso da estante ao lado de sua cama. Martin havia se acomodado da melhor maneira possível diante do fogo. Estava deitado por inteiro num sofá improvisado com três cadeiras, usando o banquinho de Mercy como travesseiro.

- Por favor, não leia muito alto - disse ele a Pinch.

- Não, não - disse Tom.

- Tem certeza de que não está com frio?

- De modo algum! - exclamou Tom.

- Então estou pronto.

Depois de manusear as páginas como criaturas vivas e queridas, o Sr. Pinch escolheu um trecho e começou a ler. Antes que terminasse cinquenta linhas, seu amigo roncava.

- Pobre rapaz! - disse Tom baixinho, espiando por cima das cadeiras. - É muito jovem para tantas dificuldades. Como é confiante e generoso ao me dar essa confiança. E era ela?

English → Lembrando-se do acordo, Tom continuou a ler de onde havia parado. Esqueceu-se de aparar o pavio da vela até que ele parecesse um cogumelo. Ficou tão interessado no poema que se esqueceu do fogo. Depois de cerca de uma hora, Martin se levantou de repente, tremendo de frio.

- Ora, está quase apagado! Não admira que eu tenha sonhado que estava congelando. Peça carvão. Que sujeito você é, Pinch!

Capítulo Sete

English → NO QUAL O SR. CHEVY SLYME AFIRMA A INDEPENDÊNCIA DE SEU ESPÍRITO, E O DRAGÃO AZUL PERDE UM MEMBRO

Na manhã seguinte, Martin trabalhou na escola de gramática com tanta energia e rapidez que o Sr. Pinch admirou seus dons naturais e se sentiu muito inferior a ele. O novo aluno recebeu os elogios de Tom com bondade e, à sua maneira, havia se afeiçoado a ele. Disse que seriam sempre os melhores amigos e jamais se arrependeriam de ter se conhecido, especialmente Tom. Tom ficou encantado com essas promessas de amizade e não sabia como demonstrar sua satisfação. A amizade deles tinha mais chances de durar do que muitas amizades juradas: um gostava de proteger e o outro de ser protegido, o que combinava com seus temperamentos. Assim, era improvável que a Inveja e o Orgulho se interpusessem entre eles. Em muitas amizades, pessoas diferentes se unem mais do que pessoas semelhantes.

Na tarde seguinte à partida da família, ambos estavam ocupados: Martin com a escola de gramática e Tom conferindo recibos de aluguel e descontando a comissão do Sr. Pecksniff. Os assobios altos de Martin enquanto desenhava distraíam Tom. Então uma cabeça desgrenhada e um tanto alarmante apareceu de repente à porta daquele santuário do gênio, sorrindo de modo caloroso, brincalhão e aprovador.

English → - Eu mesmo não sou trabalhador, cavalheiros, mas valorizo isso nos outros - disse a cabeça. - Depois do gênio, é uma das melhores qualidades humanas. Agradeço ao meu amigo Pecksniff por esta visão deliciosa. Os senhores me lembram muito Whittington, que depois foi três vezes prefeito de Londres. São dois Whittingtons sem o gato, o que me agrada porque não gosto de gatos. Meu nome é Tigg. Como vão?

Martin olhou para o Sr. Pinch em busca de explicação. Tom, que nunca vira o Sr. Tigg, olhou para o próprio Tigg.

- Chevy Slyme? - disse o Sr. Tigg, beijando a mão esquerda como sinal amistoso. - Saiba que sou o agente credenciado de Chevy Slyme, o embaixador da corte de Chiv. Ha, ha!

- Ora essa! - perguntou Martin, assustado por reconhecer o nome. - O que ele quer comigo?

- Se seu nome é Pinch... - começou o Sr. Tigg.

- Não é - disse Martin, contendo-se. - Aquele é o Sr. Pinch.

English → - Se aquele é o Sr. Pinch - exclamou Tigg, beijando novamente a mão ao entrar - , permita-me dizer que respeito muito seu caráter, que meu amigo Pecksniff elogiou bastante. Valorizo seu talento para o órgão, embora eu próprio não toque realejo. Espero que esteja bem e não tenha problemas com o vento leste.

- Obrigado - disse Tom. - Estou muito bem.

- Isso é um consolo - disse o Sr. Tigg. Então, protegendo os lábios com a mão e aproximando-os do ouvido de Tom, acrescentou: - Vim buscar a carta.

- A carta? - disse Tom em voz alta. - Que carta?

- A carta - sussurrou Tigg com cautela - que meu amigo Pecksniff endereçou a Chevy Slyme, cavalheiro, e deixou com o senhor.

- Ele não deixou carta alguma comigo - disse Tom.

- Silêncio! - exclamou Tigg. - É a mesma coisa, embora meu amigo Pecksniff tenha agido com menos delicadeza do que eu gostaria. O dinheiro.

- O dinheiro! - exclamou Tom, assustado.

English → - Exatamente - disse o Sr. Tigg. Deu duas ou três batidinhas no peito de Tom e assentiu. Seus sinais diziam que eles se entendiam e não precisavam mencionar aquilo diante de uma terceira pessoa. Também pediam a Tom, como favor especial, que colocasse discretamente o dinheiro em sua mão.

Mas o Sr. Pinch ficou tão chocado com aquele comportamento inexplicável que disse abertamente que havia algum engano. Não recebera instrução alguma a respeito do Sr. Tigg ou de seu amigo. O Sr. Tigg pediu-lhe gravemente que repetisse. Quando Tom o fez com mais clareza, Tigg marcou cada frase com um aceno solene. Depois que terminou pela segunda vez, Tigg sentou-se e falou com eles.

English → - Então lhes direi, cavalheiros. Neste momento e neste lugar, uma perfeita estrela de talento e gênio encontra-se numa situação terrível por causa da negligência culpável de meu amigo Pecksniff. No Dragão Azul desta aldeia - uma cervejaria vulgar, baixa e cheia de fumaça de cachimbo - está um homem que ninguém pode igualar: meu amigo Chevy Slyme. Ele está detido lá por causa de sua conta. Ha, ha! Por sua conta! Conhecemos o Livro dos Mártires de Fox, o Tribunal de Pedidos e a Câmara Estrelada, mas não temo ninguém ao dizer que deter Chevy Slyme por causa de uma conta é pior do que qualquer briga de galos de que eu tenha notícia.

Martin e o Sr. Pinch olharam primeiro um para o outro e depois para o Sr. Tigg. De braços cruzados, ele os fitava meio triste, meio amargurado.

English → - Não me interpretem mal, cavalheiros - disse ele, estendendo a mão. - Se fosse qualquer coisa além de uma conta, eu suportaria e ainda respeitaria a humanidade. Mas, quando um homem como Slyme é detido por uma dívida, uma coisa mesquinha escrita numa lousa ou talvez a giz numa porta, sinto que a sociedade está abalada e que não se pode confiar nos princípios fundamentais. Quando um homem como Slyme é detido por uma conta, rejeito as velhas crenças e não acredito em nada. Nem sequer acredito que não acredito, que eu seja amaldiçoado se acredito!

Depois de uma pausa, Tom disse: - Sinto muito, mas o Sr. Pecksniff não me disse nada, e não posso agir sem instruções. Não seria melhor voltar para o lugar de onde veio e mandar o dinheiro a seu amigo?

- Como posso, se também estou detido? - perguntou o Sr. Tigg. - Além disso, por causa da espantosa e culpável negligência de meu amigo Pecksniff, não tenho dinheiro para pagar a diligência.

English → Tom pensou que o cavalheiro poderia escrever pelo correio a um amigo ou agente pedindo dinheiro, e que valia a pena tentar. Mas sua bondade lhe deu motivos para não sugerir isso. Depois de outra pausa, perguntou:

- O senhor disse que também estava detido?

O Sr. Tigg se levantou. - Venha aqui. Importa-se se eu abrir esta janela por um instante?

- Claro que não - disse Tom.

O Sr. Tigg ergueu a vidraça. - Muito bem. Vê um sujeito lá embaixo com um lenço vermelho no pescoço e sem colete?

- Claro - exclamou Tom. - É Mark Tapley.

- Mark Tapley? - disse o cavalheiro. - Então ele gentilmente me seguiu até aqui e espera para me acompanhar de volta. Por essa atenção, senhor - disse o Sr. Tigg, acariciando o bigode - , teria sido melhor que Mark Tapley fosse alimentado até sufocar pela Sra. Tapley quando bebê, em vez de ser mantido vivo até agora.

O Sr. Pinch não ficou assustado demais com essa ameaça para chamar Mark para entrar e subir. Mark obedeceu tão depressa que, quase no mesmo instante em que Tom e o Sr. Tigg fecharam a janela, o homem ameaçado estava diante deles.

English → - Venha cá, Mark - disse o Sr. Pinch. - Meu Deus! O que há de errado entre a Sra. Lupin e este cavalheiro?

- Que cavalheiro, senhor? - disse Mark. - Não vejo cavalheiro algum além do senhor e do novo cavalheiro - disse, fazendo uma reverência grosseira para Martin. - Não há nada de errado entre a Sra. Lupin e nenhum dos dois, Sr. Pinch.

- Que absurdo, Mark! - exclamou Tom. - Você vê o Sr....

- Tigg - interrompeu o cavalheiro. - Espere. Logo o esmagarei. No momento certo!

- Ah, ELE! - disse Mark em tom desafiador. - Sim, eu O vejo. Poderia vê-lo melhor se ele se barbeasse e cortasse o cabelo.

O Sr. Tigg sacudiu ferozmente a cabeça e bateu uma vez no próprio peito.

- Não adianta - disse Mark. - Bata aí quanto quiser; não virá resposta alguma. Eu sei. Só há enchimento aí, e enchimento gorduroso ainda por cima.

- Mark - disse o Sr. Pinch, impedindo uma briga - , responda-me. Espero que não esteja zangado.

English → - Zangado, senhor? - Mark sorriu. - Há pouco mérito em estar alegre enquanto sujeitos como ele andam por aí como leões rugindo, se é que existem leões feitos apenas de rugido e juba. O que há entre ele e a Sra. Lupin? Uma conta. Ela é bondosa por não cobrar o dobro dele e de seu amigo por desonrarem o Dragão. Eu não teria um Pedro, o Menino Selvagem, desses em minha casa nem pelos preços da semana de corridas. Sua aparência poderia azedar a cerveja, se a cerveja tivesse juízo suficiente.

- Você não está respondendo à minha pergunta, Mark - disse o Sr. Pinch.

English → - Há pouco mais - disse Mark. - Ele e o amigo ficam no Lua e Estrelas até acumularem uma conta, depois fazem o mesmo conosco. Contas são comuns, Sr. Pinch; nós nos opomos aos modos desse sujeito. Nada é bom o bastante para ele. Acha que toda mulher o ama e que uma piscadela é pagamento mais que suficiente pela atenção dela. Acha que todo homem existe para receber ordens. Esta manhã, disse: "Partiremos hoje à noite, meu homem". Perguntei se queria a conta pronta. Ele respondeu: "Não, dê ordens a Pecksniff para pagá-la". O Dragão agradeceu a honra, mas disse que não conhecia nenhuma qualidade especial nele. Ele não tinha bagagem, e o Sr. Pecksniff estava fora, embora talvez não soubesse disso. Por isso, queriam algo mais seguro. É assim que as coisas estão. Pergunto a qualquer senhora ou cavalheiro sensato se o Sr. Tigg não tem uma aparência desagradável! - O Sr. Tapley terminou apontando o chapéu para ele.

English → Martin interveio antes que o Sr. Tigg pudesse lançar alguma maldição terrível. - Qual é o valor dessa dívida?

- Muito pouco em dinheiro, senhor - disse Mark. - Pouco mais de três libras. Mas não é isso; é o...

- Sim, você já disse - falou Martin. - Pinch, uma palavra.

- O que foi? - perguntou Tom, indo com ele para um canto.

- Tenho vergonha de dizer que o Sr. Slyme é meu parente, e nunca ouvi nada de bom a respeito dele. Não o quero aqui agora, e três ou quatro libras talvez sejam um preço baixo para nos livrarmos dele. Suponho que você não tenha dinheiro suficiente para pagar a conta.

Tom balançou a cabeça com toda a sinceridade.

- Isso é uma pena. Também sou pobre e, se você tivesse o dinheiro, eu o tomaria emprestado. Mas, se dissermos à proprietária que garantiremos o pagamento, isso bastará?

- Ah, sim! - disse Tom. - Ela me conhece, ora essa!

English → - Então vamos dizer a ela agora. Quanto antes eles forem embora, melhor. Como foi você quem falou com esse cavalheiro até agora, talvez possa lhe dizer o que pretendemos fazer.

Tom contou imediatamente ao Sr. Tigg. Tigg apertou sua mão com entusiasmo, dizendo que sua fé em tudo fora restaurada. Valorizava a ajuda menos pelo alívio temporário do que por ela provar que os Nobres da Natureza se compadeciam dos Nobres da Natureza e que grandes almas compreendiam grandes almas em toda parte. Mostrava que admiravam o gênio mesmo quando, como em Slyme, seu metal às vezes apresentava falhas. Agradeceu-lhes por Slyme com o mesmo fervor que teria demonstrado se a causa fosse sua. Quando se dirigiram à escada, agarrou a lapela do casaco do Sr. Pinch à porta da rua para impedir interrupções e lhe ofereceu uma conversa muito edificante até chegarem ao Dragão, com Mark e o novo aluno logo atrás.

English → A rosada anfitriã quase não precisou da promessa do Sr. Pinch para libertar os dois visitantes. Ficava feliz em se livrar deles em quaisquer condições. A breve detenção fora sobretudo obra do Sr. Tapley. Ele naturalmente não gostava de cavalheiros malvestidos que viviam de falsas alegações e, em especial, não gostava do Sr. Tigg nem de seu amigo. A questão foi resolvida facilmente, e o Sr. Pinch e Martin teriam partido de imediato. Mas o Sr. Tigg lhes implorou com insistência que permitissem ser apresentados a Slyme. Por causa de seus pedidos e da própria curiosidade, deixaram-se conduzir até aquele homem importante.

English → O Sr. Slyme olhava tristemente para os restos do conhaque do dia anterior e fazia círculos molhados na mesa com o copo. Por mais miserável que parecesse, um dia fora um exibido orgulhoso que afirmava ter gosto e potencial ilimitados. É preciso muito pouco para bancar o crítico amador de bom gosto. Um trejeito com o nariz e um lábio curvado podem formar um bom sorriso de desprezo. Mas esse membro preguiçoso da família Chuzzlewit era incapaz de trabalhar regularmente e desperdiçara seu dinheiro. Tentou ganhar a vida como professor de Bom Gosto. Tarde demais, descobriu que precisava de mais do que seus velhos truques. Caiu em seu estado atual, conservando apenas o orgulho e a raiva, sem vida própria além do amigo Tigg. Era lamentável, bêbado, grosseiro, pobre e orgulhoso. Até Tigg, o seguidor que vivia dele, parecia um Homem ao seu lado.

- Chiv - disse o Sr. Tigg, batendo-lhe nas costas - , Pecksniff está fora, portanto resolvi nosso pequeno assunto com o Sr. Pinch e amigo. Sr. Pinch e amigo, Sr. Chevy Slyme! Chiv, Sr. Pinch e amigo!

English → - Estas são circunstâncias agradáveis para conhecer estranhos - disse Chevy Slyme, voltando os olhos injetados para Tom Pinch. - Acredito que sou o homem mais infeliz do mundo!

Tom lhe pediu que não mencionasse aquilo e, vendo-o nessa condição, partiu com Martin depois de uma pausa constrangedora. Mas o Sr. Tigg os incentivou, com tosses e sinais, a permanecer escondidos junto à porta, e assim fizeram.

- Eu juro - exclamou o Sr. Slyme. Bateu estupidamente na mesa e depois apoiou a cabeça enfraquecida na mão enquanto lágrimas de bêbado lhe saíam dos olhos. - Sou a criatura mais miserável de que há registro. A sociedade conspira contra mim. Sou o homem mais literário vivo, cheio de erudição, gênio, informação e novas ideias. E, mesmo assim, olhem para mim! Devo a dois estranhos a conta de uma taberna!

O Sr. Tigg encheu o copo do amigo, colocou-o em sua mão e sinalizou aos visitantes que logo veriam um lado melhor dele.

English → - Devo a dois estranhos a conta de uma taberna! - repetiu o Sr. Slyme depois de beber mal-humorado. - Muito bonito! Enquanto isso, multidões de impostores ficam famosos, homens tão iguais a mim quanto... Tigg, seja testemunha de que sou o cão mais perseguido da Terra.

Ele choramingou como um cão profundamente humilhado e bebeu novamente. Isso o animou; ao baixar o copo, riu com desprezo. O Sr. Tigg indicou com grande emoção que os visitantes agora veriam a grandeza de Chiv.

- Ha, ha, ha! - riu o Sr. Slyme. - Devo a dois estranhos a conta de uma taberna! E, no entanto, tenho um tio rico, Tigg, que poderia comprar os tios de cinquenta estranhos. Não tenho? Venho de boa família. Não venho? Não sou um homem comum em talento ou realizações. Sou?

- Você é a aloe americana da raça humana, querido Chiv - disse o Sr. Tigg - , florescendo apenas uma vez a cada cem anos!

- Ha, ha, ha! - riu o Sr. Slyme. - Devo a dois aprendizes de arquiteto a conta de uma taberna! Homens que medem a terra com correntes de ferro e constroem casas como pedreiros. Diga-me os nomes deles. Como ousam me obrigar!

English → O Sr. Tigg mostrou ao Sr. Pinch, numa pequena e elegante dança que inventou na hora, quanto admirava essa nobre característica do amigo.

- Farei com que eles saibam, e todos os homens saibam - exclamou Chevy Slyme - , que não sou uma dessas pessoas inferiores e submissas. Tenho espírito independente, coração ardente e alma acima de preocupações vulgares.

- Ah, Chiv, Chiv - murmurou o Sr. Tigg - , que natureza nobremente independente!

- Vá cumprir seu dever - disse-lhe o Sr. Slyme com raiva - e consiga dinheiro emprestado para a viagem. A quem quer que o empreste, diga que tenho um espírito orgulhoso e sentimentos delicados que não suportam proteção. Diga que os odeio - é assim que conservo o respeito próprio - e que nenhum homem se respeita mais do que eu!

English → Ele poderia ter dito que odiava dois tipos de homens: os que o ajudavam e os que estavam em melhor situação do que ele. Ambas as posições insultavam seus grandes méritos. Mas não disse. O Sr. Slyme era orgulhoso demais para trabalhar, mendigar, pedir emprestado ou roubar. Mesmo assim, era mesquinho o bastante para deixar que qualquer instrumento útil fizesse essas coisas por ele. Era grosseiro demais para agradecer à mão que o alimentava, mas cão o bastante para mordê-la no escuro. Depois de suas palavras finais, o Sr. Slyme caiu para a frente sobre a mesa e mergulhou num pesado sono de bêbado.

- Já existiu espírito tão independente? - exclamou o Sr. Tigg ao se juntar aos jovens e fechar cuidadosamente a porta. - Já existiu romano como Chiv? Já houve pensamento tão clássico, simplicidade tão semelhante a uma toga ou discurso tão fluente? Ele não poderia ter se sentado num tripé na Antiguidade e feito previsões intermináveis, se antes o dinheiro público fornecesse gim com água?

English → O Sr. Pinch estava prestes a discordar gentilmente, mas viu que seu companheiro descera e preparou-se para segui-lo.

- Não vai embora, Sr. Pinch? - disse Tigg.

"Obrigado", disse Tom. "Sim. Não desça."

"Posso falar uma palavra em particular com o senhor, Sr. Pinch?" Tigg o seguiu. "Um minuto no campo de boliche aliviaria muito minha mente. Posso lhe pedir esse favor?"

"Certamente, se realmente deseja", respondeu Tom. No campo de boliche, o Sr. Tigg tirou do chapéu algo que parecia os restos fossilizados de um antigo lenço de bolso e enxugou os olhos.

"O senhor não me viu hoje sob uma luz favorável", disse o Sr. Tigg.

"Por favor, não mencione isso", disse Tom.

"Mas o senhor NÃO me viu!", exclamou Tigg. "Preciso manter essa opinião. Se o senhor tivesse me visto, Sr. Pinch, liderando meu regimento na costa da África, teríamos avançado em uma formação quadrada. As mulheres, as crianças e o cofre do regimento teriam ficado no centro. O senhor não teria me reconhecido como o mesmo homem. Teria me respeitado, senhor."

English → Tom tinha suas próprias ideias sobre a glória e, por isso, não ficou tão entusiasmado com essa imagem quanto o Sr. Tigg desejaria.

"Mas não importa!", disse aquele cavalheiro. "O estudante que escreveu aos pais e descreveu o leite aguado disse: 'Isto é realmente fraqueza.' Repito essa afirmação a respeito de mim neste momento e peço seu perdão. Senhor, o senhor viu meu amigo Slyme?"

"Sem dúvida", disse o Sr. Pinch.

"Senhor, meu amigo Slyme causou alguma impressão no senhor?"

"Não muito agradável, devo dizer", respondeu Tom, depois de uma pequena hesitação.

English → "Fico triste, mas não surpreso", exclamou o Sr. Tigg, segurando-o com as duas mãos, "ao ouvir que o senhor chegou a essa conclusão, pois ela também é minha. Mas, Sr. Pinch, embora eu seja um homem rude e imprudente, sei honrar a Inteligência. Eu a honro ao acompanhar meu amigo. Ao senhor, mais do que a qualquer outro homem, tenho o direito de apelar em nome da Inteligência quando ela não possui a habilidade de prosperar no mundo. Portanto, senhor, não por mim, que não tenho direito algum sobre o senhor, mas por meu amigo arrasado, sensível e independente, que tem, peço emprestadas três moedas de meia coroa. Peço claramente, sem vergonha, o empréstimo dessas três moedas. Peço quase como um direito. E, quando acrescento que serão devolvidas pelo correio esta semana, sinto que o senhor me censurará por essa condição mesquinha."

English → O Sr. Pinch tirou do bolso uma antiga bolsa de couro vermelho com fecho de aço, que provavelmente pertencera à sua falecida avó. Ela continha apenas meia libra de ouro. Era toda a riqueza de Tom até o próximo dia de pagamento.

"Espere!", exclamou o Sr. Tigg, que observara atentamente o que acontecia. "Eu estava prestes a dizer que, pela conveniência de enviar pelo correio, seria melhor entregar em ouro. Obrigado. Um endereço geral ao Sr. Pinch, na casa do Sr. Pecksniff, será suficiente para encontrá-lo?"

"Será suficiente", disse Tom. "É melhor colocar 'Esquire' depois do nome do Sr. Pecksniff, por favor. Enderece a mim, sabe, aos cuidados de Seth Pecksniff, Esquire."

"Aos cuidados de Seth Pecksniff, Esquire", repetiu o Sr. Tigg, anotando exatamente com um toco de lápis. "Dissemos esta semana, creio eu?"

"Sim, ou segunda-feira servirá", disse Tom.

"Não, não, peço desculpas. Segunda-feira NÃO servirá", disse o Sr. Tigg. "Se combinamos esta semana, sábado é o último dia. Combinamos esta semana?"

English → "Já que o senhor faz tanta questão", disse Tom, "creio que sim."

O Sr. Tigg acrescentou essa condição à sua anotação, releu-a com uma expressão severa e, para tornar a transação mais correta e profissional, colocou suas iniciais ao final. Feito isso, garantiu ao Sr. Pinch que tudo estava perfeitamente em ordem e, depois de apertar sua mão com grande entusiasmo, foi embora.

Tom suspeitava que Martin talvez transformasse aquela conversa em piada e, por isso, desejava evitar a companhia do jovem naquele momento. Para isso, caminhou algumas vezes de um lado para o outro no campo de boliche e só voltou a entrar na casa depois que o Sr. Tigg e seu amigo saíram. O novo aluno e Mark observavam a partida deles de uma das janelas.

"Eu estava dizendo, senhor, que, se fosse possível viver disso", disse Mark, apontando para os visitantes que acabavam de sair, "esse seria o tipo de serviço para mim. Servir pessoas como eles seria melhor do que cavar sepulturas, senhor."

English → "E ficar aqui seria melhor do que qualquer uma dessas coisas, Mark", disse Tom. "Portanto, aceite meu conselho e continue nadando tranquilamente em águas calmas."

"Agora é tarde demais para aceitar esse conselho, senhor", disse Mark. "Já contei a ela. Vou embora amanhã de manhã."

"Embora!", exclamou o Sr. Pinch. "Para onde?"

"Vou para Londres, senhor."

"Para trabalhar em quê?", perguntou o Sr. Pinch.

"Bem, ainda não sei, senhor. Naquele dia em que abri meu coração ao senhor, não apareceu nada que pudesse me servir. Todos os ofícios em que pensei eram alegres demais; não havia mérito algum em nenhum deles. Acho que preciso procurar um emprego em uma casa particular, senhor. Talvez eu pudesse me destacar em uma família muito séria, Sr. Pinch."

"Talvez você se destacasse um pouco demais para o gosto de uma família séria, Mark."

English → "Isso é possível, senhor. Se eu conseguisse entrar numa família perversa, poderia mostrar meu valor. Mas é difícil ter certeza do terreno, porque um jovem não pode anunciar que procura emprego e que o salário importa menos do que uma situação perversa, pode, senhor?"

"Bem, não", disse o Sr. Pinch. "Acho que não pode."

"Uma família invejosa", continuou Mark, pensativo, "ou briguenta, ou maldosa, ou até uma família realmente mesquinha abriria um campo em que eu poderia fazer alguma coisa. O homem que mais me serviria era aquele velho cavalheiro que ficou doente aqui, pois ele realmente era um cliente difícil. De qualquer modo, preciso esperar para ver o que aparece, senhor, e torcer pelo pior."

"Então você está decidido a partir?", perguntou o Sr. Pinch.

English → "Minha mala já seguiu na carroça, senhor. Amanhã de manhã vou a pé e pegarei uma carona na diligência quando ela me alcançar. Portanto, desejo-lhe adeus, Sr. Pinch, e ao senhor também, e toda sorte e felicidade!"

Os dois responderam alegremente à despedida e caminharam para casa de braços dados. No caminho, o Sr. Pinch contou ao novo amigo outros detalhes sobre a estranha inquietação de Mark Tapley, que o leitor já conhece.

English → Enquanto isso, Mark suspeitava que sua patroa estivesse muito triste e que não poderia prever as consequências de uma longa conversa a sós no bar. Por isso, evitou-a teimosamente durante toda a tarde e a noite. A grande quantidade de clientes na sala da taverna ajudou muito sua estratégia. A notícia de sua partida se espalhara, e o lugar ficou cheio durante toda a noite, com muitos brindes e canecas batendo umas nas outras. Por fim, a casa fechou. Como não havia mais como evitar a situação, Mark tentou mostrar coragem e caminhou decidido até a porta do bar.

"Se eu olhar para ela", disse Mark a si mesmo, "estou perdido. Sinto que estou cedendo depressa."

"Finalmente você veio", disse a Sra. Lupin.

English → Sim, disse Mark. Ali estava ele.

"E você está decidido a nos deixar, Mark?", perguntou a Sra. Lupin.

"Bem, sim, estou", disse Mark, mantendo os olhos fixos no chão.

"Eu pensei", continuou a dona da hospedaria, hesitando de modo muito encantador, "que você gostasse do Dragão."

"E gosto", disse Mark.

"Então", continuou a anfitriã, fazendo uma pergunta bastante natural, "por que o abandona?"

Mas ele não respondeu de modo algum, nem mesmo quando ela repetiu a pergunta. A Sra. Lupin colocou o dinheiro dele em sua mão e perguntou, com muita gentileza, o que ele aceitaria.

English → Diz o provérbio que existem certas coisas que a carne e o sangue não conseguem suportar. Uma pergunta como aquela, feita daquele modo, naquele momento e por aquela pessoa, mostrou ser uma delas, pelo menos para a carne e o sangue de Mark. Contra a vontade, ele ergueu os olhos diretamente para ela. Depois disso, não conseguiu baixá-los novamente, pois diante dele estava, em pessoa naquele bar, a mais perfeita entre todas as donas de hospedaria elegantes, cheinhas, saudáveis, de olhos brilhantes e rosto com covinhas que já existiram.

English → "Bem, vou lhe dizer uma coisa", disse Mark, abandonando de repente toda a reserva e segurando a anfitriã pela cintura. Ela não ficou assustada, pois sabia que ele era um bom rapaz. "Se eu pegasse aquilo de que mais gosto, escolheria você. Se pensasse apenas no que é melhor para mim, escolheria você. Se escolhesse o que dezenove entre vinte jovens aceitariam com alegria e a qualquer preço, escolheria você. Sim, escolheria", exclamou o Sr. Tapley, balançando a cabeça de modo expressivo e, num momento de distração, olhando com muita atenção para os lábios maduros da anfitriã. "E nenhum homem acharia estranho se eu fizesse isso!"

A Sra. Lupin disse que ele a espantava. Estava surpresa por ele dizer tais coisas e nunca imaginara isso a respeito dele.

English → "Eu mesmo nunca pensei nisso até agora!", disse Mark, erguendo as sobrancelhas com uma expressão muito alegre de surpresa. "Sempre esperei que nos separássemos sem dar explicação alguma. Era isso que pretendia fazer quando entrei aqui agora, mas há algo em você que faz um homem falar com sensatez. Então vamos conversar um pouco, deixando claro de antemão", acrescentou em tom sério, para impedir qualquer engano, "que não vou fazer declaração de amor, sabe."

Por apenas um segundo, uma sombra, embora nada escura, passou pela testa aberta da dona da hospedaria. Mas desapareceu imediatamente numa risada que veio do fundo de seu coração.

"Ah, muito bem!", disse ela. "Se não haverá declaração de amor, é melhor tirar o braço da minha cintura."

"Ora, por que eu deveria fazer isso?", exclamou Mark. "É completamente inocente."

English → "Claro que é inocente", respondeu a anfitriã, "ou eu não permitiria."

"Muito bem!", disse Mark. "Então deixe-o onde está."

Havia tanta lógica nisso que a dona da hospedaria riu outra vez, permitiu que o braço permanecesse e mandou que ele dissesse rapidamente o que tinha a dizer. Mas acrescentou que ele era um sujeito atrevido.

"Ha, ha! Quase acho que sou!", exclamou Mark. "Embora nunca tenha pensado assim antes. Ora, esta noite consigo dizer qualquer coisa!"

"Diga o que pretende dizer, por favor, e seja rápido", respondeu a dona da hospedaria, "pois quero ir dormir."

"Pois bem, minha querida e boa mulher", disse Mark, "nunca existiu mulher mais bondosa. Quero ver algum homem dizer o contrário! O que provavelmente aconteceria se nós dois..."

"Que absurdo!", exclamou a Sra. Lupin. "Não fale mais sobre isso."

English → "Não é absurdo", disse Mark, "e eu gostaria que você escutasse. O que provavelmente aconteceria se nos casássemos? Se não consigo ser feliz agora neste alegre Dragão, por que seria feliz depois? Mesmo com sua bondade, você estaria sempre preocupada. Temeria estar ficando velha demais para meu gosto e me imaginaria acorrentado à porta do Dragão, desejando fugir. Não sei se isso aconteceria, mas poderia acontecer. Sou um homem que gosta de viajar e de mudanças. Com minha saúde e meu bom humor, acho que teria mais mérito continuar alegre onde existem motivos para tristeza. Posso estar errado, mas só experimentar esse tipo de vida mostrará a verdade. Portanto, não é melhor que eu vá? Sua franqueza me ajudou a dizer tudo isso, e podemos nos separar como bons amigos. Este nobre Dragão", concluiu o Sr. Tapley, "terá meus elogios e meus bons desejos até o dia em que eu morrer!"

English → A anfitriã ficou em silêncio por algum tempo, mas logo segurou as duas mãos de Mark e as apertou calorosamente.

"Você é um bom homem", disse ela, olhando para o rosto dele com um sorriso que, para ela, era sério. "Acredito sinceramente que esta noite você foi um amigo melhor para mim do que qualquer outra pessoa em toda a minha vida."

"Ah, isso é absurdo", disse Mark. Depois, olhou para ela com satisfação e acrescentou: "Mas, meu Deus! Se você ESTÁ pensando em se casar, existem muitos maridos adequados que você poderia enlouquecer!"

Ela riu novamente com o elogio e apertou calorosamente as duas mãos dele mais uma vez. Pediu que se lembrasse dela se algum dia precisasse de uma amiga. Depois, saiu alegremente do pequeno bar e subiu a escada do Dragão.

"Ela está cantarolando enquanto sobe", disse Mark, escutando. "Não quer que eu pense que está abalada e fique triste também. Finalmente há algum mérito em continuar alegre!"

English → Depois de dizer essas palavras consoladoras com muita tristeza, ele foi dormir num estado de espírito nada alegre.

Ele se levantou cedo na manhã seguinte e já caminhava pouco depois do nascer do sol. Mas não conseguiu partir sem ser visto. Todo o lugar se levantara para ver Mark Tapley ir embora: meninos, cachorros, crianças, idosos, pessoas ocupadas e desocupadas. Todos gritavam "Adeus, Mark!" de seu próprio modo, e todos estavam tristes. Ele sentia que sua antiga patroa o observava da janela do quarto, mas não conseguiu olhar para trás.

English → "Adeus a todos!", gritou Mark. Ele agitou o chapéu na ponta da bengala e avançou depressa pela pequena rua. "Aqueles fabricantes de rodas são sujeitos animados, viva! Aí vem o cachorro do açougueiro saindo do jardim. Quieto, velho amigo! Ali está o Sr. Pinch indo tocar seu órgão. Adeus, senhor! E aí vem a cadela terrier do outro lado da rua. Olá, garota! Há crianças suficientes para levar a humanidade até um futuro distante. Adeus, meninos e meninas! Agora há algum mérito em ser alegre. Esses acontecimentos colocariam uma mente comum à prova, mas eu sou extraordinariamente alegre. Não tão alegre quanto gostaria, mas quase. Adeus! Adeus!"

Capítulo Oito

English → ACOMPANHA O SR. PECKSNIFF E SUAS ENCANTADORAS FILHAS À CIDADE DE LONDRES E CONTA O QUE ACONTECEU NO CAMINHO

Quando o Sr. Pecksniff e as duas jovens entraram na pesada diligência, ficaram felizes ao encontrá-la vazia. O lado de fora estava cheio, e os passageiros pareciam sentir muito frio. O Sr. Pecksniff e as filhas enterraram os pés na palha, cobriram-se até o queixo e fecharam as duas janelas. Ele disse que, no frio, era sempre agradável saber que muitos outros estavam menos aquecidos. Explicou que essa bela organização também existia em toda a sociedade. "Se todos estivessem aquecidos e bem alimentados, não poderíamos admirar a coragem com que certas pessoas suportam o frio e a fome. Se não estivéssemos em melhor situação do que os outros, o que aconteceria com nossa gratidão?" Com lágrimas nos olhos, o Sr. Pecksniff balançou o punho para um mendigo que tentava subir na parte traseira. A gratidão, disse ele, era um dos sentimentos mais sagrados da humanidade.

English → As filhas ouviram respeitosamente a lição moral do pai e sorriram para mostrar que concordavam. Para alimentar a chama sagrada da gratidão em seu coração, o Sr. Pecksniff pediu à filha mais velha a garrafa de conhaque, embora a viagem mal tivesse começado. Então bebeu uma grande quantidade pelo gargalo estreito da garrafa de pedra.

"O que somos nós", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "senão diligências? Alguns de nós são diligências lentas..."

"Meu Deus, papai!", exclamou Charity.

"Alguns de nós", continuou o pai com mais força, "são diligências lentas, e outros são rápidas. Nossas fortes paixões são os cavalos, e são animais selvagens!"

"Sinceramente, papai", exclamaram as duas filhas ao mesmo tempo. "Que coisa desagradável."

"E animais selvagens também", repetiu o Sr. Pecksniff com tanta firmeza que ele próprio parecia um pouco selvagem. "A virtude é o freio. Partimos dos Braços da Mãe e seguimos até a Pá de Poeira."

Exausto por esse discurso, o Sr. Pecksniff bebeu mais um pouco de conhaque. Depois, fechou firmemente a garrafa com a rolha, como se também tivesse encerrado o assunto. Dormiu durante três etapas da viagem.

English → As pessoas que dormem em diligências muitas vezes acordam mal-humoradas. Suas pernas parecem estar no caminho, e os pés doloridos as incomodam. O Sr. Pecksniff não era diferente. Depois do sono, esses problemas despertaram nele o desejo de castigar as filhas. Já começara a dar alguns chutes ao acaso e a fazer outros movimentos repentinos com os sapatos quando a diligência parou. Depois de uma breve demora, a porta se abriu.

"Preste atenção", disse uma voz fina e aguda na escuridão. "Meu filho e eu vamos do lado de dentro porque o teto está cheio, mas o senhor concorda em nos cobrar apenas o preço dos lugares externos. Está bem entendido que não pagaremos mais. Certo?"

"Tudo bem, senhor", disse o guarda.

"Há alguém lá dentro agora?", perguntou a voz.

"Três passageiros", respondeu o guarda.

"Então peço aos três passageiros que testemunhem este acordo, se forem bondosos", disse a voz. "Meu rapaz, acho que podemos entrar com segurança."

English → Depois dessa decisão, duas pessoas entraram na diligência. Uma lei do Parlamento permitia oficialmente que ela levasse quaisquer seis pessoas que pudessem ser empurradas através da porta.

"Que sorte!", sussurrou o velho quando voltaram a andar. "Foi muito inteligente você perceber o acordo. He, he, he! Não poderíamos ter viajado do lado de fora. Minha dor nas articulações teria me matado!"

Talvez o filho obediente tivesse percebido que ajudara o pai a viver mais tempo e agira contra os próprios interesses. Ou talvez o frio o tivesse deixado mal-humorado. Como resposta, empurrou o pai com tanta força que o velho tossiu sem parar durante cinco minutos inteiros. Isso irritou tanto o Sr. Pecksniff que ele disse de repente:

"Não há espaço! Realmente não há espaço nesta diligência para nenhum cavalheiro resfriado!"

"O meu", disse o velho, depois de uma pausa, "está no peito, Pecksniff."

English → Agora que o homem falava claramente, sua voz, seus modos e seu comportamento calmo revelavam quem ele era. A presença do filho e seu conhecimento do Sr. Pecksniff tornavam impossível confundir sua identidade.

"Hum! Pensei que estivesse falando com um estranho", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, voltando a ser gentil. "Descubro que estou falando com um parente. O Sr. Anthony Chuzzlewit e seu filho, o Sr. Jonas, que viajam conosco, perdoarão minhas palavras aparentemente duras. Não desejo magoar ninguém ligado a mim pela família. Posso ser um Hipócrita", acrescentou com firmeza, "mas não sou um Bruto."

"Ora, ora!", disse o velho. "Que importância tem essa palavra, Pecksniff? Hipócrita! Somos todos hipócritas. Todos fomos hipócritas no outro dia, e todos pareciam concordar com isso. Caso contrário, eu não teria chamado você assim. Nenhum de nós estaria lá se fôssemos honestos. Mas havia uma diferença entre você e os outros. Quer que eu diga qual era, Pecksniff?"

English → "Se fizer o favor, meu bom senhor; se fizer o favor."

"A coisa irritante a SEU respeito", disse o velho, "é que você nunca tem um companheiro em SUAS trapaças. Você enganaria todos, até as pessoas que praticam o mesmo jogo. Age como se... he, he, he!... realmente acreditasse em si mesmo. Se eu fizesse apostas, o que não faço, apostaria uma grande quantia que você mantém secretamente essa falsa aparência até diante de suas filhas. Quando tenho um plano de negócios, conto a Jonas e conversamos abertamente sobre ele. Você não está ofendido, Pecksniff?"

"Ofendido, meu bom senhor!", exclamou o Sr. Pecksniff, como se o velho tivesse feito o maior elogio possível.

"O senhor está viajando para Londres, Sr. Pecksniff?", perguntou o filho.

"Sim, Sr. Jonas, estamos viajando para Londres. Espero que teremos o prazer de sua companhia durante todo o caminho?"

"Ah! Ora, é melhor perguntar isso a meu pai", disse Jonas. "Não vou fazer promessa alguma."

English → Naturalmente, o Sr. Pecksniff ficou muito divertido com essa resposta. Quando parou de rir, o Sr. Jonas explicou que ele e o pai estavam voltando para casa, em Londres. Desde a grande reunião da família, haviam permanecido na região para acompanhar a venda de alguns investimentos úteis que já tinham notado. O Sr. Jonas disse que eles sempre tentavam alcançar dois objetivos ao mesmo tempo. Nunca jogavam fora peixes pequenos, a menos que pudessem usá-los para capturar baleias. Depois de contar esses fatos breves, disse que, se o Sr. Pecksniff não se importasse, deixaria o pai com ele e conversaria com as moças. Passou do assento ao lado do Sr. Pecksniff para o canto oposto, ao lado da bela Srta. Mercy.

English → Desde o nascimento, o Sr. Jonas fora educado para procurar toda vantagem possível. A primeira palavra que aprendeu a soletrar foi "ganho", e a segunda, quando chegou às palavras de duas sílabas, foi "dinheiro". Seu cuidadoso pai não previra dois resultados desse treinamento. Primeiro, depois de aprender a enganar todos, Jonas começou a gostar de enganar seu respeitado professor e pai. Segundo, aprendera a ver tudo como propriedade. Por isso, começou a considerar o pai com impaciência, como uma riqueza pessoal que não deveria andar livremente. Achava que essa riqueza deveria ser trancada no tipo de cofre de ferro chamado caixão e colocada em segurança na sepultura.

'Bem, prima!', disse o Sr. Jonas. 'Porque SOMOS primos, você sabe, embora um tanto distantes... então você vai para Londres?'

A Srta. Mercy disse que sim, enquanto beliscava o braço da irmã e ria muito.

'Muitos admiradores em Londres, prima!', disse o Sr. Jonas, movendo ligeiramente o cotovelo na direção dela.

English → 'Ora, senhor!', exclamou a jovem. 'Tenho certeza de que eles não nos farão mal.' Deu essa resposta com expressão muito séria, mas achou a própria piada tão engraçada que precisou esconder o riso no xale da irmã.

'Merry', exclamou a irmã mais sensata, 'estou realmente envergonhada de você. Como pode se comportar assim? Sua maluquinha!' Naturalmente, a Srta. Merry apenas riu ainda mais.

'Vi um ar atrevido nos olhos dela outro dia', disse o Sr. Jonas a Charity. 'Mas você é a séria! Devo dizer que estava muito correta e rígida, prima!'

'Ah, que horror antiquado!', sussurrou Merry. 'Querida Cherry, você precisa sentar-se ao lado dele. Vou morrer se ele falar comigo outra vez!' A moça animada saltou do assento e empurrou a irmã para o lugar vazio.

'Não se preocupe em me apertar', exclamou o Sr. Jonas. 'Gosto de ser apertado por garotas. Chegue um pouco mais perto, prima.'

English → 'Não, obrigada, senhor', disse Charity.

'A outra está rindo de novo', disse o Sr. Jonas. 'Talvez esteja rindo de meu pai. Se ele puser sua velha touca de dormir de flanela, não sei o que ela fará! É meu pai que está roncando, Pecksniff?'

'Sim, Sr. Jonas.'

'Por favor, pise no pé dele', disse o jovem cavalheiro. 'O pé ao seu lado é o que tem gota.'

O Sr. Pecksniff hesitou em praticar esse ato amistoso, então o próprio Sr. Jonas o fez e gritou:

'Acorde, pai, ou terá um pesadelo e vai gritar. Você costuma ter pesadelos, prima?', perguntou à vizinha, baixando a voz e tentando ser encantador.

'Às vezes', respondeu Charity. 'Não com frequência.'

'E a outra', disse o Sr. Jonas, após uma pausa. 'ELA costuma ter pesadelos?'

'Não sei', respondeu Charity. 'É melhor perguntar a ela.'

'Ela ri tanto que não consigo conversar com ela', disse Jonas. 'Ouça agora! Você é a sensata, prima!'

English → 'Ora, ora!', exclamou Charity.

'Ah! Mas é! Você sabe que é!'

'Mercy é um pouco tola e agitada', disse a Srta. Charity. 'Mas ficará mais calma com o tempo.'

'Então vai demorar muito, se é que isso acontecerá', respondeu o primo. 'Ocupe um pouco mais de espaço.'

'Tenho medo de apertar você', disse Charity. Mesmo assim, aproximou-se. Depois de um ou dois comentários sobre a pesada diligência e suas muitas paradas, todos ficaram em silêncio até a hora da ceia.

O Sr. Jonas conduziu Charity ao hotel e sentou-se ao lado dela à mesa. Ainda assim, também observava 'a outra', olhando muitas vezes para Mercy e comparando as irmãs. Parecia preferir as formas mais cheias da irmã mais nova. Não podia observá-la por muito tempo, pois estava ocupado comendo. Sussurrou que a refeição tinha preço fixo, portanto, quanto mais Charity comesse, melhor seria o negócio. Seu pai e o Sr. Pecksniff seguiam a mesma regra. Comeram tudo o que conseguiam alcançar, até que seus rostos gordurosos mostraram satisfação, senão completa saciedade.

English → Quando não conseguiram comer mais, o Sr. Pecksniff e o Sr. Jonas pediram, cada um, conhaque quente com água, ao preço de seis pence. O Sr. Jonas achava isso mais prudente do que uma bebida de um xelim, pois o estalajadeiro poderia pôr mais conhaque em dois copos. Depois de beber, o Sr. Pecksniff fingiu ir verificar a diligência. Em vez disso, encheu secretamente seu pequeno frasco no bar, para poder beber sem ser visto na diligência escura.

Quando esses preparativos terminaram e a diligência ficou pronta, voltaram aos lugares anteriores e prosseguiram viagem. Antes de dormir, o Sr. Pecksniff pronunciou estas palavras como uma oração após a refeição:

'Amigos que estudam o corpo dizem que a digestão é uma das obras mais maravilhosas da natureza. Quando desfruto de alimentos simples, tenho o prazer de pôr em movimento a melhor máquina que conhecemos. Sinto que presto um serviço público. Quando dou corda em mim mesmo', disse o Sr. Pecksniff com suavidade, 'e sei que estou Funcionando, o trabalho dentro de mim ensina uma lição. Sou um Benfeitor de Minha Espécie!'

English → Nada podia ser acrescentado, por isso ninguém falou. O Sr. Pecksniff, provavelmente orgulhoso de sua utilidade moral, adormeceu outra vez.

O resto da noite transcorreu como de costume. O Sr. Pecksniff e o velho Anthony caíam um contra o outro e despertavam assustados. Apertavam a cabeça em cantos opostos e, de algum modo, marcavam o rosto enquanto dormiam. A diligência parou e partiu inúmeras vezes. Passageiros entraram e saíram, e cavalos descansados vieram e foram. Para os viajantes sonolentos, as mudanças pareciam contínuas; para os inteiramente despertos, cada uma parecia separada da seguinte por uma noite inteira. Por fim, a diligência sacudiu sobre pedras muito irregulares. O Sr. Pecksniff olhou para fora e disse que a manhã seguinte havia chegado e que estavam no destino.

Logo a diligência parou em seu escritório na cidade. A rua já estava movimentada, confirmando a afirmação do Sr. Pecksniff de que a manhã chegara, embora o céu parecesse de meia-noite. A neblina espessa fazia o lugar parecer uma cidade nas nuvens, alcançada por um pé de feijão mágico. Uma camada grossa cobria a calçada como torta de óleo. Um passageiro do lado de fora disse a outro que aquilo era Neve, embora quem falava estivesse claramente louco e quem ouvia devesse ser seu guardião.

English → O Sr. Pecksniff despediu-se de forma confusa de Anthony e do filho e deixou toda a bagagem no escritório. Com uma filha sob cada braço, correu por ruas, pátios e vielas estranhas e sob arcos escuros. Saltou sobre valetas, fugiu de carruagens e cavalos e várias vezes pensou ter perdido e reencontrado o caminho. Sua confiança aumentava e diminuía, mas ele estava sempre suado e apressado. Por fim, pararam num pátio pavimentado perto do Monumento - ou assim ele disse. Na neblina, não conseguiam ver Monumento algum nem nada além dos prédios próximos. Poderiam igualmente ter brincado de cabra-cega em Salisbury.

O Sr. Pecksniff olhou ao redor e bateu à porta de um prédio muito sujo e escuro entre muitos semelhantes. Uma pequena placa oval, parecida com uma bandeja de chá, dizia: 'Pensão Comercial: M. Todgers'.

M. Todgers não parecia estar acordada. O Sr. Pecksniff bateu duas vezes e tocou a campainha três, mas apenas um cão reagiu. Por fim, uma corrente e ferrolhos se moveram com som enferrujado. Apareceu um menino pequeno, com uma grande cabeça vermelha, quase sem nariz e uma bota Wellington suja no braço esquerdo. Surpreso, esfregou o nariz com uma escova de sapatos e nada disse.

English → 'Ainda na cama, meu rapaz?', perguntou o Sr. Pecksniff.

'Ainda na cama!', respondeu o menino. 'Quem me dera estivessem. Fazem barulho na cama, todos pedindo as botas ao mesmo tempo. Pensei que fosse o Jornal e estranhei que não o empurrasse pela abertura de costume. O que quer?'

O menino era jovem, mas perguntou isso de modo duro e desafiador. O Sr. Pecksniff não se ofendeu. Deu-lhe um cartão, mandou que o levasse para cima e pediu um quarto com lareira acesa.

'Se houver fogo na sala de jantar, posso encontrá-lo sozinho', disse o Sr. Pecksniff. Conduziu as filhas a um cômodo no térreo. Uma toalha pequena demais para a mesa estava preparada para o desjejum. Sobre ela havia carne bovina cozida e rosada, um pão macio mal assado, muitas xícaras e pires e os outros artigos habituais.

English → Dentro da lareira havia cerca de meia dúzia de pares de sapatos e botas limpos, virados de cabeça para baixo para secar. Havia também um par de polainas pretas curtas. Alguém escrevera com giz 'Especial de Jinkins' numa delas. A outra exibia um desenho de Jinkins de perfil. Aparentemente, um cavalheiro descera enquanto se vestia, fizera a piada e voltara para cima.

English → A Pensão Comercial de M. Todgers era sempre escura, mas naquela manhã estava especialmente sombria. O corredor cheirava como se todos os jantares preparados desde a construção da casa ainda esperassem acima da escada da cozinha. Como o Frade Negro de Don Juan, aquilo 'não queria ser expulso'. O repolho era o cheiro mais forte, como se todo vegetal verde cozido ali vivesse para sempre. A sala revestida de madeira fazia os estranhos pensarem em ratos e camundongos. Escadas largas e escuras tinham corrimãos pesados o bastante para uma ponte. No primeiro patamar havia um enorme relógio velho que usava três bolas de latão como coroa. Poucos o viam com clareza, e ninguém o encarava. Seu tique-taque pesado advertia as pessoas a não trombar nele. Ninguém se lembrava de Todgers ter sido pintada ou receber papel de parede. Era preta, suja e mofada. Acima da escada, uma claraboia quebrada, remendada de muitas maneiras, observava todos lá embaixo com desconfiança. Cobria a casa como uma estufa para o cultivo de plantas humanas incomuns.

English → O Sr. Pecksniff e suas filhas tinham se aquecido por menos de dez minutos quando se ouviram passos na escada. A senhora que governava a casa entrou apressada.

M. Todgers era uma senhora magra, de rosto duro. Cachos semelhantes a pequenos barris de cerveja alinhavam-se em sua testa. Um pedaço de rede por cima parecia uma teia de aranha negra. Ela carregava uma pequena cesta com chaves tilintantes. Na outra mão, trazia uma vela de sebo acesa. Examinou o Sr. Pecksniff à luz dela e depois a pousou para poder recebê-lo calorosamente.

'Sr. Pecksniff!', exclamou a Sra. Todgers. 'Bem-vindo a Londres! Quem imaginaria uma visita como esta, depois de tantos... meu Deus!... tantos anos! Como TEM passado, Sr. Pecksniff?'

'Tão bem quanto sempre; e tão feliz em vê-la quanto sempre', respondeu o Sr. Pecksniff. 'Ora, você está mais jovem do que antes!'

'O SENHOR é que está, tenho certeza!', disse a Sra. Todgers. 'Não mudou nem um pouco.'

English → 'O que diz disto?', exclamou o Sr. Pecksniff, estendendo a mão na direção das jovens. 'Isto não me deixa mais velho?'

'Não são suas filhas!', exclamou a senhora. 'Ah, não, Sr. Pecksniff! Sua segunda esposa e a dama de honra dela!'

O Sr. Pecksniff sorriu satisfeito, balançou a cabeça e disse: 'Minhas filhas, Sra. Todgers. Apenas minhas filhas.'

'Ah!', suspirou a boa senhora. 'Preciso acreditar no senhor, pois agora, olhando para elas, acho que as reconheceria em qualquer lugar. Minhas queridas senhoritas Pecksniff, como seu papai me deixou feliz!'

Ela abraçou as duas. Seus sentimentos ou o mau tempo da manhã a haviam dominado. Tirou um pequeno lenço da cesta e o levou ao rosto.

'Minha boa senhora', disse o Sr. Pecksniff, 'conheço suas regras e sei que aceita apenas cavalheiros como hóspedes. Mas pensei que talvez pudesse dar um quarto a minhas filhas e abrir uma exceção para elas.'

English → 'Talvez?', exclamou a Sra. Todgers, muito agitada. 'Talvez?'

'Então posso dizer que tinha certeza de que faria isso', disse o Sr. Pecksniff. 'Sei que tem um quartinho próprio e que elas poderão ficar confortáveis ali, sem aparecer à mesa geral.'

'Queridas meninas!', disse a Sra. Todgers. 'Preciso abraçá-las mais uma vez.'

A Sra. Todgers queria dizer que precisava abraçá-las outra vez, e o fez calorosamente. Na verdade, a casa estava cheia, exceto por uma cama, que o Sr. Pecksniff usaria. Ela precisava de tempo para decidir onde as irmãs poderiam dormir. Mesmo depois do segundo abraço, observou-as por vários instantes. O afeto brilhava num olho e o cálculo prático no outro.

'Acho que consigo dar um jeito', disse a Sra. Todgers. 'Há um sofá-cama no terceiro quartinho, que se abre a partir de minha sala. Ah, queridas meninas!'

English → Ela as abraçou novamente e disse que não conseguia decidir qual das irmãs mais se parecia com a pobre mãe. Isso fazia sentido, pois nunca vira aquela senhora. Ainda assim, achava que era a mais nova. Depois, a Sra. Todgers disse que os cavalheiros logo desceriam e que as moças estavam cansadas da viagem. Não gostariam de ir imediatamente para o quarto dela?

Era a sala dos fundos no mesmo andar. A Sra. Todgers disse que ela tinha a grande vantagem londrina de não ser vista de fora, como perceberiam quando a neblina se dissipasse. Era verdade: a sessenta centímetros de distância havia uma parede marrom com uma cisterna preta no alto. Uma portinha conveniente, que só se abria quando uma pessoa forte caía contra ela, levava ao quarto das jovens. Dava para outro canto de parede e cisterna. 'Não é o lado úmido', disse a Sra. Todgers. 'ESSE é o do Sr. Jinkins.'

English → O jovem carregador acendeu depressa o fogo no primeiro quarto. Enquanto a Sra. Todgers estava fora, ele assobiou e desenhou figuras em suas calças de veludo cotelê com madeira queimada. Quando ela o pegou, mandou-o embora com um tapa nas orelhas. Preparou pessoalmente o desjejum das jovens. Depois foi dirigir o outro cômodo, onde continuavam as piadas barulhentas sobre o Sr. Jinkins.

'Ainda não vou perguntar, minhas queridas', disse o Sr. Pecksniff à porta, 'o que acham de Londres. Devo perguntar?'

'Não vimos muita coisa, papai!', exclamou Merry.

'Nada, espero', disse Cherry, ambas parecendo infelizes.

'De fato', disse o Sr. Pecksniff, 'isso é verdade. Nosso prazer e nossos negócios ainda estão pela frente. Tudo a seu tempo!'

Se os negócios londrinos do Sr. Pecksniff eram tão profissionais quanto ele dissera ao novo aluno, veremos, nas palavras dele, 'tudo a seu tempo'.

Capítulo Nove

English → A CIDADE E TODGERS

Certamente nenhum outro distrito, cidade ou povoado tinha um lugar tão estranho quanto Todgers. Os prédios londrinos ao redor a cercavam, empurravam e esmagavam. Enfiavam nela os cotovelos de tijolo e argamassa e bloqueavam seu ar e sua luz. Portanto, aquela parte de Londres parecia parente adequada de Todgers e de milhares de outras casas excêntricas semelhantes.

English → Não era possível atravessar a região de Todgers como se atravessa outro bairro. Durante uma hora, a pessoa tateava por vielas, ruas laterais, pátios e passagens sem chegar a nada parecido com uma rua. Um estranho logo se confundia e aceitava que estava perdido. Entrava, saía e dava voltas, retornando ao encontrar um muro ou grade de ferro. Só podia esperar e torcer para que uma saída aparecesse por si mesma. Algumas pessoas convidadas para jantar em Todgers andavam por séculos com suas chaminés à vista. Quando ainda assim não conseguiam alcançá-la, voltavam para casa em triste silêncio. Ninguém jamais encontrou Todgers seguindo instruções faladas, mesmo estando a poucos minutos dali. Viajantes cuidadosos da Escócia ou do norte da Inglaterra às vezes chegavam em segurança. Traziam um menino de caridade da cidade como guia ou agarravam-se firmemente ao carteiro. Esses casos raros apenas confirmavam a regra: Todgers ficava num labirinto cujo segredo pouquíssimos conheciam.

English → Corretores de frutas tinham mercados perto de Todgers. Um visitante notava primeiro laranjas danificadas, com manchas azuis e verdes, apodrecendo em caixas e porões. O dia inteiro, carregadores vinham dos cais do rio com caixotes de laranjas prestes a estourar sobre as costas. Avançavam devagar pelas passagens estreitas. Sob o arco da taberna, grupos de carregadores em repouso bebiam da manhã à noite. Bombas solitárias e estranhas se escondiam em becos sem saída ao lado de escadas de incêndio. Havia também dezenas de igrejas com pequenos cemitérios fantasmagóricos. Umidade, sepulturas e lixo alimentavam as plantas selvagens que cresciam ali. Alguns desses lugares escuros de repouso tinham árvores altas, mas doentes. A cada ano, elas produziam folhas como se recordassem fracamente sua própria espécie. Eram como pássaros engaiolados lembrando-se da liberdade. Velhos vigias com pouca força guardavam os mortos ali à noite, ano após ano. Por fim, os vigias juntavam-se aos mortos. Então dormiam mais profundamente debaixo da terra, em outro tipo de caixa, mas pouco mais mudava em sua condição.

English → Velhos portais de carvalho entalhado permaneciam nas passagens estreitas perto de Todgers. Muito tempo antes, sons de banquetes vinham deles. Agora, as casas antigas eram depósitos escuros cheios de lã, algodão e outras mercadorias pesadas. Esses produtos abafavam os sons e faziam os prédios vazios parecerem mortos e sombrios. Pátios lúgubres continham enormes sacos e fardos pendurados em guindastes altos. Poucas pessoas entravam neles, exceto viajantes tardios. Incontáveis carroças paradas bloqueavam as vielas estreitas diante das portas de seus donos. Quando uma carruagem perdida ou uma carroça pesada passava, causava grande estrondo. Até os sinos das igrejas próximas tremiam. Em becos escuros e sem saída, comerciantes de vinho e atacadistas de alimentos tinham pequenas cidades próprias. Bem abaixo desses prédios havia estábulos. Nos domingos silenciosos, cavalos de carroça incomodados por ratos sacudiam os cabrestos como fantasmas agitando correntes em histórias de casas assombradas.

English → Contar sobre metade das estranhas tavernas antigas perto de Todgers encheria um livro. Seus excêntricos e antigos frequentadores poderiam encher outro. A maioria nascera e fora criada na região. Agora chiavam e tinham falta de ar, exceto quando contavam histórias muito longas. Eram contra o vapor e toda moda nova. Chamavam de pecado viajar em balão e lamentavam a decadência de sua época. O membro do clube que guardava as chaves da igreja mais próxima culpava as divergências religiosas e a falta de fé. A maioria dos outros acreditava que a bondade desaparecera junto com o pó para cabelos. Achavam que a grandeza da velha Inglaterra também diminuíra com os barbeiros.

Como casa, e não como pensão comercial, Todgers combinava com a região. Dizia-se que uma janela da escada lateral no térreo não se abria havia cem anos. A lama suja da viela a cobria tão densamente que, embora cada vidro estivesse rachado e quebrado vinte vezes, nenhum conseguia cair. O maior mistério de Todgers eram seus porões, alcançados apenas por uma porta dos fundos e uma grade enferrujada. Há muito pertenciam a outra pessoa, não tinham ligação com a casa e, segundo diziam, guardavam riquezas - prata, latão, ouro, vinho ou pólvora. Ninguém em Todgers sabia ou se importava qual delas.

Preface

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

por Charles Dickens

VIDA E AVENTURAS DE MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT

por Charles Dickens

PREFÁCIO

O que parece exagerado para uma pessoa pode parecer claramente verdadeiro para outra. Uma pessoa com visão ampla vê muitos detalhes que alguém de visão curta não consegue ver. Às vezes me pergunto se os escritores sempre usam cores demais ou se alguns leitores simplesmente não enxergam o bastante.

Tenho experiência direta com exageros, mais estranha que essa ideia. Nunca copiei uma pessoa exatamente, mas alguém parecido com uma personagem já me perguntou: "Agora, sinceramente, alguma vez vi alguém assim?"

Acredito que todos os membros da família Pecksniff concordam que o Sr. Pecksniff é uma personagem exagerada e que ninguém assim jamais existiu. Não o defenderei diante de um grupo tão poderoso e respeitável. Em vez disso, comentarei sobre Jonas Chuzzlewit.

Original English Version

by Charles Dickens

LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT

by Charles Dickens

PREFACE

What is exaggeration to one class of minds and perceptions, is plain truth to another. That which is commonly called a long-sight, perceives in a prospect innumerable features and bearings non-existent to a short-sighted person. I sometimes ask myself whether there may occasionally be a difference of this kind between some writers and some readers; whether it is ALWAYS the writer who colours highly, or whether it is now and then the reader whose eye for colour is a little dull?

On this head of exaggeration I have a positive experience, more curious than the speculation I have just set down. It is this: I have never touched a character precisely from the life, but some counterpart of that character has incredulously asked me: "Now really, did I ever really, see one like it?"

All the Pecksniff family upon earth are quite agreed, I believe, that Mr Pecksniff is an exaggeration, and that no such character ever existed. I will not offer any plea on his behalf to so powerful and genteel a body, but will make a remark on the character of Jonas Chuzzlewit.

Tradução Integral em Português

por Charles Dickens

VIDA E AVENTURAS DE MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT

por Charles Dickens

PREFÁCIO

O que é exagero para certa classe de espíritos e percepções é a pura verdade para outra. Aquilo que comumente se chama vista longa percebe numa paisagem inúmeros aspectos e direções inexistentes para uma pessoa míope. Às vezes pergunto a mim mesmo se não poderá haver, ocasionalmente, uma diferença dessa natureza entre alguns escritores e alguns leitores; se é SEMPRE o escritor quem carrega nas cores, ou se, vez por outra, é o leitor cujo olhar para as cores se mostra um tanto embotado.

Quanto a esse exagero, possuo uma experiência concreta, mais curiosa que a especulação que acabo de registrar. É esta: nunca retratei uma personagem exatamente da vida real sem que algum correspondente dessa personagem me perguntasse, incrédulo: "Mas, diga-me, eu realmente, alguma vez, vi alguém assim?"

Todos os membros da família Pecksniff existentes sobre a face da Terra estão de pleno acordo, creio eu, em que o Sr. Pecksniff é um exagero e jamais existiu personagem semelhante. Não apresentarei nenhuma defesa dele perante corporação tão poderosa e distinta, mas farei uma observação sobre a personagem de Jonas Chuzzlewit.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A natureza baixa, rude e cruel de Jonas pareceria artificial sem sua educação inicial. As lições e os exemplos sempre diante dele fizeram seus defeitos crescer. Ele nasceu e foi criado assim, elogiado pelo que o tornava odioso e ensinado desde criança que enganar, trair e ser ganancioso era certo. O ensino do pai o formou, e esses mesmos defeitos agora voltam para punir o pai em sua velhice vergonhosa. Isso não é apenas justiça numa história, mas um exemplo claro de uma verdade direta.

Peço aos leitores que se lembrem disso, pois muitas vezes não pensam nas causas dos atos errados e crimes que os chocam. O que vale para famílias também vale para um país inteiro: colhemos o que plantamos. Visitem a seção infantil de qualquer prisão inglesa ou, infelizmente, de muitos asilos. Depois julguem se as pessoas que envergonham nossas ruas, enchem nossos navios-prisão e prisões e lotam colônias penais distantes são monstros ou pessoas que conscientemente deixamos crescer na miséria e na ruína.

Original English Version

I conceive that the sordid coarseness and brutality of Jonas would be unnatural, if there had been nothing in his early education, and in the precept and example always before him, to engender and develop the vices that make him odious. But, so born and so bred, admired for that which made him hateful, and justified from his cradle in cunning, treachery, and avarice; I claim him as the legitimate issue of the father upon whom those vices are seen to recoil. And I submit that their recoil upon that old man, in his unhonoured age, is not a mere piece of poetical justice, but is the extreme exposition of a direct truth.

I make this comment, and solicit the reader's attention to it in his or her consideration of this tale, because nothing is more common in real life than a want of profitable reflection on the causes of many vices and crimes that awaken the general horror. What is substantially true of families in this respect, is true of a whole commonwealth. As we sow, we reap. Let the reader go into the children's side of any prison in England, or, I grieve to add, of many workhouses, and judge whether those are monsters who disgrace our streets, people our hulks and penitentiaries, and overcrowd our penal colonies, or are creatures whom we have deliberately suffered to be bred for misery and ruin.

Tradução Integral em Português

Considero que a sórdida grosseria e a brutalidade de Jonas seriam antinaturais se nada houvesse em sua educação inicial, nem nos preceitos e exemplos sempre postos diante dele, capaz de engendrar e desenvolver os vícios que o tornam odioso. Mas, tendo nascido e sido criado dessa maneira, admirado por aquilo que o fazia detestável e, desde o berço, justificado em sua astúcia, perfídia e avareza, reivindico-o como fruto legítimo do pai sobre quem esses vícios acabam por recair. E sustento que o fato de recaírem sobre aquele velho, em sua velhice desonrada, não constitui mera justiça poética, mas a demonstração extrema de uma verdade direta.

Faço este comentário e solicito a atenção do leitor para ele ao considerar esta história, porque nada é mais comum na vida real que a falta de uma reflexão proveitosa sobre as causas de muitos vícios e crimes que despertam o horror geral. O que é substancialmente verdadeiro a respeito das famílias, nesse sentido, é verdadeiro a respeito de toda uma nação. Colhemos o que semeamos. Que o leitor entre na ala infantil de qualquer prisão da Inglaterra - ou, lamento acrescentar, de muitas casas de trabalho - e julgue se aqueles que desonram nossas ruas, povoam nossos navios-prisão e penitenciárias e superlotam nossas colônias penais são monstros ou criaturas que deliberadamente permitimos que fossem criadas para a miséria e a ruína.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A parte americana desta história não é uma caricatura, exceto por mostrar principalmente um lado ridículo do caráter americano, como o Sr. Bevan esperava. Vinte e quatro anos atrás, esse lado era o mais visível para viajantes como o jovem Martin e Mark Tapley. Nunca quis suavizar o que era ridículo ou errado em casa, então esperava que o povo bem-humorado dos Estados Unidos não se incomodasse quando fiz o mesmo no exterior. Alegra-me que essa confiança naquela grande nação tenha sido justificada.

Quando este livro apareceu pela primeira vez, algumas autoridades disseram que a Associação Watertoast e seus discursos eram impossíveis. Por isso, registro que as experiências de Martin Chuzzlewit ali repetem de perto relatos de reuniões públicas nos Estados Unidos, especialmente de uma Associação Brandywine. O jornal The Times os publicou em junho e julho de 1843, enquanto eu escrevia essas partes; eles continuam nos arquivos do jornal.

Original English Version

The American portion of this story is in no other respect a caricature than as it is an exhibition, for the most part (Mr Bevan expected), of a ludicrous side, ONLY, of the American character--of that side which was, four-and-twenty years ago, from its nature, the most obtrusive, and the most likely to be seen by such travellers as Young Martin and Mark Tapley. As I had never, in writing fiction, had any disposition to soften what is ridiculous or wrong at home, so I then hoped that the good-humored people of the United States would not be generally disposed to quarrel with me for carrying the same usage abroad. I am happy to believe that my confidence in that great nation was not misplaced.

When this book was first published, I was given to understand, by some authorities, that the Watertoast Association and eloquence were beyond all bounds of belief. Therefore I record the fact that all that portion of Martin Chuzzlewit's experiences is a literal paraphrase of some reports of public proceedings in the United States (especially of the proceedings of a certain Brandywine Association), which were printed in the Times Newspaper in June and July, 1843--at about the time when I was engaged in writing those parts of the book; and which remain on the file of the Times Newspaper, of course.

Tradução Integral em Português

A parte americana desta história não é caricatura em nenhum outro sentido além de constituir, em sua maior parte (excetuado o Sr. Bevan), uma exposição APENAS do lado ridículo do caráter americano - daquele lado que, vinte e quatro anos atrás, era por natureza o mais ostensivo e o mais propenso a ser visto por viajantes como o jovem Martin e Mark Tapley. Como, ao escrever ficção, eu jamais tivera qualquer disposição para atenuar o que há de ridículo ou errado em nosso próprio país, esperava então que o povo bem-humorado dos Estados Unidos não estivesse, em geral, disposto a se indispor comigo por eu levar ao exterior o mesmo tratamento. Alegra-me crer que minha confiança naquela grande nação não foi mal depositada.

Quando este livro foi publicado pela primeira vez, algumas autoridades deram-me a entender que a Associação Watertoast e sua eloquência ultrapassavam todos os limites do crível. Registro, portanto, que toda essa parte das experiências de Martin Chuzzlewit é uma paráfrase literal de certas reportagens sobre atos públicos nos Estados Unidos (em especial, os atos de certa Associação Brandywine), publicadas no jornal Times em junho e julho de 1843 - aproximadamente na época em que eu escrevia aquelas partes do livro - e que, naturalmente, continuam nos arquivos do Times.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Em todos os meus escritos, espero ter mostrado que as casas abandonadas dos pobres precisam de melhores condições sanitárias. Vinte e quatro anos atrás, a Sra. Sarah Gamp era um exemplo justo de trabalhadora paga para cuidar de pobres doentes. Os hospitais de Londres eram instituições nobres em muitos aspectos, mas muito ruins em outros. A Sra. Betsey Prig representava bem uma enfermeira hospitalar e mostrava uma grave má administração. Embora os hospitais tivessem dinheiro e recursos, deixavam para pessoas particulares e atenciosas a tarefa de melhorar essas trabalhadoras. Desde então, boas mulheres as melhoraram muito.

PÓS-ESCRITO

Num jantar público oferecido a mim no sábado, 18 de abril de 1868, em Nova York, duzentos representantes da imprensa dos Estados Unidos ouviram, entre outras observações, o seguinte:

Original English Version

In all my writings, I hope I have taken every available opportunity of showing the want of sanitary improvements in the neglected dwellings of the poor. Mrs Sarah Gamp was, four-and-twenty years ago, a fair representation of the hired attendant on the poor in sickness. The hospitals of London were, in many respects, noble Institutions; in others, very defective. I think it not the least among the instances of their mismanagement, that Mrs Betsey Prig was a fair specimen of a Hospital Nurse; and that the Hospitals, with their means and funds, should have left it to private humanity and enterprise, to enter on an attempt to improve that class of persons--since, greatly improved through the agency of good women.

POSTSCRIPT

At a Public Dinner given to me on Saturday the 18th of April, 1868, in the city of New York, by two hundred representatives of the Press of the United States of America, I made the following observations, among others:--

Tradução Integral em Português

Em todos os meus escritos, espero ter aproveitado cada oportunidade disponível para mostrar a falta de melhorias sanitárias nas moradias negligenciadas dos pobres. Vinte e quatro anos atrás, a Sra. Sarah Gamp representava com fidelidade a acompanhante contratada para cuidar dos pobres durante as enfermidades. Os hospitais de Londres eram, em muitos aspectos, instituições nobres; em outros, muito deficientes. Não considero dos menores exemplos de sua má administração o fato de a Sra. Betsey Prig constituir um retrato fiel de uma enfermeira hospitalar; e de os hospitais, com seus meios e recursos, terem deixado à humanidade e à iniciativa privadas a tarefa de tentar melhorar essa classe de pessoas - desde então, muito aperfeiçoada pela atuação de boas mulheres.

PÓS-ESCRITO

Num jantar público que me foi oferecido no sábado, 18 de abril de 1868, na cidade de Nova York, por duzentos representantes da imprensa dos Estados Unidos da América, fiz, entre outras, as seguintes observações: -

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Minha voz foi ouvida tanto ultimamente neste país que eu poderia não dizer mais nada. Mas aqui e em todo lugar adequado, devo expressar minha profunda gratidão por minha segunda recepção na América e testemunhar a generosidade e a grandeza da nação. Fiquei espantado com as mudanças por toda parte: mudanças morais e físicas; mais terras ocupadas e povoadas; vastas cidades novas; cidades antigas crescidas quase além do reconhecimento; maior elegância na vida; e mudanças na imprensa, sem cujo avanço nenhum progresso pode ocorrer em lugar algum. Também não sou arrogante a ponto de pensar que em vinte e cinco anos não mudei, aprendi ou corrigi fortes primeiras impressões. Desde que desembarquei nos Estados Unidos em novembro passado, mantive silêncio sobre isso, embora às vezes tentado a falar. A imprensa, sendo humana, pode errar ou receber informações falsas. Em um ou dois casos raros, suas notícias sobre mim não foram totalmente exatas. Às vezes fiquei mais surpreso com notícias impressas sobre mim do que com qualquer outra notícia que li. Durante meses, supostamente venho reunindo material e trabalhando num novo livro sobre a América. No entanto, meus editores dos dois lados do Atlântico sempre souberam que nenhuma consideração no mundo me faria escrever um. O que pretendi e decidi foi isto: quando voltar à Inglaterra, usarei minha própria pessoa e meu próprio diário para contar aos meus compatriotas as grandes mudanças que mencionei. Também registrarei que em todos os lugares, pequenos ou grandes, recebi educação, delicadeza, bondade, hospitalidade, consideração e respeito incomparáveis pela privacidade exigida por meu trabalho e minha saúde. Enquanto eu viver, e enquanto meus descendentes tiverem direitos legais sobre meus livros, mandarei republicar esta declaração como apêndice em cada exemplar dos meus dois livros que tratam da América. Faço isso não apenas por amor e gratidão, mas porque a justiça simples e a honra o exigem."

Original English Version

"So much of my voice has lately been heard in the land, that I might have been contented with troubling you no further from my present standing-point, were it not a duty with which I henceforth charge myself, not only here but on every suitable occasion, whatsoever and wheresoever, to express my high and grateful sense of my second reception in America, and to bear my honest testimony to the national generosity and magnanimity. Also, to declare how astounded I have been by the amazing changes I have seen around me on every side--changes moral, changes physical, changes in the amount of land subdued and peopled, changes in the rise of vast new cities, changes in the growth of older cities almost out of recognition, changes in the graces and amenities of life, changes in the Press, without whose advancement no advancement can take place anywhere. Nor am I, believe me, so arrogant as to suppose that in five-and-twenty years there have been no changes in me, and that I had nothing to learn and no extreme impressions to correct when I was here first. And this brings me to a point on which I have, ever since I landed in the United States last November, observed a strict silence, though sometimes tempted to break it, but in reference to which I will, with your good leave, take you into my confidence now. Even the Press, being human, may be sometimes mistaken or misinformed, and I rather think that I have in one or two rare instances observed its information to be not strictly accurate with reference to myself. Indeed, I have, now and again, been more surprised by printed news that I have read of myself, than by any printed news that I have ever read in my present state of existence. Thus, the vigour and perseverance with which I have for some months past been collecting materials for, and hammering away at, a new book on America has much astonished me; seeing that all that time my declaration has been perfectly well known to my publishers on both sides of the Atlantic, that no consideration on earth would induce me to write one. But what I have intended, what I have resolved upon (and this is the confidence I seek to place in you), is, on my return to England, in my own person, in my own Journal, to bear, for the behoof of my countrymen, such testimony to the gigantic changes in this country as I have hinted at to-night. Also, to record that wherever I have been, in the smallest places equally with the largest, I have been received with unsurpassable politeness, delicacy, sweet temper, hospitality, consideration, and with unsurpassable respect for the privacy daily enforced upon me by the nature of my avocation here and the state of my health. This testimony, so long as I live, and so long as my descendants have any legal right in my books, I shall cause to be republished, as an appendix to every copy of those two books of mine in which I have referred to America. And this I will do and cause to be done, not in mere love and thankfulness, but because I regard it as an act of plain justice and honour."

Tradução Integral em Português

"Tanto se tem ouvido ultimamente a minha voz neste país que eu bem poderia ter-me contentado em não mais incomodá-los desta posição em que ora me encontro, não fosse um dever que doravante imponho a mim mesmo, não apenas aqui, mas em toda ocasião apropriada, qualquer que seja e onde quer que se apresente: expressar minha elevada e grata apreciação pela segunda acolhida que recebi na América e prestar meu testemunho sincero da generosidade e magnanimidade nacionais. E também declarar o quanto me assombraram as extraordinárias mudanças que vi ao meu redor por toda parte - mudanças morais, mudanças físicas, mudanças na extensão das terras dominadas e povoadas, mudanças no surgimento de novas e vastas cidades, mudanças no crescimento das cidades mais antigas, quase a ponto de se tornarem irreconhecíveis, mudanças nas graças e amenidades da vida, mudanças na imprensa, sem cujo progresso nenhum progresso pode ocorrer em parte alguma. Tampouco sou, creiam-me, arrogante a ponto de supor que em vinte e cinco anos não tenha havido mudanças em mim, e que nada tivesse a aprender nem impressões extremadas a corrigir quando estive aqui pela primeira vez. Isso me conduz a um ponto sobre o qual, desde que desembarquei nos Estados Unidos em novembro passado, tenho guardado rigoroso silêncio, embora às vezes tentado a rompê-lo, mas a respeito do qual, com a bondosa licença dos senhores, hei de agora fazê-los meus confidentes. Até mesmo a imprensa, sendo humana, pode por vezes enganar-se ou receber informações errôneas, e penso ter observado, em um ou dois raros casos, que suas informações a meu respeito não eram rigorosamente exatas. De fato, aqui e ali, fiquei mais surpreso com as notícias impressas que li sobre mim mesmo do que com qualquer notícia impressa que jamais tenha lido em meu atual estado de existência. Assim, muito me assombraram o vigor e a perseverança com que, segundo consta, há alguns meses venho reunindo materiais e trabalhando a golpes de martelo num novo livro sobre a América; considerando-se que, durante todo esse tempo, meus editores dos dois lados do Atlântico conheciam perfeitamente minha declaração de que nenhuma consideração sobre a Terra me induziria a escrever tal livro. Mas o que pretendi, o que resolvi fazer (e esta é a confidência que desejo depositar nos senhores), foi, ao regressar à Inglaterra, em minha própria pessoa e em meu próprio periódico, prestar, em benefício de meus compatriotas, testemunho das mudanças gigantescas ocorridas neste país, como as que mencionei esta noite. E também registrar que, aonde quer que eu tenha ido, nos menores lugares tanto quanto nos maiores, fui recebido com insuperável cortesia, delicadeza, afabilidade, hospitalidade e consideração, e com insuperável respeito pela privacidade que a natureza de minha atividade aqui e meu estado de saúde diariamente me obrigaram a preservar. Enquanto eu viver e enquanto meus descendentes tiverem qualquer direito legal sobre meus livros, farei com que este testemunho seja republicado, como apêndice, em cada exemplar daqueles dois livros meus em que me referi à América. E isso farei e mandarei fazer, não por mero amor e gratidão, mas porque o considero um ato de simples justiça e honra."

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Pronunciei essas palavras com toda a sinceridade possível e as repito aqui impressas com o mesmo sentimento. Enquanto este livro existir, espero que permaneçam nele e sejam lidas com justiça como parte de minhas experiências e impressões da América.

CHARLES DICKENS.

Maio de 1868.

Original English Version

I said these words with the greatest earnestness that I could lay upon them, and I repeat them in print here with equal earnestness. So long as this book shall last, I hope that they will form a part of it, and will be fairly read as inseparable from my experiences and impressions of America.

CHARLES DICKENS.

May, 1868.

Tradução Integral em Português

Pronunciei essas palavras com toda a sinceridade de que fui capaz de revesti-las, e aqui as repito impressas com igual sinceridade. Enquanto este livro perdurar, espero que elas façam parte dele e sejam lidas com justiça, como inseparáveis de minhas experiências e impressões da América.

CHARLES DICKENS.

Maio de 1868.

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Chapter One

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

INTRODUÇÃO SOBRE A LINHAGEM DA FAMÍLIA CHUZZLEWIT

Nenhuma senhora ou cavalheiro bem-educado pode simpatizar com a família Chuzzlewit sem primeiro saber quanto ela é antiga. Felizmente, a família descende claramente em linha direta de Adão e Eva e, nos primeiros tempos, esteve muito ligada à agricultura. Se pessoas ciumentas e maliciosas disserem que algum Chuzzlewit demonstrou orgulho familiar demais, essa fraqueza deve parecer perdoável, até elogiável, quando se considera a enorme superioridade da família sobre o resto da humanidade em antiguidade de origem.

É notável que a família mais antiga registrada tivesse tanto um assassino quanto um vagabundo, e antigos registros familiares sempre repetem tais personagens. Na verdade, quanto mais longa a linhagem, mais violência e viagens aparecem. Nos tempos antigos, essas atividades traziam emoção e uma maneira promissora de recuperar fortunas arruinadas; eram o nobre trabalho e a recreação saudável das classes superiores deste país.

Original English Version

INTRODUCTORY, CONCERNING THE PEDIGREE OF THE CHUZZLEWIT FAMILY

As no lady or gentleman, with any claims to polite breeding, can possibly sympathize with the Chuzzlewit Family without being first assured of the extreme antiquity of the race, it is a great satisfaction to know that it undoubtedly descended in a direct line from Adam and Eve; and was, in the very earliest times, closely connected with the agricultural interest. If it should ever be urged by grudging and malicious persons, that a Chuzzlewit, in any period of the family history, displayed an overweening amount of family pride, surely the weakness will be considered not only pardonable but laudable, when the immense superiority of the house to the rest of mankind, in respect of this its ancient origin, is taken into account.

It is remarkable that as there was, in the oldest family of which we have any record, a murderer and a vagabond, so we never fail to meet, in the records of all old families, with innumerable repetitions of the same phase of character. Indeed, it may be laid down as a general principle, that the more extended the ancestry, the greater the amount of violence and vagabondism; for in ancient days those two amusements, combining a wholesome excitement with a promising means of repairing shattered fortunes, were at once the ennobling pursuit and the healthful recreation of the Quality of this land.

Tradução Integral em Português

INTRODUÇÃO, A RESPEITO DA LINHAGEM DA FAMÍLIA CHUZZLEWIT

Como nenhuma dama ou cavalheiro com qualquer pretensão à boa educação poderia nutrir simpatia pela família Chuzzlewit sem primeiro ter a garantia da extrema antiguidade da raça, é grande satisfação saber que ela descende, indubitavelmente e em linha direta, de Adão e Eva, e que, nos tempos mais remotos, esteve intimamente ligada aos interesses agrícolas. Se algum dia pessoas invejosas e maliciosas alegarem que um Chuzzlewit, em qualquer período da história familiar, demonstrou uma dose desmedida de orgulho de sua estirpe, por certo a fraqueza será considerada não apenas perdoável, mas louvável, quando se levar em conta a imensa superioridade da casa sobre o restante da humanidade quanto a essa sua origem ancestral.

É notável que, assim como na mais antiga família de que temos notícia houve um assassino e um vagabundo, também jamais deixamos de encontrar, nos registros de todas as famílias antigas, incontáveis repetições da mesma faceta de caráter. Com efeito, pode-se estabelecer como princípio geral que, quanto mais extensa a ancestralidade, maior a quantidade de violência e vagabundagem; pois, em tempos antigos, esses dois divertimentos, que combinavam uma excitação salutar com um meio promissor de reparar fortunas arruinadas, constituíam ao mesmo tempo a ocupação enobrecedora e o recreio saudável da Gente de Qualidade desta terra.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Portanto, é grande conforto e alegria saber que, em vários momentos da história, os Chuzzlewit participaram ativamente de conspirações mortais e lutas sangrentas. Os registros também dizem que usavam fortes armaduras de aço da cabeça aos pés. Em muitas ocasiões, conduziram bravamente seus soldados de jaquetas de couro à morte e depois voltaram com elegância para a família e os amigos.

Pelo menos um Chuzzlewit certamente veio com Guilherme, o Conquistador. Esse grande antepassado não passou depois a enganar o rei, como diz a expressão popular, pois a família aparentemente nunca possuiu muita terra. O normando era famoso por sua generosidade e gratidão ao dar essas propriedades aos favoritos, como costumam ser os grandes homens quando dão o que pertence aos outros.

Aqui a história pode louvar a enorme coragem, sabedoria, eloquência, virtude, boa origem e verdadeira nobreza que entraram na Inglaterra com a invasão normanda. A genealogia de cada família antiga aumenta esse total. Certamente teria sido igualmente grande, com linhagens nobres tão longas orgulhando-se de sua origem, mesmo que Guilherme, o Conquistador, fosse Guilherme, o Conquistado. Essa mudança não faria diferença neste aspecto.

Original English Version

Consequently, it is a source of inexpressible comfort and happiness to find, that in various periods of our history, the Chuzzlewits were actively connected with divers slaughterous conspiracies and bloody frays. It is further recorded of them, that being clad from head to heel in steel of proof, they did on many occasions lead their leather-jerkined soldiers to the death with invincible courage, and afterwards return home gracefully to their relations and friends.

There can be no doubt that at least one Chuzzlewit came over with William the Conqueror. It does not appear that this illustrious ancestor 'came over' that monarch, to employ the vulgar phrase, at any subsequent period; inasmuch as the Family do not seem to have been ever greatly distinguished by the possession of landed estate. And it is well known that for the bestowal of that kind of property upon his favourites, the liberality and gratitude of the Norman were as remarkable as those virtues are usually found to be in great men when they give away what belongs to other people.

Perhaps in this place the history may pause to congratulate itself upon the enormous amount of bravery, wisdom, eloquence, virtue, gentle birth, and true nobility, that appears to have come into England with the Norman Invasion: an amount which the genealogy of every ancient family lends its aid to swell, and which would beyond all question have been found to be just as great, and to the full as prolific in giving birth to long lines of chivalrous descendants, boastful of their origin, even though William the Conqueror had been William the Conquered; a change of circumstances which, it is quite certain, would have made no manner of difference in this respect.

Tradução Integral em Português

Por conseguinte, é fonte de inexprimível conforto e felicidade descobrir que, em vários períodos de nossa história, os Chuzzlewit estiveram ativamente envolvidos em diversas conspirações homicidas e refregas sangrentas. Registra-se ainda que, revestidos da cabeça aos pés de aço à prova de golpes, em muitas ocasiões conduziram à morte, com coragem invencível, seus soldados de gibões de couro, voltando depois graciosamente para casa, para junto dos parentes e amigos.

Não pode haver dúvida de que pelo menos um Chuzzlewit veio para a Inglaterra com Guilherme, o Conquistador. Não consta que esse ilustre ancestral tenha depois "passado a perna" naquele monarca, para empregar a expressão vulgar; visto que a Família jamais parece ter-se distinguido muito pela posse de propriedades fundiárias. E é sabido que, ao conceder esse gênero de propriedade a seus favoritos, a liberalidade e a gratidão do normando eram tão notáveis quanto costumam ser essas virtudes nos grandes homens quando dão aquilo que pertence a outras pessoas.

Talvez neste ponto a história possa fazer uma pausa para felicitar-se pela enorme quantidade de bravura, sabedoria, eloquência, virtude, berço distinto e verdadeira nobreza que parece ter entrado na Inglaterra com a Invasão Normanda: quantidade que a genealogia de toda família antiga ajuda a avolumar e que, além de toda dúvida, teria sido considerada igualmente grande e plenamente tão prolífica na geração de longas linhagens de descendentes cavalheirescos, orgulhosos de sua origem, ainda que Guilherme, o Conquistador, tivesse sido Guilherme, o Conquistado; mudança de circunstâncias que, é absolutamente certo, não teria feito diferença alguma nesse aspecto.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Um Chuzzlewit certamente esteve envolvido na Conspiração da Pólvora, a menos que o principal traidor, o próprio Fawkes, pertencesse a essa família notável. Isso poderia facilmente ser verdade se outro Chuzzlewit tivesse ido para a Espanha na geração anterior, se casado com uma espanhola e tido um filho de pele morena. Fatos posteriores tornam essa hipótese ainda mais provável, pois mostram como gostos podem passar pela família sem que as pessoas saibam. Muitos Chuzzlewit posteriores fracassaram em outros trabalhos e viraram comerciantes de carvão, embora não tivessem esperança razoável de ganhar dinheiro nem motivo claro para isso. Mês após mês, observavam tristemente um pequeno estoque de carvão sem vender nada. Seu comportamento lembra muito o de seu grande antepassado sob os porões do Parlamento em Westminster, portanto nenhum comentário é necessário.

A tradição familiar também prova que, em alguma época não indicada, houve uma matriarca de princípios destrutivos que sabia muito sobre fabricar e usar explosivos. Era chamada de "A Casamenteira", e as lendas da família ainda a conhecem por esse nome. Certamente era a espanhola, mãe de Chuzzlewit Fawkes.

Original English Version

There was unquestionably a Chuzzlewit in the Gunpowder Plot, if indeed the arch-traitor, Fawkes himself, were not a scion of this remarkable stock; as he might easily have been, supposing another Chuzzlewit to have emigrated to Spain in the previous generation, and there intermarried with a Spanish lady, by whom he had issue, one olive-complexioned son. This probable conjecture is strengthened, if not absolutely confirmed, by a fact which cannot fail to be interesting to those who are curious in tracing the progress of hereditary tastes through the lives of their unconscious inheritors. It is a notable circumstance that in these later times, many Chuzzlewits, being unsuccessful in other pursuits, have, without the smallest rational hope of enriching themselves, or any conceivable reason, set up as coal-merchants; and have, month after month, continued gloomily to watch a small stock of coals, without in any one instance negotiating with a purchaser. The remarkable similarity between this course of proceeding and that adopted by their Great Ancestor beneath the vaults of the Parliament House at Westminster, is too obvious and too full of interest, to stand in need of comment.

It is also clearly proved by the oral traditions of the Family, that there existed, at some one period of its history which is not distinctly stated, a matron of such destructive principles, and so familiarized to the use and composition of inflammatory and combustible engines, that she was called 'The Match Maker;' by which nickname and byword she is recognized in the Family legends to this day. Surely there can be no reasonable doubt that this was the Spanish lady, the mother of Chuzzlewit Fawkes.

Tradução Integral em Português

Houve inquestionavelmente um Chuzzlewit na Conspiração da Pólvora, se é que o próprio arquitraidor Fawkes não era um rebento dessa notável estirpe; como bem poderia ter sido, supondo-se que outro Chuzzlewit tivesse emigrado para a Espanha na geração anterior e ali se casado com uma espanhola, da qual tivesse tido um filho de pele azeitonada. Essa conjectura provável é reforçada, se não absolutamente confirmada, por um fato que não pode deixar de interessar aos curiosos em acompanhar o avanço dos gostos hereditários ao longo da vida de seus herdeiros inconscientes. É circunstância digna de nota que, em tempos mais recentes, muitos Chuzzlewit, depois de fracassarem em outras atividades, tenham-se estabelecido como comerciantes de carvão, sem a menor esperança racional de enriquecer nem qualquer razão concebível para tanto; e que, mês após mês, tenham continuado a contemplar sombriamente um pequeno estoque de carvão, sem em caso algum chegar a negociar com um comprador. A notável semelhança entre esse procedimento e o adotado por seu Grande Ancestral sob as abóbadas do Parlamento em Westminster é demasiado evidente e interessante para necessitar de comentários.

As tradições orais da Família também provam com clareza que, em algum período de sua história não especificado com exatidão, existiu uma matrona de princípios tão destrutivos e tão familiarizada com o uso e a composição de engenhos incendiários e combustíveis que foi chamada "A Casamenteira"; apelido e epíteto pelo qual é reconhecida até hoje nas lendas familiares. Por certo não pode haver dúvida razoável de que era ela a dama espanhola, mãe de Chuzzlewit Fawkes.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Há mais uma prova da ligação próxima da família com esse acontecimento memorável da história inglesa. Ela deve convencer até quem ainda não foi convencido por essas provas prováveis.

Alguns anos atrás, um Chuzzlewit muito respeitável e confiável possuía uma antiga lanterna escura, parecida com as usadas hoje. Nenhum inimigo ousava negar que ele era rico. Antes de morrer, jurou muitas vezes que sua avó dissera ao olhá-la: "Sim, sim! Isto foi levado por meu quarto filho no dia cinco de novembro, quando ele era um Guy Fawkes." Ele repetia essas palavras impressionantes com frequência. Seu verdadeiro sentido é claro e irresistível. A velha senhora tinha personalidade forte, mas era fraca pela idade e famosa por confundir ideias ou palavras. Corrija seu pequeno erro: "Sim, sim! Esta lanterna foi levada por meu antepassado" - não "quarto filho", o que é absurdo - "no dia cinco de novembro. E ELE era Guy Fawkes." A declaração então se torna clara, natural e apropriada à pessoa que a disse. Vale conservar a história em sua forma original porque mostra o que o trabalho engenhoso de um comentarista pode fazer com a prosa histórica e a poesia imaginativa.

Original English Version

But there is one other piece of evidence, bearing immediate reference to their close connection with this memorable event in English History, which must carry conviction, even to a mind (if such a mind there be) remaining unconvinced by these presumptive proofs.

There was, within a few years, in the possession of a highly respectable and in every way credible and unimpeachable member of the Chuzzlewit Family (for his bitterest enemy never dared to hint at his being otherwise than a wealthy man), a dark lantern of undoubted antiquity; rendered still more interesting by being, in shape and pattern, extremely like such as are in use at the present day. Now this gentleman, since deceased, was at all times ready to make oath, and did again and again set forth upon his solemn asseveration, that he had frequently heard his grandmother say, when contemplating this venerable relic, 'Aye, aye! This was carried by my fourth son on the fifth of November, when he was a Guy Fawkes.' These remarkable words wrought (as well they might) a strong impression on his mind, and he was in the habit of repeating them very often. The just interpretation which they bear, and the conclusion to which they lead, are triumphant and irresistible. The old lady, naturally strong-minded, was nevertheless frail and fading; she was notoriously subject to that confusion of ideas, or, to say the least, of speech, to which age and garrulity are liable. The slight, the very slight, confusion apparent in these expressions is manifest, and is ludicrously easy of correction. 'Aye, aye,' quoth she, and it will be observed that no emendation whatever is necessary to be made in these two initiative remarks, 'Aye, aye! This lantern was carried by my forefather'--not fourth son, which is preposterous--'on the fifth of November. And HE was Guy Fawkes.' Here we have a remark at once consistent, clear, natural, and in strict accordance with the character of the speaker. Indeed the anecdote is so plainly susceptible of this meaning and no other, that it would be hardly worth recording in its original state, were it not a proof of what may be (and very often is) affected not only in historical prose but in imaginative poetry, by the exercise of a little ingenious labour on the part of a commentator.

Tradução Integral em Português

Há, porém, outra prova, diretamente relacionada à estreita ligação deles com esse memorável acontecimento da História Inglesa, capaz de convencer até mesmo um espírito (se tal espírito existe) que tenha permanecido indiferente a essas provas circunstanciais.

Há poucos anos esteve em poder de um membro altamente respeitável e, sob todos os aspectos, digno de crédito e irrepreensível da família Chuzzlewit (pois nem seu inimigo mais encarniçado jamais ousou insinuar que ele não fosse um homem rico) uma lanterna surda de antiguidade indubitável; tornada ainda mais interessante por ser, em forma e modelo, extremamente semelhante às que se usam hoje em dia. Ora, esse cavalheiro, já falecido, esteve sempre pronto a jurar e repetidas vezes declarou, sob solene asseveração, que com frequência ouvira a avó dizer, ao contemplar aquela venerável relíquia: "Sim, sim! Isto foi carregado por meu quarto filho no dia cinco de novembro, quando ele foi um Guy Fawkes." Essas palavras notáveis causaram (como bem poderiam) forte impressão em seu espírito, e ele tinha o costume de repeti-las com muita frequência. A interpretação correta que comportam e a conclusão a que conduzem são triunfantes e irresistíveis. A velha senhora, naturalmente dotada de espírito forte, era contudo frágil e declinante; era notoriamente sujeita àquela confusão de ideias ou, para dizer o mínimo, de fala a que a idade e a loquacidade estão expostas. A leve, levíssima confusão patente nessas expressões é manifesta e ridiculamente fácil de corrigir. "Sim, sim", disse ela - e deve-se observar que em absoluto se faz necessária qualquer emenda a essas duas observações iniciais - , "Sim, sim! Esta lanterna foi carregada por meu antepassado" - não "quarto filho", o que é absurdo - "no dia cinco de novembro. E ELE era Guy Fawkes." Temos aqui uma observação ao mesmo tempo coerente, clara, natural e em estrita conformidade com o caráter da falante. Com efeito, a anedota admite tão evidentemente esse sentido, e nenhum outro, que mal valeria a pena registrá-la em sua forma original, não constituísse ela uma prova do que pode ser (e com muita frequência é) efetuado não só na prosa histórica, mas também na poesia imaginativa, pelo exercício de um pouco de engenhoso labor por parte de um comentarista.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Alguns disseram que nenhum Chuzzlewit moderno tinha amizade com os poderosos. Mas as provas silenciam esses críticos maliciosos. Ramos da família ainda possuem cartas mostrando que Diggory Chuzzlewit jantava constantemente com Duke Humphrey. Era convidado de Sua Graça com tanta frequência que parecia inquieto e relutante. Escrevia aos amigos que, se não fizessem o que o portador pedia, teria de jantar novamente com Duke Humphrey, falando como alguém cansado da alta sociedade e da companhia nobre.

Original English Version

It has been said that there is no instance, in modern times, of a Chuzzlewit having been found on terms of intimacy with the Great. But here again the sneering detractors who weave such miserable figments from their malicious brains, are stricken dumb by evidence. For letters are yet in the possession of various branches of the family, from which it distinctly appears, being stated in so many words, that one Diggory Chuzzlewit was in the habit of perpetually dining with Duke Humphrey. So constantly was he a guest at that nobleman's table, indeed; and so unceasingly were His Grace's hospitality and companionship forced, as it were, upon him; that we find him uneasy, and full of constraint and reluctance; writing his friends to the effect that if they fail to do so and so by bearer, he will have no choice but to dine again with Duke Humphrey; and expressing himself in a very marked and extraordinary manner as one surfeited of High Life and Gracious Company.

Tradução Integral em Português

Já se afirmou que, nos tempos modernos, não há exemplo de um Chuzzlewit encontrado em relações íntimas com os Grandes. Mas também aqui as provas emudecem os detratores sarcásticos que tecem tão miseráveis ficções com seu cérebro malicioso. Pois ainda se encontram, em poder de vários ramos da família, cartas das quais se depreende claramente, por estar nelas declarado com todas as letras, que certo Diggory Chuzzlewit tinha o hábito de jantar perpetuamente com o duque Humphrey. Tão constante era ele, na verdade, como convidado à mesa daquele nobre; e tão incessantemente lhe eram, por assim dizer, impostas a hospitalidade e a companhia de Sua Graça, que o encontramos inquieto, constrangido e relutante, escrevendo aos amigos que, se deixassem de fazer isto ou aquilo pelo portador, ele não teria escolha senão jantar outra vez com o duque Humphrey; e exprimindo-se de maneira muito acentuada e extraordinária, como alguém farto da Alta Sociedade e da Augusta Companhia.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

As mesmas pessoas baixas espalharam o boato de que um Chuzzlewit de origem incerta vinha de família muito humilde. Porém, quando seu filho estava morrendo, perguntaram solenemente: "Toby Chuzzlewit, quem era seu avô?" Com o último suspiro, respondeu: "O Lorde No Zoo." Seis testemunhas registraram isso e assinaram com nomes e endereços completos. Pessoas perversas dizem que nenhum lorde tinha esse nome nem título extinto parecido. Algumas pessoas bem-intencionadas, mas enganadas, acham que o avô era um mandarim. Isso não pode ser: não há sinal de que sua avó tenha saído do país ou de que um mandarim estivesse aqui perto do nascimento de seu pai, exceto os das lojas de chá, que nada têm a ver com a questão. Claramente, o Sr. Toby Chuzzlewit ouviu, lembrou ou pronunciou o nome de modo errado. Assim, mesmo então, os Chuzzlewit estavam ligados por uma linha ilegítima a alguma casa nobre e famosa desconhecida.

Original English Version

It has been rumoured, and it is needless to say the rumour originated in the same base quarters, that a certain male Chuzzlewit, whose birth must be admitted to be involved in some obscurity, was of very mean and low descent. How stands the proof? When the son of that individual, to whom the secret of his father's birth was supposed to have been communicated by his father in his lifetime, lay upon his deathbed, this question was put to him in a distinct, solemn, and formal way: 'Toby Chuzzlewit, who was your grandfather?' To which he, with his last breath, no less distinctly, solemnly, and formally replied: and his words were taken down at the time, and signed by six witnesses, each with his name and address in full: 'The Lord No Zoo.' It may be said--it HAS been said, for human wickedness has no limits--that there is no Lord of that name, and that among the titles which have become extinct, none at all resembling this, in sound even, is to be discovered. But what is the irresistible inference? Rejecting a theory broached by some well-meaning but mistaken persons, that this Mr Toby Chuzzlewit's grandfather, to judge from his name, must surely have been a Mandarin (which is wholly insupportable, for there is no pretence of his grandmother ever having been out of this country, or of any Mandarin having been in it within some years of his father's birth; except those in the tea-shops, which cannot for a moment be regarded as having any bearing on the question, one way or other), rejecting this hypothesis, is it not manifest that Mr Toby Chuzzlewit had either received the name imperfectly from his father, or that he had forgotten it, or that he had mispronounced itâ and that even at the recent period in question, the Chuzzlewits were connected by a bend sinister, or kind of heraldic over-the-left, with some unknown noble and illustrious House?

Tradução Integral em Português

Correu o rumor - e é desnecessário dizer que se originou nos mesmos círculos vis - de que certo Chuzzlewit do sexo masculino, cujo nascimento deve-se admitir estar envolto em alguma obscuridade, era de origem muito humilde e baixa. O que demonstram as provas? Quando o filho desse indivíduo, a quem se supunha ter o pai comunicado em vida o segredo do próprio nascimento, jazia no leito de morte, formularam-lhe esta pergunta de maneira clara, solene e formal: "Toby Chuzzlewit, quem foi seu avô?" Ao que ele, com seu último suspiro, respondeu de maneira não menos clara, solene e formal - e suas palavras foram anotadas na ocasião e assinadas por seis testemunhas, cada qual com nome e endereço completos: "O Lorde No Zoo." Pode-se dizer - e JÁ se disse, pois a maldade humana não conhece limites - que não há lorde com esse nome e que, entre os títulos extintos, não se descobre nenhum que sequer se assemelhe a ele no som. Mas qual é a inferência irresistível? Rejeitando uma teoria apresentada por certas pessoas bem-intencionadas, porém equivocadas, segundo a qual o avô desse Sr. Toby Chuzzlewit, a julgar por seu nome, devia sem dúvida ter sido um mandarim (o que é de todo insustentável, pois não se alega que sua avó tenha alguma vez saído deste país, nem que qualquer mandarim tenha estado aqui nos anos próximos ao nascimento de seu pai; exceto os das lojas de chá, que nem por um instante podem ser considerados pertinentes à questão, num sentido ou noutro), rejeitada essa hipótese, não é manifesto que o Sr. Toby Chuzzlewit ou recebera o nome de forma imperfeita do pai, ou o esquecera, ou o pronunciara mal? E que, mesmo naquele período relativamente recente, os Chuzzlewit estavam ligados, por uma banda sinistra ou uma espécie de via heráldica à esquerda, a alguma desconhecida e ilustre Casa nobre?

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Documentos familiares mostram claramente que, na época relativamente moderna de Diggory Chuzzlewit, um membro ficou muito rico e influente. Nas cartas sobreviventes, apesar dos danos das traças - os registros gerais do mundo dos insetos, pois consomem escrituras e papéis - Diggory menciona muitas vezes um tio de quem esperava muito. Tentou conquistar seu favor com prataria, joias, livros, relógios e outros objetos valiosos. Escreveu ao irmão sobre uma colher de molho emprestada: "Não fique zangado, eu a dei ao meu tio." Disse quase o mesmo sobre uma caneca infantil entregue para conserto. Em outra ocasião escreveu: "Dei àquele tio irresistível tudo o que possuí." Aparentemente fazia longas visitas à mansão do tio ou até morava ali: "Com exceção da roupa que levo comigo, todo meu vestuário está atualmente na casa de meu tio." A influência do tio devia ser enorme, pois o sobrinho a chamava de "alta demais", "demais" e "tremenda". Estranhamente, ela não lhe trouxe cargo lucrativo na corte nem em outro lugar, nem distinção além do apoio de tão grande homem e convites para festas tão esplêndidas e caras que ele as chamava de "Bolas de Ouro".

Original English Version

From documentary evidence, yet preserved in the family, the fact is clearly established that in the comparatively modern days of the Diggory Chuzzlewit before mentioned, one of its members had attained to very great wealth and influence. Throughout such fragments of his correspondence as have escaped the ravages of the moths (who, in right of their extensive absorption of the contents of deeds and papers, may be called the general registers of the Insect World), we find him making constant reference to an uncle, in respect of whom he would seem to have entertained great expectations, as he was in the habit of seeking to propitiate his favour by presents of plate, jewels, books, watches, and other valuable articles. Thus, he writes on one occasion to his brother in reference to a gravy-spoon, the brother's property, which he (Diggory) would appear to have borrowed or otherwise possessed himself of: 'Do not be angry, I have parted with it--to my uncle.' On another occasion he expresses himself in a similar manner with regard to a child's mug which had been entrusted to him to get repaired. On another occasion he says, 'I have bestowed upon that irresistible uncle of mine everything I ever possessed.' And that he was in the habit of paying long and constant visits to this gentleman at his mansion, if, indeed, he did not wholly reside there, is manifest from the following sentence: 'With the exception of the suit of clothes I carry about with me, the whole of my wearing apparel is at present at my uncle's.' This gentleman's patronage and influence must have been very extensive, for his nephew writes, 'His interest is too high'--'It is too much'--'It is tremendous'--and the like. Still it does not appear (which is strange) to have procured for him any lucrative post at court or elsewhere, or to have conferred upon him any other distinction than that which was necessarily included in the countenance of so great a man, and the being invited by him to certain entertainment's, so splendid and costly in their nature, that he calls them 'Golden Balls.'

Tradução Integral em Português

Por provas documentais ainda preservadas na família, fica claramente estabelecido que, nos dias comparativamente modernos do já mencionado Diggory Chuzzlewit, um de seus membros alcançara enorme riqueza e influência. Nos fragmentos de sua correspondência que escaparam à devastação das traças (as quais, em virtude da extensa absorção que fazem do conteúdo de escrituras e papéis, bem podem ser chamadas de registros gerais do Mundo dos Insetos), vemo-lo fazer constantes referências a um tio a respeito de quem parece ter nutrido grandes expectativas, pois tinha o hábito de procurar conquistar-lhe o favor por meio de presentes de prataria, joias, livros, relógios e outros artigos valiosos. Assim, certa vez escreve ao irmão a respeito de uma colher de molho, propriedade deste, que ele (Diggory) parece ter tomado emprestada ou da qual de algum outro modo se apossara: "Não se zangue, passei-a adiante - para meu tio." Em outra ocasião exprime-se de maneira semelhante quanto a uma caneca de criança que lhe fora confiada para conserto. Noutra, diz: "Concedi àquele meu irresistível tio tudo quanto um dia possuí." E que costumava fazer visitas longas e constantes a esse cavalheiro em sua mansão, se é que não residia ali por completo, evidencia-se nesta frase: "À exceção do traje que levo comigo, todas as minhas roupas estão atualmente na casa de meu tio." O patrocínio e a influência desse cavalheiro devem ter sido muito extensos, pois o sobrinho escreve: "Os juros dele são altos demais" - "É demais" - "É tremendo" - e assim por diante. Ainda assim, não consta (o que é estranho) que lhe tenham obtido qualquer cargo lucrativo na corte ou em outra parte, nem lhe conferido distinção alguma além daquela necessariamente incluída na proteção de tão grande homem e no convite que dele recebia para certas diversões, de natureza tão esplêndida e dispendiosa que as chama de "Bolas de Ouro".

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Não é necessário dar mais exemplos da elevada posição e grande importância dos Chuzzlewit. Se fossem necessárias outras provas, poderiam ser empilhadas como Alpes de testemunhos, esmagando toda dúvida. Já existe um bom monte sobre o túmulo da família, então este capítulo o deixa ali. Como última pá de terra, cartas das próprias mães provam que muitos Chuzzlewit homens e mulheres tinham narizes esculpidos, queixos definidos, corpos dignos de escultor, membros belamente formados e testas polidas tão transparentes que veias azuis apareciam como estradas num mapa celestial. Esse único fato resolve a questão, pois todos os livros sobre o tema dizem que essas características, especialmente o aspecto esculpido, só aparecem em pessoas da melhor condição.

Original English Version

It is needless to multiply instances of the high and lofty station, and the vast importance of the Chuzzlewits, at different periods. If it came within the scope of reasonable probability that further proofs were required, they might be heaped upon each other until they formed an Alps of testimony, beneath which the boldest scepticism should be crushed and beaten flat. As a goodly tumulus is already collected, and decently battened up above the Family grave, the present chapter is content to leave it as it is: merely adding, by way of a final spadeful, that many Chuzzlewits, both male and female, are proved to demonstration, on the faith of letters written by their own mothers, to have had chiselled noses, undeniable chins, forms that might have served the sculptor for a model, exquisitely-turned limbs and polished foreheads of so transparent a texture that the blue veins might be seen branching off in various directions, like so many roads on an ethereal map. This fact in itself, though it had been a solitary one, would have utterly settled and clenched the business in hand; for it is well known, on the authority of all the books which treat of such matters, that every one of these phenomena, but especially that of the chiselling, are invariably peculiar to, and only make themselves apparent in, persons of the very best condition.

Tradução Integral em Português

É desnecessário multiplicar exemplos da elevada e excelsa posição e da vasta importância dos Chuzzlewit em diferentes épocas. Se estivesse no âmbito da probabilidade razoável que fossem exigidas mais provas, seria possível amontoá-las umas sobre as outras até formarem Alpes de testemunhos, sob os quais o ceticismo mais ousado seria esmagado e achatado. Como já se reuniu um belo túmulo e se socou decentemente a terra sobre a sepultura da Família, o presente capítulo contenta-se em deixá-lo como está, acrescentando apenas, a título de última pazada, que muitos Chuzzlewit, homens e mulheres, comprovadamente possuíam - com base em cartas escritas pelas próprias mães - narizes cinzelados, queixos inegáveis, formas que poderiam ter servido de modelo a um escultor, membros primorosamente torneados e testas polidas de textura tão transparente que as veias azuis podiam ser vistas ramificando-se em várias direções, como tantas estradas num mapa etéreo. Esse fato, ainda que fosse isolado, teria resolvido e encerrado por completo a questão em pauta; pois é sabido, pela autoridade de todos os livros que tratam desses assuntos, que cada um desses fenômenos, mas sobretudo o do cinzelamento, é invariavelmente peculiar às pessoas da mais alta condição e só nelas se manifesta.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Depois de provar completamente para si mesma e, portanto, para todos os leitores que os Chuzzlewit tinham uma origem e já foram importantes o bastante para serem amigos desejáveis de pessoas corretas, esta história pode começar seu verdadeiro trabalho. Sua antiga origem significa que ajudaram muito a fundar e aumentar a família humana. Um dia ela mostrará que os membros apresentados aqui ainda têm muitos equivalentes e modelos no grande mundo ao redor. Por enquanto, faz duas observações gerais. Primeiro, sem aceitar a teoria de Manboddo de que a raça humana talvez tenha sido composta de macacos, os homens certamente fazem coisas muito estranhas. Segundo, sem aceitar a teoria de Blumenbach de que os descendentes de Adão têm muitas qualidades próprias dos porcos, alguns homens cuidam de si mesmos de modo extraordinariamente bom.

Original English Version

This history having, to its own perfect satisfaction, (and, consequently, to the full contentment of all its readers,) proved the Chuzzlewits to have had an origin, and to have been at one time or other of an importance which cannot fail to render them highly improving and acceptable acquaintance to all right-minded individuals, may now proceed in earnest with its task. And having shown that they must have had, by reason of their ancient birth, a pretty large share in the foundation and increase of the human family, it will one day become its province to submit, that such of its members as shall be introduced in these pages, have still many counterparts and prototypes in the Great World about us. At present it contents itself with remarking, in a general way, on this head: Firstly, that it may be safely asserted, and yet without implying any direct participation in the Manboddo doctrine touching the probability of the human race having once been monkeys, that men do play very strange and extraordinary tricks. Secondly, and yet without trenching on the Blumenbach theory as to the descendants of Adam having a vast number of qualities which belong more particularly to swine than to any other class of animals in the creation, that some men certainly are remarkable for taking uncommon good care of themselves.

Tradução Integral em Português

Tendo esta história provado, para sua própria perfeita satisfação (e, por conseguinte, para o pleno contentamento de todos os seus leitores), que os Chuzzlewit tiveram uma origem e que, em algum momento, foram de uma importância que não pode deixar de torná-los conhecidos altamente edificantes e aceitáveis para todos os indivíduos de bom senso, pode agora dedicar-se seriamente à tarefa. E, tendo demonstrado que, em razão de sua antiga ascendência, eles devem ter tido participação bastante grande na fundação e no aumento da família humana, um dia caberá a esta história sustentar que os membros apresentados nestas páginas ainda possuem muitos correspondentes e protótipos no Grande Mundo ao nosso redor. Por ora, contenta-se em observar, em termos gerais, a esse respeito: primeiro, que se pode afirmar com segurança, sem com isso implicar adesão direta à doutrina de Manboddo sobre a probabilidade de a raça humana ter sido outrora composta de macacos, que os homens praticam travessuras muito estranhas e extraordinárias. Segundo, e ainda sem invadir a teoria de Blumenbach de que os descendentes de Adão possuem um vasto número de qualidades que pertencem mais particularmente aos porcos que a qualquer outra classe de animais da criação, que certos homens são indiscutivelmente notáveis pelo extraordinário cuidado que têm consigo mesmos.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Chapter Two

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

NO QUAL CERTAS PESSOAS SÃO APRESENTADAS AO LEITOR, QUE PODERÁ CONHECÊ-LAS MELHOR SE DESEJAR

No fim do outono, o sol poente rompeu a névoa que o escondera o dia inteiro. Brilhou intensamente sobre uma pequena aldeia de Wiltshire, a uma viagem fácil da antiga cidade de Salisbury.

Como uma lembrança repentina ou um espírito despertando a mente de um velho, o sol deu glória à paisagem, e sua juventude e frescor perdidos pareceram reviver. A grama molhada brilhava. Pequenas partes verdes das sebes, onde alguns galhos ainda resistiam aos ventos frios e às primeiras geadas, ficaram luminosas. O riacho sem graça pareceu alegre; pássaros cantaram em galhos nus, quase acreditando que o inverno passara e a primavera chegara. O cata-vento na velha torre da igreja também brilhou. A luz das janelas cobertas de hera refletiu o céu ardente, como se os edifícios silenciosos guardassem o calor e a cor vermelha de vinte verões.

Original English Version

WHEREIN CERTAIN PERSONS ARE PRESENTED TO THE READER, WITH WHOM HE MAY, IF HE PLEASE, BECOME BETTER ACQUAINTED

It was pretty late in the autumn of the year, when the declining sun struggling through the mist which had obscured it all day, looked brightly down upon a little Wiltshire village, within an easy journey of the fair old town of Salisbury.

Like a sudden flash of memory or spirit kindling up the mind of an old man, it shed a glory upon the scene, in which its departed youth and freshness seemed to live again. The wet grass sparkled in the light; the scanty patches of verdure in the hedges--where a few green twigs yet stood together bravely, resisting to the last the tyranny of nipping winds and early frosts--took heart and brightened up; the stream which had been dull and sullen all day long, broke out into a cheerful smile; the birds began to chirp and twitter on the naked boughs, as though the hopeful creatures half believed that winter had gone by, and spring had come already. The vane upon the tapering spire of the old church glistened from its lofty station in sympathy with the general gladness; and from the ivy-shaded windows such gleams of light shone back upon the glowing sky, that it seemed as if the quiet buildings were the hoarding-place of twenty summers, and all their ruddiness and warmth were stored within.

Tradução Integral em Português

NO QUAL CERTAS PESSOAS SÃO APRESENTADAS AO LEITOR, COM QUEM ELE PODERÁ, SE ASSIM DESEJAR, TRAVAR MELHOR CONHECIMENTO

Já ia bastante adiantado o outono daquele ano quando o sol poente, lutando por entre a névoa que o encobrira o dia inteiro, lançou um olhar luminoso sobre uma pequena aldeia de Wiltshire, a curta viagem da bela e antiga cidade de Salisbury.

Como um súbito lampejo de memória ou de ânimo que incendeia o espírito de um velho, ele derramou glória sobre a cena, na qual a juventude e o frescor já desaparecidos pareciam reviver. A relva molhada cintilava à luz; as escassas manchas de verdura nas sebes - onde alguns ramos verdes ainda permaneciam bravamente unidos, resistindo até o fim à tirania dos ventos cortantes e das geadas precoces - criaram coragem e se avivaram; o riacho, que estivera sombrio e taciturno o dia inteiro, abriu um sorriso alegre; os pássaros começaram a chilrear e pipilar nos galhos nus, como se aquelas criaturas esperançosas quase acreditassem que o inverno já passara e a primavera chegara. O cata-vento sobre a agulha afilada da velha igreja reluzia de sua elevada posição, solidário com a alegria geral; e das janelas sombreadas pela hera refletiam-se no céu incandescente tais clarões de luz que parecia serem os tranquilos edifícios o depósito de vinte verões, guardando dentro de si todo o rubor e calor deles.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Até os sinais da chegada do inverno tornavam a paisagem mais bela, sem trazer tristeza profunda. Folhas caídas soltavam um cheiro agradável e suavizavam os sons duros de passos e rodas distantes. Essa paz combinava com o fazendeiro distante espalhando sementes e o arado silencioso desenhando formas na rica terra marrom dos campos cortados. Frutos de outono pendiam nos galhos imóveis como fios de contas de coral, como se fossem joias. Árvores nuas se erguiam sobre pequenos montes de folhas vermelhas e brilhantes e observavam sua lenta decomposição. Outras ainda seguravam folhas secas que estalavam como queimadas, enquanto montes de maçãs vermelhas daquele ano cercavam alguns troncos. As fortes árvores sempre-verdes pareciam escuras e sérias, como se a natureza lhes desse vida longa em vez de sensibilidade e alegria. Mesmo assim, a luz do sol abria caminhos de ouro mais profundo entre seus galhos e usava sua escuridão para fazer o dia moribundo brilhar mais.

Original English Version

Even those tokens of the season which emphatically whispered of the coming winter, graced the landscape, and, for the moment, tinged its livelier features with no oppressive air of sadness. The fallen leaves, with which the ground was strewn, gave forth a pleasant fragrance, and subduing all harsh sounds of distant feet and wheels created a repose in gentle unison with the light scattering of seed hither and thither by the distant husbandman, and with the noiseless passage of the plough as it turned up the rich brown earth, and wrought a graceful pattern in the stubbled fields. On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels; others stripped of all their garniture, stood, each the centre of its little heap of bright red leaves, watching their slow decay; others again, still wearing theirs, had them all crunched and crackled up, as though they had been burnt; about the stems of some were piled, in ruddy mounds, the apples they had borne that year; while others (hardy evergreens this class) showed somewhat stern and gloomy in their vigour, as charged by nature with the admonition that it is not to her more sensitive and joyous favourites she grants the longest term of life. Still athwart their darker boughs, the sunbeams struck out paths of deeper gold; and the red light, mantling in among their swarthy branches, used them as foils to set its brightness off, and aid the lustre of the dying day.

Tradução Integral em Português

Até os sinais da estação que sussurravam com ênfase a aproximação do inverno adornavam a paisagem e, por um instante, não tingiam de opressiva tristeza suas feições mais vivas. As folhas caídas que cobriam o chão exalavam agradável fragrância e, abafando todos os sons ásperos de passos e rodas distantes, criavam um repouso em suave harmonia com o leve espalhar das sementes aqui e ali pelo lavrador distante e com a passagem silenciosa do arado, que revolvia a rica terra castanha e traçava um desenho gracioso nos campos de restolho. Nos ramos imóveis de algumas árvores, bagas outonais pendiam como cachos de contas de coral, à maneira daqueles pomares fabulosos onde os frutos eram joias; outras, despidas de todos os seus ornamentos, erguiam-se cada qual no centro de seu pequeno monte de folhas vermelhas e vivas, contemplando-lhes a lenta decomposição; outras ainda, que conservavam as suas, tinham-nas todas amarrotadas e estaladiças, como se houvessem sido queimadas; ao redor dos troncos de algumas, amontoavam-se em montículos rubros as maçãs que haviam produzido naquele ano; enquanto outras (esta classe de sempre-verdes resistentes) mostravam-se um tanto severas e sombrias em seu vigor, como se incumbidas pela natureza de advertir que não é a seus favoritos mais sensíveis e alegres que ela concede a vida mais longa. Ainda assim, através de seus ramos mais escuros, os raios de sol abriam caminhos de ouro mais profundo; e a luz vermelha, espalhando-se entre seus galhos morenos, usava-os como contraste para realçar o próprio brilho e aumentar o esplendor do dia agonizante.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Um momento depois, toda a glória desapareceu. O sol caiu atrás de longas colinas escuras e nuvens empilhadas no oeste como uma cidade aérea com muralhas e torres. Toda a luz sumiu. A igreja brilhante ficou fria e escura, o riacho perdeu o sorriso, os pássaros se calaram e a tristeza do inverno cobriu tudo.

Um vento noturno se levantou. Galhos finos estalaram e bateram como esqueletos dançando ao som de sua música triste. Folhas secas correram em busca de abrigo contra sua perseguição fria. O trabalhador soltou os cavalos e caminhou depressa para casa ao lado deles, de cabeça baixa. Luzes de casas começaram a piscar nos campos escuros.

Original English Version

A moment, and its glory was no more. The sun went down beneath the long dark lines of hill and cloud which piled up in the west an airy city, wall heaped on wall, and battlement on battlement; the light was all withdrawn; the shining church turned cold and dark; the stream forgot to smile; the birds were silent; and the gloom of winter dwelt on everything.

An evening wind uprose too, and the slighter branches cracked and rattled as they moved, in skeleton dances, to its moaning music. The withering leaves no longer quiet, hurried to and fro in search of shelter from its chill pursuit; the labourer unyoked his horses, and with head bent down, trudged briskly home beside them; and from the cottage windows lights began to glance and wink upon the darkening fields.

Tradução Integral em Português

Um instante, e sua glória já não existia. O sol desceu por trás das longas linhas escuras de colinas e nuvens que empilhavam no oeste uma cidade aérea, muralha sobre muralha, ameia sobre ameia; toda a luz se retirou; a igreja resplandecente ficou fria e escura; o riacho esqueceu-se de sorrir; os pássaros emudeceram; e a melancolia do inverno pousou sobre todas as coisas.

Ergueu-se também um vento vespertino, e os ramos mais finos estalaram e chocalharam enquanto se moviam em danças de esqueletos ao som daquela música lamuriosa. As folhas que murchavam, já sem sossego, corriam de um lado para outro em busca de abrigo à fria perseguição; o lavrador desatrelou os cavalos e, de cabeça baixa, caminhou depressa para casa ao lado deles; e das janelas das cabanas as luzes começaram a brilhar e piscar sobre os campos que escureciam.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Então a forja da aldeia apareceu em toda a sua importância brilhante. Os fortes foles rugiam "Ha, ha!" para o fogo claro, e o fogo respondia. Faíscas luminosas dançavam ao som alegre dos martelos na bigorna. O ferro quente também brilhava e lançava joias incandescentes ao redor. O forte ferreiro e seus homens batiam com tanta força que até a noite triste parecia contente. Um brilho iluminava seu rosto escuro enquanto ela olhava pelas portas e janelas, acima dos ombros de doze homens sem trabalho. Presos pela cena, esses homens às vezes olhavam para a escuridão. Depois apoiavam os cotovelos no peitoril e se inclinavam ainda mais para dentro, tão relutantes em partir quanto grilos nascidos junto ao fogo.

Original English Version

Then the village forge came out in all its bright importance. The lusty bellows roared Ha ha! to the clear fire, which roared in turn, and bade the shining sparks dance gayly to the merry clinking of the hammers on the anvil. The gleaming iron, in its emulation, sparkled too, and shed its red-hot gems around profusely. The strong smith and his men dealt such strokes upon their work, as made even the melancholy night rejoice, and brought a glow into its dark face as it hovered about the door and windows, peeping curiously in above the shoulders of a dozen loungers. As to this idle company, there they stood, spellbound by the place, and, casting now and then a glance upon the darkness in their rear, settled their lazy elbows more at ease upon the sill, and leaned a little further in: no more disposed to tear themselves away than if they had been born to cluster round the blazing hearth like so many crickets.

Tradução Integral em Português

Foi então que a forja da aldeia surgiu em toda a sua luminosa importância. O vigoroso fole bradou "Há, há!" para o fogo claro, que por sua vez rugiu e mandou as faíscas reluzentes dançarem alegremente ao ritmo do jovial tinido dos martelos sobre a bigorna. O ferro incandescente, em sua emulação, também faiscou e espalhou profusamente ao redor suas gemas em brasa. O robusto ferreiro e seus homens desferiram no trabalho golpes tais que fizeram até a noite melancólica rejubilar e puseram um fulgor em seu rosto escuro, enquanto ela pairava à volta da porta e das janelas, espiando curiosa por cima dos ombros de uma dúzia de desocupados. Quanto a essa companhia ociosa, ali permaneciam, enfeitiçados pelo lugar, e, lançando vez por outra um olhar à escuridão que tinham atrás de si, acomodavam com mais conforto os cotovelos preguiçosos no peitoril e se inclinavam um pouco mais para dentro, tão pouco dispostos a se arrancarem dali como se houvessem nascido para se reunir em torno da lareira flamejante feito um bando de grilos.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Fora com o vento zangado! Ele parou de suspirar e soprou com fúria em torno da alegre forja, batendo o portão e rosnando na chaminé, como se perseguisse os foles felizes por trabalharem sob comando. Apesar de todo o barulho, era impotente: apenas fazia os foles cantarem mais alto, o fogo queimar mais forte e as faíscas dançarem com mais alegria. Por fim, as faíscas voaram loucamente, o que o vento amargo não suportou. Ele fugiu uivando e atingiu a velha placa da taverna com tanta força que o Blue Dragon ficou mais feroz que de costume e, antes do Natal, saiu completamente de sua moldura quebrada.

Era uma pequena tirania um vento respeitável castigar folhas caídas. Mas, depois de insultar o Dragão, ele encontrou um grande monte e o espalhou. As folhas fugiram em todas as direções, rolando umas sobre as outras, girando nas bordas finas, voando pelo ar e fazendo movimentos selvagens em seu sofrimento. O vento cruel também empurrou pequenos grupos para o poço do serrador e para debaixo das tábuas e madeiras do pátio. Jogou serragem no ar, procurou sob ela e, sempre que encontrou folhas, assobiou e correu atrás delas.

Original English Version

Out upon the angry wind! how from sighing, it began to bluster round the merry forge, banging at the wicket, and grumbling in the chimney, as if it bullied the jolly bellows for doing anything to order. And what an impotent swaggerer it was too, for all its noise; for if it had any influence on that hoarse companion, it was but to make him roar his cheerful song the louder, and by consequence to make the fire burn the brighter, and the sparks to dance more gayly yet; at length, they whizzed so madly round and round, that it was too much for such a surly wind to bear; so off it flew with a howl giving the old sign before the ale-house door such a cuff as it went, that the Blue Dragon was more rampant than usual ever afterwards, and indeed, before Christmas, reared clean out of its crazy frame.

It was small tyranny for a respectable wind to go wreaking its vengeance on such poor creatures as the fallen leaves, but this wind happening to come up with a great heap of them just after venting its humour on the insulted Dragon, did so disperse and scatter them that they fled away, pell-mell, some here, some there, rolling over each other, whirling round and round upon their thin edges, taking frantic flights into the air, and playing all manner of extraordinary gambols in the extremity of their distress. Nor was this enough for its malicious fury; for not content with driving them abroad, it charged small parties of them and hunted them into the wheel wright's saw-pit, and below the planks and timbers in the yard, and, scattering the sawdust in the air, it looked for them underneath, and when it did meet with any, whew! how it drove them on and followed at their heels!

Tradução Integral em Português

Fora com o vento irado! Como, deixando de suspirar, ele começou a esbravejar em torno da alegre forja, batendo no postigo e resmungando pela chaminé, como se ralhasse com o jovial fole por fazer qualquer coisa sob comando. E que fanfarrão impotente era, apesar de todo o seu barulho; pois, se exercia alguma influência sobre aquele companheiro rouco, era apenas fazê-lo bradar ainda mais alto sua canção alegre e, em consequência, levar o fogo a arder com mais brilho e as faíscas a dançarem ainda mais alegres; até que elas zuniram tão desvairadamente de um lado para outro que foi demais para aquele vento carrancudo suportar; assim, partiu uivando e, ao passar, deu tamanha bofetada na velha tabuleta diante da porta da cervejaria que o Dragão Azul ficou desde então mais empinado que de costume e, antes do Natal, chegou mesmo a se erguer por completo para fora de sua moldura cambaleante.

Era uma tirania mesquinha para um vento respeitável vingar-se de criaturas tão pobres quanto as folhas caídas, mas esse vento, encontrando um grande monte delas logo depois de descarregar seu mau humor no Dragão ultrajado, dispersou-as e espalhou-as de tal modo que fugiram numa confusão, umas para cá, outras para lá, rolando umas sobre as outras, girando sobre as finas bordas, alçando voos frenéticos e dando toda espécie de cambalhota extraordinária no auge de sua aflição. Nem isso bastou à sua fúria maliciosa; pois, não contente em expulsá-las, investiu contra pequenos grupos delas e as perseguiu até o fosso da serra do fabricante de rodas, para baixo das tábuas e madeiras no pátio e, espalhando a serragem pelo ar, procurou-as por baixo; e, quando encontrava alguma, fiuu! como as impelia adiante e lhes seguia no encalço!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

As folhas assustadas voaram mais depressa numa perseguição vertiginosa. Chegaram a lugares fechados sem saída, onde o vento as fez girar como quis. Rastejaram sob os telhados, agarraram-se aos montes de feno como morcegos, entraram por janelas abertas e se esconderam junto às sebes - qualquer lugar seguro. O ato mais estranho aconteceu quando a porta da frente do Sr. Pecksniff se abriu de repente e elas correram para o corredor. O vento as seguiu e encontrou a porta dos fundos aberta. Apagou a vela acesa da Srta. Pecksniff e bateu a porta da frente contra o Sr. Pecksniff quando ele entrava. Num instante, ele estava de costas no fim dos degraus. Cansado dessas pequenas brincadeiras, o viajante ruidoso partiu alegremente sobre pântanos, prados, colinas e planícies até alcançar o mar, encontrar outros ventos com a mesma disposição e passar a noite em festa.

Original English Version

The scared leaves only flew the faster for all this, and a giddy chase it was; for they got into unfrequented places, where there was no outlet, and where their pursuer kept them eddying round and round at his pleasure; and they crept under the eaves of houses, and clung tightly to the sides of hay-ricks, like bats; and tore in at open chamber windows, and cowered close to hedges; and, in short, went anywhere for safety. But the oddest feat they achieved was, to take advantage of the sudden opening of Mr Pecksniff's front-door, to dash wildly into his passage; whither the wind following close upon them, and finding the back-door open, incontinently blew out the lighted candle held by Miss Pecksniff, and slammed the front-door against Mr Pecksniff who was at that moment entering, with such violence, that in the twinkling of an eye he lay on his back at the bottom of the steps. Being by this time weary of such trifling performances, the boisterous rover hurried away rejoicing, roaring over moor and meadow, hill and flat, until it got out to sea, where it met with other winds similarly disposed, and made a night of it.

Tradução Integral em Português

Com tudo isso, as folhas assustadas apenas voaram mais depressa, e foi uma perseguição vertiginosa; pois entraram em lugares pouco frequentados onde não havia saída e onde o perseguidor as mantinha turbilhonando a seu bel-prazer; esgueiraram-se sob os beirais das casas e agarraram-se com força às laterais dos montes de feno, como morcegos; precipitaram-se por janelas abertas de quartos, encolheram-se junto às sebes e, em suma, foram a qualquer lugar em busca de segurança. Mas a façanha mais singular que realizaram foi aproveitar a súbita abertura da porta da frente do Sr. Pecksniff para lançarem-se desvairadamente no corredor; seguindo-as de perto, o vento ali descobriu aberta a porta dos fundos, apagou sem demora a vela acesa que a Srta. Pecksniff segurava e bateu a porta da frente contra o Sr. Pecksniff, que entrava naquele exato momento, com tamanha violência que, num piscar de olhos, ele jazia de costas ao pé dos degraus. Já cansado de desempenhos tão insignificantes, o turbulento andarilho afastou-se rejubilante, rugindo sobre charnecas e prados, colinas e planícies, até alcançar o mar, onde encontrou outros ventos de igual disposição e passou a noite na farra.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Enquanto isso, o Sr. Pecksniff estava deitado calmamente, olhando para a própria porta. Uma ponta afiada do penúltimo degrau atingira sua cabeça e o fizera imaginar muitas velas pequenas e brilhantes. A porta parecia mais interessante que o normal, pois ele ficou ali por um tempo longo e absurdo sem nem pensar se estava ferido. A Srta. Pecksniff chamou pelo buraco da fechadura com voz aguda como a de um jovem vento: "Quem está aí?" Ele não respondeu. Então ela abriu a porta novamente, protegeu a vela com a mão e olhou ao redor, acima e em todos os lugares, menos para ele. Mesmo assim, ele nada disse nem mostrou que queria ser levantado.

"Estou vendo você", gritou a Srta. Pecksniff para a pessoa que imaginava ter batido e fugido. "Você vai ver só, senhor!"

O Sr. Pecksniff, talvez porque já tivesse recebido o castigo, continuou sem dizer nada.

Original English Version

In the meantime Mr Pecksniff, having received from a sharp angle in the bottom step but one, that sort of knock on the head which lights up, for the patient's entertainment, an imaginary general illumination of very bright short-sixes, lay placidly staring at his own street door. And it would seem to have been more suggestive in its aspect than street doors usually are; for he continued to lie there, rather a lengthy and unreasonable time, without so much as wondering whether he was hurt or no; neither, when Miss Pecksniff inquired through the key-hole in a shrill voice, which might have belonged to a wind in its teens, 'Who's there' did he make any reply; nor, when Miss Pecksniff opened the door again, and shading the candle with her hand, peered out, and looked provokingly round him, and about him, and over him, and everywhere but at him, did he offer any remark, or indicate in any manner the least hint of a desire to be picked up.

'I see you,' cried Miss Pecksniff, to the ideal inflicter of a runaway knock. 'You'll catch it, sir!'

Still Mr Pecksniff, perhaps from having caught it already, said nothing.

Tradução Integral em Português

Enquanto isso, tendo recebido do ângulo agudo do penúltimo degrau aquela espécie de pancada na cabeça que, para diversão do paciente, acende uma iluminação geral imaginária composta de muitas velas pequenas e brilhantes, o Sr. Pecksniff jazia contemplando placidamente a própria porta da rua. E esta parecia ter uma aparência mais sugestiva do que costumam ter as portas de rua; pois ele continuou deitado ali por um tempo bastante longo e desarrazoado, sem sequer se perguntar se estava ou não ferido; tampouco respondeu quando a Srta. Pecksniff perguntou pelo buraco da fechadura, numa voz estridente que poderia pertencer a um vento adolescente: "Quem está aí?"; nem, quando a Srta. Pecksniff tornou a abrir a porta e, protegendo a vela com a mão, espiou para fora e olhou, provocadoramente, ao redor dele, pelos lados, por cima e por toda parte, menos para ele, fez qualquer observação ou indicou de alguma maneira a menor vontade de ser levantado.

"Estou vendo você!", gritou a Srta. Pecksniff para o autor imaginário daquela batida de porta e fuga. "O senhor vai ver só!"

O Sr. Pecksniff, talvez por já ter visto só, continuou sem dizer nada.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Agora você está virando a esquina", gritou a Srta. Pecksniff. Disse isso por acaso, mas combinava com a situação. O Sr. Pecksniff apagava rapidamente as luzes que tinha visto e reduzia as maçanetas de latão da porta de quatrocentas ou quinhentas, que se moviam estranhamente diante de seus olhos, para cerca de doze. Em certo sentido, estava se recuperando e virando a esquina.

Depois de ameaçar com a cela, o policial, o tronco e a forca, a Srta. Pecksniff estava prestes a fechar a porta. O Sr. Pecksniff, ainda no pé dos degraus, ergueu-se sobre um cotovelo e espirrou.

"Essa voz!", gritou a Srta. Pecksniff. "Meu pai!"

Com esse grito, outra Srta. Pecksniff saltou da sala. Entre muitas palavras confusas, as duas colocaram o Sr. Pecksniff de pé.

"Papai!", gritaram juntas. "Papai! Fale, papai! Não fique com esse olhar tão estranho, meu querido papai!"

Mas numa situação assim um cavalheiro não consegue controlar a aparência. O Sr. Pecksniff manteve a boca e os olhos bem abertos e deixou o queixo cair como um quebra-nozes de brinquedo. Seu chapéu havia caído; o rosto estava pálido, o cabelo em pé e o casaco sujo de lama. Parecia tão triste que as duas senhoritas Pecksniff soltaram um grito involuntário.

Original English Version

'You're round the corner now,' cried Miss Pecksniff. She said it at a venture, but there was appropriate matter in it too; for Mr Pecksniff, being in the act of extinguishing the candles before mentioned pretty rapidly, and of reducing the number of brass knobs on his street door from four or five hundred (which had previously been juggling of their own accord before his eyes in a very novel manner) to a dozen or so, might in one sense have been said to be coming round the corner, and just turning it.

With a sharply delivered warning relative to the cage and the constable, and the stocks and the gallows, Miss Pecksniff was about to close the door again, when Mr Pecksniff (being still at the bottom of the steps) raised himself on one elbow, and sneezed.

'That voice!' cried Miss Pecksniff. 'My parent!'

At this exclamation, another Miss Pecksniff bounced out of the parlour; and the two Miss Pecksniffs, with many incoherent expressions, dragged Mr Pecksniff into an upright posture.

'Pa!' they cried in concert. 'Pa! Speak, Pa! Do not look so wild my dearest Pa!'

But as a gentleman's looks, in such a case of all others, are by no means under his own control, Mr Pecksniff continued to keep his mouth and his eyes very wide open, and to drop his lower jaw, somewhat after the manner of a toy nut-cracker; and as his hat had fallen off, and his face was pale, and his hair erect, and his coat muddy, the spectacle he presented was so very doleful, that neither of the Miss Pecksniffs could repress an involuntary screech.

Tradução Integral em Português

"Agora você dobrou a esquina!", gritou a Srta. Pecksniff. Disse-o ao acaso, mas havia também certa pertinência na frase; pois o Sr. Pecksniff, que tratava de apagar com bastante rapidez as velas antes mencionadas e de reduzir de quatrocentos ou quinhentos para cerca de uma dúzia o número de maçanetas de latão em sua porta da rua (as quais até então haviam feito malabarismos por conta própria diante de seus olhos, de maneira muito original), bem poderia, em certo sentido, ser descrito como alguém que estava dobrando a esquina e acabava de contorná-la.

Depois de proferir uma severa advertência relativa ao cárcere, ao policial, ao pelourinho e à forca, a Srta. Pecksniff ia fechar a porta outra vez quando o Sr. Pecksniff (ainda ao pé dos degraus) apoiou-se num cotovelo e espirrou.

"Essa voz!", gritou a Srta. Pecksniff. "Meu pai!"

Ao ouvir essa exclamação, outra Srta. Pecksniff saltou da sala; e as duas senhoritas Pecksniff, entre muitas expressões incoerentes, puxaram o Sr. Pecksniff para a posição vertical.

"Papai!", gritaram em uníssono. "Papai! Fale, papai! Não fique com esse olhar tão desvairado, meu querido papai!"

Mas, como a aparência de um cavalheiro, sobretudo num caso desses, de modo algum está sob o próprio controle, o Sr. Pecksniff continuou com a boca e os olhos muito abertos e o maxilar inferior caído, um tanto à maneira de um quebra-nozes de brinquedo; e, como o chapéu lhe caíra, o rosto estava pálido, os cabelos eriçados e o casaco enlameado, o espetáculo que apresentava era tão desolador que nenhuma das senhoritas Pecksniff conseguiu conter um grito involuntário.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Está bom", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. "Estou melhor."

"Ele acordou!", gritou a Srta. Pecksniff mais nova.

"Ele voltou a falar!", exclamou a mais velha.

Com essas palavras alegres, beijaram o Sr. Pecksniff nas duas faces e o levaram para dentro. A mais nova voltou para buscar o chapéu, o pacote de papel pardo, o guarda-chuva, as luvas e outros objetos pequenos. Depois de fechar a porta, as duas cuidaram de seus ferimentos na sala dos fundos.

Seus ferimentos não eram graves. Tinha arranhões nas partes que a mais velha chamava de "pontudas" do corpo: joelhos e cotovelos. Também havia um grande inchaço novo na parte de trás da cabeça, desconhecido dos frenologistas. Elas trataram os ferimentos com pedaços de papel pardo em conserva. Também deram ao Sr. Pecksniff conhaque forte com água. A Srta. Pecksniff mais velha preparou o chá, que ficou pronto. Enquanto isso, a mais nova trouxe da cozinha um prato fumegante de presunto com ovos. Colocou-o diante do pai e sentou-se num banquinho baixo a seus pés, com os olhos na altura da mesa de chá.

Original English Version

'That'll do,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'I'm better.'

'He's come to himself!' cried the youngest Miss Pecksniff.

'He speaks again!' exclaimed the eldest.

With these joyful words they kissed Mr Pecksniff on either cheek; and bore him into the house. Presently, the youngest Miss Pecksniff ran out again to pick up his hat, his brown paper parcel, his umbrella, his gloves, and other small articles; and that done, and the door closed, both young ladies applied themselves to tending Mr Pecksniff's wounds in the back parlour.

They were not very serious in their nature; being limited to abrasions on what the eldest Miss Pecksniff called 'the knobby parts' of her parent's anatomy, such as his knees and elbows, and to the development of an entirely new organ, unknown to phrenologists, on the back of his head. These injuries having been comforted externally, with patches of pickled brown paper, and Mr Pecksniff having been comforted internally, with some stiff brandy-and-water, the eldest Miss Pecksniff sat down to make the tea, which was all ready. In the meantime the youngest Miss Pecksniff brought from the kitchen a smoking dish of ham and eggs, and, setting the same before her father, took up her station on a low stool at his feet; thereby bringing her eyes on a level with the teaboard.

Tradução Integral em Português

"Já basta", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. "Estou melhor."

"Ele voltou a si!", gritou a Srta. Pecksniff mais jovem.

"Ele voltou a falar!", exclamou a mais velha.

Com essas palavras alegres, beijaram o Sr. Pecksniff, uma em cada face, e o levaram para dentro da casa. Pouco depois, a Srta. Pecksniff mais jovem tornou a sair para recolher o chapéu, o embrulho de papel pardo, o guarda-chuva, as luvas e outros pequenos objetos dele; feito isso e fechada a porta, as duas moças se dedicaram a cuidar dos ferimentos do Sr. Pecksniff na sala dos fundos.

Por sua natureza, não eram muito graves; limitavam-se a escoriações no que a Srta. Pecksniff mais velha chamava de "partes nodosas" da anatomia de seu pai, como joelhos e cotovelos, e ao surgimento, na parte posterior de sua cabeça, de um órgão inteiramente novo e desconhecido dos frenologistas. Depois que esses ferimentos foram confortados externamente com emplastros de papel pardo embebido em vinagre, e o Sr. Pecksniff foi confortado internamente com uma forte mistura de conhaque e água, a Srta. Pecksniff mais velha sentou-se para preparar o chá, que já estava todo pronto. Enquanto isso, a Srta. Pecksniff mais jovem trouxe da cozinha um prato fumegante de presunto com ovos e, colocando-o diante do pai, instalou-se num banquinho baixo aos pés dele; com isso, seus olhos ficaram à altura da bandeja de chá.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A Srta. Pecksniff mais nova não se sentava no banquinho por ser muito jovem ou ter pernas curtas. Fazia isso porque era simples, inocente, brincalhona, selvagem e animada. Podia provocar, mas parecia não ter truques, e esse era seu grande encanto. Era fresca e infantil demais para usar pentes ou prender o cabelo em cachos ou tranças cuidadosas. Em vez disso, usava-o curto e solto, com muitas fileiras de cachos. A fileira de cima era um grande cacho. Seu corpo era cheio e feminino, mas às vezes - sim, às vezes - ela até usava avental de criança. Um jovem cavalheiro a chamara de "criatura transbordante" num poema publicado na seção poética de um jornal local.

Original English Version

It must not be inferred from this position of humility, that the youngest Miss Pecksniff was so young as to be, as one may say, forced to sit upon a stool, by reason of the shortness of her legs. Miss Pecksniff sat upon a stool because of her simplicity and innocence, which were very great, very great. Miss Pecksniff sat upon a stool because she was all girlishness, and playfulness, and wildness, and kittenish buoyancy. She was the most arch and at the same time the most artless creature, was the youngest Miss Pecksniff, that you can possibly imagine. It was her great charm. She was too fresh and guileless, and too full of child-like vivacity, was the youngest Miss Pecksniff, to wear combs in her hair, or to turn it up, or to frizzle it, or braid it. She wore it in a crop, a loosely flowing crop, which had so many rows of curls in it, that the top row was only one curl. Moderately buxom was her shape, and quite womanly too; but sometimes--yes, sometimes--she even wore a pinafore; and how charming THAT was! Oh! she was indeed 'a gushing thing' (as a young gentleman had observed in verse, in the Poet's Corner of a provincial newspaper), was the youngest Miss Pecksniff!

Tradução Integral em Português

Não se deve inferir dessa postura humilde que a Srta. Pecksniff mais jovem fosse tão nova a ponto de ser, por assim dizer, obrigada a sentar-se num banquinho em razão da pouca extensão das pernas. A Srta. Pecksniff sentava-se num banquinho por causa de sua simplicidade e inocência, que eram imensas, imensas. Sentava-se num banquinho porque era toda feminilidade juvenil, brincadeira, vivacidade e exuberância felina. A Srta. Pecksniff mais jovem era a criatura mais maliciosa e, ao mesmo tempo, mais ingênua que se possa imaginar. Esse era seu grande encanto. Fresca e cândida demais, cheia demais de vivacidade infantil era a Srta. Pecksniff mais jovem para usar pentes nos cabelos, prendê-los no alto, frisá-los ou trançá-los. Usava-os curtos, num corte solto e esvoaçante, que tinha tantas fileiras de cachos que a fileira superior era um único cacho. Suas formas eram moderadamente opulentas e também muito femininas; mas às vezes - sim, às vezes - ela até usava um avental; e como ISSO era encantador! Ah! Ela era mesmo "uma criatura arrebatadora" (como observara em versos um jovem cavalheiro no Recanto dos Poetas de um jornal provinciano), aquela Srta. Pecksniff mais jovem!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Pecksniff era um homem sério que falava de ideias nobres e morais. Dera à filha mais nova o nome Mercy, que parecia encantador para uma jovem tão pura. A irmã era Charity. Charity tinha bom senso e uma maneira gentil e séria que não culpava os outros, por isso seu nome também parecia certo. As duas irmãs se amavam e dependiam uma da outra, ao mesmo tempo em que se corrigiam e equilibravam. Cada uma admirava a irmã, mas parecia dirigir uma loja diferente, sem ligação com a da frente. Se os produtos de uma não agradassem, a outra convidava o cliente a entrar. Mesmo assim, nenhuma entendia esse contraste. A natureza o criara, e nem elas nem o Sr. Pecksniff eram responsáveis.

Original English Version

Mr Pecksniff was a moral man--a grave man, a man of noble sentiments and speech--and he had had her christened Mercy. Mercy! oh, what a charming name for such a pure-souled Being as the youngest Miss Pecksniff! Her sister's name was Charity. There was a good thing! Mercy and Charity! And Charity, with her fine strong sense and her mild, yet not reproachful gravity, was so well named, and did so well set off and illustrate her sister! What a pleasant sight was that the contrast they presented; to see each loved and loving one sympathizing with, and devoted to, and leaning on, and yet correcting and counter-checking, and, as it were, antidoting, the other! To behold each damsel in her very admiration of her sister, setting up in business for herself on an entirely different principle, and announcing no connection with over-the-way, and if the quality of goods at that establishment don't please you, you are respectfully invited to favour ME with a call! And the crowning circumstance of the whole delightful catalogue was, that both the fair creatures were so utterly unconscious of all this! They had no idea of it. They no more thought or dreamed of it than Mr Pecksniff did. Nature played them off against each other; THEY had no hand in it, the two Miss Pecksniffs.

Tradução Integral em Português

O Sr. Pecksniff era um homem moral - um homem grave, um homem de nobres sentimentos e palavras - e mandara batizá-la Mercy. Mercy! Ah, que nome encantador para um Ser de alma tão pura quanto a Srta. Pecksniff mais jovem! Sua irmã chamava-se Charity. Que maravilha! Mercy e Charity! E Charity, com seu belo e vigoroso bom senso e sua gravidade branda, embora não reprovadora, tinha um nome tão apropriado e tão bem realçava e ilustrava a irmã! Que visão agradável era o contraste que apresentavam: ver cada uma, amada e amorosa, condoer-se da outra, devotar-se a ela, apoiar-se nela e, ainda assim, corrigi-la e contrabalançá-la e, por assim dizer, servir-lhe de antídoto! Contemplar cada donzela, em sua própria admiração pela irmã, estabelecer-se por conta própria segundo um princípio inteiramente distinto e anunciar não ter ligação alguma com o estabelecimento do outro lado da rua; e, se a qualidade das mercadorias daquela casa não lhe agrada, o distinto freguês fica respeitosamente convidado a visitar a MINHA! E a circunstância culminante de todo esse catálogo delicioso era que as duas belas criaturas não tinham a menor consciência de nada disso! Não faziam ideia. Não pensavam nem sonhavam com isso mais do que o Sr. Pecksniff. A Natureza as jogava uma contra a outra; ELAS não tinham participação alguma nisso, as duas senhoritas Pecksniff.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Pecksniff era especialmente moral em discursos e cartas. Talvez ninguém fosse mais moral. Um admirador simples dizia que ele tinha dentro de si uma bolsa inesgotável de bons sentimentos. Era como a moça do conto de fadas cujas palavras viravam joias. Porém, suas palavras não eram diamantes verdadeiros, apenas cópias muito brilhantes. Dava mais bons conselhos que um caderno de caligrafia. Alguns inimigos o comparavam a uma placa que mostra o caminho, mas nunca vai até lá. Eram apenas sombras lançadas por seu brilho. Até sua garganta parecia moral. Acima da baixa cerca branca da gravata havia um vale liso e sem pelos entre dois colarinhos altos. Ele prendia a gravata atrás, onde ninguém via. Sua garganta parecia dizer: "Não há engano, senhoras e senhores. Tudo é paz, e uma calma sagrada me preenche." O cabelo grisalho era penteado para trás. As pálpebras pesadas, o corpo magro e liso e a maneira suave e oleosa transmitiam a mesma mensagem. Assim também o faziam seu terno preto simples, sua condição de viúvo e seus óculos duplos pendurados. Tudo anunciava: "Contemplem o moral Pecksniff!"

Original English Version

It has been remarked that Mr Pecksniff was a moral man. So he was. Perhaps there never was a more moral man than Mr Pecksniff, especially in his conversation and correspondence. It was once said of him by a homely admirer, that he had a Fortunatus's purse of good sentiments in his inside. In this particular he was like the girl in the fairy tale, except that if they were not actual diamonds which fell from his lips, they were the very brightest paste, and shone prodigiously. He was a most exemplary man; fuller of virtuous precept than a copy book. Some people likened him to a direction-post, which is always telling the way to a place, and never goes there; but these were his enemies, the shadows cast by his brightness; that was all. His very throat was moral. You saw a good deal of it. You looked over a very low fence of white cravat (whereof no man had ever beheld the tie for he fastened it behind), and there it lay, a valley between two jutting heights of collar, serene and whiskerless before you. It seemed to say, on the part of Mr Pecksniff, 'There is no deception, ladies and gentlemen, all is peace, a holy calm pervades me.' So did his hair, just grizzled with an iron-grey which was all brushed off his forehead, and stood bolt upright, or slightly drooped in kindred action with his heavy eyelids. So did his person, which was sleek though free from corpulency. So did his manner, which was soft and oily. In a word, even his plain black suit, and state of widower and dangling double eye-glass, all tended to the same purpose, and cried aloud, 'Behold the moral Pecksniff!'

Tradução Integral em Português

Já se observou que o Sr. Pecksniff era um homem moral. E era mesmo. Talvez jamais tenha existido homem mais moral que o Sr. Pecksniff, sobretudo em suas conversas e correspondência. Certa vez, um admirador simplório disse que ele trazia dentro de si uma bolsa de Fortunato repleta de bons sentimentos. Nesse aspecto, parecia-se com a moça do conto de fadas, exceto que, se não eram diamantes verdadeiros que lhe caíam dos lábios, eram as imitações mais brilhantes e resplandeciam prodigiosamente. Era um homem exemplaríssimo; mais cheio de preceitos virtuosos que um caderno de caligrafia. Algumas pessoas o comparavam a uma placa indicativa, que sempre mostra o caminho para um lugar e jamais vai até lá; mas esses eram seus inimigos, as sombras projetadas por seu brilho; nada mais. Até sua garganta era moral. Via-se bastante dela. Olhava-se por cima de uma cerca baixíssima de gravata branca (cujo nó homem algum jamais contemplara, pois ele a prendia por trás) e ali estava ela, um vale entre duas alturas salientes de colarinho, serena e imberbe diante de nós. Parecia dizer, em nome do Sr. Pecksniff: "Não há engano, senhoras e senhores; tudo é paz; uma calma sagrada me impregna." O mesmo dizia seu cabelo, já salpicado de um grisalho cor de ferro, todo penteado para trás da testa e erguido em linha reta, ou ligeiramente inclinado numa ação solidária com suas pesadas pálpebras. O mesmo dizia sua pessoa, bem nutrida embora livre de corpulência. O mesmo dizia seu modo de agir, suave e untuoso. Em suma, até o simples traje preto, o estado de viúvo e os duplos óculos pendentes serviam todos ao mesmo propósito e bradavam: "Contemplai o moral Pecksniff!"

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A placa de latão na porta do Sr. Pecksniff dizia "PECKSNIFF, ARQUITETO", e seus cartões acrescentavam "E AGRIMENSOR". Ele era agrimensor apenas num sentido: havia uma vista ampla diante de suas janelas. Nada se sabia de seu trabalho de arquitetura, exceto que nunca projetara nem construíra coisa alguma. Mesmo assim, as pessoas acreditavam que seu conhecimento do assunto era tão profundo que chegava a assustar.

Original English Version

The brazen plate upon the door (which being Mr Pecksniff's, could not lie) bore this inscription, 'PECKSNIFF, ARCHITECT,' to which Mr Pecksniff, on his cards of business, added, AND LAND SURVEYOR.' In one sense, and only one, he may be said to have been a Land Surveyor on a pretty large scale, as an extensive prospect lay stretched out before the windows of his house. Of his architectural doings, nothing was clearly known, except that he had never designed or built anything; but it was generally understood that his knowledge of the science was almost awful in its profundity.

Tradução Integral em Português

A placa de latão na porta (que, sendo do Sr. Pecksniff, não podia mentir) trazia esta inscrição: "PECKSNIFF, ARQUITETO", à qual o Sr. Pecksniff acrescentava em seus cartões profissionais: "E AGRIMENSOR". Num sentido, e num só, pode-se dizer que era Agrimensor em escala bastante ampla, pois um extenso panorama se descortinava diante das janelas de sua casa. De suas obras arquitetônicas, nada se sabia ao certo, exceto que jamais projetara ou construíra coisa alguma; mas todos entendiam que seu conhecimento da ciência era de uma profundidade quase aterradora.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O trabalho do Sr. Pecksniff consistia quase inteiramente em receber alunos. Cobrar aluguéis era apenas uma mudança ocasional de seus sérios trabalhos. Era hábil em prender pais e tutores e receber seus pagamentos. Depois que um jovem pagava e chegava, o Sr. Pecksniff às vezes tomava emprestado seu estojo de instrumentos matemáticos, caso tivesse detalhes de prata ou outro valor. Pedia ao jovem que se considerasse parte da família e elogiava seus pais ou tutores. Então o deixava numa grande sala da frente, dois andares acima, com pranchetas, réguas paralelas e compassos muito duros. Havia ali outros dois ou três jovens. Durante três ou cinco anos, conforme o acordo, o aluno desenhava a Catedral de Salisbury de todos os ângulos possíveis. Também construía na imaginação muitos castelos, parlamentos e outros edifícios públicos. Muitos prédios grandiosos eram imaginados naquela sala, especialmente igrejas, com uma das senhoritas Pecksniff no altar casando-se com o arquiteto. Apenas a vigésima parte delas daria aos comissários parlamentares igrejas suficientes para pelo menos cinco séculos.

Original English Version

Mr Pecksniff's professional engagements, indeed, were almost, if not entirely, confined to the reception of pupils; for the collection of rents, with which pursuit he occasionally varied and relieved his graver toils, can hardly be said to be a strictly architectural employment. His genius lay in ensnaring parents and guardians, and pocketing premiums. A young gentleman's premium being paid, and the young gentleman come to Mr Pecksniff's house, Mr Pecksniff borrowed his case of mathematical instruments (if silver-mounted or otherwise valuable); entreated him, from that moment, to consider himself one of the family; complimented him highly on his parents or guardians, as the case might be; and turned him loose in a spacious room on the two-pair front; where, in the company of certain drawing-boards, parallel rulers, very stiff-legged compasses, and two, or perhaps three, other young gentlemen, he improved himself, for three or five years, according to his articles, in making elevations of Salisbury Cathedral from every possible point of sight; and in constructing in the air a vast quantity of Castles, Houses of Parliament, and other Public Buildings. Perhaps in no place in the world were so many gorgeous edifices of this class erected as under Mr Pecksniff's auspices; and if but one-twentieth part of the churches which were built in that front room, with one or other of the Miss Pecksniffs at the altar in the act of marrying the architect, could only be made available by the parliamentary commissioners, no more churches would be wanted for at least five centuries.

Tradução Integral em Português

Na verdade, os compromissos profissionais do Sr. Pecksniff restringiam-se quase, senão inteiramente, a receber alunos; pois a cobrança de aluguéis, atividade com que vez por outra variava e aliviava seus labores mais graves, dificilmente pode ser chamada de ocupação estritamente arquitetônica. Seu gênio consistia em enredar pais e tutores e embolsar as mensalidades. Uma vez paga a taxa de um jovem cavalheiro e tendo este chegado à casa do Sr. Pecksniff, o Sr. Pecksniff tomava emprestado seu estojo de instrumentos matemáticos (se tivesse guarnições de prata ou fosse valioso por qualquer outro motivo); suplicava-lhe que, daquele momento em diante, se considerasse membro da família; fazia grandes elogios a seus pais ou tutores, conforme o caso; e o soltava numa sala espaçosa na parte da frente do segundo andar, onde, em companhia de certas pranchetas de desenho, réguas paralelas, compassos de pernas muito rígidas e dois, ou talvez três, outros jovens cavalheiros, ele se aperfeiçoava durante três ou cinco anos, de acordo com seu contrato, fazendo elevações da Catedral de Salisbury de todos os pontos de vista possíveis e erguendo no ar uma enorme quantidade de Castelos, Parlamentos e outros Edifícios Públicos. Talvez em nenhum lugar do mundo se tenham construído tantos edifícios magníficos dessa classe quanto sob os auspícios do Sr. Pecksniff; e, se apenas a vigésima parte das igrejas construídas naquela sala da frente - com uma ou outra das senhoritas Pecksniff no altar, casando-se com o arquiteto - pudesse ser aproveitada pelos comissários parlamentares, não haveria necessidade de novas igrejas por pelo menos cinco séculos.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Até os bens deste mundo que acabamos de usar", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, olhando ao redor da mesa depois de terminar, "até o creme, o açúcar, o chá, as torradas, o presunto..."

"E os ovos", acrescentou Charity em voz baixa.

"E os ovos", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. "Eles também têm uma moral. Vejam como vêm e vão! Todo prazer passa. Nem conseguimos comer por muito tempo. Se bebermos líquidos inocentes demais, temos hidropisia; se bebermos líquidos fortes, ficamos bêbados. Que pensamento reconfortante!"

"Não diga que NÓS ficamos bêbados, papai", pediu a Srta. Pecksniff mais velha.

"Quando digo nós, minha querida", respondeu o pai, "quero dizer as pessoas em geral, não indivíduos. A moralidade não é pessoal, meu amor. Até esta parte careca nos lembra de que somos apenas..." O Sr. Pecksniff tocou com o indicador esquerdo o pedaço de papel pardo na cabeça. Estava prestes a dizer "vermes", mas lembrou que vermes não têm cabelo. Então disse: "carne e sangue".

Original English Version

'Even the worldly goods of which we have just disposed,' said Mr Pecksniff, glancing round the table when he had finished, 'even cream, sugar, tea, toast, ham--'

'And eggs,' suggested Charity in a low voice.

'And eggs,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'even they have their moral. See how they come and go! Every pleasure is transitory. We can't even eat, long. If we indulge in harmless fluids, we get the dropsy; if in exciting liquids, we get drunk. What a soothing reflection is that!'

'Don't say WE get drunk, Pa,' urged the eldest Miss Pecksniff.

'When I say we, my dear,' returned her father, 'I mean mankind in general; the human race, considered as a body, and not as individuals. There is nothing personal in morality, my love. Even such a thing as this,' said Mr Pecksniff, laying the fore-finger of his left hand upon the brown paper patch on the top of his head, 'slight casual baldness though it be, reminds us that we are but'--he was going to say 'worms,' but recollecting that worms were not remarkable for heads of hair, he substituted 'flesh and blood.'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Até os bens materiais de que acabamos de dispor", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, passando os olhos pela mesa quando terminou, "até o creme, o açúcar, o chá, as torradas, o presunto..."

"E os ovos", sugeriu Charity em voz baixa.

"E os ovos", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "até eles têm sua moral. Vejam como vêm e vão! Todo prazer é transitório. Nem sequer podemos comer por muito tempo. Se nos entregamos a líquidos inofensivos, ficamos hidrópicos; se a líquidos estimulantes, ficamos bêbados. Que reflexão reconfortante!"

"Não diga que NÓS ficamos bêbados, papai", pediu a Srta. Pecksniff mais velha.

"Quando digo nós, minha querida", respondeu o pai, "refiro-me à humanidade em geral; à raça humana considerada como um corpo, não como indivíduos. Não há nada de pessoal na moralidade, meu amor. Até uma coisa como esta", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, pousando o indicador da mão esquerda sobre o emplastro de papel pardo no alto da cabeça, "por mais leve e acidental que seja esta calvície, lembra-nos de que não passamos de..." - ia dizer "vermes", mas, lembrando-se de que os vermes não se distinguiam por cabeleiras, substituiu a palavra por "carne e osso".

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Depois de uma pausa em que tentou sem sucesso encontrar outra moral, o Sr. Pecksniff exclamou: "O que também é muito reconfortante. Mercy, minha querida, mexa o fogo e jogue as cinzas nele."

A jovem obedeceu, voltou ao banquinho, apoiou um braço no joelho do pai e descansou nele a face fresca. A Srta. Charity aproximou a cadeira do fogo, pronta para conversar, e olhou para o pai.

Depois de uma pequena pausa, durante a qual sorriu e balançou a cabeça silenciosamente para o fogo, o Sr. Pecksniff disse: "Sim. Mais uma vez, alcancei meu objetivo. Uma nova pessoa virá morar conosco em breve."

"Um jovem, papai?", perguntou Charity.

"Si-im, um jovem", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. "Ele aproveitará a boa oportunidade agora oferecida. Receberá a melhor educação prática em arquitetura e desfrutará do conforto de um lar. Também terá a companhia constante de pessoas de posição humilde e capacidades limitadas. Mesmo assim, essas pessoas se lembram de seus deveres morais."

Original English Version

'Which,' cried Mr Pecksniff after a pause, during which he seemed to have been casting about for a new moral, and not quite successfully, 'which is also very soothing. Mercy, my dear, stir the fire and throw up the cinders.'

The young lady obeyed, and having done so, resumed her stool, reposed one arm upon her father's knee, and laid her blooming cheek upon it. Miss Charity drew her chair nearer the fire, as one prepared for conversation, and looked towards her father.

'Yes,' said Mr Pecksniff, after a short pause, during which he had been silently smiling, and shaking his head at the fire--'I have again been fortunate in the attainment of my object. A new inmate will very shortly come among us.'

'A youth, papa?' asked Charity.

'Ye-es, a youth,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'He will avail himself of the eligible opportunity which now offers, for uniting the advantages of the best practical architectural education with the comforts of a home, and the constant association with some who (however humble their sphere, and limited their capacity) are not unmindful of their moral responsibilities.'

Tradução Integral em Português

"O que", exclamou o Sr. Pecksniff depois de uma pausa, durante a qual parecera procurar uma nova moral, sem grande êxito, "também é muito reconfortante. Mercy, minha querida, mexa no fogo e levante as cinzas."

A jovem obedeceu e, tendo-o feito, retomou o banquinho, apoiou um braço no joelho do pai e sobre ele pousou a face viçosa. A Srta. Charity aproximou a cadeira do fogo, como quem se preparava para conversar, e olhou para o pai.

"Sim", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, depois de uma breve pausa, durante a qual sorrira em silêncio e balançara a cabeça para o fogo, "mais uma vez tive a felicidade de alcançar meu objetivo. Muito em breve, teremos entre nós um novo morador."

"Um jovem, papai?", perguntou Charity.

"Si-im, um jovem", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. "Ele aproveitará a excelente oportunidade que ora se apresenta de unir as vantagens da melhor formação prática em arquitetura ao conforto de um lar e à convivência constante com certas pessoas que (por mais humilde que seja sua esfera e limitada sua capacidade) não se esquecem de suas responsabilidades morais."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Ah, papai!", gritou Mercy, levantando o dedo de brincadeira. "Veja o anúncio!"

"Brincalhona - passarinha brincalhona", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. Mercy não cantava. Mas o Sr. Pecksniff usava muitas vezes qualquer palavra que soasse bem e completasse uma frase, sem se importar muito com o significado. Falava com tanta confiança e de modo tão impressionante que até as pessoas mais sábias às vezes ficavam confusas e sem fôlego.

Seus inimigos diziam que a grande confiança nos sons e nas aparências era a chave do caráter do Sr. Pecksniff.

"Ele é bonito, papai?", perguntou a filha mais nova.

"Merry tola!", disse a mais velha; Merry era o apelido carinhoso de Mercy. "Qual é o pagamento, papai? Conte isso para nós."

"Meu Deus, Cherry!", gritou a Srta. Mercy, levantando as mãos e rindo docemente. "Como você pensa em dinheiro! Ah, sua criatura travessa, cuidadosa e prudente!"

Era uma cena encantadora, própria da era pastoral. As duas senhoritas Pecksniff deram tapas uma na outra e depois se abraçaram. Até o abraço mostrava suas naturezas diferentes.

Original English Version

'Oh Pa!' cried Mercy, holding up her finger archly. 'See advertisement!'

'Playful--playful warbler,' said Mr Pecksniff. It may be observed in connection with his calling his daughter a 'warbler,' that she was not at all vocal, but that Mr Pecksniff was in the frequent habit of using any word that occurred to him as having a good sound, and rounding a sentence well without much care for its meaning. And he did this so boldly, and in such an imposing manner, that he would sometimes stagger the wisest people with his eloquence, and make them gasp again.

His enemies asserted, by the way, that a strong trustfulness in sounds and forms was the master-key to Mr Pecksniff's character.

'Is he handsome, Pa?' inquired the younger daughter.

'Silly Merry!' said the eldest: Merry being fond for Mercy. 'What is the premium, Paã tell us that.'

'Oh, good gracious, Cherry!' cried Miss Mercy, holding up her hands with the most winning giggle in the world, 'what a mercenary girl you are! oh you naughty, thoughtful, prudent thing!'

It was perfectly charming, and worthy of the Pastoral age, to see how the two Miss Pecksniffs slapped each other after this, and then subsided into an embrace expressive of their different dispositions.

Tradução Integral em Português

"Ah, papai!", exclamou Mercy, erguendo um dedo com malícia. "Vide anúncio!"

"Brincalhona... brincalhona toutinegra", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. Cabe observar, a propósito de chamar a filha de "toutinegra", que ela não possuía talento vocal algum; mas o Sr. Pecksniff tinha o hábito frequente de empregar qualquer palavra que lhe ocorresse por soar bem e completar com elegância uma frase, sem se preocupar muito com o significado. E fazia-o com tanta audácia e de maneira tão imponente que, às vezes, sua eloquência desconcertava até os mais sábios e os deixava sem fôlego.

Seus inimigos afirmavam, aliás, que uma vigorosa confiança nos sons e nas formas era a chave mestra do caráter do Sr. Pecksniff.

"Ele é bonito, papai?", perguntou a filha mais jovem.

"Que tolinha, Merry!", disse a mais velha - Merry era o diminutivo carinhoso de Mercy. "Quanto é a taxa, papai? Conte-nos isso."

"Meu Deus do céu, Cherry!", exclamou a Srta. Mercy, levantando as mãos com a risadinha mais cativante do mundo. "Que moça mercenária você é! Ah, sua criaturinha malvada, ajuizada e prudente!"

Era perfeitamente encantador, e digno da Idade Pastoril, ver como as duas senhoritas Pecksniff se esbofetearam depois disso e então se aquietaram num abraço que exprimia suas diferentes disposições.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Ele tem boa aparência", disse o Sr. Pecksniff devagar e com clareza. "Boa aparência suficiente. Não espero que traga nenhum pagamento de imediato."

Apesar das naturezas diferentes, Charity e Mercy abriram muito os olhos. Por um momento, ficaram com uma expressão vazia, como se realmente estivessem pensando no dinheiro.

"Mas que importância tem isso?", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, ainda sorrindo para o fogo. "Espero que algumas pessoas no mundo façam o bem sem procurar recompensa. Não estamos todos divididos em dois grupos opostos, o OFensivo e o DEfensivo. Algumas pessoas caminham entre eles, ajudam os necessitados e não tomam partido. Hum!"

Essas pequenas observações sobre ajudar os outros tranquilizaram as irmãs. Elas se olharam e ficaram muito mais alegres.

O Sr. Pecksniff sorriu cada vez mais para o fogo, como se brincasse com ele. "Ah, não vamos sempre calcular, planejar e fazer projetos para o futuro", disse. "Estou cansado desses truques. Se nossos desejos são bons e sinceros, vamos segui-los com coragem. Devemos fazer isso mesmo que tragam perda em vez de lucro. Não é, Charity?"

Original English Version

'He is well looking,' said Mr Pecksniff, slowly and distinctly; 'well looking enough. I do not positively expect any immediate premium with him.'

Notwithstanding their different natures, both Charity and Mercy concurred in opening their eyes uncommonly wide at this announcement, and in looking for the moment as blank as if their thoughts had actually had a direct bearing on the main chance.

'But what of that!' said Mr Pecksniff, still smiling at the fire. 'There is disinterestedness in the world, I hope? We are not all arrayed in two opposite ranks; the OFfensive and the DEfensive. Some few there are who walk between; who help the needy as they go; and take no part with either side. Umph!'

There was something in these morsels of philanthropy which reassured the sisters. They exchanged glances, and brightened very much.

'Oh! let us not be for ever calculating, devising, and plotting for the future,' said Mr Pecksniff, smiling more and more, and looking at the fire as a man might, who was cracking a joke with it: 'I am weary of such arts. If our inclinations are but good and open-hearted, let us gratify them boldly, though they bring upon us Loss instead of Profit. Eh, Charity?'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Ele tem boa aparência", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, devagar e distintamente; "aparência bastante boa. Não espero, positivamente, receber de imediato nenhuma taxa com ele."

Apesar de suas naturezas distintas, Charity e Mercy concordaram em abrir os olhos extraordinariamente bem diante desse anúncio e, por um instante, pareceram tão desconcertadas como se seus pensamentos de fato estivessem diretamente voltados para o lucro.

"Mas que importa isso?", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, ainda sorrindo para o fogo. "Espero que exista desinteresse no mundo. Não estamos todos dispostos em duas fileiras opostas: a OFensiva e a DEfensiva. Há uns poucos que caminham entre ambas, que ajudam os necessitados por onde passam e não tomam partido de nenhum dos lados. Hum!"

Havia algo nesses bocadinhos de filantropia que tranquilizou as irmãs. Elas trocaram olhares e se animaram muito.

"Ah! Não fiquemos para sempre calculando, arquitetando e tramando para o futuro", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, sorrindo cada vez mais e olhando para o fogo como faria um homem que estivesse trocando gracejos com ele. "Estou cansado dessas artes. Se nossas inclinações forem boas e sinceras, satisfaçamo-las com coragem, ainda que nos tragam Prejuízo em vez de Lucro. Não é, Charity?"

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Pela primeira vez durante essas observações, o Sr. Pecksniff olhou para as filhas. As duas sorriam. Ele lançou um olhar tão brincalhão e quase santo que a mais nova sentou-se imediatamente em seu colo. Passou os braços pelo pescoço dele e o beijou vinte vezes. Riu sem parar, e até a cuidadosa Cherry participou.

"Ora, ora", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, afastando a filha mais nova e passando os dedos pelo cabelo enquanto o rosto calmo voltava. "Que tolice é essa! Devemos ter cuidado ao rir sem motivo, para não termos depois um bom motivo para chorar. Que notícias há em casa desde ontem? John Westlock foi embora, espero?"

"Na verdade, não", disse Charity.

"E por que não?", perguntou o pai. "Seu período terminou ontem. A mala estava pronta, eu sei, porque a vi no corredor esta manhã."

"Ele dormiu no Dragon ontem à noite", respondeu a jovem, "e convidou o Sr. Pinch para jantar. Passaram a noite juntos, e o Sr. Pinch só voltou para casa muito tarde."

Original English Version

Glancing towards his daughters for the first time since he had begun these reflections, and seeing that they both smiled, Mr Pecksniff eyed them for an instant so jocosely (though still with a kind of saintly waggishness) that the younger one was moved to sit upon his knee forthwith, put her fair arms round his neck, and kiss him twenty times. During the whole of this affectionate display she laughed to a most immoderate extent: in which hilarious indulgence even the prudent Cherry joined.

'Tut, tut,' said Mr Pecksniff, pushing his latest-born away and running his fingers through his hair, as he resumed his tranquil face. 'What folly is this! Let us take heed how we laugh without reason lest we cry with it. What is the domestic news since yesterday? John Westlock is gone, I hope?'

'Indeed, no,' said Charity.

'And why not?' returned her father. 'His term expired yesterday. And his box was packed, I know; for I saw it, in the morning, standing in the hall.'

'He slept last night at the Dragon,' returned the young lady, 'and had Mr Pinch to dine with him. They spent the evening together, and Mr Pinch was not home till very late.'

Tradução Integral em Português

Olhando para as filhas pela primeira vez desde que iniciara essas reflexões e vendo que ambas sorriam, o Sr. Pecksniff lançou-lhes por um instante um olhar tão jocoso (embora ainda com uma espécie de travessura santificada) que a mais jovem sentiu-se impelida a sentar-se sem demora no colo dele, passar os belos braços em torno de seu pescoço e beijá-lo vinte vezes. Durante toda essa demonstração de afeto, ela riu de modo absolutamente imoderado; e até a prudente Cherry se juntou a ela nesse alegre excesso.

"Ora, ora", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, afastando a filha caçula e passando os dedos pelos cabelos, enquanto retomava a expressão tranquila. "Que tolice é essa! Cuidemos para não rir sem motivo, para que não venhamos a chorar com ele. Quais são as notícias domésticas desde ontem? John Westlock foi embora, espero?"

"De fato, não", disse Charity.

"E por que não?", replicou o pai. "O período dele terminou ontem. E seu baú estava arrumado, eu sei, pois o vi pela manhã no vestíbulo."

"Ele dormiu ontem à noite no Dragão", respondeu a jovem, "e convidou o Sr. Pinch para jantar. Passaram a noite juntos, e o Sr. Pinch só voltou muito tarde."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Quando o vi na escada esta manhã, papai", disse Mercy alegremente, "ele parecia, meu Deus, um verdadeiro monstro! Seu rosto tinha muitas cores, seus olhos estavam opacos como se tivessem sido cozidos e sua cabeça claramente doía muito. Suas roupas cheiravam... ah, tão forte!" Ela estremeceu. "A fumaça e ponche."

Com sua habitual maneira gentil, mas parecendo um homem silenciosamente magoado, o Sr. Pecksniff disse: "Acho que o Sr. Pinch poderia ter escolhido companhia melhor. Sabia que John Westlock tentara ferir meus sentimentos ao fim de nossa longa convivência. Não tenho certeza de que o Sr. Pinch tenha agido com cuidado ou bondade. Nem tenho certeza de que tenha sido devidamente agradecido."

"Mas o que alguém pode esperar do Sr. Pinch!", gritou Charity. Pronunciou o nome dele com tanto desprezo que parecia ansiosa para representar a palavra beliscando-lhe a panturrilha.

Original English Version

'And when I saw him on the stairs this morning, Pa,' said Mercy with her usual sprightliness, 'he looked, oh goodness, SUCH a monster! with his face all manner of colours, and his eyes as dull as if they had been boiled, and his head aching dreadfully, I am sure from the look of it, and his clothes smelling, oh it's impossible to say how strong, oh'--here the young lady shuddered--'of smoke and punch.'

'Now I think,' said Mr Pecksniff with his accustomed gentleness, though still with the air of one who suffered under injury without complaint, 'I think Mr Pinch might have done better than choose for his companion one who, at the close of a long intercourse, had endeavoured, as he knew, to wound my feelings. I am not quite sure that this was delicate in Mr Pinch. I am not quite sure that this was kind in Mr Pinch. I will go further and say, I am not quite sure that this was even ordinarily grateful in Mr Pinch.'

'But what can anyone expect from Mr Pinch!' cried Charity, with as strong and scornful an emphasis on the name as if it would have given her unspeakable pleasure to express it, in an acted charade, on the calf of that gentleman's leg.

Tradução Integral em Português

"E quando o vi na escada esta manhã, papai", disse Mercy com sua vivacidade habitual, "ele parecia, meu Deus, um monstro DESSES! O rosto estava de todas as cores, os olhos opacos como se tivessem sido cozidos, e a cabeça devia doer terrivelmente, tenho certeza, só de olhar; e as roupas cheiravam, ah, é impossível dizer como cheiravam forte, ah..." - aqui a jovem estremeceu - "a fumaça e ponche."

"Ora, penso", disse o Sr. Pecksniff com sua habitual brandura, embora ainda com o ar de quem sofria uma injustiça sem se queixar, "penso que o Sr. Pinch poderia ter feito escolha melhor para companheiro do que alguém que, ao fim de uma longa convivência, procurara, como ele bem sabia, ferir meus sentimentos. Não estou inteiramente certo de que isso tenha sido delicado da parte do Sr. Pinch. Não estou inteiramente certo de que isso tenha sido bondoso da parte do Sr. Pinch. Irei mais longe e direi que não estou inteiramente certo de que isso tenha sido sequer minimamente grato da parte do Sr. Pinch."

"Mas o que se pode esperar do Sr. Pinch!", exclamou Charity, imprimindo ao nome uma ênfase tão forte e desdenhosa como se lhe desse inexprimível prazer expressá-la, numa charada encenada, na panturrilha daquele cavalheiro.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Sim, sim", respondeu o pai, levantando a mão com suavidade. "É fácil perguntar o que podemos esperar do Sr. Pinch. Mas ele é um ser humano, minha querida, e parte da humanidade. Temos o direito e o dever de esperar qualidades melhores nele. Essas qualidades em nós nos dão nosso humilde respeito próprio. Deus me livre de dizer que nada pode ser esperado do Sr. Pinch ou de qualquer homem vivo, mesmo o pior. O Sr. Pinch não está entre os piores. Mas me decepcionou e me feriu. Penso um pouco pior dele, mas não da natureza humana. Ah, não, não!"

Quando uma batida suave soou na porta da rua, a Srta. Charity levantou o dedo. "Escutem! É a criatura! Marquem minhas palavras: ele voltou com John Westlock para buscar a mala e vai ajudá-lo a levá-la até o correio. Lembrem-se do que digo. Esse certamente é o plano!"

Original English Version

'Aye, aye,' returned her father, raising his hand mildly: 'it is very well to say what can we expect from Mr Pinch, but Mr Pinch is a fellow-creature, my dear; Mr Pinch is an item in the vast total of humanity, my love; and we have a right, it is our duty, to expect in Mr Pinch some development of those better qualities, the possession of which in our own persons inspires our humble self-respect. No,' continued Mr Pecksniff. 'No! Heaven forbid that I should say, nothing can be expected from Mr Pinch; or that I should say, nothing can be expected from any man alive (even the most degraded, which Mr Pinch is not, no, really); but Mr Pinch has disappointed me; he has hurt me; I think a little the worse of him on this account, but not if human nature. Oh, no, no!'

'Hark!' said Miss Charity, holding up her finger, as a gentle rap was heard at the street door. 'There is the creature! Now mark my words, he has come back with John Westlock for his box, and is going to help him to take it to the mail. Only mark my words, if that isn't his intention!'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Sim, sim", respondeu o pai, erguendo a mão com brandura. "É muito fácil dizer o que podemos esperar do Sr. Pinch; mas o Sr. Pinch é nosso semelhante, minha querida; o Sr. Pinch é um elemento na vasta soma da humanidade, meu amor; e temos o direito - é nosso dever - de esperar no Sr. Pinch algum desenvolvimento daquelas qualidades superiores cuja posse, em nossas próprias pessoas, inspira nosso humilde respeito por nós mesmos. Não", continuou o Sr. Pecksniff. "Não! Deus me livre de dizer que nada se pode esperar do Sr. Pinch; ou de dizer que nada se pode esperar de qualquer homem vivo (mesmo do mais degradado, o que o Sr. Pinch não é; não, na verdade); mas o Sr. Pinch me decepcionou; ele me magoou; por causa disso, penso um pouco pior dele, mas não da natureza humana. Ah, não, não!"

"Escutem!", disse a Srta. Charity, erguendo um dedo quando se ouviu uma leve batida na porta da rua. "É aquela criatura! Prestem atenção ao que digo: ele voltou com John Westlock para buscar o baú e vai ajudá-lo a levá-lo até a diligência do correio. Prestem atenção ao que digo, se não for essa a intenção dele!"

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Enquanto ela falava, a mala pareceu estar saindo da casa. Mas, depois de uma breve e baixa troca de perguntas e respostas, foi colocada no chão novamente, e alguém bateu à porta da sala.

"Entre!", gritou o Sr. Pecksniff, não com raiva, mas como se fosse um homem muito bom. "Entre!"

Entrou um homem desajeitado, muito míope e calvo antes da hora. O Sr. Pecksniff estava sentado de costas para ele, olhando o fogo. O homem ficou junto à porta aberta e hesitou. Não era bonito e usava um terno marrom mal cortado. O uso prolongado fizera a roupa encolher e se torcer em muitas formas estranhas. Seu corpo era desajeitado, os ombros se curvavam para a frente e ele projetava a cabeça de modo cômico. Mesmo assim, a menos que o Sr. Pecksniff dissesse o contrário, ninguém o consideraria um homem mau. Talvez tivesse trinta anos, embora pudesse parecer ter qualquer idade entre dezesseis e sessenta. Era uma dessas pessoas que parecem mais velhas quando jovens e depois nunca parecem envelhecer.

Original English Version

Even as she spoke, the box appeared to be in progress of conveyance from the house, but after a brief murmuring of question and answer, it was put down again, and somebody knocked at the parlour door.

'Come in!' cried Mr Pecksniff--not severely; only virtuously. 'Come in!'

An ungainly, awkward-looking man, extremely short-sighted, and prematurely bald, availed himself of this permission; and seeing that Mr Pecksniff sat with his back towards him, gazing at the fire, stood hesitating, with the door in his hand. He was far from handsome certainly; and was drest in a snuff-coloured suit, of an uncouth make at the best, which, being shrunk with long wear, was twisted and tortured into all kinds of odd shapes; but notwithstanding his attire, and his clumsy figure, which a great stoop in his shoulders, and a ludicrous habit he had of thrusting his head forward, by no means redeemed, one would not have been disposed (unless Mr Pecksniff said so) to consider him a bad fellow by any means. He was perhaps about thirty, but he might have been almost any age between sixteen and sixty; being one of those strange creatures who never decline into an ancient appearance, but look their oldest when they are very young, and get it over at once.

Tradução Integral em Português

Enquanto ela ainda falava, o baú pareceu estar sendo transportado para fora da casa, mas, após um breve murmúrio de perguntas e respostas, foi posto de novo no chão, e alguém bateu à porta da sala.

"Entre!", gritou o Sr. Pecksniff - não com severidade, apenas com virtude. "Entre!"

Um homem desengonçado e de aparência canhestra, extremamente míope e prematuramente calvo, valeu-se dessa permissão; e, vendo que o Sr. Pecksniff estava sentado de costas para ele, contemplando o fogo, ficou parado e hesitante, com a porta na mão. Estava certamente muito longe de ser bonito; e vestia um traje cor de rapé, já de início de corte tosco, que, encolhido pelo longo uso, se torcera e deformara em toda espécie de formas estranhas; mas, apesar de sua roupa e da figura desajeitada - em nada redimida pela acentuada curvatura dos ombros e pelo hábito ridículo de projetar a cabeça para a frente - , ninguém estaria inclinado (a menos que o Sr. Pecksniff o dissesse) a considerá-lo um sujeito mau. Tinha talvez uns trinta anos, mas poderia ter quase qualquer idade entre dezesseis e sessenta; pois pertencia àquela estranha categoria de criaturas que nunca declinam até adquirir uma aparência idosa, mas parecem mais velhas quando ainda são muito jovens e liquidam de uma vez o assunto.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Mantendo a mão na fechadura da porta, ele olhou várias vezes do Sr. Pecksniff para Mercy, de Mercy para Charity e de volta para o Sr. Pecksniff. Mas as moças observavam o fogo com tanta atenção quanto o pai, e nenhum dos três o notou. Por fim, ele teve de dizer:

- Ah! Peço desculpas, Sr. Pecksniff. Peço desculpas por entrar, mas...

- Não é incômodo, Sr. Pinch - disse o Sr. Pecksniff com muita doçura, sem se virar. - Por favor, sente-se, Sr. Pinch. Por favor, feche a porta, Sr. Pinch.

- Claro, senhor - disse Pinch. No entanto, ele abriu ainda mais a porta e acenou nervosamente para alguém do lado de fora. - O Sr. Westlock, senhor, soube que o senhor tinha voltado para casa...

- Sr. Pinch, Sr. Pinch! - disse Pecksniff, virando a cadeira e olhando para ele com profunda tristeza. - Eu não esperava isso do senhor. Não merecia isso do senhor!

- Não, mas, palavra de honra, senhor... - insistiu Pinch.

Original English Version

Keeping his hand upon the lock of the door, he glanced from Mr Pecksniff to Mercy, from Mercy to Charity, and from Charity to Mr Pecksniff again, several times; but the young ladies being as intent upon the fire as their father was, and neither of the three taking any notice of him, he was fain to say, at last,

'Oh! I beg your pardon, Mr Pecksniff: I beg your pardon for intruding; but--'

'No intrusion, Mr Pinch,' said that gentleman very sweetly, but without looking round. 'Pray be seated, Mr Pinch. Have the goodness to shut the door, Mr Pinch, if you please.'

'Certainly, sir,' said Pinch; not doing so, however, but holding it rather wider open than before, and beckoning nervously to somebody without: 'Mr Westlock, sir, hearing that you were come home--'

'Mr Pinch, Mr Pinch!' said Pecksniff, wheeling his chair about, and looking at him with an aspect of the deepest melancholy, 'I did not expect this from you. I have not deserved this from you!'

'No, but upon my word, sir--' urged Pinch.

Tradução Integral em Português

Mantendo a mão na fechadura da porta, ele olhou várias vezes do Sr. Pecksniff para Mercy, de Mercy para Charity e de Charity novamente para o Sr. Pecksniff; mas, como as jovens estavam tão concentradas no fogo quanto o pai, e nenhum dos três lhe prestava atenção, viu-se por fim obrigado a dizer:

- Oh! Peço-lhe perdão, Sr. Pecksniff; peço-lhe perdão por me intrometer, mas...

- Não é intromissão alguma, Sr. Pinch - disse aquele cavalheiro com muita doçura, porém sem se virar. - Queira sentar-se, Sr. Pinch. Tenha a bondade de fechar a porta, Sr. Pinch, por favor.

- Certamente, senhor - disse Pinch; sem fazê-lo, contudo, mas mantendo-a ainda mais aberta do que antes e acenando nervosamente para alguém do lado de fora. - O Sr. Westlock, senhor, ao saber que o senhor havia voltado para casa...

- Sr. Pinch, Sr. Pinch! - disse Pecksniff, girando a cadeira e olhando para ele com uma expressão da mais profunda melancolia. - Eu não esperava isso do senhor. Não mereci isso do senhor!

- Não, mas, palavra de honra, senhor... - insistiu Pinch.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Quanto menos disser, Sr. Pinch - interrompeu o outro - , melhor. Não faço nenhuma queixa. Não tente se defender.

- Por favor, senhor - implorou Pinch. - O Sr. Westlock está indo embora de vez e quer deixar apenas amigos para trás. O senhor e ele discordaram outro dia, e tiveram muitas pequenas desavenças.

- Pequenas desavenças! - exclamou Charity.

- Pequenas desavenças! - repetiu Mercy.

- Minhas queridas! Minhas filhas! - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, erguendo a mão com calma. Depois de uma pausa solene, inclinou-se humildemente para o Sr. Pinch, querendo dizer: "Continue". Mas Pinch não sabia como prosseguir. Olhou desamparado para as duas senhoritas Pecksniff. A conversa poderia ter terminado ali, mas um jovem bonito, que acabara de chegar à idade adulta, avançou da porta e deu continuidade a ela.

- Vamos, Sr. Pecksniff - disse ele, sorrindo. - Que não haja ressentimento entre nós. Lamento que tenhamos discordado e lamento muito tê-lo ofendido. Por favor, não guarde rancor de mim quando nos separarmos, senhor.

Original English Version

'The less you say, Mr Pinch,' interposed the other, 'the better. I utter no complaint. Make no defence.'

'No, but do have the goodness, sir,' cried Pinch, with great earnestness, 'if you please. Mr Westlock, sir, going away for good and all, wishes to leave none but friends behind him. Mr Westlock and you, sir, had a little difference the other day; you have had many little differences.'

'Little differences!' cried Charity.

'Little differences!' echoed Mercy.

'My loves!' said Mr Pecksniff, with the same serene upraising of his hand; 'My dears!' After a solemn pause he meekly bowed to Mr Pinch, as who should say, 'Proceed;' but Mr Pinch was so very much at a loss how to resume, and looked so helplessly at the two Miss Pecksniffs, that the conversation would most probably have terminated there, if a good-looking youth, newly arrived at man's estate, had not stepped forward from the doorway and taken up the thread of the discourse.

'Come, Mr Pecksniff,' he said, with a smile, 'don't let there be any ill-blood between us, pray. I am sorry we have ever differed, and extremely sorry I have ever given you offence. Bear me no ill-will at parting, sir.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Quanto menos disser, Sr. Pinch - interrompeu o outro - , melhor. Não faço queixa alguma. Não apresente defesa.

- Não, mas tenha a bondade, senhor - exclamou Pinch com grande fervor - , por favor. O Sr. Westlock, senhor, como vai embora de uma vez por todas, não deseja deixar para trás ninguém que não seja amigo. O Sr. Westlock e o senhor tiveram uma pequena divergência outro dia; tiveram muitas pequenas divergências.

- Pequenas divergências! - exclamou Charity.

- Pequenas divergências! - ecoou Mercy.

- Minhas queridas! - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, erguendo a mão com a mesma serenidade. - Minhas filhas! - Depois de uma pausa solene, fez uma reverência humilde ao Sr. Pinch, como quem dissesse: "Prossiga"; mas o Sr. Pinch estava tão perdido quanto à maneira de retomar, e olhava com tamanho desamparo para as duas senhoritas Pecksniff, que a conversa muito provavelmente teria terminado ali, se um jovem de boa aparência, recém-chegado à idade adulta, não tivesse avançado da porta e retomado o fio do discurso.

- Vamos, Sr. Pecksniff - disse ele, sorrindo - , não permitamos que haja ressentimento entre nós, por favor. Lamento que tenhamos algum dia divergido e lamento muitíssimo tê-lo ofendido. Não me guarde rancor na despedida, senhor.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Não guardo rancor de nenhum homem na face da Terra - respondeu o Sr. Pecksniff gentilmente.

- Eu lhe disse que ele não guardava - disse Pinch em voz baixa. - Eu sabia. Ele sempre diz que não guarda.

- Então o senhor vai apertar minha mão? - exclamou Westlock. Ele avançou e lançou ao Sr. Pinch um olhar que pedia muita atenção.

- Hum! - disse o Sr. Pecksniff em seu tom mais agradável.

- O senhor vai apertar minha mão.

- Não, John - disse o Sr. Pecksniff com perfeita calma. - Não vou apertar sua mão. Eu o perdoo. Na verdade, já o havia perdoado antes que parasse de me culpar e insultar. Eu o acolhi em espírito, John, o que é melhor do que apertar as mãos.

- Pinch - disse o jovem, virando-se para ele com repulsa por seu antigo mestre - , o que foi que eu lhe disse?

O pobre Pinch olhou inquieto para o Sr. Pecksniff, que o observara desde o início. Depois voltou a olhar para o teto e não disse nada.

Original English Version

'I bear,' answered Mr Pecksniff, mildly, 'no ill-will to any man on earth.'

'I told you he didn't,' said Pinch, in an undertone; 'I knew he didn't! He always says he don't.'

'Then you will shake hands, sir?' cried Westlock, advancing a step or two, and bespeaking Mr Pinch's close attention by a glance.

'Umph!' said Mr Pecksniff, in his most winning tone.

'You will shake hands, sir.'

'No, John,' said Mr Pecksniff, with a calmness quite ethereal; 'no, I will not shake hands, John. I have forgiven you. I had already forgiven you, even before you ceased to reproach and taunt me. I have embraced you in the spirit, John, which is better than shaking hands.'

'Pinch,' said the youth, turning towards him, with a hearty disgust of his late master, 'what did I tell you?'

Poor Pinch looked down uneasily at Mr Pecksniff, whose eye was fixed upon him as it had been from the first; and looking up at the ceiling again, made no reply.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Não guardo - respondeu o Sr. Pecksniff, brandamente - rancor de homem algum sobre a face da Terra.

- Eu lhe disse que ele não guardava - murmurou Pinch. - Eu sabia que não! Ele sempre diz que não guarda.

- Então apertará minha mão, senhor? - exclamou Westlock, avançando um ou dois passos e, com um olhar, solicitando a máxima atenção do Sr. Pinch.

- Hum! - disse o Sr. Pecksniff em seu tom mais cativante.

- O senhor apertará minha mão.

- Não, John - disse o Sr. Pecksniff com uma calma verdadeiramente etérea - ; não, não apertarei sua mão, John. Eu o perdoei. Já o havia perdoado, mesmo antes que parasse de me censurar e insultar. Abracei-o em espírito, John, o que é melhor do que apertar as mãos.

- Pinch - disse o jovem, voltando-se para ele com sincera repugnância por seu antigo mestre - , o que foi que eu lhe disse?

O pobre Pinch baixou os olhos, inquieto, para o Sr. Pecksniff, cujo olhar permanecia fixo nele como desde o princípio; depois tornou a olhar para o teto e não respondeu.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Quanto ao seu perdão, Sr. Pecksniff - disse o jovem - , não o aceitarei nesses termos. Não quero ser perdoado.

- Não quer, John? - respondeu o Sr. Pecksniff com um sorriso. - Mas terá de aceitar; não pode impedir. O perdão é uma virtude bela e nobre, muito além do seu controle, John. Eu o perdoarei. Você não pode me fazer lembrar de nenhum mal que tenha me causado.

- Mal! - exclamou o outro com todo o ardor da juventude. - Que grande homem! Que mal eu lhe causei? Ele não se lembrará das quinhentas libras que tirou de mim com falsas alegações. Nem dos setenta libras por ano por comida e hospedagem, que seriam caras mesmo a dezessete libras. Que mártir!

Original English Version

'As to your forgiveness, Mr Pecksniff,' said the youth, 'I'll not have it upon such terms. I won't be forgiven.'

'Won't you, John?' retorted Mr Pecksniff, with a smile. 'You must. You can't help it. Forgiveness is a high quality; an exalted virtue; far above YOUR control or influence, John. I WILL forgive you. You cannot move me to remember any wrong you have ever done me, John.'

'Wrong!' cried the other, with all the heat and impetuosity of his age. 'Here's a pretty fellow! Wrong! Wrong I have done him! He'll not even remember the five hundred pounds he had with me under false pretences; or the seventy pounds a year for board and lodging that would have been dear at seventeen! Here's a martyr!'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Quanto ao seu perdão, Sr. Pecksniff - disse o jovem - , não o aceitarei nesses termos. Não quero ser perdoado.

- Não quer, John? - retrucou o Sr. Pecksniff, sorrindo. - Mas terá de ser. Não pode evitá-lo. O perdão é uma qualidade elevada; uma virtude sublime; muito acima do SEU controle ou influência, John. EU o perdoarei. Você não conseguirá fazer com que eu me lembre de qualquer mal que já me tenha feito, John.

- Mal! - exclamou o outro, com todo o ardor e a impetuosidade de sua idade. - Eis aí um belo sujeito! Mal! O mal que eu lhe fiz! Ele nem sequer se lembrará das quinhentas libras que tirou de mim sob falsos pretextos; nem das setenta libras anuais por alojamento e comida, que já seriam caras por dezessete! Eis aí um mártir!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- O dinheiro, John - disse o Sr. Pecksniff - , é a raiz de todo mal. Entristece-me vê-lo já produzindo o mal em você. Mas esquecerei que ele existe. Também esquecerei a pessoa desorientada que o trouxe aqui esta noite. Ela tentou, sem sucesso, perturbar a paz de alguém que teria derramado seu sangue mais precioso para servi-la. Embora o Sr. Pecksniff parecesse tranquilo, sua ênfase dizia: "Estou observando o patife agora".

A voz do Sr. Pecksniff tremia enquanto ele falava, e suas filhas soluçavam. Então dois sons pareceram flutuar pelo ar: um dizia "Besta!", e o outro, "Selvagem!".

- O perdão completo e puro pode existir com o coração ferido - disse o Sr. Pecksniff. - Talvez seja uma virtude ainda maior quando o coração está ferido. A ingratidão daquela pessoa ainda me dói profundamente, mas eu a perdoo com orgulho. Por favor, não fale agora - exclamou quando Pinch pareceu pronto para falar. - Ajude-me ficando em silêncio. Não sou forte o bastante para esta prova. Em breve, espero poder falar com ele como se esses acontecimentos nunca tivessem ocorrido. Mas agora não. - Ele se virou para o fogo e fez um gesto em direção à porta.

Original English Version

'Money, John,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'is the root of all evil. I grieve to see that it is already bearing evil fruit in you. But I will not remember its existence. I will not even remember the conduct of that misguided person'--and here, although he spoke like one at peace with all the world, he used an emphasis that plainly said "I have my eye upon the rascal now"--'that misguided person who has brought you here to-night, seeking to disturb (it is a happiness to say, in vain) the heart's repose and peace of one who would have shed his dearest blood to serve him.'

The voice of Mr Pecksniff trembled as he spoke, and sobs were heard from his daughters. Sounds floated on the air, moreover, as if two spirit voices had exclaimed: one, 'Beast!' the other, 'Savage!'

'Forgiveness,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'entire and pure forgiveness is not incompatible with a wounded heart; perchance when the heart is wounded, it becomes a greater virtue. With my breast still wrung and grieved to its inmost core by the ingratitude of that person, I am proud and glad to say that I forgive him. Nay! I beg,' cried Mr Pecksniff, raising his voice, as Pinch appeared about to speak, 'I beg that individual not to offer a remark; he will truly oblige me by not uttering one word, just now. I am not sure that I am equal to the trial. In a very short space of time, I shall have sufficient fortitude, I trust to converse with him as if these events had never happened. But not,' said Mr Pecksniff, turning round again towards the fire, and waving his hand in the direction of the door, 'not now.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- O dinheiro, John - disse o Sr. Pecksniff - , é a raiz de todo mal. Entristece-me ver que já produz maus frutos em você. Mas não me lembrarei de sua existência. Não me lembrarei sequer da conduta daquela pessoa desencaminhada... - e aqui, embora falasse como alguém em paz com o mundo inteiro, empregou uma ênfase que dizia claramente: "Estou de olho no patife agora" - daquela pessoa desencaminhada que o trouxe aqui esta noite, procurando perturbar (é uma felicidade poder dizer que em vão) o repouso e a paz do coração de alguém que teria derramado seu sangue mais precioso para servi-lo.

A voz do Sr. Pecksniff tremia enquanto ele falava, e ouviram-se soluços de suas filhas. Além disso, flutuaram no ar sons como se duas vozes espirituais tivessem exclamado: uma, "Monstro!"; a outra, "Selvagem!".

- O perdão - disse o Sr. Pecksniff - , o perdão completo e puro, não é incompatível com um coração ferido; talvez, quando o coração está ferido, ele se torne uma virtude ainda maior. Com o peito ainda torturado e afligido em seu âmago pela ingratidão daquela pessoa, tenho orgulho e alegria de dizer que a perdoo. Não! Peço - exclamou o Sr. Pecksniff, erguendo a voz quando Pinch pareceu prestes a falar - , peço a esse indivíduo que não faça observação alguma; ele verdadeiramente me obsequiará se não pronunciar uma só palavra neste momento. Não tenho certeza de estar à altura da provação. Dentro de muito pouco tempo, terei força suficiente, espero, para conversar com ele como se esses acontecimentos jamais houvessem ocorrido. Mas não - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, tornando a se voltar para o fogo e acenando com a mão na direção da porta - , não agora.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Ora! - exclamou John Westlock com grande repulsa e desprezo. - Senhoritas, boa noite. Venha, Pinch, não vale a pena pensar nisso. Eu estava certo e você estava errado. Isso é pouca coisa; da próxima vez você será mais sensato.

Ele deu um tapinha no ombro do infeliz companheiro, virou-se e entrou no corredor. Depois de esperar indeciso por alguns segundos na sala, com o rosto cheio de tristeza, o pobre Sr. Pinch o seguiu. Juntos, pegaram a caixa e saíram para encontrar a diligência do correio.

A diligência rápida passava todas as noites pela esquina de uma estrada rural a certa distância, por isso caminharam até lá. Durante vários minutos ficaram em silêncio. Então o jovem Westlock riu alto e, mais tarde, riu de novo e de novo. Seu companheiro continuou sem reagir.

Depois de outro longo silêncio, ele disse de repente: - Pinch, você não tem nem metade do diabo dentro de si. Nem metade... não tem nada.

- Bem! - suspirou Pinch. - Não tenho certeza. Dizer isso é um elogio. Se não tenho nada, suponho que seja melhor assim.

Original English Version

'Bah!' cried John Westlock, with the utmost disgust and disdain the monosyllable is capable of expressing. 'Ladies, good evening. Come, Pinch, it's not worth thinking of. I was right and you were wrong. That's small matter; you'll be wiser another time.'

So saying, he clapped that dejected companion on the shoulder, turned upon his heel, and walked out into the passage, whither poor Mr Pinch, after lingering irresolutely in the parlour for a few seconds, expressing in his countenance the deepest mental misery and gloom followed him. Then they took up the box between them, and sallied out to meet the mail.

That fleet conveyance passed, every night, the corner of a lane at some distance; towards which point they bent their steps. For some minutes they walked along in silence, until at length young Westlock burst into a loud laugh, and at intervals into another, and another. Still there was no response from his companion.

'I'll tell you what, Pinch!' he said abruptly, after another lengthened silence--'You haven't half enough of the devil in you. Half enough! You haven't any.'

'Well!' said Pinch with a sigh, 'I don't know, I'm sure. It's compliment to say so. If I haven't, I suppose, I'm all the better for it.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Bah! - exclamou John Westlock, com toda a repugnância e todo o desdém que o monossílabo é capaz de exprimir. - Senhoritas, boa noite. Vamos, Pinch, não vale a pena pensar nisso. Eu estava certo e você, errado. Isso é coisa de pouca importância; da próxima vez você terá mais juízo.

Dizendo isso, deu uma palmada no ombro daquele companheiro abatido, girou nos calcanhares e saiu para o corredor, aonde o pobre Sr. Pinch o seguiu depois de permanecer alguns segundos indeciso na sala, exprimindo no rosto a mais profunda angústia e tristeza de espírito. Então pegaram a caixa entre os dois e saíram para encontrar a diligência do correio.

Aquele veloz veículo passava todas as noites pela esquina de uma estrada secundária a certa distância; e foi para esse ponto que dirigiram os passos. Por alguns minutos caminharam em silêncio, até que, por fim, o jovem Westlock desatou numa gargalhada e, a intervalos, em outra e mais outra. Ainda assim, não houve resposta de seu companheiro.

- Vou lhe dizer uma coisa, Pinch! - disse ele de repente, depois de outro silêncio prolongado. - Você não tem nem metade do diabo de que precisa dentro de si. Metade! Você não tem nada.

- Bem! - disse Pinch, suspirando. - Não sei ao certo. Dizer isso é um elogio. Se não tenho, suponho que tanto melhor para mim.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Muito melhor! - repetiu seu companheiro bruscamente. - Você quer dizer muito pior.

Ignorando as últimas palavras do amigo, Pinch disse: - Mesmo assim, devo ter muito do que você chama de diabo dentro de mim. De que outra forma eu deixaria Pecksniff tão incomodado? Por favor, não ria. Eu não lhe causaria tanta dor por dinheiro algum, embora Deus saiba como ele me faria falta, John. Como ele estava triste!

- ELE estava triste! - respondeu o outro.

- Você não viu que as lágrimas quase chegaram aos olhos dele? - exclamou Pinch. - John, não significa nada ver um homem tão comovido e saber que você causou isso? Ouviu quando ele disse que poderia ter derramado seu sangue por mim?

Seu amigo respondeu irritado: - Você quer que alguém derrame sangue por você? Ele lhe dá alguma coisa que você realmente quer? Dá trabalho, ensino ou dinheiro para suas despesas? Dá ao menos pernas de carneiro suficientes em comparação com as batatas e verduras?

Original English Version

'All the better!' repeated his companion tartly: 'All the worse, you mean to say.'

'And yet,' said Pinch, pursuing his own thoughts and not this last remark on the part of his friend, 'I must have a good deal of what you call the devil in me, too, or how could I make Pecksniff so uncomfortable? I wouldn't have occasioned him so much distress--don't laugh, please--for a mine of money; and Heaven knows I could find good use for it too, John. How grieved he was!'

'HE grieved!' returned the other.

'Why didn't you observe that the tears were almost starting out of his eyes!' cried Pinch. 'Bless my soul, John, is it nothing to see a man moved to that extent and know one's self to be the cause! And did you hear him say that he could have shed his blood for me?'

'Do you WANT any blood shed for you?' returned his friend, with considerable irritation. 'Does he shed anything for you that you DO want? Does he shed employment for you, instruction for you, pocket money for you? Does he shed even legs of mutton for you in any decent proportion to potatoes and garden stuff?'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Tanto melhor! - repetiu o companheiro, asperamente. - Tanto pior, é o que quer dizer.

- E, no entanto - disse Pinch, seguindo os próprios pensamentos e não a última observação do amigo - , também devo ter bastante do que você chama de diabo dentro de mim, ou como poderia deixar Pecksniff tão incomodado? Eu não lhe teria causado tamanha aflição - não ria, por favor - por uma mina de dinheiro; e Deus sabe que eu também encontraria bom uso para ele, John. Como ele ficou magoado!

- ELE, magoado! - replicou o outro.

- Ora, você não observou que as lágrimas quase lhe saltavam dos olhos? - exclamou Pinch. - Deus do céu, John, por acaso não significa nada ver um homem comovido a tal ponto e saber que nós mesmos somos a causa? E ouviu-o dizer que poderia ter derramado o próprio sangue por mim?

- Você QUER que alguém derrame sangue por você? - retrucou o amigo, bastante irritado. - Ele derrama por você alguma coisa que você de fato QUEIRA? Derrama emprego para você, instrução para você, dinheiro de bolso para você? Derrama sequer pernas de carneiro para você numa proporção decente em relação às batatas e hortaliças?

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Pinch suspirou novamente. - Receio que eu coma muito. Não posso esconder de mim mesmo que como. Você sabe disso, John.

- Você come muito! - respondeu o companheiro, igualmente irritado. - Como sabe disso?

A pergunta parecia difícil de responder. O Sr. Pinch apenas disse em voz baixa que temia muito ser realmente um grande comilão.

- Além disso, eu comer muito ou não tem pouca relação com ele me considerar ingrato - acrescentou. - John, para mim quase não existe pecado tão terrível quanto a ingratidão. Quando ele me acusa disso e acredita que sou culpado, sinto-me péssimo.

- Você acha que ele não sabe disso? - respondeu o outro com desprezo. - Mas, antes que eu diga mais, Pinch, explique por que deveria ser grato a ele. Primeiro passe a caixa para a outra mão, porque está pesada. Isso. Agora continue.

- Primeiro - disse Pinch - , ele me aceitou como aluno por muito menos do que pediu.

Original English Version

'I am afraid,' said Pinch, sighing again, 'that I am a great eater; I can't disguise from myself that I'm a great eater. Now, you know that, John.'

'You a great eater!' retorted his companion, with no less indignation than before. 'How do you know you are?'

There appeared to be forcible matter in this inquiry, for Mr Pinch only repeated in an undertone that he had a strong misgiving on the subject, and that he greatly feared he was.

'Besides, whether I am or no,' he added, 'that has little or nothing to do with his thinking me ungrateful. John, there is scarcely a sin in the world that is in my eyes such a crying one as ingratitude; and when he taxes me with that, and believes me to be guilty of it, he makes me miserable and wretched.'

'Do you think he don't know that?' returned the other scornfully. 'But come, Pinch, before I say anything more to you, just run over the reasons you have for being grateful to him at all, will you? Change hands first, for the box is heavy. That'll do. Now, go on.'

'In the first place,' said Pinch, 'he took me as his pupil for much less than he asked.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Receio - disse Pinch, suspirando outra vez - que eu coma demais; não posso ocultar de mim mesmo que como demais. Ora, você sabe disso, John.

- Você come demais! - retrucou o companheiro, com indignação não menor que antes. - Como sabe que come?

Parecia haver muita força nessa pergunta, pois o Sr. Pinch limitou-se a repetir em voz baixa que tinha uma forte suspeita a esse respeito e receava muito que assim fosse.

- Além disso, quer eu coma demais ou não - acrescentou - , isso tem pouco ou nada a ver com ele me julgar ingrato. John, dificilmente existe no mundo um pecado que, a meus olhos, clame tanto aos céus quanto a ingratidão; e, quando ele me acusa disso e acredita que sou culpado, deixa-me infeliz e desgraçado.

- Acha que ele não sabe disso? - replicou o outro com desdém. - Mas vamos, Pinch, antes que eu lhe diga mais alguma coisa, enumere de uma vez as razões que tem para lhe ser grato, está bem? Primeiro troque de mão, pois a caixa está pesada. Assim está bom. Agora prossiga.

- Em primeiro lugar - disse Pinch - , ele me aceitou como aprendiz por muito menos do que pedia.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Seu amigo não se comoveu com essa generosidade. - Bem, e o segundo motivo?

- O segundo motivo? - exclamou Pinch desesperado. - Ora, todo o resto vem em segundo lugar. Minha pobre e velha avó morreu feliz porque achava que me havia colocado com um homem tão excelente. Cresci na casa dele, tenho sua confiança, trabalho como assistente e recebo um salário. Quando os negócios dele melhorarem, meu futuro também deverá melhorar. Há muito mais. E, John, antes de tudo isso, lembre-se: nasci para coisas mais pobres e simples. Não sou bom no trabalho dele e não tenho talento para isso, nem para coisa alguma além de pequenas tarefas inúteis.

Ele falou com tanta sinceridade que seu companheiro mudou de atitude sem perceber. A essa altura, tinham chegado à placa de sinalização no fim da estrada. O companheiro sentou-se na caixa, fez sinal para Pinch se sentar ao seu lado e pôs uma mão em seu ombro.

Original English Version

'Well,' rejoined his friend, perfectly unmoved by this instance of generosity. 'What in the second place?'

'What in the second place?' cried Pinch, in a sort of desperation, 'why, everything in the second place. My poor old grandmother died happy to think that she had put me with such an excellent man. I have grown up in his house, I am in his confidence, I am his assistant, he allows me a salary; when his business improves, my prospects are to improve too. All this, and a great deal more, is in the second place. And in the very prologue and preface to the first place, John, you must consider this, which nobody knows better than I: that I was born for much plainer and poorer things, that I am not a good hand for his kind of business, and have no talent for it, or indeed for anything else but odds and ends that are of no use or service to anybody.'

He said this with so much earnestness, and in a tone so full of feeling, that his companion instinctively changed his manner as he sat down on the box (they had by this time reached the finger-post at the end of the lane); motioned him to sit down beside him; and laid his hand upon his shoulder.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Bem - tornou o amigo, inteiramente impassível diante desse exemplo de generosidade. - E em segundo lugar?

- E em segundo lugar? - exclamou Pinch, numa espécie de desespero. - Ora, tudo vem em segundo lugar. Minha pobre e velha avó morreu feliz por pensar que me havia colocado com um homem tão excelente. Cresci na casa dele, gozo de sua confiança, sou seu assistente, ele me concede um salário; quando os negócios dele melhorarem, minhas perspectivas também melhorarão. Tudo isso, e muito mais, vem em segundo lugar. E no próprio prólogo e prefácio do primeiro lugar, John, você deve levar em conta isto, que ninguém sabe melhor do que eu: nasci para coisas muito mais modestas e humildes, não tenho jeito para o tipo de negócio dele e não possuo talento para isso, nem, aliás, para coisa alguma, salvo uma miscelânea de coisinhas que não têm utilidade nem serventia para ninguém.

Ele disse isso com tamanha sinceridade e num tom tão cheio de sentimento que o companheiro mudou instintivamente de atitude ao sentar-se sobre a caixa (àquela altura, já haviam chegado ao poste indicador no fim da estrada); fez-lhe sinal para que se sentasse ao seu lado e pousou-lhe a mão no ombro.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Acredito que você seja um dos melhores homens do mundo, Tom Pinch - disse ele.

- De modo algum - respondeu Tom. - Se conhecesse Pecksniff tão bem quanto eu, poderia dizer isso dele com toda a verdade.

- Direi o que você quiser sobre ele - respondeu o outro - , e nada mais contra ele.

- Então é por minha causa, e não por causa dele, receio - disse Pinch, balançando seriamente a cabeça.

- Pela causa de quem você escolher, Tom, desde que isso o agrade. Ah, ele é um homem maravilhoso! ELE nunca colocou no próprio bolso todas as economias que sua pobre avó ganhou com tanto esforço. Ela era governanta, não era, Tom?

- Sim - disse o Sr. Pinch, segurando um dos grandes joelhos e assentindo. - Governanta na casa de um cavalheiro.

- ELE nunca tomou todas as economias que ela ganhou com tanto esforço. Nunca a encheu de esperanças sobre sua felicidade e seu progresso, embora soubesse melhor do que ninguém que elas jamais se realizariam! ELE nunca se aproveitou do orgulho que ela sentia de você e da educação que lhe deu. Nem se aproveitou do desejo dela de que você ao menos se tornasse um cavalheiro. Ele não, Tom!

Original English Version

'I believe you are one of the best fellows in the world,' he said, 'Tom Pinch.'

'Not at all,' rejoined Tom. 'If you only knew Pecksniff as well as I do, you might say it of him, indeed, and say it truly.'

'I'll say anything of him, you like,' returned the other, 'and not another word to his disparagement.'

'It's for my sake, then; not his, I am afraid,' said Pinch, shaking his head gravely.

'For whose you please, Tom, so that it does please you. Oh! He's a famous fellow! HE never scraped and clawed into his pouch all your poor grandmother's hard savings--she was a housekeeper, wasn't she, Tom?'

'Yes,' said Mr Pinch, nursing one of his large knees, and nodding his head; 'a gentleman's housekeeper.'

'HE never scraped and clawed into his pouch all her hard savings; dazzling her with prospects of your happiness and advancement, which he knew (and no man better) never would be realised! HE never speculated and traded on her pride in you, and her having educated you, and on her desire that you at least should live to be a gentleman. Not he, Tom!'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Creio que você é um dos melhores sujeitos do mundo - disse ele - , Tom Pinch.

- De modo algum - respondeu Tom. - Se conhecesse Pecksniff tão bem quanto eu, poderia dizer isso dele, e o diria com toda a verdade.

- Direi dele o que você quiser - replicou o outro - , e nem mais uma palavra em seu desfavor.

- É por mim, então; não por ele, receio - disse Pinch, sacudindo gravemente a cabeça.

- Por quem você quiser, Tom, contanto que isso lhe agrade. Oh! Ele é um sujeito admirável! ELE jamais raspou e arrancou todas as economias suadas de sua pobre avó para dentro da própria bolsa... Ela era governanta, não era, Tom?

- Sim - disse o Sr. Pinch, abraçando um de seus grandes joelhos e assentindo com a cabeça - , governanta na casa de um cavalheiro.

- ELE jamais raspou e arrancou todas as economias suadas dela para dentro da própria bolsa; jamais a deslumbrou com perspectivas de sua felicidade e ascensão que ele sabia (e ninguém sabia melhor) que nunca se realizariam! ELE jamais especulou nem negociou com o orgulho que ela sentia de você, com o fato de tê-lo educado e com o desejo dela de que ao menos você chegasse a viver como um cavalheiro. Ele não, Tom!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Não - disse Tom, olhando para o amigo como se não tivesse certeza do que ele queria dizer. - Claro que não.

- É isso que digo - respondeu o jovem. - Claro que ele nunca fez isso. ELE não aceitou menos porque era tudo o que ela tinha, e mais do que esperava. Ele não o mantém como assistente porque você é útil. Sua crença nas falsas alegações dele o ajuda em discussões mesquinhas, e sua honestidade faz com que ele pareça honesto. Pessoas até Salisbury ouvem dizer que você passa seu tempo livre aqui lendo livros antigos e línguas estrangeiras. Isso faz seu mestre, Pecksniff, parecer culto e importante. ELE não ganha nenhum prestígio graças a você, Tom. Ele não.

- Ora, é claro que não - disse Pinch, parecendo mais perturbado do que antes. - Pecksniff ganhar prestígio graças a mim! Ora essa!

- Eu digo que é ridículo até pensar numa coisa dessas, não digo? - respondeu o outro.

Original English Version

'No,' said Tom, looking into his friend's face, as if he were a little doubtful of his meaning. 'Of course not.'

'So I say,' returned the youth, 'of course he never did. HE didn't take less than he had asked, because that less was all she had, and more than he expected; not he, Tom! He doesn't keep you as his assistant because you are of any use to him; because your wonderful faith in his pretensions is of inestimable service in all his mean disputes; because your honesty reflects honesty on him; because your wandering about this little place all your spare hours, reading in ancient books and foreign tongues, gets noised abroad, even as far as Salisbury, making of him, Pecksniff the master, a man of learning and of vast importance. HE gets no credit from you, Tom, not he.'

'Why, of course he don't,' said Pinch, gazing at his friend with a more troubled aspect than before. 'Pecksniff get credit from me! Well!'

'Don't I say that it's ridiculous,' rejoined the other, 'even to think of such a thing?'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Não - disse Tom, fitando o rosto do amigo como se tivesse alguma dúvida sobre o que ele queria dizer. - Claro que não.

- É o que digo - respondeu o jovem - , claro que nunca fez isso. ELE não aceitou menos do que pedira porque esse menos era tudo o que ela possuía e mais do que ele esperava; ele não, Tom! Ele não o mantém como assistente porque você lhe seja útil; porque sua extraordinária fé nas pretensões dele seja de valor inestimável em todas as suas disputas mesquinhas; porque sua honestidade faça com que ele pareça honesto; porque o fato de você perambular por este lugarzinho durante todas as horas livres, lendo livros antigos e línguas estrangeiras, ganha fama até mesmo em Salisbury, transformando-o, Pecksniff, o mestre, num homem de erudição e enorme importância. ELE não recebe prestígio algum graças a você, Tom, de modo algum.

- Ora, claro que não - disse Pinch, fitando o amigo com uma expressão mais perturbada que antes. - Pecksniff receber prestígio graças a mim! Ora essa!

- Não estou dizendo que é ridículo - tornou o outro - até mesmo pensar numa coisa dessas?

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Ora, é loucura - disse Tom.

- Loucura! - disse o jovem Westlock. - Claro que é loucura. Quem, senão um louco, pensaria que Pecksniff gosta de ouvir isto aos domingos? O voluntário do órgão da igreja, que pratica nas noites escuras de verão, é chamado de jovem do Sr. Pecksniff, não é, Tom? Quem pensaria que Pecksniff quer que todos falem das mil coisas inúteis que você faz e que ele lhe ensinou? Você faz propaganda dele aqui de forma mais barata e melhor do que qualquer pessoa que escrevesse nos muros, não é, Tom? Alguém poderia até supor que ele não abre o coração e a alma para você nem lhe dá uma ajuda muito generosa, generosa até demais. De modo ainda mais absurdo, alguém poderia supor que Pecksniff usa sua natureza em benefício próprio. Você é tímido, duvida de si mesmo e confia em todos os outros, especialmente no homem que menos merece. Isso seria loucura, Tom!

Original English Version

'Why, it's madness,' said Tom.

'Madness!' returned young Westlock. 'Certainly it's madness. Who but a madman would suppose he cares to hear it said on Sundays, that the volunteer who plays the organ in the church, and practises on summer evenings in the dark, is Mr Pecksniff's young man, eh, Tom? Who but a madman would suppose it is the game of such a man as he, to have his name in everybody's mouth, connected with the thousand useless odds and ends you do (and which, of course, he taught you), eh, Tom? Who but a madman would suppose you advertised him hereabouts, much cheaper and much better than a chalker on the walls could, eh, Tom? As well might one suppose that he doesn't on all occasions pour out his whole heart and soul to you; that he doesn't make you a very liberal and indeed rather an extravagant allowance; or, to be more wild and monstrous still, if that be possible, as well might one suppose,' and here, at every word, he struck him lightly on the breast, 'that Pecksniff traded in your nature, and that your nature was to be timid and distrustful of yourself, and trustful of all other men, but most of all, of him who least deserves it. There would be madness, Tom!'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Ora, é loucura - disse Tom.

- Loucura! - replicou o jovem Westlock. - É claro que é loucura. Quem, senão um louco, suporia que ele gosta de ouvir dizer aos domingos que o voluntário que toca órgão na igreja e ensaia nas noites de verão, no escuro, é o jovem empregado do Sr. Pecksniff, hein, Tom? Quem, senão um louco, suporia que seja do interesse de um homem como ele ter o nome na boca de todos, associado às mil coisinhas inúteis que você faz (e que, naturalmente, ele lhe ensinou), hein, Tom? Quem, senão um louco, suporia que você o divulga por estes arredores com mais economia e muito melhor do que o faria um pintor de anúncios nos muros, hein, Tom? Também se poderia supor que ele não lhe abre por inteiro o coração e a alma em todas as ocasiões; que não lhe dá uma mesada muito generosa e até um tanto extravagante; ou, para ser ainda mais desvairado e monstruoso, se isso for possível, também se poderia supor - e aqui, a cada palavra, tocava-lhe de leve no peito - que Pecksniff negociava com a sua natureza, e que a sua natureza era ser tímido e desconfiar de si mesmo, confiar em todos os outros homens, mas, sobretudo, naquele que menos merece essa confiança. Isso sim seria loucura, Tom!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Pinch ouviu confuso, em parte por causa das palavras do companheiro e em parte porque ele falava com tanta rapidez e ferocidade. Quando o discurso terminou, o Sr. Pinch respirou muito fundo. Olhou com tristeza para o rosto do companheiro, incapaz de decidir que expressão havia nele. No escuro, tentou encontrar a melhor pista possível sobre o verdadeiro sentido das palavras do homem. Estava prestes a responder quando o som alegre da corneta do guarda da diligência encerrou a conversa de imediato. Isso pareceu agradar muito ao jovem. Ele se levantou depressa e estendeu a mão.

- As duas mãos, Tom. Vou lhe escrever de Londres, não se esqueça!

- Sim - disse Pinch. - Sim, por favor, escreva. Adeus. Adeus. Mal consigo acreditar que você vai embora. Parece que foi ontem que chegou. Adeus, meu querido e velho amigo!

John Westlock respondeu à despedida com o mesmo carinho e subiu para seu assento no teto. A diligência partiu a meio galope pela estrada escura, com as lanternas acesas e a corneta despertando ecos por toda parte.

Original English Version

Mr Pinch had listened to all this with looks of bewilderment, which seemed to be in part occasioned by the matter of his companion's speech, and in part by his rapid and vehement manner. Now that he had come to a close, he drew a very long breath; and gazing wistfully in his face as if he were unable to settle in his own mind what expression it wore, and were desirous to draw from it as good a clue to his real meaning as it was possible to obtain in the dark, was about to answer, when the sound of the mail guard's horn came cheerily upon their ears, putting an immediate end to the conference; greatly as it seemed to the satisfaction of the younger man, who jumped up briskly, and gave his hand to his companion.

'Both hands, Tom. I shall write to you from London, mind!'

'Yes,' said Pinch. 'Yes. Do, please. Good-bye. Good-bye. I can hardly believe you're going. It seems, now, but yesterday that you came. Good-bye! my dear old fellow!'

John Westlock returned his parting words with no less heartiness of manner, and sprung up to his seat upon the roof. Off went the mail at a canter down the dark road; the lamps gleaming brightly, and the horn awakening all the echoes, far and wide.

Tradução Integral em Português

O Sr. Pinch ouvira tudo aquilo com olhares de perplexidade, que pareciam dever-se em parte ao conteúdo do discurso do companheiro e em parte à rapidez e veemência de sua maneira de falar. Agora que ele havia chegado ao fim, Pinch respirou muito fundo; e, fitando-lhe o rosto com ansiedade, como se não conseguisse decidir que expressão ele apresentava e desejasse extrair dali a melhor pista possível no escuro para seu verdadeiro sentido, estava prestes a responder quando o som da corneta do guarda da diligência chegou alegremente a seus ouvidos, pondo fim imediato à conversa; para grande satisfação, ao que parecia, do mais jovem, que se levantou de um salto e estendeu a mão ao companheiro.

- As duas mãos, Tom. Eu lhe escreverei de Londres, não se esqueça!

- Sim - disse Pinch. - Sim. Escreva, por favor. Adeus. Adeus. Mal consigo acreditar que está partindo. Parece que foi ontem que você chegou. Adeus, meu velho e querido amigo!

John Westlock retribuiu suas palavras de despedida com não menos cordialidade e saltou para seu assento no teto. Lá se foi a diligência a meio galope pela estrada escura, com as lanternas brilhando intensamente e a corneta despertando todos os ecos, por toda parte.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Siga seu caminho - disse Pinch à diligência. - Mal consigo acreditar que você não está viva, um grande monstro que aparece aqui em certos horários para levar meus amigos para o mundo. Está mais orgulhosa e impetuosa do que de costume esta noite, e tem mesmo o direito de se gabar de seu prêmio. Ele é um rapaz excelente e honesto, com apenas um defeito: não faz por mal, mas é terrivelmente injusto com Pecksniff!

Original English Version

'Go your ways,' said Pinch, apostrophizing the coach; 'I can hardly persuade myself but you're alive, and are some great monster who visits this place at certain intervals, to bear my friends away into the world. You're more exulting and rampant than usual tonight, I think; and you may well crow over your prize; for he is a fine lad, an ingenuous lad, and has but one fault that I know of; he don't mean it, but he is most cruelly unjust to Pecksniff!'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Siga seu caminho - disse Pinch, apostrofando a carruagem. - Mal consigo me convencer de que você não está viva e não é algum grande monstro que visita este lugar a certos intervalos para levar meus amigos para o mundo. Esta noite você está mais exultante e fogosa do que de costume, creio; e bem pode cantar vitória sobre o seu prêmio, pois ele é um belo rapaz, um rapaz franco, e só tem um defeito que eu conheça; ele não faz por mal, mas é cruelmente injusto com Pecksniff!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Chapter Three

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

NO QUAL CERTAS OUTRAS PESSOAS SÃO APRESENTADAS; NAS MESMAS CONDIÇÕES DO CAPÍTULO ANTERIOR

Já mencionamos o Dragão que balançava e rangia diante da cervejaria da aldeia. Era velho e desbotado. Muitas tempestades de inverno, com chuva, neve, granizo fino e granizo, haviam transformado seu azul vivo em cinza opaco. Mesmo assim, ele ainda pendia ali, erguendo-se debilmente sobre as patas traseiras. A cada mês ficava mais apagado e perdia mais sua forma. Visto de um lado, parecia derreter lentamente através da placa e sair pelo outro.

Original English Version

IN WHICH CERTAIN OTHER PERSONS ARE INTRODUCED; ON THE SAME TERMS AS IN THE LAST CHAPTER

Mention has been already made more than once, of a certain Dragon who swung and creaked complainingly before the village alehouse door. A faded, and an ancient dragon he was; and many a wintry storm of rain, snow, sleet, and hail, had changed his colour from a gaudy blue to a faint lack-lustre shade of grey. But there he hung; rearing, in a state of monstrous imbecility, on his hind legs; waxing, with every month that passed, so much more dim and shapeless, that as you gazed at him on one side of the sign-board it seemed as if he must be gradually melting through it, and coming out upon the other.

Tradução Integral em Português

EM QUE CERTAS OUTRAS PESSOAS SÃO APRESENTADAS; NOS MESMOS TERMOS DO CAPÍTULO ANTERIOR

Já se fez menção, mais de uma vez, a certo Dragão que se balançava e rangia num tom de queixa diante da porta da taberna da aldeia. Era um dragão desbotado e antigo; e muitas tempestades invernais de chuva, neve, granizo miúdo e granizo haviam mudado sua cor, de um azul berrante para um tom de cinza pálido e sem brilho. Mas ali pendia ele; empinado sobre as patas traseiras, num estado de monstruosa imbecilidade; tornando-se, a cada mês que passava, tão mais indistinto e disforme que, ao contemplá-lo de um lado da tabuleta, parecia que devia estar derretendo aos poucos através dela e saindo do outro lado.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Era também um dragão educado e atencioso, ou tinha sido quando sua imagem era mais nítida. Mesmo em sua fraca posição ereta, mantinha uma pata dianteira perto do nariz, como se dissesse: "Não liguem para mim, é só uma brincadeira". Estendia a outra pata para receber os hóspedes. É evidente que os dragões modernos aprenderam boas maneiras. Já não exigem uma bela virgem no café da manhã, com a mesma regularidade com que um solteiro espera seu pãozinho quente. Contentam-se com homens solteiros ociosos e homens casados longe de casa. Hoje, os dragões evitam as mulheres e desencorajam suas visitas, especialmente nas noites de sábado. Há muito tempo, exigiam rudemente a companhia delas, sem se importar com o que elas queriam.

Este elogio aos dragões reformados não está tão distante da História Natural quanto parece à primeira vista. Estas páginas tratam do dragão que vive perto do Sr. Pecksniff; agora que essa criatura educada está em discussão, nada nos impede de tratar dela imediatamente.

Original English Version

He was a courteous and considerate dragon, too; or had been in his distincter days; for in the midst of his rampant feebleness, he kept one of his forepaws near his nose, as though he would say, 'Don't mind me--it's only my fun;' while he held out the other in polite and hospitable entreaty. Indeed it must be conceded to the whole brood of dragons of modern times, that they have made a great advance in civilisation and refinement. They no longer demand a beautiful virgin for breakfast every morning, with as much regularity as any tame single gentleman expects his hot roll, but rest content with the society of idle bachelors and roving married men; and they are now remarkable rather for holding aloof from the softer sex and discouraging their visits (especially on Saturday nights), than for rudely insisting on their company without any reference to their inclinations, as they are known to have done in days of yore.

Nor is this tribute to the reclaimed animals in question so wide a digression into the realms of Natural History as it may, at first sight, appear to be; for the present business of these pages in with the dragon who had his retreat in Mr Pecksniff's neighbourhood, and that courteous animal being already on the carpet, there is nothing in the way of its immediate transaction.

Tradução Integral em Português

Era também um dragão cortês e atencioso; ou o fora em seus dias de contornos mais nítidos; pois, em meio à sua desenfreada debilidade, conservava uma das patas dianteiras junto ao nariz, como se quisesse dizer: "Não se incomode comigo... é apenas uma brincadeira"; enquanto estendia a outra num convite educado e hospitaleiro. De fato, é preciso reconhecer, a respeito de toda a raça dos dragões dos tempos modernos, que eles fizeram grande progresso em civilização e refinamento. Já não exigem uma bela virgem no café da manhã todos os dias, com a mesma regularidade com que qualquer pacato cavalheiro solteiro espera seu pãozinho quente, mas contentam-se com a companhia de solteirões ociosos e homens casados errantes; e agora se distinguem mais por se manterem afastados do sexo frágil e desencorajarem suas visitas (especialmente nas noites de sábado) do que por insistirem rudemente em sua companhia, sem consideração alguma por suas inclinações, como se sabe que faziam em tempos de antanho.

E este tributo aos animais regenerados em questão não constitui uma digressão tão grande pelos domínios da História Natural quanto pode, à primeira vista, parecer; pois o assunto presente destas páginas é com o dragão que tinha seu retiro na vizinhança do Sr. Pecksniff e, como esse animal cortês já está em pauta, nada impede que se trate dele imediatamente.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Durante muitos anos, o Dragão havia balançado, rangido e se agitado diante das duas janelas do melhor quarto da hospedaria. A hospedaria levava seu nome. No entanto, o Dragão nunca tinha visto tanta atividade lá dentro quanto na noite seguinte aos acontecimentos do último capítulo. Pés corriam para cima e para baixo nas escadas. Luzes piscavam, vozes sussurravam e a lenha recém-acesa soltava fumaça e estalava numa chaminé úmida. Arejavam-se roupas de cama, e as panelas quentes usadas para aquecer as camas exalavam cheiro de queimado. Nenhum dragão, grifo, unicórnio ou animal semelhante jamais observara tanta atividade doméstica desde que essas criaturas começaram a se interessar por assuntos do lar.

Um senhor idoso e uma jovem chegaram sozinhos numa velha carruagem enferrujada puxada por cavalos de posta. Ninguém sabia de onde vinham nem para onde iam. Tinham saído de repente da estrada principal e ido para o Dragão Azul porque o senhor adoecera na carruagem. Ele sofria de cólicas terríveis e dores agudas. Mesmo assim, jurou que nenhum médico seria chamado. Tomaria apenas os remédios que a jovem lhe dava de uma pequena caixa de medicamentos. Ele não fazia nada além de assustar a proprietária até fazê-la perder o juízo e rejeitar todas as sugestões.

Original English Version

For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs.

An old gentleman and a young lady, travelling, unattended, in a rusty old chariot with post-horses; coming nobody knew whence and going nobody knew whither; had turned out of the high road, and driven unexpectedly to the Blue Dragon; and here was the old gentleman, who had taken this step by reason of his sudden illness in the carriage, suffering the most horrible cramps and spasms, yet protesting and vowing in the very midst of his pain, that he wouldn't have a doctor sent for, and wouldn't take any remedies but those which the young lady administered from a small medicine-chest, and wouldn't, in a word, do anything but terrify the landlady out of her five wits, and obstinately refuse compliance with every suggestion that was made to him.

Tradução Integral em Português

Durante muitos anos, portanto, ele se balançara, rangera e esvoaçara diante das duas janelas do melhor quarto daquela casa de hospedagem à qual emprestava o nome; mas nunca, em todos os seus balanços, rangidos e esvoaçares, houvera dentro de seus sombrios limites uma agitação como a da noite seguinte àquela em que ocorreram os incidentes relatados no capítulo anterior; quando houve tamanho correr de pés escada acima e abaixo, tamanho reluzir de luzes, tamanho sussurrar de vozes, tanta fumaça e crepitação de lenha recém-acesa numa chaminé úmida, tanta ventilação de roupa de cama, tamanho cheiro chamuscado de escalfadores quentes, tamanha azáfama e confusão doméstica, em suma, como nenhum dragão, grifo, unicórnio ou outro animal dessa espécie jamais presidiu desde que começaram a se interessar pelos assuntos domésticos.

Um velho cavalheiro e uma jovem, viajando sem acompanhantes numa velha e desgastada carruagem puxada por cavalos de posta, vindos ninguém sabia de onde e indo ninguém sabia para onde, haviam saído da estrada principal e chegado inesperadamente ao Dragão Azul; e ali estava o velho cavalheiro, que tomara essa decisão devido a um mal súbito dentro da carruagem, sofrendo as mais horríveis cãibras e espasmos, mas protestando e jurando, em meio à própria dor, que não mandaria chamar médico algum, não tomaria nenhum remédio além dos que a jovem lhe administrava de uma pequena caixa de medicamentos e, numa palavra, nada faria além de apavorar a proprietária até fazê-la perder os cinco sentidos e recusar obstinadamente toda sugestão que lhe apresentassem.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Dos quinhentos planos para aliviá-lo que a boa mulher ofereceu em menos de meia hora, ele aceitou apenas um: iria para a cama. O quarto atrás do Dragão estava movimentado porque preparavam a cama e o aposento para ele.

Ele estava claramente muito doente e sofria bastante, talvez ainda mais por ser um velho forte e vigoroso, com vontade de ferro e voz de bronze. Às vezes, temia claramente por sua vida, mas nem o medo nem a dor mudavam sua decisão. Não permitiria que mandassem buscar ninguém. Quanto pior ficava, mais firme se mostrava. Se qualquer pessoa - homem, mulher ou criança - fosse chamada para atendê-lo, dizia que partiria imediatamente, ainda que saísse andando e morresse na soleira da porta.

Original English Version

Of all the five hundred proposals for his relief which the good woman poured out in less than half an hour, he would entertain but one. That was that he should go to bed. And it was in the preparation of his bed and the arrangement of his chamber, that all the stir was made in the room behind the Dragon.

He was, beyond all question, very ill, and suffered exceedingly; not the less, perhaps, because he was a strong and vigorous old man, with a will of iron, and a voice of brass. But neither the apprehensions which he plainly entertained, at times, for his life, nor the great pain he underwent, influenced his resolution in the least degree. He would have no person sent for. The worse he grew, the more rigid and inflexible he became in his determination. If they sent for any person to attend him, man, woman, or child, he would leave the house directly (so he told them), though he quitted it on foot, and died upon the threshold of the door.

Tradução Integral em Português

De todas as quinhentas propostas para aliviá-lo que a boa mulher despejou em menos de meia hora, ele aceitaria apenas uma: ir para a cama. E foi nos preparativos de sua cama e na arrumação de seu quarto que se produziu toda a agitação no aposento atrás do Dragão.

Ele estava, sem sombra de dúvida, muito doente e sofria enormemente; talvez tanto mais por ser um velho forte e vigoroso, com vontade de ferro e voz de bronze. Mas nem os temores que por vezes evidentemente sentia por sua vida, nem a grande dor que suportava influenciaram em grau mínimo sua resolução. Não consentiria que mandassem chamar pessoa alguma. Quanto pior ficava, mais rígido e inflexível se tornava em sua determinação. Se chamassem qualquer pessoa para atendê-lo, homem, mulher ou criança, deixaria a casa imediatamente (assim lhes disse), ainda que saísse a pé e morresse na soleira da porta.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Não havia médico na aldeia. Havia apenas um pobre vendedor de remédios que também vendia alimentos e outras mercadorias. Ao primeiro alarme, a proprietária decidira mandar chamá-lo. Naturalmente, justamente por ser necessário, ele não estava em casa. Tinha ido a vários quilômetros dali e não voltaria antes de tarde da noite. A proprietária estava quase fora de si, então depressa mandou o mesmo mensageiro buscar o Sr. Pecksniff. Ele era um homem culto, capaz de assumir muita responsabilidade, e um homem de moral, capaz de consolar uma mente perturbada. Seu hóspede claramente precisava de consolo, pois fazia comentários inquietos com frequência. Contudo, suas preocupações pareciam referir-se mais a este mundo do que ao espírito.

O mensageiro voltou dessa missão secreta sem notícias melhores: o Sr. Pecksniff não estava em casa. Levaram o paciente para a cama sem ele. Em duas horas, os ataques dolorosos começaram gradualmente a ficar mais espaçados. Por fim, ele parou de sofrer, embora às vezes ficasse tão exausto que isso parecia quase tão alarmante quanto a dor.

Original English Version

Now, there being no medical practitioner actually resident in the village, but a poor apothecary who was also a grocer and general dealer, the landlady had, upon her own responsibility, sent for him, in the very first burst and outset of the disaster. Of course it followed, as a necessary result of his being wanted, that he was not at home. He had gone some miles away, and was not expected home until late at night; so the landlady, being by this time pretty well beside herself, dispatched the same messenger in all haste for Mr Pecksniff, as a learned man who could bear a deal of responsibility, and a moral man who could administer a world of comfort to a troubled mind. That her guest had need of some efficient services under the latter head was obvious enough from the restless expressions, importing, however, rather a worldly than a spiritual anxiety, to which he gave frequent utterance.

From this last-mentioned secret errand, the messenger returned with no better news than from the first; Mr Pecksniff was not at home. However, they got the patient into bed without him; and in the course of two hours, he gradually became so far better that there were much longer intervals than at first between his terms of suffering. By degrees, he ceased to suffer at all; though his exhaustion was occasionally so great that it suggested hardly less alarm than his actual endurance had done.

Tradução Integral em Português

Ora, como não havia nenhum médico de fato residente na aldeia, mas apenas um pobre boticário que também era merceeiro e comerciante de artigos gerais, a proprietária, por sua própria responsabilidade, mandara chamá-lo logo no primeiro ímpeto e início do desastre. Seguiu-se, naturalmente, como resultado necessário de precisarem dele, que não estava em casa. Tinha ido a algumas milhas de distância e não era esperado antes de tarde da noite; assim, a proprietária, já então quase fora de si, despachou às pressas o mesmo mensageiro em busca do Sr. Pecksniff, como homem instruído capaz de assumir muita responsabilidade e homem de moral capaz de ministrar um mundo de conforto a um espírito perturbado. Que seu hóspede necessitava de alguns serviços eficazes neste último aspecto era bastante evidente pelas inquietas expressões que proferia com frequência, embora denotassem uma ansiedade mais mundana que espiritual.

Dessa última missão secreta, o mensageiro regressou sem notícias melhores do que trouxera da primeira; o Sr. Pecksniff não estava em casa. Contudo, conseguiram pôr o paciente na cama sem ele; e, no decorrer de duas horas, ele gradualmente melhorou a tal ponto que os intervalos entre seus períodos de sofrimento se tornaram muito mais longos do que no início. Aos poucos, deixou por completo de sofrer; embora às vezes sua exaustão fosse tão grande que despertava quase tanto alarme quanto haviam provocado seus padecimentos propriamente ditos.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Durante um intervalo tranquilo, o velho senhor olhou cautelosamente ao redor e estendeu a mão, inquieto, para fora de seu ninho de travesseiros. Com um jeito estranho, reservado e desconfiado, tentou usar o material de escrita que mandara colocar ao lado da cama. A jovem e a proprietária do Dragão Azul estavam sentadas juntas diante do fogo no quarto do doente.

A proprietária do Dragão Azul tinha exatamente a aparência que uma dona de hospedaria deveria ter: corpulenta, alegre, confortável e bonita. Seu rosto claro, vermelho e branco, mostrava que ela apreciava de coração a comida e a bebida guardadas na casa, e que elas a mantinham saudável. Era viúva, mas deixara de usar roupas de luto havia anos e parecia ter florescido novamente. Rosas cobriam suas saias largas, a parte de cima do vestido, a touca, as faces e até os lábios, que valiam a pena colher. Ela ainda tinha olhos negros brilhantes e cabelos de um negro intenso. Era bonita, redonda, cheia de covinhas e firme como uma groselha. Não era jovem, mas alguém poderia jurar por sua beleza diante de qualquer prefeito ou juiz da cristandade. Muitas jovens eram menos agradáveis e belas do que a radiante anfitriã do Dragão Azul.

Original English Version

It was in one of his intervals of repose, when, looking round with great caution, and reaching uneasily out of his nest of pillows, he endeavoured, with a strange air of secrecy and distrust, to make use of the writing materials which he had ordered to be placed on a table beside him, that the young lady and the mistress of the Blue Dragon found themselves sitting side by side before the fire in the sick chamber.

The mistress of the Blue Dragon was in outward appearance just what a landlady should be: broad, buxom, comfortable, and good looking, with a face of clear red and white, which, by its jovial aspect, at once bore testimony to her hearty participation in the good things of the larder and cellar, and to their thriving and healthful influences. She was a widow, but years ago had passed through her state of weeds, and burst into flower again; and in full bloom she had continued ever since; and in full bloom she was now; with roses on her ample skirts, and roses on her bodice, roses in her cap, roses in her cheeks,--aye, and roses, worth the gathering too, on her lips, for that matter. She had still a bright black eye, and jet black hair; was comely, dimpled, plump, and tight as a gooseberry; and though she was not exactly what the world calls young, you may make an affidavit, on trust, before any mayor or magistrate in Christendom, that there are a great many young ladies in the world (blessings on them one and all!) whom you wouldn't like half as well, or admire half as much, as the beaming hostess of the Blue Dragon.

Tradução Integral em Português

Foi num desses intervalos de repouso, quando, olhando em volta com muita cautela e estendendo-se inquieto para fora de seu ninho de travesseiros, ele procurou, com um estranho ar de segredo e desconfiança, utilizar o material de escrita que ordenara colocar sobre uma mesa ao lado, que a jovem e a senhora do Dragão Azul se viram sentadas lado a lado diante do fogo no quarto do doente.

Na aparência, a senhora do Dragão Azul era exatamente o que uma estalajadeira deveria ser: larga, viçosa, acolhedora e bonita, com um rosto de vivo rubor e alvura que, por seu aspecto jovial, testemunhava ao mesmo tempo sua entusiástica participação nas coisas boas da despensa e da adega e a influência próspera e saudável que estas exerciam. Era viúva, mas havia anos passara pelo estado de luto e tornara a desabrochar; desde então continuara em plena floração; e em plena floração estava agora, com rosas nas saias amplas, rosas no corpete, rosas na touca, rosas nas faces... sim, e rosas nos lábios também, aliás, e dignas de serem colhidas. Ainda tinha olhos negros e brilhantes, e cabelos negros como azeviche; era formosa, cheia de covinhas, roliça e firme como uma groselha; e, embora não fosse exatamente o que o mundo chama de jovem, o leitor pode jurar, confiadamente, diante de qualquer prefeito ou magistrado da cristandade, que existem no mundo muitas jovens (que sejam todas abençoadas!) de quem não gostaria nem a metade e a quem não admiraria nem a metade do que à radiante anfitriã do Dragão Azul.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Junto ao fogo, a bela proprietária olhou com orgulho ao redor do grande quarto rural. O teto era baixo, e o piso descia da porta para dentro. Logo na entrada havia dois degraus inesperados. Apesar dos avisos, estranhos muitas vezes entravam de cabeça, como se mergulhassem numa banheira funda. Não era um daqueles quartos bobos e claros demais, onde ninguém consegue pregar os olhos. Ao contrário, era um lugar bom, apagado, pesado e sonolento. Cada móvel lembrava aos hóspedes que tinham vindo dormir e que se esperava que o fizessem. O fogo não produzia nenhum dos reflexos brilhantes encontrados nos aposentos modernos. O lustro francês reluzente parece desperto até nas noites escuras. O velho mogno espanhol apenas piscava às vezes, como um gato ou cão sonolento. O grande tamanho, o formato e a posição fixa da cama e do guarda-roupa davam sono aos visitantes. Até as cadeiras e mesas menores pareciam pesadas e prontas para roncar. Não havia retratos arregalados para reclamar da preguiça, nem pássaros de olhos bem abertos nas cortinas para vigiar os hóspedes. Revestimentos grossos e lisos nas paredes, persianas escuras e cobertas pesadas pareciam feitos para manter o sono lá dentro. Bloqueavam a luz do dia e a necessidade de se levantar. Até a velha raposa empalhada em cima do guarda-roupa não mostrava vigilância alguma. Seu olho de vidro havia caído, e ela dormia em pé.

Original English Version

As this fair matron sat beside the fire, she glanced occasionally with all the pride of ownership, about the room; which was a large apartment, such as one may see in country places, with a low roof and a sunken flooring, all downhill from the door, and a descent of two steps on the inside so exquisitely unexpected, that strangers, despite the most elaborate cautioning, usually dived in head first, as into a plunging-bath. It was none of your frivolous and preposterously bright bedrooms, where nobody can close an eye with any kind of propriety or decent regard to the association of ideas; but it was a good, dull, leaden, drowsy place, where every article of furniture reminded you that you came there to sleep, and that you were expected to go to sleep. There was no wakeful reflection of the fire there, as in your modern chambers, which upon the darkest nights have a watchful consciousness of French polish; the old Spanish mahogany winked at it now and then, as a dozing cat or dog might, nothing more. The very size and shape, and hopeless immovability of the bedstead, and wardrobe, and in a minor degree of even the chairs and tables, provoked sleep; they were plainly apoplectic and disposed to snore. There were no staring portraits to remonstrate with you for being lazy; no round-eyed birds upon the curtains, disgustingly wide awake, and insufferably prying. The thick neutral hangings, and the dark blinds, and the heavy heap of bed-clothes, were all designed to hold in sleep, and act as nonconductors to the day and getting up. Even the old stuffed fox upon the top of the wardrobe was devoid of any spark of vigilance, for his glass eye had fallen out, and he slumbered as he stood.

Tradução Integral em Português

Sentada junto ao fogo, essa bela matrona lançava ocasionalmente pela sala olhares cheios do orgulho de proprietária; era um aposento amplo, como se pode ver no interior, com teto baixo e piso rebaixado, todo em declive a partir da porta, e uma descida de dois degraus do lado de dentro tão primorosamente inesperada que os estranhos, apesar dos mais minuciosos avisos, em geral mergulhavam de cabeça como numa piscina funda. Não era um desses quartos frívolos e absurdamente claros, onde ninguém consegue pregar os olhos com o devido decoro ou com uma consideração decente pela associação de ideias; era um lugar bom, sombrio, cinzento e sonolento, onde cada peça de mobília lembrava ao visitante que viera ali para dormir e que esperavam que dormisse. Não havia ali nenhum reflexo desperto do fogo, como em seus aposentos modernos, que nas noites mais escuras mantêm uma consciência vigilante do polimento francês; o velho mogno espanhol piscava-lhe de vez em quando, como o faria um cão ou gato cochilando, nada mais. O próprio tamanho, formato e imobilidade irremediável da cama e do guarda-roupa, e, em menor grau, até das cadeiras e mesas, provocavam o sono; eram manifestamente apopléticos e propensos a roncar. Não havia retratos arregalando os olhos para censurar sua preguiça; nem aves de olhos redondos nas cortinas, repulsivamente despertas e insuportavelmente bisbilhoteiras. As pesadas cortinas de tons neutros, as persianas escuras e a grossa pilha de cobertas destinavam-se todas a reter o sono e a servir de isolantes contra o dia e o ato de se levantar. Até a velha raposa empalhada no alto do guarda-roupa carecia de qualquer centelha de vigilância, pois seu olho de vidro caíra e ela dormia de pé.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A proprietária do Dragão Azul olhou para essas coisas apenas duas ou três vezes, e só de relance. Sua atenção logo se afastou delas e até da cama distante com seu estranho fardo, voltando-se para a jovem criatura à sua frente, que estava sentada em silêncio, pensativa, com os olhos baixos fixos no fogo.

Ela não parecia ter mais de dezessete anos. Seu jeito era tímido e nervoso, mas ela controlava a si mesma e aos próprios sentimentos melhor do que a maioria das mulheres muito mais velhas. Tinha demonstrado isso claramente enquanto cuidava do senhor doente. Era baixa e tinha uma figura pequena, como convinha à sua idade. Toda a beleza da juventude e do início da vida adulta aparecia em seu rosto gentil. O rosto estava muito pálido, em parte por causa do susto recente. Seus cabelos castanho-escuros também tinham se desarrumado e se soltado, caindo ao redor do pescoço. Nenhum homem que a observasse desejaria culpar seus cabelos por se comportarem assim.

Original English Version

The wandering attention of the mistress of the Blue Dragon roved to these things but twice or thrice, and then for but an instant at a time. It soon deserted them, and even the distant bed with its strange burden, for the young creature immediately before her, who, with her downcast eyes intently fixed upon the fire, sat wrapped in silent meditation.

She was very young; apparently no more than seventeen; timid and shrinking in her manner, and yet with a greater share of self possession and control over her emotions than usually belongs to a far more advanced period of female life. This she had abundantly shown, but now, in her tending of the sick gentleman. She was short in stature; and her figure was slight, as became her years; but all the charms of youth and maidenhood set it off, and clustered on her gentle brow. Her face was very pale, in part no doubt from recent agitation. Her dark brown hair, disordered from the same cause, had fallen negligently from its bonds, and hung upon her neck; for which instance of its waywardness no male observer would have had the heart to blame it.

Tradução Integral em Português

A atenção errante da senhora do Dragão Azul percorreu essas coisas apenas duas ou três vezes, e então só por um instante de cada vez. Logo as abandonou, e abandonou até a cama distante com seu estranho ocupante, em favor da jovem criatura bem diante dela, que, com os olhos baixos e fixos atentamente no fogo, permanecia envolta em silenciosa meditação.

Era muito jovem; aparentemente não tinha mais de dezessete anos; tímida e retraída nas maneiras, mas dotada de mais autodomínio e controle sobre as emoções do que costuma caber a uma fase muito mais avançada da vida de uma mulher. Demonstrara isso abundantemente, até então, ao cuidar do cavalheiro enfermo. Era de baixa estatura; e sua figura era esbelta, como convinha à idade; mas todos os encantos da juventude e da donzelice a realçavam e se reuniam sobre sua fronte delicada. Seu rosto estava muito pálido, em parte, sem dúvida, pela agitação recente. Os cabelos castanho-escuros, desarrumados pela mesma causa, haviam escapado negligentemente de suas amarras e pendiam-lhe sobre o pescoço; e nenhum observador do sexo masculino teria tido coragem de censurá-los por esse exemplo de rebeldia.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Ela vestia roupas de dama, mas muito simples. Mesmo sentada e imóvel, seus modos combinavam com o vestido simples. A princípio, olhava ansiosamente para a cama. Quando o paciente permaneceu quieto e escrevendo, ela moveu suavemente a cadeira para o lugar onde agora estava. Parecia entender que ele não queria ser observado. Também queria sentar-se onde ele não pudesse vê-la, para poder liberar os sentimentos que mantivera contidos até então.

A rosada proprietária do Dragão Azul percebeu tudo isso e muito mais. Só uma mulher consegue observar outra tão atentamente. Por fim, falou baixo demais para que o velho na cama ouvisse:

- A senhorita já viu o cavalheiro assim antes? Ele costuma ter esses ataques?

- Já o vi muito doente antes, mas nunca tão doente quanto esta noite.

- Que providência divina - disse a proprietária do Dragão - a senhorita ter trazido as receitas e os remédios!

Original English Version

Her attire was that of a lady, but extremely plain; and in her manner, even when she sat as still as she did then, there was an indefinable something which appeared to be in kindred with her scrupulously unpretending dress. She had sat, at first looking anxiously towards the bed; but seeing that the patient remained quiet, and was busy with his writing, she had softly moved her chair into its present place; partly, as it seemed, from an instinctive consciousness that he desired to avoid observation; and partly that she might, unseen by him, give some vent to the natural feelings she had hitherto suppressed.

Of all this, and much more, the rosy landlady of the Blue Dragon took as accurate note and observation as only woman can take of woman. And at length she said, in a voice too low, she knew, to reach the bed:

'You have seen the gentleman in this way before, miss? Is he used to these attacks?'

'I have seen him very ill before, but not so ill as he has been tonight.'

'What a Providence!' said the landlady of the Dragon, 'that you had the prescriptions and the medicines with you, miss!'

Tradução Integral em Português

Seu traje era o de uma dama, mas extremamente simples; e em suas maneiras, mesmo quando permanecia imóvel como então, havia algo indefinível que parecia aparentado à sua indumentária escrupulosamente despretensiosa. A princípio, ficara sentada olhando ansiosamente para a cama; mas, ao ver que o paciente continuava quieto e ocupado com o que escrevia, deslocara suavemente a cadeira para o lugar em que agora estava; em parte, ao que parecia, pela consciência instintiva de que ele desejava evitar ser observado; e em parte para que pudesse, sem ser vista por ele, dar alguma vazão aos sentimentos naturais que até então reprimira.

De tudo isso, e de muito mais, a rosada estalajadeira do Dragão Azul tomou nota e fez observações com a precisão que só uma mulher pode ter em relação a outra. Por fim, disse numa voz que, ela sabia, era baixa demais para chegar à cama:

- A senhorita já viu o cavalheiro assim antes? Ele costuma ter esses ataques?

- Já o vi muito doente antes, mas não tão doente quanto esteve esta noite.

- Que Providência! - disse a estalajadeira do Dragão. - A senhorita estar com as receitas e os remédios!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- São para uma emergência assim. Nunca viajamos sem eles.

- Ah! - pensou a anfitriã. - Então estão acostumados a viajar, e a viajar juntos.

Ela sabia que esse pensamento aparecia em seu rosto. Quando seus olhos encontraram imediatamente os da jovem, a honesta anfitriã sentiu-se um tanto constrangida.

- O cavalheiro... seu avô - continuou ela depois de uma breve pausa - , sendo tão decidido a não aceitar ajuda, deve assustá-la muito, não é, senhorita?

- Fiquei muito assustada esta noite. Ele... ele não é meu avô.

- Seu pai, eu deveria ter dito - respondeu a anfitriã, sabendo que cometera um erro embaraçoso.

- Também não é meu pai - disse a jovem. Então, com um leve sorriso, percebendo depressa o que a proprietária acrescentaria, disse: - Nem meu tio. Não somos parentes.

- Oh, meu Deus! - respondeu a proprietária, agora ainda mais constrangida. - Como pude me enganar tanto? Qualquer pessoa que pense com clareza sabe que um cavalheiro doente parece muito mais velho do que realmente é. E eu também a chamei de "senhorita", senhora! - Então, sem intenção, olhou para o terceiro dedo da mão esquerda da jovem. Não havia aliança ali, e a proprietária tornou a ficar confusa.

Original English Version

'They are intended for such an emergency. We never travel without them.'

'Oh!' thought the hostess, 'then we are in the habit of travelling, and of travelling together.'

She was so conscious of expressing this in her face, that meeting the young lady's eyes immediately afterwards, and being a very honest hostess, she was rather confused.

'The gentleman--your grandpapa'--she resumed, after a short pause, 'being so bent on having no assistance, must terrify you very much, miss?'

'I have been very much alarmed to-night. He--he is not my grandfather.'

'Father, I should have said,' returned the hostess, sensible of having made an awkward mistake.

'Nor my father' said the young lady. 'Nor,' she added, slightly smiling with a quick perception of what the landlady was going to add, 'Nor my uncle. We are not related.'

'Oh dear me!' returned the landlady, still more embarrassed than before; 'how could I be so very much mistaken; knowing, as anybody in their proper senses might that when a gentleman is ill, he looks so much older than he really is? That I should have called you "Miss," too, ma'am!' But when she had proceeded thus far, she glanced involuntarily at the third finger of the young lady's left hand, and faltered again; for there was no ring upon it.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Destinam-se justamente a uma emergência dessas. Nunca viajamos sem eles.

- Oh! - pensou a anfitriã. - Então temos o hábito de viajar, e de viajar juntos.

Tinha tanta consciência de expressar isso no rosto que, ao encontrar os olhos da jovem logo depois, e sendo uma anfitriã muito honesta, ficou um tanto confusa.

- O cavalheiro... seu avô... - retomou ela, depois de uma breve pausa - , sendo tão obstinado em não aceitar ajuda alguma, deve assustá-la muito, não é, senhorita?

- Fiquei muito alarmada esta noite. Ele... ele não é meu avô.

- Seu pai, eu devia ter dito - tornou a anfitriã, percebendo que cometera um erro embaraçoso.

- Nem meu pai - disse a jovem. - Nem - acrescentou, esboçando um leve sorriso ao perceber rapidamente o que a estalajadeira ia acrescentar - meu tio. Não somos parentes.

- Oh, meu Deus! - respondeu a estalajadeira, ainda mais embaraçada do que antes. - Como pude me enganar tanto, sabendo, como saberia qualquer pessoa em perfeito juízo, que, quando um cavalheiro está doente, parece muito mais velho do que de fato é? E pensar que eu também a chamei de "senhorita", senhora! - Mas, depois de chegar até esse ponto, lançou involuntariamente um olhar para o dedo anular da mão esquerda da jovem e tornou a hesitar, pois não havia ali aliança alguma.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Quando eu disse que não éramos parentes - disse a outra com bondade, embora ela própria estivesse constrangida - , quis dizer de modo algum. Nem mesmo por casamento. Você me chamou, Martin?

- Chamei você? - exclamou o velho, erguendo rapidamente os olhos. Às pressas, escondeu sob a colcha o papel em que estivera escrevendo. - Não.

Ela havia dado um ou dois passos em direção à cama, mas parou imediatamente e não avançou mais.

- Não - repetiu ele asperamente. - Por que me pergunta? Se eu a tivesse chamado, por que faria essa pergunta?

- Foi a placa rangendo lá fora, senhor, imagino - disse a proprietária. Um instante depois, percebeu que aquilo não era nenhum elogio à voz do velho senhor.

- Não importa o que foi, senhora - respondeu ele. - Não fui eu. Por que fica aí parada, Mary, como se eu estivesse com a peste? Todos têm medo de mim - acrescentou, caindo desamparado de volta no travesseiro. - Até ela! Há uma maldição sobre mim. O que mais posso esperar?

Original English Version

'When I told you we were not related,' said the other mildly, but not without confusion on her own part, 'I meant not in any way. Not even by marriage. Did you call me, Martin?'

'Call you?' cried the old man, looking quickly up, and hurriedly drawing beneath the coverlet the paper on which he had been writing. 'No.'

She had moved a pace or two towards the bed, but stopped immediately, and went no farther.

'No,' he repeated, with a petulant emphasis. 'Why do you ask me? If I had called you, what need for such a question?'

'It was the creaking of the sign outside, sir, I dare say,' observed the landlady; a suggestion by the way (as she felt a moment after she had made it), not at all complimentary to the voice of the old gentleman.

'No matter what, ma'am,' he rejoined: 'it wasn't I. Why how you stand there, Mary, as if I had the plague! But they're all afraid of me,' he added, leaning helplessly backward on his pillow; 'even she! There is a curse upon me. What else have I to look for?'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Quando lhe disse que não éramos parentes - disse a outra com brandura, mas não sem certa confusão de sua parte - , quis dizer de modo algum. Nem mesmo por casamento. Você me chamou, Martin?

- Chamei você? - exclamou o velho, erguendo rapidamente os olhos e escondendo às pressas sob a colcha o papel em que estivera escrevendo. - Não.

Ela avançara um ou dois passos em direção à cama, mas parou imediatamente e não foi adiante.

- Não - repetiu ele, com ênfase irritadiça. - Por que me pergunta? Se eu a tivesse chamado, que necessidade haveria de tal pergunta?

- Deve ter sido o ranger da tabuleta lá fora, senhor - observou a estalajadeira; sugestão, aliás (como percebeu um instante depois de fazê-la), nada lisonjeira para a voz do velho cavalheiro.

- Não importa o que tenha sido, senhora - replicou ele. - Não fui eu. Ora, por que fica aí parada, Mary, como se eu tivesse a peste? Mas todos têm medo de mim - acrescentou, recostando-se desamparado no travesseiro. - Até ela! Há uma maldição sobre mim. Que mais posso esperar?

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Oh, meu Deus, não. Oh, não, tenho certeza - disse a proprietária bem-humorada. Ela se levantou e foi até ele. - Anime-se, senhor. Isso são apenas fantasias de doente.

- O que são apenas fantasias de doente? - retrucou ele. - O que sabe sobre fantasias? Quem lhe falou de fantasias? A velha história! Fantasias!

- Veja como o senhor se agarra a uma palavra! - disse a dona do Dragão Azul, ainda bem-humorada. - Valha-me Deus, não há mal na palavra, senhor, mesmo que seja antiga. Pessoas saudáveis também têm fantasias, e fantasias estranhas, todos os dias.

Embora o discurso parecesse inofensivo, alimentou a desconfiança do viajante como óleo no fogo. Ele ergueu a cabeça na cama e examinou atentamente o rosto dela. Seus dois olhos escuros pareciam mais brilhantes contra as faces pálidas e fundas. Os longos cabelos grisalhos pareciam mais brancos sob o justo gorro de veludo preto.

- Ah! Você começa cedo demais - disse ele tão baixo que parecia pensar, não falar. - Mas não perde tempo. Cumpre sua missão e ganha sua recompensa. Agora, quem é seu cliente?

Original English Version

'Oh dear, no. Oh no, I'm sure,' said the good-tempered landlady, rising, and going towards him. 'Be of better cheer, sir. These are only sick fancies.'

'What are only sick fancies?' he retorted. 'What do you know about fancies? Who told you about fancies? The old story! Fancies!'

'Only see again there, how you take one up!' said the mistress of the Blue Dragon, with unimpaired good humour. 'Dear heart alive, there is no harm in the word, sir, if it is an old one. Folks in good health have their fancies, too, and strange ones, every day.'

Harmless as this speech appeared to be, it acted on the traveller's distrust, like oil on fire. He raised his head up in the bed, and, fixing on her two dark eyes whose brightness was exaggerated by the paleness of his hollow cheeks, as they in turn, together with his straggling locks of long grey hair, were rendered whiter by the tight black velvet skullcap which he wore, he searched her face intently.

'Ah! you begin too soon,' he said, in so low a voice that he seemed to be thinking it, rather than addressing her. 'But you lose no time. You do your errand, and you earn your fee. Now, who may be your client?'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Oh, meu Deus, não. Oh, não, tenho certeza - disse a estalajadeira de bom gênio, levantando-se e indo em sua direção. - Anime-se, senhor. Isso não passa de fantasias de doente.

- O que não passa de fantasias de doente? - retrucou ele. - O que a senhora sabe de fantasias? Quem lhe falou de fantasias? A velha história! Fantasias!

- Veja só como o senhor se ofende outra vez! - disse a dona do Dragão Azul, sem perder o bom humor. - Valha-me Deus, não há mal nenhum na palavra, senhor, ainda que seja uma palavra velha. Quem tem saúde também tem suas fantasias, e fantasias estranhas, todos os dias.

Por mais inofensiva que parecesse, essa fala agiu sobre a desconfiança do viajante como óleo sobre o fogo. Ele ergueu a cabeça na cama e, fixando nela os dois olhos escuros, cujo brilho era acentuado pela palidez de suas faces encovadas, enquanto estas, por sua vez, juntamente com as mechas esparsas dos longos cabelos grisalhos, pareciam ainda mais brancas graças ao justo gorro de veludo preto que usava, examinou-lhe atentamente o rosto.

- Ah! A senhora começa cedo demais - disse ele, em voz tão baixa que parecia estar pensando, e não se dirigindo a ela. - Mas não perde tempo. Cumpre o seu encargo e ganha a sua paga. Agora, quem será o seu cliente?

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A estalajadeira olhou muito surpresa para a jovem que ele chamava de Mary. Como não encontrou resposta no rosto abaixado dela, voltou a olhar para ele. A princípio, afastara-se sem pensar, pois acreditava que a mente dele estivesse confusa. Mas seus modos lentos e calmos mostravam que sabia o que queria dizer. Seu rosto forte, especialmente a boca apertada, revelava um propósito firme e fez com que ela rejeitasse aquela ideia.

- Vamos - disse ele. - Diga-me quem é. Aqui não é muito difícil para mim adivinhar, como pode imaginar.

- Martin - disse a jovem, colocando a mão no braço dele - , lembre-se de que estamos nesta casa há muito pouco tempo e que nem mesmo seu nome é conhecido aqui.

- A menos que você... - começou ele. Parecia pronto para suspeitar que ela traíra sua confiança diante da estalajadeira. Mas talvez tenha se lembrado dos cuidados bondosos dela ou se comovido com seu rosto. Parou, mexeu-se inquieto na cama e ficou em silêncio.

Original English Version

The landlady looked in great astonishment at her whom he called Mary, and finding no rejoinder in the drooping face, looked back again at him. At first she had recoiled involuntarily, supposing him disordered in his mind; but the slow composure of his manner, and the settled purpose announced in his strong features, and gathering, most of all, about his puckered mouth, forbade the supposition.

'Come,' he said, 'tell me who is it? Being here, it is not very hard for me to guess, you may suppose.'

'Martin,' interposed the young lady, laying her hand upon his arm; 'reflect how short a time we have been in this house, and that even your name is unknown here.'

'Unless,' he said, 'you--' He was evidently tempted to express a suspicion of her having broken his confidence in favour of the landlady, but either remembering her tender nursing, or being moved in some sort by her face, he checked himself, and changing his uneasy posture in the bed, was silent.

Tradução Integral em Português

A estalajadeira olhou com grande espanto para aquela a quem ele chamava Mary e, não encontrando resposta no rosto abatido, tornou a olhar para ele. A princípio, recuara involuntariamente, supondo que estivesse perturbado da mente; mas a lenta compostura de seus modos, o propósito firme estampado nas feições marcantes e concentrado, sobretudo, em torno da boca contraída, não permitiam tal suposição.

- Vamos - disse ele - , diga-me quem é. Estando aqui, pode imaginar que não me é muito difícil adivinhar.

- Martin - interveio a jovem, pousando a mão no braço dele - , pense há quão pouco tempo estamos nesta casa e que nem sequer sabem o seu nome aqui.

- A menos que você... - disse ele. Evidentemente, sentiu-se tentado a manifestar a suspeita de que ela traíra sua confiança em favor da estalajadeira; mas, quer se lembrasse dos ternos cuidados que recebera dela, quer se comovesse de algum modo com seu rosto, conteve-se e, mudando a posição incômoda em que estava na cama, calou-se.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Pronto! - disse a sra. Lupin - o Dragão Azul tinha licença naquele nome para servir pessoas e animais. - Agora o senhor ficará bem de novo. Por um momento, esqueceu que todos aqui são amigos.

- Ah! - exclamou o velho com um gemido impaciente, lançando um braço inquieto sobre a colcha. - Por que me falar de amigos? Você, ou qualquer pessoa, pode me ensinar quem são meus amigos e quem são meus inimigos?

- Pelo menos tenho certeza de que esta jovem é sua amiga - disse gentilmente a sra. Lupin.

- Ela não tem motivo para ser diferente - gritou o velho, sem esperança nem confiança. - Suponho que seja. Só Deus sabe. Deixe-me tentar dormir. Deixe a vela ali.

Quando se afastaram da cama, ele tirou o escrito em que trabalhara por tanto tempo. Segurou-o na chama da vela até virar cinzas. Depois apagou a luz e se virou com um suspiro profundo. Puxou a colcha sobre a cabeça e ficou imóvel.

Original English Version

'There!' said Mrs Lupin; for in that name the Blue Dragon was licensed to furnish entertainment, both to man and beast. 'Now, you will be well again, sir. You forgot, for the moment, that there were none but friends here.'

'Oh!' cried the old man, moaning impatiently, as he tossed one restless arm upon the coverlet; 'why do you talk to me of friends! Can you or anybody teach me to know who are my friends, and who my enemies?'

'At least,' urged Mrs Lupin, gently, 'this young lady is your friend, I am sure.'

'She has no temptation to be otherwise,' cried the old man, like one whose hope and confidence were utterly exhausted. 'I suppose she is. Heaven knows. There, let me try to sleep. Leave the candle where it is.'

As they retired from the bed, he drew forth the writing which had occupied him so long, and holding it in the flame of the taper burnt it to ashes. That done, he extinguished the light, and turning his face away with a heavy sigh, drew the coverlet about his head, and lay quite still.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Pronto! - disse a Sra. Lupin, pois era em nome dela que o Dragão Azul tinha licença para oferecer pouso e alimento tanto a homens quanto a animais. - Agora o senhor vai ficar bom de novo. Por um instante, esqueceu-se de que aqui só há amigos.

- Oh! - exclamou o velho, gemendo com impaciência enquanto lançava um braço inquieto sobre a colcha. - Por que me fala de amigos? A senhora, ou qualquer outra pessoa, pode me ensinar a distinguir quem são meus amigos e quem são meus inimigos?

- Pelo menos - insistiu gentilmente a Sra. Lupin - , esta jovem é sua amiga, disso tenho certeza.

- Ela não tem motivo para não ser - exclamou o velho, como alguém cuja esperança e confiança estivessem inteiramente esgotadas. - Suponho que seja. Deus sabe. Pronto, deixe-me tentar dormir. Deixe a vela onde está.

Quando elas se afastaram da cama, ele tirou o escrito que o ocupara por tanto tempo e, segurando-o sobre a chama da vela, reduziu-o a cinzas. Feito isso, apagou a luz e, virando o rosto com um suspiro profundo, puxou a colcha sobre a cabeça e ficou perfeitamente imóvel.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A sra. Lupin ficou muito alarmada: ele trabalhara bastante no papel, mas o queimara, e poderia ter incendiado o Dragão. A jovem, porém, não demonstrou surpresa, interesse nem medo. Agradeceu à sra. Lupin pelo cuidado e companhia e sussurrou que ficaria mais tempo. Pediu-lhe que não permanecesse acordada com ela, pois estava acostumada a ficar sozinha e iria ler.

A sra. Lupin era muito curiosa, como se dizia que eram as mulheres, e em outra ocasião talvez fosse difícil fazê-la sair. Mas aqueles mistérios a espantaram tanto que ela desceu imediatamente para sua pequena sala e se sentou, estranhamente calma, na poltrona. Nesse instante ouviu passos na entrada. O sr. Pecksniff olhou bondosamente por cima da meia-porta do balcão para a sala particular e murmurou:

- Boa noite, sra. Lupin!

- Meu Deus, senhor! - exclamou ela, indo recebê-lo. - Fico muito feliz que tenha vindo.

Original English Version

This destruction of the paper, both as being strangely inconsistent with the labour he had devoted to it, and as involving considerable danger of fire to the Dragon, occasioned Mrs Lupin not a little consternation. But the young lady evincing no surprise, curiosity, or alarm, whispered her, with many thanks for her solicitude and company, that she would remain there some time longer; and that she begged her not to share her watch, as she was well used to being alone, and would pass the time in reading.

Mrs Lupin had her full share and dividend of that large capital of curiosity which is inherited by her sex, and at another time it might have been difficult so to impress this hint upon her as to induce her to take it. But now, in sheer wonder and amazement at these mysteries, she withdrew at once, and repairing straightway to her own little parlour below stairs, sat down in her easy-chair with unnatural composure. At this very crisis, a step was heard in the entry, and Mr Pecksniff, looking sweetly over the half-door of the bar, and into the vista of snug privacy beyond, murmured:

'Good evening, Mrs Lupin!'

'Oh dear me, sir!' she cried, advancing to receive him, 'I am so very glad you have come.'

Tradução Integral em Português

A destruição do papel, tanto por ser estranhamente incompatível com o trabalho que ele lhe dedicara quanto por envolver considerável risco de incêndio para o Dragão, deixou a Sra. Lupin bastante consternada. Mas a jovem, sem demonstrar surpresa, curiosidade ou alarme, sussurrou-lhe, agradecendo muito sua solicitude e companhia, que permaneceria ali por mais algum tempo; e pediu-lhe que não compartilhasse a vigília, pois estava bem acostumada a ficar sozinha e passaria o tempo lendo.

A Sra. Lupin possuía sua plena cota e participação naquele grande capital de curiosidade herdado por seu sexo, e, em outra ocasião, talvez fosse difícil fazer com que entendesse tão bem a insinuação a ponto de aceitá-la. Mas agora, em puro assombro e admiração diante daqueles mistérios, retirou-se de imediato e, dirigindo-se sem demora à sua saleta no andar de baixo, sentou-se na poltrona com uma compostura nada natural. Nesse exato momento, ouviu-se um passo na entrada, e o Sr. Pecksniff, olhando com doçura por cima da meia porta do balcão para o panorama de acolhedora intimidade que se estendia além, murmurou:

- Boa noite, Sra. Lupin!

- Oh, meu Deus, senhor! - exclamou ela, avançando para recebê-lo. - Estou tão contente que tenha vindo.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- E eu fico muito feliz por ter vindo, se puder ajudar - disse o sr. Pecksniff. - Muito feliz mesmo. O que há de errado, sra. Lupin?

- Um cavalheiro passou mal na estrada e esteve muito doente lá em cima, senhor - disse a chorosa anfitriã.

- Um cavalheiro passou mal na estrada e esteve muito doente lá em cima, foi? - repetiu o sr. Pecksniff. - Bem, bem!

Não havia nada novo, sábio ou consolador nessa observação. Mas o sr. Pecksniff falou agradavelmente e assentiu de modo gentil. Também parecia muito seguro da própria bondade. Por isso, qualquer pessoa seria consolada por sua voz e presença, como foi a sra. Lupin. Ele poderia ter dito apenas: "O verbo deve concordar com o sujeito em número e pessoa, minha boa amiga." Ou: "Oito vezes oito são sessenta e quatro, minha digna alma." Ainda assim, os ouvintes teriam sentido profunda gratidão por sua bondade e sabedoria.

Original English Version

'And I am very glad I have come,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'if I can be of service. I am very glad I have come. What is the matter, Mrs Lupin?'

'A gentleman taken ill upon the road, has been so very bad upstairs, sir,' said the tearful hostess.

'A gentleman taken ill upon the road, has been so very bad upstairs, has he?' repeated Mr Pecksniff. 'Well, well!'

Now there was nothing that one may call decidedly original in this remark, nor can it be exactly said to have contained any wise precept theretofore unknown to mankind, or to have opened any hidden source of consolation; but Mr Pecksniff's manner was so bland, and he nodded his head so soothingly, and showed in everything such an affable sense of his own excellence, that anybody would have been, as Mrs Lupin was, comforted by the mere voice and presence of such a man; and, though he had merely said 'a verb must agree with its nominative case in number and person, my good friend,' or 'eight times eight are sixty-four, my worthy soul,' must have felt deeply grateful to him for his humanity and wisdom.

Tradução Integral em Português

- E eu estou muito contente por ter vindo - disse o Sr. Pecksniff - , se puder ser útil. Estou muito contente por ter vindo. O que aconteceu, Sra. Lupin?

- Um cavalheiro que passou mal na estrada esteve muito mal lá em cima, senhor - disse a chorosa anfitriã.

- Um cavalheiro que passou mal na estrada esteve muito mal lá em cima, esteve? - repetiu o Sr. Pecksniff. - Ora, ora!

Não havia nessa observação nada que se pudesse chamar de decididamente original, nem se pode dizer exatamente que contivesse algum sábio preceito até então desconhecido da humanidade ou que abrisse qualquer fonte oculta de consolação; mas os modos do Sr. Pecksniff eram tão afáveis, ele assentia com a cabeça de maneira tão tranquilizadora e revelava em tudo uma noção tão cordial da própria excelência, que qualquer pessoa teria sido, como foi a Sra. Lupin, confortada pela simples voz e presença de semelhante homem; e, ainda que ele houvesse dito apenas "um verbo deve concordar com seu nominativo em número e pessoa, minha boa amiga" ou "oito vezes oito são sessenta e quatro, minha digna alma", ela teria sentido profunda gratidão por sua humanidade e sabedoria.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- E como ele está agora? - perguntou o sr. Pecksniff. Tirou as luvas e aqueceu as mãos junto ao fogo com tanta bondade como se pertencessem a outra pessoa.

- Está melhor e bastante calmo - respondeu a sra. Lupin.

- Está melhor e bastante calmo - disse o sr. Pecksniff. - Muito bem! Mui-to bem!

Mais uma vez, embora a sra. Lupin tivesse dado a notícia primeiro, o sr. Pecksniff tornou-a sua e a consolou com ela. Não era muita coisa quando ela dizia, mas virava um livro inteiro quando ele repetia. Parecia dizer: "Eu vejo, e por meu intermédio a própria moralidade vê, que ele está melhor e bastante calmo."

- Mas algo sério deve perturbá-lo - disse a anfitriã, balançando a cabeça. - Ele fala da maneira mais estranha que o senhor já ouviu. Sua mente está longe de estar calma, e ele precisa de conselhos adequados de pessoas boas o bastante para que seus conselhos tenham valor.

Original English Version

'And how,' asked Mr Pecksniff, drawing off his gloves and warming his hands before the fire, as benevolently as if they were somebody else's, not his; 'and how is he now?'

'He is better, and quite tranquil,' answered Mrs Lupin.

'He is better, and quite tranquil,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'Very well! Ve-ry well!'

Here again, though the statement was Mrs Lupin's and not Mr Pecksniff's, Mr Pecksniff made it his own and consoled her with it. It was not much when Mrs Lupin said it, but it was a whole book when Mr Pecksniff said it. 'I observe,' he seemed to say, 'and through me, morality in general remarks, that he is better and quite tranquil.'

'There must be weighty matters on his mind, though,' said the hostess, shaking her head, 'for he talks, sir, in the strangest way you ever heard. He is far from easy in his thoughts, and wants some proper advice from those whose goodness makes it worth his having.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- E como - perguntou o Sr. Pecksniff, tirando as luvas e aquecendo as mãos diante do fogo com tanta benevolência como se pertencessem a outra pessoa, e não a ele - , e como ele está agora?

- Está melhor e perfeitamente tranquilo - respondeu a Sra. Lupin.

- Está melhor e perfeitamente tranquilo - disse o Sr. Pecksniff. - Muito bem! Mui-to bem!

Também aqui, embora a declaração fosse da Sra. Lupin, e não do Sr. Pecksniff, este se apropriou dela e com ela a consolou. Não era grande coisa quando a Sra. Lupin a dizia, mas era um livro inteiro quando o Sr. Pecksniff a dizia. "Observo", parecia declarar, "e, por meu intermédio, observa a moralidade em geral, que ele está melhor e perfeitamente tranquilo."

- Deve haver questões de grande peso em sua mente, porém - disse a anfitriã, balançando a cabeça - , pois ele fala, senhor, da maneira mais estranha que o senhor jamais ouviu. Seus pensamentos estão muito longe de ser tranquilos, e ele precisa de algum conselho apropriado de pessoas cuja bondade faça valer a pena recebê-lo.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Então ele é o tipo de cliente ideal para mim - pensou o sr. Pecksniff. Embora esse fosse o sentido claro, não disse nada. Apenas balançou a cabeça, como se falasse mal de si mesmo.

A estalajadeira olhou ao redor para garantir que ninguém pudesse ouvir e depois olhou para o chão. - Tenho muito medo, senhor, de que a consciência dele o perturbe porque não é parente - nem mesmo casado - com uma jovem muito nova...

- Sra. Lupin! - disse o sr. Pecksniff, levantando a mão. Seus modos gentis ficaram tão firmes quanto podiam ficar. - Pessoa! Jovem pessoa?

- Uma pessoa muito jovem - disse a sra. Lupin, fazendo uma reverência e corando. - Perdoe-me, senhor; estive tão agitada esta noite que não sei o que digo. Ela está com ele agora.

- Que está com ele agora - refletiu o sr. Pecksniff. Aqueceu as costas como aquecera as mãos, com tanta bondade como se pertencessem a uma viúva, um órfão ou um inimigo. Talvez fossem até costas que um homem menos excelente deixaria frias. - Meu Deus, meu Deus!

Original English Version

'Then,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'he is the sort of customer for me.' But though he said this in the plainest language, he didn't speak a word. He only shook his head; disparagingly of himself too.

'I am afraid, sir,' continued the landlady, first looking round to assure herself that there was nobody within hearing, and then looking down upon the floor. 'I am very much afraid, sir, that his conscience is troubled by his not being related to--or--or even married to--a very young lady--'

'Mrs Lupin!' said Mr Pecksniff, holding up his hand with something in his manner as nearly approaching to severity as any expression of his, mild being that he was, could ever do. 'Person! young person?'

'A very young person,' said Mrs Lupin, curtseying and blushing; '--I beg your pardon, sir, but I have been so hurried to-night, that I don't know what I say--who is with him now.'

'Who is with him now,' ruminated Mr Pecksniff, warming his back (as he had warmed his hands) as if it were a widow's back, or an orphan's back, or an enemy's back, or a back that any less excellent man would have suffered to be cold. 'Oh dear me, dear me!'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Então - disse o Sr. Pecksniff - , é o tipo de cliente indicado para mim. Mas, embora o dissesse na linguagem mais clara, não pronunciou uma só palavra. Apenas balançou a cabeça, e também em menosprezo de si próprio.

- Receio, senhor - continuou a estalajadeira, olhando primeiro em volta para se certificar de que ninguém podia ouvi-la e depois para o chão. - Receio muito, senhor, que a consciência dele esteja perturbada por não ter parentesco com... ou... ou nem sequer ser casado com... uma jovem muito nova...

- Sra. Lupin! - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, erguendo a mão com algo em seus modos que chegava tão perto da severidade quanto qualquer expressão sua, manso como era, jamais poderia chegar. - Pessoa! Jovem pessoa?

- Uma pessoa muito jovem - disse a Sra. Lupin, fazendo uma mesura e corando. - Peço-lhe perdão, senhor, mas estive tão atarefada esta noite que nem sei o que digo... e ela está com ele agora.

- Está com ele agora - ponderou o Sr. Pecksniff, aquecendo as costas (como aquecera as mãos) como se fossem as costas de uma viúva, de um órfão, de um inimigo ou quaisquer costas que um homem menos excelente deixaria passar frio. - Oh, meu Deus, meu Deus!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Mas devo dizer, de todo o coração - afirmou seriamente a anfitriã - , que a aparência e os modos dela quase eliminam a suspeita.

- Sua suspeita, sra. Lupin - disse o sr. Pecksniff com seriedade - , é muito natural.

Para vergonha deles, deve-se registrar que os inimigos desse digno homem faziam uma afirmação ousada. Diziam que ele sempre chamava coisas muito ruins de "muito naturais". Assim, mostrava sua própria natureza sem perceber.

- Sua suspeita, sra. Lupin - repetiu ele - , é muito natural e sem dúvida correta. Visitarei esses viajantes.

Então tirou o sobretudo e passou os dedos pelos cabelos. Colocou delicadamente uma mão dentro do colete e fez um sinal humilde para que ela mostrasse o caminho.

- Devo bater? - perguntou a sra. Lupin quando chegaram à porta do quarto.

- Não - disse o sr. Pecksniff. - Por favor, entre.

Entraram na ponta dos pés - ou melhor, a anfitriã entrou assim, pois o sr. Pecksniff sempre caminhava suavemente. O velho cavalheiro ainda dormia, e sua jovem companheira ainda lia junto ao fogo.

Original English Version

'At the same time I am bound to say, and I do say with all my heart,' observed the hostess, earnestly, 'that her looks and manner almost disarm suspicion.'

'Your suspicion, Mrs Lupin,' said Mr Pecksniff gravely, 'is very natural.'

Touching which remark, let it be written down to their confusion, that the enemies of this worthy man unblushingly maintained that he always said of what was very bad, that it was very natural; and that he unconsciously betrayed his own nature in doing so.

'Your suspicion, Mrs Lupin,' he repeated, 'is very natural, and I have no doubt correct. I will wait upon these travellers.'

With that he took off his great-coat, and having run his fingers through his hair, thrust one hand gently in the bosom of his waist-coat and meekly signed to her to lead the way.

'Shall I knock?' asked Mrs Lupin, when they reached the chamber door.

'No,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'enter if you please.'

They went in on tiptoe; or rather the hostess took that precaution for Mr Pecksniff always walked softly. The old gentleman was still asleep, and his young companion still sat reading by the fire.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Ao mesmo tempo, sou obrigada a dizer, e digo de todo o coração - observou sinceramente a anfitriã - , que a aparência e os modos dela quase dissipam qualquer suspeita.

- Sua suspeita, Sra. Lupin - disse gravemente o Sr. Pecksniff - , é muito natural.

A respeito dessa observação, registre-se, para confusão deles, que os inimigos daquele digno homem sustentavam descaradamente que ele sempre dizia, acerca do que era muito ruim, que era muito natural; e que, assim fazendo, traía inconscientemente a própria natureza.

- Sua suspeita, Sra. Lupin - repetiu ele - , é muito natural e, não tenho dúvida, correta. Irei visitar esses viajantes.

Dito isso, tirou o sobretudo e, depois de passar os dedos pelos cabelos, enfiou delicadamente uma das mãos no peito do colete e, com mansidão, fez-lhe sinal para que mostrasse o caminho.

- Devo bater? - perguntou a Sra. Lupin quando chegaram à porta do quarto.

- Não - disse o Sr. Pecksniff - , entre, por favor.

Entraram na ponta dos pés; ou melhor, a anfitriã tomou essa precaução, pois o Sr. Pecksniff sempre caminhava suavemente. O velho cavalheiro ainda dormia, e sua jovem companheira ainda estava sentada junto ao fogo, lendo.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O sr. Pecksniff parou à porta e balançou tristemente a cabeça. - Receio que isto pareça inteligente e desonesto. Sra. Lupin, receio que pareça muito inteligente e desonesto!

Ao terminar de sussurrar, avançou à frente da anfitriã. A jovem ouviu passos e se levantou. O sr. Pecksniff olhou de relance para o livro na mão dela e sussurrou novamente à sra. Lupin, parecendo ainda mais triste.

- Sim, senhora - disse ele. - É um bom livro. Eu já temia isso. Receio que este seja mesmo um assunto planejado com muito cuidado!

- Quem é este cavalheiro? - perguntou a jovem de quem ele tão virtuosamente suspeitava.

- Silêncio, não se preocupe, senhora - disse o sr. Pecksniff quando a estalajadeira começou a responder. Quase disse "pessoa", mas usou "estranha". - Esta jovem estranha desculpará uma resposta breve. Moro nesta aldeia e talvez tenha uma influência que não mereço. A sra. Lupin pediu que eu viesse. Espero sempre cuidar dos doentes e infelizes.

Original English Version

'I am afraid,' said Mr Pecksniff, pausing at the door, and giving his head a melancholy roll, 'I am afraid that this looks artful. I am afraid, Mrs Lupin, do you know, that this looks very artful!'

As he finished this whisper, he advanced before the hostess; and at the same time the young lady, hearing footsteps, rose. Mr Pecksniff glanced at the volume she held, and whispered Mrs Lupin again; if possible, with increased despondency.

'Yes, ma'am,' he said, 'it is a good book. I was fearful of that beforehand. I am apprehensive that this is a very deep thing indeed!'

'What gentleman is this?' inquired the object of his virtuous doubts.

'Hush! don't trouble yourself, ma'am,' said Mr Pecksniff, as the landlady was about to answer. 'This young'--in spite of himself he hesitated when "person" rose to his lips, and substituted another word: 'this young stranger, Mrs Lupin, will excuse me for replying briefly, that I reside in this village; it may be in an influential manner, however, undeserved; and that I have been summoned here by you. I am here, as I am everywhere, I hope, in sympathy for the sick and sorry.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Receio - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, detendo-se à porta e inclinando melancolicamente a cabeça - , receio que isto pareça ardiloso. Receio, Sra. Lupin, sabe, que isto pareça muito ardiloso!

Ao terminar esse sussurro, avançou à frente da anfitriã; ao mesmo tempo, ouvindo passos, a jovem se levantou. O Sr. Pecksniff lançou um olhar ao volume que ela segurava e tornou a sussurrar para a Sra. Lupin, se possível com desânimo ainda maior.

- Sim, senhora - disse ele - , é um bom livro. Eu já temia isso de antemão. Receio que este seja de fato um caso muito profundo!

- Quem é este cavalheiro? - perguntou o objeto de suas virtuosas dúvidas.

- Psiu! Não se incomode, senhora - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, quando a estalajadeira ia responder. - Esta jovem... - apesar de si mesmo, hesitou quando "pessoa" lhe veio aos lábios e substituiu-a por outra palavra: - esta jovem desconhecida, Sra. Lupin, há de me perdoar se respondo brevemente que resido nesta aldeia; talvez de maneira influente, embora imerecida; e que fui chamado aqui pela senhora. Estou aqui, como espero estar em toda parte, por solidariedade aos enfermos e aflitos.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Depois dessas palavras impressionantes, o sr. Pecksniff foi até a cama. Deu solenemente uma ou duas palmadinhas na colcha, como se isso revelasse a doença do paciente. Depois se sentou numa grande poltrona, pensativo e muito confortável, e esperou que ele acordasse. A jovem protestou com a sra. Lupin, mas não disse mais nada ao sr. Pecksniff. Ele também não disse mais nada a ninguém.

Durante meia hora inteira, o velho não se moveu. Por fim, virou-se na cama, mostrando que estava quase acordado. Lentamente, tirou as cobertas da cabeça e se voltou mais para o sr. Pecksniff. Finalmente abriu os olhos. Por alguns instantes, como alguém que acabara de acordar, olhou preguiçosamente para o visitante sem perceber claramente que ele estava ali.

Nada nos movimentos do velho era extraordinário. No entanto, o efeito deles sobre o sr. Pecksniff foi tão grande quanto o de qualquer maravilha natural. Suas mãos agarraram lentamente os braços da cadeira, os olhos se arregalaram e a boca se abriu. Os cabelos também se levantaram mais do que o normal. Por fim, o velho sentou-se e o encarou com quase a mesma emoção. Então as dúvidas do sr. Pecksniff terminaram, e ele gritou:

Original English Version

With these impressive words, Mr Pecksniff passed over to the bedside, where, after patting the counterpane once or twice in a very solemn manner, as if by that means he gained a clear insight into the patient's disorder, he took his seat in a large arm-chair, and in an attitude of some thoughtfulness and much comfort, waited for his waking. Whatever objection the young lady urged to Mrs Lupin went no further, for nothing more was said to Mr Pecksniff, and Mr Pecksniff said nothing more to anybody else.

Full half an hour elapsed before the old man stirred, but at length he turned himself in bed, and, though not yet awake, gave tokens that his sleep was drawing to an end. By little and little he removed the bed-clothes from about his head, and turned still more towards the side where Mr Pecksniff sat. In course of time his eyes opened; and he lay for a few moments as people newly roused sometimes will, gazing indolently at his visitor, without any distinct consciousness of his presence.

There was nothing remarkable in these proceedings, except the influence they worked on Mr Pecksniff, which could hardly have been surpassed by the most marvellous of natural phenomena. Gradually his hands became tightly clasped upon the elbows of the chair, his eyes dilated with surprise, his mouth opened, his hair stood more erect upon his forehead than its custom was, until, at length, when the old man rose in bed, and stared at him with scarcely less emotion than he showed himself, the Pecksniff doubts were all resolved, and he exclaimed aloud:

Tradução Integral em Português

Com essas palavras impressionantes, o Sr. Pecksniff dirigiu-se à cabeceira, onde, depois de dar uma ou duas palmadinhas muito solenes na colcha, como se assim obtivesse clara compreensão do mal do paciente, sentou-se numa grande poltrona e, numa atitude de alguma reflexão e muito conforto, esperou que ele despertasse. Qualquer objeção que a jovem fizesse à Sra. Lupin não foi além, pois nada mais se disse ao Sr. Pecksniff, e o Sr. Pecksniff nada mais disse a ninguém.

Passou-se meia hora inteira antes que o velho se mexesse, mas por fim ele se virou na cama e, embora ainda não estivesse desperto, deu sinais de que seu sono se aproximava do fim. Pouco a pouco, afastou da cabeça as roupas de cama e virou-se ainda mais para o lado onde o Sr. Pecksniff estava sentado. No devido tempo, seus olhos se abriram; e ele ficou por alguns instantes, como às vezes ficam as pessoas recém-despertas, contemplando indolentemente o visitante, sem consciência nítida de sua presença.

Nada havia de notável nesses acontecimentos, exceto a influência que exerceram sobre o Sr. Pecksniff, dificilmente superável pelo mais maravilhoso dos fenômenos naturais. Aos poucos, suas mãos se fecharam com força sobre os braços da poltrona, seus olhos se dilataram de espanto, a boca se abriu, os cabelos se eriçaram na testa mais que de costume, até que, por fim, quando o velho se ergueu na cama e o fitou com emoção pouco menor do que a dele, todas as dúvidas de Pecksniff se dissiparam, e ele exclamou em voz alta:

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Você É Martin Chuzzlewit!

Sua surpresa chocada era tão verdadeira que o velho, embora pronto para considerá-la falsa, convenceu-se de que era sincera.

- Sou Martin Chuzzlewit - disse ele com amargura - , e Martin Chuzzlewit gostaria que você tivesse sido enforcado antes de vir perturbar seu sono. Ora, eu sonhei com este sujeito! - Deitou-se novamente e virou-se. - Sonhei com ele antes de saber que estava perto de mim!

- Meu bom primo... - disse o sr. Pecksniff.

- Aí está! As primeiras palavras dele! - gritou o velho, sacudindo a cabeça grisalha no travesseiro e erguendo as mãos. - Nas primeiras palavras, afirma que somos parentes. Eu sabia que faria isso; todos fazem! Próximo ou distante, de sangue ou de água, é tudo igual. Argh! Qualquer palavra sobre família traz diante de mim uma lista inteira de trapaças, mentiras e falsas reivindicações!

- Por favor, não aja depressa demais, sr. Chuzzlewit - disse Pecksniff numa voz profundamente cuidadosa, porém calma. A essa altura, recuperara-se da surpresa e voltara completamente aos seus modos virtuosos. - O senhor se arrependerá de agir depressa demais. Sei que sim.

Original English Version

'You ARE Martin Chuzzlewit!'

His consternation of surprise was so genuine, that the old man, with all the disposition that he clearly entertained to believe it assumed, was convinced of its reality.

'I am Martin Chuzzlewit,' he said, bitterly: 'and Martin Chuzzlewit wishes you had been hanged, before you had come here to disturb him in his sleep. Why, I dreamed of this fellow!' he said, lying down again, and turning away his face, 'before I knew that he was near me!'

'My good cousin--' said Mr Pecksniff.

'There! His very first words!' cried the old man, shaking his grey head to and fro upon the pillow, and throwing up his hands. 'In his very first words he asserts his relationship! I knew he would; they all do it! Near or distant, blood or water, it's all one. Ugh! What a calendar of deceit, and lying, and false-witnessing, the sound of any word of kindred opens before me!'

'Pray do not be hasty, Mr Chuzzlewit,' said Pecksniff, in a tone that was at once in the sublimest degree compassionate and dispassionate; for he had by this time recovered from his surprise, and was in full possession of his virtuous self. 'You will regret being hasty, I know you will.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Você É Martin Chuzzlewit!

Sua consternação e surpresa eram tão genuínas que o velho, por mais disposto que evidentemente estivesse a julgá-las fingidas, convenceu-se de sua realidade.

- Sou Martin Chuzzlewit - disse ele com amargura - , e Martin Chuzzlewit desejaria que o enforcassem antes de vir aqui perturbá-lo durante o sono. Ora, sonhei com esse sujeito! - disse, tornando a deitar-se e virando o rosto. - Antes de saber que estava perto de mim!

- Meu bom primo... - disse o Sr. Pecksniff.

- Pronto! As primeiras palavras dele! - exclamou o velho, sacudindo a cabeça grisalha de um lado para o outro sobre o travesseiro e erguendo as mãos. - Logo nas primeiras palavras, afirma o parentesco! Eu sabia que faria isso; todos fazem! Próximo ou distante, de sangue ou de água, dá no mesmo. Argh! Que calendário de enganos, mentiras e falsos testemunhos o som de qualquer palavra de parentesco abre diante de mim!

- Por favor, não se precipite, Sr. Chuzzlewit - disse Pecksniff, num tom que era, ao mesmo tempo, compassivo e imparcial no mais sublime grau; pois a essa altura já se recuperara da surpresa e estava em plena posse de seu virtuoso eu. - O senhor se arrependerá de se precipitar, sei que se arrependerá.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Você sabe! - disse Martin friamente, mostrando que não tinha respeito pelo sr. Pecksniff.

- Sim - respondeu o sr. Pecksniff. - Ora, ora, sr. Chuzzlewit, não pense que desejo conquistar seu favor ou adulá-lo. Nada está mais longe de meu propósito. Não tema que eu repita a palavra ofensiva que o perturbou. Por que faria isso? O que poderia querer do senhor? Pelo que sei, nada do que possui traz felicidade suficiente para que outros o desejem.

- Isso é bem verdade - murmurou o velho.

Observando o efeito de suas palavras, o sr. Pecksniff disse: - Além disso, o senhor já deve perceber uma coisa claramente. Se eu quisesse que pensasse bem de mim, teria o cuidado de não me chamar de seu parente. Conheço seu temperamento. Sabia que me apresentar como parente seria a pior introdução possível.

Martin não disse nada, mas um movimento das pernas sob as cobertas mostrou tão claramente quanto palavras que aquilo era razoável e ele não podia negar.

Original English Version

'You know!' said Martin, contemptuously.

'Yes,' retorted Mr Pecksniff. 'Aye, aye, Mr Chuzzlewit; and don't imagine that I mean to court or flatter you; for nothing is further from my intention. Neither, sir, need you entertain the least misgiving that I shall repeat that obnoxious word which has given you so much offence already. Why should I? What do I expect or want from you? There is nothing in your possession that I know of, Mr Chuzzlewit, which is much to be coveted for the happiness it brings you.'

'That's true enough,' muttered the old man.

'Apart from that consideration,' said Mr Pecksniff, watchful of the effect he made, 'it must be plain to you (I am sure) by this time, that if I had wished to insinuate myself into your good opinion, I should have been, of all things, careful not to address you as a relative; knowing your humour, and being quite certain beforehand that I could not have a worse letter of recommendation.'

Martin made not any verbal answer; but he as clearly implied though only by a motion of his legs beneath the bed-clothes, that there was reason in this, and that he could not dispute it, as if he had said as much in good set terms.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Você sabe! - disse Martin com desprezo.

- Sim - retrucou o Sr. Pecksniff. - Sim, sim, Sr. Chuzzlewit; e não imagine que pretendo cortejá-lo ou adulá-lo, pois nada está mais longe de minha intenção. Tampouco precisa o senhor alimentar o menor receio de que eu repita aquela palavra odiosa que já lhe causou tamanha ofensa. Por que o faria? O que espero ou desejo do senhor? Não há nada em sua posse, que eu saiba, Sr. Chuzzlewit, que seja muito cobiçável pela felicidade que lhe traz.

- Isso é bem verdade - murmurou o velho.

- Afora essa consideração - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, atento ao efeito que causava - , a esta altura deve estar claro para o senhor (tenho certeza) que, se eu desejasse insinuar-me em seu favor, teria tido, acima de tudo, o cuidado de não me dirigir ao senhor como parente; conhecendo seu temperamento e sabendo de antemão, com absoluta certeza, que eu não poderia apresentar pior carta de recomendação.

Martin não deu resposta verbal; mas, apenas com um movimento das pernas sob as roupas de cama, indicou tão claramente que havia razão nisso e que não podia contestá-lo como se o tivesse dito em termos formais e bem escolhidos.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Não - disse o sr. Pecksniff, mantendo a mão dentro do colete como se estivesse pronto para mostrar o coração a Martin Chuzzlewit. - Vim oferecer ajuda a um estranho. Não ofereço nenhuma ao senhor porque desconfiaria de mim. Mas enquanto está nessa cama, senhor, considero-o um estranho. Sinto apenas a preocupação que sentiria por qualquer estranho em sua condição. Além disso, sr. Chuzzlewit, importo-me tão pouco com o senhor quanto o senhor comigo.

Depois disso, o sr. Pecksniff recostou-se na poltrona, brilhando com uma inocência tão honesta que a sra. Lupin quase esperava ver ao redor da cabeça dele uma glória de vitral, como a do santo na igreja.

Seguiu-se um longo silêncio. O velho ficou mais inquieto e mudou de posição várias vezes. A sra. Lupin e a jovem olharam em silêncio para a colcha. O sr. Pecksniff brincava distraidamente com o monóculo e mantinha os olhos fechados para pensar melhor.

Original English Version

'No,' said Mr Pecksniff, keeping his hand in his waistcoat as though he were ready, on the shortest notice, to produce his heart for Martin Chuzzlewit's inspection, 'I came here to offer my services to a stranger. I make no offer of them to you, because I know you would distrust me if I did. But lying on that bed, sir, I regard you as a stranger, and I have just that amount of interest in you which I hope I should feel in any stranger, circumstanced as you are. Beyond that, I am quite as indifferent to you, Mr Chuzzlewit, as you are to me.'

Having said which, Mr Pecksniff threw himself back in the easy-chair; so radiant with ingenuous honesty, that Mrs Lupin almost wondered not to see a stained-glass Glory, such as the Saint wore in the church, shining about his head.

A long pause succeeded. The old man, with increased restlessness, changed his posture several times. Mrs Lupin and the young lady gazed in silence at the counterpane. Mr Pecksniff toyed abstractedly with his eye-glass, and kept his eyes shut, that he might ruminate the better.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Não - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, mantendo a mão no colete como se estivesse pronto, ao mais breve aviso, a apresentar o próprio coração à inspeção de Martin Chuzzlewit - , vim aqui oferecer meus serviços a um desconhecido. Não os ofereço ao senhor, pois sei que desconfiaria de mim se o fizesse. Mas, deitado nessa cama, senhor, considero-o um desconhecido e sinto pelo senhor exatamente o grau de interesse que espero sentir por qualquer desconhecido em suas circunstâncias. Além disso, sou tão indiferente ao senhor, Sr. Chuzzlewit, quanto o senhor é a mim.

Tendo dito isso, o Sr. Pecksniff recostou-se na poltrona, tão radiante de cândida honestidade que a Sra. Lupin quase se admirou de não ver, brilhando ao redor de sua cabeça, uma Glória de vitral como a que o Santo usava na igreja.

Seguiu-se uma longa pausa. O velho, cada vez mais inquieto, mudou várias vezes de posição. A Sra. Lupin e a jovem contemplavam a colcha em silêncio. O Sr. Pecksniff brincava distraidamente com o monóculo e mantinha os olhos fechados, para melhor meditar.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Hein? - disse por fim, abrindo de repente os olhos na direção da cama. - Peço desculpas. Pensei que tivesse falado. Sra. Lupin - acrescentou, levantando-se lentamente - , não vejo como posso ajudar aqui. O cavalheiro está melhor, e a senhora é uma enfermeira tão boa quanto ele poderia ter. Hein?

Essa última pergunta se referia ao velho se mexer novamente, o que virou seu rosto para o sr. Pecksniff pela primeira vez desde que se afastara.

- Se deseja falar antes que eu vá, senhor - continuou depois de outra pausa - , pode usar meu tempo. Mas, para ser justo comigo, deve falar comigo estritamente como se eu fosse um estranho.

Original English Version

'Eh?' he said at last, opening them suddenly, and looking towards the bed. 'I beg your pardon. I thought you spoke. Mrs Lupin,' he continued, slowly rising 'I am not aware that I can be of any service to you here. The gentleman is better, and you are as good a nurse as he can have. Eh?'

This last note of interrogation bore reference to another change of posture on the old man's part, which brought his face towards Mr Pecksniff for the first time since he had turned away from him.

'If you desire to speak to me before I go, sir,' continued that gentleman, after another pause, 'you may command my leisure; but I must stipulate, in justice to myself, that you do so as to a stranger, strictly as to a stranger.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Hein? - disse por fim, abrindo-os de repente e olhando para a cama. - Peço-lhe perdão. Pensei que tivesse falado. Sra. Lupin - continuou, erguendo-se devagar - , não creio que possa ser-lhe de alguma utilidade aqui. O cavalheiro está melhor, e a senhora é a melhor enfermeira que ele poderia ter. Hein?

Essa última interrogação referia-se a outra mudança de posição do velho, que voltou seu rosto para o Sr. Pecksniff pela primeira vez desde que o desviara.

- Se deseja falar comigo antes que eu vá, senhor - continuou aquele cavalheiro após outra pausa - , pode dispor do meu tempo; mas devo estipular, em justiça para comigo mesmo, que o faça como se falasse com um desconhecido, estritamente com um desconhecido.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Se o sr. Pecksniff entendeu pelos gestos de Martin Chuzzlewit que ele queria falar, deve ter usado uma regra dos melodramas. Neles, um velho fazendeiro com um filho cômico sempre entende uma moça que não consegue falar. Ela se esconde no jardim dele e conta a história da própria vida por sinais sem sentido. Sem perguntar como ele sabia, Martin fez sinal para a jovem companheira sair. Ela e a estalajadeira o deixaram sozinho com o sr. Pecksniff. Por algum tempo, os dois se olharam em silêncio. Na verdade, o velho observava o sr. Pecksniff, enquanto este fechava os olhos para o mundo exterior e examinava o próprio coração. Sua expressão mostrava que achava a visão rica e agradável.

- Você quer que eu fale com você como se fosse um completo estranho? - perguntou o velho.

O sr. Pecksniff encolheu os ombros e pareceu revirar os olhos antes de abri-los. Isso mostrou que ainda precisava pedir a Martin que o tratasse como estranho.

Original English Version

Now if Mr Pecksniff knew, from anything Martin Chuzzlewit had expressed in gestures, that he wanted to speak to him, he could only have found it out on some such principle as prevails in melodramas, and in virtue of which the elderly farmer with the comic son always knows what the dumb girl means when she takes refuge in his garden, and relates her personal memoirs in incomprehensible pantomime. But without stopping to make any inquiry on this point, Martin Chuzzlewit signed to his young companion to withdraw, which she immediately did, along with the landlady leaving him and Mr Pecksniff alone together. For some time they looked at each other in silence; or rather the old man looked at Mr Pecksniff, and Mr Pecksniff again closing his eyes on all outward objects, took an inward survey of his own breast. That it amply repaid him for his trouble, and afforded a delicious and enchanting prospect, was clear from the expression of his face.

'You wish me to speak to you as to a total stranger,' said the old man, 'do you?'

Mr Pecksniff replied, by a shrug of his shoulders and an apparent turning round of his eyes in their sockets before he opened them, that he was still reduced to the necessity of entertaining that desire.

Tradução Integral em Português

Ora, se o Sr. Pecksniff soube, por algum gesto de Martin Chuzzlewit, que este desejava falar-lhe, só poderia tê-lo descoberto por algum princípio semelhante ao que prevalece nos melodramas e em virtude do qual o fazendeiro idoso, com o filho cômico, sempre sabe o que quer dizer a moça muda quando ela se refugia em seu jardim e relata suas memórias pessoais numa pantomima incompreensível. Mas, sem se deter para investigar esse ponto, Martin Chuzzlewit fez sinal à jovem companheira para que se retirasse, o que ela fez de imediato, juntamente com a estalajadeira, deixando-o a sós com o Sr. Pecksniff. Durante algum tempo, olharam-se em silêncio; ou melhor, o velho olhou para o Sr. Pecksniff, e o Sr. Pecksniff, fechando novamente os olhos a todos os objetos exteriores, fez um exame interior do próprio peito. Que este o recompensou amplamente pelo trabalho e lhe proporcionou uma perspectiva deliciosa e encantadora, ficava claro pela expressão de seu rosto.

- Deseja que eu lhe fale como a um perfeito desconhecido - disse o velho - , não é?

O Sr. Pecksniff respondeu, com um encolher de ombros e um aparente revirar dos olhos nas órbitas antes de abri-los, que ainda se via reduzido à necessidade de nutrir tal desejo.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Terá seu desejo - disse Martin. - Senhor, sou um homem rico - talvez não tão rico quanto alguns pensam, mas abastado. Não sou avarento, embora as pessoas digam e acreditem que sou. Não sinto prazer em economizar dinheiro nem em possuí-lo. Esse demônio, o dinheiro, não me dá nada além de infelicidade.

Dizer que manteiga não derreteria na boca do sr. Pecksniff não descreveria sua gentileza. Ele parecia mais alguém de quem se poderia produzir manteiga sem fim, batendo o leite da bondade humana que subia de seu coração.

- Pela mesma razão que não acumulo dinheiro - disse o velho - , não o gasto livremente. Algumas pessoas gostam de acumulá-lo, enquanto outras gostam de distribuí-lo. Eu não gosto de nada relacionado ao dinheiro. Ele só me trouxe dor e amargura. Eu o odeio. É um fantasma que caminha diante de mim pelo mundo e torna feio todo prazer social.

Original English Version

'You shall be gratified,' said Martin. 'Sir, I am a rich man. Not so rich as some suppose, perhaps, but yet wealthy. I am not a miser sir, though even that charge is made against me, as I hear, and currently believed. I have no pleasure in hoarding. I have no pleasure in the possession of money, The devil that we call by that name can give me nothing but unhappiness.'

It would be no description of Mr Pecksniff's gentleness of manner to adopt the common parlance, and say that he looked at this moment as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. He rather looked as if any quantity of butter might have been made out of him, by churning the milk of human kindness, as it spouted upwards from his heart.

'For the same reason that I am not a hoarder of money,' said the old man, 'I am not lavish of it. Some people find their gratification in storing it up; and others theirs in parting with it; but I have no gratification connected with the thing. Pain and bitterness are the only goods it ever could procure for me. I hate it. It is a spectre walking before me through the world, and making every social pleasure hideous.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Será atendido - disse Martin. - Senhor, sou um homem rico. Talvez não tão rico quanto alguns supõem, mas ainda assim abastado. Não sou avarento, senhor, embora até essa acusação seja feita contra mim, pelo que ouço, e seja geralmente aceita. Não encontro prazer em entesourar. Não encontro prazer na posse do dinheiro. O demônio a que damos esse nome nada pode me dar além de infelicidade.

Adotar a expressão comum e dizer que, naquele momento, ele parecia alguém em cuja boca a manteiga não derreteria não faria justiça à doçura dos modos do Sr. Pecksniff. Parecia, antes, que qualquer quantidade de manteiga poderia ser feita dele, bastando bater o leite da bondade humana que jorrava de seu coração.

- Pela mesma razão que não sou um acumulador de dinheiro - disse o velho - , tampouco o esbanjo. Algumas pessoas encontram satisfação em guardá-lo; outras, em desfazer-se dele; mas eu não tenho satisfação alguma ligada a essa coisa. Dor e amargura são os únicos bens que ele jamais pôde obter para mim. Eu o odeio. É um espectro que caminha à minha frente pelo mundo e torna horrendo todo prazer social.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Um pensamento surgiu na mente de Pecksniff e deve ter aparecido em seu rosto, caso contrário Martin Chuzzlewit não teria continuado tão depressa e severamente:

- Para minha paz, você me aconselharia a entregar esta desgraça a alguém capaz de suportá-la. Talvez até você tirasse esse peso de mim. - Seu rosto inteiro escureceu. - Mas, bondoso estranho, bom estranho cristão, esse é meu principal problema. O dinheiro fez o bem em outras mãos. É corretamente elogiado como a chave dos fortes portões da honra, da fortuna e dos prazeres terrenos. A que pessoa digna e honesta, que o dinheiro não possa corromper, posso entregá-lo agora ou quando morrer? Conhece alguém? Suas virtudes naturalmente não têm preço, mas consegue citar outra pessoa viva que suporte o contato comigo?

- Contato com o senhor mesmo? - repetiu o sr. Pecksniff.

- Sim - disse o velho - , a prova do contato comigo, comigo. Você conhece o homem cujo desejo insensato fez tudo o que tocava virar ouro. A maldição da minha vida, e a realização do meu desejo louco, é que o ouro que carrego me faz testar todos os outros homens e descobrir que seu metal é falso e oco.

Original English Version

A thought arose in Pecksniff's mind, which must have instantly mounted to his face, or Martin Chuzzlewit would not have resumed as quickly and as sternly as he did:

'You would advise me for my peace of mind, to get rid of this source of misery, and transfer it to some one who could bear it better. Even you, perhaps, would rid me of a burden under which I suffer so grievously. But, kind stranger,' said the old man, whose every feature darkened as he spoke, 'good Christian stranger, that is a main part of my trouble. In other hands, I have known money do good; in other hands I have known it triumphed in, and boasted of with reason, as the master-key to all the brazen gates that close upon the paths to worldly honour, fortune, and enjoyment. To what man or woman; to what worthy, honest, incorruptible creature; shall I confide such a talisman, either now or when I die? Do you know any such person? YOUR virtues are of course inestimable, but can you tell me of any other living creature who will bear the test of contact with myself?'

'Of contact with yourself, sir?' echoed Mr Pecksniff.

'Aye,' returned the old man, 'the test of contact with me--with me. You have heard of him whose misery (the gratification of his own foolish wish) was, that he turned every thing he touched into gold. The curse of my existence, and the realisation of my own mad desire is that by the golden standard which I bear about me, I am doomed to try the metal of all other men, and find it false and hollow.'

Tradução Integral em Português

Um pensamento surgiu na mente de Pecksniff e deve ter-lhe subido imediatamente ao rosto, ou Martin Chuzzlewit não teria retomado a fala com tamanha rapidez e severidade:

- O senhor me aconselharia, para minha paz de espírito, a livrar-me dessa fonte de sofrimento e transferi-la a alguém capaz de suportá-la melhor. Talvez até o senhor me aliviasse de um fardo sob o qual padeço tão cruelmente. Mas, bondoso desconhecido - disse o velho, cujas feições todas escureciam enquanto falava - , bom desconhecido cristão, essa é uma parte essencial do meu tormento. Em outras mãos, vi o dinheiro fazer o bem; em outras mãos, vi que se triunfava e se gabava dele com razão como a chave-mestra de todos os portões de bronze que cerram os caminhos para a honra, a fortuna e os prazeres mundanos. A que homem ou mulher; a que criatura digna, honesta, incorruptível; confiarei semelhante talismã, agora ou quando eu morrer? Conhece alguma pessoa assim? SUAS virtudes são, naturalmente, inestimáveis, mas pode indicar-me qualquer outra criatura viva que suporte a prova do contato comigo?

- Do contato com o senhor, senhor? - ecoou o Sr. Pecksniff.

- Sim - respondeu o velho - , a prova do contato comigo... comigo. Já ouviu falar daquele cuja desgraça (a satisfação de seu próprio desejo insensato) consistia em transformar em ouro tudo o que tocava. A maldição de minha existência e a realização de meu próprio desejo louco é que, pelo padrão-ouro que carrego comigo, estou condenado a provar o metal de todos os outros homens e descobri-lo falso e oco.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O sr. Pecksniff balançou a cabeça e disse: - O senhor pensa assim.

Original English Version

Mr Pecksniff shook his head, and said, 'You think so.'

Tradução Integral em Português

O Sr. Pecksniff balançou a cabeça e disse: - O senhor pensa assim.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Ah, sim, penso assim! - gritou o velho. - Quando você diz "penso assim", ouço o som verdadeiro e nada mundano do SEU metal. Apresentei-me como homem rico diante de todo tipo de pessoa: parentes, amigos e estranhos. Quando era pobre, confiava neles e estava certo. Nunca me enganaram nem, pelo que soube, fizeram mal uns aos outros. Mas, quando fiquei rico e sozinho, encontrei um mal escondido em todos, esperando que eu o revelasse. Traição, engano, planos baixos, ciúme de rivais reais ou imaginários, mesquinhez, mentiras, atos vergonhosos e comportamento de criados para me agradar - ou - disse, olhando nos olhos do primo - uma demonstração de independência honesta, quase pior que tudo - é isso que minha riqueza revela. Irmãos se voltam contra irmãos, filhos contra pais, e amigos pisam no rosto dos amigos. Essa tem sido minha companhia. As histórias dizem que homens ricos vestidos como pobres encontraram e recompensaram a bondade. Eram tolos. Deveriam ter investigado o caráter das pessoas mostrando-se como alvos ricos para roubo, conspirações e elogios de trapaceiros. Esses trapaceiros teriam cuspido em seus caixões depois que os ricos morressem como vítimas deles. Então a busca teria terminado como a minha, e eles seriam o que eu sou.

Original English Version

'Oh yes,' cried the old man, 'I think so! and in your telling me "I think so," I recognize the true unworldly ring of YOUR metal. I tell you, man,' he added, with increasing bitterness, 'that I have gone, a rich man, among people of all grades and kinds; relatives, friends, and strangers; among people in whom, when I was poor, I had confidence, and justly, for they never once deceived me then, or, to me, wronged each other. But I have never found one nature, no, not one, in which, being wealthy and alone, I was not forced to detect the latent corruption that lay hid within it waiting for such as I to bring it forth. Treachery, deceit, and low design; hatred of competitors, real or fancied, for my favour; meanness, falsehood, baseness, and servility; or,' and here he looked closely in his cousin's eyes, 'or an assumption of honest independence, almost worse than all; these are the beauties which my wealth has brought to light. Brother against brother, child against parent, friends treading on the faces of friends, this is the social company by whom my way has been attended. There are stories told--they may be true or false--of rich men who, in the garb of poverty, have found out virtue and rewarded it. They were dolts and idiots for their pains. They should have made the search in their own characters. They should have shown themselves fit objects to be robbed and preyed upon and plotted against and adulated by any knaves, who, but for joy, would have spat upon their coffins when they died their dupes; and then their search would have ended as mine has done, and they would be what I am.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Ah, sim - exclamou o velho - , penso assim! E ao me dizer "o senhor pensa assim", reconheço o verdadeiro timbre desinteressado do SEU metal. Eu lhe digo, homem - acrescentou, com crescente amargura - , que percorri, como homem rico, pessoas de todas as classes e espécies; parentes, amigos e desconhecidos; pessoas em quem, quando eu era pobre, confiava, e com razão, pois então jamais me enganaram uma única vez nem, diante de mim, prejudicaram umas às outras. Mas nunca encontrei uma só natureza, não, nem uma, em que, sendo eu rico e só, não fosse forçado a detectar a corrupção latente, escondida no íntimo à espera de alguém como eu para trazê-la à luz. Traição, fraude e vis desígnios; ódio aos competidores, reais ou imaginários, por meu favor; mesquinhez, falsidade, baixeza e servilismo; ou - e aqui ele fitou de perto os olhos do primo - uma afetação de honesta independência, quase pior que tudo; estas são as belezas que minha riqueza trouxe à luz. Irmão contra irmão, filho contra pai, amigos pisando no rosto de amigos: esta é a companhia social que tem acompanhado meu caminho. Contam-se histórias - podem ser verdadeiras ou falsas - de homens ricos que, sob as vestes da pobreza, descobriram a virtude e a recompensaram. Foram tolos e idiotas por seus esforços. Deveriam ter procurado no próprio caráter. Deveriam ter se mostrado objetos adequados para serem roubados, espoliados, vítimas de conspirações e adulados por quaisquer canalhas que, não fosse a satisfação, teriam cuspido em seus caixões quando morressem como seus logrados; e então a busca deles teria terminado como a minha, e seriam o que sou.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O sr. Pecksniff não sabia o que seria melhor dizer na curta pausa. Fingiu cuidadosamente que pretendia fazer um discurso muito sábio, confiando que o velho o interromperia antes que falasse. Estava certo: quando Martin Chuzzlewit recuperou o fôlego, continuou:

- Escute-me até o fim. Decida que lucro pode obter repetindo esta visita e depois me deixe. Corrompi todos os que permaneceram perto de mim ao criar planos e esperanças gananciosos. Até entre minha família causei brigas e conflitos apenas por estar com eles. Fui como uma tocha acesa em lares pacíficos, incendiando gases e vapores morais que, de outro modo, poderiam ter permanecido inofensivos. Fugi de todos os que me conheciam e ultimamente vivi em lugares secretos como um homem caçado. A jovem que você viu... O quê! Seus olhos brilham quando falo dela. Já a odeia, não é?

Original English Version

Mr Pecksniff, not at all knowing what it might be best to say in the momentary pause which ensued upon these remarks, made an elaborate demonstration of intending to deliver something very oracular indeed; trusting to the certainty of the old man interrupting him, before he should utter a word. Nor was he mistaken, for Martin Chuzzlewit having taken breath, went on to say:

'Hear me to an end; judge what profit you are like to gain from any repetition of this visit; and leave me. I have so corrupted and changed the nature of all those who have ever attended on me, by breeding avaricious plots and hopes within them; I have engendered such domestic strife and discord, by tarrying even with members of my own family; I have been such a lighted torch in peaceful homes, kindling up all the inflammable gases and vapours in their moral atmosphere, which, but for me, might have proved harmless to the end, that I have, I may say, fled from all who knew me, and taking refuge in secret places have lived, of late, the life of one who is hunted. The young girl whom you just now saw--what! your eye lightens when I talk of her! You hate her already, do you?'

Tradução Integral em Português

O Sr. Pecksniff, sem saber de modo algum o que seria melhor dizer na breve pausa que se seguiu a essas observações, fez uma elaborada demonstração de que pretendia proferir algo realmente oracular, confiando na certeza de que o velho o interromperia antes que pronunciasse uma palavra. E não se enganou, pois Martin Chuzzlewit, depois de recuperar o fôlego, prosseguiu:

- Escute-me até o fim; avalie que proveito poderá obter de qualquer repetição desta visita; e deixe-me. Corrompi e alterei de tal modo a natureza de todos os que já me serviram, suscitando neles planos e esperanças avarentos; gerei tamanha discórdia e contenda doméstica, apenas por permanecer até mesmo com membros de minha própria família; fui uma tocha acesa em lares pacíficos, inflamando todos os gases e vapores combustíveis de sua atmosfera moral, que, não fosse por mim, poderiam ter permanecido inofensivos até o fim, que posso dizer que fugi de todos os que me conheciam e, refugiando-me em lugares secretos, tenho vivido ultimamente a vida de um perseguido. A jovem que o senhor acaba de ver... o quê! Seus olhos se iluminam quando falo dela! Já a odeia, não é?

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Dou-lhe minha palavra, senhor! - disse o sr. Pecksniff, colocando a mão no peito e baixando as pálpebras.

- Eu me esqueci - gritou o velho, olhando-o com atenção, embora o sr. Pecksniff não erguesse os olhos. - Peço desculpas. Você é um estranho. Por um momento, lembrou-me meu primo, um tal Pecksniff. A jovem é uma órfã que criei e eduquei ou, se preferir, adotei com um propósito firme. Há um ano ou mais, ela é minha companheira constante e única. Sabe que jurei solenemente não lhe deixar nem seis pence quando morrer. Enquanto vivo, dou-lhe uma renda anual que não é grande nem pequena demais. Concordamos em nunca nos adular com palavras carinhosas. Ela me chama pelo primeiro nome, e eu a chamo pelo dela. O interesse a liga a mim enquanto vivo. Ela perde esse sustento quando eu morrer, mas não espera herança, então talvez chore por mim. Pouco me importa. Esse é o único tipo de amigo que terei. Julgue que lucro sua visita trouxe, depois me deixe e nunca volte.

Original English Version

'Upon my word, sir!' said Mr Pecksniff, laying his hand upon his breast, and dropping his eyelids.

'I forgot,' cried the old man, looking at him with a keenness which the other seemed to feel, although he did not raise his eyes so as to see it. 'I ask your pardon. I forgot you were a stranger. For the moment you reminded me of one Pecksniff, a cousin of mine. As I was saying--the young girl whom you just now saw, is an orphan child, whom, with one steady purpose, I have bred and educated, or, if you prefer the word, adopted. For a year or more she has been my constant companion, and she is my only one. I have taken, as she knows, a solemn oath never to leave her sixpence when I die, but while I live I make her an annual allowance; not extravagant in its amount and yet not stinted. There is a compact between us that no term of affectionate cajolery shall ever be addressed by either to the other, but that she shall call me always by my Christian name; I her, by hers. She is bound to me in life by ties of interest, and losing by my death, and having no expectation disappointed, will mourn it, perhaps; though for that I care little. This is the only kind of friend I have or will have. Judge from such premises what a profitable hour you have spent in coming here, and leave me, to return no more.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Dou-lhe minha palavra, senhor! - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, pousando a mão no peito e baixando as pálpebras.

- Eu me esqueci - exclamou o velho, olhando-o com uma agudeza que o outro pareceu sentir, embora não erguesse os olhos para vê-la. - Peço-lhe perdão. Esqueci-me de que o senhor era um desconhecido. Por um instante, fez-me lembrar de certo Pecksniff, um primo meu. Como eu dizia... a jovem que acaba de ver é órfã, e eu, com um propósito constante, criei-a e eduquei-a, ou, se preferir a palavra, adotei-a. Há um ano ou mais, ela tem sido minha companheira constante, e é a única que tenho. Fiz, como ela sabe, um juramento solene de jamais lhe deixar seis pence quando eu morrer; mas, enquanto vivo, concedo-lhe uma pensão anual, não extravagante em valor, mas tampouco escassa. Há entre nós um acordo de que nenhum termo de afetuosa adulação jamais será dirigido por um ao outro; ela sempre me chamará pelo nome de batismo, e eu a chamarei pelo dela. Em vida, ela está ligada a mim por laços de interesse; com minha morte, sairá perdendo e, sem ver frustrada qualquer expectativa, talvez chore por mim; embora pouco me importe. Este é o único tipo de amiga que tenho ou terei. Julgue, por tais premissas, quão proveitosa foi a hora que passou vindo até aqui e deixe-me, para nunca mais voltar.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Com essas palavras, o velho afundou lentamente no travesseiro. O sr. Pecksniff levantou-se com a mesma lentidão e, depois de limpar a garganta, começou:

- Sr. Chuzzlewit.

- Pronto. Vá! - interrompeu o outro. - Chega. Estou cansado de você.

- Lamento, senhor - respondeu o sr. Pecksniff - , porque tenho um dever a cumprir e garanto que não o evitarei. Não, senhor, não o evitarei.

Infelizmente, enquanto o sr. Pecksniff permanecia ao lado da cama com toda a dignidade da Bondade, o velho olhava furioso para o castiçal, como se sentisse forte vontade de atirá-lo na cabeça do primo. Controlou-se, apontou para a porta e disse que aquele era o caminho dele.

Original English Version

With these words, the old man fell slowly back upon his pillow. Mr Pecksniff as slowly rose, and, with a prefatory hem, began as follows:

'Mr Chuzzlewit.'

'There. Go!' interposed the other. 'Enough of this. I am weary of you.'

'I am sorry for that, sir,' rejoined Mr Pecksniff, 'because I have a duty to discharge, from which, depend upon it, I shall not shrink. No, sir, I shall not shrink.'

It is a lamentable fact, that as Mr Pecksniff stood erect beside the bed, in all the dignity of Goodness, and addressed him thus, the old man cast an angry glance towards the candlestick, as if he were possessed by a strong inclination to launch it at his cousin's head. But he constrained himself, and pointing with his finger to the door, informed him that his road lay there.

Tradução Integral em Português

Com essas palavras, o velho recostou-se lentamente no travesseiro. O Sr. Pecksniff levantou-se com igual lentidão e, precedendo a fala com um pigarro, começou assim:

- Sr. Chuzzlewit.

- Basta. Vá! - interrompeu o outro. - Chega disso. Estou cansado do senhor.

- Lamento por isso, senhor - replicou o Sr. Pecksniff - , porque tenho um dever a cumprir, do qual, esteja certo, não recuarei. Não, senhor, não recuarei.

É um fato lamentável que, enquanto o Sr. Pecksniff permanecia ereto ao lado da cama, em toda a dignidade da Bondade, e assim se dirigia a ele, o velho lançou um olhar irado para o castiçal, como se estivesse possuído por uma forte inclinação a arremessá-lo à cabeça do primo. Mas conteve-se e, apontando o dedo para a porta, informou-lhe que por ali era o seu caminho.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Obrigado - disse o sr. Pecksniff. - Sei disso e estou indo. Mas primeiro peço para falar. Mais que isso, sr. Chuzzlewit, devo e vou - sim, devo e vou - ser ouvido. Nada do que disse esta noite me surpreende. É natural, muito natural, e eu já sabia da maior parte. - Tirou o lenço do bolso e piscou os dois olhos ao mesmo tempo, como se fosse contra a vontade. - Não direi que está enganado sobre mim. Em seu estado atual, não diria isso por nada no mundo. Quase desejo ter uma natureza diferente, para poder conter até este pequeno sinal de fraqueza. Não consigo escondê-lo e o considero vergonhoso, mas por favor desculpe. Digamos - acrescentou com muita gentileza - que vem de um resfriado, rapé, sais aromáticos, cebolas ou qualquer coisa, menos a verdadeira causa.

Ele fez uma pausa e escondeu o rosto atrás do lenço. Depois sorriu levemente, segurou as cortinas da cama com uma mão e continuou:

Original English Version

'Thank you,' said Mr Pecksniff; 'I am aware of that. I am going. But before I go, I crave your leave to speak, and more than that, Mr Chuzzlewit, I must and will--yes indeed, I repeat it, must and will--be heard. I am not surprised, sir, at anything you have told me tonight. It is natural, very natural, and the greater part of it was known to me before. I will not say,' continued Mr Pecksniff, drawing out his pocket-handkerchief, and winking with both eyes at once, as it were, against his will, 'I will not say that you are mistaken in me. While you are in your present mood I would not say so for the world. I almost wish, indeed, that I had a different nature, that I might repress even this slight confession of weakness; which I cannot disguise from you; which I feel is humiliating; but which you will have the goodness to excuse. We will say, if you please,' added Mr Pecksniff, with great tenderness of manner, 'that it arises from a cold in the head, or is attributable to snuff, or smelling-salts, or onions, or anything but the real cause.'

Here he paused for an instant, and concealed his face behind his pocket-handkerchief. Then, smiling faintly, and holding the bed furniture with one hand, he resumed:

Tradução Integral em Português

- Obrigado - disse o Sr. Pecksniff - , estou ciente disso. Estou indo. Mas, antes de ir, rogo-lhe licença para falar; e, mais que isso, Sr. Chuzzlewit, preciso e hei de... sim, repito, preciso e hei de... ser ouvido. Não me surpreendo, senhor, com nada do que me contou esta noite. É natural, muito natural, e a maior parte já era de meu conhecimento. Não direi - continuou o Sr. Pecksniff, tirando o lenço do bolso e piscando os dois olhos ao mesmo tempo, por assim dizer contra a própria vontade - , não direi que o senhor está enganado a meu respeito. Enquanto estiver em seu presente estado de espírito, eu não o diria por nada deste mundo. Na verdade, quase desejo ter outra natureza, para que pudesse reprimir até mesmo esta ligeira confissão de fraqueza; que não consigo esconder do senhor; que sinto ser humilhante; mas que terá a bondade de desculpar. Diremos, se lhe agradar - acrescentou o Sr. Pecksniff, com grande ternura nos modos - , que provém de um resfriado, ou que é atribuível ao rapé, ou aos sais aromáticos, ou às cebolas, ou a qualquer coisa que não seja a verdadeira causa.

Nesse ponto, fez uma pausa de um instante e escondeu o rosto atrás do lenço. Depois, sorrindo debilmente e segurando com uma das mãos a armação da cama, retomou:

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Sr. Chuzzlewit, embora eu me esqueça, tenho um dever para com meu caráter - sim, TENHO um caráter, que me é caro e é a melhor herança para minhas duas filhas - e devo falar em nome de outra pessoa. Sua conduta é errada, antinatural, indefensável e terrível. Sem medo nem favor, digo-lhe que não deve abandonar seu neto, o jovem Martin, que tem o mais forte direito natural sobre o senhor. - O sr. Pecksniff ficou na ponta dos pés entre as cortinas, parecendo elevar-se acima das preocupações mundanas. Segurou-se com força, como para impedir que subisse ao céu como um foguete. - Isso não servirá, senhor. Pode pensar que servirá, mas não servirá. O senhor deve, deverá e VAI cuidar dele. Creio - acrescentou, olhando para a pena e a tinta - que já fez isso em segredo. Abençoo-o por ter feito isso, por agir corretamente e por me odiar. Boa noite!

O sr. Pecksniff acenou solenemente com a mão direita, tornou a colocá-la dentro do colete e saiu. Seus modos mostravam emoção, mas seus passos eram firmes. Embora sujeito à fraqueza humana, a consciência o sustentava.

Original English Version

'But, Mr Chuzzlewit, while I am forgetful of myself, I owe it to myself, and to my character--aye, sir, and I HAVE a character which is very dear to me, and will be the best inheritance of my two daughters--to tell you, on behalf of another, that your conduct is wrong, unnatural, indefensible, monstrous. And I tell you, sir,' said Mr Pecksniff, towering on tiptoe among the curtains, as if he were literally rising above all worldly considerations, and were fain to hold on tight, to keep himself from darting skyward like a rocket, 'I tell you without fear or favour, that it will not do for you to be unmindful of your grandson, young Martin, who has the strongest natural claim upon you. It will not do, sir,' repeated Mr Pecksniff, shaking his head. 'You may think it will do, but it won't. You must provide for that young man; you shall provide for him; you WILL provide for him. I believe,' said Mr Pecksniff, glancing at the pen-and-ink, 'that in secret you have already done so. Bless you for doing so. Bless you for doing right, sir. Bless you for hating me. And good night!'

So saying, Mr Pecksniff waved his right hand with much solemnity, and once more inserting it in his waistcoat, departed. There was emotion in his manner, but his step was firm. Subject to human weaknesses, he was upheld by conscience.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Mas, Sr. Chuzzlewit, embora me esqueça de mim mesmo, devo a mim e ao meu caráter... sim, senhor, e TENHO um caráter que me é muito caro e que será a melhor herança de minhas duas filhas... dizer-lhe, em nome de outra pessoa, que sua conduta é errada, antinatural, indefensável, monstruosa. E digo-lhe, senhor - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, elevando-se na ponta dos pés entre as cortinas, como se estivesse literalmente ascendendo acima de todas as considerações mundanas e precisasse agarrar-se com força para não disparar rumo ao céu como um foguete - , digo-lhe, sem medo nem favor, que não lhe convém esquecer seu neto, o jovem Martin, que possui o mais forte direito natural sobre o senhor. Isso não convém, senhor - repetiu o Sr. Pecksniff, balançando a cabeça. - Pode pensar que convém, mas não convém. Deve prover o sustento desse jovem; há de prover o sustento dele; VAI prover o sustento dele. Creio - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, lançando um olhar para a pena e o tinteiro - que, em segredo, já o fez. Deus o abençoe por tê-lo feito. Deus o abençoe por agir corretamente, senhor. Deus o abençoe por me odiar. E boa noite!

Dizendo isso, o Sr. Pecksniff agitou a mão direita com grande solenidade e, tornando a enfiá-la no colete, partiu. Havia emoção em seus modos, mas seu passo era firme. Sujeito às fraquezas humanas, era sustentado pela consciência.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Martin ficou por algum tempo em espanto silencioso misturado com raiva. Por fim, sussurrou:

- O que isso pode significar? Será que o rapaz de coração falso escolheu aquele sujeito que acabou de sair como instrumento? Por que não? Ele conspirou contra mim como os outros; são todos farinha do mesmo saco. Uma nova conspiração! Ah, egoísmo, egoísmo, egoísmo! Em toda parte, nada além de egoísmo!

Quando parou de falar, brincou com as cinzas do papel queimado no castiçal. A princípio fez isso sem pensar, mas logo as cinzas se tornaram o assunto de seus pensamentos.

- Outro testamento feito e destruído - disse ele. - Nada decidido nem feito; eu poderia ter morrido esta noite! Vejo os usos malignos a que este dinheiro servirá. - Quase se contorceu na cama. - Ele encheu minha vida de preocupação e causará brigas depois que eu morrer. Os túmulos dos ricos criam processos todos os dias. Parentes próximos mentem sob juramento, odeiam-se e contam mentiras quando deveriam apenas amar. Que o Céu nos ajude; temos muito pelo que responder! Ah, egoísmo, egoísmo, egoísmo! Cada homem por si, e nenhuma criatura por mim!

Original English Version

Martin lay for some time, with an expression on his face of silent wonder, not unmixed with rage; at length he muttered in a whisper:

'What does this mean? Can the false-hearted boy have chosen such a tool as yonder fellow who has just gone out? Why not! He has conspired against me, like the rest, and they are but birds of one feather. A new plot; a new plot! Oh self, self, self! At every turn nothing but self!'

He fell to trifling, as he ceased to speak, with the ashes of the burnt paper in the candlestick. He did so, at first, in pure abstraction, but they presently became the subject of his thoughts.

'Another will made and destroyed,' he said, 'nothing determined on, nothing done, and I might have died to-night! I plainly see to what foul uses all this money will be put at last,' he cried, almost writhing in the bed; 'after filling me with cares and miseries all my life, it will perpetuate discord and bad passions when I am dead. So it always is. What lawsuits grow out of the graves of rich men, every day; sowing perjury, hatred, and lies among near kindred, where there should be nothing but love! Heaven help us, we have much to answer for! Oh self, self, self! Every man for himself, and no creature for me!'

Tradução Integral em Português

Martin ficou deitado por algum tempo, com uma expressão de silencioso assombro no rosto, não inteiramente desprovida de raiva; por fim, murmurou num sussurro:

- O que significa isto? Terá aquele rapaz de coração falso escolhido como instrumento semelhante sujeito, aquele que acaba de sair? Por que não? Conspirou contra mim, como os demais, e são todos farinha do mesmo saco. Uma nova trama; uma nova trama! Ah, o interesse próprio, o interesse próprio, o interesse próprio! A cada passo, nada além do interesse próprio!

Ao terminar de falar, começou a brincar com as cinzas do papel queimado no castiçal. A princípio, fê-lo por pura distração, mas logo elas se tornaram objeto de seus pensamentos.

- Outro testamento feito e destruído - disse - , nada decidido, nada feito, e eu poderia ter morrido esta noite! Vejo com clareza a que usos perversos todo esse dinheiro será por fim destinado - exclamou, quase se contorcendo na cama. - Depois de encher-me de preocupações e sofrimentos por toda a vida, perpetuará a discórdia e as más paixões quando eu estiver morto. É sempre assim. Quantos processos judiciais nascem todos os dias dos túmulos dos ricos, semeando perjúrio, ódio e mentiras entre parentes próximos, onde deveria haver apenas amor! Deus nos ajude, temos muito pelo que responder! Ah, o interesse próprio, o interesse próprio, o interesse próprio! Cada homem por si, e nenhuma criatura por mim!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Egoísmo em toda parte! Não havia nenhuma sombra dele nesses pensamentos e no próprio relato que Martin Chuzzlewit fazia de sua vida?

Original English Version

Universal self! Was there nothing of its shadow in these reflections, and in the history of Martin Chuzzlewit, on his own showing?

Tradução Integral em Português

Egoísmo universal! Não haveria sombra alguma dele nessas reflexões e na história de Martin Chuzzlewit, segundo seu próprio relato?

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Chapter Four

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

DO QUAL SE VERÁ QUE, SE A UNIÃO É FORÇA E A AFEIÇÃO FAMILIAR É AGRADÁVEL DE CONTEMPLAR, OS CHUZZWIT ERAM A FAMÍLIA MAIS FORTE E AGRADÁVEL DO MUNDO

Depois de deixar o primo de maneira tão solene, o digno sr. Pecksniff voltou para casa e ficou ali por três dias inteiros. Nem sequer caminhou além do jardim, caso o parente arrependido e pesaroso o chamasse de repente à cabeceira. Em sua grande bondade, decidira perdoá-lo e amá-lo sem condições. Mas o velho severo era tão teimoso e amargo que nenhum chamado arrependido chegou. No quarto dia, o sr. Pecksniff parecia ainda mais longe de seu objetivo cristão do que no primeiro.

Durante todo esse tempo, continuou visitando o Dragão a qualquer hora do dia e da noite. Retribuindo o mal com o bem, mostrava profunda preocupação com a saúde do paciente teimoso. Dizia com frequência à sra. Lupin que faria o mesmo por qualquer estranho ou pobre naquela condição. Sua preocupação desinteressada a levava às lágrimas de admiração e alegria.

Original English Version

FROM WHICH IT WILL APPEAR THAT IF UNION BE STRENGTH, AND FAMILY AFFECTION BE PLEASANT TO CONTEMPLATE, THE CHUZZLEWITS WERE THE STRONGEST AND MOST AGREEABLE FAMILY IN THE WORLD

That worthy man Mr Pecksniff having taken leave of his cousin in the solemn terms recited in the last chapter, withdrew to his own home, and remained there three whole days; not so much as going out for a walk beyond the boundaries of his own garden, lest he should be hastily summoned to the bedside of his penitent and remorseful relative, whom, in his ample benevolence, he had made up his mind to forgive unconditionally, and to love on any terms. But such was the obstinacy and such the bitter nature of that stern old man, that no repentant summons came; and the fourth day found Mr Pecksniff apparently much farther from his Christian object than the first.

During the whole of this interval, he haunted the Dragon at all times and seasons in the day and night, and, returning good for evil evinced the deepest solicitude in the progress of the obdurate invalid, in so much that Mrs Lupin was fairly melted by his disinterested anxiety (for he often particularly required her to take notice that he would do the same by any stranger or pauper in the like condition), and shed many tears of admiration and delight.

Tradução Integral em Português

DO QUAL SE VERÁ QUE, SE A UNIÃO FAZ A FORÇA E A AFEIÇÃO FAMILIAR É AGRADÁVEL DE CONTEMPLAR, OS CHUZZLEWIT ERAM A FAMÍLIA MAIS FORTE E MAIS AGRADÁVEL DO MUNDO

Tendo aquele digno homem, o Sr. Pecksniff, despedido-se do primo nos termos solenes relatados no último capítulo, retirou-se para a própria casa e ali permaneceu três dias inteiros; sem sequer sair para um passeio além dos limites do próprio jardim, para o caso de ser chamado às pressas ao leito do parente penitente e cheio de remorso, a quem, em sua ampla benevolência, decidira perdoar incondicionalmente e amar sob quaisquer condições. Mas tamanha era a obstinação e tão amarga a natureza daquele velho severo que nenhum chamado arrependido veio; e o quarto dia encontrou o Sr. Pecksniff aparentemente muito mais distante de seu objetivo cristão do que o primeiro.

Durante todo esse intervalo, ele assombrou o Dragão a todas as horas e em todas as ocasiões do dia e da noite e, retribuindo o mal com o bem, demonstrou a mais profunda solicitude pelo progresso do obstinado enfermo, a tal ponto que a Sra. Lupin ficou francamente comovida com sua desinteressada preocupação (pois ele frequentemente exigia, em particular, que ela notasse que faria o mesmo por qualquer desconhecido ou indigente em condição semelhante) e derramou muitas lágrimas de admiração e deleite.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Enquanto isso, o velho Martin Chuzzlewit permanecia fechado no quarto e não via ninguém, exceto sua jovem companheira e, às vezes, a anfitriã do Dragão Azul. Sempre que ela entrava, Martin fingia adormecer. Ele só falava, até para responder perguntas simples, quando estava sozinho com a jovem. Escutando atentamente à porta, o sr. Pecksniff percebia que Martin falava bastante quando estavam juntos.

Original English Version

Meantime, old Martin Chuzzlewit remained shut up in his own chamber, and saw no person but his young companion, saving the hostess of the Blue Dragon, who was, at certain times, admitted to his presence. So surely as she came into the room, however, Martin feigned to fall asleep. It was only when he and the young lady were alone, that he would utter a word, even in answer to the simplest inquiry; though Mr Pecksniff could make out, by hard listening at the door, that they two being left together, he was talkative enough.

Tradução Integral em Português

Enquanto isso, o velho Martin Chuzzlewit permanecia fechado no próprio quarto e não via ninguém além de sua jovem companheira, exceto a anfitriã do Dragão Azul, que, em certas ocasiões, tinha permissão para entrar em sua presença. Contudo, assim que ela entrava no quarto, Martin fingia adormecer. Só quando ele e a jovem estavam sozinhos é que pronunciava alguma palavra, mesmo em resposta à pergunta mais simples; embora o Sr. Pecksniff pudesse constatar, escutando atentamente junto à porta, que, deixados os dois a sós, ele era bastante falante.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Na quarta noite, o sr. Pecksniff entrou como de costume no bar do Dragão. Não encontrou a sra. Lupin, então subiu diretamente. Em sua preocupação amorosa, pretendia escutar outra vez pelo buraco da fechadura. Esperava se acalmar ao saber que o paciente de coração duro estava melhorando. No corredor escuro, um estreito raio de luz costumava brilhar pelo buraco, mas agora ele não viu nenhum. Junto à porta do quarto, abaixou-se depressa para verificar se o velho desconfiado havia tapado o buraco por dentro. Sua cabeça bateu em outra com tanta violência que a dor arrancou dele um forte "Ai!". Algo imediatamente o agarrou pelo colarinho. Cheirava a vários guarda-chuvas úmidos, um barril de cerveja, um tonel de conhaque com água morna e um quartinho cheio de fumaça velha de tabaco. Levou-o direto para baixo, até o bar. Ali, um completo estranho de aparência ainda mais estranha o segurava. Com a mão livre, o estranho esfregava a própria cabeça com força e lançava a Pecksniff um olhar furioso.

Original English Version

It happened on the fourth evening, that Mr Pecksniff walking, as usual, into the bar of the Dragon and finding no Mrs Lupin there, went straight upstairs; purposing, in the fervour of his affectionate zeal, to apply his ear once more to the keyhole, and quiet his mind by assuring himself that the hard-hearted patient was going on well. It happened that Mr Pecksniff, coming softly upon the dark passage into which a spiral ray of light usually darted through the same keyhole, was astonished to find no such ray visible; and it happened that Mr Pecksniff, when he had felt his way to the chamber-door, stooping hurriedly down to ascertain by personal inspection whether the jealousy of the old man had caused this keyhole to be stopped on the inside, brought his head into such violent contact with another head that he could not help uttering in an audible voice the monosyllable 'Oh!' which was, as it were, sharply unscrewed and jerked out of him by very anguish. It happened then, and lastly, that Mr Pecksniff found himself immediately collared by something which smelt like several damp umbrellas, a barrel of beer, a cask of warm brandy-and-water, and a small parlour-full of stale tobacco smoke, mixed; and was straightway led downstairs into the bar from which he had lately come, where he found himself standing opposite to, and in the grasp of, a perfectly strange gentleman of still stranger appearance who, with his disengaged hand, rubbed his own head very hard, and looked at him, Pecksniff, with an evil countenance.

Tradução Integral em Português

Aconteceu, na quarta noite, que o Sr. Pecksniff, entrando como de costume no balcão do Dragão e não encontrando ali a Sra. Lupin, subiu diretamente; pretendia, no fervor de seu zelo afetuoso, tornar a aplicar o ouvido à fechadura e sossegar a mente assegurando-se de que o paciente de coração empedernido continuava a passar bem. Aconteceu que o Sr. Pecksniff, aproximando-se silenciosamente pelo corredor escuro, onde um raio espiralado de luz costumava projetar-se pela mesma fechadura, ficou espantado ao não ver tal raio; e aconteceu que o Sr. Pecksniff, depois de tatear até a porta do quarto e inclinar-se apressadamente para verificar por inspeção pessoal se a desconfiança do velho fizera com que a fechadura fosse tapada por dentro, bateu a cabeça com tamanha violência contra outra cabeça que não pôde deixar de pronunciar, em voz audível, o monossílabo "Oh!", que lhe foi, por assim dizer, bruscamente desenroscado e arrancado pela própria angústia. Aconteceu então, por último, que o Sr. Pecksniff se viu imediatamente agarrado pelo colarinho por algo que cheirava a vários guarda-chuvas úmidos, um barril de cerveja, um tonel de conhaque quente com água e uma pequena sala cheia de fumaça de tabaco velha, tudo misturado; e foi conduzido sem demora escada abaixo até o balcão de onde havia saído pouco antes, onde se viu frente a frente e nas garras de um cavalheiro inteiramente desconhecido, de aparência ainda mais estranha, que, com a mão livre, esfregava com muita força a própria cabeça e olhava para ele, Pecksniff, com uma expressão malévola.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O cavalheiro tinha a aparência pobre, porém respeitável, muitas vezes chamada de elegância gasta. Suas roupas estavam em estado terrível. Os dedos saíam muito para fora das luvas, e as solas tinham se separado da parte superior das botas. As calças azul-acinzentadas já haviam sido muito brilhantes, mas a idade e a sujeira as deixaram opacas. Estavam tão esticadas entre os suspensórios e as tiras que pareciam prestes a rasgar nos joelhos. O casaco azul de estilo militar estava abotoado e enfeitado até o queixo. O lenço do pescoço tinha a cor e o desenho do pano que um barbeiro coloca ao redor do cliente. O chapéu estava tão gasto que ninguém saberia dizer se fora branco ou preto. Ele também tinha um enorme bigode áspero. Parecia feroz e orgulhoso, não gentil e bondoso, quase como o de Satanás, e possuía uma grande massa de cabelos despenteados. Era muito sujo, mas agia com vivacidade e confiança; muito ousado, porém muito vulgar; barulhento e orgulhoso num momento, nervoso no seguinte. Parecia um homem que talvez tivesse sido melhor um dia, mas ainda mais um homem que merecia ser pior.

Original English Version

The gentleman was of that order of appearance which is currently termed shabby-genteel, though in respect of his dress he can hardly be said to have been in any extremities, as his fingers were a long way out of his gloves, and the soles of his feet were at an inconvenient distance from the upper leather of his boots. His nether garments were of a bluish grey--violent in its colours once, but sobered now by age and dinginess--and were so stretched and strained in a tough conflict between his braces and his straps, that they appeared every moment in danger of flying asunder at the knees. His coat, in colour blue and of a military cut, was buttoned and frogged up to his chin. His cravat was, in hue and pattern, like one of those mantles which hairdressers are accustomed to wrap about their clients, during the progress of the professional mysteries. His hat had arrived at such a pass that it would have been hard to determine whether it was originally white or black. But he wore a moustache--a shaggy moustache too; nothing in the meek and merciful way, but quite in the fierce and scornful style; the regular Satanic sort of thing--and he wore, besides, a vast quantity of unbrushed hair. He was very dirty and very jaunty; very bold and very mean; very swaggering and very slinking; very much like a man who might have been something better, and unspeakably like a man who deserved to be something worse.

Tradução Integral em Português

O cavalheiro pertencia àquela ordem de aparência comumente chamada de elegância decadente, embora, no tocante às roupas, dificilmente se pudesse dizer que estivesse em quaisquer extremidades, pois seus dedos se projetavam muito além das luvas, e as solas de seus pés ficavam a uma distância inconveniente do couro superior das botas. As peças inferiores de sua vestimenta eram de um cinza azulado - outrora de cor berrante, mas agora atenuada pela idade e pela sujeira - e estavam tão esticadas e tensionadas numa árdua luta entre os suspensórios e as presilhas sob os pés que pareciam, a todo momento, correr o risco de se romper nos joelhos. Seu casaco, azul e de corte militar, estava abotoado e guarnecido de alamares até o queixo. Sua gravata, em cor e padrão, assemelhava-se a uma daquelas capas que os cabeleireiros costumam enrolar em torno dos clientes durante o desenrolar dos mistérios profissionais. Seu chapéu chegara a tal estado que seria difícil determinar se fora originalmente branco ou preto. Mas ele usava bigode - e um bigode desgrenhado; nada de manso e misericordioso, mas inteiramente feroz e desdenhoso; o tipo genuinamente satânico de coisa - e usava, além disso, uma vasta quantidade de cabelos sem pentear. Era muito sujo e muito janota; muito ousado e muito mesquinho; muito fanfarrão e muito furtivo; parecia muito um homem que poderia ter sido algo melhor e, indescritivelmente, um homem que merecia ser algo pior.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Você estava escutando atrás daquela porta, seu vagabundo!", disse o cavalheiro.

O Sr. Pecksniff o afastou como São Jorge poderia ter repelido o Dragão em seus últimos momentos e disse:

"Onde estará a Sra. Lupin? Será que a boa mulher sabe que há aqui uma pessoa que..."

"Pare!", disse o cavalheiro. "Espere um pouco. Ela SABE. E daí?"

"E daí, senhor?", gritou o Sr. Pecksniff. "Sabe que sou amigo e parente daquele cavalheiro doente? Seu protetor, tutor, seu..."

"Não o marido da sobrinha dele", interrompeu o desconhecido. "Tenho certeza disso, pois ele chegou antes de você."

"O que quer dizer?", perguntou o Sr. Pecksniff, surpreso e zangado. "O que está me dizendo, senhor?"

"Espere um momento!", gritou o outro. "Talvez você seja um primo - o primo que mora aqui?"

"EU SOU o primo que mora aqui", respondeu o digno homem.

"Seu nome é Pecksniff?", perguntou o cavalheiro.

Original English Version

'You were eaves-dropping at that door, you vagabond!' said this gentleman.

Mr Pecksniff cast him off, as Saint George might have repudiated the Dragon in that animal's last moments, and said:

'Where is Mrs Lupin, I wonder! can the good woman possibly be aware that there is a person here who--'

'Stay!' said the gentleman. 'Wait a bit. She DOES know. What then?'

'What then, sir?' cried Mr Pecksniff. 'What then? Do you know, sir, that I am the friend and relative of that sick gentleman? That I am his protector, his guardian, his--'

'Not his niece's husband,' interposed the stranger, 'I'll be sworn; for he was there before you.'

'What do you mean?' said Mr Pecksniff, with indignant surprise. 'What do you tell me, sir?'

'Wait a bit!' cried the other, 'Perhaps you are a cousin--the cousin who lives in this place?'

'I AM the cousin who lives in this place,' replied the man of worth.

'Your name is Pecksniff?' said the gentleman.

Tradução Integral em Português

"Você estava escutando atrás daquela porta, seu vagabundo!", disse esse cavalheiro.

O Sr. Pecksniff o repudiou, como São Jorge poderia ter repudiado o Dragão nos últimos instantes daquele animal, e disse:

"Onde estará a Sra. Lupin, pergunto-me! Será possível que a boa mulher saiba que há aqui uma pessoa que..."

"Espere!", disse o cavalheiro. "Espere um pouco. Ela SABE. E daí?"

"E daí, senhor?", exclamou o Sr. Pecksniff. "E daí? Sabe, senhor, que sou amigo e parente daquele cavalheiro enfermo? Que sou seu protetor, seu guardião, seu..."

"Não o marido da sobrinha dele", interrompeu o desconhecido, "posso jurar; pois ele chegou antes do senhor."

"O que quer dizer?", perguntou o Sr. Pecksniff com indignada surpresa. "O que está me dizendo, senhor?"

"Espere um pouco!", exclamou o outro. "Talvez seja um primo... o primo que mora neste lugar?"

"EU SOU o primo que mora neste lugar", respondeu o homem de valor.

"Seu nome é Pecksniff?", perguntou o cavalheiro.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"É."

"Tenho orgulho de conhecê-lo e peço perdão", disse o cavalheiro. Tocou o chapéu e depois procurou atrás da gravata um colarinho de camisa, mas não conseguiu puxá-lo. "O senhor vê diante de si alguém que também tem interesse naquele cavalheiro lá em cima. Espere um momento."

Enquanto falava, tocou a ponta do nariz alto para mostrar ao Sr. Pecksniff que logo lhe contaria um segredo. Tirou o chapéu e procurou em sua copa entre papéis amassados e pequenos pedaços de capa de charuto quebrada. Por fim, escolheu o envelope de uma velha carta, sujo e cheirando a tabaco.

"Leia isso", gritou, entregando-o ao Sr. Pecksniff.

"Isto está endereçado a Chevy Slyme, Esquire", disse o Sr. Pecksniff.

"Acredito que conheça Chevy Slyme, Esquire?", respondeu o desconhecido.

O Sr. Pecksniff encolheu os ombros como se dissesse: "Sei que essa pessoa existe e lamento isso."

Original English Version

'It is.'

'I am proud to know you, and I ask your pardon,' said the gentleman, touching his hat, and subsequently diving behind his cravat for a shirt-collar, which however he did not succeed in bringing to the surface. 'You behold in me, sir, one who has also an interest in that gentleman upstairs. Wait a bit.'

As he said this, he touched the tip of his high nose, by way of intimation that he would let Mr Pecksniff into a secret presently; and pulling off his hat, began to search inside the crown among a mass of crumpled documents and small pieces of what may be called the bark of broken cigars; whence he presently selected the cover of an old letter, begrimed with dirt and redolent of tobacco.

'Read that,' he cried, giving it to Mr Pecksniff.

'This is addressed to Chevy Slyme, Esquire,' said that gentleman.

'You know Chevy Slyme, Esquire, I believe?' returned the stranger.

Mr Pecksniff shrugged his shoulders as though he would say 'I know there is such a person, and I am sorry for it.'

Tradução Integral em Português

"É."

"Orgulho-me de conhecê-lo e lhe peço perdão", disse o cavalheiro, tocando o chapéu e, logo depois, mergulhando por trás da gravata em busca de um colarinho de camisa, que contudo não conseguiu trazer à superfície. "O senhor contempla em mim, senhor, alguém que também tem interesse naquele cavalheiro no andar de cima. Espere um pouco."

Ao dizer isso, tocou a ponta do nariz comprido, dando a entender que em breve faria o Sr. Pecksniff participar de um segredo; e, tirando o chapéu, começou a remexer o interior da copa entre uma massa de documentos amarrotados e pedacinhos do que se poderia chamar de casca de charutos partidos; dali retirou pouco depois o invólucro de uma velha carta, encardido de sujeira e impregnado de tabaco.

"Leia isto", exclamou, entregando-o ao Sr. Pecksniff.

"Isto está endereçado a Chevy Slyme, Esquire", disse aquele cavalheiro.

"O senhor conhece Chevy Slyme, Esquire, creio eu?", replicou o desconhecido.

O Sr. Pecksniff encolheu os ombros como se quisesse dizer: "Sei que existe tal pessoa e lamento que exista."

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Muito bem", disse o cavalheiro. "Esse é meu interesse e meu assunto aqui." Então voltou a procurar o colarinho e puxou um barbante.

Balançando a cabeça e sorrindo com calma, o Sr. Pecksniff disse: "Isto é muito triste, meu amigo. Devo dizer que você não é quem afirma ser. Conheço o Sr. Slyme. Isso não funcionará. A honestidade é a melhor política; é melhor não fazer isso - realmente é melhor."

"Pare!", gritou o cavalheiro, estendendo o braço direito. Estava tão apertado na manga gasta que parecia uma salsicha de pano. "Espere um momento!"

Ele parou e se colocou diretamente diante do fogo, de costas para ele. Depois juntou as pontas do casaco sob o braço esquerdo, alisou o bigode com o polegar e o indicador direitos e continuou:

Original English Version

'Very good,' remarked the gentleman. 'That is my interest and business here.' With that he made another dive for his shirt-collar and brought up a string.

'Now, this is very distressing, my friend,' said Mr Pecksniff, shaking his head and smiling composedly. 'It is very distressing to me, to be compelled to say that you are not the person you claim to be. I know Mr Slyme, my friend; this will not do; honesty is the best policy you had better not; you had indeed.'

'Stop' cried the gentleman, stretching forth his right arm, which was so tightly wedged into his threadbare sleeve that it looked like a cloth sausage. 'Wait a bit!'

He paused to establish himself immediately in front of the fire with his back towards it. Then gathering the skirts of his coat under his left arm, and smoothing his moustache with his right thumb and forefinger, he resumed:

Tradução Integral em Português

"Muito bem", observou o cavalheiro. "Esse é meu interesse e meu negócio aqui." Com isso, tornou a mergulhar em busca do colarinho e trouxe à tona um barbante.

"Ora, isto é muito aflitivo, meu amigo", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, balançando a cabeça e sorrindo serenamente. "É muito aflitivo para mim ser obrigado a dizer que você não é a pessoa que afirma ser. Conheço o Sr. Slyme, meu amigo; isso não servirá; a honestidade é a melhor política; é melhor não tentar; é mesmo."

"Pare!", exclamou o cavalheiro, estendendo o braço direito, tão apertadamente entalado na manga puída que parecia uma linguiça de pano. "Espere um pouco!"

Fez uma pausa para se instalar bem diante do fogo, de costas para ele. Então, juntando as abas do casaco sob o braço esquerdo e alisando o bigode com o polegar e o indicador direitos, prosseguiu:

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Entendo seu engano e não fico ofendido. Por quê? É um elogio. O senhor acha que eu fingiria ser Chevy Slyme. Senhor, se um cavalheiro pudesse sentir orgulho e honra por ser confundido com alguém, seria com meu amigo Slyme. Ele é o homem de espírito mais elevado, independente, original, espiritual, clássico, talentoso, mais shakespeariano, talvez até miltoniano, e mais terrivelmente desprezado que conheço. Mas não sou vaidoso o bastante para fingir ser Slyme. Sou igual a qualquer outro homem no mundo, mas admito que Slyme está muitos níveis acima de mim. Portanto, o senhor está errado."

Estendendo o envelope da carta, o Sr. Pecksniff disse: "Julguei por isto."

Original English Version

'I understand your mistake, and I am not offended. Why? Because it's complimentary. You suppose I would set myself up for Chevy Slyme. Sir, if there is a man on earth whom a gentleman would feel proud and honoured to be mistaken for, that man is my friend Slyme. For he is, without an exception, the highest-minded, the most independent-spirited, most original, spiritual, classical, talented, the most thoroughly Shakspearian, if not Miltonic, and at the same time the most disgustingly-unappreciated dog I know. But, sir, I have not the vanity to attempt to pass for Slyme. Any other man in the wide world, I am equal to; but Slyme is, I frankly confess, a great many cuts above me. Therefore you are wrong.'

'I judged from this,' said Mr Pecksniff, holding out the cover of the letter.

Tradução Integral em Português

"Compreendo seu engano e não me ofendo. Por quê? Porque é elogioso. O senhor supõe que eu me faria passar por Chevy Slyme. Senhor, se existe na Terra um homem por quem um cavalheiro se sentiria orgulhoso e honrado de ser confundido, esse homem é meu amigo Slyme. Pois ele é, sem exceção, o cão mais elevado de espírito, mais independente, mais original, espiritual, clássico, talentoso, o mais profundamente shakespeariano, quando não miltoniano, e ao mesmo tempo o mais repugnantemente incompreendido que conheço. Mas, senhor, não tenho a vaidade de tentar passar por Slyme. A qualquer outro homem no vasto mundo eu me equiparo; mas Slyme está, confesso francamente, muitos graus acima de mim. Portanto, o senhor está enganado."

"Julguei por isto", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, estendendo o invólucro da carta.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Sem dúvida", disse o cavalheiro. "Mas, Sr. Pecksniff, isto é apenas um hábito especial do gênio. Todo verdadeiro gênio tem um. O hábito especial de meu amigo Slyme é estar sempre esperando na esquina. Ele está sempre na esquina, senhor. Está lá neste instante." Balançando o indicador diante do nariz e abrindo mais as pernas, olhou atentamente para o Sr. Pecksniff. "Essa é uma parte muito curiosa e interessante do caráter do Sr. Slyme. Quando escreverem sua vida, o autor terá de explicá-la por completo ou a sociedade não ficará satisfeita. Marque minhas palavras: a sociedade não ficará satisfeita!"

O Sr. Pecksniff tossiu.

"Quem escrever a vida de Slyme", continuou o cavalheiro, "deverá me consultar. Se eu já tiver ido para aquele como-é-o-nome de onde nenhum não-sei-o-quê retorna, o autor deverá pedir aos responsáveis por meus assuntos que procurem meus papéis. Fiz algumas pobres anotações sobre meu irmão adotivo, senhor. Seus atos o espantariam. No dia quinze do mês passado, ele não conseguiu pagar uma pequena conta. A outra parte se recusou a renová-la. Então ele usou palavras dignas de Napoleão Bonaparte diante do exército francês."

Original English Version

'No doubt you did,' returned the gentleman. 'But, Mr Pecksniff, the whole thing resolves itself into an instance of the peculiarities of genius. Every man of true genius has his peculiarity. Sir, the peculiarity of my friend Slyme is, that he is always waiting round the corner. He is perpetually round the corner, sir. He is round the corner at this instant. Now,' said the gentleman, shaking his forefinger before his nose, and planting his legs wider apart as he looked attentively in Mr Pecksniff's face, 'that is a remarkably curious and interesting trait in Mr Slyme's character; and whenever Slyme's life comes to be written, that trait must be thoroughly worked out by his biographer or society will not be satisfied. Observe me, society will not be satisfied!'

Mr Pecksniff coughed.

'Slyme's biographer, sir, whoever he may be,' resumed the gentleman, 'must apply to me; or, if I am gone to that what's-his-name from which no thingumbob comes back, he must apply to my executors for leave to search among my papers. I have taken a few notes in my poor way, of some of that man's proceedings--my adopted brother, sir,--which would amaze you. He made use of an expression, sir, only on the fifteenth of last month when he couldn't meet a little bill and the other party wouldn't renew, which would have done honour to Napoleon Bonaparte in addressing the French army.'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Sem dúvida", respondeu o cavalheiro. "Mas, Sr. Pecksniff, tudo se resume a um exemplo das peculiaridades do gênio. Todo homem de verdadeiro gênio possui sua peculiaridade. Senhor, a peculiaridade de meu amigo Slyme é estar sempre esperando logo ali, depois da esquina. Ele vive perpetuamente depois da esquina, senhor. Neste exato momento, está depois da esquina. Ora", disse o cavalheiro, sacudindo o indicador diante do nariz e afastando mais as pernas enquanto fitava atentamente o rosto do Sr. Pecksniff, "esse é um traço extraordinariamente curioso e interessante do caráter do Sr. Slyme; e, quando vier a ser escrita a vida de Slyme, seu biógrafo terá de desenvolver por completo esse traço, ou a sociedade não ficará satisfeita. Observe bem: a sociedade não ficará satisfeita!"

O Sr. Pecksniff tossiu.

"O biógrafo de Slyme, senhor, seja ele quem for", prosseguiu o cavalheiro, "terá de recorrer a mim; ou, se eu tiver partido para aquele como-é-mesmo-o-nome de onde nenhum coisinha retorna, terá de pedir autorização a meus testamenteiros para vasculhar meus papéis. À minha pobre maneira, tomei algumas notas sobre certos atos daquele homem - meu irmão adotivo, senhor - que o deixariam assombrado. No dia quinze do mês passado, quando não conseguiu pagar uma continha e a outra parte não quis renová-la, ele empregou uma expressão, senhor, que teria honrado Napoleão Bonaparte ao dirigir-se ao exército francês."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Claramente inquieto, o Sr. Pecksniff perguntou: "E qual pode ser o assunto do Sr. Slyme aqui, se posso perguntar? Como me preocupo com meu caráter, devo negar qualquer interesse nos atos dele."

"Primeiro", respondeu o cavalheiro, "rejeito essa observação e protesto fortemente contra ela em nome de meu amigo Slyme. Depois, permita que eu me apresente. Meu nome é Tigg. Talvez o nome Montague Tigg lhe seja familiar pelos acontecimentos mais notáveis da Guerra Peninsular?"

O Sr. Pecksniff balançou suavemente a cabeça.

"Não importa", disse o cavalheiro. "Aquele homem era meu pai, e levo seu nome. Por isso sou orgulhoso - orgulhoso como Lúcifer. Desculpe-me por um momento. Quero meu amigo Slyme presente no restante desta reunião."

Depois disso, correu até a porta externa do Blue Dragon e logo voltou com um companheiro mais baixo. O homem usava uma velha capa azul forrada de vermelho desbotado. A longa espera no frio apertara seu rosto fino e deixara as costeletas vermelhas e o cabelo bagunçado ainda mais selvagens. Parecia doente e desconfortável, nada shakespeariano ou miltoniano.

Original English Version

'And pray,' asked Mr Pecksniff, obviously not quite at his ease, 'what may be Mr Slyme's business here, if I may be permitted to inquire, who am compelled by a regard for my own character to disavow all interest in his proceedings?'

'In the first place,' returned the gentleman, 'you will permit me to say, that I object to that remark, and that I strongly and indignantly protest against it on behalf of my friend Slyme. In the next place, you will give me leave to introduce myself. My name, sir, is Tigg. The name of Montague Tigg will perhaps be familiar to you, in connection with the most remarkable events of the Peninsular War?'

Mr Pecksniff gently shook his head.

'No matter,' said the gentleman. 'That man was my father, and I bear his name. I am consequently proud--proud as Lucifer. Excuse me one moment. I desire my friend Slyme to be present at the remainder of this conference.'

With this announcement he hurried away to the outer door of the Blue Dragon, and almost immediately returned with a companion shorter than himself, who was wrapped in an old blue camlet cloak with a lining of faded scarlet. His sharp features being much pinched and nipped by long waiting in the cold, and his straggling red whiskers and frowzy hair being more than usually dishevelled from the same cause, he certainly looked rather unwholesome and uncomfortable than Shakspearian or Miltonic.

Tradução Integral em Português

"E, por favor", perguntou o Sr. Pecksniff, evidentemente não muito à vontade, "qual seria o negócio do Sr. Slyme aqui, se me for permitido indagar, visto que a consideração por meu próprio caráter me obriga a repudiar todo interesse em seus atos?"

"Em primeiro lugar", respondeu o cavalheiro, "permita-me dizer que me oponho a essa observação e que, em nome de meu amigo Slyme, protesto contra ela vigorosa e indignadamente. Em segundo lugar, permita-me apresentar-me. Meu nome, senhor, é Tigg. O nome Montague Tigg talvez lhe seja familiar em ligação com os acontecimentos mais notáveis da Guerra Peninsular?"

O Sr. Pecksniff balançou suavemente a cabeça.

"Não importa", disse o cavalheiro. "Esse homem era meu pai, e levo seu nome. Sou, portanto, orgulhoso... orgulhoso como Lúcifer. Perdoe-me um instante. Desejo que meu amigo Slyme esteja presente ao restante desta conferência."

Com esse anúncio, correu até a porta externa do Dragão Azul e voltou quase imediatamente com um companheiro mais baixo que ele, envolto numa velha capa de lã azul com forro escarlate desbotado. Como seus traços agudos estavam muito apertados e castigados pela longa espera ao frio, e as suíças ruivas e esparsas e os cabelos desgrenhados se achavam, pela mesma causa, mais desalinhados que de costume, ele certamente parecia mais enfermiço e desconfortável que shakespeariano ou miltoniano.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Tigg pôs uma mão no ombro do atraente amigo e o apontou com a outra. "Agora, vocês dois são parentes. Parentes nunca concordaram e nunca concordarão. Isso é sábio e inevitável. Caso contrário, só haveria festas de família e todos aborreceriam os outros até a morte. Se fossem amigos, eu os chamaria de uma dupla muito artificial. Mas, como não são, vejo dois pensadores profundos com quem se pode raciocinar livremente."

Nesse ponto, o Sr. Chevy Slyme, cujas grandes capacidades pareciam apontar todas para a desonestidade, cutucou secretamente o amigo com o cotovelo e sussurrou em seu ouvido.

Original English Version

'Now,' said Mr Tigg, clapping one hand on the shoulder of his prepossessing friend, and calling Mr Pecksniff's attention to him with the other, 'you two are related; and relations never did agree, and never will; which is a wise dispensation and an inevitable thing, or there would be none but family parties, and everybody in the world would bore everybody else to death. If you were on good terms, I should consider you a most confoundedly unnatural pair; but standing towards each other as you do, I took upon you as a couple of devilish deep-thoughted fellows, who may be reasoned with to any extent.'

Here Mr Chevy Slyme, whose great abilities seemed one and all to point towards the sneaking quarter of the moral compass, nudged his friend stealthily with his elbow, and whispered in his ear.

Tradução Integral em Português

"Ora", disse o Sr. Tigg, pousando uma das mãos no ombro do atraente amigo e chamando com a outra a atenção do Sr. Pecksniff para ele, "vocês dois são parentes; e parentes nunca se entenderam nem jamais se entenderão, o que é uma sábia disposição e algo inevitável, ou só haveria reuniões de família, e todos no mundo entediariam todos os outros até a morte. Se estivessem em bons termos, eu os consideraria uma dupla desgraçadamente antinatural; mas, nas relações que mantêm um com o outro, vejo-os como dois sujeitos diabolicamente profundos, com quem é possível argumentar em qualquer extensão."

Nesse ponto, o Sr. Chevy Slyme, cujas grandes capacidades pareciam apontar, todas elas, para o quadrante furtivo da bússola moral, cutucou sorrateiramente o amigo com o cotovelo e lhe sussurrou ao ouvido.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Chiv", disse o Sr. Tigg em voz alta, no tom orgulhoso de quem não aceitaria controle, "chegarei a isso em breve. Ajo por minha própria responsabilidade ou não ajo. Vejo o Sr. Pecksniff como alguém que certamente fará um empréstimo tão pequeno quanto uma moeda de cinco xelins a um homem de seus talentos." O rosto do Sr. Pecksniff não mostrou concordância. Então o Sr. Tigg pôs novamente o dedo no nariz, pedindo em segredo que ele entendesse. Os pedidos de pequenos empréstimos de Slyme eram outro hábito especial do gênio. Tigg os permitia porque essas fraquezas lhe interessavam profundamente. Quando apoiava tais empréstimos, fazia isso apenas para agradar ao amigo, sem pensar em benefício ou necessidade próprios.

Original English Version

'Chiv,' said Mr Tigg aloud, in the high tone of one who was not to be tampered with. 'I shall come to that presently. I act upon my own responsibility, or not at all. To the extent of such a trifling loan as a crownpiece to a man of your talents, I look upon Mr Pecksniff as certain;' and seeing at this juncture that the expression of Mr Pecksniff's face by no means betokened that he shared this certainty, Mr Tigg laid his finger on his nose again for that gentleman's private and especial behoof; calling upon him thereby to take notice that the requisition of small loans was another instance of the peculiarities of genius as developed in his friend Slyme; that he, Tigg, winked at the same, because of the strong metaphysical interest which these weaknesses possessed; and that in reference to his own personal advocacy of such small advances, he merely consulted the humour of his friend, without the least regard to his own advantage or necessities.

Tradução Integral em Português

"Chiv", disse o Sr. Tigg em voz alta, no tom elevado de quem não admitia interferências, "chegarei a isso em breve. Ajo sob minha própria responsabilidade, ou não ajo. Para um empréstimo tão insignificante quanto uma coroa a um homem de seus talentos, considero o Sr. Pecksniff uma certeza"; e, vendo nesse momento que a expressão do rosto do Sr. Pecksniff de modo algum indicava que ele compartilhasse dessa certeza, o Sr. Tigg tornou a levar o dedo ao nariz, para benefício particular e especial daquele cavalheiro; convidando-o assim a observar que a solicitação de pequenos empréstimos era outro exemplo das peculiaridades do gênio tal como desenvolvidas em seu amigo Slyme; que ele, Tigg, fazia vista grossa a isso por causa do forte interesse metafísico contido nessas fraquezas; e que, no tocante à defesa pessoal que fazia de tais pequenos adiantamentos, apenas atendia ao capricho do amigo, sem a menor consideração por sua própria vantagem ou necessidade.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Depois dessa demonstração, o Sr. Tigg olhou profundamente para o irmão adotivo. "Ah, Chiv, Chiv! Por minha vida, você mostra como pequenas fraquezas perturbam uma grande mente. Se nunca tivesse existido telescópio, Chiv, observá-lo provaria que há manchas no sol. Sr. Pecksniff, esta vida é muito estranha, e não sabemos por que estamos nela. Mesmo assim, não importa. Podemos fazer discursos morais, mas o mundo continua. Como diz Hamlet, Hércules pode golpear com seu bastão em todas as direções. Mas não consegue impedir os gatos de fazerem barulho terrível nos telhados. Nem pode impedir que cães sejam mortos no calor quando correm sem focinheira. A vida é um enigma, e muito difícil. Como a famosa pergunta 'Por que um homem preso é como um homem solto?', ela não tem resposta. Tudo é muito estranho, mas não adianta falar. Ha! Ha!"

Original English Version

'Oh, Chiv, Chiv!' added Mr Tigg, surveying his adopted brother with an air of profound contemplation after dismissing this piece of pantomime. 'You are, upon my life, a strange instance of the little frailties that beset a mighty mind. If there had never been a telescope in the world, I should have been quite certain from my observation of you, Chiv, that there were spots on the sun! I wish I may die, if this isn't the queerest state of existence that we find ourselves forced into without knowing why or wherefore, Mr Pecksniff! Well, never mind! Moralise as we will, the world goes on. As Hamlet says, Hercules may lay about him with his club in every possible direction, but he can't prevent the cats from making a most intolerable row on the roofs of the houses, or the dogs from being shot in the hot weather if they run about the streets unmuzzled. Life's a riddle; a most infernally hard riddle to guess, Mr Pecksniff. My own opinions, that like that celebrated conundrum, "Why's a man in jail like a man out of jail?" there's no answer to it. Upon my soul and body, it's the queerest sort of thing altogether--but there's no use in talking about it. Ha! Ha!'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Ah, Chiv, Chiv!", acrescentou o Sr. Tigg, contemplando o irmão adotivo com ar de profunda meditação depois de dispensar essa pantomima. "Por minha vida, você é um estranho exemplo das pequenas fraquezas que assediam um espírito poderoso. Se jamais tivesse existido um telescópio no mundo, eu teria absoluta certeza, só por observá-lo, Chiv, de que existem manchas no Sol! Que eu morra se este não é o estado de existência mais esquisito em que nos vemos forçados a entrar sem saber como nem por quê, Sr. Pecksniff! Bem, não importa! Por mais que moralizemos, o mundo segue adiante. Como diz Hamlet, Hércules pode brandir a clava em todas as direções possíveis, mas não pode impedir os gatos de fazer um barulho intolerável nos telhados, nem os cães de serem abatidos no tempo quente se correrem pelas ruas sem focinheira. A vida é um enigma; um enigma infernalmente difícil de decifrar, Sr. Pecksniff. Minha opinião é que, tal como aquele célebre enigma: 'Por que um homem na cadeia se parece com um homem fora da cadeia?', ela não tem resposta. Por minha alma e meu corpo, é a coisa mais esquisita de todas... mas não adianta falar nisso. Há! Há!"

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Depois dessa alegre conclusão de seus pensamentos sombrios, o Sr. Tigg fez grande esforço para se animar e continuou no estilo anterior.

"Agora vou explicar. Sou muito bondoso à minha maneira e não posso ver vocês dois cortarem a garganta um do outro quando não há nada a ganhar. Sr. Pecksniff, o senhor é primo do homem lá em cima que fez o testamento, e nós somos seu sobrinho - digo nós, querendo dizer Chiv. Em aspectos importantes, talvez seja mais próximo dele que nós. Muito bem; se for assim, que seja. Mas nem o senhor nem nós conseguimos chegar até ele. Por minha honra, tenho olhado por aquela fechadura, com pequenos descansos, desde as nove desta manhã. Esperava resposta ao pedido mais modesto e cavalheiresco de ajuda por pouco tempo - apenas quinze libras, com MINHA promessa de pagar - que alguém poderia imaginar. Enquanto isso, ele fica trancado com uma desconhecida e compartilha todos os segredos com ela. Digo claramente que isso não serve, não pode funcionar, não pode existir e não deve continuar."

Original English Version

With which consolatory deduction from the gloomy premises recited, Mr Tigg roused himself by a great effort, and proceeded in his former strain.

'Now I'll tell you what it is. I'm a most confoundedly soft-hearted kind of fellow in my way, and I cannot stand by, and see you two blades cutting each other's throats when there's nothing to be got by it. Mr Pecksniff, you're the cousin of the testator upstairs and we're the nephew--I say we, meaning Chiv. Perhaps in all essential points you are more nearly related to him than we are. Very good. If so, so be it. But you can't get at him, neither can we. I give you my brightest word of honour, sir, that I've been looking through that keyhole with short intervals of rest, ever since nine o'clock this morning, in expectation of receiving an answer to one of the most moderate and gentlemanly applications for a little temporary assistance--only fifteen pounds, and MY security--that the mind of man can conceive. In the meantime, sir, he is perpetually closeted with, and pouring his whole confidence into the bosom of, a stranger. Now I say decisively with regard to this state of circumstances, that it won't do; that it won't act; that it can't be; and that it must not be suffered to continue.'

Tradução Integral em Português

Com essa dedução consoladora extraída das sombrias premissas recitadas, o Sr. Tigg reanimou-se mediante grande esforço e prosseguiu no tom anterior.

"Vou lhe dizer como são as coisas. À minha maneira, sou um sujeito de coração mole como poucos, e não posso ficar parado vendo vocês dois, seus espadachins, cortarem a garganta um do outro quando não há nada a ganhar com isso. Sr. Pecksniff, o senhor é primo do testador no andar de cima, e nós somos o sobrinho - digo nós, querendo dizer Chiv. Talvez, em todos os aspectos essenciais, o senhor seja parente mais próximo dele do que nós. Muito bem. Se for assim, que assim seja. Mas o senhor não consegue chegar até ele, nem nós. Dou-lhe minha mais luminosa palavra de honra, senhor, de que espio por aquele buraco de fechadura, com breves intervalos de descanso, desde as nove da manhã, na expectativa de receber resposta a um dos pedidos mais moderados e cavalheirescos de uma pequena ajuda temporária - apenas quinze libras, e com a MINHA garantia - que o espírito humano é capaz de conceber. Enquanto isso, senhor, ele vive trancado com um desconhecido, despejando-lhe no peito toda a sua confiança. Ora, quanto a esse estado de coisas, digo terminantemente que não serve; que não funciona; que não pode ser; e que não se deve permitir que continue."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Pecksniff disse: "Todo homem tem o claro direito de seguir seus gostos e desgostos. Eu jamais questionaria esse direito se suas escolhas não fossem moralmente erradas ou contrárias à religião. Posso sentir que o Sr. Chuzzlewit não me trata com o amor cristão que deveria existir entre nós. Posso ficar triste e magoado, mas não devo decidir depressa que ele não tem razão para sua frieza. Deus me livre! Além disso, Sr. Tigg", continuou com mais seriedade, "como alguém poderia impedir o Sr. Chuzzlewit de compartilhar esses estranhos segredos com outra pessoa? Admito que existem e devo lamentá-los, por ele. Pense, meu bom senhor", acrescentou, olhando tristemente, "como o senhor sabe pouco sobre o que está dizendo."

"Bem, quanto a isso", respondeu Tigg, "certamente é uma questão difícil."

"Certamente é uma questão difícil", respondeu o Sr. Pecksniff. Enquanto falava, ficou mais ereto e de repente pareceu mais consciente da distância moral entre ele e a criatura a quem se dirigia. "É uma questão muito difícil. Estou longe de ter certeza de que alguém tenha permissão para discuti-la. Boa noite."

Original English Version

'Every man,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'has a right, an undoubted right, (which I, for one, would not call in question for any earthly consideration; oh no!) to regulate his own proceedings by his own likings and dislikings, supposing they are not immoral and not irreligious. I may feel in my own breast, that Mr Chuzzlewit does not regard--me, for instance; say me--with exactly that amount of Christian love which should subsist between us. I may feel grieved and hurt at the circumstance; still I may not rush to the conclusion that Mr Chuzzlewit is wholly without a justification in all his coldnesses. Heaven forbid! Besides; how, Mr Tigg,' continued Pecksniff even more gravely and impressively than he had spoken yet, 'how could Mr Chuzzlewit be prevented from having these peculiar and most extraordinary confidences of which you speak; the existence of which I must admit; and which I cannot but deplore--for his sake? Consider, my good sir--' and here Mr Pecksniff eyed him wistfully--'how very much at random you are talking.'

'Why, as to that,' rejoined Tigg, 'it certainly is a difficult question.'

'Undoubtedly it is a difficult question,' Mr Pecksniff answered. As he spoke he drew himself aloft, and seemed to grow more mindful, suddenly, of the moral gulf between himself and the creature he addressed. 'Undoubtedly it is a very difficult question. And I am far from feeling sure that it is a question any one is authorized to discuss. Good evening to you.'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Todo homem", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "tem o direito, um direito indubitável (que eu, de minha parte, não questionaria por consideração terrena alguma; ah, não!), de regular os próprios atos de acordo com suas preferências e aversões, supondo-se que não sejam imorais nem irreligiosas. Posso sentir em meu próprio peito que o Sr. Chuzzlewit não considera... a mim, por exemplo; digamos, a mim... exatamente com aquela medida de amor cristão que deveria existir entre nós. Posso sentir-me pesaroso e magoado com a circunstância; ainda assim, não posso precipitar-me à conclusão de que o Sr. Chuzzlewit carece inteiramente de justificativa para toda a sua frieza. Deus me livre! Além disso, como, Sr. Tigg", prosseguiu Pecksniff, ainda mais grave e enfático do que falara até então, "como se poderia impedir o Sr. Chuzzlewit de fazer essas confidências peculiares e extraordinárias de que o senhor fala; cuja existência devo admitir e não posso deixar de deplorar... por ele? Reflita, meu caro senhor..." - e aqui o Sr. Pecksniff fitou-o com ar ansioso - "no quanto o senhor fala ao acaso."

"Bem, quanto a isso", replicou Tigg, "sem dúvida é uma questão difícil."

"Indubitavelmente é uma questão difícil", respondeu o Sr. Pecksniff. Enquanto falava, empertigou-se e de súbito pareceu tornar-se mais consciente do abismo moral entre ele e a criatura a quem se dirigia. "Indubitavelmente é uma questão muito difícil. E estou longe de ter certeza de que seja uma questão que alguém esteja autorizado a discutir. Boa noite."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Suponho que não saiba que os Spottletoe estão aqui?", disse o Sr. Tigg.

Parando de repente a caminho da porta, Pecksniff perguntou: "O que quer dizer, senhor? Que Spottletoe?"

Pela primeira vez, Chevy Slyme falou em voz alta. Sua voz era zangada e hostil, e ele arrastou as pernas. "O Sr. e a Sra. Spottletoe. Spottletoe se casou com a filha do irmão de meu pai, não foi? A Sra. Spottletoe é sobrinha do próprio Chuzzlewit, não é? Já foi sua favorita. E você ainda pergunta quais Spottletoe."

Olhando para cima, o Sr. Pecksniff gritou: "Por minha palavra sagrada! Isto é terrível. A ganância dessas pessoas é absolutamente assustadora!"

Olhando para Tigg, mas falando com o Sr. Pecksniff, Slyme disse: "Não são apenas os Spottletoe, Tigg. Anthony Chuzzlewit e o filho souberam e chegaram esta tarde. Eu os vi há menos de cinco minutos, quando esperava na esquina."

"Ah, Mamon, Mamon!", gritou o Sr. Pecksniff, batendo na testa.

Original English Version

'You don't know that the Spottletoes are here, I suppose?' said Mr Tigg.

'What do you mean, sirâ what Spottletoes?' asked Pecksniff, stopping abruptly on his way to the door.

'Mr and Mrs Spottletoe,' said Chevy Slyme, Esquire, speaking aloud for the first time, and speaking very sulkily; shambling with his legs the while. 'Spottletoe married my father's brother's child, didn't he? And Mrs Spottletoe is Chuzzlewit's own niece, isn't she? She was his favourite once. You may well ask what Spottletoes.'

'Now upon my sacred word!' cried Mr Pecksniff, looking upwards. 'This is dreadful. The rapacity of these people is absolutely frightful!'

'It's not only the Spottletoes either, Tigg,' said Slyme, looking at that gentleman and speaking at Mr Pecksniff. 'Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son have got wind of it, and have come down this afternoon. I saw 'em not five minutes ago, when I was waiting round the corner.'

'Oh, Mammon, Mammon!' cried Mr Pecksniff, smiting his forehead.

Tradução Integral em Português

"Suponho que não saiba que os Spottletoe estão aqui?", disse o Sr. Tigg.

"O que quer dizer, senhor? Que Spottletoe?", perguntou Pecksniff, detendo-se abruptamente a caminho da porta.

"O Sr. e a Sra. Spottletoe", disse Chevy Slyme, Esquire, falando em voz alta pela primeira vez, e falando de modo muito carrancudo, enquanto arrastava as pernas. "Spottletoe casou-se com a filha do irmão de meu pai, não foi? E a Sra. Spottletoe é sobrinha legítima de Chuzzlewit, não é? Já foi a favorita dele. Pode mesmo perguntar que Spottletoe."

"Por minha palavra sagrada!", exclamou o Sr. Pecksniff, olhando para o alto. "Isto é terrível. A rapacidade dessa gente é absolutamente pavorosa!"

"E não são apenas os Spottletoe, Tigg", disse Slyme, olhando para aquele cavalheiro e falando na direção do Sr. Pecksniff. "Anthony Chuzzlewit e o filho souberam da notícia e chegaram esta tarde. Eu os vi há menos de cinco minutos, quando esperava depois da esquina."

"Ah, Mamon, Mamon!", exclamou o Sr. Pecksniff, batendo na testa.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Ignorando a interrupção, Slyme disse: "Portanto, já estão aqui o irmão e outro sobrinho dele."

"Este é o ponto principal, senhor", disse o Sr. Tigg. "Eu chegava aos poucos até ele quando meu amigo Slyme o atingiu por completo em seis palavras. Sr. Pecksniff, agora que seu primo e tio de Chiv apareceu, precisamos impedi-lo de desaparecer novamente. Se possível, devemos combater a influência que essa favorita de planos secretos exerce sobre ele. Todos os interessados sabem disso. A família inteira está vindo. Por algum tempo, ciúmes e interesses pessoais devem ser esquecidos, e todos precisam se unir contra o inimigo comum. Depois que o inimigo for derrotado, cada um poderá voltar a agir por si. Toda senhora e cavalheiro no jogo poderá tentar ganhar do homem que fez o testamento. Ninguém ficará pior. Pense nisso. Não se comprometa agora. Poderá nos encontrar no Half Moon and Seven Stars desta aldeia a qualquer hora, abertos a qualquer proposta razoável. Hum! Chiv, meu caro, saia e veja como está a noite."

Original English Version

'So there,' said Slyme, regardless of the interruption, 'are his brother and another nephew for you, already.'

'This is the whole thing, sir,' said Mr Tigg; 'this is the point and purpose at which I was gradually arriving when my friend Slyme here, with six words, hit it full. Mr Pecksniff, now that your cousin (and Chiv's uncle) has turned up, some steps must be taken to prevent his disappearing again; and, if possible, to counteract the influence which is exercised over him now, by this designing favourite. Everybody who is interested feels it, sir. The whole family is pouring down to this place. The time has come when individual jealousies and interests must be forgotten for a time, sir, and union must be made against the common enemy. When the common enemy is routed, you will all set up for yourselves again; every lady and gentleman who has a part in the game, will go in on their own account and bowl away, to the best of their ability, at the testator's wicket, and nobody will be in a worse position than before. Think of it. Don't commit yourself now. You'll find us at the Half Moon and Seven Stars in this village, at any time, and open to any reasonable proposition. Hem! Chiv, my dear fellow, go out and see what sort of a night it is.'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Portanto", disse Slyme, indiferente à interrupção, "já estão aí o irmão e outro sobrinho dele."

"Isso é tudo, senhor", disse o Sr. Tigg; "esse é o ponto e o objetivo a que eu chegava aos poucos quando meu amigo Slyme, aqui presente, acertou-o em cheio com seis palavras. Sr. Pecksniff, agora que seu primo (e tio de Chiv) apareceu, é preciso tomar medidas para impedi-lo de desaparecer outra vez e, se possível, neutralizar a influência ora exercida sobre ele por essa favorita ardilosa. Todos os interessados percebem isso, senhor. A família inteira está descendo para este lugar. Chegou a hora de esquecer por algum tempo os ciúmes e interesses individuais, senhor, e formar uma união contra o inimigo comum. Quando o inimigo comum for derrotado, todos vocês voltarão a agir por conta própria; cada dama e cavalheiro que tenha participação no jogo entrará em campo por si mesmo e arremessará, da melhor maneira possível, contra o wicket do testador; e ninguém ficará em posição pior que a anterior. Pense nisso. Não se comprometa agora. A qualquer hora, encontrará a nós dois no Meia-Lua e Sete Estrelas desta aldeia, abertos a qualquer proposta razoável. Hem! Chiv, meu caro amigo, saia e veja como está a noite."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Slyme desapareceu de imediato, provavelmente para ir à esquina. O Sr. Tigg abriu as pernas tanto quanto até o homem mais esperançoso poderia esperar. Depois balançou a cabeça para o Sr. Pecksniff e sorriu.

"Não devemos ser duros demais com os pequenos hábitos estranhos de nosso amigo Slyme", disse. "O senhor o viu sussurrar para mim?"

O Sr. Pecksniff o tinha visto.

"Ouviu minha resposta, creio?"

O Sr. Pecksniff a tinha ouvido.

"Cinco xelins, não é?", disse o Sr. Tigg pensativo. "Ah, que sujeito extraordinário! E tão moderado!"

O Sr. Pecksniff não respondeu.

Pensando em voz alta, o Sr. Tigg continuou: "Cinco xelins! E para serem pagos exatamente na próxima semana; essa é a melhor parte. O senhor ouviu?"

O Sr. Pecksniff não ouvira isso.

"Não! O senhor me surpreende!", gritou Tigg. "Essa é a melhor parte, senhor. Nunca vi aquele homem deixar de cumprir uma promessa. O senhor não precisa de troco, precisa?"

Original English Version

Mr Slyme lost no time in disappearing, and it is to be presumed in going round the corner. Mr Tigg, planting his legs as wide apart as he could be reasonably expected by the most sanguine man to keep them, shook his head at Mr Pecksniff and smiled.

'We must not be too hard,' he said, 'upon the little eccentricities of our friend Slyme. You saw him whisper me?'

Mr Pecksniff had seen him.

'You heard my answer, I think?'

Mr Pecksniff had heard it.

'Five shillings, eh?' said Mr Tigg, thoughtfully. 'Ah! what an extraordinary fellow! Very moderate too!'

Mr Pecksniff made no answer.

'Five shillings!' pursued Mr Tigg, musing; 'and to be punctually repaid next week; that's the best of it. You heard that?'

Mr Pecksniff had not heard that.

'No! You surprise me!' cried Tigg. 'That's the cream of the thing sir. I never knew that man fail to redeem a promise, in my life. You're not in want of change, are you?'

Tradução Integral em Português

O Sr. Slyme não perdeu tempo em desaparecer e, presume-se, em ir para depois da esquina. O Sr. Tigg, afastando as pernas tanto quanto o homem mais otimista poderia razoavelmente esperar que ele as mantivesse, balançou a cabeça para o Sr. Pecksniff e sorriu.

"Não devemos ser severos demais", disse ele, "com as pequenas excentricidades de nosso amigo Slyme. O senhor o viu sussurrar para mim?"

O Sr. Pecksniff o vira.

"Ouviu minha resposta, creio?"

O Sr. Pecksniff a ouvira.

"Cinco xelins, hein?", disse o Sr. Tigg, pensativo. "Ah! Que sujeito extraordinário! Muito moderado também!"

O Sr. Pecksniff não respondeu.

"Cinco xelins!", prosseguiu o Sr. Tigg, meditando; "e a serem pontualmente devolvidos na próxima semana; essa é a melhor parte. O senhor ouviu isso?"

O Sr. Pecksniff não ouvira.

"Não! O senhor me surpreende!", exclamou Tigg. "Essa é a nata da história, senhor. Em toda a minha vida, nunca vi esse homem deixar de cumprir uma promessa. Por acaso o senhor não está precisando trocar dinheiro?"

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Não", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. "Obrigado, de modo algum."

"Exatamente", disse o Sr. Tigg. "Se precisasse, eu conseguiria para o senhor." Começou a assobiar, mas antes de doze segundos parou. Depois olhou seriamente para o Sr. Pecksniff e disse:

"Talvez o senhor prefira não emprestar cinco xelins a Slyme?"

"Eu realmente prefiro não emprestar", respondeu o Sr. Pecksniff.

"Ora!", disse Tigg, concordando seriamente como se acabasse de notar uma razão contrária. "Talvez tenha razão. Teria a mesma objeção a me emprestar cinco xelins agora?"

"Sim, realmente não poderia fazer isso", disse o Sr. Pecksniff.

"Nem mesmo meia coroa, talvez?", insistiu o Sr. Tigg.

"Nem mesmo meia coroa."

"Então chegamos", disse o Sr. Tigg, "à quantia ridiculamente pequena de dezoito pence. Ha! Ha!"

"Isso também", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "seria igualmente inaceitável."

Original English Version

'No,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'thank you. Not at all.'

'Just so,' returned Mr Tigg. 'If you had been, I'd have got it for you.' With that he began to whistle; but a dozen seconds had not elapsed when he stopped short, and looking earnestly at Mr Pecksniff, said:

'Perhaps you'd rather not lend Slyme five shillings?'

'I would much rather not,' Mr Pecksniff rejoined.

'Egad!' cried Tigg, gravely nodding his head as if some ground of objection occurred to him at that moment for the first time, 'it's very possible you may be right. Would you entertain the same sort of objection to lending me five shillings now?'

'Yes, I couldn't do it, indeed,' said Mr Pecksniff.

'Not even half-a-crown, perhaps?' urged Mr Tigg.

'Not even half-a-crown.'

'Why, then we come,' said Mr Tigg, 'to the ridiculously small amount of eighteen pence. Ha! ha!'

'And that,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'would be equally objectionable.'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Não", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "obrigado. De modo algum."

"Pois bem", replicou o Sr. Tigg. "Se estivesse, eu o trocaria para o senhor." Com isso, começou a assobiar; mas não se passaram doze segundos quando parou de repente e, olhando com seriedade para o Sr. Pecksniff, disse:

"Talvez prefira não emprestar cinco xelins a Slyme?"

"Eu preferiria muito não emprestar", respondeu o Sr. Pecksniff.

"Por Deus!", exclamou Tigg, assentindo gravemente com a cabeça, como se algum motivo de objeção lhe ocorresse naquele instante pela primeira vez, "é bem possível que tenha razão. Teria a mesma espécie de objeção a emprestar agora cinco xelins a mim?"

"Sim, de fato não poderia fazê-lo", disse o Sr. Pecksniff.

"Nem mesmo meia coroa, talvez?", insistiu o Sr. Tigg.

"Nem mesmo meia coroa."

"Então chegamos", disse o Sr. Tigg, "à quantia ridiculamente pequena de dezoito pence. Há! Há!"

"E isso", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "seria igualmente censurável."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Ao ouvir isso, o Sr. Tigg apertou calorosamente as duas mãos do Sr. Pecksniff. Chamou-o de um dos homens mais coerentes e notáveis que já conhecera. Também disse desejar a honra de conhecê-lo melhor. Como homem rigorosamente honrado, não podia aprovar certos pequenos traços de seu amigo Slyme. Mesmo assim, perdoaria esses e muitos outros porque gostara muito da companhia do Sr. Pecksniff. Isso lhe dera prazer mais duradouro que qualquer pequeno empréstimo bem-sucedido a Slyme. Então desejou ao Sr. Pecksniff uma ótima noite. Saiu sem parecer mais envergonhado pelo fracasso do que qualquer cavalheiro desejaria.

Original English Version

On receipt of this assurance, Mr Tigg shook him heartily by both hands, protesting with much earnestness, that he was one of the most consistent and remarkable men he had ever met, and that he desired the honour of his better acquaintance. He moreover observed that there were many little characteristics about his friend Slyme, of which he could by no means, as a man of strict honour, approve; but that he was prepared to forgive him all these slight drawbacks, and much more, in consideration of the great pleasure he himself had that day enjoyed in his social intercourse with Mr Pecksniff, which had given him a far higher and more enduring delight than the successful negotiation of any small loan on the part of his friend could possibly have imparted. With which remarks he would beg leave, he said, to wish Mr Pecksniff a very good evening. And so he took himself off; as little abashed by his recent failure as any gentleman would desire to be.

Tradução Integral em Português

Ao receber essa garantia, o Sr. Tigg apertou-lhe cordialmente ambas as mãos, protestando com grande sinceridade que ele era um dos homens mais coerentes e notáveis que jamais conhecera e que desejava a honra de conhecê-lo melhor. Observou ainda que havia muitas pequenas características em seu amigo Slyme que ele, como homem de estrita honra, de modo algum poderia aprovar; mas que estava disposto a perdoar-lhe todos esses ligeiros inconvenientes, e muito mais, em consideração ao grande prazer que ele próprio desfrutara naquele dia na convivência social com o Sr. Pecksniff, a qual lhe proporcionara deleite muito mais elevado e duradouro do que poderia ter-lhe proporcionado a negociação bem-sucedida de qualquer pequeno empréstimo em favor de seu amigo. Com essas observações, disse que pediria licença para desejar ao Sr. Pecksniff uma excelente noite. E assim se retirou, tão pouco desconcertado por seu recente fracasso quanto qualquer cavalheiro poderia desejar.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Os pensamentos do Sr. Pecksniff no bar do Dragon naquela noite e em casa depois foram muito sérios. Outras perguntas confirmaram completamente a notícia de Tigg e Slyme de que outros membros da família haviam chegado. Os Spottletoe foram direto ao Dragon, onde permaneceram de guarda. Sua chegada causou tanta agitação que a Sra. Lupin adivinhou o objetivo em meia hora. Levou secretamente a notícia à casa do Sr. Pecksniff, mas seu grande cuidado fez com que não o encontrasse. Ele entrou pela porta da frente do Dragon quando ela saía pelos fundos. Anthony Chuzzlewit e seu filho Jonas hospedaram-se com economia no obscuro Half Moon and Seven Stars. A diligência seguinte trouxe muitos outros parentes carinhosos. Brigaram dentro e fora durante toda a viagem, para desespero do cocheiro. Em vinte e quatro horas, os poucos quartos das tavernas ficaram raros. Todos os alojamentos particulares - quatro camas e um sofá - dobraram de preço.

Original English Version

The meditations of Mr Pecksniff that evening at the bar of the Dragon, and that night in his own house, were very serious and grave indeed; the more especially as the intelligence he had received from Messrs Tigg and Slyme touching the arrival of other members of the family, were fully confirmed on more particular inquiry. For the Spottletoes had actually gone straight to the Dragon, where they were at that moment housed and mounting guard, and where their appearance had occasioned such a vast sensation that Mrs Lupin, scenting their errand before they had been under her roof half an hour, carried the news herself with all possible secrecy straight to Mr Pecksniff's house; indeed it was her great caution in doing so which occasioned her to miss that gentleman, who entered at the front door of the Dragon just as she emerged from the back one. Moreover, Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Jonas were economically quartered at the Half Moon and Seven Stars, which was an obscure ale-house; and by the very next coach there came posting to the scene of action, so many other affectionate members of the family (who quarrelled with each other, inside and out, all the way down, to the utter distraction of the coachman), that in less than four-and-twenty hours the scanty tavern accommodation was at a premium, and all the private lodgings in the place, amounting to full four beds and sofa, rose cent per cent in the market.

Tradução Integral em Português

As meditações do Sr. Pecksniff naquela noite no balcão do Dragão, e mais tarde em sua própria casa, foram de fato muito sérias e graves; tanto mais porque as notícias que recebera dos senhores Tigg e Slyme a respeito da chegada de outros membros da família foram plenamente confirmadas por investigações mais detalhadas. Pois os Spottletoe haviam ido diretamente para o Dragão, onde naquele momento estavam instalados e montavam guarda, e onde sua aparição causara sensação tão enorme que a Sra. Lupin, farejando-lhes o propósito antes de completarem meia hora sob seu teto, levou pessoalmente a notícia, com todo o segredo possível, diretamente à casa do Sr. Pecksniff; na verdade, foi a grande cautela dela ao fazê-lo que a levou a desencontrar-se daquele cavalheiro, o qual entrou pela porta da frente do Dragão no exato momento em que ela saía pela dos fundos. Além disso, o Sr. Anthony Chuzzlewit e seu filho Jonas estavam economicamente aquartelados no Meia-Lua e Sete Estrelas, uma cervejaria obscura; e, já na diligência seguinte, tantos outros membros afetuosos da família vieram a toda a pressa para o cenário da ação (brigando uns com os outros, dentro e fora do veículo, por todo o trajeto, até levar o cocheiro ao completo desespero) que, em menos de vinte e quatro horas, as escassas acomodações das tavernas ficaram caríssimas, e todos os alojamentos particulares do lugar, totalizando quatro camas inteiras e um sofá, subiram cem por cento no mercado.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Quase toda a família acampou diante do Blue Dragon e o cercou formalmente. Martin Chuzzlewit estava sitiado. Resistiu com coragem e recusou todas as cartas, mensagens e pacotes. Não tratava com ninguém nem oferecia esperança de rendição. Enquanto isso, forças familiares continuavam se reunindo pela região. Nenhum ramo dos Chuzzlewit jamais concordara com outro. Brigavam, zombavam, trocavam palavras duras e se insultavam. Empinavam o nariz, franzindo a testa, enterravam bons sentimentos e traziam de volta antigas queixas com violência. A região tranquila não conhecia nada semelhante desde o início de sua história civilizada.

Por fim, em completo desespero, alguns combatentes começaram a falar em termos apenas moderadamente zangados. Quase todos se dirigiam ao Sr. Pecksniff com aparência de respeito, reconhecendo seu caráter elevado e influência. Pouco a pouco, uniram-se contra a teimosia de Martin Chuzzlewit. Concordaram - se Chuzzlewits conseguem concordar - em realizar um conselho geral na casa do Sr. Pecksniff ao meio-dia de certo dia. Todos os membros da família ao alcance da convocação foram formalmente convidados.

Original English Version

In a word, things came to that pass that nearly the whole family sat down before the Blue Dragon, and formally invested it; and Martin Chuzzlewit was in a state of siege. But he resisted bravely; refusing to receive all letters, messages, and parcels; obstinately declining to treat with anybody; and holding out no hope or promise of capitulation. Meantime the family forces were perpetually encountering each other in divers parts of the neighbourhood; and, as no one branch of the Chuzzlewit tree had ever been known to agree with another within the memory of man, there was such a skirmishing, and flouting, and snapping off of heads, in the metaphorical sense of that expression; such a bandying of words and calling of names; such an upturning of noses and wrinkling of brows; such a formal interment of good feelings and violent resurrection of ancient grievances; as had never been known in those quiet parts since the earliest record of their civilized existence.

At length, in utter despair and hopelessness, some few of the belligerents began to speak to each other in only moderate terms of mutual aggravation; and nearly all addressed themselves with a show of tolerable decency to Mr Pecksniff, in recognition of his high character and influential position. Thus, by little and little, they made common cause of Martin Chuzzlewit's obduracy, until it was agreed (if such a word can be used in connection with the Chuzzlewits) that there should be a general council and conference held at Mr Pecksniff's house upon a certain day at noon; which all members of the family who had brought themselves within reach of the summons, were forthwith bidden and invited, solemnly, to attend.

Tradução Integral em Português

Em suma, as coisas chegaram a tal ponto que quase toda a família acampou diante do Dragão Azul e o sitiou formalmente; e Martin Chuzzlewit ficou em estado de sítio. Mas resistiu com bravura: recusava-se a receber todas as cartas, mensagens e encomendas; declinava obstinadamente de negociar com quem quer que fosse; e não oferecia esperança nem promessa alguma de capitulação. Enquanto isso, as forças familiares encontravam-se perpetuamente em diversas partes da vizinhança; e, como desde que havia memória humana jamais se soubera de um ramo da árvore Chuzzlewit que concordasse com outro, houve tantas escaramuças, zombarias e cabeças arrancadas - no sentido metafórico da expressão - , tamanha troca de palavras e insultos, tamanho empinar de narizes e franzir de testas, tamanho enterro formal dos bons sentimentos e violenta ressurreição de antigos agravos, como nunca se vira naquelas regiões tranquilas desde o registro mais antigo de sua existência civilizada.

Por fim, em completo desespero e desalento, alguns poucos beligerantes começaram a falar entre si usando apenas termos de agravamento mútuo moderado; e quase todos se dirigiram ao Sr. Pecksniff com uma aparência de razoável decência, em reconhecimento de seu elevado caráter e posição influente. Assim, pouco a pouco, fizeram causa comum da obstinação de Martin Chuzzlewit, até que se acordou (se tal palavra pode ser empregada em relação aos Chuzzlewit) que haveria um conselho e conferência gerais na casa do Sr. Pecksniff, ao meio-dia de certo dia; e todos os membros da família que se haviam colocado ao alcance da convocação foram imediatamente chamados e solenemente convidados a comparecer.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Se o Sr. Pecksniff alguma vez pareceu um apóstolo, foi naquele dia memorável. Seu sorriso calmo parecia anunciar: "Sou um mensageiro da paz!" Parecia ter a natureza gentil do cordeiro e muito da pomba. Não tinha nada do crocodilo nem o mais leve toque da serpente. E as duas senhoritas Pecksniff! O rosto calmo de Charity parecia dizer: "Toda minha família me prejudicou sem reparo, mas eu os perdoo porque é meu dever." Mercy tinha uma maneira tão feliz, simples e inocente. Parecia muito encantadora e infantil. Se tivesse saído sozinha mais cedo naquela estação, os pássaros poderiam tê-la coberto de folhas, pensando que era uma das doces crianças da floresta. Ela saíra novamente para procurar amoras com o coração fresco de uma criança. Que palavras poderiam pintar os Pecksniff naquela hora difícil? Nenhuma, pois as palavras às vezes andam em má companhia, e os Pecksniff eram toda bondade.

Original English Version

If ever Mr Pecksniff wore an apostolic look, he wore it on this memorable day. If ever his unruffled smile proclaimed the words, 'I am a messenger of peace!' that was its mission now. If ever man combined within himself all the mild qualities of the lamb with a considerable touch of the dove, and not a dash of the crocodile, or the least possible suggestion of the very mildest seasoning of the serpent, that man was he. And, oh, the two Miss Pecksniffs! Oh, the serene expression on the face of Charity, which seemed to say, 'I know that all my family have injured me beyond the possibility of reparation, but I forgive them, for it is my duty so to do!' And, oh, the gay simplicity of Mercy; so charming, innocent, and infant-like, that if she had gone out walking by herself, and it had been a little earlier in the season, the robin-redbreasts might have covered her with leaves against her will, believing her to be one of the sweet children in the wood, come out of it, and issuing forth once more to look for blackberries in the young freshness of her heart! What words can paint the Pecksniffs in that trying hour? Oh, none; for words have naughty company among them, and the Pecksniffs were all goodness.

Tradução Integral em Português

Se algum dia o Sr. Pecksniff ostentou uma aparência apostólica, foi naquele dia memorável. Se algum dia seu sorriso imperturbável proclamou as palavras "Sou um mensageiro da paz!", essa era agora sua missão. Se algum dia um homem reuniu em si todas as qualidades brandas do cordeiro, com um toque considerável da pomba, e nem uma pitada do crocodilo ou a menor sugestão possível do mais suave tempero da serpente, esse homem era ele. E, ah, as duas senhoritas Pecksniff! Ah, a expressão serena no rosto de Charity, que parecia dizer: "Sei que toda a minha família me ofendeu para além de qualquer possibilidade de reparação, mas eu os perdoo, pois é meu dever fazê-lo!" E, ah, a alegre simplicidade de Mercy; tão encantadora, inocente e infantil que, se tivesse saído para passear sozinha e fosse um pouco mais cedo na estação, os pintarroxos poderiam tê-la coberto de folhas contra sua vontade, supondo-a uma das doces crianças na floresta que de lá saíra para procurar amoras mais uma vez, na jovem frescura do coração! Que palavras podem pintar os Pecksniff naquela hora de provação? Ah, nenhuma; pois entre as palavras há companhias travessas, e os Pecksniff eram pura bondade.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Mas a chegada da companhia foi o grande momento. O Sr. Pecksniff levantou-se à cabeceira da mesa, com uma filha de cada lado, recebeu os convidados na melhor sala e indicou-lhes cadeiras. Seus olhos transbordavam e o rosto brilhava com um suor bondoso, de modo que parecia coberto de humildade úmida. Os presentes eram ciumentos, duros, desconfiados, fechados em si e não confiavam em ninguém. Não seriam amolecidos nem adormecidos pelos Pecksniff, assim como ouriços ou porcos-espinhos não seriam.

Original English Version

But when the company arrived! That was the time. When Mr Pecksniff, rising from his seat at the table's head, with a daughter on either hand, received his guests in the best parlour and motioned them to chairs, with eyes so overflowing and countenance so damp with gracious perspiration, that he may be said to have been in a kind of moist meekness! And the company; the jealous stony-hearted distrustful company, who were all shut up in themselves, and had no faith in anybody, and wouldn't believe anything, and would no more allow themselves to be softened or lulled asleep by the Pecksniffs than if they had been so many hedgehogs or porcupines!

Tradução Integral em Português

Mas quando chegou a companhia! Aquele foi o momento. Quando o Sr. Pecksniff, erguendo-se do assento à cabeceira da mesa, com uma filha de cada lado, recebeu os convidados na melhor sala e indicou-lhes as cadeiras, com olhos tão transbordantes e semblante tão úmido de graciosa transpiração que se poderia dizer que se encontrava numa espécie de mansidão molhada! E a companhia; a companhia ciumenta, empedernida e desconfiada, cujos membros se encerravam todos em si mesmos, não confiavam em ninguém, não acreditavam em coisa alguma e não se deixariam enternecer nem adormecer pelos Pecksniff mais do que se fossem outros tantos ouriços-cacheiros ou porcos-espinhos!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Primeiro veio o Sr. Spottletoe. Era tão calvo e tinha costeletas tão grandes que seu cabelo caído parecia ter sido detido por um remédio poderoso e preso para sempre no rosto. A Sra. Spottletoe era magra demais para sua idade e tinha natureza poética. Chamava as costeletas de "estrela-guia de sua existência". Seu amor pelo tio Chuzzlewit era forte. Também estava chocada por suspeitarem que fazia planos para o testamento dele. Por isso, só conseguia chorar e gemer. Depois vieram Anthony Chuzzlewit e seu filho Jonas. Uma vida inteira de cuidado e astúcia tornara o rosto do velho tão afiado que parecia cortar a multidão. Ele se moveu atrás das cadeiras mais distantes. Jonas aprendera tão bem com o pai que parecia um ou dois anos mais velho que ele. Ficaram juntos, piscando os olhos vermelhos e sussurrando. Havia também a viúva do falecido irmão de Martin Chuzzlewit. Era desagradável de modo quase artificial, com rosto triste, corpo magro e voz masculina. Por essas qualidades, chamavam-na de mulher de personalidade forte. Se pudesse, provaria sua força mental colocando o cunhado num hospício particular até que ele provasse sua sanidade amando-a muito. Ao lado estavam suas três filhas solteiras, de modos masculinos. Os espartilhos apertados tornaram seus temperamentos menores que suas cinturas, e o aperto aparecia nos narizes. Um jovem sobrinho-neto era muito escuro e peludo. Parecia ter nascido apenas para evitar que os espelhos mostrassem mais que um primeiro rascunho de rosto. Uma prima era conhecida apenas por ser muito surda, morar sozinha e sempre ter dor de dente. George Chuzzlewit era um primo solteiro e alegre que dizia ser jovem, mas já fora mais jovem. Tinha tendência a engordar e comer demais. Seus olhos forçavam as órbitas como se estivessem sempre surpresos. As marcas brilhantes na gravata, colete e enfeites pareciam espinhas surgindo nele. Por fim vieram Chevy Slyme e seu amigo Tigg. Todos não gostavam dos outros principalmente porque pertenciam à família, mas odiavam o Sr. Tigg porque ele não pertencia.

Original English Version

First, there was Mr Spottletoe, who was so bald and had such big whiskers, that he seemed to have stopped his hair, by the sudden application of some powerful remedy, in the very act of falling off his head, and to have fastened it irrevocably on his face. Then there was Mrs Spottletoe, who being much too slim for her years, and of a poetical constitution, was accustomed to inform her more intimate friends that the said whiskers were 'the lodestar of her existence;' and who could now, by reason of her strong affection for her uncle Chuzzlewit, and the shock it gave her to be suspected of testamentary designs upon him, do nothing but cry--except moan. Then there were Anthony Chuzzlewit, and his son Jonas; the face of the old man so sharpened by the wariness and cunning of his life, that it seemed to cut him a passage through the crowded room, as he edged away behind the remotest chairs; while the son had so well profited by the precept and example of the father, that he looked a year or two the elder of the twain, as they stood winking their red eyes, side by side, and whispering to each other softly. Then there was the widow of a deceased brother of Mr Martin Chuzzlewit, who being almost supernaturally disagreeable, and having a dreary face and a bony figure and a masculine voice, was, in right of these qualities, what is commonly called a strong-minded woman; and who, if she could, would have established her claim to the title, and have shown herself, mentally speaking, a perfect Samson, by shutting up her brother-in-law in a private madhouse, until he proved his complete sanity by loving her very much. Beside her sat her spinster daughters, three in number, and of gentlemanly deportment, who had so mortified themselves with tight stays, that their tempers were reduced to something less than their waists, and sharp lacing was expressed in their very noses. Then there was a young gentleman, grandnephew of Mr Martin Chuzzlewit, very dark and very hairy, and apparently born for no particular purpose but to save looking-glasses the trouble of reflecting more than just the first idea and sketchy notion of a face, which had never been carried out. Then there was a solitary female cousin who was remarkable for nothing but being very deaf, and living by herself, and always having the toothache. Then there was George Chuzzlewit, a gay bachelor cousin, who claimed to be young but had been younger, and was inclined to corpulency, and rather overfed himself; to that extent, indeed, that his eyes were strained in their sockets, as if with constant surprise; and he had such an obvious disposition to pimples, that the bright spots on his cravat, the rich pattern on his waistcoat, and even his glittering trinkets, seemed to have broken out upon him, and not to have come into existence comfortably. Last of all there were present Mr Chevy Slyme and his friend Tigg. And it is worthy of remark, that although each person present disliked the other, mainly because he or she DID belong to the family, they one and all concurred in hating Mr Tigg because he didn't.

Tradução Integral em Português

Primeiro havia o Sr. Spottletoe, tão calvo e com suíças tão grandes que parecia ter detido a queda dos cabelos, mediante a súbita aplicação de algum remédio poderoso, no exato momento em que estes lhe caíam da cabeça, fixando-os irrevogavelmente no rosto. Depois havia a Sra. Spottletoe, magra demais para a idade e de constituição poética, acostumada a informar aos amigos mais íntimos que as referidas suíças eram "a estrela-guia de sua existência"; e que agora, em razão de seu forte afeto pelo tio Chuzzlewit e do choque que lhe causava ser suspeita de intenções testamentárias quanto a ele, nada conseguia fazer senão chorar - exceto gemer. Depois vinham Anthony Chuzzlewit e seu filho Jonas; o rosto do velho tão aguçado pela cautela e astúcia de sua vida que parecia abrir-lhe passagem pela sala apinhada enquanto ele se esgueirava atrás das cadeiras mais distantes; ao passo que o filho aproveitara tão bem os preceitos e o exemplo do pai que parecia um ou dois anos mais velho dos dois, enquanto permaneciam lado a lado, piscando os olhos vermelhos e sussurrando suavemente um para o outro. Havia então a viúva de um irmão falecido do Sr. Martin Chuzzlewit, que, sendo quase sobrenaturalmente desagradável e possuindo rosto lúgubre, figura ossuda e voz masculina, era, em virtude dessas qualidades, aquilo que se costuma chamar de mulher de espírito forte; e que, se pudesse, teria firmado seu direito ao título e se mostrado, mentalmente falando, um perfeito Sansão, internando o cunhado num hospício particular até que ele provasse a completa sanidade amando-a muitíssimo. Ao lado dela sentavam-se as três filhas solteironas, de porte cavalheiresco, que tanto haviam mortificado o corpo em espartilhos apertados que seu temperamento se reduzira a algo ainda menor que a cintura, e o próprio nariz exprimia o rigor dos cordões. Havia então um jovem cavalheiro, sobrinho-neto do Sr. Martin Chuzzlewit, muito moreno e cabeludo, aparentemente nascido sem propósito particular além de poupar aos espelhos o trabalho de refletir mais que a primeira ideia e o esboço de um rosto, que jamais fora concluído. Havia então uma prima solitária, notável apenas por ser muito surda, morar sozinha e estar sempre com dor de dente. Havia então George Chuzzlewit, um alegre primo solteirão que alegava ser jovem, mas já fora mais jovem, tinha inclinação à corpulência e se alimentava em certo excesso; a tal ponto, na verdade, que os olhos pareciam espremidos nas órbitas, como se por uma surpresa constante; e tinha predisposição tão evidente a espinhas que as manchas vivas na gravata, o rico padrão do colete e até os berloques reluzentes pareciam-lhe ter irrompido na pele, em vez de haverem surgido confortavelmente. Por último, estavam presentes o Sr. Chevy Slyme e seu amigo Tigg. E vale observar que, embora cada pessoa presente desgostasse da outra sobretudo porque ela de fato PERTENCIA à família, todas concordavam em odiar o Sr. Tigg porque ele não pertencia.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Esse agradável círculo familiar agora enchia a melhor sala do Sr. Pecksniff, pronto para atacar o próprio Pecksniff ou qualquer outra pessoa que dissesse algo sobre qualquer assunto.

O Sr. Pecksniff levantou-se, juntou as mãos e olhou ao redor. "Isto me faz bem. Faz bem às minhas filhas. Agradecemos por se reunirem aqui. Somos gratos de todo o coração. Vocês nos deram uma distinção abençoada e" - ele sorriu além de toda imaginação - "não a esqueceremos facilmente."

"Lamento interromper, Pecksniff", disse o Sr. Spottletoe, com as costeletas parecendo perigosas, "mas o senhor presume demais. Quem imagina que pretende honrar VOCÊ, senhor?"

Um murmúrio geral repetiu e aprovou a pergunta.

O Sr. Spottletoe falou com raiva e bateu forte na mesa com os nós dos dedos. "Se pretende continuar como começou, quanto antes parar e esta reunião terminar, melhor. Conheço seu desejo absurdo de parecer o chefe desta família, mas posso dizer a VOCÊ, senhor..."

Original English Version

Such was the pleasant little family circle now assembled in Mr Pecksniff's best parlour, agreeably prepared to fall foul of Mr Pecksniff or anybody else who might venture to say anything whatever upon any subject.

'This,' said Mr Pecksniff, rising and looking round upon them with folded hands, 'does me good. It does my daughters good. We thank you for assembling here. We are grateful to you with our whole hearts. It is a blessed distinction that you have conferred upon us, and believe me'--it is impossible to conceive how he smiled here--'we shall not easily forget it.'

'I am sorry to interrupt you, Pecksniff,' remarked Mr Spottletoe, with his whiskers in a very portentous state; 'but you are assuming too much to yourself, sir. Who do you imagine has it in contemplation to confer a distinction upon YOU, sir?'

A general murmur echoed this inquiry, and applauded it.

'If you are about to pursue the course with which you have begun, sir,' pursued Mr Spottletoe in a great heat, and giving a violent rap on the table with his knuckles, 'the sooner you desist, and this assembly separates, the better. I am no stranger, sir, to your preposterous desire to be regarded as the head of this family, but I can tell YOU, sir--'

Tradução Integral em Português

Esse era o agradável pequeno círculo familiar agora reunido na melhor sala do Sr. Pecksniff, cordialmente preparado para atacar o Sr. Pecksniff ou qualquer outra pessoa que se aventurasse a dizer fosse o que fosse sobre assunto algum.

"Isto", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, levantando-se e percorrendo-os com o olhar, de mãos cruzadas, "me faz bem. Faz bem a minhas filhas. Agradecemos-lhes por se reunirem aqui. Somos-lhes gratos de todo o coração. É uma distinção bendita que nos concederam e, creiam-me" - é impossível conceber como ele sorriu aqui - , "não a esqueceremos facilmente."

"Lamento interrompê-lo, Pecksniff", observou o Sr. Spottletoe, com as suíças em estado muito ameaçador, "mas o senhor presume demais a seu próprio respeito. Quem imagina que esteja pensando em conceder uma distinção ao SENHOR?"

Um murmúrio geral repetiu a pergunta e a aplaudiu.

"Se pretende prosseguir no rumo em que começou, senhor", continuou o Sr. Spottletoe, muito exaltado, dando uma pancada violenta na mesa com os nós dos dedos, "quanto mais cedo desistir e esta assembleia se dispersar, melhor. Não desconheço, senhor, seu absurdo desejo de ser considerado o chefe desta família, mas posso dizer-LHE, senhor..."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Ah, sim, ELE dizer! ELE! O quê? Era o chefe? Da mulher de personalidade forte para baixo, todos atacaram imediatamente o Sr. Spottletoe. Ele tentou em vão silenciá-los e ser ouvido. Então tornou a se sentar, cruzou os braços e balançou a cabeça com raiva. Sem falar, disse à Sra. Spottletoe que o canalha Pecksniff poderia continuar por enquanto, mas logo ele o interromperia e destruiria.

"Não lamento", continuou o Sr. Pecksniff, "realmente não lamento que esse pequeno incidente tenha ocorrido. É bom nos reunirmos sem disfarce. É bom saber que não temos reservas e aparecemos livremente com nosso verdadeiro caráter."

Original English Version

Oh yes, indeed! HE tell. HE! What? He was the head, was he? From the strong-minded woman downwards everybody fell, that instant, upon Mr Spottletoe, who after vainly attempting to be heard in silence was fain to sit down again, folding his arms and shaking his head most wrathfully, and giving Mrs Spottletoe to understand in dumb show, that that scoundrel Pecksniff might go on for the present, but he would cut in presently, and annihilate him.

'I am not sorry,' said Mr Pecksniff in resumption of his address, 'I am really not sorry that this little incident has happened. It is good to feel that we are met here without disguise. It is good to know that we have no reserve before each other, but are appearing freely in our own characters.'

Tradução Integral em Português

Ah, sim, é claro! ELE dizer. ELE! O quê? Era ele o chefe, era? Da mulher de espírito forte para baixo, todos caíram naquele instante sobre o Sr. Spottletoe, que, após tentar em vão fazer-se ouvir em meio ao silêncio, viu-se obrigado a tornar a sentar-se, cruzando os braços, balançando a cabeça com enorme ira e dando a entender à Sra. Spottletoe por meio de mímica que aquele canalha do Pecksniff poderia continuar por ora, mas que logo ele interviria e o aniquilaria.

"Não lamento", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, retomando o discurso, "de fato não lamento que tenha ocorrido esse pequeno incidente. É bom sentir que nos reunimos aqui sem disfarces. É bom saber que não guardamos reservas uns diante dos outros, mas nos apresentamos livremente com nosso verdadeiro caráter."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A filha mais velha da mulher de personalidade forte levantou-se parcialmente e tremeu da cabeça aos pés, mais de raiva que de medo. Esperava que certas pessoas MOSTRASSEM seu verdadeiro caráter, pois isso ao menos seria novidade. Quando essas pessoas falassem de parentes, deveriam notar quem estava presente. Caso contrário, esses parentes poderiam saber disso de modo inesperado. Disse que narizes vermelhos não eram vergonha, pois as pessoas não faziam nem pintavam o próprio nariz. Recebiam-no sem serem consultadas. Também duvidava que certos narizes fossem mais vermelhos que outros, ou sequer metade tão vermelhos quanto alguns. Suas duas irmãs riram com aspereza. A Srta. Charity Pecksniff perguntou educadamente se aquelas observações baixas eram dirigidas a ela. Recebeu apenas a resposta: "A quem servir a carapuça, que a vista." Charity começou uma resposta zangada e pessoal. Mercy a apoiou e riu com sentimento muito maior do que parecia natural. O narrador afirma que mulheres próximas sempre entram em qualquer discussão entre mulheres. A mulher de personalidade forte, suas duas filhas, a Sra. Spottletoe e a prima surda participaram da briga. A prima surda nada sabia sobre o assunto, mas isso não a impediu.

Original English Version

Here, the eldest daughter of the strong-minded woman rose a little way from her seat, and trembling violently from head to foot, more as it seemed with passion than timidity, expressed a general hope that some people WOULD appear in their own characters, if it were only for such a proceeding having the attraction of novelty to recommend it; and that when they (meaning the some people before mentioned) talked about their relations, they would be careful to observe who was present in company at the time; otherwise it might come round to those relations' ears, in a way they little expected; and as to red noses (she observed) she had yet to learn that a red nose was any disgrace, inasmuch as people neither made nor coloured their own noses, but had that feature provided for them without being first consulted; though even upon that branch of the subject she had great doubts whether certain noses were redder than other noses, or indeed half as red as some. This remark being received with a shrill titter by the two sisters of the speaker, Miss Charity Pecksniff begged with much politeness to be informed whether any of those very low observations were levelled at her; and receiving no more explanatory answer than was conveyed in the adage 'Those the cap fits, let them wear it,' immediately commenced a somewhat acrimonious and personal retort, wherein she was much comforted and abetted by her sister Mercy, who laughed at the same with great heartiness; indeed far more naturally than life. And it being quite impossible that any difference of opinion can take place among women without every woman who is within hearing taking active part in it, the strong-minded lady and her two daughters, and Mrs Spottletoe, and the deaf cousin (who was not at all disqualified from joining in the dispute by reason of being perfectly unacquainted with its merits), one and all plunged into the quarrel directly.

Tradução Integral em Português

Nesse ponto, a filha mais velha da mulher de espírito forte ergueu-se um pouco do assento e, tremendo violentamente da cabeça aos pés, mais por paixão que por timidez, ao que parecia, manifestou a esperança geral de que certas pessoas DE FATO se apresentassem com seu verdadeiro caráter, nem que fosse apenas porque tal procedimento teria o atrativo da novidade para recomendá-lo; e que, quando elas (referindo-se às certas pessoas já mencionadas) falassem sobre seus parentes, tomassem o cuidado de observar quem estava presente na ocasião; caso contrário, isso poderia chegar aos ouvidos daqueles parentes de uma forma que elas mal esperavam; e, quanto a narizes vermelhos (observou ela), ainda estava por aprender que um nariz vermelho fosse alguma desgraça, visto que as pessoas não faziam nem coloriam o próprio nariz, mas recebiam essa feição sem antes serem consultadas; embora até nesse ramo do assunto tivesse grandes dúvidas de que certos narizes fossem mais vermelhos que outros, ou sequer metade tão vermelhos quanto alguns. Como essa observação foi recebida com um risinho estridente pelas duas irmãs da oradora, a Srta. Charity Pecksniff pediu com muita polidez que lhe informassem se alguma daquelas observações tão vulgares era dirigida a ela; e, não recebendo resposta mais esclarecedora que a contida no adágio "A carapuça serviu, que a vista", iniciou imediatamente uma réplica um tanto acrimoniosa e pessoal, na qual recebeu grande conforto e apoio de sua irmã Mercy, que riu dela com muita cordialidade; com efeito, de maneira muito mais natural que a própria vida. E, como é inteiramente impossível ocorrer qualquer divergência de opinião entre mulheres sem que toda mulher ao alcance da voz tome parte ativa, a dama de espírito forte e suas duas filhas, a Sra. Spottletoe e a prima surda (que de modo algum estava incapacitada de participar da disputa por desconhecer por completo seus méritos) mergulharam todas imediatamente na briga.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

As duas senhoritas Pecksniff enfrentavam bem as três senhoritas Chuzzlewit. Todas as cinco tinham muito "vapor" para soltar. A discussão poderia ter durado muito. Mas a mulher de personalidade forte era famosa por insultos afiados e atacou a Sra. Spottletoe com palavras provocadoras. Em menos de dois minutos, a pobre mulher só conseguia chorar. Suas muitas lágrimas perturbaram muito o Sr. Spottletoe. Ele segurou o punho fechado perto dos olhos do Sr. Pecksniff, como se fosse uma curiosidade natural digna de estudo. Sem motivo claro, também ofereceu chutar o Sr. George Chuzzlewit por seis pence. Depois tomou a esposa pelo braço e saiu zangado. Isso distraiu os combatentes e encerrou a discussão, que voltou duas ou três vezes em pequenos surtos antes de morrer em silêncio.

Então o Sr. Pecksniff se levantou novamente. As duas senhoritas Pecksniff agiam como se as três senhoritas Chuzzlewit não existissem em lugar algum. Ao mesmo tempo, as três senhoritas Chuzzlewit agiam como se não soubessem da existência das duas senhoritas Pecksniff.

Original English Version

The two Miss Pecksniffs being a pretty good match for the three Miss Chuzzlewits, and all five young ladies having, in the figurative language of the day, a great amount of steam to dispose of, the altercation would no doubt have been a long one but for the high valour and prowess of the strong-minded woman, who, in right of her reputation for powers of sarcasm, did so belabour and pummel Mrs Spottletoe with taunting words that the poor lady, before the engagement was two minutes old, had no refuge but in tears. These she shed so plentifully, and so much to the agitation and grief of Mr Spottletoe, that that gentleman, after holding his clenched fist close to Mr Pecksniff's eyes, as if it were some natural curiosity from the near inspection whereof he was likely to derive high gratification and improvement, and after offering (for no particular reason that anybody could discover) to kick Mr George Chuzzlewit for, and in consideration of, the trifling sum of sixpence, took his wife under his arm and indignantly withdrew. This diversion, by distracting the attention of the combatants, put an end to the strife, which, after breaking out afresh some twice or thrice in certain inconsiderable spurts and dashes, died away in silence.

It was then that Mr Pecksniff once more rose from his chair. It was then that the two Miss Pecksniffs composed themselves to look as if there were no such beings--not to say present, but in the whole compass of the world--as the three Miss Chuzzlewits; while the three Miss Chuzzlewits became equally unconscious of the existence of the two Miss Pecksniffs.

Tradução Integral em Português

Como as duas senhoritas Pecksniff eram adversárias bastante à altura das três senhoritas Chuzzlewit, e as cinco jovens damas tinham, na linguagem figurada da época, uma grande quantidade de vapor a descarregar, a altercação sem dúvida teria sido longa, não fossem o elevado valor e a proeza da mulher de espírito forte, que, em virtude de sua reputação por poderes de sarcasmo, castigou e surrou a Sra. Spottletoe com palavras tão insultuosas que a pobre dama, antes de o combate completar dois minutos, não encontrou refúgio senão nas lágrimas. Derramou-as com tamanha abundância e causando tanta agitação e pesar ao Sr. Spottletoe que aquele cavalheiro, depois de manter o punho cerrado bem junto aos olhos do Sr. Pecksniff, como se fosse alguma curiosidade natural cuja inspeção próxima provavelmente lhe proporcionaria grande satisfação e proveito, e depois de se oferecer (sem motivo particular que alguém pudesse descobrir) para dar um pontapé no Sr. George Chuzzlewit pela módica quantia de seis pence, tomou a esposa pelo braço e retirou-se indignado. Essa manobra, ao distrair a atenção dos combatentes, pôs fim à contenda, que, depois de irromper novamente duas ou três vezes em certos surtos e arremetidas insignificantes, extinguiu-se no silêncio.

Foi então que o Sr. Pecksniff tornou a levantar-se da cadeira. Foi então que as duas senhoritas Pecksniff se recompuseram para parecer que não existiam tais seres - não apenas ali presentes, mas em toda a extensão do mundo - quanto as três senhoritas Chuzzlewit; enquanto as três senhoritas Chuzzlewit ficaram igualmente inconscientes da existência das duas senhoritas Pecksniff.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"É uma pena", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, lembrando com perdão o punho do Sr. Spottletoe, "que nosso amigo tenha saído tão depressa. Mesmo assim, podemos nos felicitar porque sabemos que ele não desconfia de nada que digamos ou façamos enquanto está ausente. Isso é muito reconfortante, não é?"

"Pecksniff", disse Anthony, que observara todos atentamente desde o início, "não seja hipócrita."

"Um quê, meu bom senhor?", perguntou o Sr. Pecksniff.

"Um hipócrita."

"Charity, minha querida", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "lembre-me de uma coisa quando eu pegar meu castiçal esta noite. Preciso rezar com mais cuidado que de costume pelo Sr. Anthony Chuzzlewit, que me fez mal."

Disse isso suavemente à filha, parecendo alegre por causa da consciência limpa, quase animado. Então continuou:

"Todos os nossos pensamentos dizem respeito ao nosso querido, porém pouco bondoso, parente. Como está fora de nosso alcance, reunimo-nos hoje um pouco como um grupo de funeral, exceto que - felizmente - não há corpo na casa."

Original English Version

'It is to be lamented,' said Mr Pecksniff, with a forgiving recollection of Mr Spottletoe's fist, 'that our friend should have withdrawn himself so very hastily, though we have cause for mutual congratulation even in that, since we are assured that he is not distrustful of us in regard to anything we may say or do while he is absent. Now, that is very soothing, is it not?'

'Pecksniff,' said Anthony, who had been watching the whole party with peculiar keenness from the first--'don't you be a hypocrite.'

'A what, my good sir?' demanded Mr Pecksniff.

'A hypocrite.'

'Charity, my dear,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'when I take my chamber candlestick to-night, remind me to be more than usually particular in praying for Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit; who has done me an injustice.'

This was said in a very bland voice, and aside, as being addressed to his daughter's private ear. With a cheerfulness of conscience, prompting almost a sprightly demeanour, he then resumed:

'All our thoughts centring in our very dear but unkind relative, and he being as it were beyond our reach, we are met to-day, really as if we were a funeral party, except--a blessed exception--that there is no body in the house.'

Tradução Integral em Português

"É lamentável", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, com uma lembrança indulgente do punho do Sr. Spottletoe, "que nosso amigo tenha-se retirado com tamanha precipitação, embora até nisso tenhamos motivo para felicitação mútua, pois temos a certeza de que ele não desconfia de nós quanto a nada que possamos dizer ou fazer enquanto estiver ausente. Ora, isso é muito reconfortante, não é?"

"Pecksniff", disse Anthony, que desde o início observava todo o grupo com singular perspicácia, "não seja hipócrita."

"Não seja o quê, meu caro senhor?", perguntou o Sr. Pecksniff.

"Hipócrita."

"Charity, minha querida", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "quando eu pegar meu castiçal de quarto esta noite, lembre-me de ser mais que habitualmente minucioso ao rezar pelo Sr. Anthony Chuzzlewit, que foi injusto comigo."

Isso foi dito numa voz muito branda e à parte, como algo destinado ao ouvido particular da filha. Com uma consciência tão tranquila que lhe inspirava modos quase joviais, ele prosseguiu:

"Como todos os nossos pensamentos se concentram em nosso muito querido, porém pouco bondoso parente, e estando ele, por assim dizer, fora de nosso alcance, reunimo-nos hoje realmente como se fôssemos um cortejo fúnebre, exceto - bendita exceção - por não haver corpo na casa."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A mulher de personalidade forte não tinha certeza de que essa fosse uma exceção feliz; muito pelo contrário.

"Bem, minha cara senhora", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "seja como for, estamos aqui. Portanto, devemos considerar se é possível, por algum meio justo..."

"O senhor sabe tão bem quanto eu que qualquer meio é justo neste caso, não sabe?", disse a mulher de personalidade forte.

"Muito bem, minha cara senhora, muito bem. Digamos então por QUALQUER meio. Podemos abrir os olhos de nosso estimado parente para sua atual tolice? Podemos mostrar-lhe o verdadeiro caráter e propósito daquela jovem? A posição estranha, muito estranha, dela junto a ele" - o Sr. Pecksniff baixou a voz - "traz desgraça e vergonha a esta família. Sabemos" - levantou a voz - "ou por que ela seria sua companheira? Ela tem os piores planos para usar a fraqueza dele e tomar sua propriedade."

Original English Version

The strong-minded lady was not at all sure that this was a blessed exception. Quite the contrary.

'Well, my dear madam!' said Mr Pecksniff. 'Be that as it may, here we are; and being here, we are to consider whether it is possible by any justifiable means--'

'Why, you know as well as I,' said the strong-minded lady, 'that any means are justifiable in such a case, don't you?'

'Very good, my dear madam, very good; whether it is possible by ANY means, we will say by ANY means, to open the eyes of our valued relative to his present infatuation. Whether it is possible to make him acquainted by any means with the real character and purpose of that young female whose strange, whose very strange position, in reference to himself'--here Mr Pecksniff sunk his voice to an impressive whisper--'really casts a shadow of disgrace and shame upon this family; and who, we know'--here he raised his voice again--'else why is she his companion? harbours the very basest designs upon his weakness and his property.'

Tradução Integral em Português

A dama de espírito forte não tinha certeza alguma de que essa fosse uma bendita exceção. Muito pelo contrário.

"Bem, minha cara senhora!", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. "Seja como for, aqui estamos; e, estando aqui, devemos considerar se é possível, por qualquer meio justificável..."

"Ora, o senhor sabe tão bem quanto eu", disse a dama de espírito forte, "que quaisquer meios são justificáveis num caso desses, não sabe?"

"Muito bem, minha cara senhora, muito bem; se é possível por QUALQUER meio - digamos por QUALQUER meio - abrir os olhos de nosso estimado parente para sua atual paixão insensata. Se é possível, por qualquer meio, fazê-lo conhecer o verdadeiro caráter e propósito daquela jovem cuja estranha, estranhíssima posição em relação a ele" - aqui o Sr. Pecksniff baixou a voz a um sussurro impressionante - "realmente lança uma sombra de desonra e vergonha sobre esta família; e que, como sabemos" - aqui tornou a levantar a voz - , "pois de outro modo por que ela seria sua companheira?, nutre as intenções mais vis quanto à fraqueza e aos bens dele."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Embora não concordassem em mais nada, todos concordaram como uma só pessoa nesse ponto. Meu Deus, ela tinha planos para a propriedade dele! A mulher de personalidade forte queria veneno. Suas três filhas queriam prisão e pão com água. A prima com dor de dente queria Botany Bay, enquanto as duas senhoritas Pecksniff sugeriam chicotadas. Apenas o Sr. Tigg duvidou se esses castigos eram justos. Apesar das roupas muito pobres, seu lábio superior e os enfeites do casaco faziam dele alguém que agradava às mulheres. Olhou com admiração para as três senhoritas Chuzzlewit, com um pouco de provocação no olhar. Parecia dizer: "Minhas doces criaturas, vocês são duras demais com ela, por minha alma!"

O Sr. Pecksniff cruzou os dois indicadores, como se tentasse ao mesmo tempo fazer paz e apresentar um argumento. "Por um lado, não direi que ela merece todos os castigos tão forte e alegremente sugeridos." Essa era uma de suas frases enfeitadas. "Por outro lado, não insultarei meu bom senso dizendo que não merece. Sugiro que meios práticos talvez convençam nosso estimado, devo dizer venerado...?"

Original English Version

In their strong feeling on this point, they, who agreed in nothing else, all concurred as one mind. Good Heaven, that she should harbour designs upon his property! The strong-minded lady was for poison, her three daughters were for Bridewell and bread-and-water, the cousin with the toothache advocated Botany Bay, the two Miss Pecksniffs suggested flogging. Nobody but Mr Tigg, who, notwithstanding his extreme shabbiness, was still understood to be in some sort a lady's man, in right of his upper lip and his frogs, indicated a doubt of the justifiable nature of these measures; and he only ogled the three Miss Chuzzlewits with the least admixture of banter in his admiration, as though he would observe, 'You are positively down upon her to too great an extent, my sweet creatures, upon my soul you are!'

'Now,' said Mr Pecksniff, crossing his two forefingers in a manner which was at once conciliatory and argumentative; 'I will not, upon the one hand, go so far as to say that she deserves all the inflictions which have been so very forcibly and hilariously suggested;' one of his ornamental sentences; 'nor will I, upon the other, on any account compromise my common understanding as a man, by making the assertion that she does not. What I would observe is, that I think some practical means might be devised of inducing our respected, shall I say our revered--?'

Tradução Integral em Português

No intenso sentimento que nutriam a esse respeito, eles, que não concordavam em mais nada, mostraram-se todos de uma só opinião. Santo Deus, que ela nutrisse intenções quanto aos bens dele! A mulher de espírito forte defendia veneno; suas três filhas, Bridewell e pão com água; a prima com dor de dente advogava a Baía de Botany; as duas senhoritas Pecksniff sugeriam açoites. Ninguém senão o Sr. Tigg, que, apesar de sua extrema indigência, ainda era considerado uma espécie de conquistador, em virtude do lábio superior e dos alamares, indicou alguma dúvida quanto à natureza justificável dessas medidas; e ele apenas lançou olhares galantes às três senhoritas Chuzzlewit, com uma mínima mistura de gracejo em sua admiração, como se observasse: "Vocês estão mesmo sendo severas demais com ela, minhas doces criaturas; por minha alma, estão!"

"Ora", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, cruzando os dois indicadores de maneira ao mesmo tempo conciliatória e argumentativa, "por um lado, não irei tão longe a ponto de dizer que ela merece todos os castigos sugeridos com tamanho vigor e alegria" - uma de suas frases ornamentais - ; "nem, por outro lado, comprometerei por motivo algum meu senso comum de homem afirmando que ela não os merece. O que eu observaria é que, a meu ver, algum meio prático poderia ser concebido para induzir nosso respeitado - devo dizer nosso venerado...?"

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Não!", interrompeu em voz alta a mulher de personalidade forte.

"Então não direi", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. "A senhora tem razão, minha cara, e valorizo e agradeço sua sábia objeção. Nosso estimado parente talvez seja convencido a ouvir os impulsos da natureza, e não os..."

- Continue, papai! - gritou Mercy.

- A verdade é, minha querida - disse o sr. Pecksniff aos parentes com um sorriso - , que não consigo encontrar a palavra. Esqueci o nome daqueles animais fabulosos - pagãos, infelizmente - que costumavam cantar na água.

O sr. George Chuzzlewit sugeriu: - Cisnes.

- Não - disse o sr. Pecksniff. - Não são cisnes. Embora sejam muito parecidos. Obrigado.

O sobrinho que tinha apenas o esboço de um rosto falou pela primeira e última vez naquele dia: - Ostras.

Original English Version

'No!' interposed the strong-minded woman in a loud voice.

'Then I will not,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'You are quite right, my dear madam, and I appreciate and thank you for your discriminating objection--our respected relative, to dispose himself to listen to the promptings of nature, and not to the--'

'Go on, Pa!' cried Mercy.

'Why, the truth is, my dear,' said Mr Pecksniff, smiling upon his assembled kindred, 'that I am at a loss for a word. The name of those fabulous animals (pagan, I regret to say) who used to sing in the water, has quite escaped me.'

Mr George Chuzzlewit suggested 'swans.'

'No,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'Not swans. Very like swans, too. Thank you.'

The nephew with the outline of a countenance, speaking for the first and last time on that occasion, propounded 'Oysters.'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Não!", interrompeu a mulher de espírito forte em voz alta.

"Então não direi", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. "A senhora tem toda a razão, minha cara senhora, e aprecio e agradeço sua judiciosa objeção... para induzir nosso respeitado parente a dispor-se a ouvir os apelos da natureza, e não os..."

- Continue, papai! - exclamou Mercy.

- Ora, a verdade, minha querida - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, sorrindo para os parentes reunidos - , é que me falta uma palavra. O nome daqueles animais fabulosos (pagãos, lamento dizer) que costumavam cantar na água me fugiu por completo.

O Sr. George Chuzzlewit sugeriu "cisnes".

- Não - disse o Sr. Pecksniff. - Não são cisnes. Mas bem parecidos com cisnes. Obrigado.

O sobrinho que tinha apenas o esboço de uma fisionomia, falando pela primeira e última vez naquela ocasião, propôs "ostras".

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Não - disse o sr. Pecksniff com sua educação especial - , não são ostras. Mas também não são nada diferentes delas. É uma excelente ideia. Muito obrigado, meu caro senhor. Espere! Sereias. Meu Deus, sereias, é claro. Talvez possamos convencer nosso respeitado parente a ouvir a natureza, não os truques sedutores da arte. Devemos lembrar que nosso querido amigo tem um neto a quem amava muito até pouco tempo atrás. Gostaria que ele estivesse aqui hoje, pois me importo verdadeira e profundamente com ele. Um excelente jovem, um jovem excelente! Poderíamos eliminar a desconfiança do sr. Chuzzlewit e provar que não buscamos vantagem pessoal ao...

- Se o sr. George Chuzzlewit tem algo a me dizer - afirmou com firmeza a mulher de personalidade forte - , que fale como homem, em vez de olhar para mim e minhas filhas como se pudesse nos comer.

- Quanto a olhar, sra. Ned - respondeu irritado o sr. George - , ouvi dizer que um gato pode olhar para um rei. Nasci nesta família, então espero poder olhar para alguém que entrou nela pelo casamento. E, seja o que for que seu ciúme e sua decepção a façam pensar, não sou canibal, senhora.

Original English Version

'No,' said Mr Pecksniff, with his own peculiar urbanity, 'nor oysters. But by no means unlike oysters; a very excellent idea; thank you, my dear sir, very much. Wait! Sirens. Dear me! sirens, of course. I think, I say, that means might be devised of disposing our respected relative to listen to the promptings of nature, and not to the siren-like delusions of art. Now we must not lose sight of the fact that our esteemed friend has a grandson, to whom he was, until lately, very much attached, and whom I could have wished to see here to-day, for I have a real and deep regard for him. A fine young man, a very fine young man! I would submit to you, whether we might not remove Mr Chuzzlewit's distrust of us, and vindicate our own disinterestedness by--'

'If Mr George Chuzzlewit has anything to say to ME,' interposed the strong-minded woman, sternly, 'I beg him to speak out like a man; and not to look at me and my daughters as if he could eat us.'

'As to looking, I have heard it said, Mrs Ned,' returned Mr George, angrily, 'that a cat is free to contemplate a monarch; and therefore I hope I have some right, having been born a member of this family, to look at a person who only came into it by marriage. As to eating, I beg to say, whatever bitterness your jealousies and disappointed expectations may suggest to you, that I am not a cannibal, ma'am.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Não - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, com sua peculiar urbanidade - , tampouco ostras. Mas de modo algum diferentes de ostras; uma ideia excelente; muito obrigado, meu caro senhor. Espere! Sereias. Santo Deus! Sereias, é claro. Creio, dizia eu, que se poderiam conceber meios de levar nosso respeitado parente a escutar os apelos da natureza, e não as ilusões da arte, semelhantes ao canto das sereias. Ora, não devemos perder de vista o fato de que nosso estimado amigo tem um neto, por quem até recentemente nutria grande afeição e a quem eu teria desejado ver aqui hoje, pois tenho por ele uma consideração verdadeira e profunda. Um belo jovem, um jovem muito distinto! Eu lhes perguntaria se não poderíamos dissipar a desconfiança do Sr. Chuzzlewit em relação a nós e provar nosso próprio desinteresse...

- Se o Sr. George Chuzzlewit tem alguma coisa a dizer a MEU respeito - interrompeu severamente a mulher de caráter forte - , peço-lhe que fale abertamente como um homem, em vez de olhar para mim e minhas filhas como se pudesse nos devorar.

- Quanto a olhar, ouvi dizer, Sra. Ned - replicou o Sr. George, irritado - , que até um gato tem liberdade para contemplar um rei; portanto, espero ter algum direito, tendo nascido membro desta família, de olhar para uma pessoa que só ingressou nela pelo casamento. Quanto a devorá-la, permita-me dizer, senhora, não importa o que lhe sugiram a amargura de seus ciúmes e suas expectativas frustradas, que não sou canibal.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Não tenho certeza disso! - gritou a mulher de personalidade forte.

- De qualquer modo, se eu fosse canibal - disse o sr. George Chuzzlewit, encorajado pela resposta - , acharia muito dura uma senhora que sobreviveu a três maridos e sofreu tão pouco com a perda deles.

A mulher de personalidade forte levantou-se imediatamente.

O sr. George assentia ferozmente a cada duas sílabas. - Acrescentarei isto sem citar nomes, para que apenas pessoas de consciência culpada se sintam feridas. Quem entrou nesta família enganando seus membros e depois os dominou até que ficassem felizes por morrer deveria parar de agir como abutre em torno dos parentes ainda vivos. Seria melhor e mais correto que essas pessoas ficassem em casa. Deveriam se contentar com o que já têm, em vez de ficar rondando e enfiando os dedos na torta desta família. Mesmo a cinquenta milhas de distância, já lhe dão sabor mais que suficiente.

Original English Version

'I don't know that!' cried the strong-minded woman.

'At all events, if I was a cannibal,' said Mr George Chuzzlewit, greatly stimulated by this retort, 'I think it would occur to me that a lady who had outlived three husbands, and suffered so very little from their loss, must be most uncommonly tough.'

The strong-minded woman immediately rose.

'And I will further add,' said Mr George, nodding his head violently at every second syllable; 'naming no names, and therefore hurting nobody but those whose consciences tell them they are alluded to, that I think it would be much more decent and becoming, if those who hooked and crooked themselves into this family by getting on the blind side of some of its members before marriage, and manslaughtering them afterwards by crowing over them to that strong pitch that they were glad to die, would refrain from acting the part of vultures in regard to other members of this family who are living. I think it would be full as well, if not better, if those individuals would keep at home, contenting themselves with what they have got (luckily for them) already; instead of hovering about, and thrusting their fingers into, a family pie, which they flavour much more than enough, I can tell them, when they are fifty miles away.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Não tenho tanta certeza! - exclamou a mulher de caráter forte.

- De qualquer modo, se eu fosse canibal - disse o Sr. George Chuzzlewit, muito estimulado pela réplica - , creio que me ocorreria que uma senhora que sobreviveu a três maridos e sofreu tão pouco com a perda deles deveria ser extraordinariamente dura.

A mulher de caráter forte levantou-se imediatamente.

- E acrescentarei ainda - disse o Sr. George, sacudindo violentamente a cabeça a cada segunda sílaba - , sem citar nomes e, portanto, sem ferir ninguém além daqueles cuja consciência lhes diga que são o alvo, que me pareceria muito mais decente e apropriado se os que se introduziram nesta família por bem ou por mal, aproveitando-se do lado cego de alguns de seus membros antes do casamento e depois os matando ao atormentá-los a tal ponto que eles se alegraram de morrer, se abstivessem de desempenhar o papel de abutres em relação a outros membros vivos desta família. Creio que seria tão bom, se não melhor, que esses indivíduos ficassem em casa, contentando-se com o que (para sorte deles) já obtiveram, em vez de pairar por aí e enfiar os dedos numa torta familiar à qual, posso lhes garantir, dão sabor mais do que suficiente mesmo quando estão a cinquenta milhas de distância.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A mulher de personalidade forte foi até a porta com um sorriso de desprezo, seguida pelas três filhas. - Eu poderia ter esperado isso! Esperei desde o início. O que mais poderia esperar num lugar como este!

- Por favor, não volte para mim seus olhos de oficial reformado com meio soldo, senhora - interrompeu a srta. Charity. - Não vou tolerar isso.

Foi um ataque direto à pensão que a mulher de personalidade forte recebera depois da morte do segundo marido e antes do último casamento. Isso a feriu profundamente.

- Sua garota miserável - disse a sra. Ned - , um país agradecido se esqueceu de mim quando entrei nesta família. Agora sinto que foi justo. Perdi meu direito ao Reino Unido da Grã-Bretanha e Irlanda quando me rebaixei dessa maneira. Agora, minhas queridas, se estão prontas e aprenderam o bastante com o exemplo educado destas duas jovens, iremos embora. Sr. Pecksniff, agradecemos. Viemos para nos divertir, e o entretenimento que ofereceu superou muito nossas maiores esperanças. Obrigada. Adeus!

Original English Version

'I might have been prepared for this!' cried the strong-minded woman, looking about her with a disdainful smile as she moved towards the door, followed by her three daughters. 'Indeed I was fully prepared for it from the first. What else could I expect in such an atmosphere as this!'

'Don't direct your halfpay-officers' gaze at me, ma'am, if you please,' interposed Miss Charity; 'for I won't bear it.'

This was a smart stab at a pension enjoyed by the strong-minded woman, during her second widowhood and before her last coverture. It told immensely.

'I passed from the memory of a grateful country, you very miserable minx,' said Mrs Ned, 'when I entered this family; and I feel now, though I did not feel then, that it served me right, and that I lost my claim upon the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland when I so degraded myself. Now, my dears, if you're quite ready, and have sufficiently improved yourselves by taking to heart the genteel example of these two young ladies, I think we'll go. Mr Pecksniff, we are very much obliged to you, really. We came to be entertained, and you have far surpassed our utmost expectations, in the amusement you have provided for us. Thank you. Good-bye!'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Eu devia estar preparada para isto! - exclamou a mulher de caráter forte, olhando ao redor com um sorriso desdenhoso enquanto avançava para a porta, seguida pelas três filhas. - Na verdade, estava plenamente preparada desde o início. Que mais poderia esperar numa atmosfera como esta!

- Não dirija para mim esse olhar de oficial reformado a meio soldo, senhora, por favor - interrompeu a Srta. Charity - , pois não o tolerarei.

Foi um golpe certeiro contra uma pensão que a mulher de caráter forte recebera durante sua segunda viuvez e antes do último casamento. O efeito foi tremendo.

- Deixei de ser lembrada por uma pátria agradecida, sua miserável atrevida - disse a Sra. Ned - , quando entrei nesta família; e sinto agora, embora não o sentisse então, que foi bem feito e que perdi meus direitos perante o Reino Unido da Grã-Bretanha e Irlanda quando me rebaixei dessa maneira. Agora, minhas queridas, se estão prontas e já se aprimoraram o bastante levando a peito o distinto exemplo destas duas jovens, creio que iremos. Sr. Pecksniff, estamos realmente muito agradecidas. Viemos para ser entretidas, e o senhor superou em muito nossas maiores expectativas com a diversão que nos proporcionou. Obrigada. Adeus!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Essas últimas palavras deixaram os Pecksniff sem reação. A mulher de personalidade forte saiu rapidamente da sala e da casa com as filhas. As três ergueram o nariz e riram com desprezo. Ao passarem pela janela da sala, fingiram sentir grande alegria juntas. Com esse insulto final, que desanimou muito os que estavam dentro, desapareceram.

Antes que o sr. Pecksniff ou os visitantes restantes pudessem falar, alguém passou correndo pela janela na direção oposta. Então o sr. Spottletoe entrou de repente. Comparado ao calor atual, ele saíra como um homem de neve. Óleo escorria da cabeça para as suíças, o rosto estava vermelho, os membros tremiam e ele respirava com dificuldade.

- Meu bom senhor! - gritou o sr. Pecksniff.

- Ah, sim! - respondeu o outro. - Ah, sim, certamente! Ah, é claro! Estão ouvindo? Todos estão ouvindo?

- O que aconteceu? - gritaram várias vozes.

- Ah, nada! - gritou Spottletoe, ainda ofegante. - Absolutamente nada! Não importa! Perguntem a ele! Ele contará!

Original English Version

With such departing words, did this strong-minded female paralyse the Pecksniffian energies; and so she swept out of the room, and out of the house, attended by her daughters, who, as with one accord, elevated their three noses in the air, and joined in a contemptuous titter. As they passed the parlour window on the outside, they were seen to counterfeit a perfect transport of delight among themselves; and with this final blow and great discouragement for those within, they vanished.

Before Mr Pecksniff or any of his remaining visitors could offer a remark, another figure passed this window, coming, at a great rate in the opposite direction; and immediately afterwards, Mr Spottletoe burst into the chamber. Compared with his present state of heat, he had gone out a man of snow or ice. His head distilled such oil upon his whiskers, that they were rich and clogged with unctuous drops; his face was violently inflamed, his limbs trembled; and he gasped and strove for breath.

'My good sir!' cried Mr Pecksniff.

'Oh yes!' returned the other; 'oh yes, certainly! Oh to be sure! Oh, of course! You hear him? You hear himâ all of you!'

'What's the matter?' cried several voices.

'Oh nothing!' cried Spottletoe, still gasping. 'Nothing at all! It's of no consequence! Ask him! HE'll tell you!'

Tradução Integral em Português

Com tais palavras de despedida essa mulher de caráter forte paralisou as energias pecksniffianas; e assim saiu impetuosamente da sala e da casa, acompanhada pelas filhas, que, como de comum acordo, ergueram os três narizes no ar e soltaram risinhos de desprezo. Ao passarem por fora da janela da sala, foram vistas fingindo entre si um perfeito êxtase de alegria; e, com esse golpe final e grande desalento para os que estavam lá dentro, desapareceram.

Antes que o Sr. Pecksniff ou qualquer dos visitantes restantes pudesse fazer uma observação, outra figura passou pela janela, vindo a grande velocidade na direção oposta; e logo depois o Sr. Spottletoe irrompeu no aposento. Comparado a seu atual estado de calor, saíra de casa como um homem de neve ou gelo. Sua cabeça destilava tamanho óleo sobre as suíças que estas estavam empastadas de gotas untuosas; seu rosto ardia intensamente, seus membros tremiam; e ele arfava e lutava para respirar.

- Meu caro senhor! - exclamou o Sr. Pecksniff.

- Ah, sim! - replicou o outro. - Ah, sim, certamente! Ah, sem dúvida! Ah, é claro! Vocês o ouviram? Ouviram? Todos vocês!

- O que aconteceu? - exclamaram várias vozes.

- Ah, nada! - exclamou Spottletoe, ainda ofegante. - Absolutamente nada! Não tem importância! Perguntem a ele! ELE lhes dirá!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O sr. Pecksniff olhou ao redor completamente surpreso. - Não entendo nosso amigo. Garanto que ele não faz sentido para mim.

- Não faço sentido, senhor! - gritou o outro. - Afirma que não sabe o que aconteceu? Afirma que não nos enganou para virmos aqui e não fez um plano contra nós? Ousará dizer que não sabia que o sr. Chuzzlewit estava partindo e que não sabe que ele foi embora?

- Foi embora! - gritaram todos.

- Foi embora - repetiu o sr. Spottletoe. - Foi embora enquanto estávamos aqui sentados. Foi embora. Ninguém sabe para onde. É claro que ninguém sabia que ele partiria! Até o último momento, a estalajadeira pensava que eles apenas sairiam para passear; não suspeitou de nada. É claro que ela não é criada deste sujeito!

O cavalheiro irritado acrescentou um uivo irônico, olhou para o grupo durante um instante de silêncio repentino e saiu correndo outra vez com a mesma grande velocidade. Não foi visto novamente.

Original English Version

'I do not understand our friend,' said Mr Pecksniff, looking about him in utter amazement. 'I assure you that he is quite unintelligible to me.'

'Unintelligible, sir!' cried the other. 'Unintelligible! Do you mean to say, sir, that you don't know what has happened! That you haven't decoyed us here, and laid a plot and a plan against us! Will you venture to say that you didn't know Mr Chuzzlewit was going, sir, and that you don't know he's gone, sir?'

'Gone!' was the general cry.

'Gone,' echoed Mr Spottletoe. 'Gone while we were sitting here. Gone. Nobody knows where he's gone. Oh, of course not! Nobody knew he was going. Oh, of course not! The landlady thought up to the very last moment that they were merely going for a ride; she had no other suspicion. Oh, of course not! She's not this fellow's creature. Oh, of course not!'

Adding to these exclamations a kind of ironical howl, and gazing upon the company for one brief instant afterwards, in a sudden silence, the irritated gentleman started off again at the same tremendous pace, and was seen no more.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Não compreendo nosso amigo - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, olhando ao redor em completo espanto. - Garanto-lhes que ele me é de todo ininteligível.

- Ininteligível, senhor! - exclamou o outro. - Ininteligível! Quer dizer, senhor, que não sabe o que aconteceu? Que não nos atraiu até aqui e não armou uma trama e um plano contra nós? Ousa dizer que não sabia que o Sr. Chuzzlewit ia partir, senhor, e que não sabe que ele partiu, senhor?

- Partiu! - foi a exclamação geral.

- Partiu - ecoou o Sr. Spottletoe. - Partiu enquanto estávamos sentados aqui. Partiu. Ninguém sabe para onde foi. Ah, é claro que não! Ninguém sabia que ele ia embora. Ah, é claro que não! Até o último instante, a estalajadeira pensou que eles estavam apenas saindo para um passeio; não teve nenhuma outra suspeita. Ah, é claro que não! Ela não é criatura desse sujeito. Ah, é claro que não!

Acrescentando a essas exclamações uma espécie de uivo irônico e, logo depois, fitando a companhia por um breve instante num silêncio repentino, o cavalheiro irritado tornou a partir à mesma velocidade tremenda e não foi mais visto.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O sr. Pecksniff tentou em vão garantir que aquela fuga oportuna da família o chocava e surpreendia tanto quanto a qualquer pessoa. Cada parente restante se despediu atacando-o e culpando-o com mais energia e sentimento do que alguém jamais demonstrara contra uma única pessoa azarada.

O sr. Tigg adotou uma posição extremamente moral. A prima surda sofreu a dor adicional de ver tudo, mas ouvir apenas a notícia final. Esfregou os sapatos no limpador e depois deixou marcas por todo o degrau superior, mostrando que sacudia a poeira dos pés antes de deixar aquela casa desonesta e traiçoeira.

O sr. Pecksniff teve um consolo: todos aqueles parentes e amigos já o odiavam tanto quanto podiam, e ele não lhes dera mais amor do que podia facilmente retirar de sua grande reserva. Esse pensamento o consolou muito. Isso mostra como um homem bom pode ser facilmente consolado depois do fracasso e da decepção.

Original English Version

It was in vain for Mr Pecksniff to assure them that this new and opportune evasion of the family was at least as great a shock and surprise to him as to anybody else. Of all the bullyings and denunciations that were ever heaped on one unlucky head, none can ever have exceeded in energy and heartiness those with which he was complimented by each of his remaining relatives, singly, upon bidding him farewell.

The moral position taken by Mr Tigg was something quite tremendous; and the deaf cousin, who had the complicated aggravation of seeing all the proceedings and hearing nothing but the catastrophe, actually scraped her shoes upon the scraper, and afterwards distributed impressions of them all over the top step, in token that she shook the dust from her feet before quitting that dissembling and perfidious mansion.

Mr Pecksniff had, in short, but one comfort, and that was the knowledge that all these his relations and friends had hated him to the very utmost extent before; and that he, for his part, had not distributed among them any more love than, with his ample capital in that respect, he could comfortably afford to part with. This view of his affairs yielded him great consolation; and the fact deserves to be noted, as showing with what ease a good man may be consoled under circumstances of failure and disappointment.

Tradução Integral em Português

Foi inútil o Sr. Pecksniff assegurar-lhes que essa nova e oportuna evasão da família era para ele choque e surpresa tão grandes quanto para qualquer outro. De todas as intimidações e denúncias que já se acumularam sobre uma cabeça desafortunada, nenhuma pode jamais ter superado em energia e veemência aquelas com que cada um dos parentes restantes o brindou individualmente ao se despedir.

A posição moral assumida pelo Sr. Tigg foi algo verdadeiramente tremendo; e a prima surda, que sofria o agravante complexo de ver tudo o que ocorria e nada ouvir além da catástrofe, chegou a raspar os sapatos no raspador e depois espalhou as marcas deles por todo o degrau superior, em sinal de que sacudia o pó dos pés antes de abandonar aquela mansão dissimulada e pérfida.

Em suma, o Sr. Pecksniff tinha apenas um consolo: saber que todos esses parentes e amigos já o odiavam até o limite máximo; e que ele, por sua vez, não distribuíra entre eles mais amor do que, com seu amplo capital nesse aspecto, podia confortavelmente dar-se ao luxo de dispensar. Essa visão de seus assuntos proporcionou-lhe grande consolo; e o fato merece registro por mostrar com que facilidade um homem bom pode consolar-se em circunstâncias de fracasso e decepção.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Chapter Five

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

CONTENDO UM RELATO COMPLETO DA ENTRADA DO NOVO ALUNO DO SR. PECKSNIFF NO SEIO DA FAMÍLIA PECKSNIFF, COM TODAS AS FESTIVIDADES REALIZADAS NA OCASIÃO E A GRANDE ALEGRIA DO SR. PINCH

O excelente arquiteto e agrimensor possuía um cavalo. Inimigos mencionados antes afirmavam ver uma semelhança imaginária entre o cavalo e o dono. Não se referiam à aparência, pois o animal era magro, ossudo e gasto. Também recebia sempre muito menos milho que o sr. Pecksniff. Referiam-se ao caráter. O cavalo prometia muito, mas nada fazia. Parecia sempre prestes a andar, mas nunca andava. Mesmo em sua maior lentidão, levantava tanto as pernas e se movia com tanta ação que parecia viajar a vinte e dois quilômetros por hora. Estava perfeitamente satisfeito com a própria velocidade e nunca se preocupava ao ser comparado aos cavalos mais rápidos. Enchia desconhecidos de esperança viva, mas aqueles que o conheciam, de sombrio desespero. Somente os inimigos do sr. Pecksniff poderiam explicar como essas qualidades o tornavam parecido com o dono. Infelizmente, o mundo cruel fazia essa comparação.

Original English Version

CONTAINING A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE INSTALLATION OF MR PECKSNIFF'S NEW PUPIL INTO THE BOSOM OF MR PECKSNIFF'S FAMILY. WITH ALL THE FESTIVITIES HELD ON THAT OCCASION, AND THE GREAT ENJOYMENT OF MR PINCH

The best of architects and land surveyors kept a horse, in whom the enemies already mentioned more than once in these pages pretended to detect a fanciful resemblance to his master. Not in his outward person, for he was a raw-boned, haggard horse, always on a much shorter allowance of corn than Mr Pecksniff; but in his moral character, wherein, said they, he was full of promise, but of no performance. He was always in a manner, going to go, and never going. When at his slowest rate of travelling he would sometimes lift up his legs so high, and display such mighty action, that it was difficult to believe he was doing less than fourteen miles an hour; and he was for ever so perfectly satisfied with his own speed, and so little disconcerted by opportunities of comparing himself with the fastest trotters, that the illusion was the more difficult of resistance. He was a kind of animal who infused into the breasts of strangers a lively sense of hope, and possessed all those who knew him better with a grim despair. In what respect, having these points of character, he might be fairly likened to his master, that good man's slanderers only can explain. But it is a melancholy truth, and a deplorable instance of the uncharitableness of the world, that they made the comparison.

Tradução Integral em Português

CONTENDO UM RELATO COMPLETO DA INSTALAÇÃO DO NOVO APRENDIZ DO SR. PECKSNIFF NO SEIO DA FAMÍLIA DO SR. PECKSNIFF. COM TODAS AS FESTIVIDADES REALIZADAS NA OCASIÃO E O GRANDE DELEITE DO SR. PINCH

O melhor dos arquitetos e agrimensores possuía um cavalo no qual os inimigos já mencionados mais de uma vez nestas páginas fingiam detectar uma fantasiosa semelhança com o dono. Não na aparência exterior, pois era um cavalo ossudo e esquálido, sempre com uma ração de grãos muito menor que a do Sr. Pecksniff; mas no caráter moral, em que, segundo diziam, era cheio de promessas, porém vazio de realizações. Estava sempre, de certo modo, prestes a andar, sem nunca andar. Quando avançava em seu ritmo mais lento, às vezes erguia as pernas tão alto e exibia ação tão vigorosa que era difícil acreditar que percorresse menos de quatorze milhas por hora; e vivia tão perfeitamente satisfeito com a própria velocidade e tão pouco desconcertado pelas oportunidades de se comparar aos trotadores mais velozes que era ainda mais difícil resistir à ilusão. Era o tipo de animal que infundia no peito dos estranhos um vivo sentimento de esperança e tomava de sombrio desespero todos os que o conheciam melhor. Em que aspecto, dados esses traços de caráter, ele poderia ser justamente comparado ao dono, apenas os caluniadores daquele bom homem podem explicar. Mas é uma triste verdade, e um exemplo deplorável da falta de caridade do mundo, que eles faziam a comparação.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Numa manhã clara e gelada, todos os pensamentos e desejos do sr. Pinch se concentravam naquele cavalo e no veículo coberto que ele costumava puxar. Qualquer que fosse o nome correto do veículo, parecia mais uma charrete inchada que qualquer outra coisa. Nessa bela carruagem, o sr. Pinch viajaria sozinho até Salisbury, encontraria o novo aluno e o traria para casa em triunfo.

Original English Version

In this horse, and the hooded vehicle, whatever its proper name might be, to which he was usually harnessed--it was more like a gig with a tumour than anything else--all Mr Pinch's thoughts and wishes centred, one bright frosty morning; for with this gallant equipage he was about to drive to Salisbury alone, there to meet with the new pupil, and thence to bring him home in triumph.

Tradução Integral em Português

Nesse cavalo e no veículo com capota, fosse qual fosse seu nome correto, ao qual ele costumava ser atrelado - mais parecia uma charrete com um tumor do que qualquer outra coisa - concentravam-se todos os pensamentos e desejos do Sr. Pinch numa manhã clara e gelada; pois, com essa valente equipagem, estava prestes a ir sozinho a Salisbury, ali encontrar o novo aprendiz e, de lá, trazê-lo triunfalmente para casa.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Abençoe seu coração simples, Tom Pinch. Você abotoa com orgulho o casaco fino, chamado erradamente de "sobretudo" durante anos. Alegremente, diz a Sam, o cavalariço, que ainda não deixe o cavalo partir, acreditando plenamente que ele deseja ir e iria se pudesse. Quem não sorriria com carinho, sem zombar do pobre Tom, por essas férias deixarem você tão animado? Você larga a grande caneca branca quase sem prová-la; colocara-a ali na noite anterior para que o café da manhã não o atrasasse. Deixa uma crosta ao lado para comer mais tarde na estrada, quando estiver mais calmo. Enquanto parte feliz e assente agradecido para Pecksniff, de gorro na janela do quarto, quem não gritaria: "Que o Céu o guie, Tom. Que esteja partindo para sempre rumo a um lar tranquilo, onde possa viver em paz e a tristeza nunca o alcance!"

Original English Version

Blessings on thy simple heart, Tom Pinch, how proudly dost thou button up that scanty coat, called by a sad misnomer, for these many years, a 'great' one; and how thoroughly, as with thy cheerful voice thou pleasantly adjurest Sam the hostler 'not to let him go yet,' dost thou believe that quadruped desires to go, and would go if he might! Who could repress a smile--of love for thee, Tom Pinch, and not in jest at thy expense, for thou art poor enough already, Heaven knows--to think that such a holiday as lies before thee should awaken that quick flow and hurry of the spirits, in which thou settest down again, almost untasted, on the kitchen window-sill, that great white mug (put by, by thy own hands, last night, that breakfast might not hold thee late), and layest yonder crust upon the seat beside thee, to be eaten on the road, when thou art calmer in thy high rejoicing! Who, as thou drivest off, a happy, man, and noddest with a grateful lovingness to Pecksniff in his nightcap at his chamber-window, would not cry, 'Heaven speed thee, Tom, and send that thou wert going off for ever to some quiet home where thou mightst live at peace, and sorrow should not touch thee!'

Tradução Integral em Português

Bênçãos sobre teu coração ingênuo, Tom Pinch! Com que orgulho abotoas esse casaco exíguo, chamado há tantos anos, por triste impropriedade, de "sobretudo"; e como acreditas inteiramente, ao advertires com tua voz alegre e agradável Sam, o cavalariço, a "não deixá-lo partir ainda", que aquele quadrúpede deseja partir e partiria se pudesse! Quem conseguiria reprimir um sorriso - de amor por ti, Tom Pinch, e não por zombaria às tuas custas, pois já és pobre o bastante, Deus sabe - ao pensar que um feriado como o que tens pela frente deveria despertar essa rápida corrente e agitação de ânimo com que tornas a pousar, quase sem provar, no peitoril da janela da cozinha, aquela grande caneca branca (separada por tuas próprias mãos na noite passada para que o desjejum não te atrasasse), e colocas aquela crosta de pão sobre o assento ao teu lado, para comê-la na estrada quando estiveres mais calmo em teu sublime júbilo! Quem, quando partes, homem feliz, e acenas com amor agradecido para Pecksniff, de touca de dormir à janela do quarto, não exclamaria: "Que o Céu te acompanhe, Tom, e permita que partisses para sempre rumo a algum lar tranquilo onde pudesses viver em paz e a tristeza não te tocasse!"?

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Que momento melhor para viajar do que uma manhã fresca e gelada, quando a esperança corre pelo corpo com o sangue rápido? Era o começo feliz de um dia frio e fresco do início do inverno, melhor que o verão lento e a primavera apenas meio quente. Os sinos das ovelhas tocavam claramente no ar forte, como seres vivos que também sentiam seu poder saudável. Em vez de folhas e flores, as árvores deixavam cair geada brilhante como pó de diamante. Pelo menos era assim que Tom via. A fumaça subia alto das chaminés das casas, como se a bela terra não suportasse fumaça pesada. O gelo fino e transparente sobre o riacho parecia ter parado a água viva para que ela contemplasse a linda manhã. Para impedir que o sol quebrasse o encanto cedo demais, uma névoa semelhante à que rodeia a lua nas noites de verão se movia entre o sol e o chão. Para Tom, parecia pedir ao sol que a derretesse suavemente.

Original English Version

What better time for driving, riding, walking, moving through the air by any means, than a fresh, frosty morning, when hope runs cheerily through the veins with the brisk blood, and tingles in the frame from head to foot! This was the glad commencement of a bracing day in early winter, such as may put the languid summer season (speaking of it when it can't be had) to the blush, and shame the spring for being sometimes cold by halves. The sheep-bells rang as clearly in the vigorous air, as if they felt its wholesome influence like living creatures; the trees, in lieu of leaves or blossoms, shed upon the ground a frosty rime that sparkled as it fell, and might have been the dust of diamonds. So it was to Tom. From cottage chimneys, smoke went streaming up high, high, as if the earth had lost its grossness, being so fair, and must not be oppressed by heavy vapour. The crust of ice on the else rippling brook was so transparent, and so thin in texture, that the lively water might of its own free will have stopped--in Tom's glad mind it had--to look upon the lovely morning. And lest the sun should break this charm too eagerly, there moved between him and the ground, a mist like that which waits upon the moon on summer nights--the very same to Tom--and wooed him to dissolve it gently.

Tradução Integral em Português

Que momento melhor para conduzir, cavalgar, caminhar, deslocar-se pelo ar por qualquer meio, do que uma manhã fresca e gelada, quando a esperança corre alegre pelas veias com o sangue vivaz e formiga no corpo da cabeça aos pés! Era o feliz começo de um dia revigorante no início do inverno, capaz de fazer corar de vergonha a lânguida estação do verão (falando dela quando não se pode tê-la) e envergonhar a primavera por às vezes ser apenas meio fria. Os sinos das ovelhas soavam no ar vigoroso com tanta clareza como se, quais criaturas vivas, sentissem sua influência salutar; as árvores, em lugar de folhas ou flores, lançavam ao chão uma geada branca que cintilava ao cair e poderia ser pó de diamantes. Assim era para Tom. Das chaminés das casas, a fumaça subia alto, muito alto, como se a terra, de tão bela, houvesse perdido sua matéria grosseira e não devesse ser oprimida por vapores pesados. A crosta de gelo sobre o riacho que de outro modo ondulava era tão transparente e tão fina que a água vivaz poderia ter parado por livre vontade - no espírito alegre de Tom, parara - para contemplar a linda manhã. E, para que o sol não rompesse o encanto com demasiada avidez, movia-se entre ele e o solo uma névoa semelhante à que acompanha a lua nas noites de verão - exatamente a mesma para Tom - , convidando-o a dissolvê-la suavemente.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Tom Pinch prosseguiu, não depressa, mas sentindo que avançava rapidamente, e muitas coisas o mantinham feliz. Quando ainda estava longe do pedágio, viu a esposa do cobrador correr de volta para a pequena casa depois de parar uma carroça, sabendo que o sr. Pinch se aproximava. Quando chegou perto o bastante para chamar, os filhos do cobrador correram para fora gritando: "Sr. Pinch!" Isso encantou Tom. Até o cobrador, geralmente feio e evitado pelas pessoas, saiu para receber a tarifa e dar um rude bom-dia. Com essa recepção e a visão do café da manhã deles numa mesa redonda junto ao fogo, a crosta de Tom teve o sabor rico do pão de um conto de fadas.

Mas casados e crianças não eram os únicos a receber Tom Pinch. Jovens de olhos brilhantes e peitos brancos como neve correram a muitas janelas dos andares superiores quando ele passou. Retribuíram seu cumprimento sete vezes. Todas estavam alegres e riam. Algumas das mais ousadas até lhe mandaram beijos quando Tom olhou para trás. Quem se preocupava com o pobre sr. Pinch? Ele não fazia mal a ninguém.

Original English Version

Tom Pinch went on; not fast, but with a sense of rapid motion, which did just as well; and as he went, all kinds of things occurred to keep him happy. Thus when he came within sight of the turnpike, and was--oh a long way off!--he saw the tollman's wife, who had that moment checked a waggon, run back into the little house again like mad, to say (she knew) that Mr Pinch was coming up. And she was right, for when he drew within hail of the gate, forth rushed the tollman's children, shrieking in tiny chorus, 'Mr Pinch!' to Tom's intense delight. The very tollman, though an ugly chap in general, and one whom folks were rather shy of handling, came out himself to take the toll, and give him rough good morning; and that with all this, and a glimpse of the family breakfast on a little round table before the fire, the crust Tom Pinch had brought away with him acquired as rich a flavour as though it had been cut from a fairy loaf.

But there was more than this. It was not only the married people and the children who gave Tom Pinch a welcome as he passed. No, no. Sparkling eyes and snowy breasts came hurriedly to many an upper casement as he clattered by, and gave him back his greeting: not stinted either, but sevenfold, good measure. They were all merry. They all laughed. And some of the wickedest among them even kissed their hands as Tom looked back. For who minded poor Mr Pinch? There was no harm in HIM.

Tradução Integral em Português

Tom Pinch prosseguiu; não depressa, mas com uma sensação de movimento rápido, o que servia tão bem quanto; e, enquanto avançava, toda sorte de coisas acontecia para mantê-lo feliz. Assim, quando avistou o pedágio - e estava, oh, muito longe! - , viu a mulher do cobrador, que acabava de deter uma carroça, correr como louca de volta à casinha para dizer (ele sabia) que o Sr. Pinch vinha chegando. E estava certo, pois, quando chegou ao alcance de um chamado do portão, os filhos do cobrador precipitaram-se para fora, gritando num coro de vozinhas: "Sr. Pinch!", para intenso deleite de Tom. O próprio cobrador, embora em geral fosse um sujeito feio e alguém com quem as pessoas evitavam um pouco lidar, saiu em pessoa para receber o pedágio e dar-lhe um rude bom-dia; e, com tudo isso e um vislumbre do desjejum da família sobre uma mesinha redonda diante do fogo, a crosta de pão que Tom Pinch levara consigo adquiriu um sabor tão rico quanto se tivesse sido cortada de um pão de fadas.

Mas havia mais. Não eram apenas os casados e as crianças que saudavam Tom Pinch quando ele passava. Não, não. Olhos cintilantes e colos alvos acorriam a muitas janelas dos andares superiores quando ele passava ruidosamente e retribuíam seu cumprimento: e não com parcimônia, mas sete vezes, em medida generosa. Todas estavam alegres. Todas riam. E algumas das mais perversas até lhe atiravam beijos quando Tom olhava para trás. Pois quem se importava com o pobre Sr. Pinch? Não havia perigo ALGUM nele.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A manhã ficou tão bonita e viva que o sol pareceu dizer - Tom tinha certeza disso - "Não aguento mais; preciso olhar", e brilhou intensamente. A névoa, tímida e delicada demais para ele, fugiu. Enquanto ia embora, colinas, montes e campos distantes, com ovelhas quietas e corvos barulhentos, apareceram claros e novos. O riacho já não permanecia parado, mas correu depressa para levar a notícia ao moinho três milhas adiante.

O sr. Pinch viajava feliz quando viu um viajante caminhando à frente na mesma direção. O jovem andava leve e depressa, cantando muito alto, mas não mal. Tinha cerca de vinte e cinco ou vinte e seis anos e vestia-se num estilo solto e selvagem. As pontas do lenço vermelho voavam atrás dele, e frutas brilhantes de inverno apareciam na casa do botão do casaco de veludo, tão visíveis por trás quanto pela frente. Cantava com tanta força que não ouviu as rodas até estarem próximas. Então voltou um rosto brincalhão e alegres olhos azuis para o sr. Pinch e parou de cantar.

Original English Version

And now the morning grew so fair, and all things were so wide awake and gay, that the sun seeming to say--Tom had no doubt he said--'I can't stand it any longer; I must have a look,' streamed out in radiant majesty. The mist, too shy and gentle for such lusty company, fled off, quite scared, before it; and as it swept away, the hills and mounds and distant pasture lands, teeming with placid sheep and noisy crows, came out as bright as though they were unrolled bran new for the occasion. In compliment to which discovery, the brook stood still no longer, but ran briskly off to bear the tidings to the water-mill, three miles away.

Mr Pinch was jogging along, full of pleasant thoughts and cheerful influences, when he saw, upon the path before him, going in the same direction with himself, a traveller on foot, who walked with a light quick step, and sang as he went--for certain in a very loud voice, but not unmusically. He was a young fellow, of some five or six-and-twenty perhaps, and was dressed in such a free and fly-away fashion, that the long ends of his loose red neckcloth were streaming out behind him quite as often as before; and the bunch of bright winter berries in the buttonhole of his velveteen coat was as visible to Mr Pinch's rearward observation, as if he had worn that garment wrong side foremost. He continued to sing with so much energy, that he did not hear the sound of wheels until it was close behind him; when he turned a whimsical face and a very merry pair of blue eyes on Mr Pinch, and checked himself directly.

Tradução Integral em Português

E então a manhã tornou-se tão bela e todas as coisas estavam tão despertas e alegres que o sol, parecendo dizer - Tom não tinha dúvida de que o dizia - "Não aguento mais; preciso dar uma olhada", irrompeu em radiante majestade. A névoa, tímida e delicada demais para companhia tão vigorosa, fugiu diante dele, inteiramente assustada; e, ao se dissipar, as colinas, os montes e as pastagens distantes, repletos de ovelhas plácidas e corvos ruidosos, surgiram tão luminosos quanto se tivessem sido desenrolados novinhos em folha para a ocasião. Em homenagem a essa descoberta, o riacho deixou de ficar parado e partiu correndo para levar as notícias ao moinho d'água, três milhas distante.

O Sr. Pinch seguia a trote, cheio de pensamentos agradáveis e influências alegres, quando viu no caminho à sua frente, seguindo a mesma direção, um viajante a pé, que caminhava com passo leve e rápido e cantava enquanto ia - sem dúvida em voz muito alta, mas não sem musicalidade. Era um jovem de talvez vinte e cinco ou vinte e seis anos, vestido de modo tão solto e esvoaçante que as longas pontas do largo lenço vermelho no pescoço flutuavam atrás dele quase tão frequentemente quanto à frente; e o ramalhete de bagas brilhantes de inverno na casa do botão de seu casaco de veludo cotelê era tão visível à observação traseira do Sr. Pinch como se ele trajasse a peça com a frente virada para trás. Continuou cantando com tamanha energia que não ouviu o som das rodas até que estivessem bem perto; então voltou para o Sr. Pinch um rosto extravagante e um par de olhos azuis muito alegres, e calou-se imediatamente.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Tom Pinch parou. - Ora, Mark? Quem imaginaria encontrá-lo aqui? Que surpresa!

Mark tocou o chapéu e, de repente muito menos animado, disse que ia para Salisbury.

O sr. Pinch olhou para ele com grande prazer. - E como está elegante! Eu realmente não imaginava que fosse um sujeito tão bem-feito, Mark!

- Obrigado, sr. Pinch. Creio que sou razoavelmente bem-feito. Não é culpa minha. Mas estar elegante, senhor, aí está o problema - disse ele, parecendo especialmente sombrio.

- Aí está o quê? - perguntou o sr. Pinch.

- Aí está o problema. Qualquer homem pode ser alegre e bem-humorado quando está bem vestido. Não há grande mérito nisso. Se eu estivesse muito esfarrapado e muito feliz, então começaria a sentir que havia realizado alguma coisa, sr. Pinch.

- Então você cantava agora mesmo para lutar contra o fato de estar bem vestido, Mark? - perguntou Pinch.

Original English Version

'Why, Mark?' said Tom Pinch, stopping. 'Who'd have thought of seeing you here? Well! this is surprising!'

Mark touched his hat, and said, with a very sudden decrease of vivacity, that he was going to Salisbury.

'And how spruce you are, too!' said Mr Pinch, surveying him with great pleasure. 'Really, I didn't think you were half such a tight-made fellow, Mark!'

'Thankee, Mr Pinch. Pretty well for that, I believe. It's not my fault, you know. With regard to being spruce, sir, that's where it is, you see.' And here he looked particularly gloomy.

'Where what is?' Mr Pinch demanded.

'Where the aggravation of it is. Any man may be in good spirits and good temper when he's well dressed. There an't much credit in that. If I was very ragged and very jolly, then I should begin to feel I had gained a point, Mr Pinch.'

'So you were singing just now, to bear up, as it were, against being well dressed, eh, Mark?' said Pinch.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Ora, Mark! - disse Tom Pinch, parando. - Quem imaginaria encontrá-lo aqui? Bem! Que surpresa!

Mark tocou no chapéu e disse, com uma súbita redução de vivacidade, que ia para Salisbury.

- E como está elegante também! - disse o Sr. Pinch, examinando-o com grande prazer. - Realmente, não imaginava que você fosse um sujeito nem de longe tão bem-apessoado, Mark!

- Obrigado, Sr. Pinch. Creio que não estou mal nesse aspecto. Não é culpa minha, sabe. Quanto a estar elegante, senhor, aí é que está, veja bem. - E assumiu então um ar particularmente sombrio.

- Aí está o quê? - perguntou o Sr. Pinch.

- Aí está o agravante. Qualquer homem pode ficar animado e bem-humorado quando está bem-vestido. Não há grande mérito nisso. Se eu estivesse muito esfarrapado e muito alegre, então começaria a sentir que havia conquistado alguma coisa, Sr. Pinch.

- Então estava cantando agora mesmo para resistir, por assim dizer, ao fato de estar bem-vestido, não é, Mark? - disse Pinch.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Mark abriu um largo sorriso. - Suas palavras são sempre tão boas quanto um livro, senhor. Era isso mesmo.

- Bem! - gritou Pinch. - Mark, você é o jovem mais estranho que já conheci. Sempre pensei assim, mas agora tenho certeza. Também vou para Salisbury. Quer subir? Ficarei muito feliz com sua companhia.

O jovem agradeceu e aceitou. Entrou imediatamente na carruagem e sentou-se bem na borda, com metade do corpo para fora, para mostrar que estava ali apenas porque o sr. Pinch fora gentil. Enquanto viajavam, conversaram assim.

- Vendo você tão elegante, Mark - disse Pinch - , quase pensei que fosse se casar.

- Bem, senhor, também pensei nisso - respondeu. - Talvez houvesse algum mérito em ser feliz com uma esposa, especialmente se as crianças estivessem com sarampo e fossem muito difíceis. Mas quase tenho medo de tentar. Não vejo como.

Original English Version

'Your conversation's always equal to print, sir,' rejoined Mark, with a broad grin. 'That was it.'

'Well!' cried Pinch, 'you are the strangest young man, Mark, I ever knew in my life. I always thought so; but now I am quite certain of it. I am going to Salisbury, too. Will you get in? I shall be very glad of your company.'

The young fellow made his acknowledgments and accepted the offer; stepping into the carriage directly, and seating himself on the very edge of the seat with his body half out of it, to express his being there on sufferance, and by the politeness of Mr Pinch. As they went along, the conversation proceeded after this manner.

'I more than half believed, just now, seeing you so very smart,' said Pinch, 'that you must be going to be married, Mark.'

'Well, sir, I've thought of that, too,' he replied. 'There might be some credit in being jolly with a wife, 'specially if the children had the measles and that, and was very fractious indeed. But I'm a'most afraid to try it. I don't see my way clear.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Sua conversa é sempre digna de ser impressa, senhor - respondeu Mark com um largo sorriso. - Era isso mesmo.

- Bem! - exclamou Pinch. - Você é o jovem mais estranho que já conheci na vida, Mark. Sempre achei isso, mas agora tenho absoluta certeza. Também vou para Salisbury. Quer subir? Ficarei muito contente com sua companhia.

O jovem agradeceu e aceitou a oferta; entrou imediatamente no veículo e sentou-se bem na beirada do assento, com metade do corpo para fora, para expressar que só estava ali por tolerância e pela cortesia do Sr. Pinch. Enquanto seguiam, a conversa transcorreu desta maneira:

- Agora há pouco, ao vê-lo tão elegante - disse Pinch - , cheguei quase a acreditar que você ia se casar, Mark.

- Bem, senhor, também pensei nisso - respondeu ele. - Poderia haver algum mérito em ficar alegre com uma esposa, especialmente se os filhos estivessem com sarampo e coisas assim e muito malcriados mesmo. Mas quase tenho medo de tentar. Não vejo um caminho claro.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Talvez você não goste muito de ninguém? - perguntou Pinch.

- De ninguém em particular, senhor, creio.

- Mas, segundo seu modo de pensar, Mark - disse o sr. Pinch - , você deveria se casar com alguém de quem não gostasse e que fosse muito desagradável.

- Deveria mesmo, senhor. Mas isso talvez seja levar um princípio um pouco longe demais, não acha?

- Talvez seja - disse o sr. Pinch. Os dois riram alegremente.

- Deus o abençoe, senhor - disse Mark. - O senhor não me conhece nem pela metade. Creio que poderia permanecer mais alegre que qualquer homem em condições que o tornassem infeliz. Só preciso de uma oportunidade, mas não consigo encontrá-la. Ninguém saberá metade do que existe em mim, a menos que algo inesperado aconteça, e não vejo sinal disso. Vou deixar o Dragão, senhor.

- Deixar o Dragão! - gritou o sr. Pinch, muito espantado. - Ora, Mark, você me deixa sem fôlego!

Original English Version

'You're not very fond of anybody, perhaps?' said Pinch.

'Not particular, sir, I think.'

'But the way would be, you know, Mark, according to your views of things,' said Mr Pinch, 'to marry somebody you didn't like, and who was very disagreeable.'

'So it would, sir; but that might be carrying out a principle a little too far, mightn't it?'

'Perhaps it might,' said Mr Pinch. At which they both laughed gayly.

'Lord bless you, sir,' said Mark, 'you don't half know me, though. I don't believe there ever was a man as could come out so strong under circumstances that would make other men miserable, as I could, if I could only get a chance. But I can't get a chance. It's my opinion that nobody never will know half of what's in me, unless something very unexpected turns up. And I don't see any prospect of that. I'm a-going to leave the Dragon, sir.'

'Going to leave the Dragon!' cried Mr Pinch, looking at him with great astonishment. 'Why, Mark, you take my breath away!'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Talvez não goste muito de ninguém? - disse Pinch.

- De ninguém em particular, creio, senhor.

- Mas o jeito, sabe, Mark, segundo sua visão das coisas - disse o Sr. Pinch - , seria casar-se com alguém de quem não gostasse e que fosse muito desagradável.

- Seria, sim, senhor; mas isso talvez fosse levar um princípio um pouco longe demais, não?

- Talvez fosse - disse o Sr. Pinch. Ao que ambos riram alegremente.

- Deus o abençoe, senhor - disse Mark - , mas o senhor não conhece nem a metade de mim. Não acredito que jamais tenha existido um homem capaz de se sair tão bem quanto eu em circunstâncias que tornariam os outros homens infelizes, se eu apenas pudesse ter uma oportunidade. Mas não consigo uma oportunidade. Na minha opinião, ninguém jamais conhecerá nem a metade do que existe dentro de mim, a menos que aconteça algo muito inesperado. E não vejo perspectiva alguma disso. Vou deixar o Dragão, senhor.

- Vai deixar o Dragão! - exclamou o Sr. Pinch, olhando-o com grande espanto. - Ora, Mark, você me tira o fôlego!

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Sim, senhor - disse ele, olhando diretamente para a distância, como fazem as pessoas quando pensam profundamente. - De que serve ficar no Dragão? Não é lugar para MIM. Quando deixei Londres - embora seja natural de Kent - e aceitei este emprego, decidi que era o canto isolado mais monótono da Inglaterra. Pensei que haveria mérito em ser alegre ali. Mas, meu Deus, o Dragão nunca é monótono! Há jogos de boliche, críquete, argolas, pinos, canções cômicas, coros e companhia ao redor do fogo todas as noites de inverno. Qualquer homem poderia ser alegre ali. Não há mérito NISSO.

- Talvez as pessoas estejam dizendo a verdade uma vez, Mark - disse o sr. Pinch. - Acredito nisso pelo que eu mesmo sei. Você cria metade dessa diversão e foi quem a começou.

- Talvez haja algo nisso, senhor - respondeu Mark. - Mas não me consola.

Original English Version

'Yes, sir,' he rejoined, looking straight before him and a long way off, as men do sometimes when they cogitate profoundly. 'What's the use of my stopping at the Dragon? It an't at all the sort of place for ME. When I left London (I'm a Kentish man by birth, though), and took that situation here, I quite made up my mind that it was the dullest little out-of-the-way corner in England, and that there would be some credit in being jolly under such circumstances. But, Lord, there's no dullness at the Dragon! Skittles, cricket, quoits, nine-pins, comic songs, choruses, company round the chimney corner every winter's evening. Any man could be jolly at the Dragon. There's no credit in THAT.'

'But if common report be true for once, Mark, as I think it is, being able to confirm it by what I know myself,' said Mr Pinch, 'you are the cause of half this merriment, and set it going.'

'There may be something in that, too, sir,' answered Mark. 'But that's no consolation.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Sim, senhor - tornou ele, olhando diretamente para a frente e muito ao longe, como os homens às vezes fazem quando meditam profundamente. - Para que serve eu ficar no Dragão? Não é de modo algum o tipo de lugar para MIM. Quando deixei Londres (embora eu seja natural de Kent) e aceitei aquele emprego aqui, estava inteiramente convencido de que este era o cantinho mais tedioso e afastado da Inglaterra, e de que haveria algum mérito em ser alegre em tais circunstâncias. Mas, meu Deus, não há tédio algum no Dragão! Jogo de pinos, críquete, jogo de argolas, boliche de nove pinos, canções cômicas, coros, gente reunida ao pé da lareira todas as noites de inverno. Qualquer homem poderia ser alegre no Dragão. Não há mérito NISSO.

- Mas, se desta vez o rumor geral for verdadeiro, Mark, como creio que seja, pois posso confirmá-lo pelo que eu mesmo sei - disse o Sr. Pinch - , você é a causa de metade dessa alegria e é quem a põe em movimento.

- Talvez também haja algo nisso, senhor - respondeu Mark. - Mas não serve de consolo.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Depois de um breve silêncio, o sr. Pinch falou ainda mais baixo que o normal. - Mal consigo entender o que diz. O que será da sra. Lupin, Mark?

Mark olhou ainda mais longe. Não achava que isso importaria muito para ela; muitos jovens inteligentes aceitariam o emprego com prazer, e ele conhecia uma dúzia.

- Talvez - disse o sr. Pinch - , mas não tenho certeza de que a sra. Lupin os desejaria. Sempre pensei que você e a sra. Lupin se casariam, Mark, e todos que conheço pensavam o mesmo.

- Eu nunca - disse Mark, constrangido - falei algo diretamente parecido com cortejo a ela, nem ela a mim. Mas um dia talvez eu faça alguma coisa, e ela talvez responda. Bem, senhor, ISSO não serviria.

- Não ser o dono do Dragão, Mark? - gritou o sr. Pinch.

- Não, senhor, certamente não - disse ele, desviando os olhos do horizonte para o companheiro de viagem. - Isso arruinaria um homem como eu. Eu viveria confortavelmente para sempre e ninguém me descobriria. Que mérito há no dono do Dragão ser alegre? Ele não conseguiria evitar, mesmo que tentasse.

Original English Version

'Well!' said Mr Pinch, after a short silence, his usually subdued tone being even now more subdued than ever. 'I can hardly think enough of what you tell me. Why, what will become of Mrs Lupin, Mark?'

Mark looked more fixedly before him, and further off still, as he answered that he didn't suppose it would be much of an object to her. There were plenty of smart young fellows as would be glad of the place. He knew a dozen himself.

'That's probable enough,' said Mr Pinch, 'but I am not at all sure that Mrs Lupin would be glad of them. Why, I always supposed that Mrs Lupin and you would make a match of it, Mark; and so did every one, as far as I know.'

'I never,' Mark replied, in some confusion, 'said nothing as was in a direct way courting-like to her, nor she to me, but I don't know what I mightn't do one of these odd times, and what she mightn't say in answer. Well, sir, THAT wouldn't suit.'

'Not to be landlord of the Dragon, Mark?' cried Mr Pinch.

'No, sir, certainly not,' returned the other, withdrawing his gaze from the horizon, and looking at his fellow-traveller. 'Why that would be the ruin of a man like me. I go and sit down comfortably for life, and no man never finds me out. What would be the credit of the landlord of the Dragon's being jolly? Why, he couldn't help it, if he tried.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Bem! - disse o Sr. Pinch depois de um breve silêncio, com seu tom habitualmente contido ainda mais contido que nunca. - Mal consigo assimilar o que você me conta. Ora, o que será da Sra. Lupin, Mark?

Mark fitou ainda mais fixamente à frente e mais longe ainda enquanto respondia que não supunha que isso tivesse grande importância para ela. Havia muitos jovens elegantes que ficariam contentes com o emprego. Ele próprio conhecia uma dúzia.

- Isso é bastante provável - disse o Sr. Pinch - , mas não tenho certeza alguma de que a Sra. Lupin ficaria contente com eles. Ora, sempre supus que a Sra. Lupin e você formariam um casal, Mark; e todos supunham o mesmo, até onde sei.

- Nunca - respondeu Mark, um tanto confuso - disse a ela nada que fosse diretamente parecido com um cortejo, nem ela a mim, mas não sei o que eu poderia fazer um dia desses nem o que ela poderia responder. Bem, senhor, ISSO não serviria.

- Não serviria ser o proprietário do Dragão, Mark? - exclamou o Sr. Pinch.

- Não, senhor, certamente não - respondeu o outro, desviando o olhar do horizonte e fitando o companheiro de viagem. - Ora, isso seria a ruína de um homem como eu. Eu iria me acomodar confortavelmente pelo resto da vida e ninguém jamais me descobriria. Que mérito haveria em o proprietário do Dragão ser alegre? Ora, ele não conseguiria evitar, mesmo que tentasse.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- A sra. Lupin sabe que você pretende deixá-la? - perguntou o sr. Pinch.

- Ainda não contei, senhor, mas preciso contar. Esta manhã estou procurando na cidade um emprego novo e adequado - disse, assentindo na direção da cidade.

- Que tipo de trabalho? - perguntou o sr. Pinch.

- Estava pensando - disse Mark - em trabalhar cavando sepulturas.

- Meu Deus, Mark! - gritou o sr. Pinch.

- É um bom trabalho úmido e cheio de vermes, senhor - disse Mark, argumentando com um movimento da cabeça. - Talvez houvesse mérito em ser alegre ao pensar nisso, a menos que os coveiros sejam geralmente alegres, o que seria uma desvantagem. Sabe como eles costumam ser, senhor?

- Não - disse o sr. Pinch. - Realmente não sei. Nunca pensei nisso.

- Se cavar sepulturas não der certo - pensou Mark em voz alta - , outros empregos talvez sirvam. O trabalho funerário é sombrio e poderia trazer mérito. Recolher bens para um corretor numa área pobre talvez funcione. Um guarda de prisão vê muita desgraça. O assistente de um médico vive no meio da morte. Cobrar dívidas não é alegre. Até um cobrador de impostos deve às vezes se sentir perturbado. Muitos empregos me dariam uma oportunidade.

Original English Version

'Does Mrs Lupin know you are going to leave her?' Mr Pinch inquired.

'I haven't broke it to her yet, sir, but I must. I'm looking out this morning for something new and suitable,' he said, nodding towards the city.

'What kind of thing now?' Mr Pinch demanded.

'I was thinking,' Mark replied, 'of something in the grave-digging way.'

'Good gracious, Mark?' cried Mr Pinch.

'It's a good damp, wormy sort of business, sir,' said Mark, shaking his head argumentatively, 'and there might be some credit in being jolly, with one's mind in that pursuit, unless grave-diggers is usually given that way; which would be a drawback. You don't happen to know how that is in general, do you, sir?'

'No,' said Mr Pinch, 'I don't indeed. I never thought upon the subject.'

'In case of that not turning out as well as one could wish, you know,' said Mark, musing again, 'there's other businesses. Undertaking now. That's gloomy. There might be credit to be gained there. A broker's man in a poor neighbourhood wouldn't be bad perhaps. A jailor sees a deal of misery. A doctor's man is in the very midst of murder. A bailiff's an't a lively office nat'rally. Even a tax-gatherer must find his feelings rather worked upon, at times. There's lots of trades in which I should have an opportunity, I think.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- A Sra. Lupin sabe que você vai deixá-la? - perguntou o Sr. Pinch.

- Ainda não lhe dei a notícia, senhor, mas preciso fazê-lo. Esta manhã estou procurando algo novo e adequado - disse ele, assentindo na direção da cidade.

- Que tipo de coisa? - perguntou o Sr. Pinch.

- Estava pensando - respondeu Mark - em algo no ramo de cavar sepulturas.

- Santo Deus, Mark! - exclamou o Sr. Pinch.

- É uma atividade boa, úmida e cheia de vermes, senhor - disse Mark, sacudindo a cabeça em tom argumentativo - , e poderia haver algum mérito em permanecer alegre com o espírito ocupado nesse trabalho, a menos que os coveiros em geral já tenham essa inclinação; o que seria uma desvantagem. Por acaso sabe como eles costumam ser, senhor?

- Não - disse o Sr. Pinch - , de fato não sei. Nunca pensei no assunto.

- Caso isso não resulte tão bem quanto se poderia desejar, sabe - disse Mark, tornando a meditar - , há outros ofícios. O de agente funerário, por exemplo. É sombrio. Poderia haver mérito a conquistar ali. Talvez o empregado de um corretor de penhores num bairro pobre não fosse mau. Um carcereiro vê muita desgraça. O ajudante de um médico fica bem no meio de assassinatos. O cargo de oficial de justiça não é naturalmente alegre. Até um cobrador de impostos deve sentir suas emoções bastante abaladas de vez em quando. Há muitos ofícios nos quais eu teria uma oportunidade, creio.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O sr. Pinch ficou tão impressionado que só conseguiu fazer comentários ocasionais sobre assuntos sem importância e olhar de lado para o amigo estranho de rosto alegre, que parecia não perceber. Perto da entrada da cidade, Mark disse que desceria ali, se o sr. Pinch não se importasse.

- Mas, pelo amor de Deus, Mark - disse o sr. Pinch. Acabara de notar que a camisa do companheiro estava aberta como se fosse pleno verão e cada sopro de ar a movia. - Por que não usa colete?

- Para que serve um, senhor? - perguntou Mark.

- Para que serve? - disse o sr. Pinch. - Para manter seu peito aquecido.

- Deus o abençoe, senhor! - gritou Mark. - O senhor não me conhece. Meu peito não precisa de aquecimento. Mesmo se precisasse, o que poderia acontecer se eu não usasse colete? Inflamação dos pulmões, talvez? Bem, haveria algum mérito em continuar alegre com inflamação dos pulmões.

Original English Version

Mr Pinch was so perfectly overwhelmed by these remarks that he could do nothing but occasionally exchange a word or two on some indifferent subject, and cast sidelong glances at the bright face of his odd friend (who seemed quite unconscious of his observation), until they reached a certain corner of the road, close upon the outskirts of the city, when Mark said he would jump down there, if he pleased.

'But bless my soul, Mark,' said Mr Pinch, who in the progress of his observation just then made the discovery that the bosom of his companion's shirt was as much exposed as if it was Midsummer, and was ruffled by every breath of air, 'why don't you wear a waistcoat?'

'What's the good of one, sir?' asked Mark.

'Good of one?' said Mr Pinch. 'Why, to keep your chest warm.'

'Lord love you, sir!' cried Mark, 'you don't know me. My chest don't want no warming. Even if it did, what would no waistcoat bring it to? Inflammation of the lungs, perhaps? Well, there'd be some credit in being jolly, with a inflammation of the lungs.'

Tradução Integral em Português

O Sr. Pinch ficou tão completamente pasmo com essas observações que nada conseguiu fazer além de, ocasionalmente, trocar uma ou duas palavras sobre algum assunto indiferente e lançar olhares de esguelha para o rosto luminoso do estranho amigo (que parecia inteiramente alheio à observação), até chegarem a certa esquina, já nos arredores da cidade, quando Mark disse que saltaria ali, se ele permitisse.

- Mas, Deus do céu, Mark - disse o Sr. Pinch, que no decorrer de sua observação acabava de descobrir que o peito da camisa do companheiro estava tão exposto como se fosse pleno verão, e se agitava a cada sopro de ar - , por que não usa colete?

- Para que serve, senhor? - perguntou Mark.

- Para que serve? - disse o Sr. Pinch. - Ora, para manter seu peito aquecido.

- Deus o abençoe, senhor! - exclamou Mark. - O senhor não me conhece. Meu peito não precisa ser aquecido. E, mesmo que precisasse, aonde a falta de colete o levaria? A uma pneumonia, talvez? Bem, haveria algum mérito em permanecer alegre com uma pneumonia.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O sr. Pinch apenas respirou fundo, arregalou os olhos e assentiu com força. Mark agradeceu a carona e saltou levemente sem pedir que ele parasse. Seguiu por uma rua lateral, com o lenço vermelho e o casaco aberto movendo-se ao vento. Virou-se várias vezes para acenar. Parecia um dos homens mais despreocupados, bem-humorados e cômicos do mundo. Pensativo, o sr. Pinch continuou rumo a Salisbury.

Original English Version

As Mr Pinch returned no other answer than such as was conveyed in his breathing very hard, and opening his eyes very wide, and nodding his head very much, Mark thanked him for his ride, and without troubling him to stop, jumped lightly down. And away he fluttered, with his red neckerchief, and his open coat, down a cross-lane; turning back from time to time to nod to Mr Pinch, and looking one of the most careless, good-humoured comical fellows in life. His late companion, with a thoughtful face pursued his way to Salisbury.

Tradução Integral em Português

Como o Sr. Pinch não deu outra resposta além daquela transmitida por respirar muito forte, arregalar muito os olhos e balançar muito a cabeça, Mark agradeceu-lhe a carona e, sem incomodá-lo para que parasse, saltou agilmente. E lá se foi ele, esvoaçando com o lenço vermelho e o casaco aberto por uma estrada transversal; voltando-se de vez em quando para acenar ao Sr. Pinch e parecendo um dos sujeitos mais despreocupados, bem-humorados e cômicos da vida. Seu recente companheiro prosseguiu pensativo rumo a Salisbury.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O sr. Pinch imaginava Salisbury como uma cidade perigosa e selvagem, cheia de prazeres. Depois de deixar o cavalo num estábulo, falou com o empregado. Disse que voltaria em uma ou duas horas para ver o cavalo comer milho. Então caminhou pelas ruas, gostando da ideia de que estavam cheias de mistério e maldade. O dia de mercado fazia a cidade parecer ainda mais selvagem para aquele homem quieto. As ruas ao redor do mercado estavam lotadas de carroças, cavalos, burros, cestos, vagões, legumes, carne, tripas, tortas, aves e mercadorias de todo tipo. Fazendeiros jovens e velhos ficavam em grupos ou falavam alto nos degraus das tavernas. Usavam camisas largas de trabalho, casacos marrons e cinzentos, cachecóis vermelhos de lã, perneiras de couro, chapéus de formas estranhas, chicotes de caça e carregavam bastões rústicos. Negociavam grandes quantias de dinheiro engordurado, usando enormes carteiras muito difíceis de tirar e guardar. As esposas dos fazendeiros, de capas vermelhas e chapéus, montavam cavalos peludos e calmos. Os cavalos iam a qualquer lugar sem perguntar por quê e poderiam ficar parados numa loja de porcelana, com um serviço de jantar completo ao lado de cada casco. Muitos cães se interessavam profundamente pelo mercado e pelos negócios dos donos. Vozes humanas e animais formavam uma grande confusão.

Original English Version

Mr Pinch had a shrewd notion that Salisbury was a very desperate sort of place; an exceeding wild and dissipated city; and when he had put up the horse, and given the hostler to understand that he would look in again in the course of an hour or two to see him take his corn, he set forth on a stroll about the streets with a vague and not unpleasant idea that they teemed with all kinds of mystery and bedevilment. To one of his quiet habits this little delusion was greatly assisted by the circumstance of its being market-day, and the thoroughfares about the market-place being filled with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, waggons, garden-stuff, meat, tripe, pies, poultry and huckster's wares of every opposite description and possible variety of character. Then there were young farmers and old farmers with smock-frocks, brown great-coats, drab great-coats, red worsted comforters, leather-leggings, wonderful shaped hats, hunting-whips, and rough sticks, standing about in groups, or talking noisily together on the tavern steps, or paying and receiving huge amounts of greasy wealth, with the assistance of such bulky pocket-books that when they were in their pockets it was apoplexy to get them out, and when they were out it was spasms to get them in again. Also there were farmers' wives in beaver bonnets and red cloaks, riding shaggy horses purged of all earthly passions, who went soberly into all manner of places without desiring to know why, and who, if required, would have stood stock still in a china shop, with a complete dinner-service at each hoof. Also a great many dogs, who were strongly interested in the state of the market and the bargains of their masters; and a great confusion of tongues, both brute and human.

Tradução Integral em Português

O Sr. Pinch tinha a sagaz impressão de que Salisbury era um lugar bastante temerário, uma cidade extremamente desregrada e dissoluta; e, depois de alojar o cavalo e informar ao cavalariço que voltaria dentro de uma ou duas horas para vê-lo comer os grãos, saiu para passear pelas ruas com uma ideia vaga e não desagradável de que fervilhavam de toda espécie de mistério e diabrura. Para alguém de hábitos tranquilos, essa pequena ilusão era muito favorecida pelo fato de ser dia de feira e as vias ao redor da praça do mercado estarem repletas de carroças, cavalos, burros, cestos, vagões, hortaliças, carne, dobradinha, tortas, aves e mercadorias de vendedores ambulantes de todos os tipos opostos e de toda variedade possível. Havia jovens fazendeiros e velhos fazendeiros com batas, sobretudos marrons, sobretudos pardos, cachecóis de lã vermelha, perneiras de couro, chapéus de formatos extraordinários, chicotes de caça e bastões rústicos, parados em grupos, conversando ruidosamente nos degraus das tavernas ou pagando e recebendo enormes quantias de riqueza sebosa, com a ajuda de carteiras tão volumosas que, quando estavam nos bolsos, era uma apoplexia tirá-las, e, quando estavam fora, eram espasmos guardá-las novamente. Havia também mulheres de fazendeiros com toucas de castor e capas vermelhas, montando cavalos peludos purgados de todas as paixões terrenas, que entravam sobriamente em todo tipo de lugar sem desejar saber por quê e que, se necessário, ficariam absolutamente imóveis numa loja de porcelanas, com um serviço de jantar completo junto a cada casco. Havia ainda muitíssimos cães, intensamente interessados na situação do mercado e nos negócios de seus donos; e uma grande confusão de línguas, tanto animais quanto humanas.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O sr. Pinch ficou encantado com tudo o que estava à venda. Admirou especialmente um vendedor ambulante de facas e comprou um canivete com sete lâminas. Mais tarde descobriu que nenhuma delas cortava. Depois de ver todo o mercado e os fazendeiros entrarem em segurança para o almoço, voltou ao cavalo. Observou-o comer quanto quis e então percorreu novamente a cidade para apreciar as vitrines. Primeiro encarou o banco e imaginou que direção subterrânea levava às cavernas onde o dinheiro era guardado. Também olhou para um ou dois jovens que estudavam para ser advogados na cidade. Aos seus olhos, eram sujeitos emocionantes que conheciam alguns segredos e levavam uma vida muito agitada.

Original English Version

Mr Pinch regarded everything exposed for sale with great delight, and was particularly struck by the itinerant cutlery, which he considered of the very keenest kind, insomuch that he purchased a pocket knife with seven blades in it, and not a cut (as he afterwards found out) among them. When he had exhausted the market-place, and watched the farmers safe into the market dinner, he went back to look after the horse. Having seen him eat unto his heart's content he issued forth again, to wander round the town and regale himself with the shop windows; previously taking a long stare at the bank, and wondering in what direction underground the caverns might be where they kept the money; and turning to look back at one or two young men who passed him, whom he knew to be articled to solicitors in the town; and who had a sort of fearful interest in his eyes, as jolly dogs who knew a thing or two, and kept it up tremendously.

Tradução Integral em Português

O Sr. Pinch contemplou com grande deleite tudo o que estava exposto à venda e ficou particularmente impressionado com os talheres ambulantes, que considerou do tipo mais afiado que existia, tanto que comprou um canivete com sete lâminas, entre as quais (como descobriu depois) nenhuma cortava. Quando esgotou a praça do mercado e viu os fazendeiros em segurança dentro do almoço da feira, voltou para cuidar do cavalo. Depois de vê-lo comer até se fartar, tornou a sair para vagar pela cidade e regalar-se com as vitrines; antes, porém, fitou longamente o banco, imaginando em que direção subterrânea ficariam as cavernas onde guardavam o dinheiro; e virou-se para olhar um ou dois jovens que passaram por ele, e que sabia serem aprendizes contratados de advogados da cidade; aos olhos dele, despertavam uma espécie de interesse temeroso, como sujeitos folgazões que sabiam uma ou duas coisas e se divertiam tremendamente.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Mas as lojas! Primeiro vieram as joalherias, exibindo todos os tesouros da terra. Enormes relógios de prata pendiam em cada vitrine; se não marcavam o tempo com excelência, não poderia ser por falta de espaço nos mecanismos. Eram certamente grandes, talvez feios o bastante, para funcionar perfeitamente. Para o sr. Pinch, pareciam menores que os relógios de Genebra. Quando viu um relógio enorme chamado repetidor, capaz de tocar a cada quinze minutos dentro do bolso do dono, quase desejou ser rico o bastante para comprá-lo.

Original English Version

But the shops. First of all there were the jewellers' shops, with all the treasures of the earth displayed therein, and such large silver watches hanging up in every pane of glass, that if they were anything but first-rate goers it certainly was not because the works could decently complain of want of room. In good sooth they were big enough, and perhaps, as the saying is, ugly enough, to be the most correct of all mechanical performers; in Mr Pinch's eyes, however they were smaller than Geneva ware; and when he saw one very bloated watch announced as a repeater, gifted with the uncommon power of striking every quarter of an hour inside the pocket of its happy owner, he almost wished that he were rich enough to buy it.

Tradução Integral em Português

Mas as lojas! Primeiro havia as joalherias, com todos os tesouros da Terra expostos ali e relógios de prata tão grandes pendurados em cada vidraça que, se não fossem mecanismos de primeira categoria, certamente não seria porque suas engrenagens pudessem queixar-se decentemente de falta de espaço. Na verdade, eram grandes o bastante e talvez, como diz o ditado, feios o bastante para serem os mais exatos de todos os aparelhos mecânicos; aos olhos do Sr. Pinch, contudo, eram menores que os produtos de Genebra; e, quando viu um relógio muito inchado anunciado como repetidor, dotado do poder incomum de soar a cada quarto de hora dentro do bolso de seu feliz proprietário, quase desejou ser rico o bastante para comprá-lo.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Mas ouro, prata, pedras preciosas e relógios significavam pouco diante das livrarias. O papel novo tinha cheiro agradável e lembrava-lhe uma gramática escolar nova de muito tempo atrás. "Mestre Pinch, Academia Grove House" fora escrito perfeitamente na primeira página em branco. O cheiro das capas de couro e as fileiras organizadas de livros prometiam felicidade. Obras novas de Londres ficavam abertas nas vitrines na página do título ou na primeira página do primeiro capítulo. Tentavam as pessoas a ler e depois correr para dentro e comprar, pois não podiam virar a página. Pequenas imagens no início apontavam como placas de estrada para as ricas histórias no interior. Outros livros mostravam retratos sérios e famosos nomes antigos. Ele conhecia bem aquelas obras. Teria dado minas para colocá-las, em qualquer formato, na estreita prateleira ao lado da cama na casa do sr. Pecksniff. Que loja dolorosa!

Original English Version

But what were even gold and silver, precious stones and clockwork, to the bookshops, whence a pleasant smell of paper freshly pressed came issuing forth, awakening instant recollections of some new grammar had at school, long time ago, with 'Master Pinch, Grove House Academy,' inscribed in faultless writing on the fly-leaf! That whiff of russia leather, too, and all those rows on rows of volumes neatly ranged within--what happiness did they suggest! And in the window were the spick-and-span new works from London, with the title-pages, and sometimes even the first page of the first chapter, laid wide open; tempting unwary men to begin to read the book, and then, in the impossibility of turning over, to rush blindly in, and buy it! Here too were the dainty frontispiece and trim vignette, pointing like handposts on the outskirts of great cities, to the rich stock of incident beyond; and store of books, with many a grave portrait and time-honoured name, whose matter he knew well, and would have given mines to have, in any form, upon the narrow shell beside his bed at Mr Pecksniff's. What a heart-breaking shop it was!

Tradução Integral em Português

Mas o que eram até mesmo o ouro e a prata, as pedras preciosas e a relojoaria, comparados às livrarias, de onde saía um agradável cheiro de papel recém-prensado, despertando lembranças instantâneas de alguma gramática nova recebida na escola muito tempo antes, com "Mestre Pinch, Academia Grove House" inscrito em caligrafia impecável na folha de guarda! E aquele aroma de couro da Rússia, e todas aquelas fileiras e mais fileiras de volumes bem-arrumados lá dentro: quanta felicidade sugeriam! Na vitrine estavam as obras novinhas em folha vindas de Londres, com as páginas de rosto, e às vezes até a primeira página do primeiro capítulo, escancaradas; tentando homens incautos a começar a ler o livro e então, impossibilitados de virar a página, entrar às cegas e comprá-lo! Ali também estavam o delicado frontispício e a elegante vinheta, indicando, como placas nos arredores das grandes cidades, o rico acervo de acontecimentos que havia mais adiante; e uma profusão de livros, com muitos retratos graves e nomes consagrados pelo tempo, cujo conteúdo ele conhecia bem e por cuja posse, em qualquer formato, na estreita prateleira ao lado de sua cama na casa do Sr. Pecksniff, teria dado minas inteiras. Que loja de partir o coração!

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Outra loja parecia menos ruim no começo, mas ainda era dolorosa: vendia livros infantis. Ali estava o pobre Robinson Crusoé, com cachorro, machadinha, gorro de pele de cabra e armas, olhando calmamente para Philip Quarll e todos os imitadores. Parecia chamar o sr. Pinch como testemunha de que somente ele deixara uma pegada na praia da memória infantil, que as gerações jamais apagariam. Havia contos persas, baús voadores, estudiosos de livros encantados presos durante anos em cavernas, o mercador Abudah e a terrível velhinha que saía de uma caixa em seu quarto. Havia o grande talismã, As Mil e Uma Noites, e Cassim Baba, dividido em quatro e pendurado ensanguentado na caverna dos ladrões. Essas maravilhas acenderam a lâmpada dentro do sr. Pinch até que, ao voltar à rua movimentada, fantasmas esperavam suas ordens e ele reviveu feliz os dias anteriores à era Pecksniff.

Original English Version

There was another; not quite so bad at first, but still a trying shop; where children's books were sold, and where poor Robinson Crusoe stood alone in his might, with dog and hatchet, goat-skin cap and fowling-pieces; calmly surveying Philip Quarn and the host of imitators round him, and calling Mr Pinch to witness that he, of all the crowd, impressed one solitary footprint on the shore of boyish memory, whereof the tread of generations should not stir the lightest grain of sand. And there too were the Persian tales, with flying chests and students of enchanted books shut up for years in caverns; and there too was Abudah, the merchant, with the terrible little old woman hobbling out of the box in his bedroom; and there the mighty talisman, the rare Arabian Nights, with Cassim Baba, divided by four, like the ghost of a dreadful sum, hanging up, all gory, in the robbers' cave. Which matchless wonders, coming fast on Mr Pinch's mind, did so rub up and chafe that wonderful lamp within him, that when he turned his face towards the busy street, a crowd of phantoms waited on his pleasure, and he lived again, with new delight, the happy days before the Pecksniff era.

Tradução Integral em Português

Havia outra; não tão ruim a princípio, mas ainda assim uma loja provadora; ali se vendiam livros infantis, e o pobre Robinson Crusoé erguia-se sozinho em seu poder, com cão e machadinha, gorro de pele de cabra e espingardas; contemplando serenamente Philip Quarll e a multidão de imitadores ao redor, e chamando o Sr. Pinch para testemunhar que ele, dentre toda aquela gente, imprimira uma pegada solitária na praia da memória infantil, sobre a qual o caminhar das gerações não moveria o mais leve grão de areia. Ali também estavam os contos persas, com baús voadores e estudiosos de livros encantados encerrados durante anos em cavernas; e ali estava Abudah, o mercador, com a terrível velhinha saindo aos tropeços da caixa em seu quarto; e ali, o poderoso talismã, as incomparáveis Mil e Uma Noites, com Cassim Baba dividido em quatro, como o fantasma de uma soma terrível, pendurado todo ensanguentado na caverna dos ladrões. Tais maravilhas sem igual, precipitando-se sobre o espírito do Sr. Pinch, poliram e esfregaram tanto aquela lâmpada maravilhosa dentro dele que, ao voltar o rosto para a rua movimentada, uma multidão de fantasmas aguardava sua vontade, e ele tornou a viver, com novo deleite, os dias felizes anteriores à era Pecksniff.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O sr. Pinch se importava menos com as farmácias, com suas grandes garrafas brilhantes e luzes menores nas tampas. Seus produtos agradáveis misturavam remédio e perfume em forma de doces e mel puro. Importava-se ainda menos, como sempre, com os alfaiates. Os mais novos modelos de coletes de Londres pareciam maravilhosos nas vitrines, mas nunca iguais em outro lugar. Parou para ler o anúncio do teatro e encarou a entrada com espanto. Um homem pálido de longos cabelos escuros saiu e mandou um menino buscar em casa sua grande espada. O sr. Pinch não conseguiu se mover depois de ouvir isso e poderia ter ficado até escurecer. Então o velho sino da catedral começou a tocar para a missa da tarde, e ele se afastou.

Original English Version

He had less interest now in the chemists' shops, with their great glowing bottles (with smaller repositories of brightness in their very stoppers); and in their agreeable compromises between medicine and perfumery, in the shape of toothsome lozenges and virgin honey. Neither had he the least regard (but he never had much) for the tailors', where the newest metropolitan waistcoat patterns were hanging up, which by some strange transformation always looked amazing there, and never appeared at all like the same thing anywhere else. But he stopped to read the playbill at the theatre and surveyed the doorway with a kind of awe, which was not diminished when a sallow gentleman with long dark hair came out, and told a boy to run home to his lodgings and bring down his broadsword. Mr Pinch stood rooted to the spot on hearing this, and might have stood there until dark, but that the old cathedral bell began to ring for vesper service, on which he tore himself away.

Tradução Integral em Português

Já tinha menos interesse pelas farmácias, com suas grandes garrafas luminosas (e reservatórios menores de brilho nas próprias rolhas), e por seus agradáveis compromissos entre medicamentos e perfumaria, na forma de pastilhas saborosas e mel virgem. Tampouco tinha a menor consideração (mas nunca tivera muita) pelas alfaiatarias, onde estavam pendurados os mais novos modelos de coletes metropolitanos, que, por alguma estranha transformação, sempre pareciam extraordinários ali e jamais pareciam a mesma coisa em qualquer outro lugar. Mas parou para ler o cartaz da peça no teatro e contemplou a entrada com uma espécie de temor, que não diminuiu quando um cavalheiro pálido de longos cabelos escuros saiu e mandou um menino correr até seus aposentos e trazer sua espada larga. Ao ouvir isso, o Sr. Pinch ficou enraizado no lugar e poderia ter permanecido ali até escurecer, se o velho sino da catedral não começasse a tocar para as vésperas, fazendo-o arrancar-se dali.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O assistente do organista era amigo do sr. Pinch. Isso era uma sorte, pois ele também era quieto e gentil. Como Tom, fora na escola um menino à moda antiga, embora os meninos barulhentos também gostassem dele. Por sorte, o assistente trabalhava sozinho naquela tarde, tendo apenas Tom no empoeirado coro do órgão. Enquanto o amigo tocava, Tom ajudava com os controles. Quando a missa terminou, o próprio Tom tocou. A escuridão chegava. A luz amarela das antigas janelas do coro se misturava ao vermelho escuro. A música grandiosa parecia ecoar em cada túmulo antigo e no fundo de seu coração. Enquanto enchia a igreja, grandes pensamentos e esperanças lotaram sua mente. Entre eles estavam todas as imagens daquele dia, agora mais sérias, mas ainda as mesmas, até a menor lembrança da infância. Naquele momento, o som parecia conter sua vida inteira. Enquanto pedra, madeira e vidro desapareciam na escuridão, suas visões ficavam mais claras. Tom poderia ter esquecido o novo aluno e o mestre que esperava e tocado com gratidão até meia-noite. Mas um funcionário prático da catedral insistiu em fechar o edifício imediatamente. Tom agradeceu ao amigo, tateou o caminho até as ruas iluminadas e correu para jantar.

Original English Version

Now, the organist's assistant was a friend of Mr Pinch's, which was a good thing, for he too was a very quiet gentle soul, and had been, like Tom, a kind of old-fashioned boy at school, though well liked by the noisy fellow too. As good luck would have it (Tom always said he had great good luck) the assistant chanced that very afternoon to be on duty by himself, with no one in the dusty organ loft but Tom; so while he played, Tom helped him with the stops; and finally, the service being just over, Tom took the organ himself. It was then turning dark, and the yellow light that streamed in through the ancient windows in the choir was mingled with a murky red. As the grand tones resounded through the church, they seemed, to Tom, to find an echo in the depth of every ancient tomb, no less than in the deep mystery of his own heart. Great thoughts and hopes came crowding on his mind as the rich music rolled upon the air and yet among them--something more grave and solemn in their purpose, but the same--were all the images of that day, down to its very lightest recollection of childhood. The feeling that the sounds awakened, in the moment of their existence, seemed to include his whole life and being; and as the surrounding realities of stone and wood and glass grew dimmer in the darkness, these visions grew so much the brighter that Tom might have forgotten the new pupil and the expectant master, and have sat there pouring out his grateful heart till midnight, but for a very earthy old verger insisting on locking up the cathedral forthwith. So he took leave of his friend, with many thanks, groped his way out, as well as he could, into the now lamp-lighted streets, and hurried off to get his dinner.

Tradução Integral em Português

Ora, o assistente do organista era amigo do Sr. Pinch, o que era bom, pois também ele era uma alma muito quieta e gentil e, como Tom, fora na escola uma espécie de menino antiquado, embora os colegas barulhentos também gostassem dele. Por sorte (Tom sempre dizia ter muita sorte), naquela mesma tarde o assistente estava sozinho de serviço, sem ninguém além de Tom no empoeirado coro do órgão; assim, enquanto ele tocava, Tom o ajudou com os registros; e, por fim, quando o ofício acabou, Tom assumiu o órgão. Começava então a escurecer, e a luz amarela que penetrava pelas janelas antigas do coro mesclava-se a um vermelho sombrio. Quando os sons grandiosos ressoaram pela igreja, pareceram a Tom encontrar eco nas profundezas de cada túmulo antigo, não menos que no profundo mistério de seu próprio coração. Grandes pensamentos e esperanças acorreram-lhe ao espírito enquanto a rica música rolava pelo ar; e, no entanto, entre eles - algo mais grave e solene em seu propósito, mas ainda os mesmos - estavam todas as imagens daquele dia, até a mais tênue lembrança da infância. O sentimento que os sons despertavam no instante de sua existência parecia abarcar toda a sua vida e todo o seu ser; e, à medida que as realidades circundantes de pedra, madeira e vidro ficavam mais indistintas na escuridão, aquelas visões tornavam-se tão mais luminosas que Tom poderia ter esquecido o novo aprendiz e o mestre à espera e ter ficado ali derramando seu coração agradecido até meia-noite, não fosse um velho sacristão muito terreno insistir em trancar imediatamente a catedral. Assim, despediu-se do amigo com muitos agradecimentos, tateou o caminho para fora o melhor que pôde, entrando nas ruas já iluminadas por lampiões, e apressou-se para jantar.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A essa altura, todos os fazendeiros voltavam para casa, então a sala da taverna, com areia no chão, estava vazia. Era ali que o sr. Pinch deixara o cavalo. Sua pequena mesa foi colocada perto do fogo, e ele apreciou muito um bife bem-preparado e batatas fumegantes. Ao lado havia uma enorme jarra de cerveja de Wiltshire. A refeição era tão excelente que ele muitas vezes largava faca e garfo, esfregava as mãos e pensava nela. Quando chegaram o queijo e o aipo, tirou um livro do bolso. Comeu um pouco, bebeu um pouco, leu um pouco e parou para pensar no novo aluno. Depois que esse pensamento passou, voltou a mergulhar no livro. Então a porta se abriu, e outro hóspede trouxe tanto ar frio que a princípio pareceu apagar o fogo.

- Uma geada muito forte esta noite, senhor - disse o recém-chegado, notando educadamente que o sr. Pinch movia a pequena mesa para abrir espaço. - Por favor, não se incomode.

Original English Version

All the farmers being by this time jogging homewards, there was nobody in the sanded parlour of the tavern where he had left the horse; so he had his little table drawn out close before the fire, and fell to work upon a well-cooked steak and smoking hot potatoes, with a strong appreciation of their excellence, and a very keen sense of enjoyment. Beside him, too, there stood a jug of most stupendous Wiltshire beer; and the effect of the whole was so transcendent, that he was obliged every now and then to lay down his knife and fork, rub his hands, and think about it. By the time the cheese and celery came, Mr Pinch had taken a book out of his pocket, and could afford to trifle with the viands; now eating a little, now drinking a little, now reading a little, and now stopping to wonder what sort of a young man the new pupil would turn out to be. He had passed from this latter theme and was deep in his book again, when the door opened, and another guest came in, bringing with him such a quantity of cold air, that he positively seemed at first to put the fire out.

'Very hard frost to-night, sir,' said the newcomer, courteously acknowledging Mr Pinch's withdrawal of the little table, that he might have place: 'Don't disturb yourself, I beg.'

Tradução Integral em Português

Como todos os fazendeiros já seguiam a trote para casa, não havia ninguém na sala coberta de areia da taverna onde ele deixara o cavalo; por isso, mandou colocar sua mesinha bem diante do fogo e pôs mãos à obra sobre um bife bem-preparado e batatas fumegantes, com grande apreço por sua excelência e uma sensação muito intensa de prazer. Ao lado havia também uma jarra da mais estupenda cerveja de Wiltshire; e o efeito do conjunto era tão sublime que ele se via obrigado, de vez em quando, a pousar a faca e o garfo, esfregar as mãos e refletir sobre aquilo. Quando chegaram o queijo e o aipo, o Sr. Pinch já havia tirado um livro do bolso e podia dar-se ao luxo de brincar com os alimentos; ora comia um pouco, ora bebia um pouco, ora lia um pouco e ora parava para imaginar que tipo de jovem viria a ser o novo aprendiz. Já passara deste último tema e tornara a mergulhar no livro quando a porta se abriu e entrou outro hóspede, trazendo consigo tamanha quantidade de ar frio que, a princípio, pareceu realmente apagar o fogo.

- Geada muito forte esta noite, senhor - disse o recém-chegado, reconhecendo cortesmente o gesto do Sr. Pinch de afastar a mesinha para lhe dar espaço. - Não se incomode, por favor.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Embora parecesse preocupado com o conforto do sr. Pinch, puxou uma grande cadeira de assento de couro para o meio da lareira. Sentou-se diretamente diante do fogo, com um pé de cada lado.

- Meus pés estão completamente dormentes. Ah, que frio terrível.

- O senhor esteve ao ar livre por algum tempo, imagino? - disse o sr. Pinch.

- O dia inteiro. E no alto de uma carruagem.

- Isso explica por que ele deixa a sala tão fria - pensou o sr. Pinch. - Pobre sujeito! Deve estar completamente gelado.

O estranho também ficou pensativo e observou o fogo em silêncio por cinco ou dez minutos. Por fim, tirou o xale e o sobretudo, que, ao contrário do casaco do sr. Pinch, era muito grosso e quente. Mas sem ele não ficou mais falante. Voltou ao mesmo assento e posição, recostou-se e roeu as unhas. Tinha talvez vinte e um anos e era bonito, com olhos escuros e atentos e maneiras rápidas. O contraste fez Tom notar seus próprios modos e se sentir ainda mais tímido que o habitual.

Original English Version

Though he said this with a vast amount of consideration for Mr Pinch's comfort, he dragged one of the great leather-bottomed chairs to the very centre of the hearth, notwithstanding; and sat down in front of the fire, with a foot on each hob.

'My feet are quite numbed. Ah! Bitter cold to be sure.'

'You have been in the air some considerable time, I dare say?' said Mr Pinch.

'All day. Outside a coach, too.'

'That accounts for his making the room so cool,' thought Mr Pinch. 'Poor fellow! How thoroughly chilled he must be!'

The stranger became thoughtful likewise, and sat for five or ten minutes looking at the fire in silence. At length he rose and divested himself of his shawl and great-coat, which (far different from Mr Pinch's) was a very warm and thick one; but he was not a whit more conversational out of his great-coat than in it, for he sat down again in the same place and attitude, and leaning back in his chair, began to bite his nails. He was young--one-and-twenty, perhaps--and handsome; with a keen dark eye, and a quickness of look and manner which made Tom sensible of a great contrast in his own bearing, and caused him to feel even more shy than usual.

Tradução Integral em Português

Embora dissesse isso com enorme consideração pelo conforto do Sr. Pinch, arrastou mesmo assim uma das grandes cadeiras de assento de couro até o centro exato da lareira e sentou-se diante do fogo, com um pé em cada suporte.

- Meus pés estão inteiramente dormentes. Ah! Um frio cruel, sem dúvida.

- Suponho que passou um tempo considerável ao ar livre? - disse o Sr. Pinch.

- O dia inteiro. E no lado de fora de uma diligência.

- Isso explica por que ele deixou a sala tão fria - pensou o Sr. Pinch. - Pobre sujeito! Como deve estar completamente gelado!

O estranho também ficou pensativo e permaneceu cinco ou dez minutos contemplando o fogo em silêncio. Por fim, levantou-se e despiu o xale e o sobretudo, que (muito diferente do pertencente ao Sr. Pinch) era muito quente e grosso; mas, sem o sobretudo, não se tornou nem um pouco mais comunicativo do que dentro dele, pois tornou a sentar-se no mesmo lugar e posição e, recostando-se na cadeira, começou a roer as unhas. Era jovem - talvez vinte e um anos - e bonito, com olhos escuros e penetrantes e uma vivacidade no olhar e nas maneiras que fez Tom perceber um grande contraste com seu próprio comportamento e o deixou ainda mais tímido que de costume.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Havia um relógio na sala, e o estranho olhava para ele com frequência. Tom também, em parte por simpatia nervosa com o companheiro silencioso e em parte porque o novo aluno deveria procurá-lo às seis e meia, hora que se aproximava. Sempre que o estranho o surpreendia olhando para o relógio, Tom ficava confuso, como se tivesse sido pego fazendo algo. Talvez percebendo esse desconforto, o jovem sorriu e disse:

- Nós dois parecemos bastante preocupados com a hora. Tenho um compromisso para encontrar um cavalheiro aqui.

- Eu também - disse o sr. Pinch.

- Às seis e meia - disse o desconhecido.

- Às seis e meia - disse Tom ao mesmo tempo. O outro olhou para ele com surpresa.

- O jovem cavalheiro - disse Tom timidamente - devia perguntar a essa hora por alguém chamado Pinch.

- Meu Deus! - exclamou o outro, levantando-se de um salto. - E eu o mantive longe do fogo todo esse tempo! Não sabia que o senhor era o Sr. Pinch. Eu sou o Sr. Martin por quem deveria perguntar. Por favor, desculpe-me. Como vai? Venha mais para perto!

Original English Version

There was a clock in the room, which the stranger often turned to look at. Tom made frequent reference to it also; partly from a nervous sympathy with its taciturn companion; and partly because the new pupil was to inquire for him at half after six, and the hands were getting on towards that hour. Whenever the stranger caught him looking at this clock, a kind of confusion came upon Tom as if he had been found out in something; and it was a perception of his uneasiness which caused the younger man to say, perhaps, with a smile:

'We both appear to be rather particular about the time. The fact is, I have an engagement to meet a gentleman here.'

'So have I,' said Mr Pinch.

'At half-past six,' said the stranger.

'At half-past six,' said Tom in the very same breath; whereupon the other looked at him with some surprise.

'The young gentleman, I expect,' remarked Tom, timidly, 'was to inquire at that time for a person by the name of Pinch.'

'Dear me!' cried the other, jumping up. 'And I have been keeping the fire from you all this while! I had no idea you were Mr Pinch. I am the Mr Martin for whom you were to inquire. Pray excuse me. How do you do? Oh, do draw nearer, pray!'

Tradução Integral em Português

Havia na sala um relógio para o qual o estranho se virava muitas vezes. Tom também o consultava com frequência, em parte por uma solidariedade nervosa com seu taciturno companheiro e em parte porque o novo aprendiz deveria procurá-lo às seis e meia, e os ponteiros se aproximavam daquela hora. Sempre que o estranho o surpreendia olhando o relógio, uma espécie de confusão se apoderava de Tom, como se o houvessem apanhado em alguma coisa; e talvez tenha sido a percepção de seu desconforto que levou o mais jovem a dizer, sorrindo:

- Nós dois parecemos bastante atentos à hora. A verdade é que tenho um compromisso de encontrar aqui um cavalheiro.

- Eu também - disse o Sr. Pinch.

- Às seis e meia - disse o desconhecido.

- Às seis e meia - disse Tom no mesmíssimo instante; ao que o outro o olhou com certa surpresa.

- Creio - observou Tom timidamente - que o jovem cavalheiro deveria perguntar, a essa hora, por uma pessoa chamada Pinch.

- Meu Deus! - exclamou o outro, levantando-se de um salto. - E eu o mantive longe do fogo todo este tempo! Não fazia ideia de que o senhor fosse o Sr. Pinch. Eu sou o Sr. Martin por quem deveria perguntar. Por favor, desculpe-me. Como vai? Ah, aproxime-se, por favor!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Obrigado - disse Tom. - Não estou com frio, mas o senhor está; e temos uma viagem fria pela frente. Porém, se desejar, eu me aproximarei. Eu... eu fico muito contente - acrescentou com seu sorriso sincero e constrangido, que confessava suas falhas e pedia bondade com a mesma clareza de uma simples declaração escrita. - Fico muito contente que o senhor seja a pessoa que eu esperava. Um minuto atrás, eu desejava que ele fosse como o senhor.

- Fico muito feliz em ouvir isso - respondeu Martin, apertando-lhe a mão novamente. - Pois lhe asseguro que eu pensava que nada poderia ser mais feliz do que o Sr. Pinch ser como o senhor.

- Não, sério! - disse Tom com grande satisfação. - Está falando sério?

- Palavra de honra - respondeu seu novo amigo. - Sei que nós dois nos daremos muito bem. Isso é um grande alívio, porque não consigo me dar bem com todo mundo, e essa era minha maior preocupação. Agora passou. Por favor, toque a campainha.

Original English Version

'Thank you,' said Tom, 'thank you. I am not at all cold, and you are; and we have a cold ride before us. Well, if you wish it, I will. I--I am very glad,' said Tom, smiling with an embarrassed frankness peculiarly his, and which was as plainly a confession of his own imperfections, and an appeal to the kindness of the person he addressed, as if he had drawn one up in simple language and committed it to paper: 'I am very glad indeed that you turn out to be the party I expected. I was thinking, but a minute ago, that I could wish him to be like you.'

'I am very glad to hear it,' returned Martin, shaking hands with him again; 'for I assure you, I was thinking there could be no such luck as Mr Pinch's turning out like you.'

'No, really!' said Tom, with great pleasure. 'Are you serious?'

'Upon my word I am,' replied his new acquaintance. 'You and I will get on excellently well, I know; which it's no small relief to me to feel, for to tell you the truth, I am not at all the sort of fellow who could get on with everybody, and that's the point on which I had the greatest doubts. But they're quite relieved now.--Do me the favour to ring the bell, will you?'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Obrigado - disse Tom - , obrigado. Não estou com frio algum, e o senhor está; e temos pela frente uma viagem fria. Bem, se deseja, eu me aproximarei. Eu... eu estou muito contente - disse Tom, sorrindo com aquela franqueza embaraçada que lhe era peculiar e que constituía tão claramente uma confissão das próprias imperfeições e um apelo à bondade da pessoa a quem se dirigia como se ele os tivesse redigido em linguagem simples e posto no papel - , estou de fato muito contente que o senhor seja a pessoa que eu esperava. Ainda há um minuto, eu pensava que desejaria que ele fosse parecido com o senhor.

- Fico muito contente em ouvir isso - respondeu Martin, apertando-lhe novamente a mão - , pois lhe asseguro que eu pensava não ser possível ter a sorte de o Sr. Pinch revelar-se parecido com o senhor.

- Não diga! - disse Tom, muito satisfeito. - Está falando sério?

- Dou-lhe minha palavra - respondeu seu novo conhecido. - O senhor e eu nos daremos excelentemente bem, disso tenho certeza; e não é pequeno alívio sentir isso, pois, para dizer a verdade, não sou de modo algum o tipo de sujeito que consegue se dar bem com qualquer pessoa, e era sobre esse ponto que eu tinha as maiores dúvidas. Mas agora estão inteiramente dissipadas. Faça-me o favor de tocar a campainha, sim?

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Pinch levantou-se com entusiasmo e assim fez; a alça pendia logo acima da cabeça de Martin enquanto ele se aquecia. Sorrindo, Tom ouviu o amigo dizer:

- Se gosta de ponche, permita-me pedir um copo quente para cada um, para celebrarmos nossa amizade como convém. Para lhe contar um segredo, Sr. Pinch, nunca desejei tanto algo quente e reconfortante. Mas não queria ser encontrado bebendo antes de saber que tipo de pessoa o senhor era. As primeiras impressões muitas vezes têm grande alcance e duram muito.

O Sr. Pinch concordou, e chegou um ponche quente e forte. Depois de brindarem um ao outro com a bebida fumegante, tornaram-se muito francos.

- Sou uma espécie de parente de Pecksniff - disse o jovem.

- É mesmo? - exclamou o Sr. Pinch.

- Sim. Meu avô é primo dele, portanto ele é de algum modo meu parente, se é que consegue entender. Eu não consigo.

- Então Martin é seu nome de batismo? - disse o Sr. Pinch pensativo. - Ah!

Original English Version

Mr Pinch rose, and complied with great alacrity--the handle hung just over Martin's head, as he warmed himself--and listened with a smiling face to what his friend went on to say. It was:

'If you like punch, you'll allow me to order a glass apiece, as hot as it can be made, that we may usher in our friendship in a becoming manner. To let you into a secret, Mr Pinch, I never was so much in want of something warm and cheering in my life; but I didn't like to run the chance of being found drinking it, without knowing what kind of person you were; for first impressions, you know, often go a long way, and last a long time.'

Mr Pinch assented, and the punch was ordered. In due course it came; hot and strong. After drinking to each other in the steaming mixture, they became quite confidential.

'I'm a sort of relation of Pecksniff's, you know,' said the young man.

'Indeed!' cried Mr Pinch.

'Yes. My grandfather is his cousin, so he's kith and kin to me, somehow, if you can make that out. I can't.'

'Then Martin is your Christian name?' said Mr Pinch, thoughtfully. 'Oh!'

Tradução Integral em Português

O Sr. Pinch levantou-se e atendeu com grande presteza - o cordão pendia bem acima da cabeça de Martin enquanto este se aquecia - , e escutou, sorridente, o que seu amigo prosseguiu dizendo. Foi isto:

- Se gosta de ponche, permitirá que eu peça um copo para cada um, tão quente quanto puderem fazê-lo, para inaugurarmos nossa amizade de maneira apropriada. Para lhe contar um segredo, Sr. Pinch, nunca na vida precisei tanto de algo quente e reconfortante; mas não quis correr o risco de ser encontrado bebendo sem saber que tipo de pessoa o senhor era, pois as primeiras impressões, como sabe, muitas vezes vão longe e duram muito tempo.

O Sr. Pinch concordou, e o ponche foi pedido. No devido tempo chegou, quente e forte. Depois de brindarem um ao outro com a mistura fumegante, tornaram-se bastante confidentes.

- Sou uma espécie de parente de Pecksniff, sabe - disse o jovem.

- De fato! - exclamou o Sr. Pinch.

- Sim. Meu avô é primo dele, portanto ele é meu parente de algum modo, se conseguir entender isso. Eu não consigo.

- Então Martin é o seu nome de batismo? - disse pensativamente o Sr. Pinch. - Oh!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Claro - disse seu amigo. - Gostaria que fosse meu sobrenome, porque o meu não é bonito e demora para assinar. Meu nome é Chuzzlewit.

- Meu Deus! - exclamou o Sr. Pinch, sobressaltando-se sem querer.

- Imagino que não esteja surpreso por eu ter dois nomes - disse o outro, erguendo o copo. - A maioria das pessoas tem.

- Ah, não - disse o Sr. Pinch. - De modo algum. Claro que não! Ora! O Sr. Pecksniff lhe dissera em particular que não mencionasse o velho cavalheiro chamado Chuzzlewit que se hospedara no Dragão, deixando isso para ele próprio. Tom só conseguiu esconder sua confusão erguendo o copo. Por alguns segundos, olharam um para o outro através dos copos e depois os pousaram vazios.

- Há dez minutos pedi aos homens do estábulo que deixassem tudo pronto - disse o Sr. Pinch, olhando novamente para o relógio. - Vamos?

- Por favor - disse o outro.

Original English Version

'Of course it is,' returned his friend: 'I wish it was my surname for my own is not a very pretty one, and it takes a long time to sign. Chuzzlewit is my name.'

'Dear me!' cried Mr Pinch, with an involuntary start.

'You're not surprised at my having two names, I suppose?' returned the other, setting his glass to his lips. 'Most people have.'

'Oh, no,' said Mr Pinch, 'not at all. Oh dear no! Well!' And then remembering that Mr Pecksniff had privately cautioned him to say nothing in reference to the old gentleman of the same name who had lodged at the Dragon, but to reserve all mention of that person for him, he had no better means of hiding his confusion than by raising his own glass to his mouth. They looked at each other out of their respective tumblers for a few seconds, and then put them down empty.

'I told them in the stable to be ready for us ten minutes ago,' said Mr Pinch, glancing at the clock again. 'Shall we go?'

'If you please,' returned the other.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Claro que é - respondeu seu amigo. - Gostaria que fosse meu sobrenome, pois o meu não é muito bonito e demora bastante para assinar. Meu nome é Chuzzlewit.

- Meu Deus! - exclamou o Sr. Pinch, sobressaltando-se involuntariamente.

- Suponho que não esteja surpreso por eu ter dois nomes? - respondeu o outro, levando o copo aos lábios. - A maioria das pessoas tem.

- Ah, não - disse o Sr. Pinch - , de modo algum. Ah, claro que não! Bem! - Então, lembrando-se de que o Sr. Pecksniff o advertira em particular para nada dizer a respeito do velho cavalheiro do mesmo nome que se hospedara no Dragão, mas reservar para ele qualquer menção àquela pessoa, não encontrou melhor meio de esconder a confusão do que levar o próprio copo à boca. Olharam um para o outro por cima dos respectivos copos durante alguns segundos e depois os pousaram vazios.

- Pedi que deixassem tudo pronto para nós na estrebaria há dez minutos - disse o Sr. Pinch, tornando a olhar para o relógio. - Vamos?

- Se lhe agradar - respondeu o outro.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Gostaria de conduzir? - perguntou o Sr. Pinch, com o rosto brilhando de orgulho pela oferta. - Pode fazê-lo, se quiser.

- Isso depende, Sr. Pinch - riu Martin - , do seu cavalo. Se ele for ruim, prefiro manter as mãos aquecidas nos bolsos do sobretudo.

Ele achou aquela uma excelente piada, portanto o Sr. Pinch teve certeza de que era mesmo. Tom também riu e acreditou ter gostado muito. Pagou sua conta; o Sr. Chuzzlewit pagou o ponche. Agasalharam-se tão bem quanto seus recursos permitiam e foram juntos até a porta da frente, onde a propriedade do Sr. Pecksniff bloqueava o caminho.

- Não vou conduzir, obrigado, Sr. Pinch - disse Martin ao ocupar o assento de passageiro. - A propósito, podemos levar minha caixa?

- Claro - disse Tom. - Coloque-a aí, Dick, em qualquer lugar!

Original English Version

'Would you like to drive?' said Mr Pinch; his whole face beaming with a consciousness of the splendour of his offer. 'You shall, if you wish.'

'Why, that depends, Mr Pinch,' said Martin, laughing, 'upon what sort of a horse you have. Because if he's a bad one, I would rather keep my hands warm by holding them comfortably in my greatcoat pockets.'

He appeared to think this such a good joke, that Mr Pinch was quite sure it must be a capital one. Accordingly, he laughed too, and was fully persuaded that he enjoyed it very much. Then he settled his bill, and Mr Chuzzlewit paid for the punch; and having wrapped themselves up, to the extent of their respective means, they went out together to the front door, where Mr Pecksniff's property stopped the way.

'I won't drive, thank you, Mr Pinch,' said Martin, getting into the sitter's place. 'By the bye, there's a box of mine. Can we manage to take it?'

'Oh, certainly,' said Tom. 'Put it in, Dick, anywhere!'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Gostaria de conduzir? - perguntou o Sr. Pinch, com todo o rosto radiante pela consciência da magnificência de sua oferta. - Poderá fazê-lo, se quiser.

- Ora, isso depende, Sr. Pinch - disse Martin, rindo - , do tipo de cavalo que tem. Porque, se for ruim, prefiro manter as mãos aquecidas, confortavelmente metidas nos bolsos do sobretudo.

Ele pareceu considerar aquilo uma piada tão boa que o Sr. Pinch teve absoluta certeza de que devia ser excelente. Assim, riu também e ficou plenamente convencido de que se divertira muito. Depois, acertou sua conta, e o Sr. Chuzzlewit pagou o ponche; e, tendo-se agasalhado na medida dos recursos de cada um, saíram juntos até a porta da frente, onde a propriedade do Sr. Pecksniff bloqueava a passagem.

- Não conduzirei, obrigado, Sr. Pinch - disse Martin, acomodando-se no lugar do passageiro. - A propósito, há uma caixa minha. Conseguimos levá-la?

- Ah, certamente - disse Tom. - Ponha-a aí, Dick, em qualquer lugar!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A caixa não era pequena o bastante para nenhum canto disponível. Mesmo assim, Dick, o cavalariço, de algum modo a colocou com a ajuda do Sr. Chuzzlewit. Ela ficou toda do lado do Sr. Pinch. O Sr. Chuzzlewit temeu que fosse um peso para ele, mas Tom disse: "De modo algum". A caixa obrigou Tom a ficar numa posição em que pouco via além dos próprios joelhos. Contudo, todo vento ruim ajuda alguém. O ar frio vinha do lado de Tom, e a parede formada pela caixa e pelo homem protegia completamente o novo aluno. Isso foi um grande conforto.

Original English Version

It was not precisely of that convenient size which would admit of its being squeezed into any odd corner, but Dick the hostler got it in somehow, and Mr Chuzzlewit helped him. It was all on Mr Pinch's side, and Mr Chuzzlewit said he was very much afraid it would encumber him; to which Tom said, 'Not at all;' though it forced him into such an awkward position, that he had much ado to see anything but his own knees. But it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good; and the wisdom of the saying was verified in this instance; for the cold air came from Mr Pinch's side of the carriage, and by interposing a perfect wall of box and man between it and the new pupil, he shielded that young gentleman effectually; which was a great comfort.

Tradução Integral em Português

Ela não tinha precisamente aquele tamanho conveniente que permitiria espremê-la num canto qualquer, mas Dick, o cavalariço, de algum modo conseguiu colocá-la, e o Sr. Chuzzlewit o ajudou. Ficou toda do lado do Sr. Pinch, e o Sr. Chuzzlewit disse recear muito que o atrapalhasse; ao que Tom respondeu: "De modo algum", embora ela o forçasse a assumir uma posição tão incômoda que ele mal conseguia ver outra coisa além dos próprios joelhos. Mas há males que vêm para o bem; e a sabedoria do ditado confirmou-se naquela ocasião, pois o ar frio vinha do lado do Sr. Pinch na carruagem e, interpondo entre ele e o novo aluno uma perfeita muralha de caixa e homem, Tom protegeu eficazmente aquele jovem cavalheiro, o que foi um grande conforto.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Era uma noite clara, de lua brilhante. O luar e a geada branca faziam a bela paisagem reluzir como prata. A princípio, a grande tranquilidade deixou os dois homens em silêncio. Logo, o ponche dentro deles e o ar saudável do lado de fora os fizeram conversar sem parar. No meio do caminho, pararam para dar água ao cavalo. Martin era generoso com dinheiro e pediu outro copo de ponche. Eles o dividiram e ficaram ainda mais falantes. Naturalmente, conversaram sobretudo sobre o Sr. Pecksniff e sua família. Com lágrimas nos olhos, Tom Pinch descreveu-os e falou de suas muitas bondades. Seu retrato poderia fazer quase qualquer pessoa sensível reverenciá-los. O Sr. Pecksniff não imaginava que Tom faria isso. Sendo humilde, não teria mandado Tom buscar o aluno se soubesse.

Assim seguiram sem parar, na linguagem dos livros de histórias, até surgirem as luzes da aldeia. A torre da igreja lançava uma longa sombra sobre a grama do cemitério. Era como um relógio de sol - ai de nós, o mais verdadeiro do mundo. Qualquer que fosse a luz enviada pelo Céu, cada nova sombra marcava a passagem dos dias, semanas e anos naquele solo solene.

Original English Version

It was a clear evening, with a bright moon. The whole landscape was silvered by its light and by the hoar-frost; and everything looked exquisitely beautiful. At first, the great serenity and peace through which they travelled, disposed them both to silence; but in a very short time the punch within them and the healthful air without, made them loquacious, and they talked incessantly. When they were halfway home, and stopped to give the horse some water, Martin (who was very generous with his money) ordered another glass of punch, which they drank between them, and which had not the effect of making them less conversational than before. Their principal topic of discourse was naturally Mr Pecksniff and his family; of whom, and of the great obligations they had heaped upon him, Tom Pinch, with the tears standing in his eyes, drew such a picture as would have inclined any one of common feeling almost to revere them; and of which Mr Pecksniff had not the slightest foresight or preconceived idea, or he certainly (being very humble) would not have sent Tom Pinch to bring the pupil home.

In this way they went on, and on, and on--in the language of the story-books--until at last the village lights appeared before them, and the church spire cast a long reflection on the graveyard grass; as if it were a dial (alas, the truest in the world!) marking, whatever light shone out of Heaven, the flight of days and weeks and years, by some new shadow on that solemn ground.

Tradução Integral em Português

Era uma noite límpida, de lua brilhante. Toda a paisagem estava prateada pela luz e pela geada branca, e tudo parecia de uma beleza primorosa. A princípio, a grande serenidade e paz pelas quais viajavam inclinou ambos ao silêncio; mas, em pouquíssimo tempo, o ponche dentro deles e o ar saudável lá fora os tornaram loquazes, e conversaram sem cessar. Quando estavam a meio caminho de casa e pararam para dar água ao cavalo, Martin (que era muito generoso com seu dinheiro) pediu outro copo de ponche, que beberam juntos e que não teve o efeito de torná-los menos conversadores do que antes. O principal tema da conversa era, naturalmente, o Sr. Pecksniff e sua família; e Tom Pinch, com lágrimas nos olhos, pintou deles e das grandes obrigações com que o haviam cumulado um retrato que teria inclinado quase qualquer pessoa de sentimentos comuns a venerá-los; retrato do qual o Sr. Pecksniff não tinha a menor previsão nem ideia antecipada, pois do contrário certamente (sendo muito humilde) não teria enviado Tom Pinch para buscar o aluno.

Desse modo, prosseguiram e prosseguiram e prosseguiram - na linguagem dos livros de histórias - até que, por fim, as luzes da aldeia apareceram diante deles, e a torre da igreja projetou uma longa sombra sobre a relva do cemitério; como se fosse um relógio de sol (ai, o mais verdadeiro do mundo!) que, qualquer que fosse a luz a brilhar do Céu, assinalasse a fuga dos dias, semanas e anos por meio de alguma nova sombra naquele solo solene.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Uma igreja bonita! - disse Martin, vendo o companheiro diminuir ainda mais o passo do cavalo já lento enquanto se aproximavam.

- Não é? - exclamou Tom com orgulho. - Ela tem o órgão mais encantador que você já ouviu. Eu o toco para eles.

- É mesmo? - disse Martin. - Mal parece valer o esforço. O que você recebe por isso?

- Nada - disse Tom.

- Bem - disse o amigo - , você É mesmo um sujeito muito estranho!

Seguiu-se um breve silêncio.

- Quando digo nada - disse o Sr. Pinch alegremente - , estou errado e não é isso que quero dizer, porque isso me dá grande prazer e algumas das horas mais felizes da minha vida. Outro dia, levou a uma coisa diferente, mas provavelmente você não terá interesse em ouvir.

- Ah, sim, terei. O quê?

- Isso me levou - disse Tom em voz baixa - a ver um dos rostos mais encantadores e belos que se pode imaginar.

- Mas eu consigo imaginar um rosto bonito - disse seu amigo pensativo - , ou deveria conseguir, se ainda tenho memória.

Original English Version

'A pretty church!' said Martin, observing that his companion slackened the slack pace of the horse, as they approached.

'Is it not?' cried Tom, with great pride. 'There's the sweetest little organ there you ever heard. I play it for them.'

'Indeed?' said Martin. 'It is hardly worth the trouble, I should think. What do you get for that, now?'

'Nothing,' answered Tom.

'Well,' returned his friend, 'you ARE a very strange fellow!'

To which remark there succeeded a brief silence.

'When I say nothing,' observed Mr Pinch, cheerfully, 'I am wrong, and don't say what I mean, because I get a great deal of pleasure from it, and the means of passing some of the happiest hours I know. It led to something else the other day; but you will not care to hear about that I dare say?'

'Oh yes I shall. What?'

'It led to my seeing,' said Tom, in a lower voice, 'one of the loveliest and most beautiful faces you can possibly picture to yourself.'

'And yet I am able to picture a beautiful one,' said his friend, thoughtfully, 'or should be, if I have any memory.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Uma bela igreja! - disse Martin, observando que seu companheiro reduzira ainda mais o passo já lento do cavalo à medida que se aproximavam.

- Não é? - exclamou Tom com grande orgulho. - Há ali o mais doce pequeno órgão que o senhor já ouviu. Eu o toco para eles.

- É mesmo? - disse Martin. - Eu diria que mal vale o trabalho. E quanto recebe por isso?

- Nada - respondeu Tom.

- Bem - replicou seu amigo - , o senhor É mesmo um sujeito muito estranho!

A essa observação seguiu-se um breve silêncio.

- Quando digo nada - observou alegremente o Sr. Pinch - , estou errado e não digo o que quero dizer, porque recebo grande prazer disso e um meio de passar algumas das horas mais felizes que conheço. Outro dia, levou a outra coisa; mas suponho que não se interessará em ouvir a respeito?

- Ah, sim, vou me interessar. O quê?

- Levou-me a ver - disse Tom, baixando a voz - um dos rostos mais encantadores e belos que o senhor poderia imaginar.

- E, no entanto, sou capaz de imaginar um rosto belo - disse pensativamente seu amigo - , ou deveria ser, se tenho memória alguma.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Ela veio pela primeira vez bem cedo, certa manhã - disse Tom, pousando a mão no braço do outro. - Mal havia luz. Eu a vi por cima do ombro, parada logo dentro do pórtico. Fiquei gelado e quase pensei que fosse um espírito. Naturalmente, logo percebi meu engano, por sorte antes de parar de tocar.

- Por que por sorte?

- Porque ela ficou parada ouvindo. Eu usava meus óculos e a vi pelas aberturas das cortinas com a mesma clareza com que vejo você. Ela era linda. Depois de algum tempo, deslizou para longe, e continuei tocando até que estivesse fora do alcance da música.

- Por que fez isso?

- Não entende? - respondeu Tom. - Ela poderia pensar que eu não a tinha visto e voltar.

- E voltou?

- Claro. Na manhã seguinte e na noite seguinte, sempre sozinha e quando não havia ninguém por perto. Eu me levantava mais cedo e ficava até mais tarde, para que ela encontrasse a porta da igreja aberta e o órgão tocando, e não se decepcionasse. Durante vários dias ela passou por ali e sempre escutou. Mas agora foi embora, e neste vasto mundo nada é menos provável do que eu voltar a ver seu rosto.

Original English Version

'She came' said Tom, laying his hand upon the other's arm, 'for the first time very early in the morning, when it was hardly light; and when I saw her, over my shoulder, standing just within the porch, I turned quite cold, almost believing her to be a spirit. A moment's reflection got the better of that, of course, and fortunately it came to my relief so soon, that I didn't leave off playing.'

'Why fortunately?'

'Why? Because she stood there, listening. I had my spectacles on, and saw her through the chinks in the curtains as plainly as I see you; and she was beautiful. After a while she glided off, and I continued to play until she was out of hearing.'

'Why did you do that?'

'Don't you see?' responded Tom. 'Because she might suppose I hadn't seen her; and might return.'

'And did she?'

'Certainly she did. Next morning, and next evening too; but always when there were no people about, and always alone. I rose earlier and sat there later, that when she came, she might find the church door open, and the organ playing, and might not be disappointed. She strolled that way for some days, and always stayed to listen. But she is gone now, and of all unlikely things in this wide world, it is perhaps the most improbable that I shall ever look upon her face again.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Ela veio - disse Tom, pousando a mão no braço do outro - pela primeira vez bem cedo pela manhã, quando mal havia luz; e, quando a vi por cima do ombro, parada logo após o pórtico, fiquei inteiramente gelado, quase acreditando que fosse um espírito. Um instante de reflexão venceu isso, é claro, e felizmente veio em meu socorro tão depressa que não parei de tocar.

- Por que felizmente?

- Por quê? Porque ela ficou ali, ouvindo. Eu estava de óculos e a vi pelas frestas das cortinas tão claramente quanto vejo o senhor; e ela era bela. Depois de algum tempo, deslizou para longe, e continuei tocando até que estivesse fora do alcance do som.

- Por que fez isso?

- Não percebe? - respondeu Tom. - Porque ela poderia supor que eu não a vira; e poderia voltar.

- E voltou?

- Claro que voltou. Na manhã seguinte, e também na noite seguinte; mas sempre quando não havia ninguém por perto e sempre sozinha. Eu me levantava mais cedo e permanecia ali até mais tarde para que, quando ela viesse, encontrasse aberta a porta da igreja, o órgão tocando e não ficasse desapontada. Ela passeou por ali durante alguns dias e sempre parava para escutar. Mas agora foi embora e, de todas as coisas improváveis neste vasto mundo, talvez a mais improvável seja que eu volte algum dia a contemplar seu rosto.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Você não sabe mais nada sobre ela?

- Não.

- E nunca a seguiu quando ela foi embora?

- Por que eu a perturbaria seguindo-a? - disse Tom Pinch. - Era provável que ela quisesse minha companhia? Veio ouvir o órgão, não me ver. Eu não a afastaria, assustada, de um lugar que parecia amar. Deus a abençoe! Para lhe dar um minuto de prazer por dia, eu tocaria naqueles horários até ficar velho. Ficaria contente se às vezes ela pensasse em mim como parte da música. Seria mais do que recompensado se ela me associasse a algo de que gostasse tanto assim.

Original English Version

'You don't know anything more about her?'

'No.'

'And you never followed her when she went away?'

'Why should I distress her by doing that?' said Tom Pinch. 'Is it likely that she wanted my company? She came to hear the organ, not to see me; and would you have had me scare her from a place she seemed to grow quite fond of? Now, Heaven bless her!' cried Tom, 'to have given her but a minute's pleasure every day, I would have gone on playing the organ at those times until I was an old man; quite contented if she sometimes thought of a poor fellow like me, as a part of the music; and more than recompensed if she ever mixed me up with anything she liked as well as she liked that!'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Não sabe mais nada a respeito dela?

- Não.

- E nunca a seguiu quando ela foi embora?

- Por que eu a afligiria fazendo isso? - disse Tom Pinch. - É provável que desejasse minha companhia? Ela vinha ouvir o órgão, não me ver; e o senhor gostaria que eu a espantasse de um lugar do qual ela parecia estar se afeiçoando tanto? Ora, Deus a abençoe! - exclamou Tom. - Para lhe proporcionar apenas um minuto de prazer por dia, eu teria continuado a tocar o órgão naquelas horas até ficar velho; perfeitamente satisfeito se às vezes ela pensasse num pobre sujeito como eu como parte da música; e mais do que recompensado se alguma vez me misturasse, em seu pensamento, a qualquer coisa de que gostasse tanto quanto gostava daquela!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O novo aluno estava claramente espantado com a fraqueza de Tom e provavelmente lhe teria dado conselhos. Mas chegaram à porta do Sr. Pecksniff no momento certo. Dessa vez, usaram a porta da frente porque era uma ocasião de cerimônia e alegria. O mesmo homem esperava pelo cavalo. Naquela manhã, Tom pedira a esse homem que não deixasse o animal impaciente partir. Agora entregou o cavalo aos cuidados dele. Depois sussurrou ao Sr. Chuzzlewit, implorando-lhe que jamais repetisse uma palavra de sua história sincera. Por fim, Tom conduziu o aluno para dentro a fim de apresentá-lo imediatamente.

Original English Version

The new pupil was clearly very much amazed by Mr Pinch's weakness, and would probably have told him so, and given him some good advice, but for their opportune arrival at Mr Pecksniff's door; the front door this time, on account of the occasion being one of ceremony and rejoicing. The same man was in waiting for the horse who had been adjured by Mr Pinch in the morning not to yield to his rabid desire to start; and after delivering the animal into his charge, and beseeching Mr Chuzzlewit in a whisper never to reveal a syllable of what he had just told him in the fullness of his heart, Tom led the pupil in, for instant presentation.

Tradução Integral em Português

O novo aluno estava claramente muito admirado com a fraqueza do Sr. Pinch e provavelmente lhe teria dito isso e dado alguns bons conselhos, não fosse a oportuna chegada à porta do Sr. Pecksniff; desta vez, a porta da frente, por ser a ocasião de cerimônia e júbilo. O mesmo homem a quem o Sr. Pinch exortara pela manhã a não ceder ao desejo furioso do cavalo de partir esperava pelo animal; depois de entregá-lo aos seus cuidados e suplicar ao Sr. Chuzzlewit, num sussurro, que jamais revelasse uma sílaba do que acabara de lhe contar na plenitude do coração, Tom conduziu o aluno para dentro, a fim de apresentá-lo imediatamente.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Pecksniff claramente não os esperava por várias horas. Livros abertos o cercavam. Com um lápis preto na boca e um compasso na mão, estudava muitos diagramas matemáticos estranhos. As formas pareciam projetos de fogos de artifício. A senhorita Charity também não os esperava. Diante dela havia uma grande cesta de vime enquanto ela fazia toucas impossíveis para os pobres. A senhorita Mercy também ficou surpresa. Estava sentada num banquinho e amarrava a anágua de uma grande boneca para a filha de uma vizinha. Era realmente uma boneca adulta, o que tornava a cena mais confusa. O pequeno chapéu da boneca pendia pela fita de um dos cachos claros de Mercy. Ela o prendera ali para não o perder nem se sentar em cima dele. Seria difícil imaginar uma família mais completamente surpreendida do que os Pecksniff.

- Deus me abençoe! - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, erguendo os olhos e mudando lentamente sua expressão pensativa para uma alegre demonstração de reconhecimento. - Já chegaram! Martin, meu querido rapaz, tenho o prazer de recebê-lo em minha pobre casa!

Original English Version

Mr Pecksniff had clearly not expected them for hours to come; for he was surrounded by open books, and was glancing from volume to volume, with a black lead-pencil in his mouth, and a pair of compasses in his hand, at a vast number of mathematical diagrams, of such extraordinary shapes that they looked like designs for fireworks. Neither had Miss Charity expected them, for she was busied, with a capacious wicker basket before her, in making impracticable nightcaps for the poor. Neither had Miss Mercy expected them, for she was sitting upon her stool, tying on the--oh good gracious!--the petticoat of a large doll that she was dressing for a neighbour's child--really, quite a grown-up doll, which made it more confusing--and had its little bonnet dangling by the ribbon from one of her fair curls, to which she had fastened it lest it should be lost or sat upon. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to conceive a family so thoroughly taken by surprise as the Pecksniffs were, on this occasion.

Bless my life!' said Mr Pecksniff, looking up, and gradually exchanging his abstracted face for one of joyful recognition. 'Here already! Martin, my dear boy, I am delighted to welcome you to my poor house!'

Tradução Integral em Português

O Sr. Pecksniff evidentemente não os esperava por várias horas, pois estava cercado de livros abertos e percorria com os olhos um volume após outro, com um lápis preto na boca e um compasso na mão, diante de uma vastidão de diagramas matemáticos de formas tão extraordinárias que pareciam projetos de fogos de artifício. A Srta. Charity tampouco os esperava, pois estava ocupada, com um amplo cesto de vime diante de si, confeccionando toucas de dormir impraticáveis para os pobres. A Srta. Mercy tampouco os esperava, pois estava sentada em seu banquinho, amarrando a... oh, céus!... a anágua de uma grande boneca que vestia para a filha de uma vizinha - na verdade, uma boneca já bem crescida, o que tornava tudo mais embaraçoso - , e tinha o pequeno chapéu pendurado pela fita num de seus belos cachos, ao qual o prendera para que não se perdesse nem alguém se sentasse sobre ele. Seria difícil, se não impossível, conceber família mais completamente apanhada de surpresa que os Pecksniff naquela ocasião.

- Valha-me Deus! - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, erguendo os olhos e substituindo aos poucos a expressão absorta por outra de jubiloso reconhecimento. - Já aqui! Martin, meu caro rapaz, estou encantado em recebê-lo em minha pobre casa!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Com essa bondosa saudação, o Sr. Pecksniff o abraçou e bateu várias vezes em suas costas com a mão direita, como se seus sentimentos fossem fortes demais para serem expressos em palavras.

- Aqui estão minhas filhas, Martin - disse ele, recuperando-se. - São minhas duas únicas filhas. Se alguma vez as viu, não as vê desde que vocês eram bebês juntos... ah, essas tristes divisões familiares! Minhas queridas, por que corar porque seu trabalho cotidiano foi descoberto? Pretendíamos recebê-lo como visitante em nossa pequena sala de cerimônias, Martin - disse o Sr. Pecksniff com um sorriso. - Mas gosto mais assim, gosto mais assim!

Ó estrela abençoada da Inocência, onde quer que esteja, como brilhava em sua morada celestial! As duas senhoritas Pecksniff ofereceram cada uma a Martin uma mão branca como lírio, com as faces radiantes. Como você cintilou de simpatia quando Mercy se lembrou do chapéu em seus cabelos! Ela escondeu o belo rosto e se virou. Sua gentil irmã tirou o chapéu e deu em Mercy uma pancadinha leve no ombro cheio.

Original English Version

With this kind greeting, Mr Pecksniff fairly took him to his arms, and patted him several times upon the back with his right hand the while, as if to express that his feelings during the embrace were too much for utterance.

'But here,' he said, recovering, 'are my daughters, Martin; my two only children, whom (if you ever saw them) you have not beheld--ah, these sad family divisions!--since you were infants together. Nay, my dears, why blush at being detected in your everyday pursuits? We had prepared to give you the reception of a visitor, Martin, in our little room of state,' said Mr Pecksniff, smiling, 'but I like this better, I like this better!'

Oh blessed star of Innocence, wherever you may be, how did you glitter in your home of ether, when the two Miss Pecksniffs put forth each her lily hand, and gave the same, with mantling cheeks, to Martin! How did you twinkle, as if fluttering with sympathy, when Mercy, reminded of the bonnet in her hair, hid her fair face and turned her head aside; the while her gentle sister plucked it out, and smote her with a sister's soft reproof, upon her buxom shoulder!

Tradução Integral em Português

Com essa bondosa saudação, o Sr. Pecksniff tomou-o francamente nos braços e, ao mesmo tempo, deu-lhe várias palmadinhas nas costas com a mão direita, como se quisesse expressar que seus sentimentos durante o abraço eram demasiado intensos para serem proferidos.

- Mas aqui - disse ele, recompondo-se - estão minhas filhas, Martin; minhas duas únicas filhas, a quem (se alguma vez as viu) não contempla... ah, estas tristes divisões familiares!... desde que eram todos bebês. Ora, minhas queridas, por que corar por terem sido surpreendidas em suas ocupações cotidianas? Havíamos preparado para recebê-lo como visita em nossa pequena sala de cerimônias, Martin - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, sorrindo - , mas prefiro assim, prefiro assim!

Ó bendita estrela da Inocência, onde quer que estejas, como cintilaste em teu lar de éter quando as duas senhoritas Pecksniff estenderam, cada qual, sua mão de lírio e, com as faces coradas, ofereceram-na a Martin! Como tremeluziste, como se palpitasses de solidariedade, quando Mercy, lembrando-se do chapéu nos cabelos, escondeu o belo rosto e virou a cabeça para o lado, enquanto sua gentil irmã arrancava-o dali e, em suave censura fraternal, golpeava-lhe com ele o ombro roliço!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- E como - perguntou o Sr. Pecksniff, segurando gentilmente o cotovelo do Sr. Pinch - nosso amigo o tratou, Martin?

- Muito bem, senhor. Estamos nos dando muito bem.

- O velho Tom Pinch! - disse o Sr. Pecksniff com tristeza. - Parece que foi ontem que Thomas acabara de sair da escola. No entanto, muitos anos se passaram desde que Thomas Pinch e eu caminhamos juntos pelo mundo pela primeira vez!

O Sr. Pinch estava comovido demais para falar. Apertou a mão do mestre e tentou agradecer-lhe.

- Thomas Pinch e eu ainda caminharemos por ele em fiel amizade! - disse o Sr. Pecksniff. - Se um de nós for atropelado nos cruzamentos movimentados da vida, o outro o levará ao hospital da Esperança e se sentará ao lado de sua cama na Caridade!

Num tom mais alegre, sacudiu o cotovelo do Sr. Pinch. - Bem, bem, bem! Chega disso. Martin, deixe-me lhe mostrar nossa casa e nosso modo de vida. Venha!

Pegou uma vela acesa e, acompanhado de seu jovem parente, preparou-se para sair. Na porta, parou.

Original English Version

'And how,' said Mr Pecksniff, turning round after the contemplation of these passages, and taking Mr Pinch in a friendly manner by the elbow, 'how has our friend used you, Martin?'

'Very well indeed, sir. We are on the best terms, I assure you.'

'Old Tom Pinch!' said Mr Pecksniff, looking on him with affectionate sadness. 'Ah! It seems but yesterday that Thomas was a boy fresh from a scholastic course. Yet years have passed, I think, since Thomas Pinch and I first walked the world together!'

Mr Pinch could say nothing. He was too much moved. But he pressed his master's hand, and tried to thank him.

'And Thomas Pinch and I,' said Mr Pecksniff, in a deeper voice, 'will walk it yet, in mutual faithfulness and friendship! And if it comes to pass that either of us be run over in any of those busy crossings which divide the streets of life, the other will convey him to the hospital in Hope, and sit beside his bed in Bounty!'

'Well, well, well!' he added in a happier tone, as he shook Mr Pinch's elbow hard. 'No more of this! Martin, my dear friend, that you may be at home within these walls, let me show you how we live, and where. Come!'

With that he took up a lighted candle, and, attended by his young relative, prepared to leave the room. At the door, he stopped.

Tradução Integral em Português

- E então - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, virando-se depois de contemplar essas cenas e tomando amigavelmente o Sr. Pinch pelo cotovelo - , como nosso amigo o tratou, Martin?

- Muito bem, de fato, senhor. Asseguro-lhe que estamos nas melhores relações.

- O velho Tom Pinch! - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, contemplando-o com afetuosa tristeza. - Ah! Parece que foi ontem que Thomas era um rapaz recém-saído dos estudos. E, no entanto, creio que já se passaram anos desde que Thomas Pinch e eu começamos a caminhar juntos pelo mundo!

O Sr. Pinch não conseguiu dizer nada. Estava comovido demais. Mas apertou a mão do mestre e tentou agradecer-lhe.

- E Thomas Pinch e eu - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, em voz mais profunda - ainda caminharemos por ele, em fidelidade e amizade mútuas! E, se acontecer que um de nós seja atropelado em algum desses cruzamentos movimentados que dividem as ruas da vida, o outro o conduzirá ao hospital da Esperança e se sentará ao lado de seu leito na Caridade!

- Bem, bem, bem! - acrescentou, num tom mais alegre, sacudindo vigorosamente o cotovelo do Sr. Pinch. - Chega disso! Martin, meu caro amigo, para que se sinta em casa entre estas paredes, permita-me mostrar-lhe como e onde vivemos. Venha!

Dito isso, pegou uma vela acesa e, acompanhado pelo jovem parente, preparou-se para sair do aposento. À porta, parou.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Você vem conosco, Tom Pinch?

Tom o teria seguido alegremente até para a morte, feliz em dar a vida por tal homem.

Abrindo a sala oposta, o Sr. Pecksniff disse: - Esta é a pequena sala de cerimônias. Minhas filhas se orgulham dela, Martin. - Abrindo outra, disse: - Esta é a salinha onde produzi minhas obras, coisas modestas, na melhor das hipóteses. Um retrato meu feito por Spiller. Um busto de Spoker. É considerado bem parecido; reconheço algo no canto esquerdo do nariz.

Martin achou que era bem parecido, embora não fosse intelectual o bastante. O Sr. Pecksniff disse que outros haviam notado o mesmo defeito. Ficou satisfeito por seu jovem parente ter sensibilidade para a arte.

O Sr. Pecksniff fez um gesto em direção aos livros. - Eles tratam de nosso trabalho. Escrevi algumas coisas, mas não as publiquei. Cuidado lá em cima. Este é meu quarto. Leio aqui quando a família pensa que estou dormindo. Isso pode prejudicar minha saúde, mas a arte é longa e o tempo é curto. Há meios de anotar ideias preliminares até aqui.

Original English Version

'You'll bear us company, Tom Pinch?'

Aye, cheerfully, though it had been to death, would Tom have followed him; glad to lay down his life for such a man!

'This,' said Mr Pecksniff, opening the door of an opposite parlour, 'is the little room of state, I mentioned to you. My girls have pride in it, Martin! This,' opening another door, 'is the little chamber in which my works (slight things at best) have been concocted. Portrait of myself by Spiller. Bust by Spoker. The latter is considered a good likeness. I seem to recognize something about the left-hand corner of the nose, myself.'

Martin thought it was very like, but scarcely intellectual enough. Mr Pecksniff observed that the same fault had been found with it before. It was remarkable it should have struck his young relation too. He was glad to see he had an eye for art.

'Various books you observe,' said Mr Pecksniff, waving his hand towards the wall, 'connected with our pursuit. I have scribbled myself, but have not yet published. Be careful how you come upstairs. This,' opening another door, 'is my chamber. I read here when the family suppose I have retired to rest. Sometimes I injure my health rather more than I can quite justify to myself, by doing so; but art is long and time is short. Every facility you see for jotting down crude notions, even here.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Vai nos acompanhar, Tom Pinch?

Sim, alegremente, ainda que fosse para a morte, Tom o teria seguido; feliz de dar a vida por semelhante homem!

- Esta - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, abrindo a porta de uma sala do outro lado - é a pequena sala de cerimônias que lhe mencionei. Minhas meninas se orgulham dela, Martin! Este - abrindo outra porta - é o pequeno aposento onde minhas obras (coisas modestas, na melhor das hipóteses) foram concebidas. Retrato meu, por Spiller. Busto, por Spoker. Este último é considerado muito parecido. Eu mesmo creio reconhecer alguma coisa no canto esquerdo do nariz.

Martin achou que era muito parecido, mas pouco intelectual. O Sr. Pecksniff observou que o mesmo defeito já lhe fora apontado. Era notável que também tivesse impressionado o jovem parente. Alegrava-se em ver que ele tinha olho para a arte.

- Diversos livros, como observa - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, acenando para a parede - , ligados à nossa profissão. Eu mesmo tenho rabiscado, mas ainda não publiquei. Tenha cuidado ao subir a escada. Este - abrindo outra porta - é o meu quarto. Leio aqui quando a família supõe que me recolhi para descansar. Às vezes prejudico minha saúde um pouco mais do que consigo justificar a mim mesmo ao fazê-lo; mas a arte é longa e o tempo é curto. Como vê, todas as facilidades para anotar ideias rudimentares, até mesmo aqui.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Apontou para uma pequena mesa redonda com uma lamparina, folhas de papel, uma borracha de apagar e um estojo de instrumentos. Tudo estava pronto para o caso de uma ideia arquitetônica ocorrer ao Sr. Pecksniff durante a noite. Então ele saltaria da cama e a registraria para sempre.

O Sr. Pecksniff abriu outra porta naquele andar e logo a fechou, como se fosse um Quarto Azul. Mas sorriu e disse: - Por que não?

Martin não podia dizer por que não, porque nada sabia a respeito. O Sr. Pecksniff abriu a porta e respondeu à própria pergunta:

- O quarto de minhas filhas. Um primeiro andar modesto para nós, mas um recanto para elas. Limpo e arejado. Plantas, jacintos, livros e pássaros. - Os pássaros eram apenas um pardal velho e sem cauda, emprestado da cozinha. - Aqui estão essas pequenas coisas que as moças amam, nada mais. Quem procurar um esplendor sem coração procurará em vão.

Então os conduziu ao andar de cima.

Original English Version

These latter words were explained by his pointing to a small round table on which were a lamp, divers sheets of paper, a piece of India rubber, and a case of instruments; all put ready, in case an architectural idea should come into Mr Pecksniff's head in the night; in which event he would instantly leap out of bed, and fix it for ever.

Mr Pecksniff opened another door on the same floor, and shut it again, all at once, as if it were a Blue Chamber. But before he had well done so, he looked smilingly round, and said, 'Why not?'

Martin couldn't say why not, because he didn't know anything at all about it. So Mr Pecksniff answered himself, by throwing open the door, and saying:

'My daughters' room. A poor first-floor to us, but a bower to them. Very neat. Very airy. Plants you observe; hyacinths; books again; birds.' These birds, by the bye, comprised, in all, one staggering old sparrow without a tail, which had been borrowed expressly from the kitchen. 'Such trifles as girls love are here. Nothing more. Those who seek heartless splendour, would seek here in vain.'

With that he led them to the floor above.

Tradução Integral em Português

Essas últimas palavras foram explicadas quando apontou para uma pequena mesa redonda sobre a qual havia um lampião, várias folhas de papel, um pedaço de borracha-da-índia e um estojo de instrumentos; tudo preparado para o caso de uma ideia arquitetônica ocorrer ao Sr. Pecksniff durante a noite, hipótese em que ele saltaria imediatamente da cama e a fixaria para sempre.

O Sr. Pecksniff abriu outra porta no mesmo andar e tornou a fechá-la de súbito, como se fosse um Quarto Azul. Mas, antes mesmo de terminar, olhou em volta sorrindo e disse: - Por que não?

Martin não sabia dizer por que não, pois nada sabia a respeito. Assim, o Sr. Pecksniff respondeu a si mesmo, abrindo a porta de par em par e dizendo:

- O quarto de minhas filhas. Um modesto primeiro andar para nós, mas um caramanchão para elas. Muito asseado. Muito arejado. Plantas, como observa; jacintos; mais livros; pássaros. - Esses pássaros, diga-se de passagem, compreendiam ao todo um velho pardal cambaleante, sem cauda, tomado expressamente de empréstimo à cozinha. - Aqui estão essas ninharias que as moças amam. Nada mais. Quem procurar esplendor sem coração procurará aqui em vão.

Com isso, conduziu-os ao andar de cima.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Pecksniff abriu o famoso quarto da frente no segundo andar. - Algum talento se desenvolveu neste aposento. Aqui tive a ideia de uma torre de igreja que um dia talvez eu ofereça ao mundo. Trabalhamos aqui, Martin. Alguns arquitetos foram formados aqui, não foram, Sr. Pinch?

Tom concordou plenamente e acreditou plenamente nisso.

Passando a vela sobre rolos de papel, o Sr. Pecksniff disse: - Aqui estão sinais de nosso trabalho: a Catedral de Salisbury vista do norte, sul, leste, oeste, sudeste e noroeste; uma ponte, asilo, prisão, igreja, paiol, adega, pórtico, casa de verão, casa de gelo; plantas, elevações, cortes, tudo. - Em outro quarto grande com quatro camas pequenas, disse: - Este é seu quarto, que dividirá com o tranquilo Sr. Pinch. Está voltado para o sul, tem uma bela vista e a pequena biblioteca do Sr. Pinch. Peça qualquer conforto que desejar, Martin. Não há restrição, nem mesmo para estranhos.

Era verdade que qualquer aluno tinha plena liberdade para pedir qualquer coisa. Alguns haviam pedido a mesma coisa durante cinco anos sem que ninguém os impedisse.

Original English Version

'This,' said Mr Pecksniff, throwing wide the door of the memorable two-pair front; 'is a room where some talent has been developed I believe. This is a room in which an idea for a steeple occurred to me that I may one day give to the world. We work here, my dear Martin. Some architects have been bred in this room; a few, I think, Mr Pinch?'

Tom fully assented; and, what is more, fully believed it.

'You see,' said Mr Pecksniff, passing the candle rapidly from roll to roll of paper, 'some traces of our doings here. Salisbury Cathedral from the north. From the south. From the east. From the west. From the south-east. From the nor'west. A bridge. An almshouse. A jail. A church. A powder-magazine. A wine-cellar. A portico. A summer-house. An ice-house. Plans, elevations, sections, every kind of thing. And this,' he added, having by this time reached another large chamber on the same story, with four little beds in it, 'this is your room, of which Mr Pinch here is the quiet sharer. A southern aspect; a charming prospect; Mr Pinch's little library, you perceive; everything agreeable and appropriate. If there is any additional comfort you would desire to have here at anytime, pray mention it. Even to strangers, far less to you, my dear Martin, there is no restriction on that point.'

It was undoubtedly true, and may be stated in corroboration of Mr Pecksniff, that any pupil had the most liberal permission to mention anything in this way that suggested itself to his fancy. Some young gentlemen had gone on mentioning the very same thing for five years without ever being stopped.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Este - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, escancarando a porta do memorável cômodo da frente, dois lances acima - é um aposento onde, creio, algum talento foi desenvolvido. Este é um aposento em que me ocorreu uma ideia para uma torre de igreja que talvez um dia eu ofereça ao mundo. Trabalhamos aqui, meu caro Martin. Alguns arquitetos foram formados neste aposento; alguns, creio, Sr. Pinch?

Tom concordou plenamente e, mais que isso, acreditava plenamente.

- Como vê - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, passando rapidamente a vela de um rolo de papel a outro - , há aqui alguns vestígios de nossos trabalhos. A Catedral de Salisbury vista do norte. Do sul. Do leste. Do oeste. Do sudeste. Do noroeste. Uma ponte. Um asilo. Uma prisão. Uma igreja. Um paiol de pólvora. Uma adega. Um pórtico. Um pavilhão de verão. Uma casa de gelo. Plantas, elevações, cortes, todo tipo de coisa. E este - acrescentou, tendo a essa altura chegado a outro aposento amplo no mesmo andar, com quatro caminhas - , este é o seu quarto, que o Sr. Pinch aqui compartilha tranquilamente. Orientação sul; uma vista encantadora; a pequena biblioteca do Sr. Pinch, como percebe; tudo agradável e apropriado. Se houver algum conforto adicional que deseje ter aqui a qualquer momento, por favor, mencione-o. Mesmo para desconhecidos, e muito menos para o senhor, meu caro Martin, não há restrição alguma nesse ponto.

Era sem dúvida verdade, e pode-se afirmá-lo em confirmação das palavras do Sr. Pecksniff, que qualquer aluno tinha a mais liberal permissão para mencionar dessa maneira tudo o que sua fantasia lhe sugerisse. Alguns jovens cavalheiros haviam passado cinco anos mencionando exatamente a mesma coisa, sem jamais serem impedidos.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Os ajudantes domésticos dormem acima, e isso é tudo - disse o Sr. Pecksniff. Satisfeito com os elogios de Martin aos arranjos, ele os levou de volta à sala.

A sala havia mudado: uma grande refeição festiva estava pronta, e as duas senhoritas Pecksniff esperavam com olhares acolhedores. Havia duas garrafas de vinho de groselha, uma branca e outra vermelha. Havia também sanduíches longos e finos, maçãs, biscoitos de marinheiro úmidos, pedacinhos arenosos de laranja com açúcar e um bolo caseiro de aparência geológica. O tamanho da refeição deixou Tom Pinch sem fôlego. Em geral, os novos alunos eram introduzidos aos poucos, especialmente ao vinho, e às vezes levavam duas semanas para chegar à bomba d'água. Mas aquilo era um banquete, uma festa particular de prefeito para ser lembrada depois.

O Sr. Pecksniff pediu que fizessem plena justiça àquela refeição leve e fresca, adequada à noite.

- Martin se sentará entre vocês, minhas queridas, e o Sr. Pinch ao meu lado. Bebamos à saúde de nosso novo morador e sejamos felizes juntos! Martin, meu amor por você! Sr. Pinch, se poupar a garrafa, nós brigaremos.

Original English Version

'The domestic assistants,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'sleep above; and that is all.' After which, and listening complacently as he went, to the encomiums passed by his young friend on the arrangements generally, he led the way to the parlour again.

Here a great change had taken place; for festive preparations on a rather extensive scale were already completed, and the two Miss Pecksniffs were awaiting their return with hospitable looks. There were two bottles of currant wine, white and red; a dish of sandwiches (very long and very slim); another of apples; another of captain's biscuits (which are always a moist and jovial sort of viand); a plate of oranges cut up small and gritty; with powdered sugar, and a highly geological home-made cake. The magnitude of these preparations quite took away Tom Pinch's breath; for though the new pupils were usually let down softly, as one may say, particularly in the wine department, which had so many stages of declension, that sometimes a young gentleman was a whole fortnight in getting to the pump; still this was a banquet; a sort of Lord Mayor's feast in private life; a something to think of, and hold on by, afterwards.

To this entertainment, which apart from its own intrinsic merits, had the additional choice quality, that it was in strict keeping with the night, being both light and cool, Mr Pecksniff besought the company to do full justice.

'Martin,' he said, 'will seat himself between you two, my dears, and Mr Pinch will come by me. Let us drink to our new inmate, and may we be happy together! Martin, my dear friend, my love to you! Mr Pinch, if you spare the bottle we shall quarrel.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Os ajudantes domésticos - disse o Sr. Pecksniff - dormem no andar de cima; e isso é tudo. Depois disso, escutando com complacência, enquanto caminhava, os elogios de seu jovem amigo às disposições em geral, conduziu-os novamente à sala.

Ali ocorrera uma grande mudança, pois preparativos festivos em escala bastante ampla já estavam concluídos, e as duas senhoritas Pecksniff aguardavam o retorno deles com expressões hospitaleiras. Havia duas garrafas de vinho de groselha, branco e tinto; uma travessa de sanduíches (muito compridos e muito finos); outra de maçãs; outra de biscoitos de marinheiro (que são sempre uma espécie úmida e jovial de alimento); um prato de laranjas cortadas em pedacinhos granulados, com açúcar de confeiteiro; e um bolo caseiro de natureza altamente geológica. A magnitude desses preparativos deixou Tom Pinch sem fôlego; pois, embora os novos alunos em geral fossem rebaixados aos poucos, por assim dizer - sobretudo no setor do vinho, que tinha tantos estágios de declínio que às vezes um jovem cavalheiro levava uma quinzena inteira para chegar à bomba-d'água - , aquilo ainda era um banquete; uma espécie de festa do Lorde Prefeito na vida privada; algo em que pensar e ao qual se apegar depois.

O Sr. Pecksniff suplicou à companhia que fizesse plena justiça àquela refeição, que, além dos méritos intrínsecos, possuía a qualidade adicional e seleta de estar em rigorosa harmonia com a noite, sendo ao mesmo tempo leve e fria.

- Martin - disse ele - se sentará entre vocês duas, minhas queridas, e o Sr. Pinch ficará ao meu lado. Bebamos ao nosso novo morador, e que sejamos felizes juntos! Martin, meu caro amigo, à sua saúde! Sr. Pinch, se poupar a garrafa, brigaremos.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Pecksniff bebeu ao brinde, tentando parecer que o vinho ácido não o fazia piscar.

Falando da reunião, não do vinho, disse: - Este encontro compensa muitas decepções e dificuldades. Vamos nos divertir. - Pegou um biscoito de marinheiro. - Pobre é o coração que nunca se alegra, e nossos corações não são pobres. Não!

Com tais incentivos à alegria, ele fez as honras. O Sr. Pinch comeu de tudo, especialmente uma quantidade espantosa de sanduíches finos, talvez para provar que aquilo era real. Bebeu bastante vinho, atacando a garrafa com força. Sempre que enchia o copo, a senhorita Charity o encarava friamente como se olhasse para um fantasma. O Sr. Pecksniff também ficava pensativo ou triste. Conhecendo o vinho, talvez estivesse pensando no estado do Sr. Pinch no dia seguinte e em remédios para cólica.

Martin e as moças rapidamente se tornaram amigos e compararam alegremente lembranças da infância. A senhorita Mercy ria muito de tudo e, às vezes, depois de olhar para o rosto feliz do Sr. Pinch, quase ficava histérica. Sua irmã sussurrava com irritação que aquilo não era assunto para piadas e que não tinha paciência com a criatura. Mesmo assim, em geral ela também ria, com mais moderação, dizendo que era ridículo e insuportável demais para ser levado a sério.

Original English Version

And trying (in his regard for the feelings of the rest) to look as if the wine were not acid and didn't make him wink, Mr Pecksniff did honour to his own toast.

'This,' he said, in allusion to the party, not the wine, 'is a mingling that repays one for much disappointment and vexation. Let us be merry.' Here he took a captain's biscuit. 'It is a poor heart that never rejoices; and our hearts are not poor. No!'

With such stimulants to merriment did he beguile the time, and do the honours of the table; while Mr Pinch, perhaps to assure himself that what he saw and heard was holiday reality, and not a charming dream, ate of everything, and in particular disposed of the slim sandwiches to a surprising extent. Nor was he stinted in his draughts of wine; but on the contrary, remembering Mr Pecksniff's speech, attacked the bottle with such vigour, that every time he filled his glass anew, Miss Charity, despite her amiable resolves, could not repress a fixed and stony glare, as if her eyes had rested on a ghost. Mr Pecksniff also became thoughtful at those moments, not to say dejected; but as he knew the vintage, it is very likely he may have been speculating on the probable condition of Mr Pinch upon the morrow, and discussing within himself the best remedies for colic.

Martin and the young ladies were excellent friends already, and compared recollections of their childish days, to their mutual liveliness and entertainment. Miss Mercy laughed immensely at everything that was said; and sometimes, after glancing at the happy face of Mr Pinch, was seized with such fits of mirth as brought her to the very confines of hysterics. But for these bursts of gaiety, her sister, in her better sense, reproved her; observing, in an angry whisper, that it was far from being a theme for jest; and that she had no patience with the creature; though it generally ended in her laughing too--but much more moderately--and saying that indeed it was a little too ridiculous and intolerable to be serious about.

Tradução Integral em Português

E, procurando (em consideração aos sentimentos dos demais) parecer que o vinho não era azedo nem o fazia piscar, o Sr. Pecksniff honrou o próprio brinde.

- Isto - disse ele, aludindo à reunião, e não ao vinho - é uma união que recompensa muitas decepções e contrariedades. Alegremo-nos. - Nesse ponto, pegou um biscoito de marinheiro. - Pobre é o coração que nunca se alegra; e nossos corações não são pobres. Não!

Com tais estímulos à alegria, fez passar o tempo e desempenhou as honras da mesa; enquanto o Sr. Pinch, talvez para assegurar-se de que o que via e ouvia era uma realidade festiva, e não um sonho encantador, comia de tudo e, em particular, dava cabo dos finos sanduíches numa quantidade surpreendente. Tampouco foi comedido em seus goles de vinho; ao contrário, lembrando-se das palavras do Sr. Pecksniff, atacou a garrafa com tamanho vigor que, toda vez que tornava a encher o copo, a Srta. Charity, apesar de suas amáveis resoluções, não conseguia reprimir um olhar fixo e pétreo, como se seus olhos houvessem pousado num fantasma. O Sr. Pecksniff também ficava pensativo nesses momentos, para não dizer abatido; mas, como conhecia a safra, é muito provável que estivesse especulando sobre o provável estado do Sr. Pinch no dia seguinte e debatendo consigo mesmo os melhores remédios para cólicas.

Martin e as jovens já eram excelentes amigos e comparavam lembranças dos dias de infância, para mútuo deleite e animação. A Srta. Mercy ria imensamente de tudo o que se dizia; e às vezes, depois de lançar um olhar para o rosto feliz do Sr. Pinch, era tomada por acessos de riso que a levavam até as próprias fronteiras da histeria. Mas a irmã, em seu melhor juízo, repreendia-a por essas explosões de alegria; observando, num sussurro irritado, que aquilo estava longe de ser assunto para gracejos e que não tinha paciência com aquela criatura; embora em geral terminasse rindo também - porém com muito mais moderação - e dizendo que, de fato, a coisa era um pouco ridícula e intolerável demais para ser levada a sério.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Por fim, chegou a hora de seguir a velha regra da saúde, riqueza e sabedoria: dormir cedo e levantar cedo, regra comprovada pelas grandes fortunas dos limpadores de chaminés e de outros. As moças desejaram docemente boa-noite ao Sr. Chuzzlewit, obedientemente ao pai e com condescendência ao Sr. Pinch, e então foram para seu recanto. O Sr. Pecksniff insistiu em cuidar pessoalmente do conforto de Martin. Tomando-o pelo braço, levou-o escada acima até o quarto, enquanto o Sr. Pinch carregava a vela.

- Sr. Pinch - disse Pecksniff, sentado de braços cruzados numa cama vazia - , não há espevitadeiras nesse castiçal. Por favor, desça e peça uma.

O Sr. Pinch, encantado por ser útil, saiu imediatamente.

Quando ele se foi, o Sr. Pecksniff disse com condescendência piedosa: - Perdoe a falta de polimento de Thomas Pinch, Martin. Ele tem boas intenções.

- Ele é um sujeito muito bom, senhor.

- Ah, sim. Thomas Pinch tem boas intenções e é muito grato. Nunca me arrependi de ajudar Thomas Pinch.

Original English Version

At length it became high time to remember the first clause of that great discovery made by the ancient philosopher, for securing health, riches, and wisdom; the infallibility of which has been for generations verified by the enormous fortunes constantly amassed by chimney-sweepers and other persons who get up early and go to bed betimes. The young ladies accordingly rose, and having taken leave of Mr Chuzzlewit with much sweetness, and of their father with much duty and of Mr Pinch with much condescension, retired to their bower. Mr Pecksniff insisted on accompanying his young friend upstairs for personal superintendence of his comforts; and taking him by the arm, conducted him once more to his bedroom, followed by Mr Pinch, who bore the light.

'Mr Pinch,' said Pecksniff, seating himself with folded arms on one of the spare beds. 'I don't see any snuffers in that candlestick. Will you oblige me by going down, and asking for a pair?'

Mr Pinch, only too happy to be useful, went off directly.

'You will excuse Thomas Pinch's want of polish, Martin,' said Mr Pecksniff, with a smile of patronage and pity, as soon as he had left the room. 'He means well.'

'He is a very good fellow, sir.'

'Oh, yes,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'Yes. Thomas Pinch means well. He is very grateful. I have never regretted having befriended Thomas Pinch.'

Tradução Integral em Português

Por fim, já era mais do que hora de recordar a primeira cláusula daquela grande descoberta feita pelo antigo filósofo para assegurar saúde, riqueza e sabedoria, cuja infalibilidade vem sendo comprovada há gerações pelas enormes fortunas constantemente acumuladas por limpadores de chaminés e outras pessoas que se levantam cedo e se deitam em boa hora. Assim, as jovens se levantaram e, depois de se despedirem do Sr. Chuzzlewit com muita doçura, do pai com muita deferência filial e do Sr. Pinch com muita condescendência, recolheram-se ao seu caramanchão. O Sr. Pecksniff insistiu em acompanhar o jovem amigo escada acima para supervisionar pessoalmente seu conforto; e, tomando-o pelo braço, conduziu-o mais uma vez ao quarto, seguido pelo Sr. Pinch, que levava a luz.

- Sr. Pinch - disse Pecksniff, sentando-se de braços cruzados numa das camas vagas - , não vejo nenhuma tesoura de pavio naquele castiçal. Poderia fazer-me o obséquio de descer e pedir uma?

O Sr. Pinch, felicíssimo por poder ser útil, saiu imediatamente.

- Há de perdoar a falta de polimento de Thomas Pinch, Martin - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, com um sorriso de proteção e compaixão, assim que ele deixou o quarto. - Ele tem boas intenções.

- É um sujeito muito bom, senhor.

- Ah, sim - disse o Sr. Pecksniff. - Sim. Thomas Pinch tem boas intenções. É muito grato. Nunca me arrependi de ter amparado Thomas Pinch.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Imagino que nunca se arrependerá, senhor.

- Não, espero que não. Pobre sujeito, sempre dá o melhor de si, mas não tem talento. Por favor, faça com que ele lhe seja útil, Martin. Seu defeito é que às vezes esquece sua posição, mas isso logo se corrige. Alma digna! Verá que é fácil lidar com ele. Boa noite!

- Boa noite, senhor.

A essa altura, o Sr. Pinch havia voltado com as espevitadeiras.

- E boa noite para O SENHOR, Sr. Pinch - disse Pecksniff. - Durmam bem, os dois. Deus os abençoe! Deus os abençoe!

Com grande emoção, ele deu essa bênção e foi para seu quarto. Cansados, os jovens logo adormeceram. Os sonhos de Martin podem ser compreendidos pelas páginas seguintes. Thomas Pinch sonhou com feriados, órgãos de igreja e santos Pecksniffs. O Sr. Pecksniff não dormiu nem procurou a cama por duas horas, mas ficou sentado diante do fogo, olhando as brasas e pensando profundamente. Por fim, também dormiu e sonhou. À noite, uma casa pode conter tantas fantasias misturadas quanto a mente de um louco.

Original English Version

'I should think you never would, sir.'

'No,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'No. I hope not. Poor fellow, he is always disposed to do his best; but he is not gifted. You will make him useful to you, Martin, if you please. If Thomas has a fault, it is that he is sometimes a little apt to forget his position. But that is soon checked. Worthy soul! You will find him easy to manage. Good night!'

'Good night, sir.'

By this time Mr Pinch had returned with the snuffers.

'And good night to YOU, Mr Pinch,' said Pecksniff. 'And sound sleep to you both. Bless you! Bless you!'

Invoking this benediction on the heads of his young friends with great fervour, he withdrew to his own room; while they, being tired, soon fell asleep. If Martin dreamed at all, some clue to the matter of his visions may possibly be gathered from the after-pages of this history. Those of Thomas Pinch were all of holidays, church organs, and seraphic Pecksniffs. It was some time before Mr Pecksniff dreamed at all, or even sought his pillow, as he sat for full two hours before the fire in his own chamber, looking at the coals and thinking deeply. But he, too, slept and dreamed at last. Thus in the quiet hours of the night, one house shuts in as many incoherent and incongruous fancies as a madman's head.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Imagino que jamais se arrependerá, senhor.

- Não - disse o Sr. Pecksniff. - Não. Espero que não. Pobre sujeito, está sempre disposto a fazer o melhor possível; mas não é talentoso. Faça-o ser-lhe útil, Martin, se assim desejar. Se Thomas tem algum defeito, é estar às vezes um pouco propenso a esquecer sua posição. Mas isso logo se corrige. Alma digna! Verá que é fácil de manejar. Boa noite!

- Boa noite, senhor.

A essa altura, o Sr. Pinch voltara com a tesoura de pavio.

- E boa noite para O SENHOR, Sr. Pinch - disse Pecksniff. - E um sono profundo para ambos. Deus os abençoe! Deus os abençoe!

Invocando com grande fervor essa bênção sobre a cabeça dos jovens amigos, retirou-se para o próprio quarto; enquanto eles, cansados, logo adormeceram. Se Martin sonhou, alguma pista sobre o tema de suas visões poderá talvez ser colhida nas páginas posteriores desta história. Os sonhos de Thomas Pinch eram todos de feriados, órgãos de igreja e seráficos Pecksniffs. Passou algum tempo antes que o Sr. Pecksniff sonhasse, ou sequer procurasse o travesseiro, pois ficou sentado durante duas horas inteiras diante do fogo em seu quarto, olhando para as brasas e pensando profundamente. Mas também ele, por fim, dormiu e sonhou. Assim, nas horas tranquilas da noite, uma casa encerra tantas fantasias incoerentes e incongruentes quanto a cabeça de um louco.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Chapter Six

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

CONTÉM, ENTRE OUTROS ASSUNTOS IMPORTANTES, PECKSNIFFIANOS E ARQUITETÔNICOS, UM RELATO EXATO DO PROGRESSO FEITO PELO SR. PINCH NA CONFIANÇA E AMIZADE DO NOVO ALUNO

Era manhã. A bela Aurora, a Deusa do amanhecer cuja história tantas vezes é escrita e cantada, parecia beliscar o nariz da senhorita Pecksniff com dedos rosados. Esse era seu costume brincalhão com a bela Cherry. Em palavras simples, a ponta do nariz da jovem estava sempre muito vermelha no café da manhã. Em geral parecia raspada e gelada, quase como se alguém a tivesse esfregado com uma ferramenta áspera. Seu humor era semelhante naquela hora: agudo e azedo, como se um limão extra tivesse sido espremido na bebida doce de sua natureza e estragado seu sabor.

Original English Version

COMPRISES, AMONG OTHER IMPORTANT MATTERS, PECKSNIFFIAN AND ARCHITECTURAL, AND EXACT RELATION OF THE PROGRESS MADE BY MR PINCH IN THE CONFIDENCE AND FRIENDSHIP OF THE NEW PUPIL

It was morning; and the beautiful Aurora, of whom so much hath been written, said, and sung, did, with her rosy fingers, nip and tweak Miss Pecksniff's nose. It was the frolicsome custom of the Goddess, in her intercourse with the fair Cherry, so to do; or in more prosaic phrase, the tip of that feature in the sweet girl's countenance was always very red at breakfast-time. For the most part, indeed, it wore, at that season of the day, a scraped and frosty look, as if it had been rasped; while a similar phenomenon developed itself in her humour, which was then observed to be of a sharp and acid quality, as though an extra lemon (figuratively speaking) had been squeezed into the nectar of her disposition, and had rather damaged its flavour.

Tradução Integral em Português

CONTÉM, ENTRE OUTROS IMPORTANTES ASSUNTOS PECKSNIFFIANOS E ARQUITETÔNICOS, UMA NARRAÇÃO EXATA DO PROGRESSO FEITO PELO SR. PINCH NA CONFIANÇA E NA AMIZADE DO NOVO ALUNO

Era manhã; e a bela Aurora, sobre quem tanto se escreveu, disse e cantou, beliscou e torceu, com seus dedos rosados, o nariz da Srta. Pecksniff. Era costume brincalhão da Deusa, em suas relações com a bela Cherry, proceder assim; ou, em frase mais prosaica, a ponta daquele traço no rosto da doce moça estava sempre muito vermelha à hora do café da manhã. Na verdade, na maior parte do tempo, àquela hora do dia ela apresentava um aspecto esfolado e gélido, como se tivesse sido raspada com uma lima; enquanto fenômeno semelhante se manifestava em seu humor, que então se mostrava de natureza aguda e ácida, como se um limão extra (figurativamente falando) tivesse sido espremido no néctar de sua índole e lhe houvesse prejudicado um pouco o sabor.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Geralmente, essa severidade significava que o chá do Sr. Pinch era muito fraco, que ele recebia pouca manteiga ou algo parecido. Mas, depois do Banquete de Instalação, ela permitiu que ele comesse e bebesse à vontade. Ele ficou tão espantado que, como um velho prisioneiro posto em liberdade, mal sabia usar a própria liberdade. Ficou desorientado sem alguém para raspar seu pão, limitar seu açúcar a um torrão e prestar as pequenas atenções que esperava. A confiança do novo aluno era quase assustadora. Ele pediu o pão ao Sr. Pecksniff e pegou com toda a calma uma fatia do bacon particular de Pecksniff. Chegou até a dizer que o Sr. Pinch 'não sabia se virar', como se isso fosse normal e Tom devesse imitá-lo. Diante da família, essa fala chocou tanto Tom que ele baixou os olhos como se tivesse cometido algo terrível contra o Sr. Pecksniff. Aquilo bastou como desjejum e acabou com seu apetite para a refeição.

As jovens senhoras e o Sr. Pecksniff continuaram muito animados apesar dessas provações, com um entendimento secreto entre eles. Perto do fim da refeição, o Sr. Pecksniff explicou-o com satisfação.

Original English Version

This additional pungency on the part of the fair young creature led, on ordinary occasions, to such slight consequences as the copious dilution of Mr Pinch's tea, or to his coming off uncommonly short in respect of butter, or to other the like results. But on the morning after the Installation Banquet, she suffered him to wander to and fro among the eatables and drinkables, a perfectly free and unchecked man; so utterly to Mr Pinch's wonder and confusion, that like the wretched captive who recovered his liberty in his old age, he could make but little use of his enlargement, and fell into a strange kind of flutter for want of some kind hand to scrape his bread, and cut him off in the article of sugar with a lump, and pay him those other little attentions to which he was accustomed. There was something almost awful, too, about the self-possession of the new pupil; who 'troubled' Mr Pecksniff for the loaf, and helped himself to a rasher of that gentleman's own particular and private bacon, with all the coolness in life. He even seemed to think that he was doing quite a regular thing, and to expect that Mr Pinch would follow his example, since he took occasion to observe of that young man 'that he didn't get on'; a speech of so tremendous a character, that Tom cast down his eyes involuntarily, and felt as if he himself had committed some horrible deed and heinous breach of Mr Pecksniff's confidence. Indeed, the agony of having such an indiscreet remark addressed to him before the assembled family, was breakfast enough in itself, and would, without any other matter of reflection, have settled Mr Pinch's business and quenched his appetite, for one meal, though he had been never so hungry.

The young ladies, however, and Mr Pecksniff likewise, remained in the very best of spirits in spite of these severe trials, though with something of a mysterious understanding among themselves. When the meal was nearly over, Mr Pecksniff smilingly explained the cause of their common satisfaction.

Tradução Integral em Português

Essa dose adicional de mordacidade da bela jovem costumava acarretar consequências tão pequenas quanto uma abundante diluição do chá do Sr. Pinch, uma porção extraordinariamente reduzida de manteiga ou outros resultados semelhantes. Mas, na manhã seguinte ao Banquete de Instalação, ela permitiu que ele vagasse de um lado para outro entre as comidas e bebidas como homem perfeitamente livre e sem restrições; para tamanho espanto e confusão do Sr. Pinch que, a exemplo do infeliz cativo que recuperou a liberdade na velhice, pouco proveito conseguiu tirar de sua emancipação e caiu numa estranha agitação por falta de alguma mão bondosa que lhe raspasse o pão, limitasse-lhe o açúcar a um torrão e lhe prestasse aquelas outras pequenas atenções a que estava habituado. Havia também algo quase terrível na desenvoltura do novo aluno, que "incomodou" o Sr. Pecksniff pedindo-lhe o pão e serviu-se de uma fatia daquele toucinho particular e privativo do cavalheiro com toda a naturalidade do mundo. Parecia até julgar que fazia algo perfeitamente normal e esperar que o Sr. Pinch seguisse seu exemplo, pois aproveitou a ocasião para observar, a respeito daquele jovem, "que ele não se adiantava"; discurso de caráter tão tremendo que Tom baixou involuntariamente os olhos e sentiu como se ele próprio houvesse cometido algum ato horrível e uma hedionda violação da confiança do Sr. Pecksniff. De fato, a agonia de ouvir dirigir-lhe tão indiscreta observação diante de toda a família reunida já constituía, por si só, um café da manhã suficiente e, sem nenhum outro motivo de reflexão, teria encerrado os negócios do Sr. Pinch e extinguido seu apetite por uma refeição, por mais faminto que estivesse.

As jovens senhoras, porém, e também o Sr. Pecksniff, conservaram o melhor dos humores apesar dessas duras provações, embora houvesse entre eles certa compreensão misteriosa. Quando a refeição estava quase terminando, o Sr. Pecksniff explicou sorrindo a causa da satisfação comum.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'Martin, minhas filhas e eu não costumamos deixar nosso lar tranquilo pelos prazeres vertiginosos do mundo lá fora. Mas pretendemos fazer isso hoje.'

'É mesmo, senhor!', exclamou o novo aluno.

'Sim', disse o Sr. Pecksniff, batendo na mão esquerda com uma carta que segurava na direita. 'Fui chamado a Londres por assuntos profissionais, estritamente profissionais, Martin. Há muito prometi às minhas meninas que, quando isso voltasse a acontecer, elas iriam comigo. Esta noite partiremos na diligência pesada, como a pomba de antigamente, e durante uma semana não tornaremos a pôr nossos ramos de oliveira no corredor.' Ele explicou: 'Por ramos de oliveira quero dizer nossa modesta bagagem.'

'Espero que as jovens aproveitem a viagem', disse Martin.

'Ah, tenho certeza de que vamos aproveitar!', exclamou Mercy, batendo palmas. 'Meu Deus, Cherry, querida... só de pensar em Londres!'

Original English Version

'It is not often,' he said, 'Martin, that my daughters and I desert our quiet home to pursue the giddy round of pleasures that revolves abroad. But we think of doing so to-day.'

'Indeed, sir!' cried the new pupil.

'Yes,' said Mr Pecksniff, tapping his left hand with a letter which he held in his right. 'I have a summons here to repair to London; on professional business, my dear Martin; strictly on professional business; and I promised my girls, long ago, that whenever that happened again, they should accompany me. We shall go forth to-night by the heavy coach--like the dove of old, my dear Martin--and it will be a week before we again deposit our olive-branches in the passage. When I say olive-branches,' observed Mr Pecksniff, in explanation, 'I mean, our unpretending luggage.'

'I hope the young ladies will enjoy their trip,' said Martin.

'Oh! that I'm sure we shall!' cried Mercy, clapping her hands. 'Good gracious, Cherry, my darling, the idea of London!'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Não é frequente", disse ele, "Martin, que minhas filhas e eu abandonemos nosso lar tranquilo para acompanhar o vertiginoso circuito de prazeres que gira lá fora. Mas pensamos em fazê-lo hoje."

"De fato, senhor!", exclamou o novo aluno.

"Sim", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, batendo na mão esquerda com uma carta que segurava na direita. "Tenho aqui uma convocação para ir a Londres; por questões profissionais, meu caro Martin; estritamente profissionais; e prometi a minhas meninas, há muito tempo, que, quando isso voltasse a acontecer, elas me acompanhariam. Partiremos esta noite na diligência lenta - como a pomba de outrora, meu caro Martin - e levará uma semana até tornarmos a depositar nossos ramos de oliveira no corredor. Quando digo ramos de oliveira", observou o Sr. Pecksniff, à guisa de explicação, "refiro-me a nossa despretensiosa bagagem."

"Espero que as jovens senhoras desfrutem da viagem", disse Martin.

"Ah! Tenho certeza de que desfrutaremos!", exclamou Mercy, batendo palmas. "Meu Deus do céu, Cherry, querida, imagine Londres!"

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'Criança ansiosa!', disse o Sr. Pecksniff, olhando para ela como quem sonhava. 'Há uma doce tristeza nas esperanças da juventude. É agradável saber que nunca poderão se realizar. Quando criança, eu pensava que cebolas em conserva cresciam em árvores e que todo elefante nascia com um castelo nas costas. Descobri que isso não era verdade, mas essas ideias me consolaram nos momentos difíceis. Até quando descobri que eu havia cuidado de uma avestruz, e não de um aluno humano, elas me consolaram naquela hora dolorosa.'

Diante dessa terrível referência a John Westlock, o Sr. Pinch de repente se engasgou com o chá. Naquela manhã ele recebera uma carta de John, como o Sr. Pecksniff sabia muito bem.

O Sr. Pecksniff tornou a ficar alegre. 'Meu caro Martin, cuide para que a casa não fuja enquanto estivermos fora. Deixamos tudo sob sua responsabilidade. Não há segredo; tudo é livre e aberto. Ao contrário do jovem da história oriental, chamado de almanaque caolho, se não me engano, Sr. Pinch...'

Original English Version

'Ardent child!' said Mr Pecksniff, gazing on her in a dreamy way. 'And yet there is a melancholy sweetness in these youthful hopes! It is pleasant to know that they never can be realised. I remember thinking once myself, in the days of my childhood, that pickled onions grew on trees, and that every elephant was born with an impregnable castle on his back. I have not found the fact to be so; far from it; and yet those visions have comforted me under circumstances of trial. Even when I have had the anguish of discovering that I have nourished in my breast on ostrich, and not a human pupil--even in that hour of agony, they have soothed me.'

At this dread allusion to John Westlock, Mr Pinch precipitately choked in his tea; for he had that very morning received a letter from him, as Mr Pecksniff very well knew.

'You will take care, my dear Martin,' said Mr Pecksniff, resuming his former cheerfulness, 'that the house does not run away in our absence. We leave you in charge of everything. There is no mystery; all is free and open. Unlike the young man in the Eastern tale--who is described as a one-eyed almanac, if I am not mistaken, Mr Pinch?--'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Criança ardente!", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, contemplando-a com ar sonhador. "E, no entanto, há uma doçura melancólica nessas esperanças juvenis! É agradável saber que jamais poderão realizar-se. Lembro-me de que certa vez, nos dias de minha infância, pensei que cebolas em conserva crescessem em árvores e que todo elefante nascesse com um castelo inexpugnável nas costas. Não descobri que os fatos fossem assim; muito pelo contrário; ainda assim, essas visões me confortaram em circunstâncias de provação. Mesmo quando sofri a angústia de descobrir que havia alimentado em meu peito um avestruz, e não um aluno humano - mesmo naquela hora de agonia, elas me consolaram."

Diante dessa terrível alusão a John Westlock, o Sr. Pinch engasgou-se subitamente com o chá; pois naquela mesma manhã recebera uma carta dele, como o Sr. Pecksniff muito bem sabia.

"O senhor cuidará, meu caro Martin", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, retomando a alegria anterior, "para que a casa não fuja em nossa ausência. Deixamos tudo sob seus cuidados. Não há mistério; tudo é franco e aberto. Ao contrário do jovem no conto oriental - descrito como um almanaque caolho, se não me engano, Sr. Pinchâ..."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'Um calênder caolho, creio eu, senhor', disse Tom, hesitante.

'Creio que são quase a mesma coisa', disse o Sr. Pecksniff com um sorriso de compaixão, 'ou eram no meu tempo. Ao contrário daquele jovem, meu caro Martin, nenhuma parte desta casa lhe é proibida. Sinta-se inteiramente em casa por toda parte. Seja feliz e mate o bezerro gordo, se quiser!'

Sem dúvida, Martin poderia matar e usar qualquer bezerro, gordo ou magro, encontrado na propriedade. Mas não havia bezerro algum nas terras do Sr. Pecksniff naquela época, portanto aquilo era uma frase cortês, não verdadeira hospitalidade. Assim terminou a conversa. O Sr. Pecksniff se levantou e conduziu os outros à sala da frente do segundo andar, o centro de seu gênio arquitetônico.

Procurando entre os papéis, o Sr. Pecksniff disse: 'Deixe-me ver qual é a melhor maneira de você trabalhar enquanto eu estiver fora, Martin. Projete um monumento para um Lorde Prefeito de Londres, um túmulo para um xerife ou um estábulo de vacas para o parque de um nobre. Sabe, eu gostaria muito de ver sua ideia de um estábulo de vacas.' Ele cruzou as mãos e olhou pensativo para seu jovem parente.

Original English Version

'A one-eyed calender, I think, sir,' faltered Tom.

'They are pretty nearly the same thing, I believe,' said Mr Pecksniff, smiling compassionately; 'or they used to be in my time. Unlike that young man, my dear Martin, you are forbidden to enter no corner of this house; but are requested to make yourself perfectly at home in every part of it. You will be jovial, my dear Martin, and will kill the fatted calf if you please!'

There was not the least objection, doubtless, to the young man's slaughtering and appropriating to his own use any calf, fat or lean, that he might happen to find upon the premises; but as no such animal chanced at that time to be grazing on Mr Pecksniff's estate, this request must be considered rather as a polite compliment that a substantial hospitality. It was the finishing ornament of the conversation; for when he had delivered it, Mr Pecksniff rose and led the way to that hotbed of architectural genius, the two-pair front.

'Let me see,' he said, searching among the papers, 'how you can best employ yourself, Martin, while I am absent. Suppose you were to give me your idea of a monument to a Lord Mayor of London; or a tomb for a sheriff; or your notion of a cow-house to be erected in a nobleman's park. Do you know, now,' said Mr Pecksniff, folding his hands, and looking at his young relation with an air of pensive interest, 'that I should very much like to see your notion of a cow-house?'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Um calândar caolho, creio, senhor", balbuciou Tom.

"Creio que são quase a mesma coisa", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, sorrindo com compaixão, "ou costumavam ser em meu tempo. Ao contrário daquele jovem, meu caro Martin, o senhor não está proibido de entrar em canto algum desta casa; ao contrário, pedimos que fique perfeitamente à vontade em todas as suas partes. Divirta-se, meu caro Martin, e mate o novilho cevado, se quiser!"

Sem dúvida, não havia a menor objeção a que o jovem abatesse e se apropriasse de qualquer bezerro, gordo ou magro, que por acaso encontrasse na propriedade; mas, como nenhum animal semelhante pastava naquela ocasião nas terras do Sr. Pecksniff, esse pedido deve ser considerado mais um cumprimento polido que uma hospitalidade substancial. Foi o ornamento final da conversa; pois, depois de pronunciá-lo, o Sr. Pecksniff levantou-se e abriu caminho até aquela estufa de gênio arquitetônico, a sala da frente no segundo andar.

"Deixe-me ver", disse, procurando entre os papéis, "como poderá ocupar-se da melhor maneira, Martin, durante minha ausência. Suponhamos que me apresentasse sua ideia de um monumento a um Lorde Prefeito de Londres; ou de um túmulo para um xerife; ou sua concepção de um estábulo para vacas a ser erguido no parque de um nobre. Sabe", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, cruzando as mãos e fitando o jovem parente com ar de pensativo interesse, "que eu gostaria muitíssimo de ver sua concepção de um estábulo para vacas?"

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Mas Martin claramente não gostou da sugestão.

'Uma bomba-d'água oferece uma prática muito boa e simples', disse o Sr. Pecksniff. 'Projetar um poste de iluminação aprimora a mente e a conduz a um estilo clássico. Uma barreira de pedágio decorativa exerce forte efeito sobre a imaginação. O que acha de começar por uma barreira de pedágio decorativa?'

'Como o Sr. Pecksniff preferir', disse Martin, em dúvida.

'Espere', disse o Sr. Pecksniff. 'Você é ambicioso e desenha com muita precisão, então... ha, ha... trabalhará nestas plantas para uma escola de gramática. Siga os detalhes impressos. Terei curiosidade de ver o que fará. Talvez um jovem de seu gosto encontre algo impossível ou improvável que eu possa pôr em forma. Meu caro Martin, grande experiência e longo estudo revelam-se apenas nos retoques finais. Ha, ha! Será divertido ver sua escola de gramática.' Ele deu um tapinha nas costas do jovem.

Original English Version

But Martin by no means appeared to relish this suggestion.

'A pump,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'is very chaste practice. I have found that a lamp post is calculated to refine the mind and give it a classical tendency. An ornamental turnpike has a remarkable effect upon the imagination. What do you say to beginning with an ornamental turnpike?'

'Whatever Mr Pecksniff pleased,' said Martin, doubtfully.

'Stay,' said that gentleman. 'Come! as you're ambitious, and are a very neat draughtsman, you shall--ha ha!--you shall try your hand on these proposals for a grammar-school; regulating your plan, of course, by the printed particulars. Upon my word, now,' said Mr Pecksniff, merrily, 'I shall be very curious to see what you make of the grammar-school. Who knows but a young man of your taste might hit upon something, impracticable and unlikely in itself, but which I could put into shape? For it really is, my dear Martin, it really is in the finishing touches alone, that great experience and long study in these matters tell. Ha, ha, ha! Now it really will be,' continued Mr Pecksniff, clapping his young friend on the back in his droll humour, 'an amusement to me, to see what you make of the grammar-school.'

Tradução Integral em Português

Mas Martin de modo algum pareceu apreciar a sugestão.

"Uma bomba d'água", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "é um exercício muito casto. Descobri que um poste de iluminação tende a refinar o espírito e a lhe dar uma inclinação clássica. Uma cancela de pedágio ornamental produz efeito extraordinário sobre a imaginação. Que me diz de começar por uma cancela de pedágio ornamental?"

"O que quer que agradasse ao Sr. Pecksniff", disse Martin, hesitante.

"Espere", disse aquele cavalheiro. "Ora! Como é ambicioso e desenha com muita precisão, o senhor deverá... há, há!... experimentar sua habilidade nestas propostas para uma escola de gramática; naturalmente, regulando o projeto pelos pormenores impressos. Por minha palavra", disse o Sr. Pecksniff alegremente, "ficarei muito curioso para ver o que fará da escola de gramática. Quem sabe um jovem de seu gosto não encontre algo, em si mesmo impraticável e improvável, mas que eu possa pôr em forma? Pois é realmente, meu caro Martin, é realmente apenas nos retoques finais que a grande experiência e o longo estudo desses assuntos se fazem sentir. Há, há, há! Ora, de fato será", prosseguiu o Sr. Pecksniff, dando tapinhas nas costas do jovem amigo em seu humor jocoso, "uma diversão para mim ver o que fará da escola de gramática."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Martin aceitou prontamente, e o Sr. Pecksniff lhe deu os materiais. Enquanto isso, Pecksniff falou sobre a magia dos poucos retoques finais de um mestre. Seus velhos inimigos diziam que isso era quase milagroso: acrescentar uma janela nos fundos, uma porta de cozinha, seis degraus ou uma calha às vezes transformava o projeto de um aluno em obra do próprio Sr. Pecksniff e lhe rendia muito dinheiro. Assim é a magia do gênio, que transforma em ouro tudo o que toca.

'Quando precisar mudar de tarefa', disse o Sr. Pecksniff, 'Thomas Pinch lhe ensinará a medir o jardim dos fundos. Você também pode determinar o nível exato da estrada desta casa até a placa indicadora, ou cumprir alguma outra tarefa útil e agradável. No quintal há uma carroça cheia de tijolos soltos e umas duas dezenas de vasos de flores velhos. Meu caro Martin, empilhe-os em qualquer forma que me faça lembrar a Basílica de São Pedro, em Roma, ou a Mesquita de Santa Sofia, em Constantinopla. Isso o aperfeiçoará e me dará prazer. Agora deixemos os assuntos de trabalho. Podemos conversar em particular no meu quarto enquanto arrumo minha mala de viagem.'

Original English Version

Martin readily undertook this task, and Mr Pecksniff forthwith proceeded to entrust him with the materials necessary for its execution; dwelling meanwhile on the magical effect of a few finishing touches from the hand of a master; which, indeed, as some people said (and these were the old enemies again!) was unquestionably very surprising, and almost miraculous; as there were cases on record in which the masterly introduction of an additional back window, or a kitchen door, or half-a-dozen steps, or even a water spout, had made the design of a pupil Mr Pecksniff's own work, and had brought substantial rewards into that gentleman's pocket. But such is the magic of genius, which changes all it handles into gold!

'When your mind requires to be refreshed by change of occupation,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'Thomas Pinch will instruct you in the art of surveying the back garden, or in ascertaining the dead level of the road between this house and the finger-post, or in any other practical and pleasing pursuit. There are a cart-load of loose bricks, and a score or two of old flower-pots, in the back yard. If you could pile them up my dear Martin, into any form which would remind me on my return say of St. Peter's at Rome, or the Mosque of St. Sophia at Constantinople, it would be at once improving to you and agreeable to my feelings. And now,' said Mr Pecksniff, in conclusion, 'to drop, for the present, our professional relations and advert to private matters, I shall be glad to talk with you in my own room, while I pack up my portmanteau.'

Tradução Integral em Português

Martin prontamente assumiu a tarefa, e o Sr. Pecksniff passou de imediato a confiar-lhe os materiais necessários à sua execução; discorrendo, enquanto isso, sobre o efeito mágico de alguns retoques finais da mão de um mestre; que, na verdade, como diziam certas pessoas (e eram de novo os velhos inimigos!), era indiscutivelmente muito surpreendente e quase milagroso, pois havia casos registrados em que a magistral introdução de uma janela adicional nos fundos, de uma porta de cozinha, de meia dúzia de degraus ou até de uma calha transformara o projeto de um aluno em obra do próprio Sr. Pecksniff e levara recompensas substanciais ao bolso daquele cavalheiro. Mas assim é a magia do gênio, que transforma em ouro tudo quanto toca!

"Quando seu espírito precisar ser revigorado por uma mudança de ocupação", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "Thomas Pinch o instruirá na arte de medir o jardim dos fundos, de determinar o nível morto da estrada entre esta casa e a placa indicativa ou em qualquer outra atividade prática e agradável. Há no quintal dos fundos uma carroçada de tijolos soltos e uma vintena ou duas de velhos vasos de flores. Se pudesse empilhá-los, meu caro Martin, numa forma que, ao meu regresso, me lembrasse, digamos, a Basílica de São Pedro em Roma ou a Mesquita de Santa Sofia em Constantinopla, seria ao mesmo tempo edificante para o senhor e agradável aos meus sentimentos. E agora", disse o Sr. Pecksniff em conclusão, "para deixarmos por ora nossas relações profissionais e passarmos a questões privadas, ficarei contente em conversar com o senhor em meu quarto enquanto arrumo a mala."

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Martin foi com ele, e conversaram em particular por uma hora ou mais, deixando Tom Pinch sozinho. Quando Martin voltou, permaneceu calado e abatido o dia inteiro. Tom tentou uma ou duas vezes iniciar uma conversa comum, depois achou que não devia interromper os pensamentos de Martin e não disse mais nada.

Tom não teria tido tempo de conversar mesmo que seu novo amigo fosse muito falante. Primeiro, o Sr. Pecksniff o chamou para baixo para que ficasse em pé sobre seu baú, como uma estátua antiga, até que fosse possível fechá-lo. Depois, a Srta. Charity pediu que amarrasse seu baú, a Srta. Mercy pediu que consertasse sua caixa, e ele escreveu etiquetas completas para toda a bagagem. Ofereceu-se para levá-la para baixo, mandá-la em dois carrinhos de mão até a velha placa indicadora e vigiá-la até a chegada da diligência. Era trabalho pesado até para um carregador, mas sua boa vontade fazia com que não fosse nada. Sentado sobre a bagagem, à espera dos Pecksniff e do novo aluno, sentia-se feliz, esperando ter agradado a seu benfeitor.

Original English Version

Martin attended him; and they remained in secret conference together for an hour or more; leaving Tom Pinch alone. When the young man returned, he was very taciturn and dull, in which state he remained all day; so that Tom, after trying him once or twice with indifferent conversation, felt a delicacy in obtruding himself upon his thoughts, and said no more.

He would not have had leisure to say much, had his new friend been ever so loquacious; for first of all Mr Pecksniff called him down to stand upon the top of his portmanteau and represent ancient statues there, until such time as it would consent to be locked; and then Miss Charity called him to come and cord her trunk; and then Miss Mercy sent for him to come and mend her box; and then he wrote the fullest possible cards for all the luggage; and then he volunteered to carry it all downstairs; and after that to see it safely carried on a couple of barrows to the old finger-post at the end of the lane; and then to mind it till the coach came up. In short, his day's work would have been a pretty heavy one for a porter, but his thorough good-will made nothing of it; and as he sat upon the luggage at last, waiting for the Pecksniffs, escorted by the new pupil, to come down the lane, his heart was light with the hope of having pleased his benefactor.

Tradução Integral em Português

Martin acompanhou-o; e permaneceram juntos em conferência secreta por uma hora ou mais, deixando Tom Pinch sozinho. Quando o jovem voltou, estava muito taciturno e abatido, estado em que permaneceu o dia inteiro; de modo que Tom, depois de tentar uma ou duas vezes entretê-lo com conversas banais, teve escrúpulos em invadir-lhe os pensamentos e não disse mais nada.

Não teria tido tempo para dizer muita coisa, por mais loquaz que fosse o novo amigo; pois, antes de tudo, o Sr. Pecksniff chamou-o para baixo a fim de que subisse na mala e representasse ali estátuas antigas até que ela consentisse em ser fechada; depois a Srta. Charity chamou-o para amarrar seu baú; depois a Srta. Mercy mandou buscá-lo para consertar sua caixa; depois ele escreveu as etiquetas mais completas possíveis para toda a bagagem; então se ofereceu para carregar tudo escada abaixo; em seguida, para vê-la transportada em segurança em dois carrinhos até a velha placa indicativa no fim da alameda; e depois para vigiá-la até a chegada da diligência. Em suma, o trabalho daquele dia teria sido bastante pesado para um carregador, mas sua completa boa vontade fez pouco dele; e, sentado por fim sobre a bagagem, esperando que os Pecksniff, escoltados pelo novo aluno, descessem a alameda, seu coração estava leve com a esperança de ter agradado ao benfeitor.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Tom tirou uma carta do bolso e enxugou o rosto. Embora o dia estivesse frio, ele sentia calor de tanto correr. 'Temi não ter tempo para escrever isto, e seria uma enorme pena. A postagem de tão longe custa muito para quem não é rico. A pobre Ruth ficará contente ao ver minha letra e saber que Pecksniff continua tão bondoso quanto sempre. Eu teria pedido a John Westlock que a visitasse e falasse por mim. Mas ele poderia criticar Pecksniff e preocupá-la. Além disso, as pessoas de lá são rigorosas. A visita de um jovem como John poderia dificultar sua situação no trabalho. Pobre Ruth!'

Tom Pinch pareceu triste por cerca de meio minuto, mas logo encontrou consolo e continuou pensando:

Original English Version

'I was almost afraid,' said Tom, taking a letter from his pocket and wiping his face, for he was hot with bustling about though it was a cold day, 'that I shouldn't have had time to write it, and that would have been a thousand pities; postage from such a distance being a serious consideration, when one's not rich. She will be glad to see my hand, poor girl, and to hear that Pecksniff is as kind as ever. I would have asked John Westlock to call and see her, and tell her all about me by word of mouth, but I was afraid he might speak against Pecksniff to her, and make her uneasy. Besides, they are particular people where she is, and it might have rendered her situation uncomfortable if she had had a visit from a young man like John. Poor Ruth!'

Tom Pinch seemed a little disposed to be melancholy for half a minute or so, but he found comfort very soon, and pursued his ruminations thus:

Tradução Integral em Português

"Eu quase receava", disse Tom, tirando uma carta do bolso e enxugando o rosto, pois estava acalorado com toda aquela agitação, embora o dia fosse frio, "não ter tempo de escrevê-la, e teria sido uma pena enorme; a postagem de tamanha distância é uma consideração séria quando não somos ricos. Ela ficará feliz ao ver minha letra, pobre menina, e ao saber que Pecksniff continua tão bondoso como sempre. Eu teria pedido a John Westlock que fosse visitá-la e lhe contasse pessoalmente tudo sobre mim, mas receei que falasse contra Pecksniff e a deixasse inquieta. Além disso, as pessoas do lugar onde ela está são muito rigorosas, e uma visita de um rapaz como John poderia tornar-lhe a situação desconfortável. Pobre Ruth!"

Tom Pinch pareceu um tanto inclinado à melancolia por cerca de meio minuto, mas logo encontrou consolo e prosseguiu assim em suas reflexões:

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'Sou um belo sujeito, só que não', pensou Tom, usando a velha expressão de John. 'Não devo ficar triste porque estamos distantes. John era bondoso e alegre, embora eu quisesse que tivesse gostado mais de Pecksniff. Em vez disso, devo me lembrar da sorte que tive ao vir para cá. Devo ter nascido com uma colher de prata na boca para conhecer Pecksniff. Minha boa sorte de sempre agora trouxe o novo aluno. Nunca conheci um homem tão amigável, generoso e aberto. Ficamos amigos imediatamente! Ele é parente de Pecksniff e um jovem inteligente e corajoso. Poderia abrir caminho pelo mundo como se o mundo fosse queijo. Lá vem ele', disse Tom, 'descendo a estrada como se fosse dono dela.'

Enquanto o Sr. Pinch falava, o novo aluno aproximou-se deles. Ele não parecia nem um pouco perturbado pela honra de ter a Srta. Mercy Pecksniff em seu braço nem por sua despedida carinhosa. A Srta. Charity e o Sr. Pecksniff vinham atrás. Como a diligência apareceu naquele momento, Tom depressa pediu ao Sr. Pecksniff que entregasse sua carta.

Original English Version

'I'm a nice man, I don't think, as John used to say (John was a kind, merry-hearted fellow; I wish he had liked Pecksniff better), to be feeling low, on account of the distance between us, when I ought to be thinking, instead, of my extraordinary good luck in having ever got here. I must have been born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I am sure, to have ever come across Pecksniff. And here have I fallen again into my usual good luck with the new pupil! Such an affable, generous, free fellow, as he is, I never saw. Why, we were companions directly! and he a relation of Pecksniff's too, and a clever, dashing youth who might cut his way through the world as if it were a cheese! Here he comes while the words are on my lips' said Tom; 'walking down the lane as if the lane belonged to him.'

In truth, the new pupil, not at all disconcerted by the honour of having Miss Mercy Pecksniff on his arm, or by the affectionate adieux of that young lady, approached as Mr Pinch spoke, followed by Miss Charity and Mr Pecksniff. As the coach appeared at the same moment, Tom lost no time in entreating the gentleman last mentioned, to undertake the delivery of his letter.

Tradução Integral em Português

"Sou um belo homem, não acham?, como John costumava dizer (John era um sujeito bondoso e alegre; queria que gostasse mais de Pecksniff), para ficar abatido por causa da distância entre nós, quando deveria, em vez disso, pensar em minha sorte extraordinária de algum dia ter chegado aqui. Devo mesmo ter nascido com uma colher de prata na boca para ter cruzado um dia com Pecksniff. E eis que, com o novo aluno, volto a cair em minha boa sorte habitual! Nunca vi sujeito tão afável, generoso e desembaraçado quanto ele. Ora, tornamo-nos companheiros de imediato! E ele é também parente de Pecksniff, além de um jovem inteligente e arrojado, capaz de abrir caminho pelo mundo como se este fosse um queijo! Ei-lo chegando enquanto as palavras ainda estão em meus lábios", disse Tom; "desce a alameda como se ela lhe pertencesse."

Na verdade, o novo aluno, em nada desconcertado pela honra de ter a Srta. Mercy Pecksniff em seu braço nem pelas afetuosas despedidas daquela jovem, aproximou-se enquanto o Sr. Pinch falava, seguido pela Srta. Charity e pelo Sr. Pecksniff. Como a diligência apareceu no mesmo instante, Tom não perdeu tempo em suplicar ao último cavalheiro mencionado que se encarregasse de entregar sua carta.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Pecksniff olhou o endereço. 'Ah! É para sua irmã, Thomas. Sim, será entregue, Sr. Pinch. Não se preocupe. Ela certamente a receberá.'

Ele prometeu isso com tanto orgulho e como se estivesse fazendo um favor a Tom que este de repente sentiu ter pedido muito e agradeceu calorosamente. Como sempre, as senhoritas Pecksniff acharam extremamente engraçada a menção à irmã do Sr. Pinch. Imaginem uma Srta. Pinch! Que coisa chocante!

Tom ficou muito contente por elas rirem, tomando aquilo como sinal de simpatia e bons sentimentos. Ele também riu, esfregou as mãos, desejou-lhes uma viagem agradável e um retorno seguro, e sentiu-se animado. Mesmo depois que a diligência partiu, com ramos de oliveira no compartimento de bagagem e a família de pombas dentro, ele continuou acenando e curvando-se. As jovens senhoras haviam sido tão excepcionalmente educadas que, por um momento, ele se esqueceu de Martin Chuzzlewit. Martin, depois de deixar sua bela companheira, ficou encostado pensativo na placa indicadora, quase sempre com os olhos no chão.

Original English Version

'Oh!' said Mr Pecksniff, glancing at the superscription. 'For your sister, Thomas. Yes, oh yes, it shall be delivered, Mr Pinch. Make your mind easy upon that score. She shall certainly have it, Mr Pinch.'

He made the promise with so much condescension and patronage, that Tom felt he had asked a great deal (this had not occurred to his mind before), and thanked him earnestly. The Miss Pecksniffs, according to a custom they had, were amused beyond description at the mention of Mr Pinch's sister. Oh the fright! The bare idea of a Miss Pinch! Good heavens!

Tom was greatly pleased to see them so merry, for he took it as a token of their favour, and good-humoured regard. Therefore he laughed too and rubbed his hands and wished them a pleasant journey and safe return, and was quite brisk. Even when the coach had rolled away with the olive-branches in the boot and the family of doves inside, he stood waving his hand and bowing; so much gratified by the unusually courteous demeanour of the young ladies, that he was quite regardless, for the moment, of Martin Chuzzlewit, who stood leaning thoughtfully against the finger-post, and who after disposing of his fair charge had hardly lifted his eyes from the ground.

Tradução Integral em Português

"Ah!", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, olhando o sobrescrito. "Para sua irmã, Thomas. Sim, ah, sim, será entregue, Sr. Pinch. Fique tranquilo quanto a isso. Ela certamente a receberá, Sr. Pinch."

Fez a promessa com tamanha condescendência e proteção que Tom sentiu ter pedido muito (isso não lhe ocorrera antes) e agradeceu-lhe sinceramente. As senhoritas Pecksniff, conforme um costume que tinham, divertiram-se de maneira indescritível com a menção à irmã do Sr. Pinch. Ah, que horror! A mera ideia de uma Srta. Pinch! Santo Deus!

Tom ficou muito satisfeito ao vê-las tão alegres, pois interpretou isso como sinal do favor e da consideração bem-humorada delas. Portanto, também riu e esfregou as mãos, desejou-lhes viagem agradável e regresso seguro, e mostrou-se muito animado. Mesmo depois que a diligência partiu com os ramos de oliveira no bagageiro e a família de pombas dentro, ficou acenando e fazendo reverências; tão contente com a conduta excepcionalmente cortês das jovens que, naquele momento, esqueceu-se por completo de Martin Chuzzlewit, que permanecia apoiado pensativamente na placa indicativa e, depois de se despedir de sua bela acompanhante, mal levantara os olhos do chão.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O silêncio completo após a partida agitada da diligência, junto com o ar cortante da tarde de inverno, trouxe ambos de volta a si mesmos. Como se tivessem combinado, viraram-se e se afastaram de braços dados.

'Como você está triste!', disse Tom. 'O que aconteceu?'

'Nada que valha a pena contar', disse Martin. 'Há muito pouca coisa errada além do que já havia ontem, e espero que amanhã haja muito menos. Estou desanimado, Pinch.'

'Bem', exclamou Tom, 'hoje estou com um ânimo maravilhoso e quase nunca me senti mais disposto a ser boa companhia. Foi muita bondade de seu antecessor, John, escrever para mim, não foi?'

'Sim, claro', disse Martin com indiferença. 'Eu diria que ele tem muito o que fazer aproveitando a vida, sem ficar pensando em você, Pinch.'

'Foi justamente o que achei provável', respondeu Tom. 'Mas não, ele cumpre sua palavra. Escreve: "Meu caro Pinch, penso muitas vezes em você", e muitas outras coisas bondosas e atenciosas.'

Original English Version

The perfect silence which ensued upon the bustle and departure of the coach, together with the sharp air of the wintry afternoon, roused them both at the same time. They turned, as by mutual consent, and moved off arm-in-arm.

'How melancholy you are!' said Tom; 'what is the matter?'

'Nothing worth speaking of,' said Martin. 'Very little more than was the matter yesterday, and much more, I hope, than will be the matter to-morrow. I'm out of spirits, Pinch.'

'Well,' cried Tom, 'now do you know I am in capital spirits today, and scarcely ever felt more disposed to be good company. It was a very kind thing in your predecessor, John, to write to me, was it not?'

'Why, yes,' said Martin carelessly; 'I should have thought he would have had enough to do to enjoy himself, without thinking of you, Pinch.'

'Just what I felt to be so very likely,' Tom rejoined; 'but no, he keeps his word, and says, "My dear Pinch, I often think of you," and all sorts of kind and considerate things of that description.'

Tradução Integral em Português

O silêncio perfeito que sucedeu à agitação e à partida da diligência, junto com o ar cortante da tarde invernal, despertou ambos ao mesmo tempo. Viraram-se, como por consentimento mútuo, e partiram de braços dados.

"Como está melancólico!", disse Tom. "O que há?"

"Nada que valha a pena mencionar", disse Martin. "Muito pouco além do que havia ontem e, espero, muito mais do que haverá amanhã. Estou desanimado, Pinch."

"Bem", exclamou Tom, "sabe que hoje estou com um ânimo excelente e quase nunca me senti mais disposto a ser boa companhia. Foi muita bondade de seu antecessor, John, escrever-me, não foi?"

"Bem, sim", disse Martin com descuido; "eu teria pensado que ele teria bastante a fazer divertindo-se, sem pensar em você, Pinch."

"Foi exatamente o que me pareceu muito provável", replicou Tom; "mas não: ele cumpre a palavra e diz: 'Meu caro Pinch, penso muitas vezes em você', e toda espécie de coisas bondosas e atenciosas dessa natureza."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'Ele deve ser um sujeito muito bondoso', disse Martin, parecendo um pouco irritado, 'porque não pode falar sério, você sabe.'

Tom olhou tristemente para o companheiro. 'Então suponho que ele não possa? Você acha que ele diz isso apenas para me agradar?'

Martin ficou mais sério. 'Isso é provável? Ele acabou de escapar deste lugar terrível e está aproveitando a liberdade em Londres. Será que um jovem assim tem muito tempo ou vontade para pensar com carinho em alguém ou em alguma coisa que deixou aqui? Pergunto a você, Pinch: isso é natural?'

Depois de pensar por um instante, o Sr. Pinch respondeu em voz mais baixa. Disse que não era razoável esperar tal coisa e que não tinha dúvida de que Martin sabia melhor.

'É claro que eu sei melhor', disse Martin.

'Sim, eu reconheço isso', disse o Sr. Pinch com delicadeza. 'Foi o que eu disse.' Depois disso, ficaram novamente em silêncio até chegarem em casa, quando já estava escuro.

Original English Version

'He must be a devilish good-natured fellow,' said Martin, somewhat peevishly: 'because he can't mean that, you know.'

'I don't suppose he can, eh?' said Tom, looking wistfully in his companion's face. 'He says so to please me, you think?'

'Why, is it likely,' rejoined Martin, with greater earnestness, 'that a young man newly escaped from this kennel of a place, and fresh to all the delights of being his own master in London, can have much leisure or inclination to think favourably of anything or anybody he has left behind him here? I put it to you, Pinch, is it natural?'

After a short reflection, Mr Pinch replied, in a more subdued tone, that to be sure it was unreasonable to expect any such thing, and that he had no doubt Martin knew best.

'Of course I know best,' Martin observed.

'Yes, I feel that,' said Mr Pinch mildly. 'I said so.' And when he had made this rejoinder, they fell into a blank silence again, which lasted until they reached home; by which time it was dark.

Tradução Integral em Português

"Ele deve ser um sujeito diabolicamente bondoso", disse Martin, um tanto irritado, "pois você sabe que não pode falar sério."

"Suponho que não possa, não é?", disse Tom, fitando ansiosamente o rosto do companheiro. "Acha que ele diz isso para me agradar?"

"Ora, é provável", replicou Martin com maior seriedade, "que um jovem recém-escapado deste canil de lugar e ainda descobrindo todos os prazeres de ser seu próprio senhor em Londres tenha muito tempo ou disposição para pensar favoravelmente em qualquer coisa ou pessoa que deixou para trás aqui? Pergunto-lhe, Pinch: isso é natural?"

Depois de uma breve reflexão, o Sr. Pinch respondeu, num tom mais submisso, que sem dúvida era desarrazoado esperar tal coisa e que Martin certamente sabia melhor.

"É claro que sei melhor", observou Martin.

"Sim, reconheço isso", disse o Sr. Pinch com brandura. "Foi o que eu disse." E, depois dessa réplica, tornaram a cair num silêncio vazio, que durou até chegarem em casa; a essa altura, já estava escuro.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A Srta. Charity Pecksniff não quis levar a comida na diligência. Ela não poderia ser guardada até a volta da família. Por isso, pôs em dois pratos os restos do banquete do dia anterior. Na sala de visitas, Martin e Tom encontraram dois montes desordenados: fatias finas de laranja, sanduíches velhos, pedaços quebrados do bolo duro e vários biscoitos de marinheiro inteiros. Os restos de duas garrafas de vinho de groselha haviam sido misturados e fechados com um papel usado para enrolar cabelos. Tudo estava pronto para uma noite muito pesada.

Martin Chuzzlewit contemplou aqueles preparativos extravagantes com total desprezo. Fez o fogo arder, usando grande parte do carvão do Sr. Pecksniff, e sentou-se, abatido, na cadeira mais confortável que encontrou. Para caber melhor no pequeno espaço restante, o Sr. Pinch sentou-se no banquinho da Srta. Mercy Pecksniff, pôs o copo sobre o tapete da lareira e o prato nos joelhos, e começou a se divertir.

Original English Version

Now, Miss Charity Pecksniff, in consideration of the inconvenience of carrying them with her in the coach, and the impossibility of preserving them by artificial means until the family's return, had set forth, in a couple of plates, the fragments of yesterday's feast. In virtue of which liberal arrangement, they had the happiness to find awaiting them in the parlour two chaotic heaps of the remains of last night's pleasure, consisting of certain filmy bits of oranges, some mummied sandwiches, various disrupted masses of the geological cake, and several entire captain's biscuits. That choice liquor in which to steep these dainties might not be wanting, the remains of the two bottles of currant wine had been poured together and corked with a curl-paper; so that every material was at hand for making quite a heavy night of it.

Martin Chuzzlewit beheld these roystering preparations with infinite contempt, and stirring the fire into a blaze (to the great destruction of Mr Pecksniff's coals), sat moodily down before it, in the most comfortable chair he could find. That he might the better squeeze himself into the small corner that was left for him, Mr Pinch took up his position on Miss Mercy Pecksniff's stool, and setting his glass down upon the hearthrug and putting his plate upon his knees, began to enjoy himself.

Tradução Integral em Português

Ora, a Srta. Charity Pecksniff, em consideração ao inconveniente de levá-los consigo na diligência e à impossibilidade de conservá-los por meios artificiais até o regresso da família, dispusera em dois pratos os fragmentos do banquete da véspera. Em virtude dessa liberal providência, eles tiveram a felicidade de encontrar à sua espera na sala dois montes caóticos dos restos do prazer da noite anterior, compostos de certos pedaços membranosos de laranja, alguns sanduíches mumificados, várias massas desagregadas do bolo geológico e diversos biscoitos de marinheiro inteiros. Para que não faltasse um licor escolhido em que embeber essas iguarias, os restos das duas garrafas de vinho de groselha haviam sido reunidos e arrolhados com um papelote de cabelo; de modo que todos os materiais estavam à mão para uma noite bastante pesada.

Martin Chuzzlewit contemplou com infinito desprezo esses preparativos para a folia e, fazendo o fogo arder em labaredas (com grande destruição do carvão do Sr. Pecksniff), sentou-se sombriamente diante dele, na cadeira mais confortável que conseguiu encontrar. Para melhor se espremer no cantinho que lhe restara, o Sr. Pinch instalou-se no banquinho da Srta. Mercy Pecksniff e, pousando o copo no tapete da lareira e o prato nos joelhos, começou a se divertir.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Se Diógenes voltasse à vida dentro de seu barril e rolasse até a sala do Sr. Pecksniff, não conseguiria manter-se duro e sério ao ver Tom Pinch no banquinho de Mercy Pecksniff, com seu prato e seu copo. Teria sorrido com bondade. Tom estava completamente satisfeito. Saboreava os sanduíches secos, que se desfaziam em sua boca como serragem, e bebia o vinho ralo uma gota de cada vez, estalando os lábios como se cada traço do sabor da fruta fosse precioso. Às vezes erguia o copo e fazia brindes silenciosos. Depois de olhar feliz ao redor da sala segura e aconchegante, ficou preocupado ao ver o rosto abatido do companheiro. Cínico algum conseguiria resistir a Thomas Pinch.

Alguns homens teriam dado um tapinha nas costas de Tom e bebido com ele um grande copo de vinho de groselha, mesmo que fosse o vinagre mais azedo, dizendo que gostavam. Alguns teriam segurado sua mão honesta e lhe agradecido pelo que sua natureza simples lhes ensinava. Alguns ririam com ele, e outros, dele. Martin Chuzzlewit pertencia ao último grupo e, por fim, riu alto e por muito tempo.

Original English Version

If Diogenes coming to life again could have rolled himself, tub and all, into Mr Pecksniff's parlour and could have seen Tom Pinch as he sat on Mercy Pecksniff's stool with his plate and glass before him he could not have faced it out, though in his surliest mood, but must have smiled good-temperedly. The perfect and entire satisfaction of Tom; his surpassing appreciation of the husky sandwiches, which crumbled in his mouth like saw-dust; the unspeakable relish with which he swallowed the thin wine by drops, and smacked his lips, as though it were so rich and generous that to lose an atom of its fruity flavour were a sin; the look with which he paused sometimes, with his glass in his hand, proposing silent toasts to himself; and the anxious shade that came upon his contented face when, after wandering round the room, exulting in its uninvaded snugness, his glance encountered the dull brow of his companion; no cynic in the world, though in his hatred of its men a very griffin, could have withstood these things in Thomas Pinch.

Some men would have slapped him on the back, and pledged him in a bumper of the currant wine, though it had been the sharpest vinegar--aye, and liked its flavour too; some would have seized him by his honest hand, and thanked him for the lesson that his simple nature taught them. Some would have laughed with, and others would have laughed at him; of which last class was Martin Chuzzlewit, who, unable to restrain himself, at last laughed loud and long.

Tradução Integral em Português

Se Diógenes tornasse à vida, pudesse rolar para dentro da sala do Sr. Pecksniff com barril e tudo e visse Tom Pinch sentado no banquinho de Mercy Pecksniff, com o prato e o copo diante de si, não conseguiria manter a carranca, nem mesmo no mais intratável dos humores, mas teria de sorrir com bondade. A perfeita e completa satisfação de Tom; sua extraordinária apreciação dos sanduíches ressequidos, que se esfarelavam na boca como serragem; o gosto indizível com que engolia gota a gota o vinho aguado e estalava os lábios, como se a bebida fosse tão rica e generosa que perder um átomo de seu sabor frutado constituísse pecado; o olhar com que às vezes fazia uma pausa, copo na mão, propondo brindes silenciosos a si mesmo; e a sombra de ansiedade que pousava em seu rosto satisfeito quando, depois de vagar pela sala, exultando no aconchego não invadido, seu olhar encontrava a fronte abatida do companheiro - nenhum cínico no mundo, ainda que fosse um verdadeiro grifo em seu ódio aos homens, teria resistido a essas coisas em Thomas Pinch.

Alguns homens lhe teriam dado um tapa nas costas e brindado com ele numa taça cheia de vinho de groselha, mesmo que fosse o vinagre mais azedo - sim, e teriam até apreciado o sabor; alguns teriam agarrado sua mão honesta e agradecido a lição que sua natureza simples lhes ensinava. Uns teriam rido com ele; outros, rido dele. A esta última classe pertencia Martin Chuzzlewit, que, incapaz de se conter, por fim riu alto e demoradamente.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'Assim é que se faz', disse Tom, assentindo com entusiasmo. 'Anime-se! Isso é excelente!'

Encorajado por isso, o jovem Martin riu outra vez. Quando recuperou o fôlego e a seriedade, disse:

'Nunca vi ninguém como você, Pinch.'

'Não?', disse Tom. 'Bem, provavelmente me acha estranho porque quase nada vi do mundo, enquanto você viu muita coisa, imagino?'

Martin aproximou a cadeira do fogo e pôs os pés no para-fogo. 'Bastante para minha idade. Ora, preciso falar abertamente com alguém. Vou falar abertamente com você, Pinch.'

'Faça isso!', disse Tom. 'Vou considerar um gesto muito amistoso.'

Martin olhou para baixo, na direção do Sr. Pinch, que agora precisava olhar por cima da perna de Martin para ver o fogo. 'Não estou atrapalhando você, estou?'

'De maneira nenhuma!', exclamou Tom.

Original English Version

'That's right,' said Tom, nodding approvingly. 'Cheer up! That's capital!'

At which encouragement young Martin laughed again; and said, as soon as he had breath and gravity enough:

'I never saw such a fellow as you are, Pinch.'

'Didn't you though?' said Tom. 'Well, it's very likely you do find me strange, because I have hardly seen anything of the world, and you have seen a good deal I dare say?'

'Pretty well for my time of life,' rejoined Martin, drawing his chair still nearer to the fire, and spreading his feet out on the fender. 'Deuce take it, I must talk openly to somebody. I'll talk openly to you, Pinch.'

'Do!' said Tom. 'I shall take it as being very friendly of you,'

'I'm not in your way, am I?' inquired Martin, glancing down at Mr Pinch, who was by this time looking at the fire over his leg.

'Not at all!' cried Tom.

Tradução Integral em Português

"Isso mesmo", disse Tom, assentindo em aprovação. "Anime-se! Excelente!"

Diante desse incentivo, o jovem Martin tornou a rir; e, assim que recuperou fôlego e gravidade suficientes, disse:

"Nunca vi sujeito como você, Pinch."

"Não viu mesmo?", disse Tom. "Bem, é bem provável que me ache estranho, pois quase nada vi do mundo, e você viu bastante, imagino?"

"Bastante para minha idade", replicou Martin, aproximando ainda mais a cadeira do fogo e estendendo os pés sobre a grade da lareira. "Que diabo, preciso falar francamente com alguém. Falarei francamente com você, Pinch."

"Fale!", disse Tom. "Considerarei muita amizade de sua parte."

"Não estou em seu caminho, estou?", perguntou Martin, olhando para baixo, para o Sr. Pinch, que a essa altura contemplava o fogo por cima da própria perna.

"De modo algum!", exclamou Tom.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Martin começou com esforço, como se não gostasse daquela confissão. 'Para encurtar a história, você deve saber que desde criança fui criado com grandes expectativas e ensinado a acreditar que um dia seria muito rico. E teria sido, não fossem certas razões que vou lhe contar e que fizeram com que eu fosse deserdado.'

'Por seu pai?', perguntou o Sr. Pinch, arregalando os olhos.

'Por meu avô. Faz muitos anos que não tenho pais; mal consigo me lembrar deles.'

'Eu também não tenho', disse Tom, tocando a mão do jovem e recolhendo timidamente a sua. 'Meu Deus!'

'Bem, Pinch', disse o outro depressa, enquanto mexia o fogo, 'é certo amar os pais quando os temos e lembrar deles quando estão mortos, se os conhecemos. Mas eu nunca conheci os meus pessoalmente, portanto não se pode esperar que eu tenha sentimentos por eles. Não tenho; essa é a verdade.'

Original English Version

'You must know then, to make short of a long story,' said Martin, beginning with a kind of effort, as if the revelation were not agreeable to him; 'that I have been bred up from childhood with great expectations, and have always been taught to believe that I should be, one day, very rich. So I should have been, but for certain brief reasons which I am going to tell you, and which have led to my being disinherited.'

'By your father?' inquired Mr Pinch, with open eyes.

'By my grandfather. I have had no parents these many years. Scarcely within my remembrance.'

'Neither have I,' said Tom, touching the young man's hand with his own and timidly withdrawing it again. 'Dear me!'

'Why, as to that, you know, Pinch,' pursued the other, stirring the fire again, and speaking in his rapid, off-hand way; 'it's all very right and proper to be fond of parents when we have them, and to bear them in remembrance after they're dead, if you have ever known anything of them. But as I never did know anything about mine personally, you know, why, I can't be expected to be very sentimental about 'em. And I am not; that's the truth.'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Pois então precisa saber, para encurtar uma longa história", disse Martin, começando com uma espécie de esforço, como se a revelação não lhe fosse agradável, "que desde a infância fui criado com grandes expectativas e sempre me ensinaram a acreditar que um dia seria muito rico. E teria sido, não fossem certas razões breves que vou lhe contar e que levaram à minha deserdação."

"Por seu pai?", perguntou o Sr. Pinch, arregalando os olhos.

"Por meu avô. Há muitos anos não tenho pais. Mal me lembro deles."

"Nem eu", disse Tom, tocando com a própria mão a mão do jovem e tornando a retirá-la timidamente. "Meu Deus!"

"Bem, quanto a isso, sabe, Pinch", prosseguiu o outro, mexendo de novo no fogo e falando de seu modo rápido e despreocupado, "é muito certo e apropriado ter afeição pelos pais enquanto os temos e conservá-los na lembrança depois que morrem, se algum dia chegamos a conhecê-los. Mas, como pessoalmente jamais soube coisa alguma dos meus, não se pode esperar que eu seja muito sentimental a respeito deles. E não sou; essa é a verdade."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Pinch estivera observando pensativo as grades da lareira. Quando seu companheiro fez uma pausa, ele se sobressaltou e disse: 'Ah! Claro', e então se preparou para ouvir de novo.

'Em resumo', disse Martin, 'meu avô, de quem falei, me criou durante toda a vida. Ele tem muitas qualidades, não vou esconder isso. Mas tem dois grandes defeitos: a maior teimosia que você já viu num ser humano e o egoísmo mais terrível.'

'É mesmo?', exclamou Tom.

'Nesses aspectos, ninguém se iguala a ele', disse Martin. 'Quem sabe diz que esses são defeitos de nossa família há gerações, e creio que seja verdade. Não posso julgar pela minha própria experiência. Devo agradecer por eles não terem passado para mim e tomar cuidado para não adquiri-los.'

'Sem dúvida', disse o Sr. Pinch. 'Muito correto.'

Original English Version

Mr Pinch was just then looking thoughtfully at the bars. But on his companion pausing in this place, he started, and said 'Oh! of course'--and composed himself to listen again.

'In a word,' said Martin, 'I have been bred and reared all my life by this grandfather of whom I have just spoken. Now, he has a great many good points--there is no doubt about that; I'll not disguise the fact from you--but he has two very great faults, which are the staple of his bad side. In the first place, he has the most confirmed obstinacy of character you ever met with in any human creature. In the second, he is most abominably selfish.'

'Is he indeed?' cried Tom.

'In those two respects,' returned the other, 'there never was such a man. I have often heard from those who know, that they have been, time out of mind, the failings of our family; and I believe there's some truth in it. But I can't say of my own knowledge. All I have to do, you know, is to be very thankful that they haven't descended to me, and, to be very careful that I don't contract 'em.'

'To be sure,' said Mr Pinch. 'Very proper.'

Tradução Integral em Português

O Sr. Pinch contemplava naquele momento, pensativo, as barras da grade. Mas, quando o companheiro fez uma pausa ali, sobressaltou-se e disse: "Ah! Claro" - e tornou a se compor para escutar.

"Em suma", disse Martin, "fui criado e educado a vida inteira por esse avô de quem acabo de falar. Ora, ele tem muitas boas qualidades - não há dúvida disso; não ocultarei o fato de você - , mas possui dois defeitos muito grandes, que formam a matéria-prima de seu lado ruim. Em primeiro lugar, tem a mais arraigada obstinação de caráter que você já encontrou em qualquer criatura humana. Em segundo, é abominavelmente egoísta."

"É mesmo?", exclamou Tom.

"Nesses dois aspectos", respondeu o outro, "jamais existiu homem semelhante. Ouvi muitas vezes de quem sabe que esses são, desde tempos imemoriais, os defeitos de nossa família; e creio que há nisso alguma verdade. Mas não posso falar por experiência própria. Tudo que tenho a fazer, sabe, é ser muito grato por eles não terem descido até mim e tomar muito cuidado para não os adquirir."

"Sem dúvida", disse o Sr. Pinch. "Muito apropriado."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'O egoísmo dele o leva a fazer exigências', continuou Martin, aproximando-se mais do fogo, 'e a teimosia o faz mantê-las com firmeza. Ele sempre exigiu de mim muito respeito, obediência, renúncia e atenção às vontades dele. Suportei muita coisa porque lhe devia algo - se é que alguém pode dever algo a um avô - e porque gostava sinceramente dele. Mesmo assim, discutíamos com frequência, pois eu não conseguia me adaptar aos modos dele. Não por mim mesmo, entenda, mas porque...' Ele parou, sem conseguir encontrar as palavras.

O Sr. Pinch, talvez a pior pessoa do mundo para ajudar alguém a sair de semelhante dificuldade, não disse nada.

'Bem, você me entende', continuou Martin rapidamente. 'Não preciso procurar a frase exata. Agora vem a melhor parte e a razão de eu estar aqui: estou apaixonado, Pinch.'

O Sr. Pinch ergueu os olhos para ele com maior interesse.

'Estou apaixonado por uma das moças mais bonitas sobre quem o sol já brilhou. Mas ela depende inteiramente da vontade de meu avô. Se ele soubesse que ela corresponde a meu amor, ela perderia o lar e tudo o mais. Não há nada de muito egoísta NESSE amor, eu acho.'

Original English Version

'Well, sir,' resumed Martin, stirring the fire once more, and drawing his chair still closer to it, 'his selfishness makes him exacting, you see; and his obstinacy makes him resolute in his exactions. The consequence is that he has always exacted a great deal from me in the way of respect, and submission, and self-denial when his wishes were in question, and so forth. I have borne a great deal from him, because I have been under obligations to him (if one can ever be said to be under obligations to one's own grandfather), and because I have been really attached to him; but we have had a great many quarrels for all that, for I could not accommodate myself to his ways very often--not out of the least reference to myself, you understand, but because--' he stammered here, and was rather at a loss.

Mr Pinch being about the worst man in the world to help anybody out of a difficulty of this sort, said nothing.

'Well! as you understand me,' resumed Martin, quickly, 'I needn't hunt for the precise expression I want. Now I come to the cream of my story, and the occasion of my being here. I am in love, Pinch.'

Mr Pinch looked up into his face with increased interest.

'I say I am in love. I am in love with one of the most beautiful girls the sun ever shone upon. But she is wholly and entirely dependent upon the pleasure of my grandfather; and if he were to know that she favoured my passion, she would lose her home and everything she possesses in the world. There is nothing very selfish in THAT love, I think?'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Bem, senhor", prosseguiu Martin, mexendo mais uma vez no fogo e aproximando ainda mais a cadeira, "o egoísmo o torna exigente, entende; e a obstinação o torna resoluto em suas exigências. A consequência é que ele sempre exigiu muito de mim em termos de respeito, submissão e abnegação quando seus desejos estavam em jogo, e assim por diante. Suportei muito dele porque tinha obrigações para com ele (se é que se pode dizer que alguém tem obrigações para com o próprio avô) e porque eu realmente lhe tinha afeição; apesar disso, tivemos muitas brigas, pois muitas vezes eu não conseguia adaptar-me a seus modos - não por ter a menor consideração por mim mesmo, entenda, mas porque..." Aqui ele gaguejou e ficou um tanto sem saber o que dizer.

Como o Sr. Pinch era praticamente o pior homem do mundo para ajudar alguém a sair de uma dificuldade dessa natureza, não disse nada.

"Bem! Como você me compreende", retomou Martin rapidamente, "não preciso caçar a expressão exata que procuro. Agora chego à nata de minha história e à razão de estar aqui. Estou apaixonado, Pinch."

O Sr. Pinch ergueu os olhos para seu rosto com interesse crescente.

"Digo que estou apaixonado. Estou apaixonado por uma das moças mais belas sobre quem o sol jamais brilhou. Mas ela depende completa e inteiramente da vontade de meu avô; e, se ele soubesse que ela corresponde à minha paixão, ela perderia o lar e tudo quanto possui no mundo. Não há nada de muito egoísta NESSE amor, penso eu?"

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'Egoísta!', exclamou Tom. 'Você agiu com nobreza. Tenho certeza de que a ama, mas, como ela depende dele, nem sequer contou...'

'Do que você está falando, Pinch?', disse Martin com rispidez. 'Não seja ridículo. O que quer dizer ao afirmar que eu não tinha contado a ela?'

'Peço desculpas', disse Tom. 'Pensei que fosse isso que você queria dizer, ou não teria falado.'

'Se eu não lhe contasse que a amava, de que serviria estar apaixonado?', disse Martin. 'Isso só me deixaria preocupado e perturbado o tempo todo.'

'É verdade', disse Tom. 'Bem, posso imaginar o que ELA disse quando você contou', acrescentou, olhando para o belo rosto de Martin.

'Não exatamente', disse Martin, franzindo um pouco a testa. 'Ela tem ideias de moça sobre dever, gratidão e todas essas coisas, difíceis de entender. Mas, no essencial, você tem razão. Descobri que o coração dela era meu.'

Original English Version

'Selfish!' cried Tom. 'You have acted nobly. To love her as I am sure you do, and yet in consideration for her state of dependence, not even to disclose--'

'What are you talking about, Pinch?' said Martin pettishly: 'don't make yourself ridiculous, my good fellow! What do you mean by not disclosing?'

'I beg your pardon,' answered Tom. 'I thought you meant that, or I wouldn't have said it.'

'If I didn't tell her I loved her, where would be the use of my being in love?' said Martin: 'unless to keep myself in a perpetual state of worry and vexation?'

'That's true,' Tom answered. 'Well! I can guess what SHE said when you told her,' he added, glancing at Martin's handsome face.

'Why, not exactly, Pinch,' he rejoined, with a slight frown; 'because she has some girlish notions about duty and gratitude, and all the rest of it, which are rather hard to fathom; but in the main you are right. Her heart was mine, I found.'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Egoísta!", exclamou Tom. "O senhor agiu nobremente. Amá-la como tenho certeza de que ama e, ainda assim, em consideração por sua situação de dependência, nem sequer revelar..."

"Do que está falando, Pinch?", disse Martin, irritado. "Não se faça de ridículo, meu bom amigo! O que quer dizer com não revelar?"

"Peço perdão", respondeu Tom. "Pensei que quisesse dizer isso, senão não o teria dito."

"Se eu não lhe dissesse que a amava, para que serviria estar apaixonado?", disse Martin. "A não ser para me manter num estado perpétuo de preocupação e irritação?"

"É verdade", respondeu Tom. "Bem! Posso adivinhar o que ELA disse quando o senhor lhe contou", acrescentou, olhando para o belo rosto de Martin.

"Bem, não exatamente, Pinch", replicou ele com um leve franzir de testa, "pois ela tem certas ideias de menina sobre dever, gratidão e tudo mais, que são um tanto difíceis de sondar; mas, no essencial, você tem razão. Descobri que o coração dela era meu."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'Exatamente como pensei', disse Tom. 'Muito natural!' Em seu grande contentamento, tomou um longo gole de vinho.

'Embora eu tenha sido muito cuidadoso desde o começo', continuou Martin, 'meu avô ciumento e desconfiado suspeitou que eu a amava. Não disse nada a ela, mas em particular me acusou de tentar estragar a lealdade que lhe dedicava uma jovem que ele criara e ensinara a ser sua única companheira fiel e desinteressada, depois que me casasse conforme a vontade dele. Aí está o egoísmo dele. Respondi de imediato que escolheria meu próprio casamento, com a permissão dele, e que preferia não ser vendido por ele nem por leiloeiro algum a quem desse o maior lance.'

O Sr. Pinch arregalou ainda mais os olhos e fitou o fogo com mais intensidade que antes.

'Isso naturalmente o enfureceu', disse Martin, 'e ele começou a falar muito mal de mim. Uma conversa levou a outra, e palavras produziram mais palavras. No fim, eu teria de renunciar a ela, ou ele renunciaria a mim. Lembre-se, Pinch, de que eu a amo desesperadamente. Embora pobre, sua beleza e inteligência dariam grande prestígio a qualquer pessoa, por mais importante que fosse, que se tornasse seu marido. Além disso, uma parte essencial de minha natureza é muito determinada...'

Original English Version

'Just what I supposed,' said Tom. 'Quite natural!' and, in his great satisfaction, he took a long sip out of his wine-glass.

'Although I had conducted myself from the first with the utmost circumspection,' pursued Martin, 'I had not managed matters so well but that my grandfather, who is full of jealousy and distrust, suspected me of loving her. He said nothing to her, but straightway attacked me in private, and charged me with designing to corrupt the fidelity to himself (there you observe his selfishness), of a young creature whom he had trained and educated to be his only disinterested and faithful companion, when he should have disposed of me in marriage to his heart's content. Upon that, I took fire immediately, and told him that with his good leave I would dispose of myself in marriage, and would rather not be knocked down by him or any other auctioneer to any bidder whomsoever.'

Mr Pinch opened his eyes wider, and looked at the fire harder than he had done yet.

'You may be sure,' said Martin, 'that this nettled him, and that he began to be the very reverse of complimentary to myself. Interview succeeded interview; words engendered words, as they always do; and the upshot of it was, that I was to renounce her, or be renounced by him. Now you must bear in mind, Pinch, that I am not only desperately fond of her (for though she is poor, her beauty and intellect would reflect great credit on anybody, I don't care of what pretensions who might become her husband), but that a chief ingredient in my composition is a most determined--'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Exatamente como imaginei", disse Tom. "Perfeitamente natural!" E, em sua grande satisfação, tomou um longo gole da taça de vinho.

"Embora desde o início eu me conduzisse com a maior circunspecção", prosseguiu Martin, "não administrara as coisas tão bem que meu avô, cheio de ciúme e desconfiança, não suspeitasse de meu amor por ela. Não lhe disse nada, mas atacou-me imediatamente em particular e acusou-me de pretender corromper a fidelidade a ele (aí você observa seu egoísmo) de uma jovem criatura que criara e educara para ser sua única companheira desinteressada e fiel, quando ele deveria ter-me disposto em casamento a seu inteiro gosto. Com isso, inflamei-me imediatamente e lhe disse que, com sua bondosa licença, eu mesmo me disporia em casamento e preferia não ser arrematado por ele nem por qualquer outro leiloeiro a fosse qual fosse o licitante."

O Sr. Pinch abriu ainda mais os olhos e fitou o fogo com mais intensidade que até então.

"Pode ter certeza", disse Martin, "de que isso o irritou e de que ele começou a ser o exato oposto de elogioso comigo. A uma entrevista seguiu-se outra; palavras geraram palavras, como sempre acontece; e o resultado foi que eu teria de renunciar a ela, ou ele renunciaria a mim. Agora precisa ter em mente, Pinch, que não só estou desesperadamente apaixonado por ela (pois, embora seja pobre, sua beleza e inteligência dariam grande distinção a qualquer homem, não me importam suas pretensões, que viesse a tornar-se seu marido), mas que um dos principais ingredientes de minha composição é uma resoluta..."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'Obstinação', sugeriu Tom com sinceridade. O jovem não recebeu a sugestão tão bem quanto Tom esperava e respondeu irritado:

'Que sujeito você é, Pinch!'

'Peço desculpas', disse Tom. 'Pensei que estivesse precisando de uma palavra.'

'Eu não precisava dessa palavra. Já lhe disse que a teimosia não faz parte de meu caráter. Ia dizer que uma parte essencial de minha natureza é a firmeza determinada.'

'Ah!', disse Tom, apertando os lábios e assentindo. 'Sim, sim, entendo!'

'Sendo firme', continuou Martin, 'eu não cederia a ele nem um milésimo de polegada.'

'Não, não', disse Tom.

'Quanto mais ele insistia, mais decidido eu ficava a me opor.'

'Sem dúvida!', disse Tom.

'Muito bem', disse Martin, recostando-se e agitando as duas mãos como se nada mais pudesse ser dito. 'Isso encerra tudo, e aqui estou eu!'

O Sr. Pinch fitou o fogo por vários minutos, confuso como se lhe tivessem proposto um enigma excepcionalmente difícil. Por fim, disse:

Original English Version

'Obstinacy,' suggested Tom in perfect good faith. But the suggestion was not so well received as he had expected; for the young man immediately rejoined, with some irritation,

'What a fellow you are, Pinch!'

'I beg your pardon,' said Tom, 'I thought you wanted a word.'

'I didn't want that word,' he rejoined. 'I told you obstinacy was no part of my character, did I not? I was going to say, if you had given me leave, that a chief ingredient in my composition is a most determined firmness.'

'Oh!' cried Tom, screwing up his mouth, and nodding. 'Yes, yes; I see!'

'And being firm,' pursued Martin, 'of course I was not going to yield to him, or give way by so much as the thousandth part of an inch.'

'No, no,' said Tom.

'On the contrary, the more he urged, the more I was determined to oppose him.'

'To be sure!' said Tom.

'Very well,' rejoined Martin, throwing himself back in his chair, with a careless wave of both hands, as if the subject were quite settled, and nothing more could be said about it--'There is an end of the matter, and here am I!'

Mr Pinch sat staring at the fire for some minutes with a puzzled look, such as he might have assumed if some uncommonly difficult conundrum had been proposed, which he found it impossible to guess. At length he said:

Tradução Integral em Português

"Obstinação", sugeriu Tom com perfeita boa-fé. Mas a sugestão não foi tão bem recebida quanto esperava; pois o jovem replicou de imediato, com certa irritação:

"Que sujeito você é, Pinch!"

"Peço perdão", disse Tom. "Pensei que precisasse de uma palavra."

"Não precisava dessa palavra", replicou ele. "Não lhe disse que a obstinação não fazia parte de meu caráter? Eu ia dizer, se você me tivesse dado licença, que um dos principais ingredientes de minha composição é uma firmeza resoluta."

"Ah!", exclamou Tom, franzindo a boca e assentindo. "Sim, sim; compreendo!"

"E, sendo firme", prosseguiu Martin, "naturalmente eu não cederia a ele nem recuaria um milésimo de polegada."

"Não, não", disse Tom.

"Ao contrário, quanto mais ele insistia, mais eu me decidia a contrariá-lo."

"Sem dúvida!", disse Tom.

"Muito bem", replicou Martin, recostando-se na cadeira e agitando despreocupadamente as duas mãos, como se o assunto estivesse inteiramente resolvido e nada mais se pudesse dizer a respeito, "eis o fim da questão, e aqui estou eu!"

O Sr. Pinch ficou por alguns minutos olhando fixamente para o fogo com expressão perplexa, tal como poderia assumir se lhe propusessem um enigma excepcionalmente difícil que considerasse impossível solucionar. Por fim, disse:

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'É claro que você já conhecia Pecksniff?'

'Só de nome. Nunca o tinha visto, porque meu avô mantinha a si mesmo e a mim afastados de todos os parentes. Nossa separação aconteceu numa cidade do condado vizinho. De lá fui a Salisbury e vi o anúncio de Pecksniff. Respondi porque sempre tive certo talento natural para os assuntos que ele mencionava e achei que isso poderia me servir. Quando soube que o anúncio era dele, fiquei ainda mais desejoso de vir, porque ele era...'

'Um homem excelente', interrompeu Tom, esfregando as mãos. 'E é mesmo. Você fez bem.'

'Não principalmente por essa razão, para dizer a verdade', disse Martin. 'Meu avô o odeia profundamente. Depois do tratamento injusto do velho, era natural que eu quisesse me opor a todas as opiniões dele. Por isso estou aqui. Meu noivado com a jovem provavelmente durará muito tempo, pois as perspectivas de nenhum de nós são boas. Não vou me casar até poder sustentar nós dois. Não seria certo me lançar na pobreza, em roupas gastas e num amor vivendo num único cômodo, três andares acima.'

Original English Version

'Pecksniff, of course, you had known before?'

'Only by name. No, I had never seen him, for my grandfather kept not only himself but me, aloof from all his relations. But our separation took place in a town in the adjoining country. From that place I came to Salisbury, and there I saw Pecksniff's advertisement, which I answered, having always had some natural taste, I believe, in the matters to which it referred, and thinking it might suit me. As soon as I found it to be his, I was doubly bent on coming to him if possible, on account of his being--'

'Such an excellent man,' interposed Tom, rubbing his hands: 'so he is. You were quite right.'

'Why, not so much on that account, if the truth must be spoken,' returned Martin, 'as because my grandfather has an inveterate dislike to him, and after the old man's arbitrary treatment of me, I had a natural desire to run as directly counter to all his opinions as I could. Well! As I said before, here I am. My engagement with the young lady I have been telling you about is likely to be a tolerably long one; for neither her prospects nor mine are very bright; and of course I shall not think of marrying until I am well able to do so. It would never do, you know, for me to be plunging myself into poverty and shabbiness and love in one room up three pair of stairs, and all that sort of thing.'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Naturalmente, já conhecia Pecksniff?"

"Apenas de nome. Não, jamais o vira, pois meu avô mantinha não só a si mesmo, mas também a mim, afastado de todos os parentes. Nossa separação, porém, ocorreu numa cidade do condado vizinho. De lá vim a Salisbury e ali vi o anúncio de Pecksniff, ao qual respondi, pois creio ter possuído sempre certo gosto natural pelos assuntos a que ele se referia e pensei que isso poderia me convir. Assim que descobri que era dele, fiquei duplamente decidido a vir procurá-lo, se possível, por ele ser..."

"Um homem tão excelente", interrompeu Tom, esfregando as mãos. "E é mesmo. O senhor teve toda a razão."

"Bem, para falar a verdade", respondeu Martin, "não foi tanto por isso, mas porque meu avô tem por ele uma aversão inveterada e, depois do tratamento arbitrário do velho para comigo, tive o desejo natural de contrariar tão diretamente quanto pudesse todas as suas opiniões. Bem! Como disse antes, aqui estou. Meu compromisso com a jovem de quem lhe falei provavelmente será bastante longo; pois nem as perspectivas dela nem as minhas são muito brilhantes; e, naturalmente, não pensarei em me casar enquanto não tiver boas condições para isso. Não seria possível, entende, eu me lançar na pobreza, na miséria e no amor num único quarto, três lances de escada acima, e toda essa espécie de coisa."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'Sem falar nela', disse Tom Pinch em voz baixa.

'Exatamente', respondeu Martin, levantando-se para aquecer as costas diante da lareira. 'Sem falar nela. Mesmo assim, não é muito difícil para ela aceitar a necessidade: primeiro, porque me ama profundamente; segundo, porque sacrifiquei muito por ela e poderia ter conseguido coisa bem melhor.'

Tom demorou muito antes de dizer 'Sem dúvida' - tanto tempo que poderia ter adormecido - , mas finalmente disse.

'Há uma estranha coincidência que encerra esta história de amor', disse Martin. 'Lembra-se do que me contou ontem à noite, no caminho para cá, sobre sua bela visitante da igreja?'

'Sem dúvida', disse Tom. Ele se levantou do banquinho e sentou-se na cadeira que Martin deixara, para poder ver seu rosto. 'Com toda a certeza.'

'Era ela.'

'Eu sabia o que você ia dizer', exclamou Tom, olhando-o fixamente e falando em voz baixa. 'Não me diga!'

Original English Version

'To say nothing of her,' remarked Tom Pinch, in a low voice.

'Exactly so,' rejoined Martin, rising to warm his back, and leaning against the chimney-piece. 'To say nothing of her. At the same time, of course it's not very hard upon her to be obliged to yield to the necessity of the case; first, because she loves me very much; and secondly, because I have sacrificed a great deal on her account, and might have done much better, you know.'

It was a very long time before Tom said 'Certainly;' so long, that he might have taken a nap in the interval, but he did say it at last.

'Now, there is one odd coincidence connected with this love-story,' said Martin, 'which brings it to an end. You remember what you told me last night as we were coming here, about your pretty visitor in the church?'

'Surely I do,' said Tom, rising from his stool, and seating himself in the chair from which the other had lately risen, that he might see his face. 'Undoubtedly.'

'That was she.'

'I knew what you were going to say,' cried Tom, looking fixedly at him, and speaking very softly. 'You don't tell me so?'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Sem falar nela", observou Tom Pinch em voz baixa.

"Exatamente", replicou Martin, levantando-se para aquecer as costas e apoiando-se no console da lareira. "Sem falar nela. Ao mesmo tempo, naturalmente, não é uma dureza muito grande para ela ser obrigada a ceder à necessidade do caso; primeiro, porque me ama muitíssimo; e, segundo, porque fiz grandes sacrifícios por causa dela e poderia ter-me saído muito melhor, entende."

Passou-se muitíssimo tempo antes que Tom dissesse "Certamente"; tanto tempo que poderia ter tirado uma soneca no intervalo, mas por fim o disse.

"Ora, há uma coincidência singular ligada a esta história de amor", disse Martin, "que a conduz ao fim. Lembra-se do que me contou ontem à noite, quando vínhamos para cá, sobre sua bela visitante na igreja?"

"É claro que sim", disse Tom, levantando-se do banquinho e sentando-se na cadeira da qual o outro acabara de se levantar, para poder ver-lhe o rosto. "Sem dúvida."

"Era ela."

"Eu sabia o que o senhor ia dizer", exclamou Tom, olhando-o fixamente e falando muito baixo. "Não me diga?"

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Era ela - repetiu o jovem. - Pelo que Pecksniff me contou, tenho certeza de que ela veio e partiu com meu avô. Não beba tanto desse vinho azedo, Pinch, ou pelo que vejo você terá algum tipo de ataque.

- Receio que não seja muito saudável - disse Tom, pousando o copo vazio que segurava havia algum tempo. - Então era ela?

Martin assentiu. Inquieto, disse que, se tivesse chegado alguns dias antes, teria visto a moça, enquanto agora ela poderia estar a centenas de quilômetros. Depois de andar pelo quarto algumas vezes, atirou-se numa cadeira e se irritou como uma criança mimada.

Tom Pinch tinha um coração sensível e não suportava ver nem mesmo um desconhecido aflito. Suportava ainda menos a dor de alguém que lhe despertava interesse e parecia tratá-lo com bondade. Seu rosto mostrava que, apenas alguns instantes antes, seus próprios pensamentos haviam sido sérios. Mesmo assim, afastou-os imediatamente e ofereceu ao jovem amigo os melhores conselhos e o maior consolo que podia.

Original English Version

'That was she,' repeated the young man. 'After what I have heard from Pecksniff, I have no doubt that she came and went with my grandfather.--Don't you drink too much of that sour wine, or you'll have a fit of some sort, Pinch, I see.'

'It is not very wholesome, I am afraid,' said Tom, setting down the empty glass he had for some time held. 'So that was she, was it?'

Martin nodded assent; and adding, with a restless impatience, that if he had been a few days earlier he would have seen her; and that now she might be, for anything he knew, hundreds of miles away; threw himself, after a few turns across the room, into a chair, and chafed like a spoilt child.

Tom Pinch's heart was very tender, and he could not bear to see the most indifferent person in distress; still less one who had awakened an interest in him, and who regarded him (either in fact, or as he supposed) with kindness, and in a spirit of lenient construction. Whatever his own thoughts had been a few moments before--and to judge from his face they must have been pretty serious--he dismissed them instantly, and gave his young friend the best counsel and comfort that occurred to him.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Era ela - repetiu o jovem. - Depois do que ouvi de Pecksniff, não tenho dúvida de que veio e partiu com meu avô. Não beba demais desse vinho azedo, ou terá algum tipo de ataque, Pinch, estou vendo.

- Receio que não seja muito saudável - disse Tom, pousando o copo vazio que havia algum tempo segurava. - Então era ela, não era?

Martin assentiu com a cabeça; e, acrescentando com impaciência inquieta que, se tivesse chegado alguns dias antes, a teria visto, e que agora, pelo que sabia, ela poderia estar a centenas de milhas dali, depois de dar algumas voltas pela sala deixou-se cair numa cadeira e irritou-se como uma criança mimada.

O coração de Tom Pinch era muito sensível, e ele não suportava ver aflita nem mesmo a pessoa mais indiferente; muito menos alguém que lhe despertara interesse e que o tratava (na realidade ou segundo supunha) com bondade e indulgência. Fossem quais fossem seus próprios pensamentos alguns instantes antes - e, a julgar por seu rosto, deviam ser bastante sérios - , descartou-os imediatamente e ofereceu ao jovem amigo os melhores conselhos e consolos que lhe ocorreram.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Com o tempo, tudo ficará bem - disse Tom. - Tenho certeza de que as provações e dificuldades atuais o tornarão mais dedicado em dias melhores. Sempre li isso e sinto que é natural e correto. Não se pode esperar que aquilo que nunca correu tranquilamente mude por nossa causa. - Seu sorriso, embora seu rosto fosse comum, era mais agradável do que os olhares mais radiantes de muitas beldades orgulhosas. - Precisamos aceitar isso e moldá-lo da melhor maneira possível, com paciência e bom humor. Não tenho poder, como sabe, mas tenho excelente boa vontade. Se algum dia eu pudesse ajudá-lo de qualquer modo, como ficaria feliz!

- Obrigado - disse Martin, apertando-lhe a mão. - Você é um bom sujeito e fala com bondade. Claro - acrescentou depois de uma pausa, puxando novamente a cadeira para o fogo - , eu aceitaria de bom grado sua ajuda, se você pudesse ajudar em alguma coisa. Mas, misericórdia! - Ele despenteou os cabelos com impaciência e olhou para Tom como se estivesse zangado por ele não ser outra pessoa. - Pelo tanto que pode me ajudar, Pinch, você bem poderia ser um garfo de torrar pão ou uma frigideira.

Original English Version

'All will be well in time,' said Tom, 'I have no doubt; and some trial and adversity just now will only serve to make you more attached to each other in better days. I have always read that the truth is so, and I have a feeling within me, which tells me how natural and right it is that it should be. That never ran smooth yet,' said Tom, with a smile which, despite the homeliness of his face, was pleasanter to see than many a proud beauty's brightest glance; 'what never ran smooth yet, can hardly be expected to change its character for us; so we must take it as we find it, and fashion it into the very best shape we can, by patience and good-humour. I have no power at all; I needn't tell you that; but I have an excellent will; and if I could ever be of use to you, in any way whatever, how very glad I should be!'

'Thank you,' said Martin, shaking his hand. 'You're a good fellow, upon my word, and speak very kindly. Of course you know,' he added, after a moment's pause, as he drew his chair towards the fire again, 'I should not hesitate to avail myself of your services if you could help me at all; but mercy on us!'--Here he rumpled his hair impatiently with his hand, and looked at Tom as if he took it rather ill that he was not somebody else--'you might as well be a toasting-fork or a frying-pan, Pinch, for any help you can render me.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Tudo acabará bem com o tempo - disse Tom - , não tenho dúvida; e alguma provação e adversidade agora só servirão para torná-los mais ligados um ao outro nos dias melhores. Sempre li que isso é verdade, e tenho dentro de mim um sentimento que me diz como é natural e justo que assim seja. Aquilo que nunca seguiu sem percalços - disse Tom, com um sorriso que, apesar da simplicidade de seu rosto, era mais agradável de ver que o mais luminoso olhar de muitas beldades orgulhosas - dificilmente mudará de caráter por nossa causa; portanto, devemos aceitá-lo como o encontramos e, com paciência e bom humor, dar-lhe a melhor forma possível. Não tenho poder algum; não preciso lhe dizer isso; mas tenho excelente boa vontade; e, se algum dia eu pudesse ser-lhe útil de qualquer maneira, como ficaria contente!

- Obrigado - disse Martin, apertando-lhe a mão. - Você é um bom sujeito, palavra de honra, e fala com muita bondade. Naturalmente sabe - acrescentou após um instante de pausa, tornando a puxar a cadeira para perto do fogo - que eu não hesitaria em valer-me de seus serviços se pudesse me ajudar em alguma coisa; mas, misericórdia! - Aqui, despenteou os cabelos com a mão, impaciente, e olhou para Tom como se levasse um pouco a mal que ele não fosse outra pessoa. - Para a ajuda que pode me prestar, Pinch, tanto faria você ser um garfo de torrar pão ou uma frigideira.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Exceto no desejo - disse Tom gentilmente.

- Ah, claro. Foi isso que quis dizer. Se desejar bastasse, eu não precisaria de ajuda. Mas há algo que pode fazer agora, se quiser.

- O que é? - perguntou Tom.

- Leia para mim.

- Será um prazer! - exclamou Tom, pegando a vela com entusiasmo. - Perdoe-me por deixá-lo no escuro por um momento enquanto busco um livro. O que gostaria? Shakespeare?

- Sim! - disse o amigo, bocejando e se espreguiçando. - Ele serve. Estou cansado com a agitação de hoje e com toda essa novidade. Acho que nada é mais agradável do que adormecer ouvindo alguém ler. Não se importará se eu dormir?

- De modo algum! - exclamou Tom.

- Então comece quando quiser. Não pare quando eu ficar sonolento, a menos que esteja cansado; é agradável despertar devagar e voltar a ouvir os sons. Já experimentou?

- Não, nunca experimentei - disse Tom.

Original English Version

'Except in the inclination,' said Tom, gently.

'Oh! to be sure. I meant that, of course. If inclination went for anything, I shouldn't want help. I tell you what you may do, though, if you will, and at the present moment too.'

'What is that?' demanded Tom.

'Read to me.'

'I shall be delighted,' cried Tom, catching up the candle with enthusiasm. 'Excuse my leaving you in the dark a moment, and I'll fetch a book directly. What will you like? Shakespeare?'

'Aye!' replied his friend, yawning and stretching himself. 'He'll do. I am tired with the bustle of to-day, and the novelty of everything about me; and in such a case, there's no greater luxury in the world, I think, than being read to sleep. You won't mind my going to sleep, if I can?'

'Not at all!' cried Tom.

'Then begin as soon as you like. You needn't leave off when you see me getting drowsy (unless you feel tired), for it's pleasant to wake gradually to the sounds again. Did you ever try that?'

'No, I never tried that,' said Tom

Tradução Integral em Português

- Exceto quanto à disposição - disse Tom, suavemente.

- Oh! Claro. Era isso o que eu queria dizer, naturalmente. Se disposição valesse alguma coisa, eu não precisaria de ajuda. Mas vou lhe dizer o que pode fazer, se quiser, e neste exato momento.

- O que é? - perguntou Tom.

- Leia para mim.

- Ficarei encantado - exclamou Tom, apanhando a vela com entusiasmo. - Perdoe-me por deixá-lo no escuro um instante, e trarei um livro sem demora. De que gostaria? Shakespeare?

- Sim! - respondeu o amigo, bocejando e espreguiçando-se. - Ele serve. Estou cansado com a agitação de hoje e a novidade de tudo ao meu redor; e, num caso assim, creio que não há maior luxo no mundo do que ouvir alguém ler até adormecermos. Não se importará se eu cair no sono, caso consiga?

- De modo algum! - exclamou Tom.

- Então comece assim que quiser. Não precisa parar quando me vir ficando sonolento (a menos que esteja cansado), pois é agradável despertar aos poucos novamente para os sons. Já experimentou isso?

- Não, nunca experimentei - disse Tom.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Bem, poderá experimentar um dia, quando nós dois estivermos no estado de espírito certo. Não se preocupe em me deixar no escuro. Seja rápido!

O Sr. Pinch saiu imediatamente e logo voltou com um livro precioso da estante ao lado de sua cama. Martin havia se acomodado da melhor maneira possível diante do fogo. Estava deitado por inteiro num sofá improvisado com três cadeiras, usando o banquinho de Mercy como travesseiro.

- Por favor, não leia muito alto - disse ele a Pinch.

- Não, não - disse Tom.

- Tem certeza de que não está com frio?

- De modo algum! - exclamou Tom.

- Então estou pronto.

Depois de manusear as páginas como criaturas vivas e queridas, o Sr. Pinch escolheu um trecho e começou a ler. Antes que terminasse cinquenta linhas, seu amigo roncava.

- Pobre rapaz! - disse Tom baixinho, espiando por cima das cadeiras. - É muito jovem para tantas dificuldades. Como é confiante e generoso ao me dar essa confiança. E era ela?

Original English Version

'Well! You can, you know, one of these days when we're both in the right humour. Don't mind leaving me in the dark. Look sharp!'

Mr Pinch lost no time in moving away; and in a minute or two returned with one of the precious volumes from the shelf beside his bed. Martin had in the meantime made himself as comfortable as circumstances would permit, by constructing before the fire a temporary sofa of three chairs with Mercy's stool for a pillow, and lying down at full-length upon it.

'Don't be too loud, please,' he said to Pinch.

'No, no,' said Tom.

'You're sure you're not cold'

'Not at all!' cried Tom.

'I am quite ready, then.'

Mr Pinch accordingly, after turning over the leaves of his book with as much care as if they were living and highly cherished creatures, made his own selection, and began to read. Before he had completed fifty lines his friend was snoring.

'Poor fellow!' said Tom, softly, as he stretched out his head to peep at him over the backs of the chairs. 'He is very young to have so much trouble. How trustful and generous in him to bestow all this confidence in me. And that was she, was it?'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Bem! Pode experimentar, sabe, um dia destes, quando ambos estivermos no estado de espírito adequado. Não se preocupe em me deixar no escuro. Depressa!

O Sr. Pinch não perdeu tempo em sair; e em um ou dois minutos voltou com um dos preciosos volumes da prateleira ao lado de sua cama. Enquanto isso, Martin se acomodara tão confortavelmente quanto permitiam as circunstâncias, construindo diante do fogo um sofá temporário com três cadeiras e o banquinho de Mercy como travesseiro, e deitando-se nele de corpo inteiro.

- Não leia alto demais, por favor - disse ele a Pinch.

- Não, não - disse Tom.

- Tem certeza de que não está com frio?

- De modo algum! - exclamou Tom.

- Então estou pronto.

Assim, depois de virar as folhas do livro com tanto cuidado como se fossem criaturas vivas e muito estimadas, o Sr. Pinch fez sua escolha e começou a ler. Antes que completasse cinquenta versos, o amigo já roncava.

- Pobre sujeito! - disse Tom baixinho, esticando a cabeça para espiá-lo por sobre os espaldares das cadeiras. - É muito jovem para ter tantos problemas. Que confiança e generosidade a dele ao depositar tudo isso em mim. Então era ela, não era?

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Lembrando-se do acordo, Tom continuou a ler de onde havia parado. Esqueceu-se de aparar o pavio da vela até que ele parecesse um cogumelo. Ficou tão interessado no poema que se esqueceu do fogo. Depois de cerca de uma hora, Martin se levantou de repente, tremendo de frio.

- Ora, está quase apagado! Não admira que eu tenha sonhado que estava congelando. Peça carvão. Que sujeito você é, Pinch!

Original English Version

But suddenly remembering their compact, he took up the poem at the place where he had left off, and went on reading; always forgetting to snuff the candle, until its wick looked like a mushroom. He gradually became so much interested, that he quite forgot to replenish the fire; and was only reminded of his neglect by Martin Chuzzlewit starting up after the lapse of an hour or so, and crying with a shiver.

'Why, it's nearly out, I declare! No wonder I dreamed of being frozen. Do call for some coals. What a fellow you are, Pinch!'

Tradução Integral em Português

Mas, lembrando-se de repente do acordo, retomou o poema no ponto em que parara e continuou lendo; esquecia-se sempre de aparar o pavio da vela, até que este pareceu um cogumelo. Aos poucos ficou tão interessado que se esqueceu por completo de alimentar o fogo; e só se lembrou da negligência quando Martin Chuzzlewit se levantou de um salto, depois de uma hora ou mais, e exclamou com um calafrio:

- Ora, declaro que está quase apagado! Não admira que eu tenha sonhado que congelava. Mande trazer um pouco de carvão. Que sujeito você é, Pinch!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Chapter Seven

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

NO QUAL O SR. CHEVY SLYME AFIRMA A INDEPENDÊNCIA DE SEU ESPÍRITO, E O DRAGÃO AZUL PERDE UM MEMBRO

Na manhã seguinte, Martin trabalhou na escola de gramática com tanta energia e rapidez que o Sr. Pinch admirou seus dons naturais e se sentiu muito inferior a ele. O novo aluno recebeu os elogios de Tom com bondade e, à sua maneira, havia se afeiçoado a ele. Disse que seriam sempre os melhores amigos e jamais se arrependeriam de ter se conhecido, especialmente Tom. Tom ficou encantado com essas promessas de amizade e não sabia como demonstrar sua satisfação. A amizade deles tinha mais chances de durar do que muitas amizades juradas: um gostava de proteger e o outro de ser protegido, o que combinava com seus temperamentos. Assim, era improvável que a Inveja e o Orgulho se interpusessem entre eles. Em muitas amizades, pessoas diferentes se unem mais do que pessoas semelhantes.

Na tarde seguinte à partida da família, ambos estavam ocupados: Martin com a escola de gramática e Tom conferindo recibos de aluguel e descontando a comissão do Sr. Pecksniff. Os assobios altos de Martin enquanto desenhava distraíam Tom. Então uma cabeça desgrenhada e um tanto alarmante apareceu de repente à porta daquele santuário do gênio, sorrindo de modo caloroso, brincalhão e aprovador.

Original English Version

IN WHICH MR CHEVY SLYME ASSERTS THE INDEPENDENCE OF HIS SPIRIT, AND THE BLUE DRAGON LOSES A LIMB

Martin began to work at the grammar-school next morning, with so much vigour and expedition, that Mr Pinch had new reason to do homage to the natural endowments of that young gentleman, and to acknowledge his infinite superiority to himself. The new pupil received Tom's compliments very graciously; and having by this time conceived a real regard for him, in his own peculiar way, predicted that they would always be the very best of friends, and that neither of them, he was certain (but particularly Tom), would ever have reason to regret the day on which they became acquainted. Mr Pinch was delighted to hear him say this, and felt so much flattered by his kind assurances of friendship and protection, that he was at a loss how to express the pleasure they afforded him. And indeed it may be observed of this friendship, such as it was, that it had within it more likely materials of endurance than many a sworn brotherhood that has been rich in promise; for so long as the one party found a pleasure in patronizing, and the other in being patronised (which was in the very essence of their respective characters), it was of all possible events among the least probable, that the twin demons, Envy and Pride, would ever arise between them. So in very many cases of friendship, or what passes for it, the old axiom is reversed, and like clings to unlike more than to like.

They were both very busy on the afternoon succeeding the family's departure--Martin with the grammar-school, and Tom in balancing certain receipts of rents, and deducting Mr Pecksniff's commission from the same; in which abstruse employment he was much distracted by a habit his new friend had of whistling aloud while he was drawing--when they were not a little startled by the unexpected obtrusion into that sanctuary of genius, of a human head which, although a shaggy and somewhat alarming head in appearance, smiled affably upon them from the doorway, in a manner that was at once waggish, conciliatory, and expressive of approbation.

Tradução Integral em Português

EM QUE O SR. CHEVY SLYME AFIRMA A INDEPENDÊNCIA DE SEU ESPÍRITO, E O DRAGÃO AZUL PERDE UM MEMBRO

Martin começou a trabalhar na escola primária na manhã seguinte com tanto vigor e rapidez que o Sr. Pinch teve um novo motivo para render homenagem aos dons naturais daquele jovem cavalheiro e reconhecer sua infinita superioridade sobre si mesmo. O novo aprendiz recebeu com muita graça os elogios de Tom; e, tendo a essa altura concebido verdadeira estima por ele, à sua maneira peculiar, previu que seriam sempre os melhores amigos e que nenhum dos dois, tinha certeza (mas sobretudo Tom), jamais teria motivo para lamentar o dia em que se conheceram. O Sr. Pinch ficou encantado ao ouvi-lo dizer isso e sentiu-se tão lisonjeado por suas bondosas garantias de amizade e proteção que não sabia como exprimir o prazer que lhe proporcionavam. E, com efeito, pode-se observar dessa amizade, tal como era, que continha materiais de duração mais prováveis do que muitas irmandades juradas ricas em promessas; pois, enquanto uma parte encontrasse prazer em proteger e a outra em ser protegida (o que estava na própria essência de seus respectivos caracteres), de todos os acontecimentos possíveis, um dos menos prováveis era que os demônios gêmeos, Inveja e Orgulho, algum dia se erguessem entre eles. Assim, em muitíssimos casos de amizade, ou daquilo que passa por amizade, inverte-se o velho axioma, e o semelhante se apega mais ao diferente do que ao semelhante.

Ambos estavam muito ocupados na tarde seguinte à partida da família - Martin com a escola primária e Tom equilibrando certas receitas de aluguéis e deduzindo delas a comissão do Sr. Pecksniff; nesse trabalho obscuro, era muito distraído pelo hábito que seu novo amigo tinha de assobiar alto enquanto desenhava - quando ficaram bastante sobressaltados com a inesperada intrusão naquele santuário do gênio de uma cabeça humana que, embora desgrenhada e de aparência um tanto alarmante, sorria-lhes afavelmente da porta, de modo a um só tempo travesso, conciliador e expressivo de aprovação.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Eu mesmo não sou trabalhador, cavalheiros, mas valorizo isso nos outros - disse a cabeça. - Depois do gênio, é uma das melhores qualidades humanas. Agradeço ao meu amigo Pecksniff por esta visão deliciosa. Os senhores me lembram muito Whittington, que depois foi três vezes prefeito de Londres. São dois Whittingtons sem o gato, o que me agrada porque não gosto de gatos. Meu nome é Tigg. Como vão?

Martin olhou para o Sr. Pinch em busca de explicação. Tom, que nunca vira o Sr. Tigg, olhou para o próprio Tigg.

- Chevy Slyme? - disse o Sr. Tigg, beijando a mão esquerda como sinal amistoso. - Saiba que sou o agente credenciado de Chevy Slyme, o embaixador da corte de Chiv. Ha, ha!

- Ora essa! - perguntou Martin, assustado por reconhecer o nome. - O que ele quer comigo?

- Se seu nome é Pinch... - começou o Sr. Tigg.

- Não é - disse Martin, contendo-se. - Aquele é o Sr. Pinch.

Original English Version

'I am not industrious myself, gents both,' said the head, 'but I know how to appreciate that quality in others. I wish I may turn grey and ugly, if it isn't in my opinion, next to genius, one of the very charmingest qualities of the human mind. Upon my soul, I am grateful to my friend Pecksniff for helping me to the contemplation of such a delicious picture as you present. You remind me of Whittington, afterwards thrice Lord Mayor of London. I give you my unsullied word of honour, that you very strongly remind me of that historical character. You are a pair of Whittingtons, gents, without the cat; which is a most agreeable and blessed exception to me, for I am not attached to the feline species. My name is Tigg; how do you do?'

Martin looked to Mr Pinch for an explanation; and Tom, who had never in his life set eyes on Mr Tigg before, looked to that gentleman himself.

'Chevy Slyme?' said Mr Tigg, interrogatively, and kissing his left hand in token of friendship. 'You will understand me when I say that I am the accredited agent of Chevy Slyme; that I am the ambassador from the court of Chiv? Ha ha!'

'Heyday!' asked Martin, starting at the mention of a name he knew. 'Pray, what does he want with me?'

'If your name is Pinch'--Mr Tigg began.

'It is not' said Martin, checking himself. 'That is Mr Pinch.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Eu mesmo não sou laborioso, meus senhores - disse a cabeça - , mas sei apreciar essa qualidade nos outros. Que eu fique grisalho e feio se, na minha opinião, depois do gênio, não é uma das qualidades mais encantadoras da mente humana. Por minha alma, sou grato a meu amigo Pecksniff por me ajudar a contemplar um quadro tão delicioso quanto o que os senhores apresentam. Fazem-me lembrar de Whittington, que depois foi três vezes Lorde Prefeito de Londres. Dou-lhes minha imaculada palavra de honra de que me fazem lembrar vivamente esse personagem histórico. São um par de Whittingtons, senhores, sem o gato; o que para mim é uma exceção muito agradável e abençoada, pois não tenho afeição pela espécie felina. Meu nome é Tigg; como vão?

Martin olhou para o Sr. Pinch em busca de explicação; e Tom, que nunca na vida pusera os olhos no Sr. Tigg, olhou para o próprio cavalheiro.

- Chevy Slyme? - disse o Sr. Tigg em tom interrogativo, beijando a mão esquerda em sinal de amizade. - Compreenderão quando eu disser que sou o agente credenciado de Chevy Slyme; que sou o embaixador da corte de Chiv. Ha, ha!

- Ora essa! - exclamou Martin, sobressaltando-se à menção de um nome que conhecia. - Diga-me, o que ele quer comigo?

- Se seu nome é Pinch... - começou o Sr. Tigg.

- Não é - disse Martin, contendo-se. - Aquele é o Sr. Pinch.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Se aquele é o Sr. Pinch - exclamou Tigg, beijando novamente a mão ao entrar - , permita-me dizer que respeito muito seu caráter, que meu amigo Pecksniff elogiou bastante. Valorizo seu talento para o órgão, embora eu próprio não toque realejo. Espero que esteja bem e não tenha problemas com o vento leste.

- Obrigado - disse Tom. - Estou muito bem.

- Isso é um consolo - disse o Sr. Tigg. Então, protegendo os lábios com a mão e aproximando-os do ouvido de Tom, acrescentou: - Vim buscar a carta.

- A carta? - disse Tom em voz alta. - Que carta?

- A carta - sussurrou Tigg com cautela - que meu amigo Pecksniff endereçou a Chevy Slyme, cavalheiro, e deixou com o senhor.

- Ele não deixou carta alguma comigo - disse Tom.

- Silêncio! - exclamou Tigg. - É a mesma coisa, embora meu amigo Pecksniff tenha agido com menos delicadeza do que eu gostaria. O dinheiro.

- O dinheiro! - exclamou Tom, assustado.

Original English Version

'If that is Mr Pinch,' cried Tigg, kissing his hand again, and beginning to follow his head into the room, 'he will permit me to say that I greatly esteem and respect his character, which has been most highly commended to me by my friend Pecksniff; and that I deeply appreciate his talent for the organ, notwithstanding that I do not, if I may use the expression, grind myself. If that is Mr Pinch, I will venture to express a hope that I see him well, and that he is suffering no inconvenience from the easterly wind?'

'Thank you,' said Tom. 'I am very well.'

'That is a comfort,' Mr Tigg rejoined. 'Then,' he added, shielding his lips with the palm of his hand, and applying them close to Mr Pinch's ear, 'I have come for the letter.'

'For the letter,' said Tom, aloud. 'What letter?'

'The letter,' whispered Tigg in the same cautious manner as before, 'which my friend Pecksniff addressed to Chevy Slyme, Esquire, and left with you.'

'He didn't leave any letter with me,' said Tom.

'Hush!' cried the other. 'It's all the same thing, though not so delicately done by my friend Pecksniff as I could have wished. The money.'

'The money!' cried Tom quite scared.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Se aquele é o Sr. Pinch - exclamou Tigg, beijando novamente a mão e começando a deixar que a cabeça fosse seguida pelo corpo para dentro da sala - , ele me permitirá dizer que estimo e respeito enormemente seu caráter, que me foi recomendado nos termos mais elevados por meu amigo Pecksniff; e que aprecio profundamente seu talento para o órgão, embora eu mesmo, se me permitem a expressão, não toque realejo. Se aquele é o Sr. Pinch, ousarei expressar a esperança de que o encontro bem e de que não esteja sofrendo inconveniente algum com o vento leste.

- Obrigado - disse Tom. - Estou muito bem.

- Isso é um alívio - respondeu o Sr. Tigg. Então, protegendo os lábios com a palma da mão e aproximando-os do ouvido do Sr. Pinch, acrescentou: - Vim buscar a carta.

- Buscar a carta? - disse Tom em voz alta. - Que carta?

- A carta - sussurrou Tigg com a mesma cautela de antes - que meu amigo Pecksniff endereçou a Chevy Slyme, Esquire, e deixou com o senhor.

- Ele não deixou carta alguma comigo - disse Tom.

- Psiu! - exclamou o outro. - Dá no mesmo, embora meu amigo Pecksniff não o tenha feito com a delicadeza que eu desejaria. O dinheiro.

- O dinheiro! - exclamou Tom, bastante assustado.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Exatamente - disse o Sr. Tigg. Deu duas ou três batidinhas no peito de Tom e assentiu. Seus sinais diziam que eles se entendiam e não precisavam mencionar aquilo diante de uma terceira pessoa. Também pediam a Tom, como favor especial, que colocasse discretamente o dinheiro em sua mão.

Mas o Sr. Pinch ficou tão chocado com aquele comportamento inexplicável que disse abertamente que havia algum engano. Não recebera instrução alguma a respeito do Sr. Tigg ou de seu amigo. O Sr. Tigg pediu-lhe gravemente que repetisse. Quando Tom o fez com mais clareza, Tigg marcou cada frase com um aceno solene. Depois que terminou pela segunda vez, Tigg sentou-se e falou com eles.

Original English Version

'Exactly so,' said Mr Tigg. With which he rapped Tom twice or thrice upon the breast and nodded several times, as though he would say that he saw they understood each other; that it was unnecessary to mention the circumstance before a third person; and that he would take it as a particular favour if Tom would slip the amount into his hand, as quietly as possible.

Mr Pinch, however, was so very much astounded by this (to him) inexplicable deportment, that he at once openly declared there must be some mistake, and that he had been entrusted with no commission whatever having any reference to Mr Tigg or to his friend, either. Mr Tigg received this declaration with a grave request that Mr Pinch would have the goodness to make it again; and on Tom's repeating it in a still more emphatic and unmistakable manner, checked it off, sentence for sentence, by nodding his head solemnly at the end of each. When it had come to a close for the second time, Mr Tigg sat himself down in a chair and addressed the young men as follows:

Tradução Integral em Português

- Exatamente - disse o Sr. Tigg. Com isso, deu dois ou três tapinhas no peito de Tom e assentiu várias vezes, como se quisesse dizer que via que ambos se compreendiam; que era desnecessário mencionar a circunstância diante de uma terceira pessoa; e que tomaria como favor especial se Tom lhe pusesse discretamente a quantia na mão.

O Sr. Pinch, contudo, ficou tão espantado com essa conduta (para ele) inexplicável que declarou imediatamente e às claras que devia haver algum engano e que não lhe fora confiada missão alguma referente ao Sr. Tigg ou tampouco a seu amigo. O Sr. Tigg recebeu a declaração com o grave pedido de que o Sr. Pinch tivesse a bondade de repeti-la; e, quando Tom a repetiu de maneira ainda mais enfática e inequívoca, conferiu-a frase por frase, assentindo solenemente ao fim de cada uma. Quando ela chegou ao fim pela segunda vez, o Sr. Tigg sentou-se numa cadeira e dirigiu-se aos jovens assim:

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Então lhes direi, cavalheiros. Neste momento e neste lugar, uma perfeita estrela de talento e gênio encontra-se numa situação terrível por causa da negligência culpável de meu amigo Pecksniff. No Dragão Azul desta aldeia - uma cervejaria vulgar, baixa e cheia de fumaça de cachimbo - está um homem que ninguém pode igualar: meu amigo Chevy Slyme. Ele está detido lá por causa de sua conta. Ha, ha! Por sua conta! Conhecemos o Livro dos Mártires de Fox, o Tribunal de Pedidos e a Câmara Estrelada, mas não temo ninguém ao dizer que deter Chevy Slyme por causa de uma conta é pior do que qualquer briga de galos de que eu tenha notícia.

Martin e o Sr. Pinch olharam primeiro um para o outro e depois para o Sr. Tigg. De braços cruzados, ele os fitava meio triste, meio amargurado.

Original English Version

'Then I tell you what it is, gents both. There is at this present moment in this very place, a perfect constellation of talent and genius, who is involved, through what I cannot but designate as the culpable negligence of my friend Pecksniff, in a situation as tremendous, perhaps, as the social intercourse of the nineteenth century will readily admit of. There is actually at this instant, at the Blue Dragon in this village--an ale-house, observe; a common, paltry, low-minded, clodhopping, pipe-smoking ale-house--an individual, of whom it may be said, in the language of the Poet, that nobody but himself can in any way come up to him; who is detained there for his bill. Ha! ha! For his bill. I repeat it--for his bill. Now,' said Mr Tigg, 'we have heard of Fox's Book of Martyrs, I believe, and we have heard of the Court of Requests, and the Star Chamber; but I fear the contradiction of no man alive or dead, when I assert that my friend Chevy Slyme being held in pawn for a bill, beats any amount of cockfighting with which I am acquainted.'

Martin and Mr Pinch looked, first at each other, and afterwards at Mr Tigg, who with his arms folded on his breast surveyed them, half in despondency and half in bitterness.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Então vou lhes dizer como estão as coisas, meus senhores. Neste exato momento, neste mesmo lugar, há uma perfeita constelação de talento e gênio que se encontra, devido ao que não posso deixar de classificar como negligência culposa de meu amigo Pecksniff, numa situação talvez tão tremenda quanto permite facilmente o convívio social do século dezenove. Neste exato instante, no Dragão Azul desta aldeia - uma taberna, observem; uma taberna vulgar, insignificante, mesquinha, grosseira, fumegante de cachimbos - encontra-se um indivíduo de quem se pode dizer, na linguagem do Poeta, que ninguém além dele próprio pode de modo algum igualá-lo; e que está retido ali por causa da conta. Ha! Ha! Por causa da conta. Repito: por causa da conta. Ora - disse o Sr. Tigg - , já ouvimos falar do Livro dos Mártires de Foxe, creio, e ouvimos falar do Tribunal de Petições e da Câmara Estrelada; mas não temo a contradição de homem algum, vivo ou morto, quando afirmo que meu amigo Chevy Slyme ser mantido como penhor por uma conta supera qualquer quantidade de rinhas de galos de que eu tenha conhecimento.

Martin e o Sr. Pinch olharam primeiro um para o outro e depois para o Sr. Tigg, que, com os braços cruzados sobre o peito, os contemplava meio desalentado, meio amargurado.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Não me interpretem mal, cavalheiros - disse ele, estendendo a mão. - Se fosse qualquer coisa além de uma conta, eu suportaria e ainda respeitaria a humanidade. Mas, quando um homem como Slyme é detido por uma dívida, uma coisa mesquinha escrita numa lousa ou talvez a giz numa porta, sinto que a sociedade está abalada e que não se pode confiar nos princípios fundamentais. Quando um homem como Slyme é detido por uma conta, rejeito as velhas crenças e não acredito em nada. Nem sequer acredito que não acredito, que eu seja amaldiçoado se acredito!

Depois de uma pausa, Tom disse: - Sinto muito, mas o Sr. Pecksniff não me disse nada, e não posso agir sem instruções. Não seria melhor voltar para o lugar de onde veio e mandar o dinheiro a seu amigo?

- Como posso, se também estou detido? - perguntou o Sr. Tigg. - Além disso, por causa da espantosa e culpável negligência de meu amigo Pecksniff, não tenho dinheiro para pagar a diligência.

Original English Version

'Don't mistake me, gents both,' he said, stretching forth his right hand. 'If it had been for anything but a bill, I could have borne it, and could still have looked upon mankind with some feeling of respect; but when such a man as my friend Slyme is detained for a score--a thing in itself essentially mean; a low performance on a slate, or possibly chalked upon the back of a door--I do feel that there is a screw of such magnitude loose somewhere, that the whole framework of society is shaken, and the very first principles of things can no longer be trusted. In short, gents both,' said Mr Tigg with a passionate flourish of his hands and head, 'when a man like Slyme is detained for such a thing as a bill, I reject the superstitions of ages, and believe nothing. I don't even believe that I DON'T believe, curse me if I do!'

'I am very sorry, I am sure,' said Tom after a pause, 'but Mr Pecksniff said nothing to me about it, and I couldn't act without his instructions. Wouldn't it be better, sir, if you were to go to--to wherever you came from--yourself, and remit the money to your friend?'

'How can that be done, when I am detained also?' said Mr Tigg; 'and when moreover, owing to the astounding, and I must add, guilty negligence of my friend Pecksniff, I have no money for coach-hire?'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Não me interpretem mal, meus senhores - disse ele, estendendo a mão direita. - Se fosse por qualquer coisa que não uma conta, eu poderia suportar e ainda contemplar a humanidade com algum respeito; mas, quando um homem como meu amigo Slyme é retido por uma despesa anotada - coisa essencialmente mesquinha em si; uma baixa operação numa lousa, ou talvez escrita a giz no verso de uma porta - , sinto que há em algum lugar um parafuso solto de tamanha magnitude que toda a estrutura da sociedade estremece e já não se pode confiar nos próprios princípios fundamentais das coisas. Em suma, meus senhores - disse o Sr. Tigg, floreando apaixonadamente as mãos e a cabeça - , quando um homem como Slyme é detido por uma coisa como uma conta, rejeito as superstições dos séculos e não acredito em nada. Nem sequer acredito que NÃO acredito, maldito seja se acredito!

- Sinto muito, com toda a certeza - disse Tom após uma pausa - , mas o Sr. Pecksniff nada me disse sobre isso, e eu não poderia agir sem suas instruções. Não seria melhor, senhor, se o senhor mesmo voltasse para... para onde quer que tenha vindo... e remetesse o dinheiro a seu amigo?

- Como se poderia fazer isso, se eu também estou detido? - disse o Sr. Tigg. - E quando, além disso, devido à assombrosa e, devo acrescentar, criminosa negligência de meu amigo Pecksniff, não tenho dinheiro para a diligência?

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Tom pensou que o cavalheiro poderia escrever pelo correio a um amigo ou agente pedindo dinheiro, e que valia a pena tentar. Mas sua bondade lhe deu motivos para não sugerir isso. Depois de outra pausa, perguntou:

- O senhor disse que também estava detido?

O Sr. Tigg se levantou. - Venha aqui. Importa-se se eu abrir esta janela por um instante?

- Claro que não - disse Tom.

O Sr. Tigg ergueu a vidraça. - Muito bem. Vê um sujeito lá embaixo com um lenço vermelho no pescoço e sem colete?

- Claro - exclamou Tom. - É Mark Tapley.

- Mark Tapley? - disse o cavalheiro. - Então ele gentilmente me seguiu até aqui e espera para me acompanhar de volta. Por essa atenção, senhor - disse o Sr. Tigg, acariciando o bigode - , teria sido melhor que Mark Tapley fosse alimentado até sufocar pela Sra. Tapley quando bebê, em vez de ser mantido vivo até agora.

O Sr. Pinch não ficou assustado demais com essa ameaça para chamar Mark para entrar e subir. Mark obedeceu tão depressa que, quase no mesmo instante em que Tom e o Sr. Tigg fecharam a janela, o homem ameaçado estava diante deles.

Original English Version

Tom thought of reminding the gentleman (who, no doubt, in his agitation had forgotten it) that there was a post-office in the land; and that possibly if he wrote to some friend or agent for a remittance it might not be lost upon the road; or at all events that the chance, however desperate, was worth trusting to. But, as his good-nature presently suggested to him certain reasons for abstaining from this hint, he paused again, and then asked:

'Did you say, sir, that you were detained also?'

'Come here,' said Mr Tigg, rising. 'You have no objection to my opening this window for a moment?'

'Certainly not,' said Tom.

'Very good,' said Mr Tigg, lifting the sash. 'You see a fellow down there in a red neckcloth and no waistcoat?'

'Of course I do,' cried Tom. 'That's Mark Tapley.'

'Mark Tapley is it?' said the gentleman. 'Then Mark Tapley had not only the great politeness to follow me to this house, but is waiting now, to see me home again. And for that attention, sir,' added Mr Tigg, stroking his moustache, 'I can tell you, that Mark Tapley had better in his infancy have been fed to suffocation by Mrs Tapley, than preserved to this time.'

Mr Pinch was not so dismayed by this terrible threat, but that he had voice enough to call to Mark to come in, and upstairs; a summons which he so speedily obeyed, that almost as soon as Tom and Mr Tigg had drawn in their heads and closed the window again, he, the denounced, appeared before them.

Tradução Integral em Português

Tom pensou em lembrar ao cavalheiro (que sem dúvida o esquecera em sua agitação) que havia correio no país; e que talvez, se escrevesse a algum amigo ou agente pedindo uma remessa, ela não se perdesse no caminho; ou, de qualquer modo, que valia a pena confiar nessa possibilidade, por mais desesperada que fosse. Mas, como sua bondade logo lhe sugeriu certos motivos para se abster dessa indicação, tornou a fazer uma pausa e então perguntou:

- O senhor disse que também estava detido?

- Venha aqui - disse o Sr. Tigg, levantando-se. - Não se importa que eu abra esta janela por um instante?

- Certamente não - disse Tom.

- Muito bem - disse o Sr. Tigg, erguendo o caixilho. - Vê lá embaixo um sujeito de lenço vermelho no pescoço e sem colete?

- Claro que sim - exclamou Tom. - É Mark Tapley.

- Mark Tapley, é? - disse o cavalheiro. - Então Mark Tapley teve não apenas a grande cortesia de me acompanhar até esta casa, mas agora espera para me ver voltar para a hospedaria. E por essa atenção, senhor - acrescentou o Sr. Tigg, acariciando o bigode - , posso lhe garantir que teria sido melhor para Mark Tapley ter sido alimentado até sufocar pela Sra. Tapley na infância do que ser preservado até hoje.

O Sr. Pinch não ficou tão consternado com essa terrível ameaça que não tivesse voz suficiente para chamar Mark para entrar e subir; convocação que ele obedeceu tão depressa que, quase tão logo Tom e o Sr. Tigg recolheram a cabeça e tornaram a fechar a janela, o denunciado apareceu diante deles.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Venha cá, Mark - disse o Sr. Pinch. - Meu Deus! O que há de errado entre a Sra. Lupin e este cavalheiro?

- Que cavalheiro, senhor? - disse Mark. - Não vejo cavalheiro algum além do senhor e do novo cavalheiro - disse, fazendo uma reverência grosseira para Martin. - Não há nada de errado entre a Sra. Lupin e nenhum dos dois, Sr. Pinch.

- Que absurdo, Mark! - exclamou Tom. - Você vê o Sr....

- Tigg - interrompeu o cavalheiro. - Espere. Logo o esmagarei. No momento certo!

- Ah, ELE! - disse Mark em tom desafiador. - Sim, eu O vejo. Poderia vê-lo melhor se ele se barbeasse e cortasse o cabelo.

O Sr. Tigg sacudiu ferozmente a cabeça e bateu uma vez no próprio peito.

- Não adianta - disse Mark. - Bata aí quanto quiser; não virá resposta alguma. Eu sei. Só há enchimento aí, e enchimento gorduroso ainda por cima.

- Mark - disse o Sr. Pinch, impedindo uma briga - , responda-me. Espero que não esteja zangado.

Original English Version

'Come here, Mark!' said Mr Pinch. 'Good gracious me! what's the matter between Mrs Lupin and this gentleman?'

'What gentleman, sir?' said Mark. 'I don't see no gentleman here sir, excepting you and the new gentleman,' to whom he made a rough kind of bow--'and there's nothing wrong between Mrs Lupin and either of you, Mr Pinch, I am sure.'

'Nonsense, Mark!' cried Tom. 'You see Mr--'

'Tigg,' interposed that gentleman. 'Wait a bit. I shall crush him soon. All in good time!'

'Oh HIM!' rejoined Mark, with an air of careless defiance. 'Yes, I see HIM. I could see him a little better, if he'd shave himself, and get his hair cut.'

Mr Tigg shook his head with a ferocious look, and smote himself once upon the breast.

'It's no use,' said Mark. 'If you knock ever so much in that quarter, you'll get no answer. I know better. There's nothing there but padding; and a greasy sort it is.'

'Nay, Mark,' urged Mr Pinch, interposing to prevent hostilities, 'tell me what I ask you. You're not out of temper, I hope?'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Venha cá, Mark! - disse o Sr. Pinch. - Santo Deus! O que há entre a Sra. Lupin e este cavalheiro?

- Que cavalheiro, senhor? - disse Mark. - Não vejo cavalheiro nenhum aqui, senhor, exceto o senhor e o novo cavalheiro - a quem fez uma espécie de reverência rude - , e tenho certeza, Sr. Pinch, de que não há nada de errado entre a Sra. Lupin e nenhum dos senhores.

- Que absurdo, Mark! - exclamou Tom. - Você vê o Sr...

- Tigg - interrompeu aquele cavalheiro. - Espere um pouco. Logo o esmagarei. Tudo a seu tempo!

- Ah, ELE! - replicou Mark com um ar de desafio despreocupado. - Sim, vejo ELE. Poderia vê-lo um pouco melhor se ele fizesse a barba e cortasse o cabelo.

O Sr. Tigg sacudiu a cabeça com olhar feroz e bateu uma vez no próprio peito.

- Não adianta - disse Mark. - Por mais que bata nesse lugar, não obterá resposta. Eu sei muito bem. Não há nada ali além de enchimento; e do tipo seboso.

- Ora, Mark - insistiu o Sr. Pinch, interpondo-se para evitar hostilidades - , responda ao que lhe pergunto. Espero que não esteja irritado?

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Zangado, senhor? - Mark sorriu. - Há pouco mérito em estar alegre enquanto sujeitos como ele andam por aí como leões rugindo, se é que existem leões feitos apenas de rugido e juba. O que há entre ele e a Sra. Lupin? Uma conta. Ela é bondosa por não cobrar o dobro dele e de seu amigo por desonrarem o Dragão. Eu não teria um Pedro, o Menino Selvagem, desses em minha casa nem pelos preços da semana de corridas. Sua aparência poderia azedar a cerveja, se a cerveja tivesse juízo suficiente.

- Você não está respondendo à minha pergunta, Mark - disse o Sr. Pinch.

Original English Version

'Out of temper, sir!' cried Mark, with a grin; 'why no, sir. There's a little credit--not much--in being jolly, when such fellows as him is a-going about like roaring lions; if there is any breed of lions, at least, as is all roar and mane. What is there between him and Mrs Lupin, sir? Why, there's a score between him and Mrs Lupin. And I think Mrs Lupin lets him and his friend off very easy in not charging 'em double prices for being a disgrace to the Dragon. That's my opinion. I wouldn't have any such Peter the Wild Boy as him in my house, sir, not if I was paid race-week prices for it. He's enough to turn the very beer in the casks sour with his looks; he is! So he would, if it had judgment enough.'

'You're not answering my question, you know, Mark,' observed Mr Pinch.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Irritado, senhor! - exclamou Mark com um sorriso. - Ora, não, senhor. Há algum mérito - não muito - em ficar alegre quando sujeitos como ele andam por aí feito leões rugidores; isto é, se existe alguma raça de leões que seja toda rugido e juba. O que há entre ele e a Sra. Lupin, senhor? Ora, há uma conta entre ele e a Sra. Lupin. E creio que a Sra. Lupin facilita muito para ele e o amigo ao não lhes cobrar o dobro por serem uma desgraça para o Dragão. Essa é minha opinião. Eu não teria em minha casa nenhum Pedro, o Menino Selvagem como ele, senhor, nem se me pagassem os preços da semana de corridas. Ele é capaz de azedar, só com a aparência, a própria cerveja nos barris! Seria mesmo, se ela tivesse discernimento suficiente.

- Você não está respondendo à minha pergunta, sabe, Mark - observou o Sr. Pinch.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Há pouco mais - disse Mark. - Ele e o amigo ficam no Lua e Estrelas até acumularem uma conta, depois fazem o mesmo conosco. Contas são comuns, Sr. Pinch; nós nos opomos aos modos desse sujeito. Nada é bom o bastante para ele. Acha que toda mulher o ama e que uma piscadela é pagamento mais que suficiente pela atenção dela. Acha que todo homem existe para receber ordens. Esta manhã, disse: "Partiremos hoje à noite, meu homem". Perguntei se queria a conta pronta. Ele respondeu: "Não, dê ordens a Pecksniff para pagá-la". O Dragão agradeceu a honra, mas disse que não conhecia nenhuma qualidade especial nele. Ele não tinha bagagem, e o Sr. Pecksniff estava fora, embora talvez não soubesse disso. Por isso, queriam algo mais seguro. É assim que as coisas estão. Pergunto a qualquer senhora ou cavalheiro sensato se o Sr. Tigg não tem uma aparência desagradável! - O Sr. Tapley terminou apontando o chapéu para ele.

Original English Version

'Well, sir,' said Mark, 'I don't know as there's much to answer further than that. Him and his friend goes and stops at the Moon and Stars till they've run a bill there; and then comes and stops with us and does the same. The running of bills is common enough Mr Pinch; it an't that as we object to; it's the ways of this chap. Nothing's good enough for him; all the women is dying for him he thinks, and is overpaid if he winks at 'em; and all the men was made to be ordered about by him. This not being aggravation enough, he says this morning to me, in his usual captivating way, "We're going to-night, my man." "Are you, sir?" says I. "Perhaps you'd like the bill got ready, sir?" "Oh no, my man," he says; "you needn't mind that. I'll give Pecksniff orders to see to that." In reply to which, the Dragon makes answer, "Thankee, sir, you're very kind to honour us so far, but as we don't know any particular good of you, and you don't travel with luggage, and Mr Pecksniff an't at home (which perhaps you mayn't happen to be aware of, sir), we should prefer something more satisfactory;" and that's where the matter stands. And I ask,' said Mr Tapley, pointing, in conclusion, to Mr Tigg, with his hat, 'any lady or gentleman, possessing ordinary strength of mind, to say whether he's a disagreeable-looking chap or not!'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Bem, senhor - disse Mark - , não sei se há muito mais a responder além disso. Ele e o amigo vão ficar no Lua e Estrelas até acumularem uma conta lá; depois vêm ficar conosco e fazem o mesmo. Acumular contas é bastante comum, Sr. Pinch; não é disso que reclamamos; são os modos desse sujeito. Nada é bom o bastante para ele; acha que todas as mulheres estão morrendo de amores por ele e já são pagas em excesso se ele lhes pisca o olho; e que todos os homens foram feitos para receber suas ordens. Como isso não fosse agravante suficiente, ele me diz esta manhã, com seu habitual jeito cativante: "Vamos embora esta noite, meu homem." "Vão, senhor?", digo eu. "Talvez queira que preparem a conta, senhor?" "Ah, não, meu homem", diz ele; "não precisa se preocupar com isso. Darei ordens a Pecksniff para que cuide dela." Ao que o Dragão responde: "Obrigado, senhor, é muita bondade nos honrar até esse ponto, mas, como não conhecemos nenhuma qualidade especial do senhor, e o senhor viaja sem bagagem, e o Sr. Pecksniff não está em casa (algo de que talvez o senhor não esteja ciente), preferiríamos algo mais satisfatório"; e é assim que está a situação. E pergunto - disse o Sr. Tapley, apontando por fim com o chapéu para o Sr. Tigg - a qualquer senhora ou cavalheiro dotado de uma força de espírito comum se ele tem ou não uma aparência desagradável!

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Martin interveio antes que o Sr. Tigg pudesse lançar alguma maldição terrível. - Qual é o valor dessa dívida?

- Muito pouco em dinheiro, senhor - disse Mark. - Pouco mais de três libras. Mas não é isso; é o...

- Sim, você já disse - falou Martin. - Pinch, uma palavra.

- O que foi? - perguntou Tom, indo com ele para um canto.

- Tenho vergonha de dizer que o Sr. Slyme é meu parente, e nunca ouvi nada de bom a respeito dele. Não o quero aqui agora, e três ou quatro libras talvez sejam um preço baixo para nos livrarmos dele. Suponho que você não tenha dinheiro suficiente para pagar a conta.

Tom balançou a cabeça com toda a sinceridade.

- Isso é uma pena. Também sou pobre e, se você tivesse o dinheiro, eu o tomaria emprestado. Mas, se dissermos à proprietária que garantiremos o pagamento, isso bastará?

- Ah, sim! - disse Tom. - Ela me conhece, ora essa!

Original English Version

'Let me inquire,' said Martin, interposing between this candid speech and the delivery of some blighting anathema by Mr Tigg, 'what the amount of this debt may be?'

'In point of money, sir, very little,' answered Mark. 'Only just turned of three pounds. But it an't that; it's the--'

'Yes, yes, you told us so before,' said Martin. 'Pinch, a word with you.'

'What is it?' asked Tom, retiring with him to a corner of the room.

'Why, simply--I am ashamed to say--that this Mr Slyme is a relation of mine, of whom I never heard anything pleasant; and that I don't want him here just now, and think he would be cheaply got rid of, perhaps, for three or four pounds. You haven't enough money to pay this bill, I suppose?'

Tom shook his head to an extent that left no doubt of his entire sincerity.

'That's unfortunate, for I am poor too; and in case you had had it, I'd have borrowed it of you. But if we told this landlady we would see her paid, I suppose that would answer the same purpose?'

'Oh dear, yes!' said Tom. 'She knows me, bless you!'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Permitam-me perguntar - disse Martin, interpondo-se entre esse discurso franco e a emissão de algum anátema devastador pelo Sr. Tigg - qual seria o montante dessa dívida?

- Em dinheiro, senhor, muito pouco - respondeu Mark. - Pouco mais de três libras. Mas não é isso; é...

- Sim, sim, já nos disse isso - disse Martin. - Pinch, uma palavra.

- O que foi? - perguntou Tom, retirando-se com ele para um canto da sala.

- Ora, simplesmente - envergonho-me de dizer - que esse Sr. Slyme é um parente meu, de quem nunca ouvi nada agradável; e que não o quero aqui agora e creio que talvez nos livrássemos dele por um preço baixo, três ou quatro libras. Suponho que não tenha dinheiro suficiente para pagar a conta?

Tom sacudiu a cabeça com tal amplitude que não deixou dúvida alguma sobre sua absoluta sinceridade.

- É uma pena, pois também sou pobre; e, caso você tivesse o dinheiro, eu o teria tomado emprestado. Mas, se disséssemos a essa estalajadeira que garantiríamos o pagamento, suponho que isso serviria do mesmo modo?

- Oh, sim! - disse Tom. - Ela me conhece, Deus o abençoe!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Então vamos dizer a ela agora. Quanto antes eles forem embora, melhor. Como foi você quem falou com esse cavalheiro até agora, talvez possa lhe dizer o que pretendemos fazer.

Tom contou imediatamente ao Sr. Tigg. Tigg apertou sua mão com entusiasmo, dizendo que sua fé em tudo fora restaurada. Valorizava a ajuda menos pelo alívio temporário do que por ela provar que os Nobres da Natureza se compadeciam dos Nobres da Natureza e que grandes almas compreendiam grandes almas em toda parte. Mostrava que admiravam o gênio mesmo quando, como em Slyme, seu metal às vezes apresentava falhas. Agradeceu-lhes por Slyme com o mesmo fervor que teria demonstrado se a causa fosse sua. Quando se dirigiram à escada, agarrou a lapela do casaco do Sr. Pinch à porta da rua para impedir interrupções e lhe ofereceu uma conversa muito edificante até chegarem ao Dragão, com Mark e o novo aluno logo atrás.

Original English Version

'Then let us go down at once and tell her so; for the sooner we are rid of their company the better. As you have conducted the conversation with this gentleman hitherto, perhaps you'll tell him what we purpose doing; will you?'

Mr Pinch, complying, at once imparted the intelligence to Mr Tigg, who shook him warmly by the hand in return, assuring him that his faith in anything and everything was again restored. It was not so much, he said, for the temporary relief of this assistance that he prized it, as for its vindication of the high principle that Nature's Nobs felt with Nature's Nobs, and that true greatness of soul sympathized with true greatness of soul, all the world over. It proved to him, he said, that like him they admired genius, even when it was coupled with the alloy occasionally visible in the metal of his friend Slyme; and on behalf of that friend, he thanked them; as warmly and heartily as if the cause were his own. Being cut short in these speeches by a general move towards the stairs, he took possession at the street door of the lapel of Mr Pinch's coat, as a security against further interruption; and entertained that gentleman with some highly improving discourse until they reached the Dragon, whither they were closely followed by Mark and the new pupil.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Então desçamos imediatamente e digamos isso, pois quanto antes nos livrarmos da companhia deles, melhor. Como foi você quem até agora conduziu a conversa com este cavalheiro, talvez queira lhe dizer o que pretendemos fazer?

O Sr. Pinch concordou e imediatamente transmitiu a informação ao Sr. Tigg, que, em resposta, apertou-lhe calorosamente a mão, assegurando que sua fé em toda e qualquer coisa estava restaurada. Não era tanto pelo alívio temporário dessa ajuda que ele a valorizava, disse, mas por ela comprovar o elevado princípio de que os Nobres da Natureza se solidarizavam com os Nobres da Natureza, e de que a verdadeira grandeza de alma simpatizava com a verdadeira grandeza de alma em todo o mundo. Aquilo lhe provava, disse, que, como ele, admiravam o gênio mesmo quando combinado à liga ocasionalmente visível no metal de seu amigo Slyme; e, em nome desse amigo, agradecia-lhes tão calorosa e sinceramente como se a causa fosse sua. Quando esses discursos foram interrompidos por um movimento geral em direção à escada, tomou posse da lapela do casaco do Sr. Pinch junto à porta da rua, como garantia contra nova interrupção, e entreteve aquele cavalheiro com um discurso muito edificante até chegarem ao Dragão, seguidos de perto por Mark e pelo novo aprendiz.

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A rosada anfitriã quase não precisou da promessa do Sr. Pinch para libertar os dois visitantes. Ficava feliz em se livrar deles em quaisquer condições. A breve detenção fora sobretudo obra do Sr. Tapley. Ele naturalmente não gostava de cavalheiros malvestidos que viviam de falsas alegações e, em especial, não gostava do Sr. Tigg nem de seu amigo. A questão foi resolvida facilmente, e o Sr. Pinch e Martin teriam partido de imediato. Mas o Sr. Tigg lhes implorou com insistência que permitissem ser apresentados a Slyme. Por causa de seus pedidos e da própria curiosidade, deixaram-se conduzir até aquele homem importante.

Original English Version

The rosy hostess scarcely needed Mr Pinch's word as a preliminary to the release of her two visitors, of whom she was glad to be rid on any terms; indeed, their brief detention had originated mainly with Mr Tapley, who entertained a constitutional dislike to gentleman out-at-elbows who flourished on false pretences; and had conceived a particular aversion to Mr Tigg and his friend, as choice specimens of the species. The business in hand thus easily settled, Mr Pinch and Martin would have withdrawn immediately, but for the urgent entreaties of Mr Tigg that they would allow him the honour of presenting them to his friend Slyme, which were so very difficult of resistance that, yielding partly to these persuasions and partly to their own curiosity, they suffered themselves to be ushered into the presence of that distinguished gentleman.

Tradução Integral em Português

A rosada anfitriã mal precisou da palavra do Sr. Pinch como preliminar para libertar seus dois hóspedes, dos quais ficaria feliz em se livrar sob quaisquer condições; na verdade, a breve detenção deles se originara sobretudo com o Sr. Tapley, que nutria uma aversão natural a cavalheiros maltrapilhos que prosperavam sob falsos pretextos, e concebera particular antipatia pelo Sr. Tigg e seu amigo, como exemplares selecionados da espécie. Assim facilmente resolvido o assunto em questão, o Sr. Pinch e Martin teriam se retirado de imediato, não fossem as insistentes súplicas do Sr. Tigg para que lhe permitissem a honra de apresentá-los a seu amigo Slyme, às quais era tão difícil resistir que, cedendo em parte à persuasão e em parte à própria curiosidade, deixaram-se conduzir à presença daquele distinto cavalheiro.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Slyme olhava tristemente para os restos do conhaque do dia anterior e fazia círculos molhados na mesa com o copo. Por mais miserável que parecesse, um dia fora um exibido orgulhoso que afirmava ter gosto e potencial ilimitados. É preciso muito pouco para bancar o crítico amador de bom gosto. Um trejeito com o nariz e um lábio curvado podem formar um bom sorriso de desprezo. Mas esse membro preguiçoso da família Chuzzlewit era incapaz de trabalhar regularmente e desperdiçara seu dinheiro. Tentou ganhar a vida como professor de Bom Gosto. Tarde demais, descobriu que precisava de mais do que seus velhos truques. Caiu em seu estado atual, conservando apenas o orgulho e a raiva, sem vida própria além do amigo Tigg. Era lamentável, bêbado, grosseiro, pobre e orgulhoso. Até Tigg, o seguidor que vivia dele, parecia um Homem ao seu lado.

- Chiv - disse o Sr. Tigg, batendo-lhe nas costas - , Pecksniff está fora, portanto resolvi nosso pequeno assunto com o Sr. Pinch e amigo. Sr. Pinch e amigo, Sr. Chevy Slyme! Chiv, Sr. Pinch e amigo!

Original English Version

He was brooding over the remains of yesterday's decanter of brandy, and was engaged in the thoughtful occupation of making a chain of rings on the top of the table with the wet foot of his drinking-glass. Wretched and forlorn as he looked, Mr Slyme had once been in his way, the choicest of swaggerers; putting forth his pretensions boldly, as a man of infinite taste and most undoubted promise. The stock-in-trade requisite to set up an amateur in this department of business is very slight, and easily got together; a trick of the nose and a curl of the lip sufficient to compound a tolerable sneer, being ample provision for any exigency. But, in an evil hour, this off-shoot of the Chuzzlewit trunk, being lazy, and ill qualified for any regular pursuit and having dissipated such means as he ever possessed, had formally established himself as a professor of Taste for a livelihood; and finding, too late, that something more than his old amount of qualifications was necessary to sustain him in this calling, had quickly fallen to his present level, where he retained nothing of his old self but his boastfulness and his bile, and seemed to have no existence separate or apart from his friend Tigg. And now so abject and so pitiful was he--at once so maudlin, insolent, beggarly, and proud--that even his friend and parasite, standing erect beside him, swelled into a Man by contrast.

'Chiv,' said Mr Tigg, clapping him on the back, 'my friend Pecksniff not being at home, I have arranged our trifling piece of business with Mr Pinch and friend. Mr Pinch and friend, Mr Chevy Slyme! Chiv, Mr Pinch and friend!'

Tradução Integral em Português

Ele meditava sombriamente sobre o resto da garrafa de conhaque do dia anterior e se ocupava pensativamente em fazer uma corrente de anéis sobre a mesa com a base molhada do copo. Por mais miserável e desamparado que parecesse, o Sr. Slyme fora outrora, a seu modo, o mais seleto dos fanfarrões; apresentava com ousadia suas pretensões como homem de gosto infinito e promessa indubitável. O capital necessário para se estabelecer como amador nesse ramo é muito pequeno e fácil de reunir; um trejeito do nariz e uma curvatura do lábio suficientes para compor um escárnio tolerável constituem ampla provisão para qualquer emergência. Mas, numa hora funesta, esse rebento do tronco dos Chuzzlewit, sendo preguiçoso e pouco qualificado para qualquer ocupação regular e tendo dissipado todos os recursos que possuíra, estabelecera-se formalmente como professor de Bom Gosto para ganhar a vida; e, descobrindo tarde demais que era necessário algo mais do que sua antiga soma de qualificações para sustentá-lo nessa vocação, logo caíra ao nível atual, no qual nada conservava do antigo eu além da jactância e do rancor, e parecia não ter existência separada ou distinta de seu amigo Tigg. E agora era tão abjeto e lamentável - ao mesmo tempo tão choroso, insolente, mendicante e orgulhoso - que até seu amigo e parasita, ereto ao lado dele, avultava em contraste como um Homem.

- Chiv - disse o Sr. Tigg, dando-lhe uma palmada nas costas - , como meu amigo Pecksniff não está em casa, acertei nosso pequeno assunto com o Sr. Pinch e amigo. Sr. Pinch e amigo, Sr. Chevy Slyme! Chiv, Sr. Pinch e amigo!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Estas são circunstâncias agradáveis para conhecer estranhos - disse Chevy Slyme, voltando os olhos injetados para Tom Pinch. - Acredito que sou o homem mais infeliz do mundo!

Tom lhe pediu que não mencionasse aquilo e, vendo-o nessa condição, partiu com Martin depois de uma pausa constrangedora. Mas o Sr. Tigg os incentivou, com tosses e sinais, a permanecer escondidos junto à porta, e assim fizeram.

- Eu juro - exclamou o Sr. Slyme. Bateu estupidamente na mesa e depois apoiou a cabeça enfraquecida na mão enquanto lágrimas de bêbado lhe saíam dos olhos. - Sou a criatura mais miserável de que há registro. A sociedade conspira contra mim. Sou o homem mais literário vivo, cheio de erudição, gênio, informação e novas ideias. E, mesmo assim, olhem para mim! Devo a dois estranhos a conta de uma taberna!

O Sr. Tigg encheu o copo do amigo, colocou-o em sua mão e sinalizou aos visitantes que logo veriam um lado melhor dele.

Original English Version

'These are agreeable circumstances in which to be introduced to strangers,' said Chevy Slyme, turning his bloodshot eyes towards Tom Pinch. 'I am the most miserable man in the world, I believe!'

Tom begged he wouldn't mention it; and finding him in this condition, retired, after an awkward pause, followed by Martin. But Mr Tigg so urgently conjured them, by coughs and signs, to remain in the shadow of the door, that they stopped there.

'I swear,' cried Mr Slyme, giving the table an imbecile blow with his fist, and then feebly leaning his head upon his hand, while some drunken drops oozed from his eyes, 'that I am the wretchedest creature on record. Society is in a conspiracy against me. I'm the most literary man alive. I'm full of scholarship. I'm full of genius; I'm full of information; I'm full of novel views on every subject; yet look at my condition! I'm at this moment obliged to two strangers for a tavern bill!'

Mr Tigg replenished his friend's glass, pressed it into his hand, and nodded an intimation to the visitors that they would see him in a better aspect immediately.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Estas são circunstâncias agradáveis para ser apresentado a estranhos - disse Chevy Slyme, voltando os olhos injetados para Tom Pinch. - Creio que sou o homem mais desgraçado do mundo!

Tom pediu-lhe que não mencionasse aquilo; e, encontrando-o nesse estado, retirou-se depois de uma pausa embaraçosa, seguido por Martin. Mas o Sr. Tigg lhes rogou com tanta urgência, por meio de tosses e sinais, que permanecessem na sombra da porta, que pararam ali.

- Juro - exclamou o Sr. Slyme, dando na mesa um golpe imbecil com o punho e depois apoiando debilmente a cabeça na mão, enquanto algumas gotas de embriaguez lhe escorriam dos olhos - que sou a criatura mais desgraçada de que há registro. A sociedade conspira contra mim. Sou o homem mais literário que existe. Sou cheio de erudição. Sou cheio de gênio; sou cheio de informação; sou cheio de ideias originais sobre todos os assuntos; e, no entanto, olhem para minha condição! Neste momento, devo a dois estranhos uma conta de taverna!

O Sr. Tigg tornou a encher o copo do amigo, apertou-o em sua mão e fez aos visitantes um sinal com a cabeça de que o veriam imediatamente sob um aspecto melhor.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

- Devo a dois estranhos a conta de uma taberna! - repetiu o Sr. Slyme depois de beber mal-humorado. - Muito bonito! Enquanto isso, multidões de impostores ficam famosos, homens tão iguais a mim quanto... Tigg, seja testemunha de que sou o cão mais perseguido da Terra.

Ele choramingou como um cão profundamente humilhado e bebeu novamente. Isso o animou; ao baixar o copo, riu com desprezo. O Sr. Tigg indicou com grande emoção que os visitantes agora veriam a grandeza de Chiv.

- Ha, ha, ha! - riu o Sr. Slyme. - Devo a dois estranhos a conta de uma taberna! E, no entanto, tenho um tio rico, Tigg, que poderia comprar os tios de cinquenta estranhos. Não tenho? Venho de boa família. Não venho? Não sou um homem comum em talento ou realizações. Sou?

- Você é a aloe americana da raça humana, querido Chiv - disse o Sr. Tigg - , florescendo apenas uma vez a cada cem anos!

- Ha, ha, ha! - riu o Sr. Slyme. - Devo a dois aprendizes de arquiteto a conta de uma taberna! Homens que medem a terra com correntes de ferro e constroem casas como pedreiros. Diga-me os nomes deles. Como ousam me obrigar!

Original English Version

'Obliged to two strangers for a tavern bill, eh!' repeated Mr Slyme, after a sulky application to his glass. 'Very pretty! And crowds of impostors, the while, becoming famous; men who are no more on a level with me than--Tigg, I take you to witness that I am the most persecuted hound on the face of the earth.'

With a whine, not unlike the cry of the animal he named, in its lowest state of humiliation, he raised his glass to his mouth again. He found some encouragement in it; for when he set it down he laughed scornfully. Upon that Mr Tigg gesticulated to the visitors once more, and with great expression, implying that now the time was come when they would see Chiv in his greatness.

'Ha, ha, ha,' laughed Mr Slyme. 'Obliged to two strangers for a tavern bill! Yet I think I've a rich uncle, Tigg, who could buy up the uncles of fifty strangers! Have I, or have I not? I come of a good family, I believe! Do I, or do I not? I'm not a man of common capacity or accomplishments, I think! Am I, or am I not?'

'You are the American aloe of the human race, my dear Chiv,' said Mr Tigg, 'which only blooms once in a hundred years!'

'Ha, ha, ha!' laughed Mr Slyme again. 'Obliged to two strangers for a tavern bill! I obliged to two architect's apprentices. Fellows who measure earth with iron chains, and build houses like bricklayers. Give me the names of those two apprentices. How dare they oblige me!'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Devo a dois estranhos uma conta de taverna, hein! - repetiu o Sr. Slyme, depois de uma aplicação taciturna ao copo. - Muito bonito! E, enquanto isso, multidões de impostores ficam famosos; homens que não estão mais no meu nível do que... Tigg, tomo-o como testemunha de que sou o cão mais perseguido da face da Terra.

Com um ganido não muito diferente do grito do animal que mencionara, em seu mais profundo estado de humilhação, tornou a levar o copo à boca. Encontrou nele algum estímulo, pois, ao pousá-lo, riu com desprezo. Então o Sr. Tigg tornou a gesticular para os visitantes, com grande expressividade, dando a entender que agora chegara o momento em que veriam Chiv em sua grandeza.

- Ha, ha, ha! - riu o Sr. Slyme. - Devo a dois estranhos uma conta de taverna! E, no entanto, creio que tenho um tio rico, Tigg, capaz de comprar os tios de cinquenta estranhos! Tenho ou não tenho? Venho de boa família, creio! Venho ou não venho? Não sou homem de capacidade ou talentos comuns, creio! Sou ou não sou?

- Você é a agave-americana da raça humana, meu caro Chiv - disse o Sr. Tigg - , que só floresce uma vez a cada cem anos!

- Ha, ha, ha! - tornou a rir o Sr. Slyme. - Devo a dois estranhos uma conta de taverna! Eu, devendo a dois aprendizes de arquiteto. Sujeitos que medem a terra com correntes de ferro e constroem casas como pedreiros. Dê-me os nomes desses dois aprendizes. Como ousam tornar-me devedor deles!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Tigg mostrou ao Sr. Pinch, numa pequena e elegante dança que inventou na hora, quanto admirava essa nobre característica do amigo.

- Farei com que eles saibam, e todos os homens saibam - exclamou Chevy Slyme - , que não sou uma dessas pessoas inferiores e submissas. Tenho espírito independente, coração ardente e alma acima de preocupações vulgares.

- Ah, Chiv, Chiv - murmurou o Sr. Tigg - , que natureza nobremente independente!

- Vá cumprir seu dever - disse-lhe o Sr. Slyme com raiva - e consiga dinheiro emprestado para a viagem. A quem quer que o empreste, diga que tenho um espírito orgulhoso e sentimentos delicados que não suportam proteção. Diga que os odeio - é assim que conservo o respeito próprio - e que nenhum homem se respeita mais do que eu!

Original English Version

Mr Tigg was quite lost in admiration of this noble trait in his friend's character; as he made known to Mr Pinch in a neat little ballet of action, spontaneously invented for the purpose.

'I'll let 'em know, and I'll let all men know,' cried Chevy Slyme, 'that I'm none of the mean, grovelling, tame characters they meet with commonly. I have an independent spirit. I have a heart that swells in my bosom. I have a soul that rises superior to base considerations.'

'Oh Chiv, Chiv,' murmured Mr Tigg, 'you have a nobly independent nature, Chiv!'

'You go and do your duty, sir,' said Mr Slyme, angrily, 'and borrow money for travelling expenses; and whoever you borrow it of, let 'em know that I possess a haughty spirit, and a proud spirit, and have infernally finely-touched chords in my nature, which won't brook patronage. Do you hear? Tell 'em I hate 'em, and that that's the way I preserve my self-respect; and tell 'em that no man ever respected himself more than I do!'

Tradução Integral em Português

O Sr. Tigg perdeu-se inteiramente na admiração por esse nobre traço do caráter do amigo; como fez saber ao Sr. Pinch por meio de um pequeno e elegante balé de gestos, espontaneamente inventado para esse fim.

- Farei com que eles saibam, e farei com que todos os homens saibam - exclamou Chevy Slyme - , que não sou um desses caracteres mesquinhos, rastejantes e dóceis que encontram habitualmente. Tenho um espírito independente. Tenho um coração que se agiganta no peito. Tenho uma alma que se eleva acima de considerações baixas.

- Oh, Chiv, Chiv - murmurou o Sr. Tigg - , você tem uma natureza nobremente independente, Chiv!

- Vá cumprir seu dever, senhor - disse o Sr. Slyme, irritado - , e peça dinheiro emprestado para as despesas da viagem; e, seja lá de quem o tomar emprestado, faça-o saber que possuo um espírito altivo e orgulhoso, e que tenho em minha natureza cordas infernalmente sensíveis que não toleram proteção. Está ouvindo? Diga-lhes que os odeio e que é assim que preservo meu autorrespeito; e diga-lhes que nenhum homem jamais respeitou a si mesmo mais do que eu!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Ele poderia ter dito que odiava dois tipos de homens: os que o ajudavam e os que estavam em melhor situação do que ele. Ambas as posições insultavam seus grandes méritos. Mas não disse. O Sr. Slyme era orgulhoso demais para trabalhar, mendigar, pedir emprestado ou roubar. Mesmo assim, era mesquinho o bastante para deixar que qualquer instrumento útil fizesse essas coisas por ele. Era grosseiro demais para agradecer à mão que o alimentava, mas cão o bastante para mordê-la no escuro. Depois de suas palavras finais, o Sr. Slyme caiu para a frente sobre a mesa e mergulhou num pesado sono de bêbado.

- Já existiu espírito tão independente? - exclamou o Sr. Tigg ao se juntar aos jovens e fechar cuidadosamente a porta. - Já existiu romano como Chiv? Já houve pensamento tão clássico, simplicidade tão semelhante a uma toga ou discurso tão fluente? Ele não poderia ter se sentado num tripé na Antiguidade e feito previsões intermináveis, se antes o dinheiro público fornecesse gim com água?

Original English Version

He might have added that he hated two sorts of men; all those who did him favours, and all those who were better off than himself; as in either case their position was an insult to a man of his stupendous merits. But he did not; for with the apt closing words above recited, Mr Slyme; of too haughty a stomach to work, to beg, to borrow, or to steal; yet mean enough to be worked or borrowed, begged or stolen for, by any catspaw that would serve his turn; too insolent to lick the hand that fed him in his need, yet cur enough to bite and tear it in the dark; with these apt closing words Mr Slyme fell forward with his head upon the table, and so declined into a sodden sleep.

'Was there ever,' cried Mr Tigg, joining the young men at the door, and shutting it carefully behind him, 'such an independent spirit as is possessed by that extraordinary creature? Was there ever such a Roman as our friend Chiv? Was there ever a man of such a purely classical turn of thought, and of such a toga-like simplicity of nature? Was there ever a man with such a flow of eloquence? Might he not, gents both, I ask, have sat upon a tripod in the ancient times, and prophesied to a perfectly unlimited extent, if previously supplied with gin-and-water at the public cost?'

Tradução Integral em Português

Poderia ter acrescentado que odiava duas espécies de homens: todos os que lhe faziam favores e todos os que estavam em melhor situação que ele; pois, em ambos os casos, a posição deles era um insulto a um homem de seus méritos estupendos. Mas não o fez; pois, com as oportunas palavras finais acima transcritas, o Sr. Slyme - de estômago altivo demais para trabalhar, mendigar, pedir emprestado ou roubar, mas vil o suficiente para deixar que qualquer instrumento útil trabalhasse, tomasse emprestado, mendigasse ou roubasse por ele; insolente demais para lamber a mão que o alimentava na necessidade, mas covarde o bastante para mordê-la e dilacerá-la no escuro - , com essas oportunas palavras finais, o Sr. Slyme caiu para a frente, com a cabeça sobre a mesa, e assim mergulhou num sono encharcado de bebida.

- Já existiu - exclamou o Sr. Tigg, reunindo-se aos jovens junto à porta e fechando-a cuidadosamente atrás de si - espírito tão independente quanto o que possui essa criatura extraordinária? Já existiu romano como nosso amigo Chiv? Já existiu homem com uma tendência de pensamento tão puramente clássica e uma simplicidade de natureza tão semelhante a uma toga? Já existiu homem com tamanha torrente de eloquência? Não poderia ele, meus senhores, pergunto-lhes, ter-se sentado num trípode nos tempos antigos e profetizado em extensão absolutamente ilimitada, caso antes lhe fornecessem gim com água às custas do erário?

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Pinch estava prestes a discordar gentilmente, mas viu que seu companheiro descera e preparou-se para segui-lo.

- Não vai embora, Sr. Pinch? - disse Tigg.

"Obrigado", disse Tom. "Sim. Não desça."

"Posso falar uma palavra em particular com o senhor, Sr. Pinch?" Tigg o seguiu. "Um minuto no campo de boliche aliviaria muito minha mente. Posso lhe pedir esse favor?"

"Certamente, se realmente deseja", respondeu Tom. No campo de boliche, o Sr. Tigg tirou do chapéu algo que parecia os restos fossilizados de um antigo lenço de bolso e enxugou os olhos.

"O senhor não me viu hoje sob uma luz favorável", disse o Sr. Tigg.

"Por favor, não mencione isso", disse Tom.

"Mas o senhor NÃO me viu!", exclamou Tigg. "Preciso manter essa opinião. Se o senhor tivesse me visto, Sr. Pinch, liderando meu regimento na costa da África, teríamos avançado em uma formação quadrada. As mulheres, as crianças e o cofre do regimento teriam ficado no centro. O senhor não teria me reconhecido como o mesmo homem. Teria me respeitado, senhor."

Original English Version

Mr Pinch was about to contest this latter position with his usual mildness, when, observing that his companion had already gone downstairs, he prepared to follow him.

'You are not going, Mr Pinch?' said Tigg.

'Thank you,' answered Tom. 'Yes. Don't come down.'

'Do you know that I should like one little word in private with you Mr Pinch?' said Tigg, following him. 'One minute of your company in the skittle-ground would very much relieve my mind. Might I beseech that favour?'

'Oh, certainly,' replied Tom, 'if you really wish it.' So he accompanied Mr Tigg to the retreat in question; on arriving at which place that gentleman took from his hat what seemed to be the fossil remains of an antediluvian pocket-handkerchief, and wiped his eyes therewith.

'You have not beheld me this day,' said Mr Tigg, 'in a favourable light.'

'Don't mention that,' said Tom, 'I beg.'

'But you have NOT,' cried Tigg. 'I must persist in that opinion. If you could have seen me, Mr Pinch, at the head of my regiment on the coast of Africa, charging in the form of a hollow square, with the women and children and the regimental plate-chest in the centre, you would not have known me for the same man. You would have respected me, sir.'

Tradução Integral em Português

O Sr. Pinch estava prestes a contestar essa última tese com sua brandura habitual quando, observando que seu companheiro já descera a escada, preparou-se para segui-lo.

- Não vai embora, Sr. Pinch? - disse Tigg.

- Obrigado - respondeu Tom. - Sim. Não desça.

- Sabe que eu gostaria de trocar uma palavrinha em particular com o senhor, Sr. Pinch? - disse Tigg, seguindo-o. - Um minuto de sua companhia na pista de boliche aliviaria muito meu espírito. Posso implorar esse favor?

- Ah, certamente - respondeu Tom - , se realmente deseja. - Assim, acompanhou o Sr. Tigg até o refúgio em questão; ao chegarem, aquele cavalheiro tirou do chapéu o que parecia ser o resto fossilizado de um lenço antediluviano e com ele enxugou os olhos.

- O senhor não me contemplou hoje - disse o Sr. Tigg - sob uma luz favorável.

- Não mencione isso - disse Tom - , por favor.

- Mas NÃO contemplou! - exclamou Tigg. - Devo insistir nessa opinião. Se pudesse ter-me visto, Sr. Pinch, à frente de meu regimento na costa da África, atacando em formação de quadrado vazado, com mulheres, crianças e o cofre da prataria regimental no centro, não me reconheceria como o mesmo homem. Teria me respeitado, senhor.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Tom tinha suas próprias ideias sobre a glória e, por isso, não ficou tão entusiasmado com essa imagem quanto o Sr. Tigg desejaria.

"Mas não importa!", disse aquele cavalheiro. "O estudante que escreveu aos pais e descreveu o leite aguado disse: 'Isto é realmente fraqueza.' Repito essa afirmação a respeito de mim neste momento e peço seu perdão. Senhor, o senhor viu meu amigo Slyme?"

"Sem dúvida", disse o Sr. Pinch.

"Senhor, meu amigo Slyme causou alguma impressão no senhor?"

"Não muito agradável, devo dizer", respondeu Tom, depois de uma pequena hesitação.

Original English Version

Tom had certain ideas of his own upon the subject of glory; and consequently he was not quite so much excited by this picture as Mr Tigg could have desired.

'But no matter!' said that gentleman. 'The school-boy writing home to his parents and describing the milk-and-water, said "This is indeed weakness." I repeat that assertion in reference to myself at the present moment; and I ask your pardon. Sir, you have seen my friend Slyme?'

'No doubt,' said Mr Pinch.

'Sir, you have been impressed by my friend Slyme?'

'Not very pleasantly, I must say,' answered Tom, after a little hesitation.

Tradução Integral em Português

Tom tinha certas ideias próprias sobre a glória; por conseguinte, aquela imagem não o entusiasmou tanto quanto o Sr. Tigg poderia desejar.

- Mas não importa! - disse aquele cavalheiro. - O estudante que escreveu aos pais descrevendo o leite aguado disse: "Isto é de fato fraqueza." Repito essa afirmação com referência a mim neste momento; e peço-lhe perdão. Senhor, viu meu amigo Slyme?

- Sem dúvida - disse o Sr. Pinch.

- Senhor, meu amigo Slyme o impressionou?

- Não muito agradavelmente, devo dizer - respondeu Tom, depois de alguma hesitação.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Fico triste, mas não surpreso", exclamou o Sr. Tigg, segurando-o com as duas mãos, "ao ouvir que o senhor chegou a essa conclusão, pois ela também é minha. Mas, Sr. Pinch, embora eu seja um homem rude e imprudente, sei honrar a Inteligência. Eu a honro ao acompanhar meu amigo. Ao senhor, mais do que a qualquer outro homem, tenho o direito de apelar em nome da Inteligência quando ela não possui a habilidade de prosperar no mundo. Portanto, senhor, não por mim, que não tenho direito algum sobre o senhor, mas por meu amigo arrasado, sensível e independente, que tem, peço emprestadas três moedas de meia coroa. Peço claramente, sem vergonha, o empréstimo dessas três moedas. Peço quase como um direito. E, quando acrescento que serão devolvidas pelo correio esta semana, sinto que o senhor me censurará por essa condição mesquinha."

Original English Version

'I am grieved but not surprised,' cried Mr Tigg, detaining him with both hands, 'to hear that you have come to that conclusion; for it is my own. But, Mr Pinch, though I am a rough and thoughtless man, I can honour Mind. I honour Mind in following my friend. To you of all men, Mr Pinch, I have a right to make appeal on Mind's behalf, when it has not the art to push its fortune in the world. And so, sir--not for myself, who have no claim upon you, but for my crushed, my sensitive and independent friend, who has--I ask the loan of three half-crowns. I ask you for the loan of three half-crowns, distinctly, and without a blush. I ask it, almost as a right. And when I add that they will be returned by post, this week, I feel that you will blame me for that sordid stipulation.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Entristece-me, mas não me surpreende - exclamou o Sr. Tigg, detendo-o com ambas as mãos - saber que chegou a essa conclusão; pois é também a minha. Mas, Sr. Pinch, embora eu seja um homem rude e irrefletido, sei honrar a Inteligência. Honro a Inteligência ao acompanhar meu amigo. Ao senhor, dentre todos os homens, Sr. Pinch, tenho o direito de apelar em nome da Inteligência, quando esta não possui a arte de abrir caminho para sua fortuna no mundo. E assim, senhor - não por mim, que não tenho direito algum sobre o senhor, mas por meu esmagado, sensível e independente amigo, que tem - , peço emprestadas três meias-coroas. Peço-lhe distintamente, e sem corar, o empréstimo de três meias-coroas. Peço-o quase como um direito. E, quando acrescento que serão devolvidas pelo correio esta semana, sinto que me censurará por essa estipulação sórdida.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Pinch tirou do bolso uma antiga bolsa de couro vermelho com fecho de aço, que provavelmente pertencera à sua falecida avó. Ela continha apenas meia libra de ouro. Era toda a riqueza de Tom até o próximo dia de pagamento.

"Espere!", exclamou o Sr. Tigg, que observara atentamente o que acontecia. "Eu estava prestes a dizer que, pela conveniência de enviar pelo correio, seria melhor entregar em ouro. Obrigado. Um endereço geral ao Sr. Pinch, na casa do Sr. Pecksniff, será suficiente para encontrá-lo?"

"Será suficiente", disse Tom. "É melhor colocar 'Esquire' depois do nome do Sr. Pecksniff, por favor. Enderece a mim, sabe, aos cuidados de Seth Pecksniff, Esquire."

"Aos cuidados de Seth Pecksniff, Esquire", repetiu o Sr. Tigg, anotando exatamente com um toco de lápis. "Dissemos esta semana, creio eu?"

"Sim, ou segunda-feira servirá", disse Tom.

"Não, não, peço desculpas. Segunda-feira NÃO servirá", disse o Sr. Tigg. "Se combinamos esta semana, sábado é o último dia. Combinamos esta semana?"

Original English Version

Mr Pinch took from his pocket an old-fashioned red-leather purse with a steel clasp, which had probably once belonged to his deceased grandmother. It held one half-sovereign and no more. All Tom's worldly wealth until next quarter-day.

'Stay!' cried Mr Tigg, who had watched this proceeding keenly. 'I was just about to say, that for the convenience of posting you had better make it gold. Thank you. A general direction, I suppose, to Mr Pinch at Mr Pecksniff's--will that find you?'

'That'll find me,' said Tom. 'You had better put Esquire to Mr Pecksniff's name, if you please. Direct to me, you know, at Seth Pecksniff's, Esquire.'

'At Seth Pecksniff's, Esquire,' repeated Mr Tigg, taking an exact note of it with a stump of pencil. 'We said this week, I believe?'

'Yes; or Monday will do,' observed Tom.

'No, no, I beg your pardon. Monday will NOT do,' said Mr Tigg. 'If we stipulated for this week, Saturday is the latest day. Did we stipulate for this week?'

Tradução Integral em Português

O Sr. Pinch tirou do bolso uma antiquada bolsa de couro vermelho com fecho de aço, que provavelmente pertencera um dia à falecida avó. Continha apenas meio soberano. Toda a riqueza terrena de Tom até o próximo dia de pagamento trimestral.

- Espere! - exclamou o Sr. Tigg, que observara atentamente o procedimento. - Eu ia justamente dizer que, para a conveniência do envio postal, seria melhor dá-lo em ouro. Obrigado. Suponho que um endereço geral para o Sr. Pinch, na casa do Sr. Pecksniff... fará com que chegue ao senhor?

- Chegará - disse Tom. - É melhor acrescentar "Esquire" ao nome do Sr. Pecksniff, por favor. Enderece a mim, sabe, na casa de Seth Pecksniff, Esquire.

- Na casa de Seth Pecksniff, Esquire - repetiu o Sr. Tigg, tomando nota exata com um toco de lápis. - Dissemos esta semana, creio?

- Sim; ou segunda-feira serve - observou Tom.

- Não, não, peço-lhe perdão. Segunda-feira NÃO serve - disse o Sr. Tigg. - Se estipulamos esta semana, sábado é o último dia. Estipulamos esta semana?

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Já que o senhor faz tanta questão", disse Tom, "creio que sim."

O Sr. Tigg acrescentou essa condição à sua anotação, releu-a com uma expressão severa e, para tornar a transação mais correta e profissional, colocou suas iniciais ao final. Feito isso, garantiu ao Sr. Pinch que tudo estava perfeitamente em ordem e, depois de apertar sua mão com grande entusiasmo, foi embora.

Tom suspeitava que Martin talvez transformasse aquela conversa em piada e, por isso, desejava evitar a companhia do jovem naquele momento. Para isso, caminhou algumas vezes de um lado para o outro no campo de boliche e só voltou a entrar na casa depois que o Sr. Tigg e seu amigo saíram. O novo aluno e Mark observavam a partida deles de uma das janelas.

"Eu estava dizendo, senhor, que, se fosse possível viver disso", disse Mark, apontando para os visitantes que acabavam de sair, "esse seria o tipo de serviço para mim. Servir pessoas como eles seria melhor do que cavar sepulturas, senhor."

Original English Version

'Since you are so particular about it,' said Tom, 'I think we did.'

Mr Tigg added this condition to his memorandum; read the entry over to himself with a severe frown; and that the transaction might be the more correct and business-like, appended his initials to the whole. That done, he assured Mr Pinch that everything was now perfectly regular; and, after squeezing his hand with great fervour, departed.

Tom entertained enough suspicion that Martin might possibly turn this interview into a jest, to render him desirous to avoid the company of that young gentleman for the present. With this view he took a few turns up and down the skittle-ground, and did not re-enter the house until Mr Tigg and his friend had quitted it, and the new pupil and Mark were watching their departure from one of the windows.

'I was just a-saying, sir, that if one could live by it,' observed Mark, pointing after their late guests, 'that would be the sort of service for me. Waiting on such individuals as them would be better than grave-digging, sir.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Já que faz tanta questão - disse Tom - , creio que sim.

O Sr. Tigg acrescentou essa condição ao memorando; releu a anotação para si com um cenho severo; e, para que a transação fosse mais correta e comercial, apôs suas iniciais ao conjunto. Feito isso, assegurou ao Sr. Pinch que agora tudo estava perfeitamente regular; e, depois de apertar-lhe a mão com grande fervor, partiu.

Tom alimentava suspeita suficiente de que Martin pudesse transformar aquela entrevista em gracejo para desejar evitar, por enquanto, a companhia do jovem cavalheiro. Com esse propósito, deu algumas voltas pela pista de boliche e só tornou a entrar na casa depois que o Sr. Tigg e seu amigo a haviam deixado, e o novo aluno e Mark observavam a partida de uma das janelas.

- Eu estava justamente dizendo, senhor, que, se desse para viver disso - observou Mark, apontando para os hóspedes que acabavam de partir - , esse seria o tipo de emprego para mim. Servir indivíduos como eles seria melhor que cavar sepulturas, senhor.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"E ficar aqui seria melhor do que qualquer uma dessas coisas, Mark", disse Tom. "Portanto, aceite meu conselho e continue nadando tranquilamente em águas calmas."

"Agora é tarde demais para aceitar esse conselho, senhor", disse Mark. "Já contei a ela. Vou embora amanhã de manhã."

"Embora!", exclamou o Sr. Pinch. "Para onde?"

"Vou para Londres, senhor."

"Para trabalhar em quê?", perguntou o Sr. Pinch.

"Bem, ainda não sei, senhor. Naquele dia em que abri meu coração ao senhor, não apareceu nada que pudesse me servir. Todos os ofícios em que pensei eram alegres demais; não havia mérito algum em nenhum deles. Acho que preciso procurar um emprego em uma casa particular, senhor. Talvez eu pudesse me destacar em uma família muito séria, Sr. Pinch."

"Talvez você se destacasse um pouco demais para o gosto de uma família séria, Mark."

Original English Version

'And staying here would be better than either, Mark,' replied Tom. 'So take my advice, and continue to swim easily in smooth water.'

'It's too late to take it now, sir,' said Mark. 'I have broke it to her, sir. I am off to-morrow morning.'

'Off!' cried Mr Pinch, 'where to?'

'I shall go up to London, sir.'

'What to be?' asked Mr Pinch.

'Well! I don't know yet, sir. Nothing turned up that day I opened my mind to you, as was at all likely to suit me. All them trades I thought of was a deal too jolly; there was no credit at all to be got in any of 'em. I must look for a private service, I suppose, sir. I might be brought out strong, perhaps, in a serious family, Mr Pinch.'

'Perhaps you might come out rather too strong for a serious family's taste, Mark.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- E ficar aqui seria melhor que qualquer dos dois, Mark - respondeu Tom. - Portanto, siga meu conselho e continue nadando tranquilamente em águas calmas.

- Agora é tarde demais para segui-lo, senhor - disse Mark. - Já lhe dei a notícia, senhor. Vou embora amanhã de manhã.

- Embora! - exclamou o Sr. Pinch. - Para onde?

- Irei para Londres, senhor.

- Para ser o quê? - perguntou o Sr. Pinch.

- Bem! Ainda não sei, senhor. Nada do que apareceu naquele dia em que lhe abri meu coração parecia de modo algum adequado para mim. Todos os ofícios em que pensei eram alegres demais; não se podia obter mérito algum em nenhum deles. Suponho que devo procurar emprego numa casa particular, senhor. Talvez eu pudesse mostrar meu valor numa família séria, Sr. Pinch.

- Talvez você mostrasse um pouco mais de valor do que agradaria ao gosto de uma família séria, Mark.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Isso é possível, senhor. Se eu conseguisse entrar numa família perversa, poderia mostrar meu valor. Mas é difícil ter certeza do terreno, porque um jovem não pode anunciar que procura emprego e que o salário importa menos do que uma situação perversa, pode, senhor?"

"Bem, não", disse o Sr. Pinch. "Acho que não pode."

"Uma família invejosa", continuou Mark, pensativo, "ou briguenta, ou maldosa, ou até uma família realmente mesquinha abriria um campo em que eu poderia fazer alguma coisa. O homem que mais me serviria era aquele velho cavalheiro que ficou doente aqui, pois ele realmente era um cliente difícil. De qualquer modo, preciso esperar para ver o que aparece, senhor, e torcer pelo pior."

"Então você está decidido a partir?", perguntou o Sr. Pinch.

Original English Version

'That's possible, sir. If I could get into a wicked family, I might do myself justice; but the difficulty is to make sure of one's ground, because a young man can't very well advertise that he wants a place, and wages an't so much an object as a wicked sitivation; can he, sir?'

'Why, no,' said Mr Pinch, 'I don't think he can.'

'An envious family,' pursued Mark, with a thoughtful face; 'or a quarrelsome family, or a malicious family, or even a good out-and-out mean family, would open a field of action as I might do something in. The man as would have suited me of all other men was that old gentleman as was took ill here, for he really was a trying customer. Howsever, I must wait and see what turns up, sir; and hope for the worst.'

'You are determined to go then?' said Mr Pinch.

Tradução Integral em Português

- É possível, senhor. Se eu conseguisse entrar numa família perversa, poderia fazer justiça a mim mesmo; mas a dificuldade é ter certeza do terreno, porque um jovem não pode muito bem anunciar que procura emprego e que o salário não importa tanto quanto uma situação perversa; pode, senhor?

- Ora, não - disse o Sr. Pinch - , não creio que possa.

- Uma família invejosa - prosseguiu Mark, pensativo - , ou uma família brigona, ou maldosa, ou mesmo uma família francamente mesquinha abriria um campo de ação em que eu poderia fazer alguma coisa. O homem que mais me conviria entre todos era aquele velho cavalheiro que passou mal aqui, pois era realmente um freguês difícil. Seja como for, devo esperar para ver o que aparece, senhor; e torcer pelo pior.

- Então está decidido a partir? - disse o Sr. Pinch.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Minha mala já seguiu na carroça, senhor. Amanhã de manhã vou a pé e pegarei uma carona na diligência quando ela me alcançar. Portanto, desejo-lhe adeus, Sr. Pinch, e ao senhor também, e toda sorte e felicidade!"

Os dois responderam alegremente à despedida e caminharam para casa de braços dados. No caminho, o Sr. Pinch contou ao novo amigo outros detalhes sobre a estranha inquietação de Mark Tapley, que o leitor já conhece.

Original English Version

'My box is gone already, sir, by the waggon, and I'm going to walk on to-morrow morning, and get a lift by the day coach when it overtakes me. So I wish you good-bye, Mr Pinch--and you too, sir--and all good luck and happiness!'

They both returned his greeting laughingly, and walked home arm-in-arm. Mr Pinch imparting to his new friend, as they went, such further particulars of Mark Tapley's whimsical restlessness as the reader is already acquainted with.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Minha caixa já foi, senhor, na carroça, e amanhã de manhã vou partir a pé e pegar uma carona na diligência diurna quando ela me alcançar. Portanto, adeus, Sr. Pinch... e ao senhor também... e toda sorte e felicidade!

Ambos retribuíram sorrindo a saudação e caminharam para casa de braços dados. No percurso, o Sr. Pinch transmitiu ao novo amigo outros detalhes da caprichosa inquietação de Mark Tapley que o leitor já conhece.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Enquanto isso, Mark suspeitava que sua patroa estivesse muito triste e que não poderia prever as consequências de uma longa conversa a sós no bar. Por isso, evitou-a teimosamente durante toda a tarde e a noite. A grande quantidade de clientes na sala da taverna ajudou muito sua estratégia. A notícia de sua partida se espalhara, e o lugar ficou cheio durante toda a noite, com muitos brindes e canecas batendo umas nas outras. Por fim, a casa fechou. Como não havia mais como evitar a situação, Mark tentou mostrar coragem e caminhou decidido até a porta do bar.

"Se eu olhar para ela", disse Mark a si mesmo, "estou perdido. Sinto que estou cedendo depressa."

"Finalmente você veio", disse a Sra. Lupin.

Original English Version

In the meantime Mark, having a shrewd notion that his mistress was in very low spirits, and that he could not exactly answer for the consequences of any lengthened TETE-A-TETE in the bar, kept himself obstinately out of her way all the afternoon and evening. In this piece of generalship he was very much assisted by the great influx of company into the taproom; for the news of his intention having gone abroad, there was a perfect throng there all the evening, and much drinking of healths and clinking of mugs. At length the house was closed for the night; and there being now no help for it, Mark put the best face he could upon the matter, and walked doggedly to the bar-door.

'If I look at her,' said Mark to himself, 'I'm done. I feel that I'm a-going fast.'

'You have come at last,' said Mrs Lupin.

Tradução Integral em Português

Enquanto isso, Mark, tendo a perspicaz impressão de que sua patroa estava muito abatida e não podendo responder exatamente pelas consequências de um prolongado TETE-A-TETE no balcão, manteve-se obstinadamente longe dela durante toda a tarde e a noite. Nessa manobra estratégica, foi muito auxiliado pelo grande afluxo de pessoas à taverna; pois, tendo-se espalhado a notícia de sua intenção, houve ali uma verdadeira multidão durante toda a noite, muitos brindes e muito tinir de canecas. Por fim, a casa fechou para a noite; e, como agora não havia remédio, Mark revestiu a questão da melhor aparência que pôde e caminhou resolutamente até a porta do balcão.

- Se eu olhar para ela - disse Mark consigo mesmo - , estou perdido. Sinto que estou fraquejando depressa.

- Até que enfim você veio - disse a Sra. Lupin.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Sim, disse Mark. Ali estava ele.

"E você está decidido a nos deixar, Mark?", perguntou a Sra. Lupin.

"Bem, sim, estou", disse Mark, mantendo os olhos fixos no chão.

"Eu pensei", continuou a dona da hospedaria, hesitando de modo muito encantador, "que você gostasse do Dragão."

"E gosto", disse Mark.

"Então", continuou a anfitriã, fazendo uma pergunta bastante natural, "por que o abandona?"

Mas ele não respondeu de modo algum, nem mesmo quando ela repetiu a pergunta. A Sra. Lupin colocou o dinheiro dele em sua mão e perguntou, com muita gentileza, o que ele aceitaria.

Original English Version

Aye, Mark said: There he was.

'And you are determined to leave us, Mark?' cried Mrs Lupin.

'Why, yes; I am,' said Mark; keeping his eyes hard upon the floor.

'I thought,' pursued the landlady, with a most engaging hesitation, 'that you had been--fond--of the Dragon?'

'So I am,' said Mark.

'Then,' pursued the hostess--and it really was not an unnatural inquiry--'why do you desert it?'

But as he gave no manner of answer to this question; not even on its being repeated; Mrs Lupin put his money into his hand, and asked him--not unkindly, quite the contrary--what he would take?

Tradução Integral em Português

Sim, disse Mark: ali estava ele.

- E está decidido a nos deixar, Mark? - exclamou a Sra. Lupin.

- Ora, sim; estou - disse Mark, mantendo os olhos firmemente no chão.

- Eu pensava - prosseguiu a estalajadeira, com uma hesitação muito cativante - que você fosse... afeiçoado... ao Dragão?

- E sou - disse Mark.

- Então - prosseguiu a anfitriã, numa pergunta que realmente não era antinatural - por que o abandona?

Mas, como ele não deu espécie alguma de resposta a essa pergunta, nem mesmo quando ela foi repetida, a Sra. Lupin pôs-lhe o dinheiro na mão e perguntou - não sem bondade, muito pelo contrário - o que ele aceitaria.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Diz o provérbio que existem certas coisas que a carne e o sangue não conseguem suportar. Uma pergunta como aquela, feita daquele modo, naquele momento e por aquela pessoa, mostrou ser uma delas, pelo menos para a carne e o sangue de Mark. Contra a vontade, ele ergueu os olhos diretamente para ela. Depois disso, não conseguiu baixá-los novamente, pois diante dele estava, em pessoa naquele bar, a mais perfeita entre todas as donas de hospedaria elegantes, cheinhas, saudáveis, de olhos brilhantes e rosto com covinhas que já existiram.

Original English Version

It is proverbial that there are certain things which flesh and blood cannot bear. Such a question as this, propounded in such a manner, at such a time, and by such a person, proved (at least, as far as, Mark's flesh and blood were concerned) to be one of them. He looked up in spite of himself directly; and having once looked up, there was no looking down again; for of all the tight, plump, buxom, bright-eyed, dimple-faced landladies that ever shone on earth, there stood before him then, bodily in that bar, the very pink and pineapple.

Tradução Integral em Português

É proverbial que há certas coisas que a carne e o sangue não podem suportar. Uma pergunta como essa, formulada de semelhante maneira, em semelhante ocasião e por semelhante pessoa, revelou-se (pelo menos no que dizia respeito à carne e ao sangue de Mark) uma delas. Contra a própria vontade, ele ergueu os olhos imediatamente; e, uma vez erguidos, já não havia como baixá-los, pois, de todas as estalajadeiras esbeltas, rechonchudas, viçosas, de olhos vivos e rosto com covinhas que já brilharam sobre a terra, ali estava diante dele, em carne e osso naquele balcão, a própria flor e nata.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Bem, vou lhe dizer uma coisa", disse Mark, abandonando de repente toda a reserva e segurando a anfitriã pela cintura. Ela não ficou assustada, pois sabia que ele era um bom rapaz. "Se eu pegasse aquilo de que mais gosto, escolheria você. Se pensasse apenas no que é melhor para mim, escolheria você. Se escolhesse o que dezenove entre vinte jovens aceitariam com alegria e a qualquer preço, escolheria você. Sim, escolheria", exclamou o Sr. Tapley, balançando a cabeça de modo expressivo e, num momento de distração, olhando com muita atenção para os lábios maduros da anfitriã. "E nenhum homem acharia estranho se eu fizesse isso!"

A Sra. Lupin disse que ele a espantava. Estava surpresa por ele dizer tais coisas e nunca imaginara isso a respeito dele.

Original English Version

'Why, I tell you what,' said Mark, throwing off all his constraint in an instant and seizing the hostess round the waist--at which she was not at all alarmed, for she knew what a good young man he was--'if I took what I liked most, I should take you. If I only thought what was best for me, I should take you. If I took what nineteen young fellows in twenty would be glad to take, and would take at any price, I should take you. Yes, I should,' cried Mr Tapley, shaking his head expressively enough, and looking (in a momentary state of forgetfulness) rather hard at the hostess's ripe lips. 'And no man wouldn't wonder if I did!'

Mrs Lupin said he amazed her. She was astonished how he could say such things. She had never thought it of him.

Tradução Integral em Português

- Ora, vou lhe dizer uma coisa - disse Mark, livrando-se num instante de todo o constrangimento e agarrando a anfitriã pela cintura - com o que ela não se alarmou, pois sabia que bom rapaz ele era. - Se eu escolhesse o que mais gosto, escolheria você. Se pensasse apenas no que é melhor para mim, escolheria você. Se escolhesse o que dezenove rapazes em vinte teriam prazer em escolher, e escolheriam a qualquer preço, escolheria você. Sim, escolheria - exclamou o Sr. Tapley, balançando a cabeça de modo bastante expressivo e olhando (num estado momentâneo de esquecimento) com certa intensidade para os lábios maduros da anfitriã. - E nenhum homem se admiraria se eu o fizesse!

A Sra. Lupin disse que ele a espantava. Admirava-se de como podia dizer semelhantes coisas. Jamais pensara isso dele.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Eu mesmo nunca pensei nisso até agora!", disse Mark, erguendo as sobrancelhas com uma expressão muito alegre de surpresa. "Sempre esperei que nos separássemos sem dar explicação alguma. Era isso que pretendia fazer quando entrei aqui agora, mas há algo em você que faz um homem falar com sensatez. Então vamos conversar um pouco, deixando claro de antemão", acrescentou em tom sério, para impedir qualquer engano, "que não vou fazer declaração de amor, sabe."

Por apenas um segundo, uma sombra, embora nada escura, passou pela testa aberta da dona da hospedaria. Mas desapareceu imediatamente numa risada que veio do fundo de seu coração.

"Ah, muito bem!", disse ela. "Se não haverá declaração de amor, é melhor tirar o braço da minha cintura."

"Ora, por que eu deveria fazer isso?", exclamou Mark. "É completamente inocente."

Original English Version

'Why, I never thought if of myself till now!' said Mark, raising his eyebrows with a look of the merriest possible surprise. 'I always expected we should part, and never have no explanation; I meant to do it when I come in here just now; but there's something about you, as makes a man sensible. Then let us have a word or two together; letting it be understood beforehand,' he added this in a grave tone, to prevent the possibility of any mistake, 'that I'm not a-going to make no love, you know.'

There was for just one second a shade, though not by any means a dark one, on the landlady's open brow. But it passed off instantly, in a laugh that came from her very heart.

'Oh, very good!' she said; 'if there is to be no love-making, you had better take your arm away.'

'Lord, why should I!' cried Mark. 'It's quite innocent.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Ora, eu mesmo nunca pensei isso até agora! - disse Mark, erguendo as sobrancelhas com a expressão da mais alegre surpresa possível. - Sempre esperei que nos separássemos sem jamais termos explicação alguma; pretendia fazer isso quando entrei aqui agora há pouco; mas há alguma coisa em você que faz um homem recobrar o juízo. Então, conversemos um pouco; ficando entendido de antemão - acrescentou em tom grave, para impedir qualquer possibilidade de equívoco - que não vou lhe fazer a corte, sabe.

Por apenas um segundo, uma sombra, embora de modo algum escura, passou pela fronte aberta da estalajadeira. Mas desapareceu imediatamente numa risada que lhe veio do fundo do coração.

- Ah, muito bem! - disse ela. - Se não haverá corte, é melhor tirar seu braço daí.

- Céus, por que tiraria? - exclamou Mark. - É perfeitamente inocente.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Claro que é inocente", respondeu a anfitriã, "ou eu não permitiria."

"Muito bem!", disse Mark. "Então deixe-o onde está."

Havia tanta lógica nisso que a dona da hospedaria riu outra vez, permitiu que o braço permanecesse e mandou que ele dissesse rapidamente o que tinha a dizer. Mas acrescentou que ele era um sujeito atrevido.

"Ha, ha! Quase acho que sou!", exclamou Mark. "Embora nunca tenha pensado assim antes. Ora, esta noite consigo dizer qualquer coisa!"

"Diga o que pretende dizer, por favor, e seja rápido", respondeu a dona da hospedaria, "pois quero ir dormir."

"Pois bem, minha querida e boa mulher", disse Mark, "nunca existiu mulher mais bondosa. Quero ver algum homem dizer o contrário! O que provavelmente aconteceria se nós dois..."

"Que absurdo!", exclamou a Sra. Lupin. "Não fale mais sobre isso."

Original English Version

'Of course it's innocent,' returned the hostess, 'or I shouldn't allow it.'

'Very well!' said Mark. 'Then let it be.'

There was so much reason in this that the landlady laughed again, suffered it to remain, and bade him say what he had to say, and be quick about it. But he was an impudent fellow, she added.

'Ha ha! I almost think I am!' cried Mark, 'though I never thought so before. Why, I can say anything to-night!'

'Say what you're going to say if you please, and be quick,' returned the landlady, 'for I want to get to bed.'

'Why, then, my dear good soul,' said Mark, 'and a kinder woman than you are never drawed breath--let me see the man as says she did!--what would be the likely consequence of us two being--'

'Oh nonsense!' cried Mrs Lupin. 'Don't talk about that any more.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Claro que é inocente - respondeu a anfitriã - , ou eu não permitiria.

- Muito bem! - disse Mark. - Então, deixe-o ficar.

Havia tanta razão nisso que a estalajadeira tornou a rir, permitiu que o braço permanecesse e mandou-o dizer o que tinha a dizer, e depressa. Mas ele era um sujeito atrevido, acrescentou.

- Ha, ha! Quase acho que sou! - exclamou Mark - , embora nunca tivesse pensado assim antes. Ora, esta noite consigo dizer qualquer coisa!

- Diga o que vai dizer, por favor, e depressa - respondeu a estalajadeira - , pois quero ir para a cama.

- Pois então, minha querida e boa alma - disse Mark - , e jamais respirou mulher mais bondosa que você... que me mostrem o homem que disser o contrário!... qual seria a provável consequência de nós dois...

- Ah, que tolice! - exclamou a Sra. Lupin. - Não fale mais nisso.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Não é absurdo", disse Mark, "e eu gostaria que você escutasse. O que provavelmente aconteceria se nos casássemos? Se não consigo ser feliz agora neste alegre Dragão, por que seria feliz depois? Mesmo com sua bondade, você estaria sempre preocupada. Temeria estar ficando velha demais para meu gosto e me imaginaria acorrentado à porta do Dragão, desejando fugir. Não sei se isso aconteceria, mas poderia acontecer. Sou um homem que gosta de viajar e de mudanças. Com minha saúde e meu bom humor, acho que teria mais mérito continuar alegre onde existem motivos para tristeza. Posso estar errado, mas só experimentar esse tipo de vida mostrará a verdade. Portanto, não é melhor que eu vá? Sua franqueza me ajudou a dizer tudo isso, e podemos nos separar como bons amigos. Este nobre Dragão", concluiu o Sr. Tapley, "terá meus elogios e meus bons desejos até o dia em que eu morrer!"

Original English Version

'No, no, but it an't nonsense,' said Mark; 'and I wish you'd attend. What would be the likely consequence of us two being married? If I can't be content and comfortable in this here lively Dragon now, is it to be looked for as I should be then? By no means. Very good. Then you, even with your good humour, would be always on the fret and worrit, always uncomfortable in your own mind, always a-thinking as you was getting too old for my taste, always a-picturing me to yourself as being chained up to the Dragon door, and wanting to break away. I don't know that it would be so,' said Mark, 'but I don't know that it mightn't be. I am a roving sort of chap, I know. I'm fond of change. I'm always a-thinking that with my good health and spirits it would be more creditable in me to be jolly where there's things a-going on to make one dismal. It may be a mistake of mine you see, but nothing short of trying how it acts will set it right. Then an't it best that I should go; particular when your free way has helped me out to say all this, and we can part as good friends as we have ever been since first I entered this here noble Dragon, which,' said Mr Tapley in conclusion, 'has my good word and my good wish to the day of my death!'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Não, não, mas não é tolice - disse Mark - , e gostaria que prestasse atenção. Qual seria a provável consequência de nós dois nos casarmos? Se não consigo ficar contente e confortável neste animado Dragão agora, é de esperar que ficasse depois? De modo algum. Muito bem. Então você, mesmo com seu bom humor, estaria sempre aflita e preocupada, sempre inquieta por dentro, sempre pensando que estava ficando velha demais para meu gosto, sempre me imaginando acorrentado à porta do Dragão e querendo escapar. Não sei se seria assim - disse Mark - , mas tampouco sei se não seria. Sei que sou um sujeito errante. Gosto de mudanças. Estou sempre pensando que, com minha boa saúde e meu ânimo, seria mais meritório mostrar-me alegre onde acontecem coisas capazes de deixar alguém abatido. Pode ser um engano meu, entende, mas nada além de experimentar como isso funciona poderá corrigi-lo. Então não é melhor que eu vá; sobretudo quando sua maneira franca me ajudou a dizer tudo isso, e podemos nos separar tão bons amigos quanto sempre fomos desde a primeira vez em que entrei neste nobre Dragão, que - disse o Sr. Tapley, concluindo - terá meus elogios e meus bons votos até o dia de minha morte!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A anfitriã ficou em silêncio por algum tempo, mas logo segurou as duas mãos de Mark e as apertou calorosamente.

"Você é um bom homem", disse ela, olhando para o rosto dele com um sorriso que, para ela, era sério. "Acredito sinceramente que esta noite você foi um amigo melhor para mim do que qualquer outra pessoa em toda a minha vida."

"Ah, isso é absurdo", disse Mark. Depois, olhou para ela com satisfação e acrescentou: "Mas, meu Deus! Se você ESTÁ pensando em se casar, existem muitos maridos adequados que você poderia enlouquecer!"

Ela riu novamente com o elogio e apertou calorosamente as duas mãos dele mais uma vez. Pediu que se lembrasse dela se algum dia precisasse de uma amiga. Depois, saiu alegremente do pequeno bar e subiu a escada do Dragão.

"Ela está cantarolando enquanto sobe", disse Mark, escutando. "Não quer que eu pense que está abalada e fique triste também. Finalmente há algum mérito em continuar alegre!"

Original English Version

The hostess sat quite silent for a little time, but she very soon put both her hands in Mark's and shook them heartily.

'For you are a good man,' she said; looking into his face with a smile, which was rather serious for her. 'And I do believe have been a better friend to me to-night than ever I have had in all my life.'

'Oh! as to that, you know,' said Mark, 'that's nonsense. But love my heart alive!' he added, looking at her in a sort of rapture, 'if you ARE that way disposed, what a lot of suitable husbands there is as you may drive distracted!'

She laughed again at this compliment; and, once more shaking him by both hands, and bidding him, if he should ever want a friend, to remember her, turned gayly from the little bar and up the Dragon staircase.

'Humming a tune as she goes,' said Mark, listening, 'in case I should think she's at all put out, and should be made down-hearted. Come, here's some credit in being jolly, at last!'

Tradução Integral em Português

A anfitriã permaneceu em completo silêncio por algum tempo, mas logo pôs ambas as mãos nas de Mark e apertou-as cordialmente.

- Pois você é um bom homem - disse ela, olhando-o no rosto com um sorriso que era bastante sério para ela. - E realmente acredito que foi um amigo melhor para mim esta noite do que qualquer outro que já tive em toda a vida.

- Ah! Quanto a isso, sabe - disse Mark - , é tolice. Mas, valha-me Deus! - acrescentou, olhando para ela numa espécie de êxtase. - Se ESTÁ disposta dessa maneira, quantos maridos adequados poderá levar à loucura!

Ela tornou a rir do elogio; e, apertando-lhe outra vez ambas as mãos e dizendo-lhe que, se algum dia precisasse de uma amiga, se lembrasse dela, afastou-se alegremente do pequeno balcão e subiu a escada do Dragão.

- Vai cantarolando - disse Mark, escutando - para o caso de eu pensar que ficou de algum modo aborrecida e acabar desanimado. Ora, finalmente há algum mérito em estar alegre!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Depois de dizer essas palavras consoladoras com muita tristeza, ele foi dormir num estado de espírito nada alegre.

Ele se levantou cedo na manhã seguinte e já caminhava pouco depois do nascer do sol. Mas não conseguiu partir sem ser visto. Todo o lugar se levantara para ver Mark Tapley ir embora: meninos, cachorros, crianças, idosos, pessoas ocupadas e desocupadas. Todos gritavam "Adeus, Mark!" de seu próprio modo, e todos estavam tristes. Ele sentia que sua antiga patroa o observava da janela do quarto, mas não conseguiu olhar para trás.

Original English Version

With that piece of comfort, very ruefully uttered, he went, in anything but a jolly manner, to bed.

He rose early next morning, and was a-foot soon after sunrise. But it was of no use; the whole place was up to see Mark Tapley off; the boys, the dogs, the children, the old men, the busy people and the idlers; there they were, all calling out 'Good-b'ye, Mark,' after their own manner, and all sorry he was going. Somehow he had a kind of sense that his old mistress was peeping from her chamber-window, but he couldn't make up his mind to look back.

Tradução Integral em Português

Com esse consolo, proferido de maneira muito pesarosa, foi para a cama de um modo nada alegre.

Levantou-se cedo na manhã seguinte e estava a caminho pouco depois do nascer do sol. Mas de nada adiantou; todo o lugar se levantara para ver Mark Tapley partir: os rapazes, os cães, as crianças, os velhos, os ocupados e os ociosos; lá estavam todos, gritando "Adeus, Mark" cada qual à sua maneira, e todos lamentando sua partida. De algum modo, ele tinha uma espécie de sensação de que a velha patroa espiava da janela do quarto, mas não conseguiu decidir-se a olhar para trás.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Adeus a todos!", gritou Mark. Ele agitou o chapéu na ponta da bengala e avançou depressa pela pequena rua. "Aqueles fabricantes de rodas são sujeitos animados, viva! Aí vem o cachorro do açougueiro saindo do jardim. Quieto, velho amigo! Ali está o Sr. Pinch indo tocar seu órgão. Adeus, senhor! E aí vem a cadela terrier do outro lado da rua. Olá, garota! Há crianças suficientes para levar a humanidade até um futuro distante. Adeus, meninos e meninas! Agora há algum mérito em ser alegre. Esses acontecimentos colocariam uma mente comum à prova, mas eu sou extraordinariamente alegre. Não tão alegre quanto gostaria, mas quase. Adeus! Adeus!"

Original English Version

'Good-b'ye one, good-b'ye all!' cried Mark, waving his hat on the top of his walking-stick, as he strode at a quick pace up the little street. 'Hearty chaps them wheelwrights--hurrah! Here's the butcher's dog a-coming out of the garden--down, old fellow! And Mr Pinch a-going to his organ--good-b'ye, sir! And the terrier-bitch from over the way--hie, then, lass! And children enough to hand down human natur to the latest posterity--good-b'ye, boys and girls! There's some credit in it now. I'm a-coming out strong at last. These are the circumstances that would try a ordinary mind; but I'm uncommon jolly. Not quite as jolly as I could wish to be, but very near. Good-b'ye! good-b'ye!'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Adeus a um, adeus a todos! - exclamou Mark, agitando o chapéu na ponta do cajado enquanto subia a pequena rua a passos rápidos. - Gente cordial, esses fabricantes de rodas... viva! Lá vem o cão do açougueiro saindo do jardim... quieto, meu velho! E o Sr. Pinch indo para o órgão... adeus, senhor! E a cadelinha terrier do outro lado da rua... ei, menina! E crianças suficientes para transmitir a natureza humana à mais remota posteridade... adeus, meninos e meninas! Agora há algum mérito nisso. Finalmente estou mostrando meu valor. Estas são as circunstâncias que poriam à prova uma mente comum; mas estou extraordinariamente alegre. Não tão alegre quanto gostaria, mas quase. Adeus! Adeus!

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Chapter Eight

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

ACOMPANHA O SR. PECKSNIFF E SUAS ENCANTADORAS FILHAS À CIDADE DE LONDRES E CONTA O QUE ACONTECEU NO CAMINHO

Quando o Sr. Pecksniff e as duas jovens entraram na pesada diligência, ficaram felizes ao encontrá-la vazia. O lado de fora estava cheio, e os passageiros pareciam sentir muito frio. O Sr. Pecksniff e as filhas enterraram os pés na palha, cobriram-se até o queixo e fecharam as duas janelas. Ele disse que, no frio, era sempre agradável saber que muitos outros estavam menos aquecidos. Explicou que essa bela organização também existia em toda a sociedade. "Se todos estivessem aquecidos e bem alimentados, não poderíamos admirar a coragem com que certas pessoas suportam o frio e a fome. Se não estivéssemos em melhor situação do que os outros, o que aconteceria com nossa gratidão?" Com lágrimas nos olhos, o Sr. Pecksniff balançou o punho para um mendigo que tentava subir na parte traseira. A gratidão, disse ele, era um dos sentimentos mais sagrados da humanidade.

Original English Version

ACCOMPANIES MR PECKSNIFF AND HIS CHARMING DAUGHTERS TO THE CITY OF LONDON; AND RELATES WHAT FELL OUT UPON THEIR WAY THITHER

When Mr Pecksniff and the two young ladies got into the heavy coach at the end of the lane, they found it empty, which was a great comfort; particularly as the outside was quite full and the passengers looked very frosty. For as Mr Pecksniff justly observed--when he and his daughters had burrowed their feet deep in the straw, wrapped themselves to the chin, and pulled up both windows--it is always satisfactory to feel, in keen weather, that many other people are not as warm as you are. And this, he said, was quite natural, and a very beautiful arrangement; not confined to coaches, but extending itself into many social ramifications. 'For' (he observed), 'if every one were warm and well-fed, we should lose the satisfaction of admiring the fortitude with which certain conditions of men bear cold and hunger. And if we were no better off than anybody else, what would become of our sense of gratitude; which,' said Mr Pecksniff with tears in his eyes, as he shook his fist at a beggar who wanted to get up behind, 'is one of the holiest feelings of our common nature.'

Tradução Integral em Português

ACOMPANHA O SR. PECKSNIFF E SUAS ENCANTADORAS FILHAS À CIDADE DE LONDRES; E RELATA O QUE LHES SUCEDEU NO CAMINHO

Quando o Sr. Pecksniff e as duas jovens entraram na pesada diligência ao fim da alameda, encontraram-na vazia, o que foi um grande conforto; sobretudo porque o lado de fora estava inteiramente lotado, e os passageiros pareciam muito enregelados. Pois, como o Sr. Pecksniff observou com justiça - depois que ele e as filhas enterraram profundamente os pés na palha, agasalharam-se até o queixo e fecharam ambas as janelas - , é sempre satisfatório sentir, quando o tempo está rigoroso, que muitas outras pessoas não estão tão aquecidas quanto nós. E isso, disse ele, era muito natural e uma disposição belíssima; não limitada às diligências, mas estendendo-se por muitas ramificações sociais. "Pois" (observou ele), "se todos estivessem aquecidos e bem alimentados, perderíamos a satisfação de admirar a fortaleza com que certas classes de homens suportam o frio e a fome. E, se não estivéssemos em melhor situação que qualquer outra pessoa, o que seria de nosso sentimento de gratidão, que" - disse o Sr. Pecksniff com lágrimas nos olhos, enquanto sacudia o punho para um mendigo que queria subir atrás - "é um dos sentimentos mais santos de nossa natureza comum."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

As filhas ouviram respeitosamente a lição moral do pai e sorriram para mostrar que concordavam. Para alimentar a chama sagrada da gratidão em seu coração, o Sr. Pecksniff pediu à filha mais velha a garrafa de conhaque, embora a viagem mal tivesse começado. Então bebeu uma grande quantidade pelo gargalo estreito da garrafa de pedra.

"O que somos nós", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "senão diligências? Alguns de nós são diligências lentas..."

"Meu Deus, papai!", exclamou Charity.

"Alguns de nós", continuou o pai com mais força, "são diligências lentas, e outros são rápidas. Nossas fortes paixões são os cavalos, e são animais selvagens!"

"Sinceramente, papai", exclamaram as duas filhas ao mesmo tempo. "Que coisa desagradável."

"E animais selvagens também", repetiu o Sr. Pecksniff com tanta firmeza que ele próprio parecia um pouco selvagem. "A virtude é o freio. Partimos dos Braços da Mãe e seguimos até a Pá de Poeira."

Exausto por esse discurso, o Sr. Pecksniff bebeu mais um pouco de conhaque. Depois, fechou firmemente a garrafa com a rolha, como se também tivesse encerrado o assunto. Dormiu durante três etapas da viagem.

Original English Version

His children heard with becoming reverence these moral precepts from the lips of their father, and signified their acquiescence in the same, by smiles. That he might the better feed and cherish that sacred flame of gratitude in his breast, Mr Pecksniff remarked that he would trouble his eldest daughter, even in this early stage of their journey, for the brandy-bottle. And from the narrow neck of that stone vessel he imbibed a copious refreshment.

'What are we?' said Mr Pecksniff, 'but coaches? Some of us are slow coaches'--

'Goodness, Pa!' cried Charity.

'Some of us, I say,' resumed her parent with increased emphasis, 'are slow coaches; some of us are fast coaches. Our passions are the horses; and rampant animals too--!'

'Really, Pa,' cried both the daughters at once. 'How very unpleasant.'

'And rampant animals too' repeated Mr Pecksniff with so much determination, that he may be said to have exhibited, at the moment a sort of moral rampancy himself;'--and Virtue is the drag. We start from The Mother's Arms, and we run to The Dust Shovel.'

When he had said this, Mr Pecksniff, being exhausted, took some further refreshment. When he had done that, he corked the bottle tight, with the air of a man who had effectually corked the subject also; and went to sleep for three stages.

Tradução Integral em Português

Suas filhas ouviram com a devida reverência esses preceitos morais dos lábios do pai e manifestaram sua concordância por meio de sorrisos. Para melhor alimentar e acalentar no peito aquela chama sagrada da gratidão, o Sr. Pecksniff observou que incomodaria a filha mais velha, mesmo naquela fase inicial da viagem, pedindo-lhe a garrafa de conhaque. E do gargalo estreito daquele recipiente de pedra sorveu copioso refrigério.

- O que somos nós - disse o Sr. Pecksniff - senão diligências? Alguns de nós são diligências lentas...

- Meu Deus, papai! - exclamou Charity.

- Alguns de nós, eu dizia - retomou seu pai com ênfase crescente - , são diligências lentas; alguns de nós são diligências rápidas. Nossas paixões são os cavalos; e animais desenfreados, aliás...!

- Francamente, papai - exclamaram as duas filhas ao mesmo tempo. - Que coisa desagradável.

- E animais desenfreados, aliás - repetiu o Sr. Pecksniff com tanta determinação que se pode dizer que ele próprio exibiu naquele momento uma espécie de desenfreio moral - , e a Virtude é o freio. Partimos dos Braços da Mãe e corremos até a Pá de Pó.

Depois de dizer isso, o Sr. Pecksniff, exausto, tomou mais algum refrigério. Feito isso, arrolhou bem a garrafa, com o ar de quem também arrolhara eficazmente o assunto, e dormiu durante três etapas.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

As pessoas que dormem em diligências muitas vezes acordam mal-humoradas. Suas pernas parecem estar no caminho, e os pés doloridos as incomodam. O Sr. Pecksniff não era diferente. Depois do sono, esses problemas despertaram nele o desejo de castigar as filhas. Já começara a dar alguns chutes ao acaso e a fazer outros movimentos repentinos com os sapatos quando a diligência parou. Depois de uma breve demora, a porta se abriu.

"Preste atenção", disse uma voz fina e aguda na escuridão. "Meu filho e eu vamos do lado de dentro porque o teto está cheio, mas o senhor concorda em nos cobrar apenas o preço dos lugares externos. Está bem entendido que não pagaremos mais. Certo?"

"Tudo bem, senhor", disse o guarda.

"Há alguém lá dentro agora?", perguntou a voz.

"Três passageiros", respondeu o guarda.

"Então peço aos três passageiros que testemunhem este acordo, se forem bondosos", disse a voz. "Meu rapaz, acho que podemos entrar com segurança."

Original English Version

The tendency of mankind when it falls asleep in coaches, is to wake up cross; to find its legs in its way; and its corns an aggravation. Mr Pecksniff not being exempt from the common lot of humanity found himself, at the end of his nap, so decidedly the victim of these infirmities, that he had an irresistible inclination to visit them upon his daughters; which he had already begun to do in the shape of divers random kicks, and other unexpected motions of his shoes, when the coach stopped, and after a short delay the door was opened.

'Now mind,' said a thin sharp voice in the dark. 'I and my son go inside, because the roof is full, but you agree only to charge us outside prices. It's quite understood that we won't pay more. Is it?'

'All right, sir,' replied the guard.

'Is there anybody inside now?' inquired the voice.

'Three passengers,' returned the guard.

'Then I ask the three passengers to witness this bargain, if they will be so good,' said the voice. 'My boy, I think we may safely get in.'

Tradução Integral em Português

A tendência da humanidade, quando adormece em diligências, é despertar irritada; achar que as pernas atrapalham e que os calos são uma agravante. Não estando o Sr. Pecksniff isento do destino comum da humanidade, ao fim da soneca viu-se tão decididamente vítima dessas enfermidades que sentiu irresistível inclinação a descontá-las nas filhas; e já começara a fazê-lo sob a forma de diversos pontapés a esmo e outros movimentos inesperados dos sapatos quando a diligência parou e, após breve demora, a porta se abriu.

- Agora, preste atenção - disse no escuro uma voz fina e penetrante. - Eu e meu filho vamos dentro porque o teto está cheio, mas o senhor concorda em nos cobrar apenas os preços de fora. Fica perfeitamente entendido que não pagaremos mais. Fica?

- Tudo certo, senhor - respondeu o condutor.

- Há alguém lá dentro agora? - perguntou a voz.

- Três passageiros - respondeu o condutor.

- Então peço aos três passageiros que testemunhem este acordo, se tiverem a bondade - disse a voz. - Meu rapaz, creio que podemos entrar com segurança.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Depois dessa decisão, duas pessoas entraram na diligência. Uma lei do Parlamento permitia oficialmente que ela levasse quaisquer seis pessoas que pudessem ser empurradas através da porta.

"Que sorte!", sussurrou o velho quando voltaram a andar. "Foi muito inteligente você perceber o acordo. He, he, he! Não poderíamos ter viajado do lado de fora. Minha dor nas articulações teria me matado!"

Talvez o filho obediente tivesse percebido que ajudara o pai a viver mais tempo e agira contra os próprios interesses. Ou talvez o frio o tivesse deixado mal-humorado. Como resposta, empurrou o pai com tanta força que o velho tossiu sem parar durante cinco minutos inteiros. Isso irritou tanto o Sr. Pecksniff que ele disse de repente:

"Não há espaço! Realmente não há espaço nesta diligência para nenhum cavalheiro resfriado!"

"O meu", disse o velho, depois de uma pausa, "está no peito, Pecksniff."

Original English Version

In pursuance of which opinion, two people took their seats in the vehicle, which was solemnly licensed by Act of Parliament to carry any six persons who could be got in at the door.

'That was lucky!' whispered the old man, when they moved on again. 'And a great stroke of policy in you to observe it. He, he, he! We couldn't have gone outside. I should have died of the rheumatism!'

Whether it occurred to the dutiful son that he had in some degree over-reached himself by contributing to the prolongation of his father's days; or whether the cold had effected his temper; is doubtful. But he gave his father such a nudge in reply, that that good old gentleman was taken with a cough which lasted for full five minutes without intermission, and goaded Mr Pecksniff to that pitch of irritation, that he said at last--and very suddenly:

'There is no room! There is really no room in this coach for any gentleman with a cold in his head!'

'Mine,' said the old man, after a moment's pause, 'is upon my chest, Pecksniff.'

Tradução Integral em Português

De acordo com essa opinião, duas pessoas tomaram seus lugares no veículo, solenemente licenciado por Ato do Parlamento a transportar quaisquer seis pessoas que pudessem ser enfiadas pela porta.

- Isso foi uma sorte! - sussurrou o velho quando tornaram a avançar. - E uma grande manobra política sua ter notado. He, he, he! Não poderíamos ter viajado do lado de fora. Eu teria morrido de reumatismo!

É duvidoso se ocorreu ao filho obediente que contribuíra em certo grau para prolongar os dias do pai e assim levara desvantagem; ou se o frio lhe afetara o humor. Mas deu no pai uma cotovelada tal em resposta que aquele bom e velho cavalheiro foi acometido por uma tosse que durou cinco minutos inteiros sem interrupção e levou o Sr. Pecksniff a tamanho grau de irritação que por fim ele disse, e muito subitamente:

- Não há espaço! Realmente não há espaço nesta diligência para cavalheiro algum com um resfriado na cabeça!

- O meu - disse o velho após um instante de pausa - está no peito, Pecksniff.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Agora que o homem falava claramente, sua voz, seus modos e seu comportamento calmo revelavam quem ele era. A presença do filho e seu conhecimento do Sr. Pecksniff tornavam impossível confundir sua identidade.

"Hum! Pensei que estivesse falando com um estranho", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, voltando a ser gentil. "Descubro que estou falando com um parente. O Sr. Anthony Chuzzlewit e seu filho, o Sr. Jonas, que viajam conosco, perdoarão minhas palavras aparentemente duras. Não desejo magoar ninguém ligado a mim pela família. Posso ser um Hipócrita", acrescentou com firmeza, "mas não sou um Bruto."

"Ora, ora!", disse o velho. "Que importância tem essa palavra, Pecksniff? Hipócrita! Somos todos hipócritas. Todos fomos hipócritas no outro dia, e todos pareciam concordar com isso. Caso contrário, eu não teria chamado você assim. Nenhum de nós estaria lá se fôssemos honestos. Mas havia uma diferença entre você e os outros. Quer que eu diga qual era, Pecksniff?"

Original English Version

The voice and manner, together, now that he spoke out; the composure of the speaker; the presence of his son; and his knowledge of Mr Pecksniff; afforded a clue to his identity which it was impossible to mistake.

'Hem! I thought,' said Mr Pecksniff, returning to his usual mildness, 'that I addressed a stranger. I find that I address a relative, Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Mr Jonas--for they, my dear children, are our travelling companions--will excuse me for an apparently harsh remark. It is not MY desire to wound the feelings of any person with whom I am connected in family bonds. I may be a Hypocrite,' said Mr Pecksniff, cuttingly; 'but I am not a Brute.'

'Pooh, pooh!' said the old man. 'What signifies that word, Pecksniff? Hypocrite! why, we are all hypocrites. We were all hypocrites t'other day. I am sure I felt that to be agreed upon among us, or I shouldn't have called you one. We should not have been there at all, if we had not been hypocrites. The only difference between you and the rest was--shall I tell you the difference between you and the rest now, Pecksniff?'

Tradução Integral em Português

A voz e os modos, juntos, agora que ele falara claramente; a compostura do falante; a presença do filho; e o fato de conhecer o Sr. Pecksniff proporcionavam uma pista de sua identidade impossível de confundir.

- Hem! Pensei - disse o Sr. Pecksniff, retornando à mansidão habitual - que me dirigia a um desconhecido. Descubro que me dirijo a um parente. O Sr. Anthony Chuzzlewit e seu filho, o Sr. Jonas - pois eles, minhas queridas filhas, são nossos companheiros de viagem - hão de perdoar-me uma observação aparentemente ríspida. Não é MEU desejo ferir os sentimentos de qualquer pessoa a quem eu esteja ligado por laços familiares. Posso ser um Hipócrita - disse o Sr. Pecksniff mordazmente - , mas não sou um Bruto.

- Ora, ora! - disse o velho. - Que importância tem essa palavra, Pecksniff? Hipócrita! Ora, somos todos hipócritas. Éramos todos hipócritas outro dia. Tenho certeza de que senti que isso ficara acordado entre nós, ou não o teria chamado de um. Não teríamos sequer estado lá se não fôssemos hipócritas. A única diferença entre você e os demais era... quer que eu lhe diga agora a diferença entre você e os demais, Pecksniff?

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

"Se fizer o favor, meu bom senhor; se fizer o favor."

"A coisa irritante a SEU respeito", disse o velho, "é que você nunca tem um companheiro em SUAS trapaças. Você enganaria todos, até as pessoas que praticam o mesmo jogo. Age como se... he, he, he!... realmente acreditasse em si mesmo. Se eu fizesse apostas, o que não faço, apostaria uma grande quantia que você mantém secretamente essa falsa aparência até diante de suas filhas. Quando tenho um plano de negócios, conto a Jonas e conversamos abertamente sobre ele. Você não está ofendido, Pecksniff?"

"Ofendido, meu bom senhor!", exclamou o Sr. Pecksniff, como se o velho tivesse feito o maior elogio possível.

"O senhor está viajando para Londres, Sr. Pecksniff?", perguntou o filho.

"Sim, Sr. Jonas, estamos viajando para Londres. Espero que teremos o prazer de sua companhia durante todo o caminho?"

"Ah! Ora, é melhor perguntar isso a meu pai", disse Jonas. "Não vou fazer promessa alguma."

Original English Version

'If you please, my good sir; if you please.'

'Why, the annoying quality in YOU, is,' said the old man, 'that you never have a confederate or partner in YOUR juggling; you would deceive everybody, even those who practise the same art; and have a way with you, as if you--he, he, he!--as if you really believed yourself. I'd lay a handsome wager now,' said the old man, 'if I laid wagers, which I don't and never did, that you keep up appearances by a tacit understanding, even before your own daughters here. Now I, when I have a business scheme in hand, tell Jonas what it is, and we discuss it openly. You're not offended, Pecksniff?'

'Offended, my good sir!' cried that gentleman, as if he had received the highest compliments that language could convey.

'Are you travelling to London, Mr Pecksniff?' asked the son.

'Yes, Mr Jonas, we are travelling to London. We shall have the pleasure of your company all the way, I trust?'

'Oh! ecod, you had better ask father that,' said Jonas. 'I am not a-going to commit myself.'

Tradução Integral em Português

- Se lhe agradar, meu bom senhor; se lhe agradar.

- Ora, a qualidade irritante em VOCÊ - disse o velho - é que nunca tem cúmplice nem parceiro em SEUS embustes; enganaria todo mundo, até os que praticam a mesma arte; e tem um jeito, como se você... he, he, he!... como se realmente acreditasse em si mesmo. Eu apostaria uma bela soma agora - disse o velho - , se fizesse apostas, coisa que não faço e nunca fiz, que você mantém as aparências por acordo tácito até diante de suas próprias filhas aqui. Ora, eu, quando tenho um plano comercial em mãos, conto a Jonas qual é e o discutimos abertamente. Não ficou ofendido, Pecksniff?

- Ofendido, meu bom senhor! - exclamou aquele cavalheiro, como se tivesse recebido os mais elevados elogios que a linguagem pudesse transmitir.

- Está viajando para Londres, Sr. Pecksniff? - perguntou o filho.

- Sim, Sr. Jonas, estamos viajando para Londres. Teremos o prazer de sua companhia por todo o caminho, espero?

- Ah! Por Deus, é melhor perguntar isso ao meu pai - disse Jonas. - Não vou me comprometer.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Naturalmente, o Sr. Pecksniff ficou muito divertido com essa resposta. Quando parou de rir, o Sr. Jonas explicou que ele e o pai estavam voltando para casa, em Londres. Desde a grande reunião da família, haviam permanecido na região para acompanhar a venda de alguns investimentos úteis que já tinham notado. O Sr. Jonas disse que eles sempre tentavam alcançar dois objetivos ao mesmo tempo. Nunca jogavam fora peixes pequenos, a menos que pudessem usá-los para capturar baleias. Depois de contar esses fatos breves, disse que, se o Sr. Pecksniff não se importasse, deixaria o pai com ele e conversaria com as moças. Passou do assento ao lado do Sr. Pecksniff para o canto oposto, ao lado da bela Srta. Mercy.

Original English Version

Mr Pecksniff was, as a matter of course, greatly entertained by this retort. His mirth having subsided, Mr Jonas gave him to understand that himself and parent were in fact travelling to their home in the metropolis; and that, since the memorable day of the great family gathering, they had been tarrying in that part of the country, watching the sale of certain eligible investments, which they had had in their copartnership eye when they came down; for it was their custom, Mr Jonas said, whenever such a thing was practicable, to kill two birds with one stone, and never to throw away sprats, but as bait for whales. When he had communicated to Mr Pecksniff these pithy scraps of intelligence, he said, 'That if it was all the same to him, he would turn him over to father, and have a chat with the gals;' and in furtherance of this polite scheme, he vacated his seat adjoining that gentleman, and established himself in the opposite corner, next to the fair Miss Mercy.

Tradução Integral em Português

Como era natural, o Sr. Pecksniff ficou muito entretido com a réplica. Depois que sua alegria amainou, o Sr. Jonas deu-lhe a entender que ele e o progenitor estavam de fato viajando para casa na metrópole; e que, desde o memorável dia da grande reunião familiar, haviam permanecido naquela parte do país acompanhando a venda de certos investimentos promissores que sua sociedade já tinha em vista quando foram para lá; pois era costume deles, disse o Sr. Jonas, sempre que fosse praticável, matar dois coelhos com uma cajadada só e jamais desperdiçar peixinhos, exceto como isca para baleias. Depois de comunicar ao Sr. Pecksniff esses fragmentos concisos de informação, disse que, "se para ele desse no mesmo, iria passá-lo ao pai e conversar com as moças"; e, para promover esse plano cortês, deixou o assento ao lado daquele cavalheiro e se instalou no canto oposto, junto à bela Srta. Mercy.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Desde o nascimento, o Sr. Jonas fora educado para procurar toda vantagem possível. A primeira palavra que aprendeu a soletrar foi "ganho", e a segunda, quando chegou às palavras de duas sílabas, foi "dinheiro". Seu cuidadoso pai não previra dois resultados desse treinamento. Primeiro, depois de aprender a enganar todos, Jonas começou a gostar de enganar seu respeitado professor e pai. Segundo, aprendera a ver tudo como propriedade. Por isso, começou a considerar o pai com impaciência, como uma riqueza pessoal que não deveria andar livremente. Achava que essa riqueza deveria ser trancada no tipo de cofre de ferro chamado caixão e colocada em segurança na sepultura.

'Bem, prima!', disse o Sr. Jonas. 'Porque SOMOS primos, você sabe, embora um tanto distantes... então você vai para Londres?'

A Srta. Mercy disse que sim, enquanto beliscava o braço da irmã e ria muito.

'Muitos admiradores em Londres, prima!', disse o Sr. Jonas, movendo ligeiramente o cotovelo na direção dela.

Original English Version

The education of Mr Jonas had been conducted from his cradle on the strictest principles of the main chance. The very first word he learnt to spell was 'gain,' and the second (when he got into two syllables), 'money.' But for two results, which were not clearly foreseen perhaps by his watchful parent in the beginning, his training may be said to have been unexceptionable. One of these flaws was, that having been long taught by his father to over-reach everybody, he had imperceptibly acquired a love of over-reaching that venerable monitor himself. The other, that from his early habits of considering everything as a question of property, he had gradually come to look, with impatience, on his parent as a certain amount of personal estate, which had no right whatever to be going at large, but ought to be secured in that particular description of iron safe which is commonly called a coffin, and banked in the grave.

'Well, cousin!' said Mr Jonas--'Because we ARE cousins, you know, a few times removed--so you're going to London?'

Miss Mercy replied in the affirmative, pinching her sister's arm at the same time, and giggling excessively.

'Lots of beaux in London, cousin!' said Mr Jonas, slightly advancing his elbow.

Tradução Integral em Português

A educação do Sr. Jonas fora conduzida desde o berço segundo os mais rigorosos princípios do proveito próprio. A primeiríssima palavra que aprendeu a soletrar foi "ganho", e a segunda (quando chegou às duas sílabas), "dinheiro". Não fossem dois resultados, talvez não claramente previstos no início por seu vigilante pai, pode-se dizer que sua formação teria sido irrepreensível. Um desses defeitos era que, tendo sido por muito tempo ensinado pelo pai a passar a perna em todos, adquirira imperceptivelmente o gosto por passar a perna no próprio e venerável mentor. O outro era que, devido ao hábito precoce de considerar tudo uma questão de propriedade, aos poucos passara a olhar com impaciência o pai como certa quantidade de bens pessoais que não tinha direito algum de andar solta, mas deveria ser encerrada naquela espécie particular de cofre de ferro comumente chamada caixão e depositada no túmulo.

"Bem, prima!", disse o Sr. Jonas. "Porque SOMOS primos, sabe, ainda que alguns graus distantes... então vai para Londres?"

A Srta. Mercy respondeu afirmativamente, beliscando ao mesmo tempo o braço da irmã e dando risadinhas excessivas.

"Muitos pretendentes em Londres, prima!", disse o Sr. Jonas, avançando ligeiramente o cotovelo.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'Ora, senhor!', exclamou a jovem. 'Tenho certeza de que eles não nos farão mal.' Deu essa resposta com expressão muito séria, mas achou a própria piada tão engraçada que precisou esconder o riso no xale da irmã.

'Merry', exclamou a irmã mais sensata, 'estou realmente envergonhada de você. Como pode se comportar assim? Sua maluquinha!' Naturalmente, a Srta. Merry apenas riu ainda mais.

'Vi um ar atrevido nos olhos dela outro dia', disse o Sr. Jonas a Charity. 'Mas você é a séria! Devo dizer que estava muito correta e rígida, prima!'

'Ah, que horror antiquado!', sussurrou Merry. 'Querida Cherry, você precisa sentar-se ao lado dele. Vou morrer se ele falar comigo outra vez!' A moça animada saltou do assento e empurrou a irmã para o lugar vazio.

'Não se preocupe em me apertar', exclamou o Sr. Jonas. 'Gosto de ser apertado por garotas. Chegue um pouco mais perto, prima.'

Original English Version

'Indeed, sir!' cried the young lady. 'They won't hurt us, sir, I dare say.' And having given him this answer with great demureness she was so overcome by her own humour, that she was fain to stifle her merriment in her sister's shawl.

'Merry,' cried that more prudent damsel, 'really I am ashamed of you. How can you go on so? You wild thing!' At which Miss Merry only laughed the more, of course.

'I saw a wildness in her eye, t'other day,' said Mr Jonas, addressing Charity. 'But you're the one to sit solemn! I say--You were regularly prim, cousin!'

'Oh! The old-fashioned fright!' cried Merry, in a whisper. 'Cherry my dear, upon my word you must sit next him. I shall die outright if he talks to me any more; I shall, positively!' To prevent which fatal consequence, the buoyant creature skipped out of her seat as she spoke, and squeezed her sister into the place from which she had risen.

'Don't mind crowding me,' cried Mr Jonas. 'I like to be crowded by gals. Come a little closer, cousin.'

Tradução Integral em Português

"De fato, senhor!", exclamou a jovem. "Imagino que não nos farão mal, senhor." E, tendo-lhe dado essa resposta com grande recato, ficou tão dominada pelo próprio humor que se viu obrigada a sufocar o riso no xale da irmã.

"Merry", exclamou aquela donzela mais prudente, "estou mesmo envergonhada de você. Como pode continuar assim? Sua doidinha!" Diante disso, como era natural, a Srta. Merry apenas riu ainda mais.

"Vi uma certa loucura nos olhos dela outro dia", disse o Sr. Jonas, dirigindo-se a Charity. "Mas você é quem sabe ficar solene! Digo... Você estava toda formal, prima!"

"Ah! Que horror antiquado!", exclamou Merry num sussurro. "Cherry, querida, por minha palavra, você precisa sentar-se ao lado dele. Morrerei de uma vez se ele falar mais comigo; positivamente, morrerei!" Para impedir essa consequência fatal, a criatura exuberante saltou do assento enquanto falava e espremeu a irmã no lugar do qual se levantara.

"Não se preocupe em me apertar", exclamou o Sr. Jonas. "Gosto que as moças me apertem. Chegue um pouco mais perto, prima."

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'Não, obrigada, senhor', disse Charity.

'A outra está rindo de novo', disse o Sr. Jonas. 'Talvez esteja rindo de meu pai. Se ele puser sua velha touca de dormir de flanela, não sei o que ela fará! É meu pai que está roncando, Pecksniff?'

'Sim, Sr. Jonas.'

'Por favor, pise no pé dele', disse o jovem cavalheiro. 'O pé ao seu lado é o que tem gota.'

O Sr. Pecksniff hesitou em praticar esse ato amistoso, então o próprio Sr. Jonas o fez e gritou:

'Acorde, pai, ou terá um pesadelo e vai gritar. Você costuma ter pesadelos, prima?', perguntou à vizinha, baixando a voz e tentando ser encantador.

'Às vezes', respondeu Charity. 'Não com frequência.'

'E a outra', disse o Sr. Jonas, após uma pausa. 'ELA costuma ter pesadelos?'

'Não sei', respondeu Charity. 'É melhor perguntar a ela.'

'Ela ri tanto que não consigo conversar com ela', disse Jonas. 'Ouça agora! Você é a sensata, prima!'

Original English Version

'No, thank you, sir,' said Charity.

'There's that other one a-laughing again,' said Mr Jonas; 'she's a-laughing at my father, I shouldn't wonder. If he puts on that old flannel nightcap of his, I don't know what she'll do! Is that my father a-snoring, Pecksniff?'

'Yes, Mr Jonas.'

'Tread upon his foot, will you be so good?' said the young gentleman. 'The foot next you's the gouty one.'

Mr Pecksniff hesitating to perform this friendly office, Mr Jonas did it himself; at the same time crying:

'Come, wake up, father, or you'll be having the nightmare, and screeching out, I know.--Do you ever have the nightmare, cousin?' he asked his neighbour, with characteristic gallantry, as he dropped his voice again.

'Sometimes,' answered Charity. 'Not often.'

'The other one,' said Mr Jonas, after a pause. 'Does SHE ever have the nightmare?'

'I don't know,' replied Charity. 'You had better ask her.'

'She laughs so,' said Jonas; 'there's no talking to her. Only hark how she's a-going on now! You're the sensible one, cousin!'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Não, obrigada, senhor", disse Charity.

"Lá está a outra rindo de novo", disse o Sr. Jonas; "está rindo de meu pai, não me surpreenderia. Se ele puser aquele velho gorro de dormir de flanela, não sei o que ela fará! É meu pai quem está roncando, Pecksniff?"

"Sim, Sr. Jonas."

"Poderia pisar-lhe no pé, por favor?", disse o jovem cavalheiro. "O pé perto do senhor é o que tem gota."

Como o Sr. Pecksniff hesitou em prestar esse serviço amigável, o próprio Sr. Jonas o fez, gritando ao mesmo tempo:

"Vamos, acorde, pai, senão terá pesadelos e começará a gritar, eu sei. A senhora tem pesadelos, prima?", perguntou à vizinha, com sua galanteria característica, tornando a baixar a voz.

"Às vezes", respondeu Charity. "Não com frequência."

"A outra", disse o Sr. Jonas depois de uma pausa. "ELA tem pesadelos?"

"Não sei", respondeu Charity. "É melhor perguntar a ela."

"Ela ri demais", disse Jonas; "não se consegue conversar com ela. Escute só como ela está se comportando agora! Você é a sensata, prima!"

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'Ora, ora!', exclamou Charity.

'Ah! Mas é! Você sabe que é!'

'Mercy é um pouco tola e agitada', disse a Srta. Charity. 'Mas ficará mais calma com o tempo.'

'Então vai demorar muito, se é que isso acontecerá', respondeu o primo. 'Ocupe um pouco mais de espaço.'

'Tenho medo de apertar você', disse Charity. Mesmo assim, aproximou-se. Depois de um ou dois comentários sobre a pesada diligência e suas muitas paradas, todos ficaram em silêncio até a hora da ceia.

O Sr. Jonas conduziu Charity ao hotel e sentou-se ao lado dela à mesa. Ainda assim, também observava 'a outra', olhando muitas vezes para Mercy e comparando as irmãs. Parecia preferir as formas mais cheias da irmã mais nova. Não podia observá-la por muito tempo, pois estava ocupado comendo. Sussurrou que a refeição tinha preço fixo, portanto, quanto mais Charity comesse, melhor seria o negócio. Seu pai e o Sr. Pecksniff seguiam a mesma regra. Comeram tudo o que conseguiam alcançar, até que seus rostos gordurosos mostraram satisfação, senão completa saciedade.

Original English Version

'Tut, tut!' cried Charity.

'Oh! But you are! You know you are!'

'Mercy is a little giddy,' said Miss Charity. But she'll sober down in time.'

'It'll be a very long time, then, if she does at all,' rejoined her cousin. 'Take a little more room.'

'I am afraid of crowding you,' said Charity. But she took it notwithstanding; and after one or two remarks on the extreme heaviness of the coach, and the number of places it stopped at, they fell into a silence which remained unbroken by any member of the party until supper-time.

Although Mr Jonas conducted Charity to the hotel and sat himself beside her at the board, it was pretty clear that he had an eye to 'the other one' also, for he often glanced across at Mercy, and seemed to draw comparisons between the personal appearance of the two, which were not unfavourable to the superior plumpness of the younger sister. He allowed himself no great leisure for this kind of observation, however, being busily engaged with the supper, which, as he whispered in his fair companion's ear, was a contract business, and therefore the more she ate, the better the bargain was. His father and Mr Pecksniff, probably acting on the same wise principle, demolished everything that came within their reach, and by that means acquired a greasy expression of countenance, indicating contentment, if not repletion, which it was very pleasant to contemplate.

Tradução Integral em Português

"Ora, ora!", exclamou Charity.

"Ah! Mas é! Você sabe que é!"

"Mercy é um pouco leviana", disse a Srta. Charity. "Mas acabará ficando mais ajuizada."

"Vai levar muito tempo, então, se é que algum dia acontecerá", replicou o primo. "Ocupe um pouco mais de espaço."

"Receio apertá-lo", disse Charity. Mas ocupou o espaço apesar disso; e, depois de uma ou duas observações sobre o peso extremo da diligência e o número de lugares onde parava, caíram num silêncio que nenhum membro do grupo rompeu até a hora da ceia.

Embora o Sr. Jonas conduzisse Charity ao hotel e se sentasse ao lado dela à mesa, era bastante claro que também estava de olho "na outra", pois lançava olhares frequentes para Mercy e parecia comparar a aparência física das duas, comparação que não desfavorecia a maior robustez da irmã mais jovem. Contudo, não se concedia muito tempo para essa espécie de observação, pois estava atarefado com a ceia, que, conforme sussurrou ao ouvido da bela companheira, fora contratada por preço fixo, e portanto quanto mais ela comesse, melhor seria o negócio. Seu pai e o Sr. Pecksniff, provavelmente agindo segundo o mesmo sábio princípio, demoliram tudo quanto lhes caiu ao alcance e, por esse meio, adquiriram uma expressão facial gordurosa, indicativa de contentamento, se não de fartura, que era muito agradável contemplar.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Quando não conseguiram comer mais, o Sr. Pecksniff e o Sr. Jonas pediram, cada um, conhaque quente com água, ao preço de seis pence. O Sr. Jonas achava isso mais prudente do que uma bebida de um xelim, pois o estalajadeiro poderia pôr mais conhaque em dois copos. Depois de beber, o Sr. Pecksniff fingiu ir verificar a diligência. Em vez disso, encheu secretamente seu pequeno frasco no bar, para poder beber sem ser visto na diligência escura.

Quando esses preparativos terminaram e a diligência ficou pronta, voltaram aos lugares anteriores e prosseguiram viagem. Antes de dormir, o Sr. Pecksniff pronunciou estas palavras como uma oração após a refeição:

'Amigos que estudam o corpo dizem que a digestão é uma das obras mais maravilhosas da natureza. Quando desfruto de alimentos simples, tenho o prazer de pôr em movimento a melhor máquina que conhecemos. Sinto que presto um serviço público. Quando dou corda em mim mesmo', disse o Sr. Pecksniff com suavidade, 'e sei que estou Funcionando, o trabalho dentro de mim ensina uma lição. Sou um Benfeitor de Minha Espécie!'

Original English Version

When they could eat no more, Mr Pecksniff and Mr Jonas subscribed for two sixpenny-worths of hot brandy-and-water, which the latter gentleman considered a more politic order than one shillingsworth; there being a chance of their getting more spirit out of the innkeeper under this arrangement than if it were all in one glass. Having swallowed his share of the enlivening fluid, Mr Pecksniff, under pretence of going to see if the coach were ready, went secretly to the bar, and had his own little bottle filled, in order that he might refresh himself at leisure in the dark coach without being observed.

These arrangements concluded, and the coach being ready, they got into their old places and jogged on again. But before he composed himself for a nap, Mr Pecksniff delivered a kind of grace after meat, in these words:

'The process of digestion, as I have been informed by anatomical friends, is one of the most wonderful works of nature. I do not know how it may be with others, but it is a great satisfaction to me to know, when regaling on my humble fare, that I am putting in motion the most beautiful machinery with which we have any acquaintance. I really feel at such times as if I was doing a public service. When I have wound myself up, if I may employ such a term,' said Mr Pecksniff with exquisite tenderness, 'and know that I am Going, I feel that in the lesson afforded by the works within me, I am a Benefactor to my Kind!'

Tradução Integral em Português

Quando não conseguiram comer mais, o Sr. Pecksniff e o Sr. Jonas juntaram dinheiro para duas porções de seis pence de conhaque quente com água, pedido que o último cavalheiro considerou mais sagaz que uma porção de um xelim, pois havia a possibilidade de, assim, extraírem do estalajadeiro mais bebida do que se tudo viesse num só copo. Depois de engolir sua parte do líquido revigorante, o Sr. Pecksniff, sob o pretexto de ir verificar se a diligência estava pronta, dirigiu-se em segredo ao balcão e mandou encher seu pequeno frasco, para poder refrescar-se à vontade na diligência escura sem ser observado.

Concluídos esses arranjos e estando pronta a diligência, retomaram os lugares anteriores e tornaram a seguir aos solavancos. Mas, antes de se acomodar para um cochilo, o Sr. Pecksniff pronunciou uma espécie de oração após a refeição, nestes termos:

"O processo de digestão, conforme me informaram amigos anatomistas, é uma das obras mais extraordinárias da natureza. Não sei como ocorre com os outros, mas é uma grande satisfação para mim saber, ao regalar-me com minha humilde comida, que estou pondo em movimento o mais belo mecanismo de que temos conhecimento. De fato, em ocasiões assim sinto como se prestasse um serviço público. Quando dou corda a mim mesmo, se me permitem empregar tal expressão", disse o Sr. Pecksniff com ternura primorosa, "e sei que estou Funcionando, sinto que, pela lição proporcionada pelas obras em meu interior, sou um Benfeitor de Minha Espécie!"

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Nada podia ser acrescentado, por isso ninguém falou. O Sr. Pecksniff, provavelmente orgulhoso de sua utilidade moral, adormeceu outra vez.

O resto da noite transcorreu como de costume. O Sr. Pecksniff e o velho Anthony caíam um contra o outro e despertavam assustados. Apertavam a cabeça em cantos opostos e, de algum modo, marcavam o rosto enquanto dormiam. A diligência parou e partiu inúmeras vezes. Passageiros entraram e saíram, e cavalos descansados vieram e foram. Para os viajantes sonolentos, as mudanças pareciam contínuas; para os inteiramente despertos, cada uma parecia separada da seguinte por uma noite inteira. Por fim, a diligência sacudiu sobre pedras muito irregulares. O Sr. Pecksniff olhou para fora e disse que a manhã seguinte havia chegado e que estavam no destino.

Logo a diligência parou em seu escritório na cidade. A rua já estava movimentada, confirmando a afirmação do Sr. Pecksniff de que a manhã chegara, embora o céu parecesse de meia-noite. A neblina espessa fazia o lugar parecer uma cidade nas nuvens, alcançada por um pé de feijão mágico. Uma camada grossa cobria a calçada como torta de óleo. Um passageiro do lado de fora disse a outro que aquilo era Neve, embora quem falava estivesse claramente louco e quem ouvia devesse ser seu guardião.

Original English Version

As nothing could be added to this, nothing was said; and Mr Pecksniff, exulting, it may be presumed, in his moral utility, went to sleep again.

The rest of the night wore away in the usual manner. Mr Pecksniff and Old Anthony kept tumbling against each other and waking up much terrified, or crushed their heads in opposite corners of the coach and strangely tattooed the surface of their faces--Heaven knows how--in their sleep. The coach stopped and went on, and went on and stopped, times out of number. Passengers got up and passengers got down, and fresh horses came and went and came again, with scarcely any interval between each team as it seemed to those who were dozing, and with a gap of a whole night between every one as it seemed to those who were broad awake. At length they began to jolt and rumble over horribly uneven stones, and Mr Pecksniff looking out of window said it was to-morrow morning, and they were there.

Very soon afterwards the coach stopped at the office in the city; and the street in which it was situated was already in a bustle, that fully bore out Mr Pecksniff's words about its being morning, though for any signs of day yet appearing in the sky it might have been midnight. There was a dense fog too; as if it were a city in the clouds, which they had been travelling to all night up a magic beanstalk; and there was a thick crust upon the pavement like oilcake; which, one of the outsides (mad, no doubt) said to another (his keeper, of course), was Snow.

Tradução Integral em Português

Como nada poderia ser acrescentado a isso, nada se disse; e o Sr. Pecksniff, exultando, presume-se, em sua utilidade moral, tornou a dormir.

O restante da noite transcorreu da maneira habitual. O Sr. Pecksniff e o velho Anthony continuaram caindo um contra o outro e acordando muito aterrorizados, ou esmagaram a cabeça em cantos opostos da diligência e, sabe Deus como, tatuaram estranhamente a superfície do rosto enquanto dormiam. A diligência parou e seguiu, seguiu e parou, incontáveis vezes. Passageiros subiram e passageiros desceram, e cavalos novos vieram e foram e tornaram a vir, quase sem intervalo entre cada parelha, segundo parecia aos que cochilavam, e com uma noite inteira entre cada uma, segundo parecia aos que estavam bem acordados. Por fim, começaram a sacolejar e estrondear sobre pedras horrivelmente irregulares, e o Sr. Pecksniff, olhando pela janela, disse que já era a manhã seguinte e que haviam chegado.

Pouquíssimo depois, a diligência parou no escritório da City; e a rua em que este se situava já estava numa agitação que confirmava por completo as palavras do Sr. Pecksniff de que era manhã, embora, a julgar por qualquer sinal do dia que aparecesse no céu, bem pudesse ser meia-noite. Havia também um nevoeiro denso, como se fosse uma cidade nas nuvens, até a qual eles tivessem viajado a noite inteira subindo por um pé de feijão mágico; e havia sobre o calçamento uma crosta espessa, semelhante a torta de óleo, que um dos passageiros do lado de fora (sem dúvida louco) disse a outro (seu guardião, é claro) ser Neve.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Pecksniff despediu-se de forma confusa de Anthony e do filho e deixou toda a bagagem no escritório. Com uma filha sob cada braço, correu por ruas, pátios e vielas estranhas e sob arcos escuros. Saltou sobre valetas, fugiu de carruagens e cavalos e várias vezes pensou ter perdido e reencontrado o caminho. Sua confiança aumentava e diminuía, mas ele estava sempre suado e apressado. Por fim, pararam num pátio pavimentado perto do Monumento - ou assim ele disse. Na neblina, não conseguiam ver Monumento algum nem nada além dos prédios próximos. Poderiam igualmente ter brincado de cabra-cega em Salisbury.

O Sr. Pecksniff olhou ao redor e bateu à porta de um prédio muito sujo e escuro entre muitos semelhantes. Uma pequena placa oval, parecida com uma bandeja de chá, dizia: 'Pensão Comercial: M. Todgers'.

M. Todgers não parecia estar acordada. O Sr. Pecksniff bateu duas vezes e tocou a campainha três, mas apenas um cão reagiu. Por fim, uma corrente e ferrolhos se moveram com som enferrujado. Apareceu um menino pequeno, com uma grande cabeça vermelha, quase sem nariz e uma bota Wellington suja no braço esquerdo. Surpreso, esfregou o nariz com uma escova de sapatos e nada disse.

Original English Version

Taking a confused leave of Anthony and his son, and leaving the luggage of himself and daughters at the office to be called for afterwards, Mr Pecksniff, with one of the young ladies under each arm, dived across the street, and then across other streets, and so up the queerest courts, and down the strangest alleys and under the blindest archways, in a kind of frenzy; now skipping over a kennel, now running for his life from a coach and horses; now thinking he had lost his way, now thinking he had found it; now in a state of the highest confidence, now despondent to the last degree, but always in a great perspiration and flurry; until at length they stopped in a kind of paved yard near the Monument. That is to say, Mr Pecksniff told them so; for as to anything they could see of the Monument, or anything else but the buildings close at hand, they might as well have been playing blindman's buff at Salisbury.

Mr Pecksniff looked about him for a moment, and then knocked at the door of a very dingy edifice, even among the choice collection of dingy edifices at hand; on the front of which was a little oval board like a tea-tray, with this inscription--'Commercial Boarding-House: M. Todgers.'

It seemed that M. Todgers was not up yet, for Mr Pecksniff knocked twice and rang thrice, without making any impression on anything but a dog over the way. At last a chain and some bolts were withdrawn with a rusty noise, as if the weather had made the very fastenings hoarse, and a small boy with a large red head, and no nose to speak of, and a very dirty Wellington boot on his left arm, appeared; who (being surprised) rubbed the nose just mentioned with the back of a shoe-brush, and said nothing.

Tradução Integral em Português

Despedindo-se confusamente de Anthony e do filho, e deixando no escritório sua bagagem e a das filhas para que fosse buscada depois, o Sr. Pecksniff, com uma jovem debaixo de cada braço, mergulhou através da rua, depois de outras ruas e então subiu pelos pátios mais insólitos, desceu pelas vielas mais estranhas e passou sob os arcos mais cegos numa espécie de frenesi; ora saltando sobre uma sarjeta, ora correndo para salvar a vida diante de uma carruagem e cavalos; ora julgando ter perdido o caminho, ora julgando tê-lo encontrado; ora num estado de suprema confiança, ora desalentado em grau extremo, mas sempre numa enorme transpiração e agitação; até que por fim pararam numa espécie de pátio pavimentado perto do Monumento. Isto é, o Sr. Pecksniff lhes disse que era assim; pois, quanto a qualquer coisa que pudessem ver do Monumento, ou de algo além dos edifícios imediatamente próximos, bem poderiam estar brincando de cabra-cega em Salisbury.

O Sr. Pecksniff olhou ao redor por um instante e então bateu à porta de um edifício muito encardido, mesmo em meio à seleta coleção de edifícios encardidos das redondezas; em sua fachada havia uma pequena placa oval semelhante a uma bandeja de chá, com esta inscrição: "Pensão Comercial: M. Todgers."

Parecia que M. Todgers ainda não se levantara, pois o Sr. Pecksniff bateu duas vezes e tocou três, sem causar impressão alguma em nada exceto num cão do outro lado da rua. Por fim, uma corrente e alguns ferrolhos foram retirados com um ruído enferrujado, como se o tempo houvesse deixado roucos até os trincos, e apareceu um menino pequeno, com uma grande cabeça vermelha, praticamente sem nariz e com uma bota Wellington muito suja no braço esquerdo; este (surpreendido) esfregou o nariz antes mencionado com as costas de uma escova de sapatos e não disse nada.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'Ainda na cama, meu rapaz?', perguntou o Sr. Pecksniff.

'Ainda na cama!', respondeu o menino. 'Quem me dera estivessem. Fazem barulho na cama, todos pedindo as botas ao mesmo tempo. Pensei que fosse o Jornal e estranhei que não o empurrasse pela abertura de costume. O que quer?'

O menino era jovem, mas perguntou isso de modo duro e desafiador. O Sr. Pecksniff não se ofendeu. Deu-lhe um cartão, mandou que o levasse para cima e pediu um quarto com lareira acesa.

'Se houver fogo na sala de jantar, posso encontrá-lo sozinho', disse o Sr. Pecksniff. Conduziu as filhas a um cômodo no térreo. Uma toalha pequena demais para a mesa estava preparada para o desjejum. Sobre ela havia carne bovina cozida e rosada, um pão macio mal assado, muitas xícaras e pires e os outros artigos habituais.

Original English Version

'Still a-bed my man?' asked Mr Pecksniff.

'Still a-bed!' replied the boy. 'I wish they wos still a-bed. They're very noisy a-bed; all calling for their boots at once. I thought you was the Paper, and wondered why you didn't shove yourself through the grating as usual. What do you want?'

Considering his years, which were tender, the youth may be said to have preferred this question sternly, and in something of a defiant manner. But Mr Pecksniff, without taking umbrage at his bearing put a card in his hand, and bade him take that upstairs, and show them in the meanwhile into a room where there was a fire.

'Or if there's one in the eating parlour,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'I can find it myself.' So he led his daughters, without waiting for any further introduction, into a room on the ground-floor, where a table-cloth (rather a tight and scanty fit in reference to the table it covered) was already spread for breakfast; displaying a mighty dish of pink boiled beef; an instance of that particular style of loaf which is known to housekeepers as a slack-baked, crummy quartern; a liberal provision of cups and saucers; and the usual appendages.

Tradução Integral em Português

"Ainda na cama, meu rapaz?", perguntou o Sr. Pecksniff.

"Ainda na cama!", respondeu o menino. "Queria eu que eles ainda estivessem na cama. Fazem um barulho danado na cama; todos pedindo as botas ao mesmo tempo. Pensei que fosse o Jornal e estranhei que não se enfiasse pela grade como de costume. O que quer?"

Levando-se em conta sua pouca idade, pode-se dizer que o jovem formulou essa pergunta com severidade e de maneira um tanto desafiadora. Mas o Sr. Pecksniff, sem se ofender com seus modos, pôs-lhe um cartão na mão e ordenou que o levasse para cima e, enquanto isso, os conduzisse a uma sala onde houvesse fogo.

"Ou, se houver um na sala de refeições", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "posso encontrá-la sozinho." Assim, sem esperar por nenhuma outra apresentação, conduziu as filhas a uma sala no térreo, onde uma toalha (um tanto justa e escassa em relação à mesa que cobria) já estava estendida para o café da manhã, exibindo um enorme prato de carne bovina cozida e rosada; um exemplar daquele tipo particular de pão conhecido pelas donas de casa como um pão de quatro libras mal assado e cheio de miolo; uma provisão generosa de xícaras e pires; e os acompanhamentos habituais.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Dentro da lareira havia cerca de meia dúzia de pares de sapatos e botas limpos, virados de cabeça para baixo para secar. Havia também um par de polainas pretas curtas. Alguém escrevera com giz 'Especial de Jinkins' numa delas. A outra exibia um desenho de Jinkins de perfil. Aparentemente, um cavalheiro descera enquanto se vestia, fizera a piada e voltara para cima.

Original English Version

Inside the fender were some half-dozen pairs of shoes and boots, of various sizes, just cleaned and turned with the soles upwards to dry; and a pair of short black gaiters, on one of which was chalked--in sport, it would appear, by some gentleman who had slipped down for the purpose, pending his toilet, and gone up again--'Jinkins's Particular,' while the other exhibited a sketch in profile, claiming to be the portrait of Jinkins himself.

Tradução Integral em Português

Dentro da grade da lareira havia cerca de meia dúzia de pares de sapatos e botas de vários tamanhos, recém-limpos e virados com as solas para cima a fim de secarem; e um par de polainas pretas e curtas, numa das quais estava escrito a giz - por brincadeira, ao que parecia, por algum cavalheiro que descera furtivamente para isso no meio de sua toalete e tornara a subir - "Especial de Jinkins", enquanto a outra exibia um esboço de perfil que pretendia ser o retrato do próprio Jinkins.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A Pensão Comercial de M. Todgers era sempre escura, mas naquela manhã estava especialmente sombria. O corredor cheirava como se todos os jantares preparados desde a construção da casa ainda esperassem acima da escada da cozinha. Como o Frade Negro de Don Juan, aquilo 'não queria ser expulso'. O repolho era o cheiro mais forte, como se todo vegetal verde cozido ali vivesse para sempre. A sala revestida de madeira fazia os estranhos pensarem em ratos e camundongos. Escadas largas e escuras tinham corrimãos pesados o bastante para uma ponte. No primeiro patamar havia um enorme relógio velho que usava três bolas de latão como coroa. Poucos o viam com clareza, e ninguém o encarava. Seu tique-taque pesado advertia as pessoas a não trombar nele. Ninguém se lembrava de Todgers ter sido pintada ou receber papel de parede. Era preta, suja e mofada. Acima da escada, uma claraboia quebrada, remendada de muitas maneiras, observava todos lá embaixo com desconfiança. Cobria a casa como uma estufa para o cultivo de plantas humanas incomuns.

Original English Version

M. Todgers's Commercial Boarding-House was a house of that sort which is likely to be dark at any time; but that morning it was especially dark. There was an odd smell in the passage, as if the concentrated essence of all the dinners that had been cooked in the kitchen since the house was built, lingered at the top of the kitchen stairs to that hour, and like the Black Friar in Don Juan, 'wouldn't be driven away.' In particular, there was a sensation of cabbage; as if all the greens that had ever been boiled there, were evergreens, and flourished in immortal strength. The parlour was wainscoted, and communicated to strangers a magnetic and instinctive consciousness of rats and mice. The staircase was very gloomy and very broad, with balustrades so thick and heavy that they would have served for a bridge. In a sombre corner on the first landing, stood a gruff old giant of a clock, with a preposterous coronet of three brass balls on his head; whom few had ever seen--none ever looked in the face--and who seemed to continue his heavy tick for no other reason than to warn heedless people from running into him accidentally. It had not been papered or painted, hadn't Todgers's, within the memory of man. It was very black, begrimed, and mouldy. And, at the top of the staircase, was an old, disjointed, rickety, ill-favoured skylight, patched and mended in all kinds of ways, which looked distrustfully down at everything that passed below, and covered Todgers's up as if it were a sort of human cucumber-frame, and only people of a peculiar growth were reared there.

Tradução Integral em Português

A Pensão Comercial de M. Todgers era uma daquelas casas propensas a ser escuras a qualquer hora; mas naquela manhã estava especialmente escura. Havia no corredor um odor estranho, como se a essência concentrada de todos os jantares preparados na cozinha desde a construção da casa permanecesse até aquela hora no alto da escada da cozinha e, como o Frade Negro em Don Juan, "não quisesse ser expulsa". Em particular, havia uma sensação de repolho; como se todas as verduras ali cozidas fossem sempre-verdes e vicejassem com vigor imortal. A sala tinha lambris e transmitia aos desconhecidos uma consciência magnética e instintiva de ratazanas e camundongos. A escada era muito sombria e larga, com balaústres tão grossos e pesados que teriam servido para uma ponte. Num canto escuro do primeiro patamar erguia-se um gigante velho e rabugento de relógio, trazendo na cabeça uma absurda coroa de três bolas de latão; poucos jamais o haviam visto - ninguém jamais o fitara de frente - , e ele parecia continuar com seu tique-taque pesado pelo único motivo de advertir as pessoas desatentas para que não esbarrassem nele por acidente. Não fora forrada de papel nem pintada, a casa de Todgers, desde que havia memória humana. Era muito negra, encardida e mofada. E, no alto da escada, havia uma velha claraboia desconjuntada, instável e desagradável, remendada e consertada de todas as maneiras, que contemplava com desconfiança tudo quanto passava abaixo e cobria a casa de Todgers como se esta fosse uma espécie de estufa humana para pepinos, onde só se cultivavam pessoas de crescimento peculiar.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O Sr. Pecksniff e suas filhas tinham se aquecido por menos de dez minutos quando se ouviram passos na escada. A senhora que governava a casa entrou apressada.

M. Todgers era uma senhora magra, de rosto duro. Cachos semelhantes a pequenos barris de cerveja alinhavam-se em sua testa. Um pedaço de rede por cima parecia uma teia de aranha negra. Ela carregava uma pequena cesta com chaves tilintantes. Na outra mão, trazia uma vela de sebo acesa. Examinou o Sr. Pecksniff à luz dela e depois a pousou para poder recebê-lo calorosamente.

'Sr. Pecksniff!', exclamou a Sra. Todgers. 'Bem-vindo a Londres! Quem imaginaria uma visita como esta, depois de tantos... meu Deus!... tantos anos! Como TEM passado, Sr. Pecksniff?'

'Tão bem quanto sempre; e tão feliz em vê-la quanto sempre', respondeu o Sr. Pecksniff. 'Ora, você está mais jovem do que antes!'

'O SENHOR é que está, tenho certeza!', disse a Sra. Todgers. 'Não mudou nem um pouco.'

Original English Version

Mr Pecksniff and his fair daughters had not stood warming themselves at the fire ten minutes, when the sound of feet was heard upon the stairs, and the presiding deity of the establishment came hurrying in.

M. Todgers was a lady, rather a bony and hard-featured lady, with a row of curls in front of her head, shaped like little barrels of beer; and on the top of it something made of net--you couldn't call it a cap exactly--which looked like a black cobweb. She had a little basket on her arm, and in it a bunch of keys that jingled as she came. In her other hand she bore a flaming tallow candle, which, after surveying Mr Pecksniff for one instant by its light, she put down upon the table, to the end that she might receive him with the greater cordiality.

'Mr Pecksniff!' cried Mrs Todgers. 'Welcome to London! Who would have thought of such a visit as this, after so--dear, dear!--so many years! How do you DO, Mr Pecksniff?'

'As well as ever; and as glad to see you, as ever;' Mr Pecksniff made response. 'Why, you are younger than you used to be!'

'YOU are, I am sure!' said Mrs Todgers. 'You're not a bit changed.'

Tradução Integral em Português

O Sr. Pecksniff e suas belas filhas não haviam permanecido dez minutos aquecendo-se ao fogo quando se ouviu o som de passos na escada, e a divindade soberana do estabelecimento entrou às pressas.

M. Todgers era uma senhora, uma senhora um tanto ossuda e de feições duras, com uma fileira de cachos diante da cabeça, moldados como pequenos barris de cerveja; e no alto trazia algo feito de rede - não se poderia chamar exatamente de touca - que parecia uma teia de aranha negra. Tinha uma cestinha no braço e, dentro dela, um molho de chaves que tilintava enquanto se aproximava. Na outra mão trazia uma vela de sebo em chamas, que, depois de examinar o Sr. Pecksniff por um instante à sua luz, pousou sobre a mesa, a fim de poder recebê-lo com maior cordialidade.

"Sr. Pecksniff!", exclamou a Sra. Todgers. "Bem-vindo a Londres! Quem teria imaginado uma visita como esta depois de tantos... céus, céus!... tantos anos! Como ESTÁ, Sr. Pecksniff?"

"Tão bem como sempre; e tão feliz por vê-la como sempre", respondeu o Sr. Pecksniff. "Ora, está mais jovem do que costumava ser!"

"O SENHOR é que está, tenho certeza!", disse a Sra. Todgers. "Não mudou nada."

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'O que diz disto?', exclamou o Sr. Pecksniff, estendendo a mão na direção das jovens. 'Isto não me deixa mais velho?'

'Não são suas filhas!', exclamou a senhora. 'Ah, não, Sr. Pecksniff! Sua segunda esposa e a dama de honra dela!'

O Sr. Pecksniff sorriu satisfeito, balançou a cabeça e disse: 'Minhas filhas, Sra. Todgers. Apenas minhas filhas.'

'Ah!', suspirou a boa senhora. 'Preciso acreditar no senhor, pois agora, olhando para elas, acho que as reconheceria em qualquer lugar. Minhas queridas senhoritas Pecksniff, como seu papai me deixou feliz!'

Ela abraçou as duas. Seus sentimentos ou o mau tempo da manhã a haviam dominado. Tirou um pequeno lenço da cesta e o levou ao rosto.

'Minha boa senhora', disse o Sr. Pecksniff, 'conheço suas regras e sei que aceita apenas cavalheiros como hóspedes. Mas pensei que talvez pudesse dar um quarto a minhas filhas e abrir uma exceção para elas.'

Original English Version

'What do you say to this?' cried Mr Pecksniff, stretching out his hand towards the young ladies. 'Does this make me no older?'

'Not your daughters!' exclaimed the lady, raising her hands and clasping them. 'Oh, no, Mr Pecksniff! Your second, and her bridesmaid!'

Mr Pecksniff smiled complacently; shook his head; and said, 'My daughters, Mrs Todgers. Merely my daughters.'

'Ah!' sighed the good lady, 'I must believe you, for now I look at 'em I think I should have known 'em anywhere. My dear Miss Pecksniffs, how happy your Pa has made me!'

She hugged them both; and being by this time overpowered by her feelings or the inclemency of the morning, jerked a little pocket handkerchief out of the little basket, and applied the same to her face.

'Now, my good madam,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'I know the rules of your establishment, and that you only receive gentlemen boarders. But it occurred to me, when I left home, that perhaps you would give my daughters house room, and make an exception in their favour.'

Tradução Integral em Português

"O que diz disto?", exclamou o Sr. Pecksniff, estendendo a mão na direção das jovens. "Isto não me torna mais velho?"

"Não são suas filhas!", exclamou a senhora, levantando as mãos e unindo-as. "Ah, não, Sr. Pecksniff! Sua segunda esposa e a dama de honra dela!"

O Sr. Pecksniff sorriu com complacência, balançou a cabeça e disse: "Minhas filhas, Sra. Todgers. Apenas minhas filhas."

"Ah!", suspirou a boa senhora, "preciso acreditar no senhor, pois agora, ao olhar para elas, acho que as reconheceria em qualquer lugar. Minhas queridas senhoritas Pecksniff, como seu papai me fez feliz!"

Abraçou ambas; e, a essa altura vencida pelos sentimentos ou pelo rigor da manhã, tirou bruscamente um lencinho da cestinha e o aplicou ao rosto.

"Ora, minha boa senhora", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "conheço as regras de seu estabelecimento e sei que recebe apenas cavalheiros pensionistas. Mas, quando saí de casa, ocorreu-me que talvez desse abrigo a minhas filhas e abrisse uma exceção em favor delas."

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

'Talvez?', exclamou a Sra. Todgers, muito agitada. 'Talvez?'

'Então posso dizer que tinha certeza de que faria isso', disse o Sr. Pecksniff. 'Sei que tem um quartinho próprio e que elas poderão ficar confortáveis ali, sem aparecer à mesa geral.'

'Queridas meninas!', disse a Sra. Todgers. 'Preciso abraçá-las mais uma vez.'

A Sra. Todgers queria dizer que precisava abraçá-las outra vez, e o fez calorosamente. Na verdade, a casa estava cheia, exceto por uma cama, que o Sr. Pecksniff usaria. Ela precisava de tempo para decidir onde as irmãs poderiam dormir. Mesmo depois do segundo abraço, observou-as por vários instantes. O afeto brilhava num olho e o cálculo prático no outro.

'Acho que consigo dar um jeito', disse a Sra. Todgers. 'Há um sofá-cama no terceiro quartinho, que se abre a partir de minha sala. Ah, queridas meninas!'

Original English Version

'Perhaps?' cried Mrs Todgers ecstatically. 'Perhaps?'

'I may say then, that I was sure you would,' said Mr Pecksniff. 'I know that you have a little room of your own, and that they can be comfortable there, without appearing at the general table.'

'Dear girls!' said Mrs Todgers. 'I must take that liberty once more.'

Mrs Todgers meant by this that she must embrace them once more, which she accordingly did with great ardour. But the truth was that the house being full with the exception of one bed, which would now be occupied by Mr Pecksniff, she wanted time for consideration; and so much time too (for it was a knotty point how to dispose of them), that even when this second embrace was over, she stood for some moments gazing at the sisters, with affection beaming in one eye, and calculation shining out of the other.

'I think I know how to arrange it,' said Mrs Todgers, at length. 'A sofa bedstead in the little third room which opens from my own parlour.--Oh, you dear girls!'

Tradução Integral em Português

"Talvez?", exclamou a Sra. Todgers em êxtase. "Talvez?"

"Posso dizer, então, que tinha certeza de que o faria", disse o Sr. Pecksniff. "Sei que tem um quartinho particular e que elas poderão ficar confortáveis ali, sem aparecer à mesa comum."

"Queridas meninas!", disse a Sra. Todgers. "Preciso tomar mais uma vez essa liberdade."

Com isso, a Sra. Todgers queria dizer que precisava abraçá-las de novo, o que fez com grande ardor. Mas a verdade era que, estando a casa lotada à exceção de uma cama, que agora seria ocupada pelo Sr. Pecksniff, ela precisava de tempo para pensar; e de bastante tempo (pois era difícil decidir onde instalá-las), tanto que, mesmo depois de terminado esse segundo abraço, permaneceu por alguns instantes contemplando as irmãs, com afeto irradiando de um olho e cálculo reluzindo no outro.

"Creio que sei como resolver", disse por fim a Sra. Todgers. "Um sofá-cama no terceiro quartinho, que dá para minha própria sala. Ah, meninas queridas!"

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Ela as abraçou novamente e disse que não conseguia decidir qual das irmãs mais se parecia com a pobre mãe. Isso fazia sentido, pois nunca vira aquela senhora. Ainda assim, achava que era a mais nova. Depois, a Sra. Todgers disse que os cavalheiros logo desceriam e que as moças estavam cansadas da viagem. Não gostariam de ir imediatamente para o quarto dela?

Era a sala dos fundos no mesmo andar. A Sra. Todgers disse que ela tinha a grande vantagem londrina de não ser vista de fora, como perceberiam quando a neblina se dissipasse. Era verdade: a sessenta centímetros de distância havia uma parede marrom com uma cisterna preta no alto. Uma portinha conveniente, que só se abria quando uma pessoa forte caía contra ela, levava ao quarto das jovens. Dava para outro canto de parede e cisterna. 'Não é o lado úmido', disse a Sra. Todgers. 'ESSE é o do Sr. Jinkins.'

Original English Version

Thereupon she embraced them once more, observing that she could not decide which was most like their poor mother (which was highly probable, seeing that she had never beheld that lady), but that she rather thought the youngest was; and then she said that as the gentlemen would be down directly, and the ladies were fatigued with travelling, would they step into her room at once?

It was on the same floor; being, in fact, the back parlour; and had, as Mrs Todgers said, the great advantage (in London) of not being overlooked; as they would see when the fog cleared off. Nor was this a vainglorious boast, for it commanded at a perspective of two feet, a brown wall with a black cistern on the top. The sleeping apartment designed for the young ladies was approached from this chamber by a mightily convenient little door, which would only open when fallen against by a strong person. It commanded from a similar point of sight another angle of the wall, and another side of the cistern. 'Not the damp side,' said Mrs Todgers. 'THAT is Mr Jinkins's.'

Tradução Integral em Português

Então tornou a abraçá-las, observando que não conseguia decidir qual das duas mais se parecia com a pobre mãe (o que era muito provável, considerando-se que jamais vira aquela senhora), embora se inclinasse a pensar que era a mais jovem; depois disse que, como os cavalheiros desceriam de imediato e as senhoritas estavam fatigadas da viagem, não gostariam de ir logo para seu quarto?

Ficava no mesmo andar; era, na verdade, a sala dos fundos; e possuía, como disse a Sra. Todgers, a grande vantagem (em Londres) de não ser devassada por vizinhos, conforme veriam quando o nevoeiro se dissipasse. E isso não era vanglória, pois, a uma perspectiva de sessenta centímetros, dominava uma parede parda com uma cisterna negra no alto. Chegava-se ao aposento de dormir destinado às jovens senhoras por uma portinha extremamente cômoda, que só se abria quando uma pessoa forte caía contra ela. De um ponto de vista semelhante, dominava outro ângulo da parede e outro lado da cisterna. "Não o lado úmido", disse a Sra. Todgers. "ESSE é do Sr. Jinkins."

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Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

O jovem carregador acendeu depressa o fogo no primeiro quarto. Enquanto a Sra. Todgers estava fora, ele assobiou e desenhou figuras em suas calças de veludo cotelê com madeira queimada. Quando ela o pegou, mandou-o embora com um tapa nas orelhas. Preparou pessoalmente o desjejum das jovens. Depois foi dirigir o outro cômodo, onde continuavam as piadas barulhentas sobre o Sr. Jinkins.

'Ainda não vou perguntar, minhas queridas', disse o Sr. Pecksniff à porta, 'o que acham de Londres. Devo perguntar?'

'Não vimos muita coisa, papai!', exclamou Merry.

'Nada, espero', disse Cherry, ambas parecendo infelizes.

'De fato', disse o Sr. Pecksniff, 'isso é verdade. Nosso prazer e nossos negócios ainda estão pela frente. Tudo a seu tempo!'

Se os negócios londrinos do Sr. Pecksniff eram tão profissionais quanto ele dissera ao novo aluno, veremos, nas palavras dele, 'tudo a seu tempo'.

Original English Version

In the first of these sanctuaries a fire was speedily kindled by the youthful porter, who, whistling at his work in the absence of Mrs Todgers (not to mention his sketching figures on his corduroys with burnt firewood), and being afterwards taken by that lady in the fact, was dismissed with a box on his ears. Having prepared breakfast for the young ladies with her own hands, she withdrew to preside in the other room; where the joke at Mr Jinkins's expense seemed to be proceeding rather noisily.

'I won't ask you yet, my dears,' said Mr Pecksniff, looking in at the door, 'how you like London. Shall I?'

'We haven't seen much of it, Pa!' cried Merry.

'Nothing, I hope,' said Cherry. (Both very miserably.)

'Indeed,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'that's true. We have our pleasure, and our business too, before us. All in good time. All in good time!'

Whether Mr Pecksniff's business in London was as strictly professional as he had given his new pupil to understand, we shall see, to adopt that worthy man's phraseology, 'all in good time.'

Tradução Integral em Português

No primeiro desses santuários, o jovem carregador logo acendeu um fogo e, assobiando enquanto trabalhava na ausência da Sra. Todgers (sem mencionar que desenhava figuras nas próprias calças de veludo cotelê com lenha queimada), foi depois apanhado em flagrante por aquela senhora e despedido com um tabefe na orelha. Tendo preparado com as próprias mãos o café da manhã das jovens, ela retirou-se para presidir na outra sala, onde a brincadeira à custa do Sr. Jinkins parecia prosseguir com bastante barulho.

"Ainda não lhes perguntarei, minhas queridas", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, espiando pela porta, "o que acham de Londres. Perguntarei?"

"Não vimos muita coisa, papai!", exclamou Merry.

"Nada, espero", disse Cherry. (Ambas muito abatidas.)

"De fato", disse o Sr. Pecksniff, "é verdade. Temos diante de nós nosso prazer e também nossos negócios. Tudo a seu tempo. Tudo a seu tempo!"

Se os negócios do Sr. Pecksniff em Londres eram tão estritamente profissionais quanto dera a entender a seu novo aluno, veremos, para adotar a fraseologia daquele digno homem, "tudo a seu tempo".

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Chapter Nine

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

A CIDADE E TODGERS

Certamente nenhum outro distrito, cidade ou povoado tinha um lugar tão estranho quanto Todgers. Os prédios londrinos ao redor a cercavam, empurravam e esmagavam. Enfiavam nela os cotovelos de tijolo e argamassa e bloqueavam seu ar e sua luz. Portanto, aquela parte de Londres parecia parente adequada de Todgers e de milhares de outras casas excêntricas semelhantes.

Original English Version

TOWN AND TODGER'S

Surely there never was, in any other borough, city, or hamlet in the world, such a singular sort of a place as Todgers's. And surely London, to judge from that part of it which hemmed Todgers's round and hustled it, and crushed it, and stuck its brick-and-mortar elbows into it, and kept the air from it, and stood perpetually between it and the light, was worthy of Todgers's, and qualified to be on terms of close relationship and alliance with hundreds and thousands of the odd family to which Todgers's belonged.

Tradução Integral em Português

A CIDADE E A CASA DE TODGERS

Por certo jamais existiu, em qualquer outro distrito, cidade ou aldeia do mundo, lugar de espécie tão singular quanto a casa de Todgers. E por certo Londres, a julgar pela parte que cercava e acotovelava a casa de Todgers, que a esmagava, enterrava nela seus cotovelos de tijolo e argamassa, privava-a de ar e se interpunha perpetuamente entre ela e a luz, era digna da casa de Todgers e qualificada para manter estreitas relações e alianças com centenas e milhares de membros da estranha família a que a casa de Todgers pertencia.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Não era possível atravessar a região de Todgers como se atravessa outro bairro. Durante uma hora, a pessoa tateava por vielas, ruas laterais, pátios e passagens sem chegar a nada parecido com uma rua. Um estranho logo se confundia e aceitava que estava perdido. Entrava, saía e dava voltas, retornando ao encontrar um muro ou grade de ferro. Só podia esperar e torcer para que uma saída aparecesse por si mesma. Algumas pessoas convidadas para jantar em Todgers andavam por séculos com suas chaminés à vista. Quando ainda assim não conseguiam alcançá-la, voltavam para casa em triste silêncio. Ninguém jamais encontrou Todgers seguindo instruções faladas, mesmo estando a poucos minutos dali. Viajantes cuidadosos da Escócia ou do norte da Inglaterra às vezes chegavam em segurança. Traziam um menino de caridade da cidade como guia ou agarravam-se firmemente ao carteiro. Esses casos raros apenas confirmavam a regra: Todgers ficava num labirinto cujo segredo pouquíssimos conheciam.

Original English Version

You couldn't walk about Todgers's neighbourhood, as you could in any other neighbourhood. You groped your way for an hour through lanes and byways, and court-yards, and passages; and you never once emerged upon anything that might be reasonably called a street. A kind of resigned distraction came over the stranger as he trod those devious mazes, and, giving himself up for lost, went in and out and round about and quietly turned back again when he came to a dead wall or was stopped by an iron railing, and felt that the means of escape might possibly present themselves in their own good time, but that to anticipate them was hopeless. Instances were known of people who, being asked to dine at Todgers's, had travelled round and round for a weary time, with its very chimney-pots in view; and finding it, at last, impossible of attainment, had gone home again with a gentle melancholy on their spirits, tranquil and uncomplaining. Nobody had ever found Todgers's on a verbal direction, though given within a few minutes' walk of it. Cautious emigrants from Scotland or the North of England had been known to reach it safely, by impressing a charity-boy, town-bred, and bringing him along with them; or by clinging tenaciously to the postman; but these were rare exceptions, and only went to prove the rule that Todgers's was in a labyrinth, whereof the mystery was known but to a chosen few.

Tradução Integral em Português

Não se podia passear pela vizinhança da casa de Todgers como por qualquer outra. Tateava-se durante uma hora por vielas, caminhos secundários, pátios e passagens sem surgir uma única vez em algo que pudesse razoavelmente ser chamado de rua. Uma espécie de confusão resignada tomava conta do desconhecido enquanto percorria aqueles labirintos tortuosos e, dando-se por perdido, entrava e saía, contornava e tornava tranquilamente a voltar quando encontrava uma parede sem saída ou era detido por uma grade de ferro, sentindo que os meios de escapar talvez se apresentassem no devido tempo, mas que era inútil antecipá-los. Conheciam-se casos de pessoas que, convidadas para jantar na casa de Todgers, haviam rodado e rodado por um tempo exaustivo com as próprias chaminés do prédio à vista e, por fim descobrindo ser impossível alcançá-lo, haviam voltado para casa com suave melancolia no espírito, tranquilas e sem queixas. Ninguém jamais encontrara a casa de Todgers seguindo instruções verbais, ainda que dadas a poucos minutos de caminhada dali. Soube-se de emigrantes cautelosos da Escócia ou do Norte da Inglaterra que chegaram em segurança recrutando à força um menino de instituição de caridade, criado na cidade, e levando-o consigo, ou agarrando-se tenazmente ao carteiro; mas eram raras exceções e só serviam para provar a regra de que a casa de Todgers ficava num labirinto cujo mistério era conhecido apenas de uns poucos eleitos.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Corretores de frutas tinham mercados perto de Todgers. Um visitante notava primeiro laranjas danificadas, com manchas azuis e verdes, apodrecendo em caixas e porões. O dia inteiro, carregadores vinham dos cais do rio com caixotes de laranjas prestes a estourar sobre as costas. Avançavam devagar pelas passagens estreitas. Sob o arco da taberna, grupos de carregadores em repouso bebiam da manhã à noite. Bombas solitárias e estranhas se escondiam em becos sem saída ao lado de escadas de incêndio. Havia também dezenas de igrejas com pequenos cemitérios fantasmagóricos. Umidade, sepulturas e lixo alimentavam as plantas selvagens que cresciam ali. Alguns desses lugares escuros de repouso tinham árvores altas, mas doentes. A cada ano, elas produziam folhas como se recordassem fracamente sua própria espécie. Eram como pássaros engaiolados lembrando-se da liberdade. Velhos vigias com pouca força guardavam os mortos ali à noite, ano após ano. Por fim, os vigias juntavam-se aos mortos. Então dormiam mais profundamente debaixo da terra, em outro tipo de caixa, mas pouco mais mudava em sua condição.

Original English Version

Several fruit-brokers had their marts near Todgers's; and one of the first impressions wrought upon the stranger's senses was of oranges--of damaged oranges--with blue and green bruises on them, festering in boxes, or mouldering away in cellars. All day long, a stream of porters from the wharves beside the river, each bearing on his back a bursting chest of oranges, poured slowly through the narrow passages; while underneath the archway by the public-house, the knots of those who rested and regaled within, were piled from morning until night. Strange solitary pumps were found near Todgers's hiding themselves for the most part in blind alleys, and keeping company with fire-ladders. There were churches also by dozens, with many a ghostly little churchyard, all overgrown with such straggling vegetation as springs up spontaneously from damp, and graves, and rubbish. In some of these dingy resting-places which bore much the same analogy to green churchyards, as the pots of earth for mignonette and wall-flower in the windows overlooking them did to rustic gardens, there were trees; tall trees; still putting forth their leaves in each succeeding year, with such a languishing remembrance of their kind (so one might fancy, looking on their sickly boughs) as birds in cages have of theirs. Here, paralysed old watchmen guarded the bodies of the dead at night, year after year, until at last they joined that solemn brotherhood; and, saving that they slept below the ground a sounder sleep than even they had ever known above it, and were shut up in another kind of box, their condition can hardly be said to have undergone any material change when they, in turn, were watched themselves.

Tradução Integral em Português

Vários corretores de frutas tinham seus mercados perto da casa de Todgers; e uma das primeiras impressões produzidas nos sentidos do desconhecido era de laranjas - laranjas estragadas - , com manchas azuis e verdes, apodrecendo em caixotes ou embolorando nos porões. O dia inteiro, uma corrente de carregadores dos cais junto ao rio, cada qual trazendo nas costas um caixote de laranjas prestes a rebentar, fluía lentamente pelas passagens estreitas; enquanto, sob o arco perto da cervejaria, amontoavam-se da manhã à noite os grupos dos que ali dentro descansavam e se regalavam. Encontravam-se perto da casa de Todgers estranhas bombas d'água solitárias, escondendo-se na maior parte em becos sem saída e fazendo companhia a escadas de incêndio. Havia também igrejas às dezenas, com muitos pequenos cemitérios fantasmagóricos, todos cobertos daquela vegetação esparsa que brota espontaneamente da umidade, das sepulturas e do lixo. Em alguns desses locais sombrios de repouso, que guardavam mais ou menos a mesma relação com cemitérios verdes que os vasos de terra com resedás e goivos nas janelas voltadas para eles guardavam com jardins campestres, havia árvores; árvores altas, que ainda produziam folhas a cada ano sucessivo, com uma recordação tão lânguida de sua espécie (assim se poderia imaginar, olhando seus ramos enfermiços) quanto a que têm as aves engaioladas da sua. Ali, velhos vigias paralíticos guardavam os corpos dos mortos à noite, ano após ano, até que por fim se juntavam àquela irmandade solene; e, salvo por dormirem debaixo da terra um sono mais profundo do que jamais conheceram sobre ela e estarem fechados em outra espécie de caixa, mal se poderia dizer que sua condição sofresse qualquer alteração material quando, por sua vez, passavam a ser vigiados.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Velhos portais de carvalho entalhado permaneciam nas passagens estreitas perto de Todgers. Muito tempo antes, sons de banquetes vinham deles. Agora, as casas antigas eram depósitos escuros cheios de lã, algodão e outras mercadorias pesadas. Esses produtos abafavam os sons e faziam os prédios vazios parecerem mortos e sombrios. Pátios lúgubres continham enormes sacos e fardos pendurados em guindastes altos. Poucas pessoas entravam neles, exceto viajantes tardios. Incontáveis carroças paradas bloqueavam as vielas estreitas diante das portas de seus donos. Quando uma carruagem perdida ou uma carroça pesada passava, causava grande estrondo. Até os sinos das igrejas próximas tremiam. Em becos escuros e sem saída, comerciantes de vinho e atacadistas de alimentos tinham pequenas cidades próprias. Bem abaixo desses prédios havia estábulos. Nos domingos silenciosos, cavalos de carroça incomodados por ratos sacudiam os cabrestos como fantasmas agitando correntes em histórias de casas assombradas.

Original English Version

Among the narrow thoroughfares at hand, there lingered, here and there, an ancient doorway of carved oak, from which, of old, the sounds of revelry and feasting often came; but now these mansions, only used for storehouses, were dark and dull, and, being filled with wool, and cotton, and the like--such heavy merchandise as stifles sound and stops the throat of echo--had an air of palpable deadness about them which, added to their silence and desertion, made them very grim. In like manner, there were gloomy courtyards in these parts, into which few but belated wayfarers ever strayed, and where vast bags and packs of goods, upward or downward bound, were for ever dangling between heaven and earth from lofty cranes There were more trucks near Todgers's than you would suppose whole city could ever need; not active trucks, but a vagabond race, for ever lounging in the narrow lanes before their masters' doors and stopping up the pass; so that when a stray hackney-coach or lumbering waggon came that way, they were the cause of such an uproar as enlivened the whole neighbourhood, and made the bells in the next churchtower vibrate again. In the throats and maws of dark no-thoroughfares near Todgers's, individual wine-merchants and wholesale dealers in grocery-ware had perfect little towns of their own; and, deep among the foundations of these buildings, the ground was undermined and burrowed out into stables, where cart-horses, troubled by rats, might be heard on a quiet Sunday rattling their halters, as disturbed spirits in tales of haunted houses are said to clank their chains.

Tradução Integral em Português

Entre as estreitas vias próximas, persistia aqui e ali uma antiga entrada de carvalho entalhado, da qual, outrora, vinham com frequência os sons da folia e dos banquetes; mas agora essas mansões, usadas apenas como armazéns, eram escuras e apagadas e, estando cheias de lã, algodão e coisas semelhantes - mercadorias tão pesadas que abafam o som e estrangulam a garganta do eco - , possuíam um ar de morte palpável que, somado ao silêncio e abandono, as tornava muito sinistras. Da mesma forma, havia naquelas partes pátios sombrios onde poucos, além de viajantes tardios, jamais se aventuravam e onde enormes sacos e fardos de mercadorias, destinados a subir ou descer, pendiam perpetuamente entre o céu e a terra em gruas elevadas. Havia perto da casa de Todgers mais carrinhos do que se imaginaria que uma cidade inteira pudesse necessitar; não carrinhos ativos, mas uma raça vagabunda, sempre vadiando nas vielas estreitas diante das portas de seus donos e obstruindo a passagem; de modo que, quando uma carruagem de aluguel extraviada ou uma carroça pesada vinha por ali, causavam tamanha algazarra que animava toda a vizinhança e fazia vibrar os sinos da torre da igreja mais próxima. Nas gargantas e goelas de passagens escuras e sem saída perto da casa de Todgers, comerciantes individuais de vinho e atacadistas de gêneros alimentícios tinham pequenas cidades inteiras para si; e, no fundo dos alicerces daqueles edifícios, o terreno fora escavado e perfurado para formar estábulos, onde cavalos de carroça atormentados por ratos podiam ser ouvidos, num domingo tranquilo, chocalhando os cabrestos, como se diz que espíritos inquietos fazem tilintar as correntes nas histórias de casas assombradas.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Tradução da Versão Simplificada (B1)

Contar sobre metade das estranhas tavernas antigas perto de Todgers encheria um livro. Seus excêntricos e antigos frequentadores poderiam encher outro. A maioria nascera e fora criada na região. Agora chiavam e tinham falta de ar, exceto quando contavam histórias muito longas. Eram contra o vapor e toda moda nova. Chamavam de pecado viajar em balão e lamentavam a decadência de sua época. O membro do clube que guardava as chaves da igreja mais próxima culpava as divergências religiosas e a falta de fé. A maioria dos outros acreditava que a bondade desaparecera junto com o pó para cabelos. Achavam que a grandeza da velha Inglaterra também diminuíra com os barbeiros.

Como casa, e não como pensão comercial, Todgers combinava com a região. Dizia-se que uma janela da escada lateral no térreo não se abria havia cem anos. A lama suja da viela a cobria tão densamente que, embora cada vidro estivesse rachado e quebrado vinte vezes, nenhum conseguia cair. O maior mistério de Todgers eram seus porões, alcançados apenas por uma porta dos fundos e uma grade enferrujada. Há muito pertenciam a outra pessoa, não tinham ligação com a casa e, segundo diziam, guardavam riquezas - prata, latão, ouro, vinho ou pólvora. Ninguém em Todgers sabia ou se importava qual delas.

Original English Version

To tell of half the queer old taverns that had a drowsy and secret existence near Todgers's, would fill a goodly book; while a second volume no less capacious might be devoted to an account of the quaint old guests who frequented their dimly lighted parlours. These were, in general, ancient inhabitants of that region; born, and bred there from boyhood, who had long since become wheezy and asthmatical, and short of breath, except in the article of story-telling; in which respect they were still marvellously long-winded. These gentry were much opposed to steam and all new-fangled ways, and held ballooning to be sinful, and deplored the degeneracy of the times; which that particular member of each little club who kept the keys of the nearest church, professionally, always attributed to the prevalence of dissent and irreligion; though the major part of the company inclined to the belief that virtue went out with hair-powder, and that Old England's greatness had decayed amain with barbers.

As to Todgers's itself--speaking of it only as a house in that neighbourhood, and making no reference to its merits as a commercial boarding establishment--it was worthy to stand where it did. There was one staircase-window in it, at the side of the house, on the ground floor; which tradition said had not been opened for a hundred years at least, and which, abutting on an always dirty lane, was so begrimed and coated with a century's mud, that no one pane of glass could possibly fall out, though all were cracked and broken twenty times. But the grand mystery of Todgers's was the cellarage, approachable only by a little back door and a rusty grating; which cellarage within the memory of man had had no connection with the house, but had always been the freehold property of somebody else, and was reported to be full of wealth; though in what shape--whether in silver, brass, or gold, or butts of wine, or casks of gun-powder--was matter of profound uncertainty and supreme indifference to Todgers's and all its inmates.

Tradução Integral em Português

Contar sobre metade das estranhas tavernas antigas que levavam uma existência sonolenta e secreta perto da casa de Todgers encheria um belo livro; enquanto um segundo volume, não menos amplo, poderia ser dedicado a um relato dos pitorescos fregueses idosos que frequentavam suas salas mal iluminadas. Em geral, eram antigos moradores daquela região, nascidos e criados ali desde meninos, que havia muito se tornaram chiadores, asmáticos e de fôlego curto, exceto no quesito de contar histórias, em que ainda eram prodigiosamente prolixos. Esses cavalheiros faziam grande oposição ao vapor e a todos os métodos modernosos, consideravam pecaminosos os passeios de balão e deploravam a degeneração dos tempos; que aquele membro particular de cada pequeno clube que guardava profissionalmente as chaves da igreja mais próxima sempre atribuía à prevalência da dissidência e da irreligiosidade, embora a maior parte da companhia se inclinasse a acreditar que a virtude desaparecera com o pó de cabelo e que a grandeza da Velha Inglaterra decaíra rapidamente com os barbeiros.

Quanto à própria casa de Todgers - falando dela apenas como uma casa naquela vizinhança, sem referência a seus méritos como pensão comercial - , era digna de estar onde estava. Havia nela, na lateral da casa e no térreo, uma janela de escada que, segundo a tradição, não era aberta havia pelo menos cem anos e que, dando para uma viela sempre suja, estava tão encardida e revestida pela lama de um século que nenhuma vidraça poderia cair, embora todas estivessem rachadas e quebradas vinte vezes. Mas o grande mistério da casa de Todgers eram os porões, acessíveis apenas por uma pequena porta dos fundos e uma grade enferrujada; dentro da memória humana, aqueles porões não tinham ligação alguma com a casa, mas sempre haviam sido propriedade plena de outra pessoa, e dizia-se que estavam cheios de riquezas; embora sob que forma - prata, latão, ouro, tonéis de vinho ou barris de pólvora - fosse questão de profunda incerteza e suprema indiferença para a casa de Todgers e todos os seus moradores.

Retorna à Versão Inglês Simplificada    Go to the Original English Version

Glossary: New Words (1/7)

Priority words from the simplified reading and post-nominal letters found in this book. Post-nominals are abbreviations placed after a person's name to identify honours, professional memberships, academic titles or qualifications. Each entry shows up to six real uses; Back to B1 opens the exact simplified sentence, while Back to Original opens the exact paragraph in Original English.

a'most /ɔːlˈməʊst/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: quase

Simple English: very nearly, but not completely

Example: She was almost the only person who agreed with me.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. But I'm a'most afraid to try it. Go to

absently /ˈæbsəntli/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: distraidamente

Simple English: Without paying attention to what you are doing.

Example: He absently stirred his cold tea.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff played absently with his eyeglass and kept his eyes shut so that he could think better. Go to

abudah /əˈbuːdə/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Abudah, mercador de um conto fantástico oriental

Simple English: the name of a merchant in an old Persian-style fantasy tale

Example: The story of Abudah the merchant and the frightening old woman haunted him as a child.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There were Persian tales, flying chests, students of enchanted books shut for years in caverns, Abudah the merchant, and the terrible little old woman who came from a box in his bedroom. Go to

Original English Version

1. And there too were the Persian tales, with flying chests and students of enchanted books shut up for years in caverns; and there too was Abudah, the merchant, with the terrible little old woman hobbling out of the box in his bedroom; and there the mighty talisman, the rare Arabian Nights, with Cassim Baba, divided by four, like the ghost of a dreadful sum, hanging up, all gory, in the robbers' cave. Go to

accompanies /əˈkʌmpəniz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: acompanha

Simple English: Goes somewhere together with someone.

Example: The servant accompanies her mistress everywhere.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. ACCOMPANIES MR PECKSNIFF AND HIS CHARMING DAUGHTERS TO THE CITY OF LONDON; AND RELATES WHAT FELL OUT UPON THEIR WAY THITHER Go to

Original English Version

1. ACCOMPANIES MR PECKSNIFF AND HIS CHARMING DAUGHTERS TO THE CITY OF LONDON; AND RELATES WHAT FELL OUT UPON THEIR WAY THITHER Go to

accurate /ˈækjərət/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: preciso; exato; exata

Simple English: Free from errors; matching facts or reality precisely.

Example: The report must be accurate to provide valid information for the clients.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In one or two rare cases its news about me has not been strictly accurate. Go to

accuses /əˈkjuːzɪz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: acusa

Simple English: Says that someone has done something wrong or illegal.

Example: He accuses her of stealing the mummy.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. When he accuses me of it and believes I am guilty, I feel miserable.' Go to

ached /eɪkt/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: doeu; doeram; latejou

Simple English: Hurt with a steady dull pain.

Example: My back ached after the long journey.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His face was many colours, his eyes as dull as if boiled, and his head clearly ached badly. Go to

aching /ˈeɪkɪŋ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: dolorido; doendo

Simple English: Feeling a dull steady pain.

Example: His aching arms could hardly lift the oar.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'And when I saw him on the stairs this morning, Pa,' said Mercy with her usual sprightliness, 'he looked, oh goodness, SUCH a monster! with his face all manner of colours, and his eyes as dull as if they had been boiled, and his head aching dreadfully, I am sure from the look of it, and his clothes smelling, oh it's impossible to say how strong, oh'--here the young lady shuddered--'of smoke and punch.' Go to

acidic /əˈsɪdɪk/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: ácido

Simple English: having a sharp, sour taste

Example: The acidic wine made him wince.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff drank to his toast, trying to seem as if the acidic wine did not make him wink. Go to

acquire /əˈkwaɪər/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: adquirir; aquisição

Simple English: To gain knowledge or skills through effort.

Example: She hopes to acquire new skills during her training program.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I must be grateful they have not come down to me, and careful not to acquire them." Go to

adage /ˈædɪdʒ/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: provérbio

Simple English: an old, well-known saying expressing a general truth

Example: She answered with the familiar adage about patience.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. This remark being received with a shrill titter by the two sisters of the speaker, Miss Charity Pecksniff begged with much politeness to be informed whether any of those very low observations were levelled at her; and receiving no more explanatory answer than was conveyed in the adage 'Those the cap fits, let them wear it,' immediately commenced a somewhat acrimonious and personal retort, wherein she was much comforted and abetted by her sister Mercy, who laughed at the same with great heartiness; indeed far more naturally than life. Go to

adam's /ˈædəmz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Adão

Simple English: Belonging to Adam, the first man in the Bible.

Example: The poem speaks of Adam's first mistake.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Second, without accepting Blumenbach's theory that Adam's descendants have many qualities belonging especially to swine, some men take unusually good care of themselves. Go to

admirer /ədˈmaɪərər/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: admirador; pretendente

Simple English: Someone who likes and respects a person, or who is in love with them.

Example: The young singer waited backstage while an admirer handed her a bunch of roses.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A simple admirer said he had a Fortunatus's purse of good feelings inside him. Go to

Original English Version

1. It was once said of him by a homely admirer, that he had a Fortunatus's purse of good sentiments in his inside. Go to

admirers /ədˈmaɪərərz/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: admiradores

Simple English: People who like and respect someone very much.

Example: The singer was surrounded by admirers.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Many admirers in London, cousin!' said Mr Jonas, moving his elbow slightly towards her. Go to

admiring /ədˈmaɪərɪŋ/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: admirado; cheio de admiração

Simple English: Showing that you think someone is very good.

Example: An admiring crowd stood around the singer.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'For' (he observed), 'if every one were warm and well-fed, we should lose the satisfaction of admiring the fortitude with which certain conditions of men bear cold and hunger. Go to

admiringly /ədˈmaɪərɪŋli/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: com admiração

Simple English: In a way that shows respect and pleasure.

Example: The children looked admiringly at the new bicycle.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He looked admiringly at the three Miss Chuzzlewits, with a little teasing in his look. Go to

admonition /ˌædməˈnɪʃən/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: advertência

Simple English: a serious warning or piece of advice

Example: The dying leaves seemed an admonition about life's brevity.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels; others stripped of all their garniture, stood, each the centre of its little heap of bright red leaves, watching their slow decay; others again, still wearing theirs, had them all crunched and crackled up, as though they had been burnt; about the stems of some were piled, in ruddy mounds, the apples they had borne that year; while others (hardy evergreens this class) showed somewhat stern and gloomy in their vigour, as charged by nature with the admonition that it is not to her more sensitive and joyous favourites she grants the longest term of life. Go to

adopt /əˈdɒpt/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: adotar; adoptar; adote

Simple English: To take a child into one's family legally as parent.

Example: They decided to adopt a child from the local orphanage.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The young girl is an orphan whom I have raised and educated, or, if you prefer, adopted for one steady purpose. Go to

2. I made a few poor notes about my adopted brother, sir. Go to

3. After this show, Mr Tigg looked deeply at his adopted brother. Go to

advance /ədˈvæns/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: antecedência; avanço; adiantamento

Simple English: A forward movement of soldiers toward an objective or position.

Example: The army decided to advance their position at dawn for a surprise attack.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "I have been astonished by the changes everywhere: moral and physical changes; more land settled and peopled; vast new cities; old cities grown almost beyond recognition; greater grace in life; and changes in the Press, without whose advance no advance can happen anywhere. Go to

affectionate /əˈfekʃənət/ (20 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: afetuoso; carinhoso

Simple English: Showing warm love and care for someone.

Example: She wrote an affectionate letter to her grandmother every Sunday.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The next coach brought many more affectionate family members. Go to

Original English Version

1. During the whole of this affectionate display she laughed to a most immoderate extent: in which hilarious indulgence even the prudent Cherry joined. Go to

2. There is a compact between us that no term of affectionate cajolery shall ever be addressed by either to the other, but that she shall call me always by my Christian name; I her, by hers. Go to

3. It happened on the fourth evening, that Mr Pecksniff walking, as usual, into the bar of the Dragon and finding no Mrs Lupin there, went straight upstairs; purposing, in the fervour of his affectionate zeal, to apply his ear once more to the keyhole, and quiet his mind by assuring himself that the hard-hearted patient was going on well. Go to

4. Moreover, Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Jonas were economically quartered at the Half Moon and Seven Stars, which was an obscure ale-house; and by the very next coach there came posting to the scene of action, so many other affectionate members of the family (who quarrelled with each other, inside and out, all the way down, to the utter distraction of the coachman), that in less than four-and-twenty hours the scanty tavern accommodation was at a premium, and all the private lodgings in the place, amounting to full four beds and sofa, rose cent per cent in the market. Go to

5. 'Old Tom Pinch!' said Mr Pecksniff, looking on him with affectionate sadness. Go to

6. In truth, the new pupil, not at all disconcerted by the honour of having Miss Mercy Pecksniff on his arm, or by the affectionate adieux of that young lady, approached as Mr Pinch spoke, followed by Miss Charity and Mr Pecksniff. Go to

afresh /əˈfrɛʃ/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: novamente

Simple English: again, especially from a new beginning

Example: The painful memory made her cry afresh.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. This diversion, by distracting the attention of the combatants, put an end to the strife, which, after breaking out afresh some twice or thrice in certain inconsiderable spurts and dashes, died away in silence. Go to

agitation /ˌædʒɪˈteɪʃən/ (21 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: agitação; inquietação

Simple English: A state of nervous excitement, worry, or unrest.

Example: Her hands trembled with agitation.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Her face was very pale, in part no doubt from recent agitation. Go to

2. These she shed so plentifully, and so much to the agitation and grief of Mr Spottletoe, that that gentleman, after holding his clenched fist close to Mr Pecksniff's eyes, as if it were some natural curiosity from the near inspection whereof he was likely to derive high gratification and improvement, and after offering (for no particular reason that anybody could discover) to kick Mr George Chuzzlewit for, and in consideration of, the trifling sum of sixpence, took his wife under his arm and indignantly withdrew. Go to

3. Tom thought of reminding the gentleman (who, no doubt, in his agitation had forgotten it) that there was a post-office in the land; and that possibly if he wrote to some friend or agent for a remittance it might not be lost upon the road; or at all events that the chance, however desperate, was worth trusting to. Go to

agreeable /əˈɡriːəbəl/ (47 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: agradável; aceitável

Simple English: Pleasant, acceptable, or willing to agree.

Example: The April weather was mild and agreeable.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. FROM WHICH IT WILL APPEAR THAT IF UNION BE STRENGTH, AND FAMILY AFFECTION BE PLEASANT TO CONTEMPLATE, THE CHUZZLEWITS WERE THE STRONGEST AND MOST AGREEABLE FAMILY IN THE WORLD Go to

Original English Version

1. FROM WHICH IT WILL APPEAR THAT IF UNION BE STRENGTH, AND FAMILY AFFECTION BE PLEASANT TO CONTEMPLATE, THE CHUZZLEWITS WERE THE STRONGEST AND MOST AGREEABLE FAMILY IN THE WORLD Go to

2. He had less interest now in the chemists' shops, with their great glowing bottles (with smaller repositories of brightness in their very stoppers); and in their agreeable compromises between medicine and perfumery, in the shape of toothsome lozenges and virgin honey. Go to

3. A southern aspect; a charming prospect; Mr Pinch's little library, you perceive; everything agreeable and appropriate. Go to

4. If you could pile them up my dear Martin, into any form which would remind me on my return say of St. Peter's at Rome, or the Mosque of St. Sophia at Constantinople, it would be at once improving to you and agreeable to my feelings. Go to

5. 'You must know then, to make short of a long story,' said Martin, beginning with a kind of effort, as if the revelation were not agreeable to him; 'that I have been bred up from childhood with great expectations, and have always been taught to believe that I should be, one day, very rich. Go to

6. You are a pair of Whittingtons, gents, without the cat; which is a most agreeable and blessed exception to me, for I am not attached to the feline species. Go to

airy /ˈeri/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: arejado; leve; displicente

Simple English: With plenty of fresh air; also light and not serious.

Example: The new office is bright and airy.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The sun fell behind long dark hills and clouds, piled in the west like an airy city with walls and battlements. Go to

2. Neat and airy. Go to

Original English Version

1. The sun went down beneath the long dark lines of hill and cloud which piled up in the west an airy city, wall heaped on wall, and battlement on battlement; the light was all withdrawn; the shining church turned cold and dark; the stream forgot to smile; the birds were silent; and the gloom of winter dwelt on everything. Go to

2. Very airy. Go to

alacrity /əˈlækrɪti/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: presteza

Simple English: quick and cheerful readiness

Example: He accepted the offer with great alacrity.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Mr Pinch rose, and complied with great alacrity--the handle hung just over Martin's head, as he warmed himself--and listened with a smiling face to what his friend went on to say. Go to

alarmed /əˈlɑːrmd/ (17 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: alarmado; assustado; apreensivo

Simple English: Suddenly worried or frightened that something bad may happen.

Example: The teacher looked alarmed when the smoke detector went off during the exam.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "I have been very much alarmed tonight. Go to

2. Mrs Lupin was very alarmed: he had worked hard on the paper, yet burnt it, and he might have set the Dragon on fire. Go to

3. 'Why, I tell you what,' said Mark, throwing off all his constraint in an instant and seizing the hostess round the waist--at which she was not at all alarmed, for she knew what a good young man he was--'if I took what I liked most, I should take you. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'I have been very much alarmed to-night. Go to

2. 'Why, I tell you what,' said Mark, throwing off all his constraint in an instant and seizing the hostess round the waist--at which she was not at all alarmed, for she knew what a good young man he was--'if I took what I liked most, I should take you. Go to

alehouse /ˈeɪlhaʊs/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: taverna; cervejaria

Simple English: A tavern or inn where ale and other alcoholic drinks are sold.

Example: The man disappeared into an alehouse near the yard.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. We have already mentioned the Dragon that swung and creaked before the village alehouse. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mention has been already made more than once, of a certain Dragon who swung and creaked complainingly before the village alehouse door. Go to

alleys /ˈæliz/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: becos; vielas

Simple English: Narrow streets between buildings.

Example: The old town is full of dark alleys.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. With one daughter under each arm, he rushed across streets, through strange yards and alleys, and under dark arches. Go to

2. Strange lonely pumps hid in blind alleys beside fire-ladders. Go to

Original English Version

1. Taking a confused leave of Anthony and his son, and leaving the luggage of himself and daughters at the office to be called for afterwards, Mr Pecksniff, with one of the young ladies under each arm, dived across the street, and then across other streets, and so up the queerest courts, and down the strangest alleys and under the blindest archways, in a kind of frenzy; now skipping over a kennel, now running for his life from a coach and horses; now thinking he had lost his way, now thinking he had found it; now in a state of the highest confidence, now despondent to the last degree, but always in a great perspiration and flurry; until at length they stopped in a kind of paved yard near the Monument. Go to

2. Strange solitary pumps were found near Todgers's hiding themselves for the most part in blind alleys, and keeping company with fire-ladders. Go to

almanac /ˈɔːlmənæk/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: almanaque

Simple English: A yearly book listing dates, facts and predictions.

Example: He kept an old almanac beside his desk.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Unlike the young man in the Eastern story - called a one-eyed almanac, if I am not mistaken, Mr Pinch - ' Go to

Original English Version

1. Unlike the young man in the Eastern tale--who is described as a one-eyed almanac, if I am not mistaken, Mr Pinch?--' Go to

almshouse /ˈɑːmzhaʊs/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: asilo de caridade

Simple English: a house providing free accommodation for poor or elderly people

Example: The architect prepared plans for a village almshouse.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Passing the candle over paper rolls, Mr Pecksniff said, 'There are signs of our work: Salisbury Cathedral from north, south, east, west, south-east, and nor'west; a bridge, almshouse, jail, church, powder-magazine, wine-cellar, portico, summer-house, ice-house; plans, elevations, sections, everything.' In another large room with four little beds, he said, 'This is your room, which you will share with quiet Mr Pinch. Go to

Original English Version

1. An almshouse. Go to

aloe /ˈæloʊ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: babosa; aloé

Simple English: A succulent plant with thick, pointed leaves, some species of which contain medicinal gel.

Example: An old aloe stood among the softer flowers.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "You are the American aloe of the human race, dear Chiv," said Mr Tigg, "blooming only once in a hundred years!" Go to

Original English Version

1. 'You are the American aloe of the human race, my dear Chiv,' said Mr Tigg, 'which only blooms once in a hundred years!' Go to

altercation /ˌɔːltəˈkeɪʃən/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: discussão acalorada

Simple English: a noisy and angry argument

Example: Their altercation ended when one woman began to cry.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The two Miss Pecksniffs being a pretty good match for the three Miss Chuzzlewits, and all five young ladies having, in the figurative language of the day, a great amount of steam to dispose of, the altercation would no doubt have been a long one but for the high valour and prowess of the strong-minded woman, who, in right of her reputation for powers of sarcasm, did so belabour and pummel Mrs Spottletoe with taunting words that the poor lady, before the engagement was two minutes old, had no refuge but in tears. Go to

amaze /əˈmeɪz/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: espantar; deixar pasmo

Simple English: To surprise someone very much.

Example: His memory could amaze the whole class.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His actions would amaze you. Go to

Original English Version

1. I have taken a few notes in my poor way, of some of that man's proceedings--my adopted brother, sir,--which would amaze you. Go to

amazement /əˈmeɪzmənt/ (21 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: espanto; assombro; admiração

Simple English: A feeling of great surprise and wonder.

Example: She stared in amazement at the castle.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. But now, in sheer wonder and amazement at these mysteries, she withdrew at once, and repairing straightway to her own little parlour below stairs, sat down in her easy-chair with unnatural composure. Go to

2. 'I do not understand our friend,' said Mr Pecksniff, looking about him in utter amazement. Go to

amuse /əˈmjuːz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: divertir; entreter

Simple English: To make someone laugh or enjoy themselves.

Example: The little dog amused the children.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It will amuse me to see your grammar-school.' He clapped the young man on the back. Go to

an't /ænt/ (74 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: não sou; não é; não são

Simple English: An old or dialectal contraction of am not, are not, or is not.

Example: There an't any more visitors coming in, is there?

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If I could get into a wicked family, I might do myself justice; but the difficulty is to make sure of one's ground, because a young man can't very well advertise that he wants a place, and wages an't so much an object as a wicked sitivation; can he, sir?' Go to

Original English Version

1. There an't much credit in that. Go to

2. It an't at all the sort of place for ME. Go to

3. A bailiff's an't a lively office nat'rally. Go to

4. The running of bills is common enough Mr Pinch; it an't that as we object to; it's the ways of this chap. Go to

5. I'll give Pecksniff orders to see to that." In reply to which, the Dragon makes answer, "Thankee, sir, you're very kind to honour us so far, but as we don't know any particular good of you, and you don't travel with luggage, and Mr Pecksniff an't at home (which perhaps you mayn't happen to be aware of, sir), we should prefer something more satisfactory;" and that's where the matter stands. Go to

6. But it an't that; it's the--' Go to

ancestor /ˈænsestər/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: antepassado; ancestral

Simple English: A member of your family who lived a long time before you.

Example: According to my father, one ancestor of ours crossed the ocean in a wooden ship.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. This great ancestor did not later "come over" that king, in the vulgar phrase, because the Family never seems to have owned much land. Go to

2. Their behavior is very similar to that of their Great Ancestor beneath the vaults of the Parliament House at Westminster, so no comment is needed. Go to

Original English Version

1. It does not appear that this illustrious ancestor 'came over' that monarch, to employ the vulgar phrase, at any subsequent period; inasmuch as the Family do not seem to have been ever greatly distinguished by the possession of landed estate. Go to

2. The remarkable similarity between this course of proceeding and that adopted by their Great Ancestor beneath the vaults of the Parliament House at Westminster, is too obvious and too full of interest, to stand in need of comment. Go to

angered /ˈæŋɡərd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: irritou; enfureceu; deixou com raiva

Simple English: Made someone feel angry.

Example: The unfair rule angered the workers.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "This naturally angered him," said Martin, "and he began speaking very badly of me. Go to

angrily /ˈæŋɡrɪli/ (57 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: com raiva; furiosamente

Simple English: In a way that shows anger.

Example: He shouted angrily at the door.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Come in!' cried Mr Pecksniff, not angrily, but as if he were a very good man. Go to

2. Sadly, while Mr Pecksniff stood beside the bed in all the dignity of Goodness, the old man looked angrily at the candlestick as if strongly tempted to throw it at his cousin's head. Go to

3. Mr Spottletoe spoke angrily and struck the table hard with his knuckles. Go to

4. Then he sat again with folded arms and angrily shook his head. Go to

5. Then he took his wife under his arm and left angrily. Go to

6. 'As for looking, Mrs Ned,' Mr George replied angrily, 'I have heard that a cat may look at a king. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'As to looking, I have heard it said, Mrs Ned,' returned Mr George, angrily, 'that a cat is free to contemplate a monarch; and therefore I hope I have some right, having been born a member of this family, to look at a person who only came into it by marriage. Go to

2. 'You go and do your duty, sir,' said Mr Slyme, angrily, 'and borrow money for travelling expenses; and whoever you borrow it of, let 'em know that I possess a haughty spirit, and a proud spirit, and have infernally finely-touched chords in my nature, which won't brook patronage. Go to

animal's /ˈænɪməlz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do animal

Simple English: Belonging to an animal.

Example: The vet checked the animal's leg carefully.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff cast him off, as Saint George might have repudiated the Dragon in that animal's last moments, and said: Go to

annoy /əˈnɔɪ/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: irritar; incomodar

Simple English: To make someone slightly angry.

Example: The dripping tap began to annoy me.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Their legs seem to be in the way, and their painful feet annoy them. Go to

anvil /ˈænvɪl/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: bigorna

Simple English: A heavy iron or steel block on which metal is shaped with a hammer.

Example: The smith lifted his hammer over the anvil.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Bright sparks danced to the cheerful sound of hammers on the anvil. Go to

Original English Version

1. The lusty bellows roared Ha ha! to the clear fire, which roared in turn, and bade the shining sparks dance gayly to the merry clinking of the hammers on the anvil. Go to

anxiously /ˈæŋkʃəsli/ (19 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ansiosamente; preocupadamente

Simple English: In a worried and nervous way.

Example: She waited anxiously for the news.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. At first, she looked anxiously toward the bed. Go to

Original English Version

1. She had sat, at first looking anxiously towards the bed; but seeing that the patient remained quiet, and was busy with his writing, she had softly moved her chair into its present place; partly, as it seemed, from an instinctive consciousness that he desired to avoid observation; and partly that she might, unseen by him, give some vent to the natural feelings she had hitherto suppressed. Go to

apostle /əˈpɒsəl/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: apóstolo; defensor fervoroso

Simple English: One of the early Christian messengers, or a devoted advocate of a cause.

Example: He spoke with the zeal of an apostle.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If Mr Pecksniff ever looked like an apostle, it was on that memorable day. Go to

apparently /əˈpærəntli/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: aparentemente; pelos vistos; parece

Simple English: Seemingly true based on the available evidence or observation.

Example: Apparently, they have decided to move to another city next month.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. On another occasion he wrote, "I have bestowed upon that irresistible uncle of mine everything I ever possessed." He apparently paid long visits to this uncle's mansion, or even lived there: "With the exception of the suit of clothes I carry about with me, the whole of my wearing apparel is at present at my uncle's." The uncle's influence must have been vast, for his nephew called it "too high," "too much," and "tremendous." Strangely, it got him no profitable post at court or elsewhere, and no distinction except the patronage of such a great man and invitations to entertainments so splendid and costly that he called them "Golden Balls." Go to

2. Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Mr Jonas, who are travelling with us, will excuse my apparently harsh words. Go to

3. A gentleman had apparently come down while dressing, made the joke, and gone upstairs again. Go to

appeal /əˈpiːl/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: apelo; apelar; recurso

Simple English: A request to a higher court to review a lower decision.

Example: The defendant decided to appeal the court's decision on the sentence.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. To you of all men, Mr Pinch, I have a right to make appeal on Mind's behalf, when it has not the art to push its fortune in the world. Go to

appended /əˈpɛndɪd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: acrescentou

Simple English: added something at the end of a document

Example: She appended her signature to the letter.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Tigg added this condition to his memorandum; read the entry over to himself with a severe frown; and that the transaction might be the more correct and business-like, appended his initials to the whole. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Tigg added this condition to his memorandum; read the entry over to himself with a severe frown; and that the transaction might be the more correct and business-like, appended his initials to the whole. Go to

applauded /əˈplɔːdɪd/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: aplaudiu; aplaudido

Simple English: Showed approval by clapping the hands.

Example: The whole room applauded when she finished.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. A general murmur echoed this inquiry, and applauded it. Go to

apprentices /əˈprentɪsɪz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: aprendizes

Simple English: People learning a trade by working under skilled workers.

Example: The shopkeeper employed two journeymen and three apprentices.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "I owe two architect's apprentices for a tavern bill! Go to

Original English Version

1. I obliged to two architect's apprentices. Go to

2. Give me the names of those two apprentices. Go to

approvingly /əˈpruːvɪŋli/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: com aprovação

Simple English: In a way that shows agreement or praise.

Example: Susan nodded approvingly from the kitchen.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Then a shaggy, rather alarming head suddenly appeared at the doorway of their sanctuary of genius, smiling warmly, jokingly, and approvingly. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'That's right,' said Tom, nodding approvingly. Go to

apron /ˈeɪprən/ (21 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: avental

Simple English: A piece of cloth worn over the front of the clothes to keep them clean.

Example: Aunt Em wore an apron while she cooked.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Her figure was quite full and womanly, but sometimes--yes, sometimes--she even wore a child's apron. Go to

arches /ˈɑːrtʃɪz/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: arcos; arcadas

Simple English: Curved parts of a building that hold up a wall or bridge.

Example: Shops were built under the stone arches.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. With one daughter under each arm, he rushed across streets, through strange yards and alleys, and under dark arches. Go to

architect's /ˈɑːrkɪtɛkts/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do arquiteto; da arquiteta

Simple English: The possessive form of architect, a person who designs buildings.

Example: The architect's plans and estimates lay behind the packing cases.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "I owe two architect's apprentices for a tavern bill! Go to

Original English Version

1. I obliged to two architect's apprentices. Go to

archway /ˈɑːrtʃweɪ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: arcada; passagem em arco

Simple English: A curved opening in a wall that you can walk through.

Example: They waited under the stone archway.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. All day long, a stream of porters from the wharves beside the river, each bearing on his back a bursting chest of oranges, poured slowly through the narrow passages; while underneath the archway by the public-house, the knots of those who rested and regaled within, were piled from morning until night. Go to

armchair /ˈɑːrmtʃer/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: poltrona

Simple English: A comfortable chair with supports for the arms.

Example: He read the paper in the same armchair every evening.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Then he sat in a large armchair, looking thoughtful and very comfortable, and waited for him to wake. Go to

assented /əˈsɛntɪd/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: concordou; assentiu

Simple English: Expressed agreement or approval.

Example: "Quite true," her practical father assented.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Mr Pinch assented, and the punch was ordered. Go to

2. Tom fully assented; and, what is more, fully believed it. Go to

asserts /əˈsɜːts/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: afirma

Simple English: states something confidently and firmly

Example: In the opening sentence, he asserts that they are related.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. IN WHICH MR CHEVY SLYME ASSERTS THE INDEPENDENCE OF HIS SPIRIT, AND THE BLUE DRAGON LOSES A LIMB Go to

Original English Version

1. 'In his very first words he asserts his relationship! Go to

2. IN WHICH MR CHEVY SLYME ASSERTS THE INDEPENDENCE OF HIS SPIRIT, AND THE BLUE DRAGON LOSES A LIMB Go to

assume /əˈsuːm/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: assumir; supor; presumir

Simple English: To think something is true without proof or evidence.

Example: You cannot just assume everyone agrees with your opinion without asking them.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "I am sorry to interrupt, Pecksniff," said Mr Spottletoe, his whiskers looking dangerous, "but you assume too much, sir. Go to

astonished /əˈstɑːnɪʃt/ (22 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: espantou; surpreendeu; deixou pasmo

Simple English: Very surprised.

Example: We were astonished by the news.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "I have been astonished by the changes everywhere: moral and physical changes; more land settled and peopled; vast new cities; old cities grown almost beyond recognition; greater grace in life; and changes in the Press, without whose advance no advance can happen anywhere. Go to

2. "Leave the Dragon!" cried Mr Pinch, greatly astonished. Go to

3. She was astonished how he could say such things. Go to

Original English Version

1. Thus, the vigour and perseverance with which I have for some months past been collecting materials for, and hammering away at, a new book on America has much astonished me; seeing that all that time my declaration has been perfectly well known to my publishers on both sides of the Atlantic, that no consideration on earth would induce me to write one. Go to

2. It happened that Mr Pecksniff, coming softly upon the dark passage into which a spiral ray of light usually darted through the same keyhole, was astonished to find no such ray visible; and it happened that Mr Pecksniff, when he had felt his way to the chamber-door, stooping hurriedly down to ascertain by personal inspection whether the jealousy of the old man had caused this keyhole to be stopped on the inside, brought his head into such violent contact with another head that he could not help uttering in an audible voice the monosyllable 'Oh!' which was, as it were, sharply unscrewed and jerked out of him by very anguish. Go to

3. She was astonished how he could say such things. Go to

astonishment /əˈstɑːnɪʃmənt/ (18 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: espanto; assombro

Simple English: A feeling of very great surprise.

Example: She stared at the unexpected visitor in astonishment.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The landlady looked in great astonishment at her whom he called Mary, and finding no rejoinder in the drooping face, looked back again at him. Go to

2. 'Going to leave the Dragon!' cried Mr Pinch, looking at him with great astonishment. Go to

attentions /əˈtɛnʃənz/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: atenções; gentilezas; corte

Simple English: Acts of polite, kind, or romantic consideration.

Example: She accepted his small attentions without encouraging him.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He fluttered without someone to scrape his bread, limit his sugar to one lump, and give the small attentions he expected. Go to

Original English Version

1. But on the morning after the Installation Banquet, she suffered him to wander to and fro among the eatables and drinkables, a perfectly free and unchecked man; so utterly to Mr Pinch's wonder and confusion, that like the wretched captive who recovered his liberty in his old age, he could make but little use of his enlargement, and fell into a strange kind of flutter for want of some kind hand to scrape his bread, and cut him off in the article of sugar with a lump, and pay him those other little attentions to which he was accustomed. Go to

attributable /əˈtrɪbjətəbəl/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: atribuível

Simple English: capable of being explained as caused by something

Example: His sneezing was attributable to the snuff.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. We will say, if you please,' added Mr Pecksniff, with great tenderness of manner, 'that it arises from a cold in the head, or is attributable to snuff, or smelling-salts, or onions, or anything but the real cause.' Go to

auctioneer /ˌɔːkʃəˈnɪr/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: leiloeiro

Simple English: A person who conducts an auction and accepts bids.

Example: The auctioneer pushed through the crowd and began the sale.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I immediately replied that I would choose my own marriage, with his permission, and would rather not be sold by him or any auctioneer to any bidder." Go to

Original English Version

1. Upon that, I took fire immediately, and told him that with his good leave I would dispose of myself in marriage, and would rather not be knocked down by him or any other auctioneer to any bidder whomsoever.' Go to

awaken /əˈweɪkən/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: despertar; acordar; reavivar

Simple English: To wake someone, or to cause a feeling, memory, or quality to become active.

Example: Bucket only wanted to awaken Gridley's old anger.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. I make this comment, and solicit the reader's attention to it in his or her consideration of this tale, because nothing is more common in real life than a want of profitable reflection on the causes of many vices and crimes that awaken the general horror. Go to

2. Who could repress a smile--of love for thee, Tom Pinch, and not in jest at thy expense, for thou art poor enough already, Heaven knows--to think that such a holiday as lies before thee should awaken that quick flow and hurry of the spirits, in which thou settest down again, almost untasted, on the kitchen window-sill, that great white mug (put by, by thy own hands, last night, that breakfast might not hold thee late), and layest yonder crust upon the seat beside thee, to be eaten on the road, when thou art calmer in thy high rejoicing! Go to

bade /beɪd/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ordenou; pediu; despediu-se

Simple English: Past tense of bid, meaning ordered, requested, greeted, or said farewell.

Example: The captain bade the sailors return at once.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There was so much reason in this that the landlady laughed again, suffered it to remain, and bade him say what he had to say, and be quick about it. Go to

Original English Version

1. The lusty bellows roared Ha ha! to the clear fire, which roared in turn, and bade the shining sparks dance gayly to the merry clinking of the hammers on the anvil. Go to

2. There was so much reason in this that the landlady laughed again, suffered it to remain, and bade him say what he had to say, and be quick about it. Go to

3. But Mr Pecksniff, without taking umbrage at his bearing put a card in his hand, and bade him take that upstairs, and show them in the meanwhile into a room where there was a fire. Go to

bah /bɑː/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Bah!; Ora!

Simple English: A word used to show that you do not respect something.

Example: Bah, that is only an old story.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Bah!' cried John Westlock with great disgust and scorn. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Bah!' cried John Westlock, with the utmost disgust and disdain the monosyllable is capable of expressing. Go to

barbers /ˈbɑːrbərz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: barbeiros

Simple English: People who cut hair and shave beards.

Example: Barbers worked at the edge of the market.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They thought Old England's greatness had also declined with barbers. Go to

Original English Version

1. These gentry were much opposed to steam and all new-fangled ways, and held ballooning to be sinful, and deplored the degeneracy of the times; which that particular member of each little club who kept the keys of the nearest church, professionally, always attributed to the prevalence of dissent and irreligion; though the major part of the company inclined to the belief that virtue went out with hair-powder, and that Old England's greatness had decayed amain with barbers. Go to

bargains /ˈbɑːrɡənz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: acordos; pechinchas; bons negócios

Simple English: Agreements, or things bought for less than their usual value.

Example: She believed she had found several good bargains.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Many dogs took a deep interest in the market and their masters' bargains. Go to

Original English Version

1. Also a great many dogs, who were strongly interested in the state of the market and the bargains of their masters; and a great confusion of tongues, both brute and human. Go to

baskets /ˈbæskɪts/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cestas; cestos

Simple English: Containers made of thin strips of wood, straw, or plastic.

Example: They carried their tools in baskets.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Streets around the market were packed with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, wagons, vegetables, meat, tripe, pies, poultry, and sellers' goods of every kind. Go to

Original English Version

1. To one of his quiet habits this little delusion was greatly assisted by the circumstance of its being market-day, and the thoroughfares about the market-place being filled with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, waggons, garden-stuff, meat, tripe, pies, poultry and huckster's wares of every opposite description and possible variety of character. Go to

battlements /ˈbætəlmənts/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: ameias

Simple English: The top wall of a castle, with gaps for shooting.

Example: Guards walked along the battlements.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The sun fell behind long dark hills and clouds, piled in the west like an airy city with walls and battlements. Go to

beaming /ˈbiːmɪŋ/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sorrindo radiante

Simple English: smiling broadly with happiness

Example: She had been beaming until the bad news arrived.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. She had still a bright black eye, and jet black hair; was comely, dimpled, plump, and tight as a gooseberry; and though she was not exactly what the world calls young, you may make an affidavit, on trust, before any mayor or magistrate in Christendom, that there are a great many young ladies in the world (blessings on them one and all!) whom you wouldn't like half as well, or admire half as much, as the beaming hostess of the Blue Dragon. Go to

2. 'Would you like to drive?' said Mr Pinch; his whole face beaming with a consciousness of the splendour of his offer. Go to

3. But the truth was that the house being full with the exception of one bed, which would now be occupied by Mr Pecksniff, she wanted time for consideration; and so much time too (for it was a knotty point how to dispose of them), that even when this second embrace was over, she stood for some moments gazing at the sisters, with affection beaming in one eye, and calculation shining out of the other. Go to

beanstalk /ˈbiːnstɔːk/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pé de feijão

Simple English: the tall stem of a bean plant

Example: The tower seemed reachable only by a magic beanstalk.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Thick fog made it seem like a city in the clouds, reached by a magic beanstalk. Go to

Original English Version

1. There was a dense fog too; as if it were a city in the clouds, which they had been travelling to all night up a magic beanstalk; and there was a thick crust upon the pavement like oilcake; which, one of the outsides (mad, no doubt) said to another (his keeper, of course), was Snow. Go to

bearer /ˈbɛrər/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: criado pessoal; carregador

Simple English: A servant who carries things and waits on someone.

Example: His bearer carried the bags to the room.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He wrote friends that, unless they did what was requested by bearer, he must dine again with Duke Humphrey, speaking as one tired of High Life and Gracious Company. Go to

Original English Version

1. So constantly was he a guest at that nobleman's table, indeed; and so unceasingly were His Grace's hospitality and companionship forced, as it were, upon him; that we find him uneasy, and full of constraint and reluctance; writing his friends to the effect that if they fail to do so and so by bearer, he will have no choice but to dine again with Duke Humphrey; and expressing himself in a very marked and extraordinary manner as one surfeited of High Life and Gracious Company. Go to

beauties /ˈbjuːtiz/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: belezas

Simple English: Beautiful things or beautiful people.

Example: He pointed out the beauties of the strange moon forest.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. What has never run smooth cannot be expected to change for us." His smile, though his face was plain, was more pleasing than many proud beauties' brightest looks. Go to

Original English Version

1. Treachery, deceit, and low design; hatred of competitors, real or fancied, for my favour; meanness, falsehood, baseness, and servility; or,' and here he looked closely in his cousin's eyes, 'or an assumption of honest independence, almost worse than all; these are the beauties which my wealth has brought to light. Go to

beckoning /ˈbɛkənɪŋ/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: fazendo sinal

Simple English: signalling with a hand or head for someone to approach

Example: The teacher stood at the door, beckoning to me.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Certainly, sir,' said Pinch; not doing so, however, but holding it rather wider open than before, and beckoning nervously to somebody without: 'Mr Westlock, sir, hearing that you were come home--' Go to

bedclothes /ˈbedkloʊz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: roupa de cama

Simple English: The sheets and covers put on a bed.

Example: He gathered up his bedclothes and moved.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Slowly he pulled the bedclothes from his head and turned more towards Mr Pecksniff. Go to

bedcover /ˈbedkʌvə/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: colcha; coberta de cama

Simple English: A cloth covering spread over the sheets and blankets of a bed.

Example: Anne lay crying with her muddy boots on the clean bedcover.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Oh!' cried the old man with an impatient moan, tossing one restless arm onto the bedcover. Go to

2. He pulled the bedcover over his head and lay still. Go to

3. He solemnly patted the bedcover once or twice, as if this showed him the patient's illness. Go to

4. Mrs Lupin and the young lady silently looked at the bedcover. Go to

bedside /ˈbedsaɪd/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cabeceira; beira do leito

Simple English: The area next to a bed, especially where someone sits with a sick person.

Example: The nurse kept a small lamp burning at his bedside all night.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He did not even walk beyond his garden, in case his repentant, sorry relative suddenly called him to the bedside. Go to

Original English Version

1. With these impressive words, Mr Pecksniff passed over to the bedside, where, after patting the counterpane once or twice in a very solemn manner, as if by that means he gained a clear insight into the patient's disorder, he took his seat in a large arm-chair, and in an attitude of some thoughtfulness and much comfort, waited for his waking. Go to

2. That worthy man Mr Pecksniff having taken leave of his cousin in the solemn terms recited in the last chapter, withdrew to his own home, and remained there three whole days; not so much as going out for a walk beyond the boundaries of his own garden, lest he should be hastily summoned to the bedside of his penitent and remorseful relative, whom, in his ample benevolence, he had made up his mind to forgive unconditionally, and to love on any terms. Go to

bedstead /ˈbɛdstɛd/ (24 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: armação de cama; catre

Simple English: The wooden or metal frame of a bed.

Example: He carried out a light string bedstead.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The very size and shape, and hopeless immovability of the bedstead, and wardrobe, and in a minor degree of even the chairs and tables, provoked sleep; they were plainly apoplectic and disposed to snore. Go to

2. 'A sofa bedstead in the little third room which opens from my own parlour.--Oh, you dear girls!' Go to

beggar /ˈbɛɡər/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mendigo

Simple English: A person who asks other people for money or food.

Example: A beggar sat at the church door.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If we were no better off than others, what would happen to our gratitude?' With tears in his eyes, Mr Pecksniff shook his fist at a beggar trying to climb on behind. Go to

Original English Version

1. And if we were no better off than anybody else, what would become of our sense of gratitude; which,' said Mr Pecksniff with tears in his eyes, as he shook his fist at a beggar who wanted to get up behind, 'is one of the holiest feelings of our common nature.' Go to

beggarly /ˈbɛɡəli/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: miserável

Simple English: poor, mean, and lacking dignity

Example: His beggarly appearance contrasted with his proud manner.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. And now so abject and so pitiful was he--at once so maudlin, insolent, beggarly, and proud--that even his friend and parasite, standing erect beside him, swelled into a Man by contrast. Go to

bellows /ˈbeloʊz/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: fole

Simple English: A tool that blows air onto a fire to make it burn.

Example: He worked the bellows until the coals glowed.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The strong bellows roared "Ha ha!" at the clear fire, and the fire roared back. Go to

2. It stopped sighing and blew fiercely around the merry forge, banging the wicket and growling in the chimney, as if it bullied the cheerful bellows for working to order. Go to

3. Yet for all its noise it was powerless: it only made the bellows roar their cheerful song louder, the fire burn brighter, and the sparks dance more gaily. Go to

Original English Version

1. The lusty bellows roared Ha ha! to the clear fire, which roared in turn, and bade the shining sparks dance gayly to the merry clinking of the hammers on the anvil. Go to

2. Out upon the angry wind! how from sighing, it began to bluster round the merry forge, banging at the wicket, and grumbling in the chimney, as if it bullied the jolly bellows for doing anything to order. Go to

benefactor /ˈbɛnəˌfæktər/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: benfeitor

Simple English: A person who gives help, money, or another benefit.

Example: The orphan remained grateful to her benefactor.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Sitting on the luggage, waiting for the Pecksniffs and the new pupil, he felt happy, hoping he had pleased his benefactor. Go to

2. I am a Benefactor to my Kind!' Go to

Original English Version

1. In short, his day's work would have been a pretty heavy one for a porter, but his thorough good-will made nothing of it; and as he sat upon the luggage at last, waiting for the Pecksniffs, escorted by the new pupil, to come down the lane, his heart was light with the hope of having pleased his benefactor. Go to

2. When I have wound myself up, if I may employ such a term,' said Mr Pecksniff with exquisite tenderness, 'and know that I am Going, I feel that in the lesson afforded by the works within me, I am a Benefactor to my Kind!' Go to

besieged /bɪˈsiːdʒd/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: sitiado; cercado

Simple English: surrounded and attacked, or overwhelmed by demands

Example: The besieged town held out for another week.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Nearly the whole family camped before the Blue Dragon and formally besieged it. Go to

bestowed /bɪˈstəʊd/ (17 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: dedicou

Simple English: gave her presence or attention to someone

Example: She bestowed her company on the lonely widow.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. On another occasion he wrote, "I have bestowed upon that irresistible uncle of mine everything I ever possessed." He apparently paid long visits to this uncle's mansion, or even lived there: "With the exception of the suit of clothes I carry about with me, the whole of my wearing apparel is at present at my uncle's." The uncle's influence must have been vast, for his nephew called it "too high," "too much," and "tremendous." Strangely, it got him no profitable post at court or elsewhere, and no distinction except the patronage of such a great man and invitations to entertainments so splendid and costly that he called them "Golden Balls." Go to

Original English Version

1. On another occasion he says, 'I have bestowed upon that irresistible uncle of mine everything I ever possessed.' And that he was in the habit of paying long and constant visits to this gentleman at his mansion, if, indeed, he did not wholly reside there, is manifest from the following sentence: 'With the exception of the suit of clothes I carry about with me, the whole of my wearing apparel is at present at my uncle's.' This gentleman's patronage and influence must have been very extensive, for his nephew writes, 'His interest is too high'--'It is too much'--'It is tremendous'--and the like. Go to

betsey /ˈbɛtsi/ (101 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Betsey

Simple English: a nickname for Elizabeth, used affectionately

Example: "MY PRECIOUS BETSEY," the letter began.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mrs Betsey Prig fairly represented a Hospital Nurse, which showed serious bad management. Go to

Original English Version

1. I think it not the least among the instances of their mismanagement, that Mrs Betsey Prig was a fair specimen of a Hospital Nurse; and that the Hospitals, with their means and funds, should have left it to private humanity and enterprise, to enter on an attempt to improve that class of persons--since, greatly improved through the agency of good women. Go to

bevan /ˈbɛvən/ (61 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Bevan

Simple English: the surname of a man in the story

Example: Mr Bevan offered Martin sensible advice.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The American part of this story is not a caricature except that it shows mainly a ridiculous side of American character, as Mr Bevan expected. Go to

Original English Version

1. The American portion of this story is in no other respect a caricature than as it is an exhibition, for the most part (Mr Bevan expected), of a ludicrous side, ONLY, of the American character--of that side which was, four-and-twenty years ago, from its nature, the most obtrusive, and the most likely to be seen by such travellers as Young Martin and Mark Tapley. Go to

bidder /ˈbɪdər/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: licitante; quem dá um lance

Simple English: a person who offers a price or competes to obtain something

Example: The sword went to the highest bidder.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I immediately replied that I would choose my own marriage, with his permission, and would rather not be sold by him or any auctioneer to any bidder." Go to

Original English Version

1. Upon that, I took fire immediately, and told him that with his good leave I would dispose of myself in marriage, and would rather not be knocked down by him or any other auctioneer to any bidder whomsoever.' Go to

binds /baɪndz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ata; liga

Simple English: Ties, fastens, joins, or holds something together.

Example: A hidden link binds them together in darkness.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Interest binds her to me while I live. Go to

biscuit /ˈbɪskɪt/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: biscoito; bolacha

Simple English: A small hard flat cake.

Example: He ate a biscuit with his tea.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Let us be merry.' He took a captain's biscuit. Go to

Original English Version

1. Let us be merry.' Here he took a captain's biscuit. Go to

bitterly /ˈbɪtərli/ (22 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: amargamente; com amargura

Simple English: In a way that shows deep sadness or anger.

Example: He spoke bitterly about his lost years.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'I am Martin Chuzzlewit,' he said bitterly, 'and Martin Chuzzlewit wishes you had been hanged before you came to disturb his sleep. Go to

2. With folded arms, he looked at them half sadly and half bitterly. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'I am Martin Chuzzlewit,' he said, bitterly: 'and Martin Chuzzlewit wishes you had been hanged, before you had come here to disturb him in his sleep. Go to

bitterness /ˈbɪtərnəs/ (16 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: amargura; rancor

Simple English: A feeling of deep anger about unfair treatment.

Example: He spoke of the war with bitterness.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It has brought me only pain and bitterness. Go to

Original English Version

1. Pain and bitterness are the only goods it ever could procure for me. Go to

2. I tell you, man,' he added, with increasing bitterness, 'that I have gone, a rich man, among people of all grades and kinds; relatives, friends, and strangers; among people in whom, when I was poor, I had confidence, and justly, for they never once deceived me then, or, to me, wronged each other. Go to

3. As to eating, I beg to say, whatever bitterness your jealousies and disappointed expectations may suggest to you, that I am not a cannibal, ma'am.' Go to

4. Martin and Mr Pinch looked, first at each other, and afterwards at Mr Tigg, who with his arms folded on his breast surveyed them, half in despondency and half in bitterness. Go to

blackberries /ˈblækberiz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: amoras-pretas

Simple English: Small sweet black fruit that grows on a thorny bush.

Example: They picked blackberries along the hedge.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She had come out again to seek blackberries with the fresh heart of a child. Go to

Original English Version

1. Oh, the serene expression on the face of Charity, which seemed to say, 'I know that all my family have injured me beyond the possibility of reparation, but I forgive them, for it is my duty so to do!' And, oh, the gay simplicity of Mercy; so charming, innocent, and infant-like, that if she had gone out walking by herself, and it had been a little earlier in the season, the robin-redbreasts might have covered her with leaves against her will, believing her to be one of the sweet children in the wood, come out of it, and issuing forth once more to look for blackberries in the young freshness of her heart! Go to

blessedly /ˈblesɪdli/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: felizmente

Simple English: fortunately, in a way that brings relief

Example: Blessedly, nobody was injured.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. As he is beyond our reach, we meet today rather like a funeral party, except - blessedly - there is no body in the house." Go to

blindly /ˈblaɪndli/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: às cegas

Simple English: Without being able to see, or without thinking.

Example: He reached blindly for the light switch.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. And in the window were the spick-and-span new works from London, with the title-pages, and sometimes even the first page of the first chapter, laid wide open; tempting unwary men to begin to read the book, and then, in the impossibility of turning over, to rush blindly in, and buy it! Go to

blindman's /ˈblaɪndmænz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: da cabra-cega

Simple English: Part of the name of a game in which a blindfolded player tries to catch the others.

Example: The children played blindman's buff in the hall.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They might as well have played blindman's buff at Salisbury. Go to

Original English Version

1. That is to say, Mr Pecksniff told them so; for as to anything they could see of the Monument, or anything else but the buildings close at hand, they might as well have been playing blindman's buff at Salisbury. Go to

blinds /blaɪndz/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: persianas; venezianas; cega

Simple English: Coverings for windows that can be pulled down or closed.

Example: She lowered the blinds against the afternoon sun.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Thick, plain wall coverings, dark blinds, and heavy bed covers seemed designed to keep sleep in. Go to

Original English Version

1. The thick neutral hangings, and the dark blinds, and the heavy heap of bed-clothes, were all designed to hold in sleep, and act as nonconductors to the day and getting up. Go to

blinked /blɪŋkt/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: piscou

Simple English: Closed and opened the eyes quickly.

Example: The great head blinked at her.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It is natural, very natural, and I knew most of it already." He pulled out his pocket-handkerchief and blinked both eyes at once, as if against his will. Go to

bloodshot /ˈblʌdʃɑːt/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: injetado de sangue; avermelhado

Simple English: Describing eyes that are red because the small blood vessels are swollen.

Example: After three nights of study his eyes were bloodshot and sore.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "These are pleasant circumstances for meeting strangers," said Chevy Slyme, turning his bloodshot eyes to Tom Pinch. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'These are agreeable circumstances in which to be introduced to strangers,' said Chevy Slyme, turning his bloodshot eyes towards Tom Pinch. Go to

blooming /ˈbluːmɪŋ/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: florescente; viçoso; em flor

Simple English: Opening into flower.

Example: The roses kept blooming all through the summer.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "You are the American aloe of the human race, dear Chiv," said Mr Tigg, "blooming only once in a hundred years!" Go to

Original English Version

1. The young lady obeyed, and having done so, resumed her stool, reposed one arm upon her father's knee, and laid her blooming cheek upon it. Go to

blumenbach's /ˈbluːmənbæks/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: de Blumenbach

Simple English: Belonging to or proposed by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, a German scholar of human anatomy.

Example: Blumenbach's classifications influenced later scientific debates.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Second, without accepting Blumenbach's theory that Adam's descendants have many qualities belonging especially to swine, some men take unusually good care of themselves. Go to

blushing /ˈblʌʃɪŋ/ (14 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: corando; ruborizando-se

Simple English: Turning red in the face from shame or shyness.

Example: She thanked him, blushing to the ears.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'A very young person,' said Mrs Lupin, curtsying and blushing. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'A very young person,' said Mrs Lupin, curtseying and blushing; '--I beg your pardon, sir, but I have been so hurried to-night, that I don't know what I say--who is with him now.' Go to

boarders /ˈbɔːrdərz/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pensionistas; hóspedes

Simple English: people who pay to live and receive meals in someone else's house

Example: The landlady was careful about the boarders she accepted.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'My good lady,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'I know your rules and that you accept only gentlemen as boarders. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Now, my good madam,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'I know the rules of your establishment, and that you only receive gentlemen boarders. Go to

boastful /ˈboʊstfəl/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: jactancioso; fanfarrão; vaidoso

Simple English: Talking too proudly about what you have or what you can do.

Example: Nobody enjoyed his boastful stories about how much money he earned.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Perhaps in this place the history may pause to congratulate itself upon the enormous amount of bravery, wisdom, eloquence, virtue, gentle birth, and true nobility, that appears to have come into England with the Norman Invasion: an amount which the genealogy of every ancient family lends its aid to swell, and which would beyond all question have been found to be just as great, and to the full as prolific in giving birth to long lines of chivalrous descendants, boastful of their origin, even though William the Conqueror had been William the Conquered; a change of circumstances which, it is quite certain, would have made no manner of difference in this respect. Go to

boasting /ˈboʊstɪŋ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gabolice; vangloriando-se

Simple English: Talking too proudly about yourself or what you own.

Example: Nobody believed his boasting about the fish.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It would surely have been just as great, with equally long lines of noble descendants boasting of their origin, even if William the Conqueror had been William the Conquered. Go to

boldest /ˈboʊldəst/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: o mais audaz

Simple English: The most brave and confident of all.

Example: He was the boldest rider in the county.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Some of the boldest even kissed their hands to him when Tom looked back. Go to

Original English Version

1. If it came within the scope of reasonable probability that further proofs were required, they might be heaped upon each other until they formed an Alps of testimony, beneath which the boldest scepticism should be crushed and beaten flat. Go to

boldly /ˈboʊldli/ (17 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: corajosamente; com ousadia

Simple English: In a brave and confident way.

Example: She walked boldly up to the door and knocked.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If our wishes are good and open-hearted, let us follow them boldly. Go to

2. To shame them, it should be written down that this worthy man's enemies boldly made a claim. Go to

Original English Version

1. And he did this so boldly, and in such an imposing manner, that he would sometimes stagger the wisest people with his eloquence, and make them gasp again. Go to

2. If our inclinations are but good and open-hearted, let us gratify them boldly, though they bring upon us Loss instead of Profit. Go to

3. Wretched and forlorn as he looked, Mr Slyme had once been in his way, the choicest of swaggerers; putting forth his pretensions boldly, as a man of infinite taste and most undoubted promise. Go to

bonaparte /ˈboʊnəpɑːrt/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Bonaparte

Simple English: Bonaparte refers to Napoleon Bonaparte, the French military and political leader.

Example: Colonel Pufftupski drove Napoleon out of Moscow and saved Russia from the iron heel of Bonaparte.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He then used words worthy of Napoleon Bonaparte addressing the French army.' Go to

Original English Version

1. He made use of an expression, sir, only on the fifteenth of last month when he couldn't meet a little bill and the other party wouldn't renew, which would have done honour to Napoleon Bonaparte in addressing the French army.' Go to

bonnet /ˈbɑːnɪt/ (75 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: touca; chapéu feminino amarrado sob o queixo

Simple English: A soft hat tied under the chin, once worn by women and children.

Example: The old photograph shows my great-grandmother in a white bonnet.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Its little bonnet hung by its ribbon from one of her fair curls. Go to

2. How you twinkled with sympathy when Mercy remembered the bonnet in her hair! Go to

3. Her gentle sister pulled out the bonnet and gave Mercy a soft blow on her full shoulder. Go to

Original English Version

1. Neither had Miss Mercy expected them, for she was sitting upon her stool, tying on the--oh good gracious!--the petticoat of a large doll that she was dressing for a neighbour's child--really, quite a grown-up doll, which made it more confusing--and had its little bonnet dangling by the ribbon from one of her fair curls, to which she had fastened it lest it should be lost or sat upon. Go to

2. How did you twinkle, as if fluttering with sympathy, when Mercy, reminded of the bonnet in her hair, hid her fair face and turned her head aside; the while her gentle sister plucked it out, and smote her with a sister's soft reproof, upon her buxom shoulder! Go to

bonnets /ˈbɑːnɪts/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: toucas; chapéus; cocares

Simple English: brimless hats, protective covers, or feathered ceremonial headgear

Example: Their feathered bonnets shone in the sun.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Also there were farmers' wives in beaver bonnets and red cloaks, riding shaggy horses purged of all earthly passions, who went soberly into all manner of places without desiring to know why, and who, if required, would have stood stock still in a china shop, with a complete dinner-service at each hoof. Go to

bony /ˈboʊni/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ossuda; magra; esquelética

Simple English: Very thin, so that the bones can be seen.

Example: Her hands became thin and bony.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They did not mean its appearance, because it was thin, bony, and worn-looking. Go to

Original English Version

1. Then there was the widow of a deceased brother of Mr Martin Chuzzlewit, who being almost supernaturally disagreeable, and having a dreary face and a bony figure and a masculine voice, was, in right of these qualities, what is commonly called a strong-minded woman; and who, if she could, would have established her claim to the title, and have shown herself, mentally speaking, a perfect Samson, by shutting up her brother-in-law in a private madhouse, until he proved his complete sanity by loving her very much. Go to

2. M. Todgers was a lady, rather a bony and hard-featured lady, with a row of curls in front of her head, shaped like little barrels of beer; and on the top of it something made of net--you couldn't call it a cap exactly--which looked like a black cobweb. Go to

bookshops /ˈbʊkʃɒps/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: livrarias

Simple English: Shops that sell books.

Example: Most bookshops refused to sell the publication.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But gold, silver, gems, and clockwork meant little beside the bookshops. Go to

Original English Version

1. But what were even gold and silver, precious stones and clockwork, to the bookshops, whence a pleasant smell of paper freshly pressed came issuing forth, awakening instant recollections of some new grammar had at school, long time ago, with 'Master Pinch, Grove House Academy,' inscribed in faultless writing on the fly-leaf! Go to

bosom /ˈbʊzəm/ (19 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: peito; seio

Simple English: The front of a person's chest.

Example: She kept the letter hidden in her bosom.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. CONTAINING A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE INSTALLATION OF MR PECKSNIFF'S NEW PUPIL INTO THE BOSOM OF MR PECKSNIFF'S FAMILY. Go to

Original English Version

1. With that he took off his great-coat, and having run his fingers through his hair, thrust one hand gently in the bosom of his waist-coat and meekly signed to her to lead the way. Go to

2. In the meantime, sir, he is perpetually closeted with, and pouring his whole confidence into the bosom of, a stranger. Go to

3. CONTAINING A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE INSTALLATION OF MR PECKSNIFF'S NEW PUPIL INTO THE BOSOM OF MR PECKSNIFF'S FAMILY. Go to

4. 'But bless my soul, Mark,' said Mr Pinch, who in the progress of his observation just then made the discovery that the bosom of his companion's shirt was as much exposed as if it was Midsummer, and was ruffled by every breath of air, 'why don't you wear a waistcoat?' Go to

5. I have a heart that swells in my bosom. Go to

botany /ˈbɒtəni/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: botânica

Simple English: The scientific study of plants.

Example: Her lessons included French and botany.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The cousin with toothache wanted Botany Bay, while the two Miss Pecksniffs suggested flogging. Go to

Original English Version

1. The strong-minded lady was for poison, her three daughters were for Bridewell and bread-and-water, the cousin with the toothache advocated Botany Bay, the two Miss Pecksniffs suggested flogging. Go to

bottomed /ˈbɒtəmd/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: com fundo

Simple English: Having a bottom of the stated shape or material, usually in a compound.

Example: They crossed the river in a flat-bottomed boat.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Though he said this with a vast amount of consideration for Mr Pinch's comfort, he dragged one of the great leather-bottomed chairs to the very centre of the hearth, notwithstanding; and sat down in front of the fire, with a foot on each hob. Go to

bowed /boʊd/ (40 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: vergou; curvou-se; inclinou-se

Simple English: Bent forward or downward.

Example: The long grass bowed before the wind.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. After a serious pause, he bowed humbly to Mr Pinch, meaning, 'Go on.' But Pinch did not know how to continue. Go to

2. Even after the coach rolled away, with olive branches in the luggage space and the family of doves inside, he waved and bowed. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'My loves!' said Mr Pecksniff, with the same serene upraising of his hand; 'My dears!' After a solemn pause he meekly bowed to Mr Pinch, as who should say, 'Proceed;' but Mr Pinch was so very much at a loss how to resume, and looked so helplessly at the two Miss Pecksniffs, that the conversation would most probably have terminated there, if a good-looking youth, newly arrived at man's estate, had not stepped forward from the doorway and taken up the thread of the discourse. Go to

bower /ˈbaʊər/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: caramanchão; abrigo entre folhagens

Simple English: A pleasant shady place enclosed by branches or climbing plants.

Example: Amy had a small bower covered with honeysuckle.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A poor first floor for us, but a bower for them. Go to

2. The ladies sweetly said goodnight to Mr Chuzzlewit, dutifully to their father, and condescendingly to Mr Pinch, then went to their bower. Go to

Original English Version

1. A poor first-floor to us, but a bower to them. Go to

2. The young ladies accordingly rose, and having taken leave of Mr Chuzzlewit with much sweetness, and of their father with much duty and of Mr Pinch with much condescension, retired to their bower. Go to

bowing /ˈbaʊɪŋ/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: curvando-se; fazendo reverência

Simple English: Bending the head or body forward to show respect.

Example: The King spoke, bowing to the little girl.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "I see no gentleman except you and the new gentleman," he said, bowing roughly to Martin. Go to

Original English Version

1. Even when the coach had rolled away with the olive-branches in the boot and the family of doves inside, he stood waving his hand and bowing; so much gratified by the unusually courteous demeanour of the young ladies, that he was quite regardless, for the moment, of Martin Chuzzlewit, who stood leaning thoughtfully against the finger-post, and who after disposing of his fair charge had hardly lifted his eyes from the ground. Go to

boyhood /ˈbɔɪhʊd/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: meninice; infância de um menino

Simple English: The time of life when a male person is a boy.

Example: He often spoke about the friends of his boyhood.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. These were, in general, ancient inhabitants of that region; born, and bred there from boyhood, who had long since become wheezy and asthmatical, and short of breath, except in the article of story-telling; in which respect they were still marvellously long-winded. Go to

boyish /ˈbɔɪɪʃ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de menino; pueris

Simple English: Like a young boy.

Example: He still has a boyish smile.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He seemed to call Mr Pinch as witness that only he had left one footprint on the shore of boyish memory, which generations would never disturb. Go to

Original English Version

1. There was another; not quite so bad at first, but still a trying shop; where children's books were sold, and where poor Robinson Crusoe stood alone in his might, with dog and hatchet, goat-skin cap and fowling-pieces; calmly surveying Philip Quarn and the host of imitators round him, and calling Mr Pinch to witness that he, of all the crowd, impressed one solitary footprint on the shore of boyish memory, whereof the tread of generations should not stir the lightest grain of sand. Go to

braces /ˈbreɪsɪz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: suspensórios; aparelho ortodôntico; suportes

Simple English: Pairs of straps, wires, or supports that hold, strengthen, or straighten something.

Example: He fastened his braces over his shirt.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They were pulled so hard between his braces and straps that they seemed ready to split at the knees. Go to

Original English Version

1. His nether garments were of a bluish grey--violent in its colours once, but sobered now by age and dinginess--and were so stretched and strained in a tough conflict between his braces and his straps, that they appeared every moment in danger of flying asunder at the knees. Go to

braided /ˈbreɪdɪd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: trançado; entrelaçado

Simple English: Woven together in three or more strands.

Example: Her long hair was braided down her back.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His blue military-style coat was buttoned and braided to his chin. Go to

braids /breɪdz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: tranças

Simple English: Lengths of hair woven together in three strands.

Example: She wore her hair in two long braids.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She was too fresh and childlike to wear combs or put her hair up in careful curls or braids. Go to

brandywine /ˈbrændiwaɪn/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Brandywine, nome de uma associação

Simple English: the place-derived name of an American association mentioned in the passage

Example: A delegate spoke on behalf of the Brandywine Association.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I therefore record that Martin Chuzzlewit's experiences there closely repeat reports of public meetings in the United States, especially a Brandywine Association. Go to

Original English Version

1. Therefore I record the fact that all that portion of Martin Chuzzlewit's experiences is a literal paraphrase of some reports of public proceedings in the United States (especially of the proceedings of a certain Brandywine Association), which were printed in the Times Newspaper in June and July, 1843--at about the time when I was engaged in writing those parts of the book; and which remain on the file of the Times Newspaper, of course. Go to

bravely /ˈbreɪvli/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: corajosamente; com coragem

Simple English: In a way that shows courage.

Example: She bravely decided to go on.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. On many occasions, they bravely led their soldiers in leather jackets to death, and then returned gracefully to their family and friends. Go to

2. He resisted bravely and refused all letters, messages, and parcels. Go to

3. 'If everyone were warm and well fed, we could not admire how bravely certain people bear cold and hunger. Go to

Original English Version

1. The wet grass sparkled in the light; the scanty patches of verdure in the hedges--where a few green twigs yet stood together bravely, resisting to the last the tyranny of nipping winds and early frosts--took heart and brightened up; the stream which had been dull and sullen all day long, broke out into a cheerful smile; the birds began to chirp and twitter on the naked boughs, as though the hopeful creatures half believed that winter had gone by, and spring had come already. Go to

2. But he resisted bravely; refusing to receive all letters, messages, and parcels; obstinately declining to treat with anybody; and holding out no hope or promise of capitulation. Go to

breast /brɛst/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mama; mamário; materno

Simple English: Meat from the front part of a bird's body.

Example: Grilled chicken breast is a healthy option for dinner tonight.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "Upon my word, sir!" said Mr Pecksniff, putting his hand on his breast and lowering his eyelids. Go to

2. Mr Tigg shook his head fiercely and struck his own breast once. Go to

breathed /briːðd/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: respirou; aspirou

Simple English: Took air into the body through the nose or mouth.

Example: She breathed in the sweet smell of the flowers.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pinch only breathed hard, opened his eyes wide, and nodded strongly. Go to

bricklayers /ˈbrɪkleɪərz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pedreiros

Simple English: workers who build walls and other structures with bricks

Example: The amateur bricklayers struggled with the chimney pipe.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Men who measure earth with iron chains and build houses like bricklayers. Go to

Original English Version

1. Fellows who measure earth with iron chains, and build houses like bricklayers. Go to

bridesmaid /ˈbraɪdzmeɪd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: dama de honra

Simple English: a woman or girl who attends a bride at her wedding

Example: Anne promised that she would be Diana's bridesmaid.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Your second wife and her bridesmaid!' Go to

Original English Version

1. Your second, and her bridesmaid!' Go to

bridewell /ˈbraɪd.wɛl/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: casa de correção

Simple English: an old term for a prison or house of correction

Example: The constable threatened to send the thief to the bridewell.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Her three daughters wanted Bridewell and bread-and-water. Go to

Original English Version

1. The strong-minded lady was for poison, her three daughters were for Bridewell and bread-and-water, the cousin with the toothache advocated Botany Bay, the two Miss Pecksniffs suggested flogging. Go to

brightened /ˈbraɪtənd/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: iluminaram-se; brilharam

Simple English: Became brighter or happier.

Example: Her face brightened at the good news.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Small green patches in the hedges, where a few twigs still resisted the cold winds and early frosts, brightened. Go to

Original English Version

1. The wet grass sparkled in the light; the scanty patches of verdure in the hedges--where a few green twigs yet stood together bravely, resisting to the last the tyranny of nipping winds and early frosts--took heart and brightened up; the stream which had been dull and sullen all day long, broke out into a cheerful smile; the birds began to chirp and twitter on the naked boughs, as though the hopeful creatures half believed that winter had gone by, and spring had come already. Go to

2. They exchanged glances, and brightened very much. Go to

brightens /ˈbraɪtənz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: ilumina; alegra

Simple English: makes or becomes lighter, clearer, or more cheerful

Example: A faint smile brightens his tired face.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Your eye brightens when I mention her. Go to

brightly /ˈbraɪtli/ (25 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: intensamente; com brilho

Simple English: In a way that gives a lot of light.

Example: The sun shone brightly all morning.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It shone brightly on a small Wiltshire village, an easy journey from the old town of Salisbury. Go to

2. Yet sunlight made paths of deeper gold across their branches, and the red light used their darkness to make the dying day shine more brightly. Go to

3. 'When I saw him on the stairs this morning, Pa,' said Mercy brightly, 'he looked, oh goodness, SUCH a monster! Go to

4. The morning became so beautiful and lively that the sun seemed to say - Tom was sure it did - 'I cannot bear it any longer; I must look,' and shone out brightly. Go to

Original English Version

1. It was pretty late in the autumn of the year, when the declining sun struggling through the mist which had obscured it all day, looked brightly down upon a little Wiltshire village, within an easy journey of the fair old town of Salisbury. Go to

2. Off went the mail at a canter down the dark road; the lamps gleaming brightly, and the horn awakening all the echoes, far and wide. Go to

brood /bruːd/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ninhada; prole; remoer pensamentos

Simple English: A family of young birds hatched together.

Example: The hen watched over her small brood.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Indeed it must be conceded to the whole brood of dragons of modern times, that they have made a great advance in civilisation and refinement. Go to

brows /braʊz/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sobrancelhas; fronte

Simple English: The eyebrows, or the forehead above them.

Example: He wiped his brows with the back of his hand.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They raised their noses, wrinkled their brows, buried good feelings, and violently brought back old complaints. Go to

Original English Version

1. Meantime the family forces were perpetually encountering each other in divers parts of the neighbourhood; and, as no one branch of the Chuzzlewit tree had ever been known to agree with another within the memory of man, there was such a skirmishing, and flouting, and snapping off of heads, in the metaphorical sense of that expression; such a bandying of words and calling of names; such an upturning of noses and wrinkling of brows; such a formal interment of good feelings and violent resurrection of ancient grievances; as had never been known in those quiet parts since the earliest record of their civilized existence. Go to

bruises /ˈbruːzɪz/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: hematomas; contusões; roxos

Simple English: Dark marks on the skin caused by a knock or a fall.

Example: The goalkeeper showed us the bruises on his knees after the match.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A visitor first noticed damaged oranges with blue and green bruises, rotting in boxes and cellars. Go to

Original English Version

1. Several fruit-brokers had their marts near Todgers's; and one of the first impressions wrought upon the stranger's senses was of oranges--of damaged oranges--with blue and green bruises on them, festering in boxes, or mouldering away in cellars. Go to

brute /bruːt/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: bruto; besta; animal irracional

Simple English: An animal, or a rough cruel person who behaves like one.

Example: Do not call the poor dog a brute just because it is big.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I may be a Hypocrite,' he added sharply, 'but I am not a Brute.' Go to

Original English Version

1. Also a great many dogs, who were strongly interested in the state of the market and the bargains of their masters; and a great confusion of tongues, both brute and human. Go to

2. I may be a Hypocrite,' said Mr Pecksniff, cuttingly; 'but I am not a Brute.' Go to

bursting /ˈbɜːrstɪŋ/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: morrendo de vontade; a ponto de estourar

Simple English: Breaking open suddenly, or being completely full of something.

Example: The cupboard was bursting with old letters and photographs.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. All day, porters came from the river wharves with bursting chests of oranges on their backs. Go to

Original English Version

1. All day long, a stream of porters from the wharves beside the river, each bearing on his back a bursting chest of oranges, poured slowly through the narrow passages; while underneath the archway by the public-house, the knots of those who rested and regaled within, were piled from morning until night. Go to

busily /ˈbɪzɪli/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: atarefadamente; sem parar

Simple English: In a busy way, working hard without stopping.

Example: She worked busily at the loom all day.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. He allowed himself no great leisure for this kind of observation, however, being busily engaged with the supper, which, as he whispered in his fair companion's ear, was a contract business, and therefore the more she ate, the better the bargain was. Go to

bustle /ˈbʌsəl/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: agitação; azáfama; apressar-se

Simple English: Busy, noisy activity, or the act of moving energetically from task to task.

Example: After that evening, all was bustle until the wedding ended.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I am tired by today's bustle and all this newness. Go to

Original English Version

1. For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs. Go to

2. The perfect silence which ensued upon the bustle and departure of the coach, together with the sharp air of the wintry afternoon, roused them both at the same time. Go to

3. I am tired with the bustle of to-day, and the novelty of everything about me; and in such a case, there's no greater luxury in the world, I think, than being read to sleep. Go to

4. Very soon afterwards the coach stopped at the office in the city; and the street in which it was situated was already in a bustle, that fully bore out Mr Pecksniff's words about its being morning, though for any signs of day yet appearing in the sky it might have been midnight. Go to

butcher's /ˈbʊtʃərz/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do açougueiro

Simple English: Belonging to a butcher, a person who sells meat.

Example: The butcher's knife lay on the board.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Here comes the butcher's dog from the garden. Go to

Original English Version

1. Here's the butcher's dog a-coming out of the garden--down, old fellow! Go to

buttoned /ˈbʌtənd/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: abotoado

Simple English: Fastened with buttons.

Example: His coat was buttoned to the neck.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His blue military-style coat was buttoned and braided to his chin. Go to

Original English Version

1. His coat, in colour blue and of a military cut, was buttoned and frogged up to his chin. Go to

buttonhole /ˈbʌtənhoʊl/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: casa de botão

Simple English: A small hole in clothing that a button passes through.

Example: He wore a flower in his buttonhole.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The ends of his red neckcloth flew behind him, and bright winter berries showed in the buttonhole of his velveteen coat as clearly from behind as from the front. Go to

Original English Version

1. He was a young fellow, of some five or six-and-twenty perhaps, and was dressed in such a free and fly-away fashion, that the long ends of his loose red neckcloth were streaming out behind him quite as often as before; and the bunch of bright winter berries in the buttonhole of his velveteen coat was as visible to Mr Pinch's rearward observation, as if he had worn that garment wrong side foremost. Go to

buxom /ˈbʌksəm/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: voluptuosa

Simple English: healthily full and rounded in body

Example: She had a moderately buxom figure.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He looked up in spite of himself directly; and having once looked up, there was no looking down again; for of all the tight, plump, buxom, bright-eyed, dimple-faced landladies that ever shone on earth, there stood before him then, bodily in that bar, the very pink and pineapple. Go to

Original English Version

1. Moderately buxom was her shape, and quite womanly too; but sometimes--yes, sometimes--she even wore a pinafore; and how charming THAT was! Go to

2. The mistress of the Blue Dragon was in outward appearance just what a landlady should be: broad, buxom, comfortable, and good looking, with a face of clear red and white, which, by its jovial aspect, at once bore testimony to her hearty participation in the good things of the larder and cellar, and to their thriving and healthful influences. Go to

3. How did you twinkle, as if fluttering with sympathy, when Mercy, reminded of the bonnet in her hair, hid her fair face and turned her head aside; the while her gentle sister plucked it out, and smote her with a sister's soft reproof, upon her buxom shoulder! Go to

4. He looked up in spite of himself directly; and having once looked up, there was no looking down again; for of all the tight, plump, buxom, bright-eyed, dimple-faced landladies that ever shone on earth, there stood before him then, bodily in that bar, the very pink and pineapple. Go to

caged /keɪdʒd/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: enjaulado

Simple English: Kept shut inside a cage.

Example: The caged bird sang all morning.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They were like caged birds remembering freedom. Go to

cages /ˈkeɪdʒɪz/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gaiolas; jaulas

Simple English: Boxes made of bars, used to keep animals or birds.

Example: The birds sang in their small wooden cages.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. In some of these dingy resting-places which bore much the same analogy to green churchyards, as the pots of earth for mignonette and wall-flower in the windows overlooking them did to rustic gardens, there were trees; tall trees; still putting forth their leaves in each succeeding year, with such a languishing remembrance of their kind (so one might fancy, looking on their sickly boughs) as birds in cages have of theirs. Go to

calculate /ˈkælkjʊleɪt/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: calcular

Simple English: To form an opinion by evaluating available information.

Example: You should calculate the risks before making a major investment decision.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Oh, let us not always calculate, plan, and plot for the future,' he said. Go to

calender /ˈkælɪndər/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: dervixe mendicante

Simple English: a wandering Muslim dervish, especially a figure like the one-eyed calenders in The Arabian Nights

Example: The illustration depicted a one-eyed calender from The Arabian Nights.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'A one-eyed calender, I think, sir,' Tom said uncertainly. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'A one-eyed calender, I think, sir,' faltered Tom. Go to

calmer /ˈkɑːmər/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mais calmo; mais sereno

Simple English: More quiet and peaceful than before.

Example: The sea grew calmer as soon as the wind dropped.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. You put a crust beside you to eat later on the road, when you are calmer. Go to

2. 'But she will become calmer in time.' Go to

Original English Version

1. Who could repress a smile--of love for thee, Tom Pinch, and not in jest at thy expense, for thou art poor enough already, Heaven knows--to think that such a holiday as lies before thee should awaken that quick flow and hurry of the spirits, in which thou settest down again, almost untasted, on the kitchen window-sill, that great white mug (put by, by thy own hands, last night, that breakfast might not hold thee late), and layest yonder crust upon the seat beside thee, to be eaten on the road, when thou art calmer in thy high rejoicing! Go to

calmness /ˈkɑːmnəs/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: calma; serenidade; tranquilidade

Simple English: The state of being quiet and not upset.

Example: What I admire most in her is her calmness during an emergency.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'No, John,' said Mr Pecksniff, with a calmness quite ethereal; 'no, I will not shake hands, John. Go to

camlet /ˈkæmlət/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tecido antigo de lã ou seda

Simple English: an old-fashioned fabric made from wool, silk, or animal hair

Example: She wrapped herself in a heavy camlet cloak.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The man wore an old blue camlet cloak lined with faded scarlet. Go to

Original English Version

1. With this announcement he hurried away to the outer door of the Blue Dragon, and almost immediately returned with a companion shorter than himself, who was wrapped in an old blue camlet cloak with a lining of faded scarlet. Go to

camped /kæmpt/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: acamparam

Simple English: Stayed for a time in tents or in the open.

Example: We camped beside the river for two nights.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Nearly the whole family camped before the Blue Dragon and formally besieged it. Go to

candlestick /ˈkændəlstɪk/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: castiçal; candelabro

Simple English: A holder for one or more candles.

Example: She carried a brass candlestick into the corridor.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Sadly, while Mr Pecksniff stood beside the bed in all the dignity of Goodness, the old man looked angrily at the candlestick as if strongly tempted to throw it at his cousin's head. Go to

2. When he stopped speaking, he played with the ashes of the burned paper in the candlestick. Go to

3. "Charity, my dear," said Mr Pecksniff, "remind me of something when I take my chamber candlestick tonight. Go to

4. 'Mr Pinch,' said Pecksniff, sitting with folded arms on a spare bed, 'there are no candle snuffers in that candlestick. Go to

Original English Version

1. It is a lamentable fact, that as Mr Pecksniff stood erect beside the bed, in all the dignity of Goodness, and addressed him thus, the old man cast an angry glance towards the candlestick, as if he were possessed by a strong inclination to launch it at his cousin's head. Go to

2. He fell to trifling, as he ceased to speak, with the ashes of the burnt paper in the candlestick. Go to

3. 'Charity, my dear,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'when I take my chamber candlestick to-night, remind me to be more than usually particular in praying for Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit; who has done me an injustice.' Go to

4. 'I don't see any snuffers in that candlestick. Go to

cannibal /ˈkænɪbəl/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: canibal

Simple English: A person who eats human flesh.

Example: The tale of the cannibal frightened the children.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. And whatever your jealousy and disappointment make you think, I am not a cannibal, ma'am.' Go to

2. 'Anyway, if I were a cannibal,' said Mr George Chuzzlewit, encouraged by this reply, 'I would think a lady who outlived three husbands and suffered so little from their loss must be very tough.' Go to

Original English Version

1. As to eating, I beg to say, whatever bitterness your jealousies and disappointed expectations may suggest to you, that I am not a cannibal, ma'am.' Go to

2. 'At all events, if I was a cannibal,' said Mr George Chuzzlewit, greatly stimulated by this retort, 'I think it would occur to me that a lady who had outlived three husbands, and suffered so very little from their loss, must be most uncommonly tough.' Go to

canter /ˈkæntər/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: meio-galope; galope leve

Simple English: A smooth three-beat horse gait faster than a trot and slower than a gallop.

Example: The horse slowed from a gallop to a canter.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Off went the mail at a canter down the dark road; the lamps gleaming brightly, and the horn awakening all the echoes, far and wide. Go to

cantered /ˈkæntəd/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: seguiu a meio-galope

Simple English: moved at a smooth horse's pace faster than a trot

Example: The horses cantered along the country road.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The mail cantered off down the dark road, its lamps bright and its horn waking echoes far and wide. Go to

captain's /ˈkæptɪnz/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do capitão

Simple English: Belonging to the captain, the person in charge of a ship or a team.

Example: The captain's cabin was the only warm room on the ship.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There were also long thin sandwiches, apples, moist captain's biscuits, small gritty pieces of orange with sugar, and a geological-looking home-made cake. Go to

2. Let us be merry.' He took a captain's biscuit. Go to

3. In the parlour, Martin and Tom found two messy heaps: thin bits of orange, old sandwiches, broken pieces of the hard cake, and several whole captain's biscuits. Go to

Original English Version

1. There were two bottles of currant wine, white and red; a dish of sandwiches (very long and very slim); another of apples; another of captain's biscuits (which are always a moist and jovial sort of viand); a plate of oranges cut up small and gritty; with powdered sugar, and a highly geological home-made cake. Go to

2. Let us be merry.' Here he took a captain's biscuit. Go to

3. In virtue of which liberal arrangement, they had the happiness to find awaiting them in the parlour two chaotic heaps of the remains of last night's pleasure, consisting of certain filmy bits of oranges, some mummied sandwiches, various disrupted masses of the geological cake, and several entire captain's biscuits. Go to

captivating /ˈkæptɪveɪtɪŋ/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: encantador

Simple English: very charming or attractive, here used ironically

Example: He gave the order in his supposedly captivating manner.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. This not being aggravation enough, he says this morning to me, in his usual captivating way, "We're going to-night, my man." "Are you, sir?" says I. "Perhaps you'd like the bill got ready, sir?" "Oh no, my man," he says; "you needn't mind that. Go to

carefree /ˈkerfriː/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: despreocupado; livre de preocupações

Simple English: Free from worry, responsibility, or serious concern.

Example: They remembered their happy, carefree life together.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He looked like one of the most carefree, good-tempered, comic men alive. Go to

carelessly /ˈkɛrləsli/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: descuidadamente; sem prestar atenção

Simple English: Without paying enough attention.

Example: He carelessly left the door open all night.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Why, yes,' Martin said carelessly. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Why, yes,' said Martin carelessly; 'I should have thought he would have had enough to do to enjoy himself, without thinking of you, Pinch.' Go to

carelessness /ˈkɛrləsnəs/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: descuido; desatenção

Simple English: The habit of not paying enough attention.

Example: His carelessness broke the window.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. At this moment, in this place, a perfect star of talent and genius is in a terrible situation through the guilty carelessness of my friend Pecksniff. Go to

2. 'Besides, through my friend Pecksniff's astonishing and guilty carelessness, I have no money for coach hire.' Go to

caricature /ˈkærɪkətʃʊə/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: caricatura

Simple English: an exaggerated and usually ridiculous representation

Example: The character is comic but not a complete caricature.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The American part of this story is not a caricature except that it shows mainly a ridiculous side of American character, as Mr Bevan expected. Go to

Original English Version

1. The American portion of this story is in no other respect a caricature than as it is an exhibition, for the most part (Mr Bevan expected), of a ludicrous side, ONLY, of the American character--of that side which was, four-and-twenty years ago, from its nature, the most obtrusive, and the most likely to be seen by such travellers as Young Martin and Mark Tapley. Go to

cartload /ˈkɑːrtloʊd/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: carga de carroça

Simple English: The amount of material or goods that one cart can carry.

Example: A cartload of old paper and broken bottles was taken away.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In the back yard, there are a cartload of loose bricks and a score or two of old flower-pots. Go to

carts /kɑːrts/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: carrinhos; carroças

Simple English: Small vehicles with wheels that are pushed or pulled.

Example: The men pushed green carts along the street.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Streets around the market were packed with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, wagons, vegetables, meat, tripe, pies, poultry, and sellers' goods of every kind. Go to

Original English Version

1. To one of his quiet habits this little delusion was greatly assisted by the circumstance of its being market-day, and the thoroughfares about the market-place being filled with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, waggons, garden-stuff, meat, tripe, pies, poultry and huckster's wares of every opposite description and possible variety of character. Go to

cask /kæsk/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: barril; tonel; pipa

Simple English: A round wooden container for liquids, especially wine or beer.

Example: They rolled a cask of cider down into the cellar.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It smelled like several damp umbrellas, a beer barrel, a cask of warm brandy-and-water, and a small room full of stale tobacco smoke. Go to

Original English Version

1. It happened then, and lastly, that Mr Pecksniff found himself immediately collared by something which smelt like several damp umbrellas, a barrel of beer, a cask of warm brandy-and-water, and a small parlour-full of stale tobacco smoke, mixed; and was straightway led downstairs into the bar from which he had lately come, where he found himself standing opposite to, and in the grasp of, a perfectly strange gentleman of still stranger appearance who, with his disengaged hand, rubbed his own head very hard, and looked at him, Pecksniff, with an evil countenance. Go to

cassim /ˈkæsɪm/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Cassim, personagem das Mil e Uma Noites

Simple English: Ali Baba’s brother, who is killed and cut into pieces by the forty thieves.

Example: The robbers killed Cassim after finding him inside their treasure cave.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There was the great talisman, Arabian Nights, and Cassim Baba, divided by four and hanging bloody in the robbers' cave. Go to

Original English Version

1. And there too were the Persian tales, with flying chests and students of enchanted books shut up for years in caverns; and there too was Abudah, the merchant, with the terrible little old woman hobbling out of the box in his bedroom; and there the mighty talisman, the rare Arabian Nights, with Cassim Baba, divided by four, like the ghost of a dreadful sum, hanging up, all gory, in the robbers' cave. Go to

castles /ˈkæsəlz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: castelos

Simple English: Large strong buildings with thick walls, built for defence.

Example: There are two old castles on the river.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He also built many Castles, Houses of Parliament, and other Public Buildings in his imagination. Go to

Original English Version

1. A young gentleman's premium being paid, and the young gentleman come to Mr Pecksniff's house, Mr Pecksniff borrowed his case of mathematical instruments (if silver-mounted or otherwise valuable); entreated him, from that moment, to consider himself one of the family; complimented him highly on his parents or guardians, as the case might be; and turned him loose in a spacious room on the two-pair front; where, in the company of certain drawing-boards, parallel rulers, very stiff-legged compasses, and two, or perhaps three, other young gentlemen, he improved himself, for three or five years, according to his articles, in making elevations of Salisbury Cathedral from every possible point of sight; and in constructing in the air a vast quantity of Castles, Houses of Parliament, and other Public Buildings. Go to

cautiously /ˈkɔːʃəsli/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cautelosamente

Simple English: In a careful way intended to avoid danger or mistakes.

Example: They moved cautiously through the lower jungle.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. During one quiet interval, the old gentleman looked cautiously around and reached uneasily from his nest of pillows. Go to

2. 'The letter,' Tigg whispered cautiously, 'which my friend Pecksniff addressed to Chevy Slyme, Esquire, and left with you.' Go to

caverns /ˈkævərnz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cavernas

Simple English: Large deep caves.

Example: The hills are full of dark caverns.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There were Persian tales, flying chests, students of enchanted books shut for years in caverns, Abudah the merchant, and the terrible little old woman who came from a box in his bedroom. Go to

Original English Version

1. Having seen him eat unto his heart's content he issued forth again, to wander round the town and regale himself with the shop windows; previously taking a long stare at the bank, and wondering in what direction underground the caverns might be where they kept the money; and turning to look back at one or two young men who passed him, whom he knew to be articled to solicitors in the town; and who had a sort of fearful interest in his eyes, as jolly dogs who knew a thing or two, and kept it up tremendously. Go to

2. And there too were the Persian tales, with flying chests and students of enchanted books shut up for years in caverns; and there too was Abudah, the merchant, with the terrible little old woman hobbling out of the box in his bedroom; and there the mighty talisman, the rare Arabian Nights, with Cassim Baba, divided by four, like the ghost of a dreadful sum, hanging up, all gory, in the robbers' cave. Go to

celery /ˈsɛləri/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: aipo

Simple English: A vegetable with long crisp pale-green stalks.

Example: Gub-Gub ate all the celery at dinner.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. When the cheese and celery arrived, he took a book from his pocket. Go to

Original English Version

1. By the time the cheese and celery came, Mr Pinch had taken a book out of his pocket, and could afford to trifle with the viands; now eating a little, now drinking a little, now reading a little, and now stopping to wonder what sort of a young man the new pupil would turn out to be. Go to

cellarage /ˈsɛlərɪdʒ/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: conjunto de porões

Simple English: cellar space beneath a building

Example: The inn's cellarage was reached from outside.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Todgers's greatest mystery was its cellarage, reached only through a back door and rusty grate. Go to

Original English Version

1. But the grand mystery of Todgers's was the cellarage, approachable only by a little back door and a rusty grating; which cellarage within the memory of man had had no connection with the house, but had always been the freehold property of somebody else, and was reported to be full of wealth; though in what shape--whether in silver, brass, or gold, or butts of wine, or casks of gun-powder--was matter of profound uncertainty and supreme indifference to Todgers's and all its inmates. Go to

cellars /ˈselərz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: porões; adegas; caves

Simple English: Rooms under a house, often used to store wine or food.

Example: The old inn kept its cheese in cool stone cellars.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A visitor first noticed damaged oranges with blue and green bruises, rotting in boxes and cellars. Go to

Original English Version

1. Several fruit-brokers had their marts near Todgers's; and one of the first impressions wrought upon the stranger's senses was of oranges--of damaged oranges--with blue and green bruises on them, festering in boxes, or mouldering away in cellars. Go to

chained /tʃeɪnd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: acorrentado; preso por correntes

Simple English: Fastened with a chain so it cannot move or escape.

Example: The gate was chained and padlocked.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. You would fear that you were growing too old for my taste and imagine me chained to the Dragon door, wanting to escape. Go to

Original English Version

1. Then you, even with your good humour, would be always on the fret and worrit, always uncomfortable in your own mind, always a-thinking as you was getting too old for my taste, always a-picturing me to yourself as being chained up to the Dragon door, and wanting to break away. Go to

chapter's /ˈtʃæptərz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do capítulo

Simple English: Belonging to or forming part of a chapter in a book.

Example: The character's name appeared in the chapter's title.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Yet the Dragon had never seen such activity inside as on the evening after the last chapter's events. Go to

charity's /ˈtʃærɪtiz/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Charity

Simple English: belonging to a character called Aunt Charity

Example: The tea-caddy was Aunt Charity's gift, and he threw it into the sea.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Charity's calm face seemed to say, "All my family have wronged me beyond repair. Go to

cheaply /ˈtʃiːpli/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: barato; a baixo preço

Simple English: For a low price.

Example: He sells fruit cheaply at the market.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. You advertise him here more cheaply and better than anyone writing on walls could, eh, Tom? Go to

2. Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Jonas lodged cheaply at the obscure Half Moon and Seven Stars. Go to

3. I do not want him here now, and three or four pounds might cheaply get rid of him. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Why, simply--I am ashamed to say--that this Mr Slyme is a relation of mine, of whom I never heard anything pleasant; and that I don't want him here just now, and think he would be cheaply got rid of, perhaps, for three or four pounds. Go to

cheered /tʃɪrd/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: aplaudiram; vibraram; gritaram de alegria

Simple English: Shouted happily to show joy or support.

Example: The people cheered three times.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They looked at each other and cheered up greatly. Go to

cheerfully /ˈtʃɪrfəli/ (43 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: alegremente; com bom humor

Simple English: In a happy way.

Example: He answered cheerfully and walked on.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Cheerfully, you tell Sam the hostler not to let the horse go yet, fully believing it wants to go and would if allowed. Go to

2. "When I say nothing," Mr Pinch said cheerfully, "I am wrong and do not mean it, because it gives me great pleasure and some of my happiest hours. Go to

3. Tom would cheerfully have followed him even to death, glad to give his life for such a man. Go to

4. Then she cheerfully left the little bar and went up the Dragon staircase. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'When I say nothing,' observed Mr Pinch, cheerfully, 'I am wrong, and don't say what I mean, because I get a great deal of pleasure from it, and the means of passing some of the happiest hours I know. Go to

2. Aye, cheerfully, though it had been to death, would Tom have followed him; glad to lay down his life for such a man! Go to

cheerfulness /ˈtʃɪrfəlnəs/ (25 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: jovialidade; bom humor

Simple English: The quality of being happy and bright in manner.

Example: Her cheerfulness never failed, even on bad days.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. With a cheerfulness of conscience, prompting almost a sprightly demeanour, he then resumed: Go to

2. 'You will take care, my dear Martin,' said Mr Pecksniff, resuming his former cheerfulness, 'that the house does not run away in our absence. Go to

cherished /ˈtʃerɪʃt/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: estimado; acalentado; cuidou com carinho

Simple English: loved, protected, or valued very deeply

Example: He watched his cherished plans begin to fade.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. After handling the pages like cherished living creatures, Mr Pinch chose a passage and read. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pinch accordingly, after turning over the leaves of his book with as much care as if they were living and highly cherished creatures, made his own selection, and began to read. Go to

chests /tʃests/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: peitos; arcas; baús

Simple English: The front parts of the body between the neck and the waist; also large boxes.

Example: Two wooden chests stood at the foot of the bed.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Young women with bright eyes and snowy-white chests hurried to many upstairs windows as he passed. Go to

2. There were Persian tales, flying chests, students of enchanted books shut for years in caverns, Abudah the merchant, and the terrible little old woman who came from a box in his bedroom. Go to

3. All day, porters came from the river wharves with bursting chests of oranges on their backs. Go to

Original English Version

1. And there too were the Persian tales, with flying chests and students of enchanted books shut up for years in caverns; and there too was Abudah, the merchant, with the terrible little old woman hobbling out of the box in his bedroom; and there the mighty talisman, the rare Arabian Nights, with Cassim Baba, divided by four, like the ghost of a dreadful sum, hanging up, all gory, in the robbers' cave. Go to

childlike /ˈtʃaɪldlaɪk/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: infantil; de criança

Simple English: Simple and open, like a child.

Example: He wrote in large childlike letters.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She was too fresh and childlike to wear combs or put her hair up in careful curls or braids. Go to

2. She seemed very charming and childlike. Go to

chilled /tʃɪld/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gelado; enregelado; resfriado

Simple English: Made cold, or made to feel cold and uncomfortable.

Example: The damp air chilled us long before the sun went down.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He must be thoroughly chilled." Go to

Original English Version

1. How thoroughly chilled he must be!' Go to

chimneys /ˈtʃɪmniz/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: chaminés

Simple English: Tall pipes that carry smoke out of a building.

Example: Smoke rose from the factory chimneys.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Smoke rose high from cottage chimneys, as if the beautiful earth could not bear heavy smoke. Go to

2. Some people invited to dinner at Todgers's went round for ages with its chimneys in sight. Go to

Original English Version

1. From cottage chimneys, smoke went streaming up high, high, as if the earth had lost its grossness, being so fair, and must not be oppressed by heavy vapour. Go to

chins /tʃɪnz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: queixos

Simple English: The parts of the face below the mouth.

Example: The men rubbed their chins and said nothing.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. As a final spadeful, letters from their own mothers prove that many male and female Chuzzlewits had chiselled noses, clear chins, bodies fit for a sculptor, beautifully shaped limbs, and polished foreheads so transparent that blue veins showed like roads on an ethereal map. Go to

2. Mr Pecksniff and his daughters pushed their feet deep into the straw, wrapped themselves to their chins, and closed both windows. Go to

Original English Version

1. As a goodly tumulus is already collected, and decently battened up above the Family grave, the present chapter is content to leave it as it is: merely adding, by way of a final spadeful, that many Chuzzlewits, both male and female, are proved to demonstration, on the faith of letters written by their own mothers, to have had chiselled noses, undeniable chins, forms that might have served the sculptor for a model, exquisitely-turned limbs and polished foreheads of so transparent a texture that the blue veins might be seen branching off in various directions, like so many roads on an ethereal map. Go to

chirped /tʃɜːrpt/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: piou

Simple English: Made the short high sound of a small bird.

Example: A sparrow chirped on the windowsill.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The dull stream seemed cheerful; birds chirped on bare branches, half believing winter had passed and spring had come. Go to

chiselled /ˈtʃɪzəld/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: bem esculpidos

Simple English: sharply and attractively shaped, as if carved

Example: He had a straight, chiselled nose.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. As a final spadeful, letters from their own mothers prove that many male and female Chuzzlewits had chiselled noses, clear chins, bodies fit for a sculptor, beautifully shaped limbs, and polished foreheads so transparent that blue veins showed like roads on an ethereal map. Go to

Original English Version

1. As a goodly tumulus is already collected, and decently battened up above the Family grave, the present chapter is content to leave it as it is: merely adding, by way of a final spadeful, that many Chuzzlewits, both male and female, are proved to demonstration, on the faith of letters written by their own mothers, to have had chiselled noses, undeniable chins, forms that might have served the sculptor for a model, exquisitely-turned limbs and polished foreheads of so transparent a texture that the blue veins might be seen branching off in various directions, like so many roads on an ethereal map. Go to

chiselling /ˈtʃɪzəlɪŋ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: traços esculpidos

Simple English: the sharply defined shaping of facial features

Example: The chiselling of her features suggested a sculptor's work.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. This one fact settles the matter, since all books on such subjects say these features, especially chiselling, appear only in people of the very best condition. Go to

Original English Version

1. This fact in itself, though it had been a solitary one, would have utterly settled and clenched the business in hand; for it is well known, on the authority of all the books which treat of such matters, that every one of these phenomena, but especially that of the chiselling, are invariably peculiar to, and only make themselves apparent in, persons of the very best condition. Go to

chiv /tʃɪv/ (27 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Chiv, apelido de Chevy Slyme

Simple English: Tigg’s shortened name for Chevy Slyme, used when speaking directly to him.

Example: “Come along, Chiv,” Tigg said to Chevy Slyme.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Chiv,' said Mr Tigg aloud in the proud tone of someone who would not be controlled, 'I shall come to that soon. Go to

2. 'Oh, Chiv, Chiv! Go to

3. If no telescope had ever existed, Chiv, watching you would prove that there were spots on the sun. Go to

4. Mr Pecksniff, you are the cousin of the man upstairs who made the will, and we are his nephew--I say we, meaning Chiv. Go to

5. Chiv, my dear fellow, go out and see what sort of night it is.' Go to

6. "Chiv," said Mr Tigg, clapping his back, "Pecksniff is away, so I have settled our small matter with Mr Pinch and friend. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Chiv,' said Mr Tigg aloud, in the high tone of one who was not to be tampered with. Go to

2. 'Oh, Chiv, Chiv!' added Mr Tigg, surveying his adopted brother with an air of profound contemplation after dismissing this piece of pantomime. Go to

3. If there had never been a telescope in the world, I should have been quite certain from my observation of you, Chiv, that there were spots on the sun! Go to

4. Mr Pecksniff, you're the cousin of the testator upstairs and we're the nephew--I say we, meaning Chiv. Go to

5. Chiv, my dear fellow, go out and see what sort of a night it is.' Go to

6. 'You will understand me when I say that I am the accredited agent of Chevy Slyme; that I am the ambassador from the court of Chiv? Go to

chiv's /tʃɪvz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Chiv

Simple English: The possessive form of Chiv, a shortened name for the character Chevy Slyme; here it identifies Chiv’s uncle.

Example: Chiv's uncle returned unexpectedly that evening.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff, now that your cousin, and Chiv's uncle, has appeared, we must stop him from disappearing again. Go to

2. 'Understand that I am Chevy Slyme's accredited agent, the ambassador from Chiv's court. Go to

3. Mr Tigg gestured with great feeling that the visitors would now see Chiv's greatness. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff, now that your cousin (and Chiv's uncle) has turned up, some steps must be taken to prevent his disappearing again; and, if possible, to counteract the influence which is exercised over him now, by this designing favourite. Go to

choruses /ˈkɔːrəsɪz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: coros; refrões

Simple English: Groups singing together, or repeated parts of songs sung by a group.

Example: The program included six choruses and one solo.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There are skittles, cricket, quoits, nine-pins, comic songs, choruses, and company around the fire every winter evening. Go to

Original English Version

1. Skittles, cricket, quoits, nine-pins, comic songs, choruses, company round the chimney corner every winter's evening. Go to

christendom /ˈkrɪsəndəm/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cristandade

Simple English: All the Christian countries and Christian people taken together.

Example: In those days no library in Christendom held more books than this one.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She was not young, but one could swear to her beauty before any mayor or judge in Christendom. Go to

Original English Version

1. She had still a bright black eye, and jet black hair; was comely, dimpled, plump, and tight as a gooseberry; and though she was not exactly what the world calls young, you may make an affidavit, on trust, before any mayor or magistrate in Christendom, that there are a great many young ladies in the world (blessings on them one and all!) whom you wouldn't like half as well, or admire half as much, as the beaming hostess of the Blue Dragon. Go to

churchyard /ˈtʃɜːrtʃjɑːrd/ (28 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: adro; cemitério junto à igreja

Simple English: The ground around a church, often used as a burial place.

Example: We walked through the churchyard reading the names on the stones.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. There were churches also by dozens, with many a ghostly little churchyard, all overgrown with such straggling vegetation as springs up spontaneously from damp, and graves, and rubbish. Go to

churchyards /ˈtʃɜːrtʃjɑːrdz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cemitérios de igreja; adros

Simple English: Areas of ground around churches, often used for burials.

Example: Simple stone crosses stood in the old churchyards.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There were also dozens of churches with ghostly little churchyards. Go to

Original English Version

1. In some of these dingy resting-places which bore much the same analogy to green churchyards, as the pots of earth for mignonette and wall-flower in the windows overlooking them did to rustic gardens, there were trees; tall trees; still putting forth their leaves in each succeeding year, with such a languishing remembrance of their kind (so one might fancy, looking on their sickly boughs) as birds in cages have of theirs. Go to

churning /ˈtʃɜːrnɪŋ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: batendo manteiga

Simple English: Stirring milk hard to make butter.

Example: She spent the morning churning butter.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He looked rather as if endless butter could be made from him by churning the milk of human kindness that rose from his heart. Go to

Original English Version

1. He rather looked as if any quantity of butter might have been made out of him, by churning the milk of human kindness, as it spouted upwards from his heart. Go to

chuzzlewit /ˈtʃʌzəlwɪt/ (554 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Chuzzlewit

Simple English: the surname of Martin Chuzzlewit and his family

Example: Martin Chuzzlewit is the novel's central character.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT Go to

2. Instead, I will comment on Jonas Chuzzlewit. Go to

3. INTRODUCTORY, CONCERNING THE PEDIGREE OF THE CHUZZLEWIT FAMILY Go to

4. No well-bred lady or gentleman can sympathize with the Chuzzlewit Family without first knowing how ancient it is. Go to

5. If jealous, malicious people say that any Chuzzlewit showed too much family pride, the weakness must seem pardonable, even praiseworthy, when the family's immense superiority to the rest of mankind in ancient origin is considered. Go to

6. At least one Chuzzlewit clearly came over with William the Conqueror. Go to

Original English Version

1. LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT Go to

2. I will not offer any plea on his behalf to so powerful and genteel a body, but will make a remark on the character of Jonas Chuzzlewit. Go to

3. INTRODUCTORY, CONCERNING THE PEDIGREE OF THE CHUZZLEWIT FAMILY Go to

4. As no lady or gentleman, with any claims to polite breeding, can possibly sympathize with the Chuzzlewit Family without being first assured of the extreme antiquity of the race, it is a great satisfaction to know that it undoubtedly descended in a direct line from Adam and Eve; and was, in the very earliest times, closely connected with the agricultural interest. Go to

5. If it should ever be urged by grudging and malicious persons, that a Chuzzlewit, in any period of the family history, displayed an overweening amount of family pride, surely the weakness will be considered not only pardonable but laudable, when the immense superiority of the house to the rest of mankind, in respect of this its ancient origin, is taken into account. Go to

6. There can be no doubt that at least one Chuzzlewit came over with William the Conqueror. Go to

chuzzlewit's /ˈtʃʌzəlwɪts/ (46 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Chuzzlewit

Simple English: belonging to or experienced by Martin Chuzzlewit

Example: Chuzzlewit's travels took him to America.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I therefore record that Martin Chuzzlewit's experiences there closely repeat reports of public meetings in the United States, especially a Brandywine Association. Go to

2. Family documents clearly show that, in Diggory Chuzzlewit's comparatively modern time, one member became very rich and influential. Go to

3. If Mr Pecksniff understood from Martin Chuzzlewit's gestures that he wanted to speak, he must have used a rule from melodramas. Go to

4. Was there no shadow of it in these thoughts and in Martin Chuzzlewit's own account of his life? Go to

5. Mrs Spottletoe is Chuzzlewit's own niece, is she not? Go to

6. Little by little they united against Martin Chuzzlewit's stubbornness. Go to

Original English Version

1. Therefore I record the fact that all that portion of Martin Chuzzlewit's experiences is a literal paraphrase of some reports of public proceedings in the United States (especially of the proceedings of a certain Brandywine Association), which were printed in the Times Newspaper in June and July, 1843--at about the time when I was engaged in writing those parts of the book; and which remain on the file of the Times Newspaper, of course. Go to

2. Rejecting a theory broached by some well-meaning but mistaken persons, that this Mr Toby Chuzzlewit's grandfather, to judge from his name, must surely have been a Mandarin (which is wholly insupportable, for there is no pretence of his grandmother ever having been out of this country, or of any Mandarin having been in it within some years of his father's birth; except those in the tea-shops, which cannot for a moment be regarded as having any bearing on the question, one way or other), rejecting this hypothesis, is it not manifest that Mr Toby Chuzzlewit had either received the name imperfectly from his father, or that he had forgotten it, or that he had mispronounced itâ and that even at the recent period in question, the Chuzzlewits were connected by a bend sinister, or kind of heraldic over-the-left, with some unknown noble and illustrious House? Go to

3. 'No,' said Mr Pecksniff, keeping his hand in his waistcoat as though he were ready, on the shortest notice, to produce his heart for Martin Chuzzlewit's inspection, 'I came here to offer my services to a stranger. Go to

4. And Mrs Spottletoe is Chuzzlewit's own niece, isn't she? Go to

5. Thus, by little and little, they made common cause of Martin Chuzzlewit's obduracy, until it was agreed (if such a word can be used in connection with the Chuzzlewits) that there should be a general council and conference held at Mr Pecksniff's house upon a certain day at noon; which all members of the family who had brought themselves within reach of the summons, were forthwith bidden and invited, solemnly, to attend. Go to

6. I would submit to you, whether we might not remove Mr Chuzzlewit's distrust of us, and vindicate our own disinterestedness by--' Go to

chuzzlewits /ˈtʃʌzəlwɪts/ (26 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: os Chuzzlewit

Simple English: members of the Chuzzlewit family

Example: The Chuzzlewits appeared throughout the family history.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It is therefore a great comfort and joy to learn that, at various times in history, the Chuzzlewits took an active part in deadly plots and bloody fights. Go to

2. Many later Chuzzlewits failed in other kinds of work and became coal-merchants, although they had no reasonable hope of making money and no clear reason for doing it. Go to

3. Thus, even then, the Chuzzlewits were linked by a bend sinister, or heraldic over-the-left, to some unknown noble and famous House. Go to

4. There is no need for more examples of the Chuzzlewits' high rank and great importance. Go to

5. As a final spadeful, letters from their own mothers prove that many male and female Chuzzlewits had chiselled noses, clear chins, bodies fit for a sculptor, beautifully shaped limbs, and polished foreheads so transparent that blue veins showed like roads on an ethereal map. Go to

6. Having completely satisfied itself, and therefore all readers, that the Chuzzlewits had an origin and were once important enough to be desirable friends for right-minded people, this history may now begin its real work. Go to

Original English Version

1. Consequently, it is a source of inexpressible comfort and happiness to find, that in various periods of our history, the Chuzzlewits were actively connected with divers slaughterous conspiracies and bloody frays. Go to

2. It is a notable circumstance that in these later times, many Chuzzlewits, being unsuccessful in other pursuits, have, without the smallest rational hope of enriching themselves, or any conceivable reason, set up as coal-merchants; and have, month after month, continued gloomily to watch a small stock of coals, without in any one instance negotiating with a purchaser. Go to

3. Rejecting a theory broached by some well-meaning but mistaken persons, that this Mr Toby Chuzzlewit's grandfather, to judge from his name, must surely have been a Mandarin (which is wholly insupportable, for there is no pretence of his grandmother ever having been out of this country, or of any Mandarin having been in it within some years of his father's birth; except those in the tea-shops, which cannot for a moment be regarded as having any bearing on the question, one way or other), rejecting this hypothesis, is it not manifest that Mr Toby Chuzzlewit had either received the name imperfectly from his father, or that he had forgotten it, or that he had mispronounced itâ and that even at the recent period in question, the Chuzzlewits were connected by a bend sinister, or kind of heraldic over-the-left, with some unknown noble and illustrious House? Go to

4. It is needless to multiply instances of the high and lofty station, and the vast importance of the Chuzzlewits, at different periods. Go to

5. As a goodly tumulus is already collected, and decently battened up above the Family grave, the present chapter is content to leave it as it is: merely adding, by way of a final spadeful, that many Chuzzlewits, both male and female, are proved to demonstration, on the faith of letters written by their own mothers, to have had chiselled noses, undeniable chins, forms that might have served the sculptor for a model, exquisitely-turned limbs and polished foreheads of so transparent a texture that the blue veins might be seen branching off in various directions, like so many roads on an ethereal map. Go to

6. This history having, to its own perfect satisfaction, (and, consequently, to the full contentment of all its readers,) proved the Chuzzlewits to have had an origin, and to have been at one time or other of an importance which cannot fail to render them highly improving and acceptable acquaintance to all right-minded individuals, may now proceed in earnest with its task. Go to

cinders /ˈsɪndərz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cinzas grossas; brasas apagadas

Simple English: Small partly burned pieces of coal or wood.

Example: She opened the stove and searched among the cinders.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mercy, my dear, stir the fire and throw the cinders onto it.' Go to

Original English Version

1. Mercy, my dear, stir the fire and throw up the cinders.' Go to

cistern /ˈsɪstərn/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cisterna; reservatório de água

Simple English: A tank used for storing water.

Example: Rainwater collected in the stone cistern.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. This was true: two feet away stood a brown wall with a black cistern on top. Go to

2. It viewed another corner of wall and cistern. Go to

Original English Version

1. Nor was this a vainglorious boast, for it commanded at a perspective of two feet, a brown wall with a black cistern on the top. Go to

2. It commanded from a similar point of sight another angle of the wall, and another side of the cistern. Go to

Glossary: New Words (2/7)

civilisation /ˌsɪvələˈzeɪʃən/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: civilização

Simple English: An organized human society with its culture, institutions, and way of life.

Example: The explorers believed they had sailed beyond civilisation.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Indeed it must be conceded to the whole brood of dragons of modern times, that they have made a great advance in civilisation and refinement. Go to

clapped /klæpt/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: bateu (palmas); bateu um contra o outro

Simple English: Hit two things together, especially the hands.

Example: She clapped the heels of her shoes together.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It will amuse me to see your grammar-school.' He clapped the young man on the back. Go to

Original English Version

1. So saying, he clapped that dejected companion on the shoulder, turned upon his heel, and walked out into the passage, whither poor Mr Pinch, after lingering irresolutely in the parlour for a few seconds, expressing in his countenance the deepest mental misery and gloom followed him. Go to

clapping /ˈklæpɪŋ/ (16 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: batendo palmas

Simple English: Hitting the hands together to show happiness.

Example: The children were clapping and laughing.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Oh, I am sure we shall!' cried Mercy, clapping her hands. Go to

2. "Chiv," said Mr Tigg, clapping his back, "Pecksniff is away, so I have settled our small matter with Mr Pinch and friend. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Now,' said Mr Tigg, clapping one hand on the shoulder of his prepossessing friend, and calling Mr Pecksniff's attention to him with the other, 'you two are related; and relations never did agree, and never will; which is a wise dispensation and an inevitable thing, or there would be none but family parties, and everybody in the world would bore everybody else to death. Go to

2. 'Oh! that I'm sure we shall!' cried Mercy, clapping her hands. Go to

3. Now it really will be,' continued Mr Pecksniff, clapping his young friend on the back in his droll humour, 'an amusement to me, to see what you make of the grammar-school.' Go to

4. 'Chiv,' said Mr Tigg, clapping him on the back, 'my friend Pecksniff not being at home, I have arranged our trifling piece of business with Mr Pinch and friend. Go to

clasp /klæsp/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: fecho; broche; apertar; abraçar

Simple English: A small metal fastener, or to hold something tightly.

Example: The silver clasp on her necklace had come loose.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pinch took from his pocket an old-fashioned red-leather purse with a steel clasp, which had probably once belonged to his deceased grandmother. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pinch took from his pocket an old-fashioned red-leather purse with a steel clasp, which had probably once belonged to his deceased grandmother. Go to

clasped /klæspt/ (22 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: apertou; segurou firme; entrelaçou

Simple English: Held something tightly, especially with the hands.

Example: He clasped my hand and thanked me again and again.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Gradually his hands became tightly clasped upon the elbows of the chair, his eyes dilated with surprise, his mouth opened, his hair stood more erect upon his forehead than its custom was, until, at length, when the old man rose in bed, and stared at him with scarcely less emotion than he showed himself, the Pecksniff doubts were all resolved, and he exclaimed aloud: Go to

clasping /ˈklæspɪŋ/ (14 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: apertando; segurando; entrelaçando

Simple English: Holding something or someone tightly, often with the hands.

Example: Anne stood clasping her hands with excitement.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Not your daughters!' exclaimed the lady, raising her hands and clasping them. Go to

cling /klɪŋ/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: agarrar-se; apegar-se

Simple English: To hold tightly to something or refuse to let it go.

Example: The child would cling to the rail in rough weather.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In many friendships, unlike people cling together more than like people. Go to

clinking /ˈklɪŋkɪŋ/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tilintando

Simple English: Making a short light ringing sound.

Example: Glasses were clinking in the next room.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In this piece of generalship he was very much assisted by the great influx of company into the taproom; for the news of his intention having gone abroad, there was a perfect throng there all the evening, and much drinking of healths and clinking of mugs. Go to

Original English Version

1. The lusty bellows roared Ha ha! to the clear fire, which roared in turn, and bade the shining sparks dance gayly to the merry clinking of the hammers on the anvil. Go to

2. In this piece of generalship he was very much assisted by the great influx of company into the taproom; for the news of his intention having gone abroad, there was a perfect throng there all the evening, and much drinking of healths and clinking of mugs. Go to

cloaks /kloʊks/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: capas; mantos

Simple English: Loose outer garments with no sleeves, worn over clothes.

Example: Their cloaks were wet with rain.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Farmers' wives in red cloaks and hats rode shaggy, calm horses. Go to

Original English Version

1. Also there were farmers' wives in beaver bonnets and red cloaks, riding shaggy horses purged of all earthly passions, who went soberly into all manner of places without desiring to know why, and who, if required, would have stood stock still in a china shop, with a complete dinner-service at each hoof. Go to

clockwork /ˈklɑːkwɜːrk/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mecanismo de relógio

Simple English: A set of wheels and springs that makes a machine move.

Example: The copper man ran by clockwork.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But gold, silver, gems, and clockwork meant little beside the bookshops. Go to

Original English Version

1. But what were even gold and silver, precious stones and clockwork, to the bookshops, whence a pleasant smell of paper freshly pressed came issuing forth, awakening instant recollections of some new grammar had at school, long time ago, with 'Master Pinch, Grove House Academy,' inscribed in faultless writing on the fly-leaf! Go to

clumsy /ˈklʌmzi/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desajeitado; grosseiro; malfeito

Simple English: Done or made without skill or care.

Example: It was a clumsy trick, and no one believed it.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His body was clumsy, his shoulders bent forward, and he pushed his head out in a comic way. Go to

Original English Version

1. He was far from handsome certainly; and was drest in a snuff-coloured suit, of an uncouth make at the best, which, being shrunk with long wear, was twisted and tortured into all kinds of odd shapes; but notwithstanding his attire, and his clumsy figure, which a great stoop in his shoulders, and a ludicrous habit he had of thrusting his head forward, by no means redeemed, one would not have been disposed (unless Mr Pecksniff said so) to consider him a bad fellow by any means. Go to

clung /klʌŋ/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: agarrava-se; apegava-se

Simple English: Held onto something very tightly.

Example: The child clung to her father's hand.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They crept under house eaves, clung like bats to hay-ricks, rushed through open chamber windows, and hid close to hedges - anywhere safe. Go to

Original English Version

1. The scared leaves only flew the faster for all this, and a giddy chase it was; for they got into unfrequented places, where there was no outlet, and where their pursuer kept them eddying round and round at his pleasure; and they crept under the eaves of houses, and clung tightly to the sides of hay-ricks, like bats; and tore in at open chamber windows, and cowered close to hedges; and, in short, went anywhere for safety. Go to

coachman /ˈkoʊtʃmən/ (42 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cocheiro

Simple English: A man who drives a carriage pulled by horses.

Example: The coachman waited outside the hotel.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Moreover, Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Jonas were economically quartered at the Half Moon and Seven Stars, which was an obscure ale-house; and by the very next coach there came posting to the scene of action, so many other affectionate members of the family (who quarrelled with each other, inside and out, all the way down, to the utter distraction of the coachman), that in less than four-and-twenty hours the scanty tavern accommodation was at a premium, and all the private lodgings in the place, amounting to full four beds and sofa, rose cent per cent in the market. Go to

coachman's /ˈkoʊtʃmənz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do cocheiro

Simple English: The possessive form of “coachman,” referring to something belonging to the driver of a horse-drawn coach.

Example: The officer remembered the coachman's directions.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They quarrelled inside and outside throughout the journey, to the coachman's despair. Go to

coals /koʊlz/ (14 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: brasas; carvões

Simple English: Pieces of burning black rock that give heat.

Example: The last coals were still warm.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff did not sleep or seek bed for two hours, but sat before his fire, looking at the coals and thinking deeply. Go to

2. Call for coals. Go to

Original English Version

1. It is a notable circumstance that in these later times, many Chuzzlewits, being unsuccessful in other pursuits, have, without the smallest rational hope of enriching themselves, or any conceivable reason, set up as coal-merchants; and have, month after month, continued gloomily to watch a small stock of coals, without in any one instance negotiating with a purchaser. Go to

2. It was some time before Mr Pecksniff dreamed at all, or even sought his pillow, as he sat for full two hours before the fire in his own chamber, looking at the coals and thinking deeply. Go to

3. Martin Chuzzlewit beheld these roystering preparations with infinite contempt, and stirring the fire into a blaze (to the great destruction of Mr Pecksniff's coals), sat moodily down before it, in the most comfortable chair he could find. Go to

4. Do call for some coals. Go to

cobweb /ˈkɑːbweb/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: teia de aranha

Simple English: A net of fine threads made by a spider.

Example: A grey cobweb hung in the corner of the ceiling.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A piece of net on top looked like a black cobweb. Go to

Original English Version

1. M. Todgers was a lady, rather a bony and hard-featured lady, with a row of curls in front of her head, shaped like little barrels of beer; and on the top of it something made of net--you couldn't call it a cap exactly--which looked like a black cobweb. Go to

cockfighting /ˈkɒkfaɪtɪŋ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: rinha de galos

Simple English: the practice of making roosters fight for entertainment or betting

Example: The law eventually prohibited cockfighting.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. We know Fox's Book of Martyrs, the Court of Requests, and the Star Chamber, but I fear no one when I say that holding Chevy Slyme for a bill is worse than any cockfighting I know.' Go to

Original English Version

1. Now,' said Mr Tigg, 'we have heard of Fox's Book of Martyrs, I believe, and we have heard of the Court of Requests, and the Star Chamber; but I fear the contradiction of no man alive or dead, when I assert that my friend Chevy Slyme being held in pawn for a bill, beats any amount of cockfighting with which I am acquainted.' Go to

coffins /ˈkɔːfɪnz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: caixões

Simple English: Long boxes in which dead bodies are buried or cremated.

Example: She described how her relatives had looked in their coffins.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Those crooks would have spat on their coffins after the rich men died as their victims. Go to

Original English Version

1. They should have shown themselves fit objects to be robbed and preyed upon and plotted against and adulated by any knaves, who, but for joy, would have spat upon their coffins when they died their dupes; and then their search would have ended as mine has done, and they would be what I am.' Go to

coldly /ˈkoʊldli/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: friamente; com frieza

Simple English: In an unfriendly way, without warmth or feeling.

Example: He answered coldly and turned back to his newspaper.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'You know!' Martin said coldly, showing that he had no respect for Mr Pecksniff. Go to

2. Whenever he filled his glass, Miss Charity stared coldly as if at a ghost. Go to

coldness /ˈkoʊldnəs/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: frieza

Simple English: A way of behaving that shows no warm feeling.

Example: He noticed the coldness in her voice.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I may be sad and hurt, but I must not quickly decide that he has no reason for his coldness. Go to

colic /ˈkɑːlɪk/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cólica

Simple English: A strong pain in the stomach.

Example: The baby cried all night with colic.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Knowing the wine, he may have been thinking about Mr Pinch's state tomorrow and remedies for colic. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff also became thoughtful at those moments, not to say dejected; but as he knew the vintage, it is very likely he may have been speculating on the probable condition of Mr Pinch upon the morrow, and discussing within himself the best remedies for colic. Go to

collars /ˈkɑːlərz/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: colarinhos; coleiras

Simple English: The parts of clothes that go round the neck, or bands for animals.

Example: Their shirt collars were stiff and white.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Above the low white fence of his cravat lay a smooth, hairless valley between two high collars. Go to

combs /koʊmz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pentes; penteia

Simple English: Tools with teeth for arranging hair, or the act of arranging hair with one.

Example: She combs my hair before breakfast every morning.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She was too fresh and childlike to wear combs or put her hair up in careful curls or braids. Go to

Original English Version

1. She was too fresh and guileless, and too full of child-like vivacity, was the youngest Miss Pecksniff, to wear combs in her hair, or to turn it up, or to frizzle it, or braid it. Go to

comforted /ˈkʌmfərtɪd/ (28 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: consolou; confortou

Simple English: Made someone feel less sad or worried.

Example: The old crow comforted him.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Because of this, anyone would be comforted by his voice and presence, just as Mrs Lupin was. Go to

2. Again, although Mrs Lupin first gave the news, Mr Pecksniff made it his own and comforted her with it. Go to

3. This thought comforted him greatly. Go to

4. It shows how easily a good man may be comforted after failure and disappointment. Go to

5. I found this was not true, but such ideas comforted me in hard times. Go to

6. Even when I discovered that I had cared for an ostrich, not a human pupil, they comforted me in that painful hour.' Go to

Original English Version

1. These injuries having been comforted externally, with patches of pickled brown paper, and Mr Pecksniff having been comforted internally, with some stiff brandy-and-water, the eldest Miss Pecksniff sat down to make the tea, which was all ready. Go to

2. Now there was nothing that one may call decidedly original in this remark, nor can it be exactly said to have contained any wise precept theretofore unknown to mankind, or to have opened any hidden source of consolation; but Mr Pecksniff's manner was so bland, and he nodded his head so soothingly, and showed in everything such an affable sense of his own excellence, that anybody would have been, as Mrs Lupin was, comforted by the mere voice and presence of such a man; and, though he had merely said 'a verb must agree with its nominative case in number and person, my good friend,' or 'eight times eight are sixty-four, my worthy soul,' must have felt deeply grateful to him for his humanity and wisdom. Go to

3. This remark being received with a shrill titter by the two sisters of the speaker, Miss Charity Pecksniff begged with much politeness to be informed whether any of those very low observations were levelled at her; and receiving no more explanatory answer than was conveyed in the adage 'Those the cap fits, let them wear it,' immediately commenced a somewhat acrimonious and personal retort, wherein she was much comforted and abetted by her sister Mercy, who laughed at the same with great heartiness; indeed far more naturally than life. Go to

4. I have not found the fact to be so; far from it; and yet those visions have comforted me under circumstances of trial. Go to

comforts /ˈkʌmfərts/ (14 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: comodidades; conforto

Simple English: Things that make life easy and pleasant.

Example: He missed the small comforts of his own kitchen.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He will receive the best practical education in architecture and enjoy the comforts of a home. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'He will avail himself of the eligible opportunity which now offers, for uniting the advantages of the best practical architectural education with the comforts of a home, and the constant association with some who (however humble their sphere, and limited their capacity) are not unmindful of their moral responsibilities.' Go to

2. Mr Pecksniff insisted on accompanying his young friend upstairs for personal superintendence of his comforts; and taking him by the arm, conducted him once more to his bedroom, followed by Mr Pinch, who bore the light. Go to

commission (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: comissão; taxa; grupo oficial

Simple English: a group with official duties or money paid for sales

Example: She earns a commission on each sale.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The afternoon after the family left, both were busy: Martin with the grammar-school and Tom balancing rent receipts and subtracting Mr Pecksniff's commission. Go to

companion's /kəmˈpænjənz/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do companheiro; da companheira

Simple English: Belonging to the person who is travelling or spending time with you.

Example: I paid my share and my companion's share as well.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pinch listened in confusion, partly because of his companion's words and partly because he spoke so quickly and fiercely. Go to

2. He looked sadly at his companion's face, unable to decide what expression it wore. Go to

3. He had just noticed that his companion's shirt was open as if it were Midsummer, and every breath of air moved it. Go to

4. After happily looking around the safe, cosy room, he became worried when he saw his companion's dull face. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pinch had listened to all this with looks of bewilderment, which seemed to be in part occasioned by the matter of his companion's speech, and in part by his rapid and vehement manner. Go to

2. 'But bless my soul, Mark,' said Mr Pinch, who in the progress of his observation just then made the discovery that the bosom of his companion's shirt was as much exposed as if it was Midsummer, and was ruffled by every breath of air, 'why don't you wear a waistcoat?' Go to

3. 'I don't suppose he can, eh?' said Tom, looking wistfully in his companion's face. Go to

4. He allowed himself no great leisure for this kind of observation, however, being busily engaged with the supper, which, as he whispered in his fair companion's ear, was a contract business, and therefore the more she ate, the better the bargain was. Go to

compasses /ˈkʌmpəsɪz/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: bússolas

Simple English: Instruments with a needle that shows north.

Example: Both compasses pointed the same way.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Then he left the pupil in a large front room two floors up, with drawing boards, parallel rulers, and very stiff compasses. Go to

2. With a black pencil in his mouth and compasses in hand, he studied many strange mathematical diagrams. Go to

Original English Version

1. A young gentleman's premium being paid, and the young gentleman come to Mr Pecksniff's house, Mr Pecksniff borrowed his case of mathematical instruments (if silver-mounted or otherwise valuable); entreated him, from that moment, to consider himself one of the family; complimented him highly on his parents or guardians, as the case might be; and turned him loose in a spacious room on the two-pair front; where, in the company of certain drawing-boards, parallel rulers, very stiff-legged compasses, and two, or perhaps three, other young gentlemen, he improved himself, for three or five years, according to his articles, in making elevations of Salisbury Cathedral from every possible point of sight; and in constructing in the air a vast quantity of Castles, Houses of Parliament, and other Public Buildings. Go to

2. Mr Pecksniff had clearly not expected them for hours to come; for he was surrounded by open books, and was glancing from volume to volume, with a black lead-pencil in his mouth, and a pair of compasses in his hand, at a vast number of mathematical diagrams, of such extraordinary shapes that they looked like designs for fireworks. Go to

complacently /kəmˈpleɪsəntli/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: com satisfação

Simple English: with self-satisfied pleasure

Example: He smiled complacently as the guests praised his house.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'The domestic assistants,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'sleep above; and that is all.' After which, and listening complacently as he went, to the encomiums passed by his young friend on the arrangements generally, he led the way to the parlour again. Go to

2. Mr Pecksniff smiled complacently; shook his head; and said, 'My daughters, Mrs Todgers. Go to

complimentary /ˌkɒmplɪˈmentəri/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: lisonjeira

Simple English: expressing praise or admiration

Example: The comparison was not complimentary to his singing voice.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'It was the creaking of the sign outside, sir, I dare say,' observed the landlady; a suggestion by the way (as she felt a moment after she had made it), not at all complimentary to the voice of the old gentleman. Go to

2. Because it's complimentary. Go to

3. 'You may be sure,' said Martin, 'that this nettled him, and that he began to be the very reverse of complimentary to myself. Go to

condescendingly /ˌkɒndɪˈsɛndɪŋli/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: com condescendência

Simple English: in a way that shows a sense of superiority

Example: She smiled condescendingly at the junior clerk.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The ladies sweetly said goodnight to Mr Chuzzlewit, dutifully to their father, and condescendingly to Mr Pinch, then went to their bower. Go to

conflict /ˈkɒnflɪkt/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: conflito

Simple English: Hostile encounter between armed forces during a war.

Example: The ongoing conflict has caused suffering for many civilians in the region.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Even among my family, I have caused quarrels and conflict merely by remaining with them. Go to

conqueror /ˈkɑːŋkərər/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: conquistador

Simple English: A person who wins land by war.

Example: The conqueror entered the city at dawn.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. At least one Chuzzlewit clearly came over with William the Conqueror. Go to

2. It would surely have been just as great, with equally long lines of noble descendants boasting of their origin, even if William the Conqueror had been William the Conquered. Go to

Original English Version

1. There can be no doubt that at least one Chuzzlewit came over with William the Conqueror. Go to

2. Perhaps in this place the history may pause to congratulate itself upon the enormous amount of bravery, wisdom, eloquence, virtue, gentle birth, and true nobility, that appears to have come into England with the Norman Invasion: an amount which the genealogy of every ancient family lends its aid to swell, and which would beyond all question have been found to be just as great, and to the full as prolific in giving birth to long lines of chivalrous descendants, boastful of their origin, even though William the Conqueror had been William the Conquered; a change of circumstances which, it is quite certain, would have made no manner of difference in this respect. Go to

consciences /ˈkɑːnʃənsɪz/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: consciências

Simple English: People’s inner senses of what is morally right and wrong.

Example: Their consciences would not let them remain silent.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'I will add this without naming names, so only people with guilty consciences need feel hurt. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'And I will further add,' said Mr George, nodding his head violently at every second syllable; 'naming no names, and therefore hurting nobody but those whose consciences tell them they are alluded to, that I think it would be much more decent and becoming, if those who hooked and crooked themselves into this family by getting on the blind side of some of its members before marriage, and manslaughtering them afterwards by crowing over them to that strong pitch that they were glad to die, would refrain from acting the part of vultures in regard to other members of this family who are living. Go to

consistent /kənˈsɪstənt/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: consistente; coerente; consentânea

Simple English: Following the same course of action or behavior over time.

Example: She has been consistent in her efforts to improve the team’s performance.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He called Mr Pecksniff one of the most consistent and remarkable men he had ever met. Go to

consoled /kənˈsəʊld/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: consolados

Simple English: made to feel less sad or disappointed

Example: The hungry travellers were easily consoled by a warm meal.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Here again, though the statement was Mrs Lupin's and not Mr Pecksniff's, Mr Pecksniff made it his own and consoled her with it. Go to

2. This view of his affairs yielded him great consolation; and the fact deserves to be noted, as showing with what ease a good man may be consoled under circumstances of failure and disappointment. Go to

constantinople /ˌkɒnstæntɪˈnoʊpəl/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Constantinopla

Simple English: the historical name of the city now called Istanbul

Example: He is roaming about Constantinople.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. My dear Martin, pile them into any shape that reminds me of St. Peter's at Rome or the Mosque of St. Sophia at Constantinople. Go to

Original English Version

1. If you could pile them up my dear Martin, into any form which would remind me on my return say of St. Peter's at Rome, or the Mosque of St. Sophia at Constantinople, it would be at once improving to you and agreeable to my feelings. Go to

constraint /kənˈstreɪnt/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: autocontrole

Simple English: strong control over one's feelings or actions

Example: By great constraint, she avoided mentioning her old injuries.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Why, I tell you what,' said Mark, throwing off all his constraint in an instant and seizing the hostess round the waist--at which she was not at all alarmed, for she knew what a good young man he was--'if I took what I liked most, I should take you. Go to

Original English Version

1. So constantly was he a guest at that nobleman's table, indeed; and so unceasingly were His Grace's hospitality and companionship forced, as it were, upon him; that we find him uneasy, and full of constraint and reluctance; writing his friends to the effect that if they fail to do so and so by bearer, he will have no choice but to dine again with Duke Humphrey; and expressing himself in a very marked and extraordinary manner as one surfeited of High Life and Gracious Company. Go to

2. 'Why, I tell you what,' said Mark, throwing off all his constraint in an instant and seizing the hostess round the waist--at which she was not at all alarmed, for she knew what a good young man he was--'if I took what I liked most, I should take you. Go to

contemplate /ˈkɒntəmpleɪt/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: contemplar

Simple English: to look at or think about something attentively

Example: Their family affection was pleasant to contemplate.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. FROM WHICH IT WILL APPEAR THAT IF UNION BE STRENGTH, AND FAMILY AFFECTION BE PLEASANT TO CONTEMPLATE, THE CHUZZLEWITS WERE THE STRONGEST AND MOST AGREEABLE FAMILY IN THE WORLD Go to

Original English Version

1. FROM WHICH IT WILL APPEAR THAT IF UNION BE STRENGTH, AND FAMILY AFFECTION BE PLEASANT TO CONTEMPLATE, THE CHUZZLEWITS WERE THE STRONGEST AND MOST AGREEABLE FAMILY IN THE WORLD Go to

2. 'As to looking, I have heard it said, Mrs Ned,' returned Mr George, angrily, 'that a cat is free to contemplate a monarch; and therefore I hope I have some right, having been born a member of this family, to look at a person who only came into it by marriage. Go to

3. His father and Mr Pecksniff, probably acting on the same wise principle, demolished everything that came within their reach, and by that means acquired a greasy expression of countenance, indicating contentment, if not repletion, which it was very pleasant to contemplate. Go to

contemplation /ˌkɒntəmˈpleɪʃən/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: contemplação

Simple English: the act of looking at or thinking about something deeply

Example: The contemplation of their future home gave him pleasure.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Oh, Chiv, Chiv!' added Mr Tigg, surveying his adopted brother with an air of profound contemplation after dismissing this piece of pantomime. Go to

2. Who do you imagine has it in contemplation to confer a distinction upon YOU, sir?' Go to

3. 'And how,' said Mr Pecksniff, turning round after the contemplation of these passages, and taking Mr Pinch in a friendly manner by the elbow, 'how has our friend used you, Martin?' Go to

4. Upon my soul, I am grateful to my friend Pecksniff for helping me to the contemplation of such a delicious picture as you present. Go to

contemptuous /kənˈtɛmptʃuəs/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desdenhoso; cheio de desprezo

Simple English: Showing that someone or something is considered unworthy of respect.

Example: The horse answered with a contemptuous snort.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. With such departing words, did this strong-minded female paralyse the Pecksniffian energies; and so she swept out of the room, and out of the house, attended by her daughters, who, as with one accord, elevated their three noses in the air, and joined in a contemptuous titter. Go to

conversational /ˌkɒnvəˈseɪʃənəl/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: conversador

Simple English: willing or able to engage in conversation

Example: He was polite but not at all conversational.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. At length he rose and divested himself of his shawl and great-coat, which (far different from Mr Pinch's) was a very warm and thick one; but he was not a whit more conversational out of his great-coat than in it, for he sat down again in the same place and attitude, and leaning back in his chair, began to bite his nails. Go to

2. When they were halfway home, and stopped to give the horse some water, Martin (who was very generous with his money) ordered another glass of punch, which they drank between them, and which had not the effect of making them less conversational than before. Go to

convinced /kənˈvɪnst/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: convencido; convenceu; convicto

Simple English: Having a strong belief in something.

Example: He is convinced that he will win the competition next week.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His shocked surprise was so real that the old man, though ready to think it false, became convinced that it was genuine. Go to

coolness /ˈkuːlnəs/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: frescor; calma

Simple English: A low or pleasant temperature, or calm self-control.

Example: The caravan waited for the coolness of evening before moving on.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. There was something almost awful, too, about the self-possession of the new pupil; who 'troubled' Mr Pecksniff for the loaf, and helped himself to a rasher of that gentleman's own particular and private bacon, with all the coolness in life. Go to

corduroys /ˈkɔːdərɔɪz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: calças de veludo cotelê

Simple English: trousers made of thick ridged cotton cloth

Example: His damp corduroys smelled of mildew.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. While Mrs Todgers was away, he whistled and drew figures on his corduroys with burned wood. Go to

Original English Version

1. In the first of these sanctuaries a fire was speedily kindled by the youthful porter, who, whistling at his work in the absence of Mrs Todgers (not to mention his sketching figures on his corduroys with burnt firewood), and being afterwards taken by that lady in the fact, was dismissed with a box on his ears. Go to

correcting /kəˈrektɪŋ/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: corrigindo

Simple English: Making something right, or telling someone their mistake.

Example: She spent the evening correcting the papers.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The two sisters loved and depended on each other, while also correcting and balancing each other. Go to

Original English Version

1. What a pleasant sight was that the contrast they presented; to see each loved and loving one sympathizing with, and devoted to, and leaning on, and yet correcting and counter-checking, and, as it were, antidoting, the other! Go to

corrupted /kəˈrʌptɪd/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: corrompido; adulterado; deturpado

Simple English: Made bad, dishonest or wrong, often by changing it from its true form.

Example: The name was corrupted over the years until nobody knew its meaning.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I have corrupted everyone who stayed near me by creating greedy plans and hopes. Go to

Original English Version

1. I have so corrupted and changed the nature of all those who have ever attended on me, by breeding avaricious plots and hopes within them; I have engendered such domestic strife and discord, by tarrying even with members of my own family; I have been such a lighted torch in peaceful homes, kindling up all the inflammable gases and vapours in their moral atmosphere, which, but for me, might have proved harmless to the end, that I have, I may say, fled from all who knew me, and taking refuge in secret places have lived, of late, the life of one who is hunted. Go to

cosy /ˈkoʊzi/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: aconchegante

Simple English: Warm, comfortable and pleasant.

Example: They sat in a cosy little room.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. After happily looking around the safe, cosy room, he became worried when he saw his companion's dull face. Go to

coughed /kɔːft/ (16 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tossiram

Simple English: Pushed air out of the throat with a sudden noise.

Example: He coughed because of the thick smoke.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff coughed. Go to

2. In reply, he pushed his father so hard that the old man coughed without stopping for a full five minutes. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff coughed. Go to

coughs /kɔːfs/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tosses; tosse

Simple English: Sudden expulsions of air from the throat, or the act of making that sound.

Example: She coughs so badly that she can hardly speak.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But Mr Tigg urged them with coughs and signs to stay hidden in the doorway, so they did. Go to

Original English Version

1. But Mr Tigg so urgently conjured them, by coughs and signs, to remain in the shadow of the door, that they stopped there. Go to

Council /ˈkaʊnsəl/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: conselho; Concílio; concelho

Simple English: Group of elected people governing a town or city.

Example: The city council will decide on the new building regulations next week.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They agreed - if Chuzzlewits can agree - to hold a general council at Mr Pecksniff's house at noon on a certain day. Go to

countenance /ˈkaʊntənəns/ (32 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: semblante; rosto; compostura

Simple English: A person's face or facial expression, and sometimes confidence or composure.

Example: She gave her countenance a strange and frightening appearance.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Still it does not appear (which is strange) to have procured for him any lucrative post at court or elsewhere, or to have conferred upon him any other distinction than that which was necessarily included in the countenance of so great a man, and the being invited by him to certain entertainment's, so splendid and costly in their nature, that he calls them 'Golden Balls.' Go to

2. So saying, he clapped that dejected companion on the shoulder, turned upon his heel, and walked out into the passage, whither poor Mr Pinch, after lingering irresolutely in the parlour for a few seconds, expressing in his countenance the deepest mental misery and gloom followed him. Go to

3. It happened then, and lastly, that Mr Pecksniff found himself immediately collared by something which smelt like several damp umbrellas, a barrel of beer, a cask of warm brandy-and-water, and a small parlour-full of stale tobacco smoke, mixed; and was straightway led downstairs into the bar from which he had lately come, where he found himself standing opposite to, and in the grasp of, a perfectly strange gentleman of still stranger appearance who, with his disengaged hand, rubbed his own head very hard, and looked at him, Pecksniff, with an evil countenance. Go to

4. When Mr Pecksniff, rising from his seat at the table's head, with a daughter on either hand, received his guests in the best parlour and motioned them to chairs, with eyes so overflowing and countenance so damp with gracious perspiration, that he may be said to have been in a kind of moist meekness! Go to

5. The nephew with the outline of a countenance, speaking for the first and last time on that occasion, propounded 'Oysters.' Go to

6. It was the frolicsome custom of the Goddess, in her intercourse with the fair Cherry, so to do; or in more prosaic phrase, the tip of that feature in the sweet girl's countenance was always very red at breakfast-time. Go to

counterfeit /ˈkaʊntərfɪt/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: falso; falsificado

Simple English: Made to look genuine in order to deceive, or an imitation produced for that purpose.

Example: The brass showed through the counterfeit coin.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. As they passed the parlour window on the outside, they were seen to counterfeit a perfect transport of delight among themselves; and with this final blow and great discouragement for those within, they vanished. Go to

countrymen /ˈkʌntrimən/ (16 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: compatriotas

Simple English: People from the same country as you.

Example: He was proud of his countrymen.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. What I have intended and decided is this: when I return to England, I will use my own person and my own Journal to tell my countrymen about the great changes I have mentioned. Go to

Original English Version

1. But what I have intended, what I have resolved upon (and this is the confidence I seek to place in you), is, on my return to England, in my own person, in my own Journal, to bear, for the behoof of my countrymen, such testimony to the gigantic changes in this country as I have hinted at to-night. Go to

county /ˈkaʊnti/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: condado; concelho; município

Simple English: An area in the US with local government offices.

Example: The county manages schools and parks in our community.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Our separation happened in a town in the neighbouring county. Go to

courting /ˈkɔːrtɪŋ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cortejando; buscando obter

Simple English: Trying to win the love of someone you want to marry.

Example: The young man was courting the miller's daughter.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "I never," Mark said, embarrassed, "said anything directly courting-like to her, nor she to me. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'I never,' Mark replied, in some confusion, 'said nothing as was in a direct way courting-like to her, nor she to me, but I don't know what I mightn't do one of these odd times, and what she mightn't say in answer. Go to

courtyards /ˈkɔːrtjɑːrdz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pátios

Simple English: Open areas enclosed or partly enclosed by buildings or walls.

Example: Grass and young trees had pushed through the palace courtyards.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Gloomy courtyards held huge bags and packs hanging from tall cranes. Go to

Original English Version

1. In like manner, there were gloomy courtyards in these parts, into which few but belated wayfarers ever strayed, and where vast bags and packs of goods, upward or downward bound, were for ever dangling between heaven and earth from lofty cranes There were more trucks near Todgers's than you would suppose whole city could ever need; not active trucks, but a vagabond race, for ever lounging in the narrow lanes before their masters' doors and stopping up the pass; so that when a stray hackney-coach or lumbering waggon came that way, they were the cause of such an uproar as enlivened the whole neighbourhood, and made the bells in the next churchtower vibrate again. Go to

cousin's /ˈkʌzənz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do primo

Simple English: Belonging to the child of your uncle or aunt.

Example: We stayed at my cousin's small house.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Treachery, deceit, low plans, jealousy of real or imagined rivals, meanness, lies, shameful acts, and acting like servants to please me - or," he said, looking into his cousin's eyes, "a show of honest independence, almost worse than all - these are what my wealth reveals. Go to

2. Sadly, while Mr Pecksniff stood beside the bed in all the dignity of Goodness, the old man looked angrily at the candlestick as if strongly tempted to throw it at his cousin's head. Go to

Original English Version

1. Treachery, deceit, and low design; hatred of competitors, real or fancied, for my favour; meanness, falsehood, baseness, and servility; or,' and here he looked closely in his cousin's eyes, 'or an assumption of honest independence, almost worse than all; these are the beauties which my wealth has brought to light. Go to

2. It is a lamentable fact, that as Mr Pecksniff stood erect beside the bed, in all the dignity of Goodness, and addressed him thus, the old man cast an angry glance towards the candlestick, as if he were possessed by a strong inclination to launch it at his cousin's head. Go to

coverings /ˈkʌvərɪŋz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: coberturas; revestimentos

Simple English: Things put over something else to protect or to hide it.

Example: The coverings of the chairs were worn.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Thick, plain wall coverings, dark blinds, and heavy bed covers seemed designed to keep sleep in. Go to

cracker /ˈkrækər/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: biscoito seco

Simple English: A thin dry biscuit, often eaten with cheese.

Example: He nibbled a plain cracker for supper.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff kept his mouth and eyes wide open and dropped his lower jaw like a toy nut-cracker. Go to

Original English Version

1. But as a gentleman's looks, in such a case of all others, are by no means under his own control, Mr Pecksniff continued to keep his mouth and his eyes very wide open, and to drop his lower jaw, somewhat after the manner of a toy nut-cracker; and as his hat had fallen off, and his face was pale, and his hair erect, and his coat muddy, the spectacle he presented was so very doleful, that neither of the Miss Pecksniffs could repress an involuntary screech. Go to

cramps /kræmps/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cãibras

Simple English: sudden painful tightenings of muscles

Example: He woke with painful cramps in his legs.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He suffered terrible cramps and sharp pains. Go to

Original English Version

1. An old gentleman and a young lady, travelling, unattended, in a rusty old chariot with post-horses; coming nobody knew whence and going nobody knew whither; had turned out of the high road, and driven unexpectedly to the Blue Dragon; and here was the old gentleman, who had taken this step by reason of his sudden illness in the carriage, suffering the most horrible cramps and spasms, yet protesting and vowing in the very midst of his pain, that he wouldn't have a doctor sent for, and wouldn't take any remedies but those which the young lady administered from a small medicine-chest, and wouldn't, in a word, do anything but terrify the landlady out of her five wits, and obstinately refuse compliance with every suggestion that was made to him. Go to

cranes /kreɪnz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: guindastes

Simple English: machines with projecting arms used to lift or move heavy objects

Example: The sailors pushed the cranes out over the water.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Gloomy courtyards held huge bags and packs hanging from tall cranes. Go to

Original English Version

1. In like manner, there were gloomy courtyards in these parts, into which few but belated wayfarers ever strayed, and where vast bags and packs of goods, upward or downward bound, were for ever dangling between heaven and earth from lofty cranes There were more trucks near Todgers's than you would suppose whole city could ever need; not active trucks, but a vagabond race, for ever lounging in the narrow lanes before their masters' doors and stopping up the pass; so that when a stray hackney-coach or lumbering waggon came that way, they were the cause of such an uproar as enlivened the whole neighbourhood, and made the bells in the next churchtower vibrate again. Go to

cravat /krəˈvæt/ (18 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gravata antiga; lenço de pescoço

Simple English: A wide band of cloth worn round the neck by men.

Example: He wore a black silk cravat.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Above the low white fence of his cravat lay a smooth, hairless valley between two high collars. Go to

2. He fastened the tie of his cravat behind, where nobody could see it. Go to

3. He touched his hat, then searched behind his cravat for a shirt collar but could not bring it out. Go to

4. The bright marks on his cravat, waistcoat, and trinkets looked like pimples breaking out on him. Go to

Original English Version

1. You looked over a very low fence of white cravat (whereof no man had ever beheld the tie for he fastened it behind), and there it lay, a valley between two jutting heights of collar, serene and whiskerless before you. Go to

2. His cravat was, in hue and pattern, like one of those mantles which hairdressers are accustomed to wrap about their clients, during the progress of the professional mysteries. Go to

3. 'I am proud to know you, and I ask your pardon,' said the gentleman, touching his hat, and subsequently diving behind his cravat for a shirt-collar, which however he did not succeed in bringing to the surface. Go to

4. Then there was George Chuzzlewit, a gay bachelor cousin, who claimed to be young but had been younger, and was inclined to corpulency, and rather overfed himself; to that extent, indeed, that his eyes were strained in their sockets, as if with constant surprise; and he had such an obvious disposition to pimples, that the bright spots on his cravat, the rich pattern on his waistcoat, and even his glittering trinkets, seemed to have broken out upon him, and not to have come into existence comfortably. Go to

creaked /kriːkt/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: rangeu

Simple English: Made a long high sound, as old wood or hinges do.

Example: The third stair creaked whenever anyone used it.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. We have already mentioned the Dragon that swung and creaked before the village alehouse. Go to

2. For many years, the Dragon had swung, creaked, and flapped before the two windows of the inn's best bedroom. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mention has been already made more than once, of a certain Dragon who swung and creaked complainingly before the village alehouse door. Go to

2. For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs. Go to

creaking /ˈkriːkɪŋ/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: rangente; que chia

Simple English: Making a long high noise when it moves.

Example: We climbed the creaking wooden stairs.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "It was the sign creaking outside, sir, I dare say," said the landlady. Go to

Original English Version

1. For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs. Go to

2. 'It was the creaking of the sign outside, sir, I dare say,' observed the landlady; a suggestion by the way (as she felt a moment after she had made it), not at all complimentary to the voice of the old gentleman. Go to

creditable /ˈkrɛdɪtəbəl/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: digno de mérito

Simple English: deserving approval or respect

Example: She thought it more creditable to remain cheerful.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. With my good health and spirits, I think it would be more creditable to stay cheerful where there are reasons to be sad. Go to

Original English Version

1. I'm always a-thinking that with my good health and spirits it would be more creditable in me to be jolly where there's things a-going on to make one dismal. Go to

crept /krɛpt/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: esgueirou-se; foi de mansinho

Simple English: Moved slowly and quietly.

Example: She crept to the hole and caught the dog by the ear.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They crept under house eaves, clung like bats to hay-ricks, rushed through open chamber windows, and hid close to hedges - anywhere safe. Go to

Original English Version

1. The scared leaves only flew the faster for all this, and a giddy chase it was; for they got into unfrequented places, where there was no outlet, and where their pursuer kept them eddying round and round at his pleasure; and they crept under the eaves of houses, and clung tightly to the sides of hay-ricks, like bats; and tore in at open chamber windows, and cowered close to hedges; and, in short, went anywhere for safety. Go to

crickets /ˈkrɪkɪts/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: grilos

Simple English: small jumping insects whose males make chirping sounds

Example: Crickets sang throughout the warm night.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Then they rested their elbows on the sill and leaned farther in, as unwilling to leave as crickets born around a burning fire. Go to

Original English Version

1. As to this idle company, there they stood, spellbound by the place, and, casting now and then a glance upon the darkness in their rear, settled their lazy elbows more at ease upon the sill, and leaned a little further in: no more disposed to tear themselves away than if they had been born to cluster round the blazing hearth like so many crickets. Go to

critic /ˈkrɪtɪk/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: crítico

Simple English: Someone who evaluates and expresses opinions on art, performances, or creative works.

Example: The film critic wrote a review of the latest blockbuster movie.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But evidence silences these malicious critics. Go to

criticize /ˈkrɪtɪsaɪz/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: criticar

Simple English: To judge something based on positive or negative points.

Example: It’s important to criticize ideas while remaining respectful of the person.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But he might criticize Pecksniff and worry her. Go to

crocodile /ˈkrɑːkədaɪl/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: crocodilo

Simple English: A large river animal with hard skin and strong jaws.

Example: A crocodile slept on the muddy bank.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He had nothing of the crocodile or even the mildest touch of the serpent. Go to

Original English Version

1. If ever man combined within himself all the mild qualities of the lamb with a considerable touch of the dove, and not a dash of the crocodile, or the least possible suggestion of the very mildest seasoning of the serpent, that man was he. Go to

crooks /krʊks/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: vigaristas; desonestos

Simple English: Dishonest people or criminals.

Example: Respectable clothes did not make the crooks honest.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They should have searched their own characters by showing themselves as rich targets for robbery, plots, and praise from crooks. Go to

2. Those crooks would have spat on their coffins after the rich men died as their victims. Go to

crossings /ˈkrɔːsɪŋz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cruzamentos; travessias

Simple English: Places where routes cross, or journeys across an area or body of water.

Example: Weak oil lamps burned at the street crossings.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'If either is run over at life's busy crossings, the other will take him to Hope's hospital and sit beside his bed in Bounty!' Go to

Original English Version

1. And if it comes to pass that either of us be run over in any of those busy crossings which divide the streets of life, the other will convey him to the hospital in Hope, and sit beside his bed in Bounty!' Go to

crowding /ˈkraʊdɪŋ/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: apinhar-se; ficar apertado

Simple English: Filling a place with too many people or things.

Example: The road carries the traffic without crowding.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Don't mind crowding me,' cried Mr Jonas. Go to

2. 'I am afraid of crowding you,' said Charity. Go to

Original English Version

1. Great thoughts and hopes came crowding on his mind as the rich music rolled upon the air and yet among them--something more grave and solemn in their purpose, but the same--were all the images of that day, down to its very lightest recollection of childhood. Go to

2. 'Don't mind crowding me,' cried Mr Jonas. Go to

3. 'I am afraid of crowding you,' said Charity. Go to

crowing /ˈkroʊɪŋ/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: canto do galo; cantando

Simple English: Making a proud loud sound, as a rooster does.

Example: The rooster went crowing across the yard.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'And I will further add,' said Mr George, nodding his head violently at every second syllable; 'naming no names, and therefore hurting nobody but those whose consciences tell them they are alluded to, that I think it would be much more decent and becoming, if those who hooked and crooked themselves into this family by getting on the blind side of some of its members before marriage, and manslaughtering them afterwards by crowing over them to that strong pitch that they were glad to die, would refrain from acting the part of vultures in regard to other members of this family who are living. Go to

crownpiece /ˈkraʊnpiːs/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: moeda de cinco xelins

Simple English: an old British coin worth five shillings

Example: He lent the traveller a crownpiece.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I see Mr Pecksniff as certain to make such a small loan as a crownpiece to a man of your talents.' Mr Pecksniff's face did not show that he agreed. Go to

Original English Version

1. To the extent of such a trifling loan as a crownpiece to a man of your talents, I look upon Mr Pecksniff as certain;' and seeing at this juncture that the expression of Mr Pecksniff's face by no means betokened that he shared this certainty, Mr Tigg laid his finger on his nose again for that gentleman's private and especial behoof; calling upon him thereby to take notice that the requisition of small loans was another instance of the peculiarities of genius as developed in his friend Slyme; that he, Tigg, winked at the same, because of the strong metaphysical interest which these weaknesses possessed; and that in reference to his own personal advocacy of such small advances, he merely consulted the humour of his friend, without the least regard to his own advantage or necessities. Go to

crowns /kraʊnz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: coroas

Simple English: Circles of gold and jewels worn on the head by kings and queens.

Example: The princes wore jeweled crowns.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. And so, sir--not for myself, who have no claim upon you, but for my crushed, my sensitive and independent friend, who has--I ask the loan of three half-crowns. Go to

2. I ask you for the loan of three half-crowns, distinctly, and without a blush. Go to

Original English Version

1. And so, sir--not for myself, who have no claim upon you, but for my crushed, my sensitive and independent friend, who has--I ask the loan of three half-crowns. Go to

2. I ask you for the loan of three half-crowns, distinctly, and without a blush. Go to

crows /kroʊz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: corvos

Simple English: Large black birds with a loud, harsh cry.

Example: His work was to scare away the crows.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. As it went, the hills, mounds, and far fields with quiet sheep and noisy crows appeared bright and new. Go to

Original English Version

1. The mist, too shy and gentle for such lusty company, fled off, quite scared, before it; and as it swept away, the hills and mounds and distant pasture lands, teeming with placid sheep and noisy crows, came out as bright as though they were unrolled bran new for the occasion. Go to

cruelly /ˈkruːəli/ (22 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cruelmente; com crueldade

Simple English: In a way that causes pain or suffering on purpose.

Example: The prisoners were cruelly treated for years.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. You're more exulting and rampant than usual tonight, I think; and you may well crow over your prize; for he is a fine lad, an ingenuous lad, and has but one fault that I know of; he don't mean it, but he is most cruelly unjust to Pecksniff!' Go to

crumpled /ˈkrʌmpəld/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: amassado; enrugado; desabou

Simple English: Crushed into folds and wrinkles, or collapsed suddenly.

Example: She smoothed out the crumpled envelope on the table.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He took off his hat and searched its crown among crumpled papers and little pieces of broken cigar covering. Go to

Original English Version

1. As he said this, he touched the tip of his high nose, by way of intimation that he would let Mr Pecksniff into a secret presently; and pulling off his hat, began to search inside the crown among a mass of crumpled documents and small pieces of what may be called the bark of broken cigars; whence he presently selected the cover of an old letter, begrimed with dirt and redolent of tobacco. Go to

crusoe /ˈkruːzoʊ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Robinson Crusoe

Simple English: the name of the famous fictional castaway who made fire by rubbing sticks together

Example: "Wasn't it Crusoe who rubbed sticks together?" she said lazily.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There stood poor Robinson Crusoe, with dog, hatchet, goat-skin cap, and guns, looking calmly at Philip Quarn and all his imitators. Go to

Original English Version

1. There was another; not quite so bad at first, but still a trying shop; where children's books were sold, and where poor Robinson Crusoe stood alone in his might, with dog and hatchet, goat-skin cap and fowling-pieces; calmly surveying Philip Quarn and the host of imitators round him, and calling Mr Pinch to witness that he, of all the crowd, impressed one solitary footprint on the shore of boyish memory, whereof the tread of generations should not stir the lightest grain of sand. Go to

cucumber /ˈkjuːkʌmbər/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pepino

Simple English: A long green vegetable with cool, watery flesh.

Example: She sliced a cucumber for the salad.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. And, at the top of the staircase, was an old, disjointed, rickety, ill-favoured skylight, patched and mended in all kinds of ways, which looked distrustfully down at everything that passed below, and covered Todgers's up as if it were a sort of human cucumber-frame, and only people of a peculiar growth were reared there. Go to

cunning /ˈkʌnɪŋ/ (17 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: astuto; ardiloso; matreiro

Simple English: Clever at getting what you want, often by deceiving.

Example: It took a cunning plan to get past the guard.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Lifelong caution and cunning had made the old man's face so sharp that it seemed to cut through the crowd. Go to

Original English Version

1. But, so born and so bred, admired for that which made him hateful, and justified from his cradle in cunning, treachery, and avarice; I claim him as the legitimate issue of the father upon whom those vices are seen to recoil. Go to

2. Then there were Anthony Chuzzlewit, and his son Jonas; the face of the old man so sharpened by the wariness and cunning of his life, that it seemed to cut him a passage through the crowded room, as he edged away behind the remotest chairs; while the son had so well profited by the precept and example of the father, that he looked a year or two the elder of the twain, as they stood winking their red eyes, side by side, and whispering to each other softly. Go to

curiously /ˈkjʊriəsli/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: com curiosidade; curiosamente

Simple English: In a way that shows interest, or in a strange way.

Example: She looked curiously at the box.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The strong smith and his men dealt such strokes upon their work, as made even the melancholy night rejoice, and brought a glow into its dark face as it hovered about the door and windows, peeping curiously in above the shoulders of a dozen loungers. Go to

curled /kɜːrld/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: enroscou-se; encolheu-se

Simple English: Lay down with the body rolled into a round shape.

Example: The dog curled up on the rug beside her.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A trick with the nose and a curled lip can make a fair sneer. Go to

curls /kɜːrlz/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cachos; anéis de cabelo; espirais

Simple English: Rings or waves of hair, or anything twisted into that shape.

Example: Her dark curls fell over her shoulders whenever she took off her hat.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She was too fresh and childlike to wear combs or put her hair up in careful curls or braids. Go to

2. Instead, she wore it short and loose, with many rows of curls. Go to

3. Its little bonnet hung by its ribbon from one of her fair curls. Go to

4. Curls like small beer barrels lined her forehead. Go to

Original English Version

1. She wore it in a crop, a loosely flowing crop, which had so many rows of curls in it, that the top row was only one curl. Go to

2. Neither had Miss Mercy expected them, for she was sitting upon her stool, tying on the--oh good gracious!--the petticoat of a large doll that she was dressing for a neighbour's child--really, quite a grown-up doll, which made it more confusing--and had its little bonnet dangling by the ribbon from one of her fair curls, to which she had fastened it lest it should be lost or sat upon. Go to

3. M. Todgers was a lady, rather a bony and hard-featured lady, with a row of curls in front of her head, shaped like little barrels of beer; and on the top of it something made of net--you couldn't call it a cap exactly--which looked like a black cobweb. Go to

currant /ˈkɜːrənt/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: groselha; de groselha

Simple English: A small dried grape or a small tart berry, or something made from such berries.

Example: Anne poured a glass of homemade currant wine.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There were two bottles of currant wine, one white and one red. Go to

2. The remains of two bottles of currant wine had been poured together and closed with paper used for curling hair. Go to

3. Some men would have patted Tom on the back and drunk a large glass of currant wine with him, even if it were the sharpest vinegar, and said they liked it. Go to

Original English Version

1. There were two bottles of currant wine, white and red; a dish of sandwiches (very long and very slim); another of apples; another of captain's biscuits (which are always a moist and jovial sort of viand); a plate of oranges cut up small and gritty; with powdered sugar, and a highly geological home-made cake. Go to

2. That choice liquor in which to steep these dainties might not be wanting, the remains of the two bottles of currant wine had been poured together and corked with a curl-paper; so that every material was at hand for making quite a heavy night of it. Go to

3. Some men would have slapped him on the back, and pledged him in a bumper of the currant wine, though it had been the sharpest vinegar--aye, and liked its flavour too; some would have seized him by his honest hand, and thanked him for the lesson that his simple nature taught them. Go to

curtsying /ˈkɜːtsiɪŋ/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: fazendo uma reverência

Simple English: bending the knees as a formal sign of respect

Example: The maid entered, curtsying politely.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'A very young person,' said Mrs Lupin, curtsying and blushing. Go to

cynic /ˈsɪnɪk/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cínico

Simple English: a person who believes that people are mainly selfish and insincere

Example: No one can live forever as a cynic.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. No cynic could resist Thomas Pinch. Go to

Original English Version

1. The perfect and entire satisfaction of Tom; his surpassing appreciation of the husky sandwiches, which crumbled in his mouth like saw-dust; the unspeakable relish with which he swallowed the thin wine by drops, and smacked his lips, as though it were so rich and generous that to lose an atom of its fruity flavour were a sin; the look with which he paused sometimes, with his glass in his hand, proposing silent toasts to himself; and the anxious shade that came upon his contented face when, after wandering round the room, exulting in its uninvaded snugness, his glance encountered the dull brow of his companion; no cynic in the world, though in his hatred of its men a very griffin, could have withstood these things in Thomas Pinch. Go to

darkened /ˈdɑːrkənd/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: escureceu; ficou escuro

Simple English: Became darker or more serious.

Example: The sky darkened before the storm.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Perhaps even you would take the burden from me." His whole face darkened. Go to

Original English Version

1. But, kind stranger,' said the old man, whose every feature darkened as he spoke, 'good Christian stranger, that is a main part of my trouble. Go to

darkening /ˈdɑːrkənɪŋ/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: escurecendo; ficando sombrio

Simple English: Becoming darker, or making something darker.

Example: They walked home in the darkening street.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The withering leaves no longer quiet, hurried to and fro in search of shelter from its chill pursuit; the labourer unyoked his horses, and with head bent down, trudged briskly home beside them; and from the cottage windows lights began to glance and wink upon the darkening fields. Go to

darted /ˈdɑːrtɪd/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: disparou; arremessou-se; lançou um olhar

Simple English: Moved very quickly and suddenly, or sent a look or an object quickly.

Example: A mouse darted across the kitchen floor and vanished.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. It happened that Mr Pecksniff, coming softly upon the dark passage into which a spiral ray of light usually darted through the same keyhole, was astonished to find no such ray visible; and it happened that Mr Pecksniff, when he had felt his way to the chamber-door, stooping hurriedly down to ascertain by personal inspection whether the jealousy of the old man had caused this keyhole to be stopped on the inside, brought his head into such violent contact with another head that he could not help uttering in an audible voice the monosyllable 'Oh!' which was, as it were, sharply unscrewed and jerked out of him by very anguish. Go to

dashed /dæʃt/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: correu; lançou-se; chocou-se

Simple English: Moved suddenly and quickly, or struck violently against something.

Example: The dogs dashed out onto the river trail.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Their strangest act came when Mr Pecksniff's front-door suddenly opened and they dashed into his passage. Go to

dashes /ˈdæʃɪz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: travessões; traços

Simple English: Short horizontal lines used in writing or printing.

Example: He wrote the initials with dashes between them.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. This diversion, by distracting the attention of the combatants, put an end to the strife, which, after breaking out afresh some twice or thrice in certain inconsiderable spurts and dashes, died away in silence. Go to

dazzling /ˈdæzlɪŋ/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: deslumbrante; ofuscante

Simple English: So bright or impressive that it almost hurts to look at it.

Example: The snow was dazzling under the winter sun.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'HE never scraped and clawed into his pouch all her hard savings; dazzling her with prospects of your happiness and advancement, which he knew (and no man better) never would be realised! Go to

dearest /ˈdɪrɪst/ (23 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: querido; caríssimo; mais caro

Simple English: Most loved; also most expensive.

Example: My dearest wish is to see the sea again before I grow old.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Do not look so wild, my dearest Pa!" Go to

2. He tried, but failed, to disturb the peace of one who would have shed his dearest blood to serve him.' Though Mr Pecksniff sounded peaceful, his stress showed, 'I am watching the rascal now.' Go to

Original English Version

1. Do not look so wild my dearest Pa!' Go to

2. I will not even remember the conduct of that misguided person'--and here, although he spoke like one at peace with all the world, he used an emphasis that plainly said "I have my eye upon the rascal now"--'that misguided person who has brought you here to-night, seeking to disturb (it is a happiness to say, in vain) the heart's repose and peace of one who would have shed his dearest blood to serve him.' Go to

dears /dɪrz/ (52 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: queridos; coitadinhos

Simple English: A kind word for people or animals you feel fond of.

Example: The poor dears were tired and cold.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. My dears!' said Mr Pecksniff, calmly raising his hand. Go to

2. Now, my dears, if you are ready and have learned enough from the polite example of these two young ladies, we will go. Go to

3. My dears, why blush because your everyday work has been discovered? Go to

4. 'Martin will sit between you, my dears, and Mr Pinch beside me. Go to

5. "I will not ask yet, my dears," said Mr Pecksniff at the door, "how you like London. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'My loves!' said Mr Pecksniff, with the same serene upraising of his hand; 'My dears!' After a solemn pause he meekly bowed to Mr Pinch, as who should say, 'Proceed;' but Mr Pinch was so very much at a loss how to resume, and looked so helplessly at the two Miss Pecksniffs, that the conversation would most probably have terminated there, if a good-looking youth, newly arrived at man's estate, had not stepped forward from the doorway and taken up the thread of the discourse. Go to

2. Now, my dears, if you're quite ready, and have sufficiently improved yourselves by taking to heart the genteel example of these two young ladies, I think we'll go. Go to

3. Nay, my dears, why blush at being detected in your everyday pursuits? Go to

4. 'Martin,' he said, 'will seat himself between you two, my dears, and Mr Pinch will come by me. Go to

5. 'I won't ask you yet, my dears,' said Mr Pecksniff, looking in at the door, 'how you like London. Go to

deathbed /ˈdeθbed/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: leito de morte

Simple English: The bed in which a person is dying, or the final period before death.

Example: He asked for his son from his deathbed.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. When the son of that individual, to whom the secret of his father's birth was supposed to have been communicated by his father in his lifetime, lay upon his deathbed, this question was put to him in a distinct, solemn, and formal way: 'Toby Chuzzlewit, who was your grandfather?' To which he, with his last breath, no less distinctly, solemnly, and formally replied: and his words were taken down at the time, and signed by six witnesses, each with his name and address in full: 'The Lord No Zoo.' It may be said--it HAS been said, for human wickedness has no limits--that there is no Lord of that name, and that among the titles which have become extinct, none at all resembling this, in sound even, is to be discovered. Go to

decayed /dɪˈkeɪd/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: deteriorados

Simple English: Having rotted, weakened, or deteriorated over time.

Example: Everything in the room stood still among the pale, decayed objects.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. These gentry were much opposed to steam and all new-fangled ways, and held ballooning to be sinful, and deplored the degeneracy of the times; which that particular member of each little club who kept the keys of the nearest church, professionally, always attributed to the prevalence of dissent and irreligion; though the major part of the company inclined to the belief that virtue went out with hair-powder, and that Old England's greatness had decayed amain with barbers. Go to

deceit /dɪˈsiːt/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: engano; falsidade

Simple English: Dishonest behaviour intended to hide the truth or mislead someone.

Example: Years of deceit had destroyed their trust.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Treachery, deceit, low plans, jealousy of real or imagined rivals, meanness, lies, shameful acts, and acting like servants to please me - or," he said, looking into his cousin's eyes, "a show of honest independence, almost worse than all - these are what my wealth reveals. Go to

Original English Version

1. What a calendar of deceit, and lying, and false-witnessing, the sound of any word of kindred opens before me!' Go to

2. Treachery, deceit, and low design; hatred of competitors, real or fancied, for my favour; meanness, falsehood, baseness, and servility; or,' and here he looked closely in his cousin's eyes, 'or an assumption of honest independence, almost worse than all; these are the beauties which my wealth has brought to light. Go to

deceive /dɪˈsiːv/ (16 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: enganar; iludir

Simple English: To make someone believe something that is not true.

Example: He would never deceive a friend.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. You would deceive everyone, even people who play the same game. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Why, the annoying quality in YOU, is,' said the old man, 'that you never have a confederate or partner in YOUR juggling; you would deceive everybody, even those who practise the same art; and have a way with you, as if you--he, he, he!--as if you really believed yourself. Go to

deceived /dɪˈsiːvd/ (48 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: enganado

Simple English: Caused to believe something that was not true.

Example: He feared that his own work had deceived him.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They never deceived me or, as far as I knew, wronged one another. Go to

Original English Version

1. I tell you, man,' he added, with increasing bitterness, 'that I have gone, a rich man, among people of all grades and kinds; relatives, friends, and strangers; among people in whom, when I was poor, I had confidence, and justly, for they never once deceived me then, or, to me, wronged each other. Go to

deceiving /dɪˈsiːvɪŋ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: enganando; iludindo

Simple English: Making someone believe something that is not true.

Example: He was deceiving them about his real name.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Those who entered this family by deceiving its members, then ruled over them until they were glad to die, should stop acting like vultures around other family members who are still alive. Go to

decisively /dɪˈsaɪsɪvli/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: decisivamente

Simple English: in a firm and definite way

Example: She spoke decisively and ended the dispute.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Now I say decisively with regard to this state of circumstances, that it won't do; that it won't act; that it can't be; and that it must not be suffered to continue.' Go to

declension /dɪˈklɛnʃən/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: degradação gradual

Simple English: a gradual decline from a better state to a worse one

Example: Each refill marked another stage of declension, from fine wine to little more than water.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The magnitude of these preparations quite took away Tom Pinch's breath; for though the new pupils were usually let down softly, as one may say, particularly in the wine department, which had so many stages of declension, that sometimes a young gentleman was a whole fortnight in getting to the pump; still this was a banquet; a sort of Lord Mayor's feast in private life; a something to think of, and hold on by, afterwards. Go to

defiance /dɪˈfaɪəns/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desafio; desacato

Simple English: Open refusal to obey.

Example: He stood there in silent defiance.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Oh HIM!' rejoined Mark, with an air of careless defiance. Go to

defiant /dɪˈfaɪənt/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desafiador; insubmisso

Simple English: Openly refusing to obey.

Example: She gave a defiant answer and stayed where she was.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Considering his years, which were tender, the youth may be said to have preferred this question sternly, and in something of a defiant manner. Go to

defiantly /dɪˈfaɪəntli/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: desafiadoramente; com insolência

Simple English: In a way that openly refuses to obey.

Example: She defiantly repeated what she had said.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "Oh HIM!" said Mark defiantly. Go to

degraded /dɪˈɡreɪdɪd/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: degradado

Simple English: reduced to a lower, poorer, or less respected condition

Example: The chained prisoners looked deeply degraded.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Heaven forbid that I should say, nothing can be expected from Mr Pinch; or that I should say, nothing can be expected from any man alive (even the most degraded, which Mr Pinch is not, no, really); but Mr Pinch has disappointed me; he has hurt me; I think a little the worse of him on this account, but not if human nature. Go to

2. 'I passed from the memory of a grateful country, you very miserable minx,' said Mrs Ned, 'when I entered this family; and I feel now, though I did not feel then, that it served me right, and that I lost my claim upon the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland when I so degraded myself. Go to

delicacy /ˈdelɪkəsi/ (18 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: delicadeza; tato; escrúpulo

Simple English: Sensitive tact or reluctance to say or do something that may offend.

Example: Out of delicacy, she did not mention his mistake.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "I will also record that in every place, small or large, I received unmatched politeness, delicacy, kindness, hospitality, consideration, and respect for the privacy required by my work and health. Go to

Original English Version

1. Also, to record that wherever I have been, in the smallest places equally with the largest, I have been received with unsurpassable politeness, delicacy, sweet temper, hospitality, consideration, and with unsurpassable respect for the privacy daily enforced upon me by the nature of my avocation here and the state of my health. Go to

2. When the young man returned, he was very taciturn and dull, in which state he remained all day; so that Tom, after trying him once or twice with indifferent conversation, felt a delicacy in obtruding himself upon his thoughts, and said no more. Go to

delicately /ˈdelɪkətli/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: delicadamente

Simple English: in a gentle, sensitive, precise, or finely made way

Example: The marquis pointed delicately at his nephew.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'It is the same thing, though my friend Pecksniff did it less delicately than I could wish. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'It's all the same thing, though not so delicately done by my friend Pecksniff as I could have wished. Go to

delusion /dɪˈluːʒən/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ilusão

Simple English: a false belief that remains despite contrary evidence

Example: She had to face the truth when her delusion was dispelled.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. To one of his quiet habits this little delusion was greatly assisted by the circumstance of its being market-day, and the thoroughfares about the market-place being filled with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, waggons, garden-stuff, meat, tripe, pies, poultry and huckster's wares of every opposite description and possible variety of character. Go to

depended /dɪˈpɛndɪd/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: dependia

Simple English: Was decided by something else.

Example: The picnic depended on the weather.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The two sisters loved and depended on each other, while also correcting and balancing each other. Go to

descends /dɪˈsɛndz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: desce

Simple English: Moves or goes downward.

Example: The narrow path descends toward the river.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Happily, the family clearly descends directly from Adam and Eve and, in the earliest days, was closely connected with farming. Go to

desert /dɪˈzɜːrt/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: deserto; desertar; sobremesa

Simple English: A dry area with little rain.

Example: The Sahara is a desert.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Then,' pursued the hostess--and it really was not an unnatural inquiry--'why do you desert it?' Go to

desirous /dɪˈzaɪrəs/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desejoso

Simple English: wanting something very much; here part of a knight's title/epithet

Example: Sir Sagramor the Desirous fell over his horse's back.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Tom entertained enough suspicion that Martin might possibly turn this interview into a jest, to render him desirous to avoid the company of that young gentleman for the present. Go to

Original English Version

1. Now that he had come to a close, he drew a very long breath; and gazing wistfully in his face as if he were unable to settle in his own mind what expression it wore, and were desirous to draw from it as good a clue to his real meaning as it was possible to obtain in the dark, was about to answer, when the sound of the mail guard's horn came cheerily upon their ears, putting an immediate end to the conference; greatly as it seemed to the satisfaction of the younger man, who jumped up briskly, and gave his hand to his companion. Go to

2. Tom entertained enough suspicion that Martin might possibly turn this interview into a jest, to render him desirous to avoid the company of that young gentleman for the present. Go to

despondency /dɪˈspɒndənsi/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desânimo

Simple English: a state of having little hope or confidence

Example: He spoke with increasing despondency.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff glanced at the volume she held, and whispered Mrs Lupin again; if possible, with increased despondency. Go to

2. Martin and Mr Pinch looked, first at each other, and afterwards at Mr Tigg, who with his arms folded on his breast surveyed them, half in despondency and half in bitterness. Go to

despondent /dɪˈspɒndənt/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desanimado

Simple English: having lost hope and feeling deeply discouraged

Example: After another failure, he became completely despondent.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Taking a confused leave of Anthony and his son, and leaving the luggage of himself and daughters at the office to be called for afterwards, Mr Pecksniff, with one of the young ladies under each arm, dived across the street, and then across other streets, and so up the queerest courts, and down the strangest alleys and under the blindest archways, in a kind of frenzy; now skipping over a kennel, now running for his life from a coach and horses; now thinking he had lost his way, now thinking he had found it; now in a state of the highest confidence, now despondent to the last degree, but always in a great perspiration and flurry; until at length they stopped in a kind of paved yard near the Monument. Go to

detaining /dɪˈteɪnɪŋ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: retendo

Simple English: keeping someone from leaving or moving on

Example: He kept detaining the visitor with further questions.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'I am grieved but not surprised,' cried Mr Tigg, detaining him with both hands, 'to hear that you have come to that conclusion; for it is my own. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'I am grieved but not surprised,' cried Mr Tigg, detaining him with both hands, 'to hear that you have come to that conclusion; for it is my own. Go to

devilish /ˈdevəlɪʃ/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: diabólico; endiabrado

Simple English: Very cruel or clever in a wicked way.

Example: It was a devilish trick to play on a beginner.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. If you were on good terms, I should consider you a most confoundedly unnatural pair; but standing towards each other as you do, I took upon you as a couple of devilish deep-thoughted fellows, who may be reasoned with to any extent.' Go to

2. 'He must be a devilish good-natured fellow,' said Martin, somewhat peevishly: 'because he can't mean that, you know.' Go to

diagrams /ˈdaɪəɡræmz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: diagramas

Simple English: Simple drawings that explain the parts, structure, or operation of something.

Example: The page was covered with geometrical diagrams and calculations.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. With a black pencil in his mouth and compasses in hand, he studied many strange mathematical diagrams. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff had clearly not expected them for hours to come; for he was surrounded by open books, and was glancing from volume to volume, with a black lead-pencil in his mouth, and a pair of compasses in his hand, at a vast number of mathematical diagrams, of such extraordinary shapes that they looked like designs for fireworks. Go to

differed /ˈdɪfərd/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: diferiam

Simple English: Were unlike or held different opinions.

Example: The creatures differed greatly in shape and size.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. You and he differed the other day, and you have had many small differences.' Go to

Original English Version

1. I am sorry we have ever differed, and extremely sorry I have ever given you offence. Go to

digestion /daɪˈdʒestʃən/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: digestão

Simple English: The way the body breaks down food.

Example: A walk after dinner helps digestion.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Friends who study the body tell me that digestion is one of nature's most wonderful works. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'The process of digestion, as I have been informed by anatomical friends, is one of the most wonderful works of nature. Go to

diggers /ˈdɪɡərz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cavadores; operários

Simple English: Workers who dig the ground.

Example: He paid the diggers by the day.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "There might be credit in being cheerful while thinking about it - unless grave-diggers are usually cheerful, which would be a drawback. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'It's a good damp, wormy sort of business, sir,' said Mark, shaking his head argumentatively, 'and there might be some credit in being jolly, with one's mind in that pursuit, unless grave-diggers is usually given that way; which would be a drawback. Go to

diggory /ˈdɪɡəri/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Diggory

Simple English: a man's first name, used for the character Father Diggory.

Example: None of them cared much, except Father Diggory, who had a bad toothache.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Family branches still own letters showing that Diggory Chuzzlewit constantly dined with Duke Humphrey. Go to

2. Family documents clearly show that, in Diggory Chuzzlewit's comparatively modern time, one member became very rich and influential. Go to

3. In surviving letters, despite damage by moths - the general registers of the Insect World because they consume deeds and papers - Diggory often mentions an uncle from whom he expected much. Go to

Original English Version

1. For letters are yet in the possession of various branches of the family, from which it distinctly appears, being stated in so many words, that one Diggory Chuzzlewit was in the habit of perpetually dining with Duke Humphrey. Go to

2. From documentary evidence, yet preserved in the family, the fact is clearly established that in the comparatively modern days of the Diggory Chuzzlewit before mentioned, one of its members had attained to very great wealth and influence. Go to

3. Thus, he writes on one occasion to his brother in reference to a gravy-spoon, the brother's property, which he (Diggory) would appear to have borrowed or otherwise possessed himself of: 'Do not be angry, I have parted with it--to my uncle.' On another occasion he expresses himself in a similar manner with regard to a child's mug which had been entrusted to him to get repaired. Go to

dimmer /ˈdɪmər/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mais fraco (de luz)

Simple English: Giving less light than before.

Example: The lantern grew dimmer as the oil ran low.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Every month it became dimmer and lost more of its shape. Go to

Original English Version

1. The feeling that the sounds awakened, in the moment of their existence, seemed to include his whole life and being; and as the surrounding realities of stone and wood and glass grew dimmer in the darkness, these visions grew so much the brighter that Tom might have forgotten the new pupil and the expectant master, and have sat there pouring out his grateful heart till midnight, but for a very earthy old verger insisting on locking up the cathedral forthwith. Go to

dimple /ˈdɪmpəl/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: covinha

Simple English: a small natural hollow in the skin or another surface

Example: He had a dimple in only one cheek.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He looked up in spite of himself directly; and having once looked up, there was no looking down again; for of all the tight, plump, buxom, bright-eyed, dimple-faced landladies that ever shone on earth, there stood before him then, bodily in that bar, the very pink and pineapple. Go to

Original English Version

1. He looked up in spite of himself directly; and having once looked up, there was no looking down again; for of all the tight, plump, buxom, bright-eyed, dimple-faced landladies that ever shone on earth, there stood before him then, bodily in that bar, the very pink and pineapple. Go to

dimpled /ˈdɪmpəld/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: com covinhas

Simple English: Having small hollows in the cheeks or the chin.

Example: The baby had a dimpled chin.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She was pretty, round, dimpled, and firm as a gooseberry. Go to

Original English Version

1. She had still a bright black eye, and jet black hair; was comely, dimpled, plump, and tight as a gooseberry; and though she was not exactly what the world calls young, you may make an affidavit, on trust, before any mayor or magistrate in Christendom, that there are a great many young ladies in the world (blessings on them one and all!) whom you wouldn't like half as well, or admire half as much, as the beaming hostess of the Blue Dragon. Go to

dine /daɪn/ (25 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: jantar; comer a refeição principal

Simple English: To eat the main meal of the day.

Example: We usually dine at eight on Sundays.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He wrote friends that, unless they did what was requested by bearer, he must dine again with Duke Humphrey, speaking as one tired of High Life and Gracious Company. Go to

2. 'He slept at the Dragon last night,' replied the young lady, 'and had Mr Pinch dine with him. Go to

Original English Version

1. So constantly was he a guest at that nobleman's table, indeed; and so unceasingly were His Grace's hospitality and companionship forced, as it were, upon him; that we find him uneasy, and full of constraint and reluctance; writing his friends to the effect that if they fail to do so and so by bearer, he will have no choice but to dine again with Duke Humphrey; and expressing himself in a very marked and extraordinary manner as one surfeited of High Life and Gracious Company. Go to

2. 'He slept last night at the Dragon,' returned the young lady, 'and had Mr Pinch to dine with him. Go to

3. Instances were known of people who, being asked to dine at Todgers's, had travelled round and round for a weary time, with its very chimney-pots in view; and finding it, at last, impossible of attainment, had gone home again with a gentle melancholy on their spirits, tranquil and uncomplaining. Go to

dined /daɪnd/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: jantou

Simple English: Ate the main meal of the day.

Example: They dined together every Friday for years.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Family branches still own letters showing that Diggory Chuzzlewit constantly dined with Duke Humphrey. Go to

diogenes /daɪˈɒdʒəniːz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Diógenes

Simple English: an ancient Greek philosopher known for living very simply, said to have lived in a tub.

Example: Hans stayed inside his hut, like Diogenes in his tub.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If Diogenes came alive again in his tub and rolled into Mr Pecksniff's parlour, he could not stay hard and serious on seeing Tom Pinch on Mercy Pecksniff's stool with his plate and glass. Go to

Original English Version

1. If Diogenes coming to life again could have rolled himself, tub and all, into Mr Pecksniff's parlour and could have seen Tom Pinch as he sat on Mercy Pecksniff's stool with his plate and glass before him he could not have faced it out, though in his surliest mood, but must have smiled good-temperedly. Go to

disagreeable /ˌdɪsəˈɡriːəbəl/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desagradável; incômodo

Simple English: Unpleasant, or bad-tempered.

Example: He was cross and disagreeable all morning.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I ask any sensible lady or gentleman whether Mr Tigg is not disagreeable-looking!" Mr Tapley finished by pointing his hat at him. Go to

Original English Version

1. Then there was the widow of a deceased brother of Mr Martin Chuzzlewit, who being almost supernaturally disagreeable, and having a dreary face and a bony figure and a masculine voice, was, in right of these qualities, what is commonly called a strong-minded woman; and who, if she could, would have established her claim to the title, and have shown herself, mentally speaking, a perfect Samson, by shutting up her brother-in-law in a private madhouse, until he proved his complete sanity by loving her very much. Go to

2. 'But the way would be, you know, Mark, according to your views of things,' said Mr Pinch, 'to marry somebody you didn't like, and who was very disagreeable.' Go to

3. And I ask,' said Mr Tapley, pointing, in conclusion, to Mr Tigg, with his hat, 'any lady or gentleman, possessing ordinary strength of mind, to say whether he's a disagreeable-looking chap or not!' Go to

disagreed /ˌdɪsəˈɡriːd/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: discordou; divergiu

Simple English: Had a different opinion from someone else.

Example: The two doctors disagreed about the cause.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I am sorry we ever disagreed and very sorry I offended you. Go to

disconcerted /ˌdɪskənˈsɜːtɪd/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desconcertado

Simple English: disturbed or embarrassed by something unexpected

Example: The slow horse was not disconcerted by faster trotters.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. When at his slowest rate of travelling he would sometimes lift up his legs so high, and display such mighty action, that it was difficult to believe he was doing less than fourteen miles an hour; and he was for ever so perfectly satisfied with his own speed, and so little disconcerted by opportunities of comparing himself with the fastest trotters, that the illusion was the more difficult of resistance. Go to

2. In truth, the new pupil, not at all disconcerted by the honour of having Miss Mercy Pecksniff on his arm, or by the affectionate adieux of that young lady, approached as Mr Pinch spoke, followed by Miss Charity and Mr Pecksniff. Go to

discouraging /dɪsˈkɜːrɪdʒɪŋ/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desanimador

Simple English: Making you lose hope or confidence.

Example: The first news was discouraging.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. They no longer demand a beautiful virgin for breakfast every morning, with as much regularity as any tame single gentleman expects his hot roll, but rest content with the society of idle bachelors and roving married men; and they are now remarkable rather for holding aloof from the softer sex and discouraging their visits (especially on Saturday nights), than for rudely insisting on their company without any reference to their inclinations, as they are known to have done in days of yore. Go to

disdain /dɪsˈdeɪn/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desdém; desprezo

Simple English: A feeling that something is not good enough for you.

Example: She turned away with open disdain.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Bah!' cried John Westlock, with the utmost disgust and disdain the monosyllable is capable of expressing. Go to

disgracing /dɪsˈɡreɪsɪŋ/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: desonrando

Simple English: bringing shame or loss of respect upon someone or somewhere

Example: They were charged extra for disgracing the respectable inn.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She is kind not to charge him and his friend double for disgracing the Dragon. Go to

dishonesty /dɪsˈɒnɪsti/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desonestidade

Simple English: Deceitful or unfair behavior; a lack of honesty.

Example: Dishonesty in one matter suggested dishonesty in others.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Here Mr Chevy Slyme, whose great abilities all seemed to point toward dishonesty, secretly nudged his friend with his elbow and whispered in his ear. Go to

disinherited /ˌdɪsɪnˈhɛrɪtɪd/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: deserdado

Simple English: Prevented someone from receiving property or money through inheritance.

Example: His father disinherited him after their quarrel.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I would have been, except for some reasons I will tell you, which caused me to be disinherited.' Go to

Original English Version

1. So I should have been, but for certain brief reasons which I am going to tell you, and which have led to my being disinherited.' Go to

disinterested /dɪsˈɪntrɪstɪd/ (23 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: imparcial

Simple English: not influenced by personal advantage or involvement

Example: She offered a disinterested judgment of the dispute.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. During the whole of this interval, he haunted the Dragon at all times and seasons in the day and night, and, returning good for evil evinced the deepest solicitude in the progress of the obdurate invalid, in so much that Mrs Lupin was fairly melted by his disinterested anxiety (for he often particularly required her to take notice that he would do the same by any stranger or pauper in the like condition), and shed many tears of admiration and delight. Go to

2. He said nothing to her, but straightway attacked me in private, and charged me with designing to corrupt the fidelity to himself (there you observe his selfishness), of a young creature whom he had trained and educated to be his only disinterested and faithful companion, when he should have disposed of me in marriage to his heart's content. Go to

disliked /dɪsˈlaɪkt/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: não gostava de; detestava

Simple English: Did not like someone or something.

Example: He disliked long meetings.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Everyone disliked the others mainly because they DID belong to the family. Go to

2. He naturally disliked shabby gentlemen living on false claims and especially disliked Mr Tigg and his friend. Go to

Original English Version

1. And it is worthy of remark, that although each person present disliked the other, mainly because he or she DID belong to the family, they one and all concurred in hating Mr Tigg because he didn't. Go to

dislikes /dɪsˈlaɪks/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: antipatias; aversões; não gosta de

Simple English: Feelings of not liking something, and the act of not liking it.

Example: He has strong dislikes when it comes to food.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff said, 'Every man has a clear right to follow his own likes and dislikes. Go to

dismal /ˈdɪzməl/ (28 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sombrio; desolador

Simple English: Very gloomy, depressing, or poor.

Example: It was a cold and dismal night.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. I'm always a-thinking that with my good health and spirits it would be more creditable in me to be jolly where there's things a-going on to make one dismal. Go to

dismiss /dɪsˈmɪs/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: demitir; dispensar; descartar

Simple English: To remove someone from their job or position.

Example: The company decided to dismiss the employee due to poor performance.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Yet he dismissed them at once and offered his young friend the best advice and comfort he could. Go to

dismissing /dɪsˈmɪsɪŋ/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: dispensando; deixando de lado

Simple English: Sending someone away or removing a thought or subject from consideration.

Example: He continued on his way, dismissing the meeting from his mind.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Oh, Chiv, Chiv!' added Mr Tigg, surveying his adopted brother with an air of profound contemplation after dismissing this piece of pantomime. Go to

disposition /ˌdɪspəˈzɪʃən/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: temperamento; índole

Simple English: A person's usual mood, character, or way of behaving.

Example: He warned that the animal had a bad disposition.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. As I had never, in writing fiction, had any disposition to soften what is ridiculous or wrong at home, so I then hoped that the good-humored people of the United States would not be generally disposed to quarrel with me for carrying the same usage abroad. Go to

2. His consternation of surprise was so genuine, that the old man, with all the disposition that he clearly entertained to believe it assumed, was convinced of its reality. Go to

3. Then there was George Chuzzlewit, a gay bachelor cousin, who claimed to be young but had been younger, and was inclined to corpulency, and rather overfed himself; to that extent, indeed, that his eyes were strained in their sockets, as if with constant surprise; and he had such an obvious disposition to pimples, that the bright spots on his cravat, the rich pattern on his waistcoat, and even his glittering trinkets, seemed to have broken out upon him, and not to have come into existence comfortably. Go to

4. For the most part, indeed, it wore, at that season of the day, a scraped and frosty look, as if it had been rasped; while a similar phenomenon developed itself in her humour, which was then observed to be of a sharp and acid quality, as though an extra lemon (figuratively speaking) had been squeezed into the nectar of her disposition, and had rather damaged its flavour. Go to

distracting /dɪˈstræktɪŋ/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: que distrai; enlouquecedor

Simple English: Taking attention away and making concentration difficult.

Example: The constant hammering was distracting.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. This diversion, by distracting the attention of the combatants, put an end to the strife, which, after breaking out afresh some twice or thrice in certain inconsiderable spurts and dashes, died away in silence. Go to

distressing /dɪˈstrɛsɪŋ/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: angustiante; afligindo

Simple English: Causing pain or worry, or making someone suffer.

Example: The news was deeply distressing.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Shaking his head and smiling calmly, Mr Pecksniff said, 'This is very distressing, my friend. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Now, this is very distressing, my friend,' said Mr Pecksniff, shaking his head and smiling composedly. Go to

2. 'It is very distressing to me, to be compelled to say that you are not the person you claim to be. Go to

distrust /dɪsˈtrʌst/ (27 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desconfiança; desconfiar de

Simple English: The feeling that someone cannot be trusted.

Example: There was a deep distrust between the two families.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Although the speech seemed harmless, it fed the traveller's distrust like oil on fire. Go to

2. I offer none to you because you would distrust me. Go to

3. Yet we may congratulate ourselves because we know he does not distrust anything we say or do while he is away. Go to

4. We might remove Mr Chuzzlewit's distrust and prove that we seek no personal gain by - " Go to

5. Above the stairs, a broken skylight repaired in many ways watched everyone below with distrust. Go to

Original English Version

1. It was in one of his intervals of repose, when, looking round with great caution, and reaching uneasily out of his nest of pillows, he endeavoured, with a strange air of secrecy and distrust, to make use of the writing materials which he had ordered to be placed on a table beside him, that the young lady and the mistress of the Blue Dragon found themselves sitting side by side before the fire in the sick chamber. Go to

2. Harmless as this speech appeared to be, it acted on the traveller's distrust, like oil on fire. Go to

3. I make no offer of them to you, because I know you would distrust me if I did. Go to

4. I would submit to you, whether we might not remove Mr Chuzzlewit's distrust of us, and vindicate our own disinterestedness by--' Go to

5. 'Although I had conducted myself from the first with the utmost circumspection,' pursued Martin, 'I had not managed matters so well but that my grandfather, who is full of jealousy and distrust, suspected me of loving her. Go to

distrustful /dɪsˈtrʌstfəl/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desconfiado

Simple English: Unwilling to trust someone or something.

Example: The frightened animal remained distrustful.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. With a strange, secretive, distrustful manner, he tried to use the writing materials he had ordered beside his bed. Go to

2. The company were jealous, hard-hearted, distrustful, closed within themselves, and trusting nobody. Go to

3. "Though I was very careful from the beginning," Martin continued, "my jealous, distrustful grandfather suspected I loved her. Go to

Original English Version

1. As well might one suppose that he doesn't on all occasions pour out his whole heart and soul to you; that he doesn't make you a very liberal and indeed rather an extravagant allowance; or, to be more wild and monstrous still, if that be possible, as well might one suppose,' and here, at every word, he struck him lightly on the breast, 'that Pecksniff traded in your nature, and that your nature was to be timid and distrustful of yourself, and trustful of all other men, but most of all, of him who least deserves it. Go to

2. And the company; the jealous stony-hearted distrustful company, who were all shut up in themselves, and had no faith in anybody, and wouldn't believe anything, and would no more allow themselves to be softened or lulled asleep by the Pecksniffs than if they had been so many hedgehogs or porcupines! Go to

3. 'It is to be lamented,' said Mr Pecksniff, with a forgiving recollection of Mr Spottletoe's fist, 'that our friend should have withdrawn himself so very hastily, though we have cause for mutual congratulation even in that, since we are assured that he is not distrustful of us in regard to anything we may say or do while he is absent. Go to

dived /daɪvd/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mergulhou; enfiou-se

Simple English: Jumped head first into water, or moved down quickly.

Example: He dived off the rocks into the deep pool.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. As this fair matron sat beside the fire, she glanced occasionally with all the pride of ownership, about the room; which was a large apartment, such as one may see in country places, with a low roof and a sunken flooring, all downhill from the door, and a descent of two steps on the inside so exquisitely unexpected, that strangers, despite the most elaborate cautioning, usually dived in head first, as into a plunging-bath. Go to

2. Taking a confused leave of Anthony and his son, and leaving the luggage of himself and daughters at the office to be called for afterwards, Mr Pecksniff, with one of the young ladies under each arm, dived across the street, and then across other streets, and so up the queerest courts, and down the strangest alleys and under the blindest archways, in a kind of frenzy; now skipping over a kennel, now running for his life from a coach and horses; now thinking he had lost his way, now thinking he had found it; now in a state of the highest confidence, now despondent to the last degree, but always in a great perspiration and flurry; until at length they stopped in a kind of paved yard near the Monument. Go to

division /dɪˈvɪʒən/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: divisão

Simple English: Calculating how many times one number fits into another.

Example: In school, we learned division by splitting numbers into equal parts.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If you ever saw them, you have not seen them since you were infants together--ah, these sad family divisions! Go to

dizzy /ˈdɪzi/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tonto; zonzo

Simple English: Feeling that everything around you is turning.

Example: The fall made him look a little dizzy.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The frightened leaves flew faster, in a dizzy chase. Go to

2. 'Martin, my daughters and I do not often leave our quiet home for the dizzy pleasures outside. Go to

doggedly /ˈdɒɡɪdli/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: obstinadamente

Simple English: with firm and stubborn determination

Example: Mark walked doggedly toward the bar despite his fear.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. At length the house was closed for the night; and there being now no help for it, Mark put the best face he could upon the matter, and walked doggedly to the bar-door. Go to

Original English Version

1. At length the house was closed for the night; and there being now no help for it, Mark put the best face he could upon the matter, and walked doggedly to the bar-door. Go to

domestic /dəˈmɛstɪk/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: doméstica; interno; nacional

Simple English: Operating or occurring within the borders of one country.

Example: The domestic flight to New York was delayed due to weather.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'The domestic assistants sleep above, and that is all,' said Mr Pecksniff. Go to

donkeys /ˈdɑːŋkiz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: burros; jumentos

Simple English: Small animals like horses with long ears.

Example: Two donkeys carried the water jars.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Streets around the market were packed with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, wagons, vegetables, meat, tripe, pies, poultry, and sellers' goods of every kind. Go to

Original English Version

1. To one of his quiet habits this little delusion was greatly assisted by the circumstance of its being market-day, and the thoroughfares about the market-place being filled with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, waggons, garden-stuff, meat, tripe, pies, poultry and huckster's wares of every opposite description and possible variety of character. Go to

doorways /ˈdɔːrweɪz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: vãos de porta; portais

Simple English: The openings where doors are fitted.

Example: People sheltered from the rain in shop doorways.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Old carved-oak doorways remained in the narrow ways near Todgers's. Go to

doubted /ˈdaʊtɪd/ (22 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: duvidou

Simple English: Was not sure that something was true.

Example: Nobody doubted his honest words.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She also doubted that certain noses were redder than others, or even half as red as some. Go to

2. Only Mr Tigg doubted whether these punishments were fair. Go to

doubtfully /ˈdaʊtfəli/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: com dúvida; desconfiado

Simple English: In a way that shows you are not sure.

Example: He looked doubtfully at the thin ice.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Whatever Mr Pecksniff pleases,' Martin said doubtfully. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Whatever Mr Pecksniff pleased,' said Martin, doubtfully. Go to

doves /dʌvz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pombas

Simple English: Grey or white birds that make a soft sound.

Example: Doves sat along the temple roof.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Even after the coach rolled away, with olive branches in the luggage space and the family of doves inside, he waved and bowed. Go to

Original English Version

1. Even when the coach had rolled away with the olive-branches in the boot and the family of doves inside, he stood waving his hand and bowing; so much gratified by the unusually courteous demeanour of the young ladies, that he was quite regardless, for the moment, of Martin Chuzzlewit, who stood leaning thoughtfully against the finger-post, and who after disposing of his fair charge had hardly lifted his eyes from the ground. Go to

dragon's /ˈdræɡənz/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do dragão

Simple English: The possessive form of “dragon,” showing that something belongs to or is associated with a dragon.

Example: The handle curled like a dragon's tail.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The Blue Dragon's mistress looked at these things only two or three times, and only briefly. Go to

2. "What a Providence," said the Dragon's landlady, "that you had the prescriptions and medicines with you, miss!" Go to

3. Meanwhile old Martin Chuzzlewit stayed shut in his room and saw no one except his young companion and, at times, the Blue Dragon's hostess. Go to

4. He entered the Dragon's front door just as she left its back door. Go to

5. What credit is there in the Dragon's landlord being cheerful? Go to

Original English Version

1. What would be the credit of the landlord of the Dragon's being jolly? Go to

drawback /ˈdrɔːbæk/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desvantagem

Simple English: a disadvantage or problem in an otherwise useful arrangement

Example: The chief drawback was that he became sleepy at night.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "There might be credit in being cheerful while thinking about it - unless grave-diggers are usually cheerful, which would be a drawback. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'It's a good damp, wormy sort of business, sir,' said Mark, shaking his head argumentatively, 'and there might be some credit in being jolly, with one's mind in that pursuit, unless grave-diggers is usually given that way; which would be a drawback. Go to

dreadfully /ˈdrɛdfəli/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: terrivelmente; extremamente

Simple English: Very badly, unpleasantly, or to an extreme degree.

Example: Her head was aching dreadfully.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'And when I saw him on the stairs this morning, Pa,' said Mercy with her usual sprightliness, 'he looked, oh goodness, SUCH a monster! with his face all manner of colours, and his eyes as dull as if they had been boiled, and his head aching dreadfully, I am sure from the look of it, and his clothes smelling, oh it's impossible to say how strong, oh'--here the young lady shuddered--'of smoke and punch.' Go to

dreamily /ˈdriːmɪli/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sonhadoramente; com ar distraído

Simple English: In a way that shows the mind is far away.

Example: She looked dreamily out of the window.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Eager child!' said Mr Pecksniff, looking dreamily at her. Go to

dreamy /ˈdriːmi/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sonhador; de quem sonha acordado

Simple English: Sounding or looking as if you are dreaming.

Example: She had a dreamy look on her face.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Ardent child!' said Mr Pecksniff, gazing on her in a dreamy way. Go to

dreary /ˈdrɪəri/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sombrio; monótono; deprimente

Simple English: Gloomy, dull, tiring, or depressing.

Example: It was a long and dreary night.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She was almost unnaturally unpleasant, with a dreary face, thin body, and masculine voice. Go to

Original English Version

1. Then there was the widow of a deceased brother of Mr Martin Chuzzlewit, who being almost supernaturally disagreeable, and having a dreary face and a bony figure and a masculine voice, was, in right of these qualities, what is commonly called a strong-minded woman; and who, if she could, would have established her claim to the title, and have shown herself, mentally speaking, a perfect Samson, by shutting up her brother-in-law in a private madhouse, until he proved his complete sanity by loving her very much. Go to

drooped /druːpt/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: caídos; semicerrados

Simple English: Bent or hung down, from weakness or sadness.

Example: The flowers drooped in the heat.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. It seemed to say, on the part of Mr Pecksniff, 'There is no deception, ladies and gentlemen, all is peace, a holy calm pervades me.' So did his hair, just grizzled with an iron-grey which was all brushed off his forehead, and stood bolt upright, or slightly drooped in kindred action with his heavy eyelids. Go to

dropsy /ˈdrɑːpsi/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: hidropisia

Simple English: An old name for a disease that fills the body with water.

Example: The doctor feared dropsy.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If we drink harmless fluids too much, we get dropsy; if we drink strong liquids, we get drunk. Go to

Original English Version

1. If we indulge in harmless fluids, we get the dropsy; if in exciting liquids, we get drunk. Go to

dullest /ˈdʌlɪst/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: o mais lerdo

Simple English: Most lacking in brightness, sharpness, liveliness, or intelligence.

Example: Even the dullest listener understood the warning.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. When I left London - though I am Kentish by birth - and took this job, I decided it was England's dullest out-of-the-way corner. Go to

Original English Version

1. When I left London (I'm a Kentish man by birth, though), and took that situation here, I quite made up my mind that it was the dullest little out-of-the-way corner in England, and that there would be some credit in being jolly under such circumstances. Go to

dutiful /ˈduːtɪfl/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cumpridor do dever

Simple English: Carefully doing what you should do.

Example: He was a dutiful son to his old father.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Perhaps the dutiful son realised that he had helped his father live longer and had worked against his own interests. Go to

Original English Version

1. Whether it occurred to the dutiful son that he had in some degree over-reached himself by contributing to the prolongation of his father's days; or whether the cold had effected his temper; is doubtful. Go to

dutifully /ˈduːtɪfəli/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: obedientemente

Simple English: In a way that does what is expected of you.

Example: The boy dutifully carried the heavy basket.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The ladies sweetly said goodnight to Mr Chuzzlewit, dutifully to their father, and condescendingly to Mr Pinch, then went to their bower. Go to

eagerly /ˈiːɡərli/ (41 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: avidamente; com entusiasmo

Simple English: In a way that shows strong interest or excitement.

Example: She looked eagerly at the strange new sights.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pinch eagerly rose and did so; the handle hung just above Martin's head as he warmed himself. Go to

2. 'I shall be delighted!' cried Tom, taking the candle eagerly. Go to

Original English Version

1. And lest the sun should break this charm too eagerly, there moved between him and the ground, a mist like that which waits upon the moon on summer nights--the very same to Tom--and wooed him to dissolve it gently. Go to

earnestly /ˈɜːrnɪstli/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: seriamente; com convicção

Simple English: In a serious and sincere way.

Example: He spoke earnestly about his plans.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I spoke these words as earnestly as possible, and repeat them here in print with the same feeling. Go to

2. 'But I must say, with all my heart,' the hostess said earnestly, 'that her looks and manner almost remove suspicion.' Go to

Original English Version

1. 'At the same time I am bound to say, and I do say with all my heart,' observed the hostess, earnestly, 'that her looks and manner almost disarm suspicion.' Go to

2. 'If you had been, I'd have got it for you.' With that he began to whistle; but a dozen seconds had not elapsed when he stopped short, and looking earnestly at Mr Pecksniff, said: Go to

3. He made the promise with so much condescension and patronage, that Tom felt he had asked a great deal (this had not occurred to his mind before), and thanked him earnestly. Go to

earnestness /ˈɜːnɪstnəs/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: seriedade; sinceridade

Simple English: Serious and sincere intention or feeling.

Example: The passengers pressed their gifts upon him with great earnestness.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. I said these words with the greatest earnestness that I could lay upon them, and I repeat them in print here with equal earnestness. Go to

2. 'No, but do have the goodness, sir,' cried Pinch, with great earnestness, 'if you please. Go to

3. He said this with so much earnestness, and in a tone so full of feeling, that his companion instinctively changed his manner as he sat down on the box (they had by this time reached the finger-post at the end of the lane); motioned him to sit down beside him; and laid his hand upon his shoulder. Go to

4. On receipt of this assurance, Mr Tigg shook him heartily by both hands, protesting with much earnestness, that he was one of the most consistent and remarkable men he had ever met, and that he desired the honour of his better acquaintance. Go to

5. 'Why, is it likely,' rejoined Martin, with greater earnestness, 'that a young man newly escaped from this kennel of a place, and fresh to all the delights of being his own master in London, can have much leisure or inclination to think favourably of anything or anybody he has left behind him here? Go to

earthly /ˈɜːrθli/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: terreno; do mundo

Simple English: Belonging to this world and not to heaven.

Example: The book had no earthly value to him.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Every man,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'has a right, an undoubted right, (which I, for one, would not call in question for any earthly consideration; oh no!) to regulate his own proceedings by his own likings and dislikings, supposing they are not immoral and not irreligious. Go to

2. Also there were farmers' wives in beaver bonnets and red cloaks, riding shaggy horses purged of all earthly passions, who went soberly into all manner of places without desiring to know why, and who, if required, would have stood stock still in a china shop, with a complete dinner-service at each hoof. Go to

eased /iːzd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: aliviou; abrandou; moveu com cuidado

Simple English: Became less strong or painful; also moved something slowly and gently.

Example: The pain eased after the second day.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. New pupils were usually eased down slowly, especially with wine, and sometimes took two weeks to reach the water pump. Go to

eater /ˈiːtər/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: comilão; quem come

Simple English: A person who eats, described by how or how much they eat.

Example: He was always a slow eater as a child.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pinch only said quietly that he strongly feared he really was a great eater. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'I am afraid,' said Pinch, sighing again, 'that I am a great eater; I can't disguise from myself that I'm a great eater. Go to

2. 'You a great eater!' retorted his companion, with no less indignation than before. Go to

eaves /iːvz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: beirais

Simple English: The lower edges of a roof that stick out.

Example: Birds nested under the eaves.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They crept under house eaves, clung like bats to hay-ricks, rushed through open chamber windows, and hid close to hedges - anywhere safe. Go to

Original English Version

1. The scared leaves only flew the faster for all this, and a giddy chase it was; for they got into unfrequented places, where there was no outlet, and where their pursuer kept them eddying round and round at his pleasure; and they crept under the eaves of houses, and clung tightly to the sides of hay-ricks, like bats; and tore in at open chamber windows, and cowered close to hedges; and, in short, went anywhere for safety. Go to

2. 'You were eaves-dropping at that door, you vagabond!' said this gentleman. Go to

eavesdropping /ˈiːvzdrɑːpɪŋ/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: escutando às escondidas

Simple English: Listening in secret to what other people are saying.

Example: The boy was caught eavesdropping at the door.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "You were eavesdropping at that door, you vagabond!" said the gentleman. Go to

echoed /ˈɛkoʊd/ (20 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ecoaram; devolveram o som

Simple English: Sent a sound back so that it was heard again.

Example: The empty hall echoed our voices.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Small differences!' echoed Mercy. Go to

2. "Contact with yourself, sir?" echoed Mr Pecksniff. Go to

3. 'Gone,' echoed Mr Spottletoe. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Little differences!' echoed Mercy. Go to

2. 'Of contact with yourself, sir?' echoed Mr Pecksniff. Go to

3. A general murmur echoed this inquiry, and applauded it. Go to

4. 'Gone,' echoed Mr Spottletoe. Go to

ecod /ɪˈkɒd/ (53 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: por Deus

Simple English: an old mild oath meaning by God

Example: Ecod, you had better ask Father yourself.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Oh! ecod, you had better ask Father that,' said Jonas. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Oh! ecod, you had better ask father that,' said Jonas. Go to

egad /ɪˈɡæd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: por Deus

Simple English: an old mild oath expressing surprise or emphasis

Example: Egad, said Tigg, as though he had found an objection.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "Egad!" said Tigg, nodding seriously as if he had just noticed a reason against it. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Egad!' cried Tigg, gravely nodding his head as if some ground of objection occurred to him at that moment for the first time, 'it's very possible you may be right. Go to

elbows /ˈɛlboʊz/ (14 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cotovelos

Simple English: The joints in the middle of the arms.

Example: He rested both elbows on the table and sighed.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Then they rested their elbows on the sill and leaned farther in, as unwilling to leave as crickets born around a burning fire. Go to

2. He had grazes on what the eldest called the 'knobby parts' of his body: his knees and elbows. Go to

3. They stuck their brick-and-mortar elbows into it and blocked its air and light. Go to

Original English Version

1. As to this idle company, there they stood, spellbound by the place, and, casting now and then a glance upon the darkness in their rear, settled their lazy elbows more at ease upon the sill, and leaned a little further in: no more disposed to tear themselves away than if they had been born to cluster round the blazing hearth like so many crickets. Go to

2. They were not very serious in their nature; being limited to abrasions on what the eldest Miss Pecksniff called 'the knobby parts' of her parent's anatomy, such as his knees and elbows, and to the development of an entirely new organ, unknown to phrenologists, on the back of his head. Go to

3. Gradually his hands became tightly clasped upon the elbows of the chair, his eyes dilated with surprise, his mouth opened, his hair stood more erect upon his forehead than its custom was, until, at length, when the old man rose in bed, and stared at him with scarcely less emotion than he showed himself, the Pecksniff doubts were all resolved, and he exclaimed aloud: Go to

4. The rosy hostess scarcely needed Mr Pinch's word as a preliminary to the release of her two visitors, of whom she was glad to be rid on any terms; indeed, their brief detention had originated mainly with Mr Tapley, who entertained a constitutional dislike to gentleman out-at-elbows who flourished on false pretences; and had conceived a particular aversion to Mr Tigg and his friend, as choice specimens of the species. Go to

5. And surely London, to judge from that part of it which hemmed Todgers's round and hustled it, and crushed it, and stuck its brick-and-mortar elbows into it, and kept the air from it, and stood perpetually between it and the light, was worthy of Todgers's, and qualified to be on terms of close relationship and alliance with hundreds and thousands of the odd family to which Todgers's belonged. Go to

elevations /ˌɛlɪˈveɪʃənz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desenhos de fachadas

Simple English: architectural drawings showing the vertical face of a building

Example: The pupils spent years making elevations of Salisbury Cathedral.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Passing the candle over paper rolls, Mr Pecksniff said, 'There are signs of our work: Salisbury Cathedral from north, south, east, west, south-east, and nor'west; a bridge, almshouse, jail, church, powder-magazine, wine-cellar, portico, summer-house, ice-house; plans, elevations, sections, everything.' In another large room with four little beds, he said, 'This is your room, which you will share with quiet Mr Pinch. Go to

Original English Version

1. A young gentleman's premium being paid, and the young gentleman come to Mr Pecksniff's house, Mr Pecksniff borrowed his case of mathematical instruments (if silver-mounted or otherwise valuable); entreated him, from that moment, to consider himself one of the family; complimented him highly on his parents or guardians, as the case might be; and turned him loose in a spacious room on the two-pair front; where, in the company of certain drawing-boards, parallel rulers, very stiff-legged compasses, and two, or perhaps three, other young gentlemen, he improved himself, for three or five years, according to his articles, in making elevations of Salisbury Cathedral from every possible point of sight; and in constructing in the air a vast quantity of Castles, Houses of Parliament, and other Public Buildings. Go to

2. Plans, elevations, sections, every kind of thing. Go to

emigrants /ˈemɪɡrənts/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: emigrantes

Simple English: People who leave their own country to settle elsewhere.

Example: The emigrants crossed the ocean in crowded ships.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Cautious emigrants from Scotland or the North of England had been known to reach it safely, by impressing a charity-boy, town-bred, and bringing him along with them; or by clinging tenaciously to the postman; but these were rare exceptions, and only went to prove the rule that Todgers's was in a labyrinth, whereof the mystery was known but to a chosen few. Go to

emphatically /ɪmˈfætɪkli/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: enfaticamente

Simple English: in a forceful and unmistakable way

Example: The autumn signs emphatically announced the coming winter.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Even those tokens of the season which emphatically whispered of the coming winter, graced the landscape, and, for the moment, tinged its livelier features with no oppressive air of sadness. Go to

enchanted /ɪnˈtʃæntɪd/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: enfeitiçou; encantado

Simple English: Put under a magic spell.

Example: The Wicked Witch enchanted his axe.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There were Persian tales, flying chests, students of enchanted books shut for years in caverns, Abudah the merchant, and the terrible little old woman who came from a box in his bedroom. Go to

Original English Version

1. And there too were the Persian tales, with flying chests and students of enchanted books shut up for years in caverns; and there too was Abudah, the merchant, with the terrible little old woman hobbling out of the box in his bedroom; and there the mighty talisman, the rare Arabian Nights, with Cassim Baba, divided by four, like the ghost of a dreadful sum, hanging up, all gory, in the robbers' cave. Go to

engage /ɪnˈɡeɪdʒ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: engajar; acoplar; envolver

Simple English: To actively participate or become involved in something.

Example: It's important to engage students in meaningful classroom activities.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'I thought,' pursued the landlady, with a most engaging hesitation, 'that you had been--fond--of the Dragon?' Go to

england's /ˈɪŋɡləndz/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: da Inglaterra

Simple English: Belonging to England.

Example: England's coast is longer than most people imagine.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. When I left London - though I am Kentish by birth - and took this job, I decided it was England's dullest out-of-the-way corner. Go to

2. They thought Old England's greatness had also declined with barbers. Go to

Original English Version

1. These gentry were much opposed to steam and all new-fangled ways, and held ballooning to be sinful, and deplored the degeneracy of the times; which that particular member of each little club who kept the keys of the nearest church, professionally, always attributed to the prevalence of dissent and irreligion; though the major part of the company inclined to the belief that virtue went out with hair-powder, and that Old England's greatness had decayed amain with barbers. Go to

entertainments /ˌentərˈteɪnmənts/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: espetáculos; diversões

Simple English: Shows, performances, or activities intended to amuse people.

Example: The club organized several free entertainments.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. On another occasion he wrote, "I have bestowed upon that irresistible uncle of mine everything I ever possessed." He apparently paid long visits to this uncle's mansion, or even lived there: "With the exception of the suit of clothes I carry about with me, the whole of my wearing apparel is at present at my uncle's." The uncle's influence must have been vast, for his nephew called it "too high," "too much," and "tremendous." Strangely, it got him no profitable post at court or elsewhere, and no distinction except the patronage of such a great man and invitations to entertainments so splendid and costly that he called them "Golden Balls." Go to

entreating /ɪnˈtriːtɪŋ/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: suplicando

Simple English: asking earnestly and humbly

Example: She was entreating Miss Murdstone's pardon.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. As the coach appeared at the same moment, Tom lost no time in entreating the gentleman last mentioned, to undertake the delivery of his letter. Go to

envious /ˈɛnviəs/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: invejosos

Simple English: Wanting what someone else has.

Example: The rich fields made the neighbours envious.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'An envious family,' pursued Mark, with a thoughtful face; 'or a quarrelsome family, or a malicious family, or even a good out-and-out mean family, would open a field of action as I might do something in. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'An envious family,' pursued Mark, with a thoughtful face; 'or a quarrelsome family, or a malicious family, or even a good out-and-out mean family, would open a field of action as I might do something in. Go to

eraser /ɪˈreɪsər/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: apagador

Simple English: An object used to remove pencil marks or writing from a board.

Example: He took the eraser and cleaned the board.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He pointed to a small round table with a lamp, sheets of paper, an India-rubber eraser, and a case of instruments. Go to

errand /ˈɛrənd/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: incumbência; recado; missão

Simple English: A short journey made to do or fetch something.

Example: He said they had come on a foolish errand.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The messenger came back from this secret errand with no better news: Mr Pecksniff was not at home. Go to

2. You do your errand and earn your fee. Go to

Original English Version

1. From this last-mentioned secret errand, the messenger returned with no better news than from the first; Mr Pecksniff was not at home. Go to

2. You do your errand, and you earn your fee. Go to

3. For the Spottletoes had actually gone straight to the Dragon, where they were at that moment housed and mounting guard, and where their appearance had occasioned such a vast sensation that Mrs Lupin, scenting their errand before they had been under her roof half an hour, carried the news herself with all possible secrecy straight to Mr Pecksniff's house; indeed it was her great caution in doing so which occasioned her to miss that gentleman, who entered at the front door of the Dragon just as she emerged from the back one. Go to

esquire /ɪˈskwaɪər/ (24 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: escudeiro; senhor

Simple English: Historically, a knight's attendant, or a formal title after a man's name.

Example: The knight's esquire fastened his armor.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'This is addressed to Chevy Slyme, Esquire,' said Mr Pecksniff. Go to

2. 'You know Chevy Slyme, Esquire, I believe?' replied the stranger. Go to

3. For the first time, Chevy Slyme, Esquire, spoke aloud. Go to

4. 'The letter,' Tigg whispered cautiously, 'which my friend Pecksniff addressed to Chevy Slyme, Esquire, and left with you.' Go to

5. 'You had better put Esquire to Mr Pecksniff's name, if you please. Go to

6. Direct to me, you know, at Seth Pecksniff's, Esquire.' Go to

Original English Version

1. 'This is addressed to Chevy Slyme, Esquire,' said that gentleman. Go to

2. 'You know Chevy Slyme, Esquire, I believe?' returned the stranger. Go to

3. 'Mr and Mrs Spottletoe,' said Chevy Slyme, Esquire, speaking aloud for the first time, and speaking very sulkily; shambling with his legs the while. Go to

4. 'The letter,' whispered Tigg in the same cautious manner as before, 'which my friend Pecksniff addressed to Chevy Slyme, Esquire, and left with you.' Go to

5. 'You had better put Esquire to Mr Pecksniff's name, if you please. Go to

6. Direct to me, you know, at Seth Pecksniff's, Esquire.' Go to

ethereal /ɪˈθɪəriəl/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: etéreo; delicado

Simple English: Extremely light, delicate, or seeming not to belong to the physical world.

Example: He praised her ethereal golden beauty.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. As a final spadeful, letters from their own mothers prove that many male and female Chuzzlewits had chiselled noses, clear chins, bodies fit for a sculptor, beautifully shaped limbs, and polished foreheads so transparent that blue veins showed like roads on an ethereal map. Go to

Original English Version

1. As a goodly tumulus is already collected, and decently battened up above the Family grave, the present chapter is content to leave it as it is: merely adding, by way of a final spadeful, that many Chuzzlewits, both male and female, are proved to demonstration, on the faith of letters written by their own mothers, to have had chiselled noses, undeniable chins, forms that might have served the sculptor for a model, exquisitely-turned limbs and polished foreheads of so transparent a texture that the blue veins might be seen branching off in various directions, like so many roads on an ethereal map. Go to

2. 'No, John,' said Mr Pecksniff, with a calmness quite ethereal; 'no, I will not shake hands, John. Go to

evergreens /ˈevərɡriːnz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: árvores perenes

Simple English: Trees that keep their green leaves all year.

Example: Dark evergreens covered the mountain slope.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The strong evergreens looked dark and serious, as if nature gave them long life instead of a sensitive and joyful nature. Go to

Original English Version

1. On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels; others stripped of all their garniture, stood, each the centre of its little heap of bright red leaves, watching their slow decay; others again, still wearing theirs, had them all crunched and crackled up, as though they had been burnt; about the stems of some were piled, in ruddy mounds, the apples they had borne that year; while others (hardy evergreens this class) showed somewhat stern and gloomy in their vigour, as charged by nature with the admonition that it is not to her more sensitive and joyous favourites she grants the longest term of life. Go to

2. There was an odd smell in the passage, as if the concentrated essence of all the dinners that had been cooked in the kitchen since the house was built, lingered at the top of the kitchen stairs to that hour, and like the Black Friar in Don Juan, 'wouldn't be driven away.' In particular, there was a sensation of cabbage; as if all the greens that had ever been boiled there, were evergreens, and flourished in immortal strength. Go to

exaggeration /ɪɡˌzædʒəˈreɪʃən/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: exagero

Simple English: A description that makes something seem bigger than it is.

Example: It is no exaggeration to call him brave.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I have direct experience of exaggeration, stranger than this idea. Go to

Original English Version

1. What is exaggeration to one class of minds and perceptions, is plain truth to another. Go to

2. On this head of exaggeration I have a positive experience, more curious than the speculation I have just set down. Go to

3. All the Pecksniff family upon earth are quite agreed, I believe, that Mr Pecksniff is an exaggeration, and that no such character ever existed. Go to

exalted /ɪɡˈzɔːltɪd/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: exaltaram

Simple English: praised someone very highly

Example: The boys exalted Steerforth to the skies.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Forgiveness is a high quality; an exalted virtue; far above YOUR control or influence, John. Go to

excellently /ˈeksələntli/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: excelentemente

Simple English: Very well indeed.

Example: The meal was excellently cooked.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "You and I will get on excellently, I know. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'You and I will get on excellently well, I know; which it's no small relief to me to feel, for to tell you the truth, I am not at all the sort of fellow who could get on with everybody, and that's the point on which I had the greatest doubts. Go to

Glossary: New Words (3/7)

exchanging /ɪksˈtʃeɪndʒɪŋ/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: trocando; permutando

Simple English: Present participle of exchange: giving and receiving things, words, or looks mutually.

Example: The two women were exchanging meaningful smiles.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Bless my life!' said Mr Pecksniff, looking up, and gradually exchanging his abstracted face for one of joyful recognition. Go to

excites /ɪkˈsaɪts/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: excita; desperta

Simple English: Third-person singular of excite: causes strong interest, emotion, or activity.

Example: The mysterious object excites his curiosity.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Who would not smile lovingly, not to make fun of poor Tom, that this holiday excites you so much? Go to

exclaimed /ɪkˈskleɪmd/ (50 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: exclamaram; gritaram

Simple English: Said something suddenly and loudly, because of surprise or strong feeling.

Example: The mice exclaimed when they saw their Queen.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'He speaks again!' exclaimed the eldest. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'He speaks again!' exclaimed the eldest. Go to

2. Sounds floated on the air, moreover, as if two spirit voices had exclaimed: one, 'Beast!' the other, 'Savage!' Go to

3. Gradually his hands became tightly clasped upon the elbows of the chair, his eyes dilated with surprise, his mouth opened, his hair stood more erect upon his forehead than its custom was, until, at length, when the old man rose in bed, and stared at him with scarcely less emotion than he showed himself, the Pecksniff doubts were all resolved, and he exclaimed aloud: Go to

4. 'Not your daughters!' exclaimed the lady, raising her hands and clasping them. Go to

exclamation /ˌekskləˈmeɪʃən/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: exclamação

Simple English: A sudden short cry that shows surprise, pain or anger.

Example: A loud exclamation came from the kitchen when the glass fell.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. At this exclamation, another Miss Pecksniff bounced out of the parlour; and the two Miss Pecksniffs, with many incoherent expressions, dragged Mr Pecksniff into an upright posture. Go to

executors /ɪɡˈzekjətərz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: testamenteiros; executores

Simple English: People appointed to administer wills, or people who carry out laws or plans.

Example: His executors would examine the papers after his death.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Slyme's biographer, sir, whoever he may be,' resumed the gentleman, 'must apply to me; or, if I am gone to that what's-his-name from which no thingumbob comes back, he must apply to my executors for leave to search among my papers. Go to

existence (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: existência; vida; realidade

Simple English: the state of being real or alive

Example: The document proves the existence of the agreement.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She called the whiskers "the lodestar of her existence." Her love for her uncle Chuzzlewit was strong. Go to

Expectation /ˌɛkspɛkˈteɪʃən/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: expectativa; expetativa

Simple English: Belief about what is likely to happen in future.

Example: I had high expectations for the concert, but it was quite boring.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'To make a long story short, you must know that since childhood I was raised with great expectations and taught to believe I would one day be very rich. Go to

expressive /ɪkˈspresɪv/ (18 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: expressivo

Simple English: Showing feelings and thoughts clearly.

Example: The young actress has a very expressive face.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. It was perfectly charming, and worthy of the Pastoral age, to see how the two Miss Pecksniffs slapped each other after this, and then subsided into an embrace expressive of their different dispositions. Go to

2. They were both very busy on the afternoon succeeding the family's departure--Martin with the grammar-school, and Tom in balancing certain receipts of rents, and deducting Mr Pecksniff's commission from the same; in which abstruse employment he was much distracted by a habit his new friend had of whistling aloud while he was drawing--when they were not a little startled by the unexpected obtrusion into that sanctuary of genius, of a human head which, although a shaggy and somewhat alarming head in appearance, smiled affably upon them from the doorway, in a manner that was at once waggish, conciliatory, and expressive of approbation. Go to

expressively /ɪkˈsprɛsɪvli/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: expressivamente

Simple English: in a way that clearly conveys a feeling or meaning

Example: Mr Tapley shook his head expressively.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Yes, I should,' cried Mr Tapley, shaking his head expressively enough, and looking (in a momentary state of forgetfulness) rather hard at the hostess's ripe lips. Go to

Original English Version

1. Yes, I should,' cried Mr Tapley, shaking his head expressively enough, and looking (in a momentary state of forgetfulness) rather hard at the hostess's ripe lips. Go to

externally /ɪkˈstɜːnəli/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: externamente

Simple English: on the outside of the body

Example: His injuries were treated externally with wet brown paper.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. These injuries having been comforted externally, with patches of pickled brown paper, and Mr Pecksniff having been comforted internally, with some stiff brandy-and-water, the eldest Miss Pecksniff sat down to make the tea, which was all ready. Go to

eyeglass /ˈaɪɡlæs/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: monóculo

Simple English: a single lens worn to help one eye see

Example: He raised his eyeglass to inspect the address.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. So did his plain black suit, his state as a widower, and his hanging double eyeglass. Go to

2. Mr Pecksniff played absently with his eyeglass and kept his eyes shut so that he could think better. Go to

eyelids /ˈaɪlɪdz/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pálpebras

Simple English: The pieces of skin that cover the eyes when they close.

Example: His eyelids were heavy with sleep.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His heavy eyelids, slim and smooth body, and soft, oily manner gave the same message. Go to

2. "Upon my word, sir!" said Mr Pecksniff, putting his hand on his breast and lowering his eyelids. Go to

Original English Version

1. It seemed to say, on the part of Mr Pecksniff, 'There is no deception, ladies and gentlemen, all is peace, a holy calm pervades me.' So did his hair, just grizzled with an iron-grey which was all brushed off his forehead, and stood bolt upright, or slightly drooped in kindred action with his heavy eyelids. Go to

2. 'Upon my word, sir!' said Mr Pecksniff, laying his hand upon his breast, and dropping his eyelids. Go to

faintly /ˈfeɪntli/ (17 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: vagamente; de leve

Simple English: In a way that is not easy to see or hear.

Example: A light burned faintly in the far window.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Then he smiled faintly, held the bed curtains with one hand, and continued: Go to

Original English Version

1. Then, smiling faintly, and holding the bed furniture with one hand, he resumed: Go to

faltered /ˈfɔːltərd/ (20 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: hesitou

Simple English: lost confidence, strength, or steadiness for a moment

Example: For the first time, her steady gaze faltered.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. That I should have called you "Miss," too, ma'am!' But when she had proceeded thus far, she glanced involuntarily at the third finger of the young lady's left hand, and faltered again; for there was no ring upon it. Go to

2. 'A one-eyed calender, I think, sir,' faltered Tom. Go to

famously /ˈfeɪməsli/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: muito bem

Simple English: extremely well or successfully

Example: Despite their differences, the two men got on famously.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The Norman was famously liberal and grateful when giving such property to favourites, as great men often are when giving away what belongs to other people. Go to

2. The old lady was strong-minded but weak with age and famously liable to confuse ideas or speech. Go to

fancies /ˈfænsiz/ (20 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: fantasias

Simple English: imaginative ideas, dreams, or passing desires

Example: Her mind was full of gentle dreams and fancies.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. These are only sick fancies." Go to

2. "What are only sick fancies?" he snapped. Go to

3. "What do you know about fancies? Go to

4. Who told you about fancies? Go to

5. Fancies!" Go to

6. Healthy people have fancies too, and strange ones, every day." Go to

Original English Version

1. These are only sick fancies.' Go to

2. 'What are only sick fancies?' he retorted. Go to

3. 'What do you know about fancies? Go to

4. Who told you about fancies? Go to

5. Fancies!' Go to

6. Folks in good health have their fancies, too, and strange ones, every day.' Go to

fastened /ˈfæsənd/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: prenderam; fixaram

Simple English: Joined or fixed one thing firmly to another.

Example: They fastened his head onto his tin body.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He fastened the tie of his cravat behind, where nobody could see it. Go to

2. She had fastened it there so it would not be lost or sat on. Go to

Original English Version

1. You looked over a very low fence of white cravat (whereof no man had ever beheld the tie for he fastened it behind), and there it lay, a valley between two jutting heights of collar, serene and whiskerless before you. Go to

2. First, there was Mr Spottletoe, who was so bald and had such big whiskers, that he seemed to have stopped his hair, by the sudden application of some powerful remedy, in the very act of falling off his head, and to have fastened it irrevocably on his face. Go to

3. Neither had Miss Mercy expected them, for she was sitting upon her stool, tying on the--oh good gracious!--the petticoat of a large doll that she was dressing for a neighbour's child--really, quite a grown-up doll, which made it more confusing--and had its little bonnet dangling by the ribbon from one of her fair curls, to which she had fastened it lest it should be lost or sat upon. Go to

fatted /ˈfætɪd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cevado; engordado

Simple English: Made fat by generous feeding, especially in the phrase 'fatted calf.'

Example: The large piece of meat resembled the biblical fatted calf.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Be happy, and kill the fatted calf if you please!' Go to

Original English Version

1. You will be jovial, my dear Martin, and will kill the fatted calf if you please!' Go to

fawkes /fɔːks/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Fawkes

Simple English: the surname of Guy Fawkes, associated with the 1605 Gunpowder Plot

Example: The servant imagined Jane as an infant Guy Fawkes plotting in secret.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A Chuzzlewit was certainly involved in the Gunpowder Plot, unless the chief traitor, Fawkes himself, belonged to this remarkable family. Go to

2. Surely she was the Spanish lady, mother of Chuzzlewit Fawkes. Go to

3. This was carried by my fourth son on the fifth of November, when he was a Guy Fawkes." He repeated these impressive words often. Go to

4. And HE was Guy Fawkes." The statement then becomes clear, natural, and suitable to its speaker. Go to

Original English Version

1. There was unquestionably a Chuzzlewit in the Gunpowder Plot, if indeed the arch-traitor, Fawkes himself, were not a scion of this remarkable stock; as he might easily have been, supposing another Chuzzlewit to have emigrated to Spain in the previous generation, and there intermarried with a Spanish lady, by whom he had issue, one olive-complexioned son. Go to

2. Surely there can be no reasonable doubt that this was the Spanish lady, the mother of Chuzzlewit Fawkes. Go to

3. This was carried by my fourth son on the fifth of November, when he was a Guy Fawkes.' These remarkable words wrought (as well they might) a strong impression on his mind, and he was in the habit of repeating them very often. Go to

4. And HE was Guy Fawkes.' Here we have a remark at once consistent, clear, natural, and in strict accordance with the character of the speaker. Go to

feasts /fiːsts/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: banquetes; festins; festas

Simple English: Large special meals, usually for a celebration.

Example: The village holds two feasts every summer.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Long ago, sounds of feasts came from them. Go to

feebly /ˈfiːbli/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: debilmente

Simple English: with little physical or emotional strength

Example: The drunken man struck the table and then leaned feebly on his hand.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'I swear,' cried Mr Slyme, giving the table an imbecile blow with his fist, and then feebly leaning his head upon his hand, while some drunken drops oozed from his eyes, 'that I am the wretchedest creature on record. Go to

fellow's /ˈfeloʊz/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do sujeito; do camarada

Simple English: The possessive form of fellow, meaning a man or companion.

Example: The fellow's nervous smile betrayed him.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Of course she is not this fellow's servant!' Go to

2. Bills are common, Mr Pinch; we object to this fellow's ways. Go to

Original English Version

1. She's not this fellow's creature. Go to

fender /ˈfendər/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: grade de lareira; anteparo

Simple English: A low guard placed around a fireplace to contain coals and protect the room.

Example: He rested his feet on the fender and watched the fire.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Martin moved his chair closer to the fire and put his feet on the fender. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Pretty well for my time of life,' rejoined Martin, drawing his chair still nearer to the fire, and spreading his feet out on the fender. Go to

2. Inside the fender were some half-dozen pairs of shoes and boots, of various sizes, just cleaned and turned with the soles upwards to dry; and a pair of short black gaiters, on one of which was chalked--in sport, it would appear, by some gentleman who had slipped down for the purpose, pending his toilet, and gone up again--'Jinkins's Particular,' while the other exhibited a sketch in profile, claiming to be the portrait of Jinkins himself. Go to

fervour /ˈfɜːvə/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: fervor

Simple English: intense enthusiasm or emotion

Example: In the fervour of his concern, he listened again at the keyhole.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. That done, he assured Mr Pinch that everything was now perfectly regular; and, after squeezing his hand with great fervour, departed. Go to

Original English Version

1. It happened on the fourth evening, that Mr Pecksniff walking, as usual, into the bar of the Dragon and finding no Mrs Lupin there, went straight upstairs; purposing, in the fervour of his affectionate zeal, to apply his ear once more to the keyhole, and quiet his mind by assuring himself that the hard-hearted patient was going on well. Go to

2. Invoking this benediction on the heads of his young friends with great fervour, he withdrew to his own room; while they, being tired, soon fell asleep. Go to

3. That done, he assured Mr Pinch that everything was now perfectly regular; and, after squeezing his hand with great fervour, departed. Go to

festivities /feˈstɪvətiz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: festividades; comemorações

Simple English: Celebrations, parties, or joyful public events.

Example: The festivities began soon after dark.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. WITH ALL THE FESTIVITIES HELD ON THAT OCCASION, AND THE GREAT ENJOYMENT OF MR PINCH Go to

Original English Version

1. WITH ALL THE FESTIVITIES HELD ON THAT OCCASION, AND THE GREAT ENJOYMENT OF MR PINCH Go to

fiercely /ˈfɪrsli/ (24 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ferozmente; intensamente

Simple English: In a strong and violent way.

Example: The ball of fire burned fiercely.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It stopped sighing and blew fiercely around the merry forge, banging the wicket and growling in the chimney, as if it bullied the cheerful bellows for working to order. Go to

2. Mr Pinch listened in confusion, partly because of his companion's words and partly because he spoke so quickly and fiercely. Go to

3. Mr George nodded fiercely at every second syllable. Go to

4. Mr Tigg shook his head fiercely and struck his own breast once. Go to

fifteenth /ˌfɪfˈtiːnθ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: décimo quinto

Simple English: Number fifteen in a series.

Example: This is the fifteenth day of the voyage.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. On the fifteenth of last month, he could not pay a small bill. Go to

Original English Version

1. He made use of an expression, sir, only on the fifteenth of last month when he couldn't meet a little bill and the other party wouldn't renew, which would have done honour to Napoleon Bonaparte in addressing the French army.' Go to

firewood /ˈfaɪərwʊd/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: lenha

Simple English: Wood cut for burning.

Example: They collected firewood before dark.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. In the first of these sanctuaries a fire was speedily kindled by the youthful porter, who, whistling at his work in the absence of Mrs Todgers (not to mention his sketching figures on his corduroys with burnt firewood), and being afterwards taken by that lady in the fact, was dismissed with a box on his ears. Go to

firmer /ˈfɜːrmər/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: mais firme; mais sólido

Simple English: More solid or steady than before.

Example: The ground grew firmer as they climbed.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The worse he became, the firmer he was. Go to

firmness /ˈfɜːrmnəs/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: firmeza; determinação; solidez

Simple English: The quality of being strong, steady and not easily moved.

Example: She refused with a firmness that ended the discussion.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I was going to say that a chief part of my nature is determined firmness." Go to

Original English Version

1. I was going to say, if you had given me leave, that a chief ingredient in my composition is a most determined firmness.' Go to

flannel /ˈflænəl/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: flanela

Simple English: A soft woollen or cotton cloth used for warm clothes.

Example: He wore a grey flannel shirt all winter.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If he puts on his old flannel nightcap, I do not know what she will do! Go to

Original English Version

1. If he puts on that old flannel nightcap of his, I don't know what she'll do! Go to

flapped /flæpt/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: bateu as asas; agitou-se; adejou

Simple English: Moved up and down, as wings do.

Example: The bird flapped its wings and rose.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. For many years, the Dragon had swung, creaked, and flapped before the two windows of the inn's best bedroom. Go to

Original English Version

1. For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs. Go to

flapping /ˈflæpɪŋ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: batendo as asas

Simple English: Moving up and down quickly, as wings do.

Example: They heard wings flapping above them.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs. Go to

flashed /flæʃt/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: lampejaram; refletiram

Simple English: Shone with a sudden bright light.

Example: The mirror flashed in the morning sun.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Lights flashed, voices whispered, and newly lit wood smoked and spat in a damp chimney. Go to

flatter /ˈflætər/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mais plano

Simple English: More level, with fewer hills.

Example: The land grows flatter near the sea.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Aye, aye, Mr Chuzzlewit, do not think I mean to seek your favour or flatter you. Go to

2. We agree never to flatter each other with loving words. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Aye, aye, Mr Chuzzlewit; and don't imagine that I mean to court or flatter you; for nothing is further from my intention. Go to

flattered /ˈflætərd/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: lisonjeou; lisonjeado

Simple English: Praised someone to please them, or felt pleased by praise.

Example: She was flattered to be asked to speak.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Mr Pinch was delighted to hear him say this, and felt so much flattered by his kind assurances of friendship and protection, that he was at a loss how to express the pleasure they afforded him. Go to

float /floʊt/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: flutuar; flutuador; bóia

Simple English: To move slowly on water or in the air.

Example: The boat began to float gently on the calm lake.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Then two sounds seemed to float through the air: one said, 'Beast!' and the other, 'Savage!' Go to

floated /ˈfloʊtɪd/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: flutuou; boiou

Simple English: Moved along on the top of water.

Example: The raft floated down the stream.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Sounds floated on the air, moreover, as if two spirit voices had exclaimed: one, 'Beast!' the other, 'Savage!' Go to

flogging /ˈflɑːɡɪŋ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: açoitamento

Simple English: A beating given to somebody as a punishment.

Example: The captain ordered a flogging for the thief.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The cousin with toothache wanted Botany Bay, while the two Miss Pecksniffs suggested flogging. Go to

Original English Version

1. The strong-minded lady was for poison, her three daughters were for Bridewell and bread-and-water, the cousin with the toothache advocated Botany Bay, the two Miss Pecksniffs suggested flogging. Go to

flutter /ˈflʌtər/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tremular; adejar; palpitar

Simple English: To move with quick light irregular movements.

Example: Moths flutter around the porch light every night.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. But on the morning after the Installation Banquet, she suffered him to wander to and fro among the eatables and drinkables, a perfectly free and unchecked man; so utterly to Mr Pinch's wonder and confusion, that like the wretched captive who recovered his liberty in his old age, he could make but little use of his enlargement, and fell into a strange kind of flutter for want of some kind hand to scrape his bread, and cut him off in the article of sugar with a lump, and pay him those other little attentions to which he was accustomed. Go to

fluttered /ˈflʌtərd/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: esvoaçavam; adejavam

Simple English: Moved quickly and lightly in the air.

Example: The flag fluttered above the gate.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He fluttered without someone to scrape his bread, limit his sugar to one lump, and give the small attentions he expected. Go to

Original English Version

1. And away he fluttered, with his red neckerchief, and his open coat, down a cross-lane; turning back from time to time to nod to Mr Pinch, and looking one of the most careless, good-humoured comical fellows in life. Go to

folly /ˈfɑːli/ (17 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tolice; insensatez

Simple English: Foolish behavior, judgment, or an unwise idea.

Example: He felt threatened by the ignorance and folly of others.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'What folly is this! Go to

foolishness /ˈfuːlɪʃnəs/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tolice; insensatez

Simple English: Behaviour that shows no good sense.

Example: He later laughed at his own foolishness.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'What foolishness is this! Go to

2. Can we open our valued relative's eyes to his present foolishness? Go to

forefather /ˈfɔːfɑːðə/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: antepassado

Simple English: an ancestor from an earlier generation

Example: The old lantern had been carried by his forefather.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. This lantern was carried by my forefather" - not "fourth son," which is absurd - "on the fifth of November. Go to

Original English Version

1. This lantern was carried by my forefather'--not fourth son, which is preposterous--'on the fifth of November. Go to

forefinger /ˈfɔːrfɪŋɡər/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: dedo indicador

Simple English: The finger next to the thumb.

Example: He pointed with his forefinger.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Then gathering the skirts of his coat under his left arm, and smoothing his moustache with his right thumb and forefinger, he resumed: Go to

2. Now,' said the gentleman, shaking his forefinger before his nose, and planting his legs wider apart as he looked attentively in Mr Pecksniff's face, 'that is a remarkably curious and interesting trait in Mr Slyme's character; and whenever Slyme's life comes to be written, that trait must be thoroughly worked out by his biographer or society will not be satisfied. Go to

foreheads /ˈfɔːrhedz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: testas; frontes

Simple English: The parts of the face above the eyes and below the hair.

Example: Both children had sunburnt foreheads.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. As a final spadeful, letters from their own mothers prove that many male and female Chuzzlewits had chiselled noses, clear chins, bodies fit for a sculptor, beautifully shaped limbs, and polished foreheads so transparent that blue veins showed like roads on an ethereal map. Go to

Original English Version

1. As a goodly tumulus is already collected, and decently battened up above the Family grave, the present chapter is content to leave it as it is: merely adding, by way of a final spadeful, that many Chuzzlewits, both male and female, are proved to demonstration, on the faith of letters written by their own mothers, to have had chiselled noses, undeniable chins, forms that might have served the sculptor for a model, exquisitely-turned limbs and polished foreheads of so transparent a texture that the blue veins might be seen branching off in various directions, like so many roads on an ethereal map. Go to

foreseen /fɔːrˈsiːn/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: previsto

Simple English: known or expected before it happened

Example: No one could have foreseen the accident.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The very first word he learnt to spell was 'gain,' and the second (when he got into two syllables), 'money.' But for two results, which were not clearly foreseen perhaps by his watchful parent in the beginning, his training may be said to have been unexceptionable. Go to

forgetfulness /fərˈɡetfəlnəs/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: esquecimento; falta de memória

Simple English: The habit or state of not remembering things.

Example: He blamed his forgetfulness on the long journey.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Yes, I should,' cried Mr Tapley, shaking his head expressively enough, and looking (in a momentary state of forgetfulness) rather hard at the hostess's ripe lips. Go to

Original English Version

1. Yes, I should,' cried Mr Tapley, shaking his head expressively enough, and looking (in a momentary state of forgetfulness) rather hard at the hostess's ripe lips. Go to

forgets /fərˈɡɛts/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: esquece

Simple English: Does not keep something in the mind.

Example: He never forgets a face.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His fault is that he sometimes forgets his position, but that is soon corrected. Go to

forgiving /fərˈɡɪvɪŋ/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: que perdoa; indulgente

Simple English: Ready to forgive and not to punish.

Example: She gave him a forgiving look.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'It is to be lamented,' said Mr Pecksniff, with a forgiving recollection of Mr Spottletoe's fist, 'that our friend should have withdrawn himself so very hastily, though we have cause for mutual congratulation even in that, since we are assured that he is not distrustful of us in regard to anything we may say or do while he is absent. Go to

forgivingly /fəˈɡɪvɪŋli/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: com indulgência

Simple English: in a way that shows willingness to forgive

Example: Mr Pecksniff spoke forgivingly despite remembering the blow.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "It is a pity," said Mr Pecksniff, forgivingly remembering Mr Spottletoe's fist, "that our friend left so quickly. Go to

fortnight /ˈfɔːrtnaɪt/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: quinzena; duas semanas

Simple English: A period of two weeks.

Example: They stayed with us for a fortnight in August.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The magnitude of these preparations quite took away Tom Pinch's breath; for though the new pupils were usually let down softly, as one may say, particularly in the wine department, which had so many stages of declension, that sometimes a young gentleman was a whole fortnight in getting to the pump; still this was a banquet; a sort of Lord Mayor's feast in private life; a something to think of, and hold on by, afterwards. Go to

fortunatus's /ˌfɔːtʃəˈneɪtəsɪz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Fortunato

Simple English: belonging to Fortunatus, a legendary owner of a purse that never emptied

Example: The admirer claimed to possess a Fortunatus's purse of good feelings.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A simple admirer said he had a Fortunatus's purse of good feelings inside him. Go to

Original English Version

1. It was once said of him by a homely admirer, that he had a Fortunatus's purse of good sentiments in his inside. Go to

fox's /ˈfɑːksɪz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: da raposa

Simple English: Belonging to the fox.

Example: The fox's red tail vanished into the hedge.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. We know Fox's Book of Martyrs, the Court of Requests, and the Star Chamber, but I fear no one when I say that holding Chevy Slyme for a bill is worse than any cockfighting I know.' Go to

Original English Version

1. Now,' said Mr Tigg, 'we have heard of Fox's Book of Martyrs, I believe, and we have heard of the Court of Requests, and the Star Chamber; but I fear the contradiction of no man alive or dead, when I assert that my friend Chevy Slyme being held in pawn for a bill, beats any amount of cockfighting with which I am acquainted.' Go to

frankness /ˈfræŋknəs/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: franqueza; sinceridade

Simple English: The quality of being open, honest, and direct.

Example: She told the story with complete frankness.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. I--I am very glad,' said Tom, smiling with an embarrassed frankness peculiarly his, and which was as plainly a confession of his own imperfections, and an appeal to the kindness of the person he addressed, as if he had drawn one up in simple language and committed it to paper: 'I am very glad indeed that you turn out to be the party I expected. Go to

frauds /frɔːdz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: impostores; farsantes

Simple English: People who pretend to be what they are not.

Example: The house was full of frauds and beggars.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Meanwhile crowds of frauds become famous, men no more equal to me than - Tigg, witness that I am the most persecuted hound on earth." Go to

freshness /ˈfrɛʃnəs/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: frescor; viço

Simple English: The quality of being cool, new, lively, or recently made.

Example: The evening breeze brought freshness to the hot room.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Like a sudden memory or a spirit waking an old man's mind, the sun gave glory to the scene, and its lost youth and freshness seemed alive again. Go to

Original English Version

1. Like a sudden flash of memory or spirit kindling up the mind of an old man, it shed a glory upon the scene, in which its departed youth and freshness seemed to live again. Go to

2. Oh, the serene expression on the face of Charity, which seemed to say, 'I know that all my family have injured me beyond the possibility of reparation, but I forgive them, for it is my duty so to do!' And, oh, the gay simplicity of Mercy; so charming, innocent, and infant-like, that if she had gone out walking by herself, and it had been a little earlier in the season, the robin-redbreasts might have covered her with leaves against her will, believing her to be one of the sweet children in the wood, come out of it, and issuing forth once more to look for blackberries in the young freshness of her heart! Go to

fretted /ˈfretɪd/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: afligiu-se; preocupou-se

Simple English: Worried about small things all the time.

Example: She fretted about the boy all week.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. After pacing the room a few times, he threw himself into a chair and fretted like a spoiled child. Go to

friar /ˈfraɪər/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: frade

Simple English: A member of a Christian religious order who traditionally lives and works among the public.

Example: The cheerful friar welcomed the travelers.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Like the Black Friar in Don Juan, it 'wouldn't be driven away.' Cabbage was strongest, as if every green vegetable boiled there lived forever. Go to

Original English Version

1. There was an odd smell in the passage, as if the concentrated essence of all the dinners that had been cooked in the kitchen since the house was built, lingered at the top of the kitchen stairs to that hour, and like the Black Friar in Don Juan, 'wouldn't be driven away.' In particular, there was a sensation of cabbage; as if all the greens that had ever been boiled there, were evergreens, and flourished in immortal strength. Go to

fright /fraɪt/ (18 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: susto; medo repentino

Simple English: A sudden strong feeling of fear.

Example: The loud bang gave her a fright.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Oh the fright! Go to

2. The old-fashioned fright!' cried Merry, in a whisper. Go to

frighten /ˈfraɪtən/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: assustar; amedrontar

Simple English: To make someone feel afraid.

Example: It was very easy to frighten them.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He did nothing but frighten the landlady out of her five wits and refuse every suggestion. Go to

2. "The gentleman - your grandpapa," she continued after a short pause, "being so determined to have no help, must frighten you very much, miss?" Go to

3. I would not frighten her away from a place she seemed to love. Go to

frightful /ˈfraɪtfəl/ (18 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: terrível; assustador

Simple English: Causing fear, shock, or great distress.

Example: The storm broke with frightful force.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The rapacity of these people is absolutely frightful!' Go to

fro /froʊ/ (24 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: para trás; de um lado para outro

Simple English: Away or backward, now used chiefly in the phrase “to and fro.”

Example: The fibers waved to and fro in the wind.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The withering leaves no longer quiet, hurried to and fro in search of shelter from its chill pursuit; the labourer unyoked his horses, and with head bent down, trudged briskly home beside them; and from the cottage windows lights began to glance and wink upon the darkening fields. Go to

2. His very first words!' cried the old man, shaking his grey head to and fro upon the pillow, and throwing up his hands. Go to

3. But on the morning after the Installation Banquet, she suffered him to wander to and fro among the eatables and drinkables, a perfectly free and unchecked man; so utterly to Mr Pinch's wonder and confusion, that like the wretched captive who recovered his liberty in his old age, he could make but little use of his enlargement, and fell into a strange kind of flutter for want of some kind hand to scrape his bread, and cut him off in the article of sugar with a lump, and pay him those other little attentions to which he was accustomed. Go to

frosts /frɔːsts/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: geadas

Simple English: Deposits of ice crystals formed in freezing weather.

Example: Autumn frosts turned the ivy bronze and red.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Small green patches in the hedges, where a few twigs still resisted the cold winds and early frosts, brightened. Go to

Original English Version

1. The wet grass sparkled in the light; the scanty patches of verdure in the hedges--where a few green twigs yet stood together bravely, resisting to the last the tyranny of nipping winds and early frosts--took heart and brightened up; the stream which had been dull and sullen all day long, broke out into a cheerful smile; the birds began to chirp and twitter on the naked boughs, as though the hopeful creatures half believed that winter had gone by, and spring had come already. Go to

frosty /ˈfrɔːsti/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gelado; com geada

Simple English: Very cold, with thin white ice on the ground.

Example: We walked home on a clear frosty evening.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. One bright, frosty morning, all Mr Pinch's thoughts and wishes centred on this horse and the covered vehicle it usually pulled. Go to

2. What better time to travel than a fresh, frosty morning, when hope runs through the body with the quick blood? Go to

3. It usually looked scraped and frosty, almost as if someone had rubbed it with a rough tool. Go to

Original English Version

1. In this horse, and the hooded vehicle, whatever its proper name might be, to which he was usually harnessed--it was more like a gig with a tumour than anything else--all Mr Pinch's thoughts and wishes centred, one bright frosty morning; for with this gallant equipage he was about to drive to Salisbury alone, there to meet with the new pupil, and thence to bring him home in triumph. Go to

2. What better time for driving, riding, walking, moving through the air by any means, than a fresh, frosty morning, when hope runs cheerily through the veins with the brisk blood, and tingles in the frame from head to foot! Go to

3. The sheep-bells rang as clearly in the vigorous air, as if they felt its wholesome influence like living creatures; the trees, in lieu of leaves or blossoms, shed upon the ground a frosty rime that sparkled as it fell, and might have been the dust of diamonds. Go to

4. For the most part, indeed, it wore, at that season of the day, a scraped and frosty look, as if it had been rasped; while a similar phenomenon developed itself in her humour, which was then observed to be of a sharp and acid quality, as though an extra lemon (figuratively speaking) had been squeezed into the nectar of her disposition, and had rather damaged its flavour. Go to

5. When Mr Pecksniff and the two young ladies got into the heavy coach at the end of the lane, they found it empty, which was a great comfort; particularly as the outside was quite full and the passengers looked very frosty. Go to

frown /fraʊn/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: carranca; cenho franzido

Simple English: A look with the eyebrows down that shows anger or worry.

Example: A frown crossed his tired face.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "Not exactly," Martin said with a slight frown. Go to

2. Mr Tigg added this condition to his memorandum; read the entry over to himself with a severe frown; and that the transaction might be the more correct and business-like, appended his initials to the whole. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Why, not exactly, Pinch,' he rejoined, with a slight frown; 'because she has some girlish notions about duty and gratitude, and all the rest of it, which are rather hard to fathom; but in the main you are right. Go to

2. Mr Tigg added this condition to his memorandum; read the entry over to himself with a severe frown; and that the transaction might be the more correct and business-like, appended his initials to the whole. Go to

frying /ˈfraɪɪŋ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: fritando; ardendo

Simple English: Cooking food in hot oil or fat.

Example: He smelled bacon frying in the pan.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "You might as well be a toasting-fork or frying-pan, Pinch, for any help you can give me." Go to

Original English Version

1. Of course you know,' he added, after a moment's pause, as he drew his chair towards the fire again, 'I should not hesitate to avail myself of your services if you could help me at all; but mercy on us!'--Here he rumpled his hair impatiently with his hand, and looked at Tom as if he took it rather ill that he was not somebody else--'you might as well be a toasting-fork or a frying-pan, Pinch, for any help you can render me.' Go to

fulfilment /fʊlˈfɪlmənt/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: realização

Simple English: the British spelling for the achievement of something desired or promised

Example: They dreamed of the fulfilment of their future home.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The curse of my life, and the fulfilment of my mad wish, is that the gold I carry makes me test all other men and find their metal false and hollow." Go to

fullness /ˈfʊlnəs/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: plenitude

Simple English: the state of being full, complete, or abundant

Example: The fading light retained its final strength and fullness.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They ate everything they could reach, until their greasy faces showed satisfaction, if not complete fullness. Go to

Original English Version

1. The same man was in waiting for the horse who had been adjured by Mr Pinch in the morning not to yield to his rabid desire to start; and after delivering the animal into his charge, and beseeching Mr Chuzzlewit in a whisper never to reveal a syllable of what he had just told him in the fullness of his heart, Tom led the pupil in, for instant presentation. Go to

furnish /ˈfɜːrnɪʃ/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: fornecer; mobiliar; prover

Simple English: To supply what is needed, or to put furniture in a room.

Example: The school will furnish the paper and the pencils.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'There!' said Mrs Lupin; for in that name the Blue Dragon was licensed to furnish entertainment, both to man and beast. Go to

gaily /ˈɡeɪli/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: alegremente

Simple English: in a cheerful and lively manner

Example: She answered gaily without looking up from her work.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Yet for all its noise it was powerless: it only made the bellows roar their cheerful song louder, the fire burn brighter, and the sparks dance more gaily. Go to

gaiters /ˈɡeɪtərz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: polainas

Simple English: cloth or leather coverings worn over the ankles and lower legs

Example: His breeches and gaiters gave him a dignified appearance.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There was also a pair of short black gaiters. Go to

Original English Version

1. Inside the fender were some half-dozen pairs of shoes and boots, of various sizes, just cleaned and turned with the soles upwards to dry; and a pair of short black gaiters, on one of which was chalked--in sport, it would appear, by some gentleman who had slipped down for the purpose, pending his toilet, and gone up again--'Jinkins's Particular,' while the other exhibited a sketch in profile, claiming to be the portrait of Jinkins himself. Go to

gallows /ˈɡæloʊz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: forca; patíbulo

Simple English: A wooden frame used to hang a condemned person.

Example: The old square still bears the name of the gallows that once stood there.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. After sharply warning about the cage, constable, stocks, and gallows, Miss Pecksniff was about to shut the door. Go to

Original English Version

1. With a sharply delivered warning relative to the cage and the constable, and the stocks and the gallows, Miss Pecksniff was about to close the door again, when Mr Pecksniff (being still at the bottom of the steps) raised himself on one elbow, and sneezed. Go to

gals /ɡælz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: garotas; moças

Simple English: An informal plural of girl or young woman.

Example: Jim walked away singing Buffalo Gals.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'I like to be crowded by gals. Go to

Original English Version

1. When he had communicated to Mr Pecksniff these pithy scraps of intelligence, he said, 'That if it was all the same to him, he would turn him over to father, and have a chat with the gals;' and in furtherance of this polite scheme, he vacated his seat adjoining that gentleman, and established himself in the opposite corner, next to the fair Miss Mercy. Go to

2. 'I like to be crowded by gals. Go to

gamp /ɡæmp/ (796 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Gamp

Simple English: the surname of Sairy (Sarah) Gamp, a character referenced from another novel

Example: I now propose a toast, as my 'friend and pardner, Sairy Gamp,' says.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Four-and-twenty years ago, Mrs Sarah Gamp was a fair example of a paid worker caring for poor sick people. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mrs Sarah Gamp was, four-and-twenty years ago, a fair representation of the hired attendant on the poor in sickness. Go to

gasped /ɡæspt/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: arfou; ficou sem fôlego

Simple English: Took a short, quick breath because of surprise or shock.

Example: She gasped and wondered what had happened.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Oil ran from his head onto his whiskers, his face was red, his limbs shook, and he gasped for breath. Go to

Original English Version

1. His head distilled such oil upon his whiskers, that they were rich and clogged with unctuous drops; his face was violently inflamed, his limbs trembled; and he gasped and strove for breath. Go to

gasping /ˈɡæspɪŋ/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: boquiaberto; sem fôlego

Simple English: Breathing in quickly and with difficulty.

Example: He reached the top of the hill gasping for air.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Oh, nothing!' cried Spottletoe, still gasping. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Oh nothing!' cried Spottletoe, still gasping. Go to

gazed /ɡeɪzd/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: contemplou; olhou fixamente

Simple English: Looked steadily at something for a long time.

Example: He gazed for a long time into the darkness.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. But there he hung; rearing, in a state of monstrous imbecility, on his hind legs; waxing, with every month that passed, so much more dim and shapeless, that as you gazed at him on one side of the sign-board it seemed as if he must be gradually melting through it, and coming out upon the other. Go to

2. Mrs Lupin and the young lady gazed in silence at the counterpane. Go to

gazing /ˈɡeɪzɪŋ/ (31 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: contemplando; olhando fixamente

Simple English: Looking steadily at someone or something for a period of time.

Example: She stood gazing into the distance.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. An ungainly, awkward-looking man, extremely short-sighted, and prematurely bald, availed himself of this permission; and seeing that Mr Pecksniff sat with his back towards him, gazing at the fire, stood hesitating, with the door in his hand. Go to

2. 'Why, of course he don't,' said Pinch, gazing at his friend with a more troubled aspect than before. Go to

3. Now that he had come to a close, he drew a very long breath; and gazing wistfully in his face as if he were unable to settle in his own mind what expression it wore, and were desirous to draw from it as good a clue to his real meaning as it was possible to obtain in the dark, was about to answer, when the sound of the mail guard's horn came cheerily upon their ears, putting an immediate end to the conference; greatly as it seemed to the satisfaction of the younger man, who jumped up briskly, and gave his hand to his companion. Go to

4. In course of time his eyes opened; and he lay for a few moments as people newly roused sometimes will, gazing indolently at his visitor, without any distinct consciousness of his presence. Go to

5. Adding to these exclamations a kind of ironical howl, and gazing upon the company for one brief instant afterwards, in a sudden silence, the irritated gentleman started off again at the same tremendous pace, and was seen no more. Go to

6. 'Ardent child!' said Mr Pecksniff, gazing on her in a dreamy way. Go to

genealogy /ˌdʒiːniˈælədʒi/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: genealogia

Simple English: a record or study of a family's line of descent

Example: Each ancient family's genealogy added more names.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Every ancient family's genealogy adds to this total. Go to

Original English Version

1. Perhaps in this place the history may pause to congratulate itself upon the enormous amount of bravery, wisdom, eloquence, virtue, gentle birth, and true nobility, that appears to have come into England with the Norman Invasion: an amount which the genealogy of every ancient family lends its aid to swell, and which would beyond all question have been found to be just as great, and to the full as prolific in giving birth to long lines of chivalrous descendants, boastful of their origin, even though William the Conqueror had been William the Conquered; a change of circumstances which, it is quite certain, would have made no manner of difference in this respect. Go to

generalship /ˈdʒɛnərəlʃɪp/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: estratégia

Simple English: skill in planning and directing an operation

Example: His piece of generalship succeeded because the room was crowded.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In this piece of generalship he was very much assisted by the great influx of company into the taproom; for the news of his intention having gone abroad, there was a perfect throng there all the evening, and much drinking of healths and clinking of mugs. Go to

Original English Version

1. In this piece of generalship he was very much assisted by the great influx of company into the taproom; for the news of his intention having gone abroad, there was a perfect throng there all the evening, and much drinking of healths and clinking of mugs. Go to

genteel /dʒɛnˈtiːl/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: elegante

Simple English: polite, refined, and socially respectable in appearance

Example: The clerk adopted an air of doing something genteel.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The gentleman had the poor but respectable look often called shabby-genteel. Go to

Original English Version

1. I will not offer any plea on his behalf to so powerful and genteel a body, but will make a remark on the character of Jonas Chuzzlewit. Go to

2. The gentleman was of that order of appearance which is currently termed shabby-genteel, though in respect of his dress he can hardly be said to have been in any extremities, as his fingers were a long way out of his gloves, and the soles of his feet were at an inconvenient distance from the upper leather of his boots. Go to

3. Now, my dears, if you're quite ready, and have sufficiently improved yourselves by taking to heart the genteel example of these two young ladies, I think we'll go. Go to

gentleman's /ˈdʒɛntəlmənz/ (48 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do cavalheiro; do senhor

Simple English: Belonging to a man of good manners or high rank.

Example: The gentleman's coat was left behind.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'A gentleman's housekeeper.' Go to

2. A moment later she felt that this was not at all a compliment to the old gentleman's voice. Go to

Original English Version

1. On another occasion he says, 'I have bestowed upon that irresistible uncle of mine everything I ever possessed.' And that he was in the habit of paying long and constant visits to this gentleman at his mansion, if, indeed, he did not wholly reside there, is manifest from the following sentence: 'With the exception of the suit of clothes I carry about with me, the whole of my wearing apparel is at present at my uncle's.' This gentleman's patronage and influence must have been very extensive, for his nephew writes, 'His interest is too high'--'It is too much'--'It is tremendous'--and the like. Go to

2. But as a gentleman's looks, in such a case of all others, are by no means under his own control, Mr Pecksniff continued to keep his mouth and his eyes very wide open, and to drop his lower jaw, somewhat after the manner of a toy nut-cracker; and as his hat had fallen off, and his face was pale, and his hair erect, and his coat muddy, the spectacle he presented was so very doleful, that neither of the Miss Pecksniffs could repress an involuntary screech. Go to

3. A young gentleman's premium being paid, and the young gentleman come to Mr Pecksniff's house, Mr Pecksniff borrowed his case of mathematical instruments (if silver-mounted or otherwise valuable); entreated him, from that moment, to consider himself one of the family; complimented him highly on his parents or guardians, as the case might be; and turned him loose in a spacious room on the two-pair front; where, in the company of certain drawing-boards, parallel rulers, very stiff-legged compasses, and two, or perhaps three, other young gentlemen, he improved himself, for three or five years, according to his articles, in making elevations of Salisbury Cathedral from every possible point of sight; and in constructing in the air a vast quantity of Castles, Houses of Parliament, and other Public Buildings. Go to

4. 'But what can anyone expect from Mr Pinch!' cried Charity, with as strong and scornful an emphasis on the name as if it would have given her unspeakable pleasure to express it, in an acted charade, on the calf of that gentleman's leg. Go to

5. 'Yes,' said Mr Pinch, nursing one of his large knees, and nodding his head; 'a gentleman's housekeeper.' Go to

6. To the extent of such a trifling loan as a crownpiece to a man of your talents, I look upon Mr Pecksniff as certain;' and seeing at this juncture that the expression of Mr Pecksniff's face by no means betokened that he shared this certainty, Mr Tigg laid his finger on his nose again for that gentleman's private and especial behoof; calling upon him thereby to take notice that the requisition of small loans was another instance of the peculiarities of genius as developed in his friend Slyme; that he, Tigg, winked at the same, because of the strong metaphysical interest which these weaknesses possessed; and that in reference to his own personal advocacy of such small advances, he merely consulted the humour of his friend, without the least regard to his own advantage or necessities. Go to

gentlemanly /ˈdʒentəlmənli/ (38 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cavalheiresco

Simple English: Behaving well and politely, like a gentleman.

Example: His manner was quiet and gentlemanly.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I expected an answer to the most modest and gentlemanly request for short-term help--only fifteen pounds, with MY promise to repay it--that anyone could imagine. Go to

2. Beside her sat her three unmarried daughters, who had gentlemanly manners. Go to

Original English Version

1. I give you my brightest word of honour, sir, that I've been looking through that keyhole with short intervals of rest, ever since nine o'clock this morning, in expectation of receiving an answer to one of the most moderate and gentlemanly applications for a little temporary assistance--only fifteen pounds, and MY security--that the mind of man can conceive. Go to

2. Beside her sat her spinster daughters, three in number, and of gentlemanly deportment, who had so mortified themselves with tight stays, that their tempers were reduced to something less than their waists, and sharp lacing was expressed in their very noses. Go to

gentleness /ˈdʒentəlnəs/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gentileza; brandura; suavidade

Simple English: The quality of being kind, calm and careful with others.

Example: He handled the injured bird with great gentleness.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. To say butter would not melt in Mr Pecksniff's mouth would not describe his gentleness. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Now I think,' said Mr Pecksniff with his accustomed gentleness, though still with the air of one who suffered under injury without complaint, 'I think Mr Pinch might have done better than choose for his companion one who, at the close of a long intercourse, had endeavoured, as he knew, to wound my feelings. Go to

2. It would be no description of Mr Pecksniff's gentleness of manner to adopt the common parlance, and say that he looked at this moment as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. Go to

gestured /ˈdʒestʃərd/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: gesticulou

Simple English: made a movement with the hand or body to express something

Example: The woman gestured toward herself and touched her chest.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Tigg gestured with great feeling that the visitors would now see Chiv's greatness. Go to

ghostly /ˈɡoʊstli/ (17 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: fantasmagórico; espectral

Simple English: Looking or sounding like a ghost; pale and unclear.

Example: A ghostly light moved slowly across the empty field.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There were also dozens of churches with ghostly little churchyards. Go to

Original English Version

1. There were churches also by dozens, with many a ghostly little churchyard, all overgrown with such straggling vegetation as springs up spontaneously from damp, and graves, and rubbish. Go to

giddy /ˈɡɪdi/ (14 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tonto

Simple English: feeling dizzy, light-headed, or wildly excited

Example: Scrooge felt as giddy as a drunken man.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The scared leaves only flew the faster for all this, and a giddy chase it was; for they got into unfrequented places, where there was no outlet, and where their pursuer kept them eddying round and round at his pleasure; and they crept under the eaves of houses, and clung tightly to the sides of hay-ricks, like bats; and tore in at open chamber windows, and cowered close to hedges; and, in short, went anywhere for safety. Go to

2. 'It is not often,' he said, 'Martin, that my daughters and I desert our quiet home to pursue the giddy round of pleasures that revolves abroad. Go to

3. 'Mercy is a little giddy,' said Miss Charity. Go to

giggling /ˈɡɪɡəlɪŋ/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: rindo baixinho

Simple English: laughing repeatedly in a light, silly, or nervous way

Example: Tess apologized while still giggling.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Oh, good gracious, Cherry!' cried Miss Mercy, lifting her hands and giggling sweetly. Go to

Original English Version

1. Miss Mercy replied in the affirmative, pinching her sister's arm at the same time, and giggling excessively. Go to

girlish /ˈɡɜːrlɪʃ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: juvenil; de menina

Simple English: Having qualities traditionally associated with a girl or young woman.

Example: She crossed the field with a light, girlish step.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "She has girlish ideas about duty, gratitude, and the rest that are hard to understand. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Why, not exactly, Pinch,' he rejoined, with a slight frown; 'because she has some girlish notions about duty and gratitude, and all the rest of it, which are rather hard to fathom; but in the main you are right. Go to

glanced /ɡlænst/ (37 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: lançou um olhar; deu uma olhada

Simple English: Looked at something quickly.

Example: She glanced at the clock and stood up.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff glanced at the book in her hand and whispered again to Mrs Lupin, sounding even more sad. Go to

Original English Version

1. Keeping his hand upon the lock of the door, he glanced from Mr Pecksniff to Mercy, from Mercy to Charity, and from Charity to Mr Pecksniff again, several times; but the young ladies being as intent upon the fire as their father was, and neither of the three taking any notice of him, he was fain to say, at last, Go to

2. As this fair matron sat beside the fire, she glanced occasionally with all the pride of ownership, about the room; which was a large apartment, such as one may see in country places, with a low roof and a sunken flooring, all downhill from the door, and a descent of two steps on the inside so exquisitely unexpected, that strangers, despite the most elaborate cautioning, usually dived in head first, as into a plunging-bath. Go to

3. That I should have called you "Miss," too, ma'am!' But when she had proceeded thus far, she glanced involuntarily at the third finger of the young lady's left hand, and faltered again; for there was no ring upon it. Go to

4. Mr Pecksniff glanced at the volume she held, and whispered Mrs Lupin again; if possible, with increased despondency. Go to

5. Although Mr Jonas conducted Charity to the hotel and sat himself beside her at the board, it was pretty clear that he had an eye to 'the other one' also, for he often glanced across at Mercy, and seemed to draw comparisons between the personal appearance of the two, which were not unfavourable to the superior plumpness of the younger sister. Go to

glancing /ˈɡlænsɪŋ/ (54 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: olhando de relance; dando uma olhada

Simple English: Looking at something very quickly.

Example: She kept glancing at the clock.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Even the worldly goods of which we have just disposed,' said Mr Pecksniff, glancing round the table when he had finished, 'even cream, sugar, tea, toast, ham--' Go to

2. Glancing towards his daughters for the first time since he had begun these reflections, and seeing that they both smiled, Mr Pecksniff eyed them for an instant so jocosely (though still with a kind of saintly waggishness) that the younger one was moved to sit upon his knee forthwith, put her fair arms round his neck, and kiss him twenty times. Go to

3. For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs. Go to

4. I believe,' said Mr Pecksniff, glancing at the pen-and-ink, 'that in secret you have already done so. Go to

5. 'I told them in the stable to be ready for us ten minutes ago,' said Mr Pinch, glancing at the clock again. Go to

6. Mr Pecksniff had clearly not expected them for hours to come; for he was surrounded by open books, and was glancing from volume to volume, with a black lead-pencil in his mouth, and a pair of compasses in his hand, at a vast number of mathematical diagrams, of such extraordinary shapes that they looked like designs for fireworks. Go to

glided /ˈɡlaɪdɪd/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: deslizou; escorregou

Simple English: Moved smoothly and quietly, without any effort.

Example: The great moth glided down through the dark.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. After a while she glided away, and I played until she was out of hearing." Go to

Original English Version

1. After a while she glided off, and I continued to play until she was out of hearing.' Go to

glistened /ˈɡlɪsənd/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: reluzia; reluziu

Simple English: Shone by reflecting light from a wet or smooth surface.

Example: Tears glistened in her eyes.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The vane upon the tapering spire of the old church glistened from its lofty station in sympathy with the general gladness; and from the ivy-shaded windows such gleams of light shone back upon the glowing sky, that it seemed as if the quiet buildings were the hoarding-place of twenty summers, and all their ruddiness and warmth were stored within. Go to

gloom /ɡluːm/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: escuridão; tristeza

Simple English: Darkness or a feeling of sadness and hopelessness.

Example: The empty house was filled with gloom.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The shining church became cold and dark, the stream lost its smile, the birds fell silent, and winter gloom lay over everything. Go to

Original English Version

1. The sun went down beneath the long dark lines of hill and cloud which piled up in the west an airy city, wall heaped on wall, and battlement on battlement; the light was all withdrawn; the shining church turned cold and dark; the stream forgot to smile; the birds were silent; and the gloom of winter dwelt on everything. Go to

2. So saying, he clapped that dejected companion on the shoulder, turned upon his heel, and walked out into the passage, whither poor Mr Pinch, after lingering irresolutely in the parlour for a few seconds, expressing in his countenance the deepest mental misery and gloom followed him. Go to

gloomy /ˈɡluːmi/ (34 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sombrio; escuro; lúgubre

Simple English: Dark and depressing, or sad and without hope.

Example: The waiting room was gloomy even at midday.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. After this cheerful conclusion to his gloomy thoughts, Mr Tigg made a great effort to rouse himself and continued in his earlier style. Go to

2. But being neat, sir - that is where the trouble is,' he said, looking especially gloomy. Go to

3. Funeral work is gloomy and could bring credit. Go to

4. Gloomy courtyards held huge bags and packs hanging from tall cranes. Go to

Original English Version

1. On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels; others stripped of all their garniture, stood, each the centre of its little heap of bright red leaves, watching their slow decay; others again, still wearing theirs, had them all crunched and crackled up, as though they had been burnt; about the stems of some were piled, in ruddy mounds, the apples they had borne that year; while others (hardy evergreens this class) showed somewhat stern and gloomy in their vigour, as charged by nature with the admonition that it is not to her more sensitive and joyous favourites she grants the longest term of life. Go to

2. With which consolatory deduction from the gloomy premises recited, Mr Tigg roused himself by a great effort, and proceeded in his former strain. Go to

3. With regard to being spruce, sir, that's where it is, you see.' And here he looked particularly gloomy. Go to

4. That's gloomy. Go to

5. The staircase was very gloomy and very broad, with balustrades so thick and heavy that they would have served for a bridge. Go to

6. In like manner, there were gloomy courtyards in these parts, into which few but belated wayfarers ever strayed, and where vast bags and packs of goods, upward or downward bound, were for ever dangling between heaven and earth from lofty cranes There were more trucks near Todgers's than you would suppose whole city could ever need; not active trucks, but a vagabond race, for ever lounging in the narrow lanes before their masters' doors and stopping up the pass; so that when a stray hackney-coach or lumbering waggon came that way, they were the cause of such an uproar as enlivened the whole neighbourhood, and made the bells in the next churchtower vibrate again. Go to

gooseberry /ˈɡuːsberi/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: groselha-espinhosa

Simple English: A small green sour fruit that grows on a thorny bush.

Example: She made a pie of gooseberry and sugar.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She was pretty, round, dimpled, and firm as a gooseberry. Go to

Original English Version

1. She had still a bright black eye, and jet black hair; was comely, dimpled, plump, and tight as a gooseberry; and though she was not exactly what the world calls young, you may make an affidavit, on trust, before any mayor or magistrate in Christendom, that there are a great many young ladies in the world (blessings on them one and all!) whom you wouldn't like half as well, or admire half as much, as the beaming hostess of the Blue Dragon. Go to

gout /ɡaʊt/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: jorro; baforada

Simple English: A painful illness that swells the joints, especially the toes.

Example: The old sailor limped because of his gout.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'The foot next to you is the one with gout.' Go to

grace's /ˈɡreɪsɪz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Sua Graça

Simple English: The possessive form of Grace, a formal title for a duke or archbishop.

Example: His Grace's carriage waited outside.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He was so often His Grace's guest that he seemed uneasy and unwilling. Go to

Original English Version

1. So constantly was he a guest at that nobleman's table, indeed; and so unceasingly were His Grace's hospitality and companionship forced, as it were, upon him; that we find him uneasy, and full of constraint and reluctance; writing his friends to the effect that if they fail to do so and so by bearer, he will have no choice but to dine again with Duke Humphrey; and expressing himself in a very marked and extraordinary manner as one surfeited of High Life and Gracious Company. Go to

graceful /ˈɡreɪsfəl/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gracioso; elegante; airoso

Simple English: Moving or shaped in a smooth and attractive way.

Example: The dancer made one graceful turn and stopped.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The fallen leaves, with which the ground was strewn, gave forth a pleasant fragrance, and subduing all harsh sounds of distant feet and wheels created a repose in gentle unison with the light scattering of seed hither and thither by the distant husbandman, and with the noiseless passage of the plough as it turned up the rich brown earth, and wrought a graceful pattern in the stubbled fields. Go to

gracefully /ˈɡreɪsfəli/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: graciosamente; com elegância

Simple English: In a smooth and attractive way, or with good manners.

Example: She accepted the defeat gracefully and shook his hand.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. On many occasions, they bravely led their soldiers in leather jackets to death, and then returned gracefully to their family and friends. Go to

Original English Version

1. It is further recorded of them, that being clad from head to heel in steel of proof, they did on many occasions lead their leather-jerkined soldiers to the death with invincible courage, and afterwards return home gracefully to their relations and friends. Go to

grandfather's /ˈɡrænfɑːðərz/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do avô

Simple English: Belonging to the father of your father or mother.

Example: The old clock had been his grandfather's.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But she depends completely on my grandfather's pleasure. Go to

grandmother's /ˈɡrænmʌðərz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: da avó

Simple English: Belonging to the mother of your father or mother.

Example: He kept his grandmother's old clock.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. HE never put all your poor grandmother's hard-earned savings into his own pocket. Go to

Original English Version

1. HE never scraped and clawed into his pouch all your poor grandmother's hard savings--she was a housekeeper, wasn't she, Tom?' Go to

grandnephew /ˈɡrændnɛfjuː/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sobrinho-neto

Simple English: a son of one's nephew or niece

Example: Her young grandnephew was dark and hairy.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A young grandnephew was very dark and hairy. Go to

Original English Version

1. Then there was a young gentleman, grandnephew of Mr Martin Chuzzlewit, very dark and very hairy, and apparently born for no particular purpose but to save looking-glasses the trouble of reflecting more than just the first idea and sketchy notion of a face, which had never been carried out. Go to

grandpapa /ˈɡrændpəpɑː/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: vovô

Simple English: an affectionate or old-fashioned word for grandfather

Example: Her grandpapa's refusal of help frightened her.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "The gentleman - your grandpapa," she continued after a short pause, "being so determined to have no help, must frighten you very much, miss?" Go to

Original English Version

1. 'The gentleman--your grandpapa'--she resumed, after a short pause, 'being so bent on having no assistance, must terrify you very much, miss?' Go to

grate /ɡreɪt/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: rangido; raspar áspero

Simple English: A metal frame that holds the fire in a fireplace.

Example: The coals fell through the grate.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Todgers's greatest mystery was its cellarage, reached only through a back door and rusty grate. Go to

gratefully /ˈɡreɪtfəli/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: com gratidão; agradecido

Simple English: In a way that shows thanks.

Example: He answered gratefully and shook her hand.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. As you drive away happily and nod gratefully to Pecksniff in his nightcap at his chamber window, who would not cry, 'Heaven guide you, Tom. Go to

2. Tom might have forgotten the new pupil and the waiting master and played gratefully until midnight. Go to

gravely /ˈɡreɪvli/ (27 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gravemente; com seriedade

Simple English: In a serious manner or to a severe degree.

Example: The victim lay gravely injured in the lane.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Tigg gravely asked him to say it again. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'It's for my sake, then; not his, I am afraid,' said Pinch, shaking his head gravely. Go to

2. 'Your suspicion, Mrs Lupin,' said Mr Pecksniff gravely, 'is very natural.' Go to

3. Besides; how, Mr Tigg,' continued Pecksniff even more gravely and impressively than he had spoken yet, 'how could Mr Chuzzlewit be prevented from having these peculiar and most extraordinary confidences of which you speak; the existence of which I must admit; and which I cannot but deplore--for his sake? Go to

4. 'Egad!' cried Tigg, gravely nodding his head as if some ground of objection occurred to him at that moment for the first time, 'it's very possible you may be right. Go to

gravy /ˈɡreɪvi/ (14 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: molho de carne

Simple English: A sauce made from the juices released while meat cooks.

Example: The guests eagerly lapped up the gravy from the roast.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He wrote his brother about a borrowed gravy-spoon: "Do not be angry, I have parted with it--to my uncle." He said much the same about a child's mug given to him for repair. Go to

Original English Version

1. Thus, he writes on one occasion to his brother in reference to a gravy-spoon, the brother's property, which he (Diggory) would appear to have borrowed or otherwise possessed himself of: 'Do not be angry, I have parted with it--to my uncle.' On another occasion he expresses himself in a similar manner with regard to a child's mug which had been entrusted to him to get repaired. Go to

grazes /ˈɡreɪzɪz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: pasta

Simple English: Feeds on growing grass.

Example: The animal grazes in that garden.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He had grazes on what the eldest called the 'knobby parts' of his body: his knees and elbows. Go to

greasy /ˈɡriːsi/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gorduroso; ensebado

Simple English: Covered with fat or oil.

Example: He wiped his greasy fingers on a rag.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They traded large amounts of greasy money, using huge wallets that were very hard to pull out and push back in. Go to

2. There is only padding there, and greasy padding too." Go to

3. They ate everything they could reach, until their greasy faces showed satisfaction, if not complete fullness. Go to

Original English Version

1. Then there were young farmers and old farmers with smock-frocks, brown great-coats, drab great-coats, red worsted comforters, leather-leggings, wonderful shaped hats, hunting-whips, and rough sticks, standing about in groups, or talking noisily together on the tavern steps, or paying and receiving huge amounts of greasy wealth, with the assistance of such bulky pocket-books that when they were in their pockets it was apoplexy to get them out, and when they were out it was spasms to get them in again. Go to

2. There's nothing there but padding; and a greasy sort it is.' Go to

3. His father and Mr Pecksniff, probably acting on the same wise principle, demolished everything that came within their reach, and by that means acquired a greasy expression of countenance, indicating contentment, if not repletion, which it was very pleasant to contemplate. Go to

greatcoat /ˈɡreɪtˌkoʊt/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sobretudo pesado

Simple English: A long, heavy overcoat, especially one formerly worn by soldiers.

Example: He buttoned his military greatcoat before going outside.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Then he took off his greatcoat and ran his fingers through his hair. Go to

2. If he is bad, I would rather keep my hands warm in my greatcoat pockets." Go to

Original English Version

1. Because if he's a bad one, I would rather keep my hands warm by holding them comfortably in my greatcoat pockets.' Go to

grieved /ɡriːvd/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: lamentou; sofreu

Simple English: Felt or expressed deep sadness.

Example: He grieved deeply for his lost child.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'I am grieved but not surprised,' cried Mr Tigg, detaining him with both hands, 'to hear that you have come to that conclusion; for it is my own. Go to

Original English Version

1. With my breast still wrung and grieved to its inmost core by the ingratitude of that person, I am proud and glad to say that I forgive him. Go to

2. How grieved he was!' Go to

3. 'HE grieved!' returned the other. Go to

4. I may feel grieved and hurt at the circumstance; still I may not rush to the conclusion that Mr Chuzzlewit is wholly without a justification in all his coldnesses. Go to

5. 'I am grieved but not surprised,' cried Mr Tigg, detaining him with both hands, 'to hear that you have come to that conclusion; for it is my own. Go to

grinned /ɡrɪnd/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sorriu de orelha a orelha

Simple English: Smiled widely, showing the teeth.

Example: He grinned when he saw who was at the door.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mark grinned broadly. Go to

2. "Angry, sir?" Mark grinned. Go to

gripped /ɡrɪpt/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: agarrou; tomou conta de

Simple English: Held very tightly, or took hold of someone's attention or feelings.

Example: She gripped the rail as the boat rolled.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His hands slowly gripped the chair arms, his eyes grew wide, and his mouth opened. Go to

gritty /ˈɡrɪti/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: arenoso

Simple English: containing small hard grains that feel like sand

Example: The sugared orange pieces were unpleasantly gritty.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There were also long thin sandwiches, apples, moist captain's biscuits, small gritty pieces of orange with sugar, and a geological-looking home-made cake. Go to

Original English Version

1. There were two bottles of currant wine, white and red; a dish of sandwiches (very long and very slim); another of apples; another of captain's biscuits (which are always a moist and jovial sort of viand); a plate of oranges cut up small and gritty; with powdered sugar, and a highly geological home-made cake. Go to

growling /ˈɡraʊlɪŋ/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: rosnando; que rosna

Simple English: Making low, angry sounds.

Example: The growling beasts fell into the gulf.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It stopped sighing and blew fiercely around the merry forge, banging the wicket and growling in the chimney, as if it bullied the cheerful bellows for working to order. Go to

guard's /ɡɑːrdz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do guarda

Simple English: The possessive form of guard, showing that something belongs to or is associated with a guard.

Example: I opened the note under the guard's lantern.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He was about to answer when the cheerful sound of the mail guard's horn ended their talk at once. Go to

Original English Version

1. Now that he had come to a close, he drew a very long breath; and gazing wistfully in his face as if he were unable to settle in his own mind what expression it wore, and were desirous to draw from it as good a clue to his real meaning as it was possible to obtain in the dark, was about to answer, when the sound of the mail guard's horn came cheerily upon their ears, putting an immediate end to the conference; greatly as it seemed to the satisfaction of the younger man, who jumped up briskly, and gave his hand to his companion. Go to

gunpowder /ˈɡʌnpaʊdər/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pólvora

Simple English: A black powder that explodes, used in old guns.

Example: The barrel of gunpowder was kept in the cellar.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A Chuzzlewit was certainly involved in the Gunpowder Plot, unless the chief traitor, Fawkes himself, belonged to this remarkable family. Go to

2. It had long belonged to someone else, had no link with the house, and was said to hold wealth - silver, brass, gold, wine, or gunpowder. Go to

Original English Version

1. There was unquestionably a Chuzzlewit in the Gunpowder Plot, if indeed the arch-traitor, Fawkes himself, were not a scion of this remarkable stock; as he might easily have been, supposing another Chuzzlewit to have emigrated to Spain in the previous generation, and there intermarried with a Spanish lady, by whom he had issue, one olive-complexioned son. Go to

gushing /ˈɡʌʃɪŋ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: jorrando

Simple English: Flowing out suddenly and forcefully in a large amount.

Example: A fountain of blood was gushing from the wound.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A young gentleman had called her 'a gushing thing' in a poem in the Poet's Corner of a local newspaper. Go to

Original English Version

1. Oh! she was indeed 'a gushing thing' (as a young gentleman had observed in verse, in the Poet's Corner of a provincial newspaper), was the youngest Miss Pecksniff! Go to

hackney /ˈhækni/ (18 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cavalo ou coche de aluguel

Simple English: A horse or carriage kept for hire, especially in the historical compound hackney-coach.

Example: They called a hackney-coach and drove away.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. In like manner, there were gloomy courtyards in these parts, into which few but belated wayfarers ever strayed, and where vast bags and packs of goods, upward or downward bound, were for ever dangling between heaven and earth from lofty cranes There were more trucks near Todgers's than you would suppose whole city could ever need; not active trucks, but a vagabond race, for ever lounging in the narrow lanes before their masters' doors and stopping up the pass; so that when a stray hackney-coach or lumbering waggon came that way, they were the cause of such an uproar as enlivened the whole neighbourhood, and made the bells in the next churchtower vibrate again. Go to

hairdresser /ˈhɛərˌdrɛsər/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cabeleireiro

Simple English: A person whose job is cutting, arranging, or styling hair.

Example: She turned her head as if a hairdresser had asked her to.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His neck cloth had the colour and pattern of the cloth a hairdresser puts around a customer. Go to

hairless /ˈhɛrləs/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: sem pelos; bem barbeado

Simple English: Having no hair at all.

Example: It was a small hairless dog.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Above the low white fence of his cravat lay a smooth, hairless valley between two high collars. Go to

halters /ˈhɔːltəz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cabrestos

Simple English: straps placed around horses' heads for leading or tying them

Example: The frightened cart horses rattled their halters.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. On quiet Sundays, cart-horses troubled by rats rattled their halters like ghosts shaking chains in haunted-house tales. Go to

Original English Version

1. In the throats and maws of dark no-thoroughfares near Todgers's, individual wine-merchants and wholesale dealers in grocery-ware had perfect little towns of their own; and, deep among the foundations of these buildings, the ground was undermined and burrowed out into stables, where cart-horses, troubled by rats, might be heard on a quiet Sunday rattling their halters, as disturbed spirits in tales of haunted houses are said to clank their chains. Go to

halves /hævz/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: metades

Simple English: The two equal parts of something.

Example: She cut the apple into two halves.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. This was the glad commencement of a bracing day in early winter, such as may put the languid summer season (speaking of it when it can't be had) to the blush, and shame the spring for being sometimes cold by halves. Go to

hammering /ˈhæmərɪŋ/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: martelando

Simple English: Hitting something hard and repeatedly.

Example: His heart was hammering in his chest.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Thus, the vigour and perseverance with which I have for some months past been collecting materials for, and hammering away at, a new book on America has much astonished me; seeing that all that time my declaration has been perfectly well known to my publishers on both sides of the Atlantic, that no consideration on earth would induce me to write one. Go to

hammers /ˈhæmərz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: martelos; martela; bate

Simple English: Tools with a heavy head used to hit nails; also to hit something hard and repeatedly.

Example: He keeps two hammers and a box of nails under the sink.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Bright sparks danced to the cheerful sound of hammers on the anvil. Go to

Original English Version

1. The lusty bellows roared Ha ha! to the clear fire, which roared in turn, and bade the shining sparks dance gayly to the merry clinking of the hammers on the anvil. Go to

handkerchief /ˈhæŋkərtʃɪf/ (72 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: lenço

Simple English: A small square of cloth used for wiping the nose or face.

Example: He folded his handkerchief and put it back in his pocket.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It is natural, very natural, and I knew most of it already." He pulled out his pocket-handkerchief and blinked both eyes at once, as if against his will. Go to

2. He paused for a moment and hid his face behind his pocket-handkerchief. Go to

3. At the skittle-ground, Mr Tigg took what looked like the fossil remains of an ancient pocket-handkerchief from his hat and wiped his eyes. Go to

4. She took a small handkerchief from her basket and held it to her face. Go to

Original English Version

1. I will not say,' continued Mr Pecksniff, drawing out his pocket-handkerchief, and winking with both eyes at once, as it were, against his will, 'I will not say that you are mistaken in me. Go to

2. Here he paused for an instant, and concealed his face behind his pocket-handkerchief. Go to

3. 'Oh, certainly,' replied Tom, 'if you really wish it.' So he accompanied Mr Tigg to the retreat in question; on arriving at which place that gentleman took from his hat what seemed to be the fossil remains of an antediluvian pocket-handkerchief, and wiped his eyes therewith. Go to

4. She hugged them both; and being by this time overpowered by her feelings or the inclemency of the morning, jerked a little pocket handkerchief out of the little basket, and applied the same to her face. Go to

hardworking /ˌhɑːrdˈwɜːrkɪŋ/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: trabalhador; esforçado

Simple English: Putting a great deal of effort and care into work.

Example: He was honest, faithful, hardworking, and careful with money.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'I am not hardworking myself, gentlemen, but I value it in others,' said the head. Go to

hark /hɑːrk/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: escute!; ouça!

Simple English: An old-fashioned command telling someone to listen carefully.

Example: Hark! Someone is coming toward the door.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Hark! Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Hark!' said Miss Charity, holding up her finger, as a gentle rap was heard at the street door. Go to

2. Only hark how she's a-going on now! Go to

hastily /ˈheɪstɪli/ (35 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: apressadamente

Simple English: quickly and with little delay

Example: Minnie hastily cleared the table for him.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. That worthy man Mr Pecksniff having taken leave of his cousin in the solemn terms recited in the last chapter, withdrew to his own home, and remained there three whole days; not so much as going out for a walk beyond the boundaries of his own garden, lest he should be hastily summoned to the bedside of his penitent and remorseful relative, whom, in his ample benevolence, he had made up his mind to forgive unconditionally, and to love on any terms. Go to

2. 'It is to be lamented,' said Mr Pecksniff, with a forgiving recollection of Mr Spottletoe's fist, 'that our friend should have withdrawn himself so very hastily, though we have cause for mutual congratulation even in that, since we are assured that he is not distrustful of us in regard to anything we may say or do while he is absent. Go to

hasty /ˈheɪsti/ (18 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: apressado; precipitado; impulsivo

Simple English: Done too quickly and without enough thought.

Example: It was a hasty decision and we regretted it by evening.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Pray do not be hasty, Mr Chuzzlewit,' said Pecksniff, in a tone that was at once in the sublimest degree compassionate and dispassionate; for he had by this time recovered from his surprise, and was in full possession of his virtuous self. Go to

2. 'You will regret being hasty, I know you will.' Go to

hatchet /ˈhætʃɪt/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: machadinha

Simple English: A small axe used with one hand.

Example: He split the wood with a hatchet.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There stood poor Robinson Crusoe, with dog, hatchet, goat-skin cap, and guns, looking calmly at Philip Quarn and all his imitators. Go to

Original English Version

1. There was another; not quite so bad at first, but still a trying shop; where children's books were sold, and where poor Robinson Crusoe stood alone in his might, with dog and hatchet, goat-skin cap and fowling-pieces; calmly surveying Philip Quarn and the host of imitators round him, and calling Mr Pinch to witness that he, of all the crowd, impressed one solitary footprint on the shore of boyish memory, whereof the tread of generations should not stir the lightest grain of sand. Go to

healths /hɛlθs/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: brindes à saúde

Simple English: Good wishes for people's health and happiness expressed while drinking a toast.

Example: The guests drank healths and told stories by the fire.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In this piece of generalship he was very much assisted by the great influx of company into the taproom; for the news of his intention having gone abroad, there was a perfect throng there all the evening, and much drinking of healths and clinking of mugs. Go to

Original English Version

1. In this piece of generalship he was very much assisted by the great influx of company into the taproom; for the news of his intention having gone abroad, there was a perfect throng there all the evening, and much drinking of healths and clinking of mugs. Go to

heaps /hiːps/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: montes; montinhos

Simple English: Untidy piles of things.

Example: The dead bees lay in little heaps on the ground.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In the parlour, Martin and Tom found two messy heaps: thin bits of orange, old sandwiches, broken pieces of the hard cake, and several whole captain's biscuits. Go to

Original English Version

1. In virtue of which liberal arrangement, they had the happiness to find awaiting them in the parlour two chaotic heaps of the remains of last night's pleasure, consisting of certain filmy bits of oranges, some mummied sandwiches, various disrupted masses of the geological cake, and several entire captain's biscuits. Go to

heart's /hɑːrts/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do coração

Simple English: Belonging to the heart, or to your deepest feelings.

Example: He wanted his heart's peace above all.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He watched it eat to its heart's content, then walked through the town again to enjoy the shop windows. Go to

Original English Version

1. I will not even remember the conduct of that misguided person'--and here, although he spoke like one at peace with all the world, he used an emphasis that plainly said "I have my eye upon the rascal now"--'that misguided person who has brought you here to-night, seeking to disturb (it is a happiness to say, in vain) the heart's repose and peace of one who would have shed his dearest blood to serve him.' Go to

2. Having seen him eat unto his heart's content he issued forth again, to wander round the town and regale himself with the shop windows; previously taking a long stare at the bank, and wondering in what direction underground the caverns might be where they kept the money; and turning to look back at one or two young men who passed him, whom he knew to be articled to solicitors in the town; and who had a sort of fearful interest in his eyes, as jolly dogs who knew a thing or two, and kept it up tremendously. Go to

3. He said nothing to her, but straightway attacked me in private, and charged me with designing to corrupt the fidelity to himself (there you observe his selfishness), of a young creature whom he had trained and educated to be his only disinterested and faithful companion, when he should have disposed of me in marriage to his heart's content. Go to

heartfelt /ˈhɑːrtfɛlt/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sincero; sentido de coração

Simple English: Deeply and sincerely felt.

Example: She offered her heartfelt sympathy to the family.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He then whispered to Mr Chuzzlewit, begging him never to repeat a word of his heartfelt story. Go to

hearth /hɑːrθ/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: lareira; lar

Simple English: The floor of a fireplace, or the home itself.

Example: The cat slept in front of the warm hearth.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. As to this idle company, there they stood, spellbound by the place, and, casting now and then a glance upon the darkness in their rear, settled their lazy elbows more at ease upon the sill, and leaned a little further in: no more disposed to tear themselves away than if they had been born to cluster round the blazing hearth like so many crickets. Go to

2. Though he said this with a vast amount of consideration for Mr Pinch's comfort, he dragged one of the great leather-bottomed chairs to the very centre of the hearth, notwithstanding; and sat down in front of the fire, with a foot on each hob. Go to

hearthrug /ˈhɑːrθrʌɡ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tapete diante da lareira

Simple English: A rug placed on the floor in front of a fireplace.

Example: Anne curled up on the hearthrug and watched the fire.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. To fit better into the little space left, Mr Pinch sat on Miss Mercy Pecksniff's stool, put his glass on the hearthrug and his plate on his knees, and began to enjoy himself. Go to

Original English Version

1. That he might the better squeeze himself into the small corner that was left for him, Mr Pinch took up his position on Miss Mercy Pecksniff's stool, and setting his glass down upon the hearthrug and putting his plate upon his knees, began to enjoy himself. Go to

heartily /ˈhɑːrtɪli/ (31 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cordialmente; vigorosamente; de coração

Simple English: In a sincere, enthusiastic, or energetic way.

Example: They laughed heartily at the harmless joke.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Her clear red-and-white face showed that she heartily enjoyed the food and drink stored in the house, and that they kept her healthy. Go to

2. The hostess sat quite silent for a little time, but she very soon put both her hands in Mark's and shook them heartily. Go to

Original English Version

1. On receipt of this assurance, Mr Tigg shook him heartily by both hands, protesting with much earnestness, that he was one of the most consistent and remarkable men he had ever met, and that he desired the honour of his better acquaintance. Go to

2. It proved to him, he said, that like him they admired genius, even when it was coupled with the alloy occasionally visible in the metal of his friend Slyme; and on behalf of that friend, he thanked them; as warmly and heartily as if the cause were his own. Go to

3. The hostess sat quite silent for a little time, but she very soon put both her hands in Mark's and shook them heartily. Go to

heartless /ˈhɑːrtləs/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desalmado; sem coração

Simple English: Showing no pity or kindness at all.

Example: It was heartless to leave the dog out in that cold.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Anyone seeking heartless splendour will seek in vain.' Go to

Original English Version

1. Those who seek heartless splendour, would seek here in vain.' Go to

hearty /ˈhɑːrti/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: farto; abundante; caloroso

Simple English: Warm and enthusiastic, strong and healthy, or satisfying and substantial.

Example: He greeted them with a hearty laugh.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Those wheel-makers are hearty fellows - hurrah! Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Pinch,' said the youth, turning towards him, with a hearty disgust of his late master, 'what did I tell you?' Go to

2. The mistress of the Blue Dragon was in outward appearance just what a landlady should be: broad, buxom, comfortable, and good looking, with a face of clear red and white, which, by its jovial aspect, at once bore testimony to her hearty participation in the good things of the larder and cellar, and to their thriving and healthful influences. Go to

3. 'Hearty chaps them wheelwrights--hurrah! Go to

hedgehogs /ˈhɛdʒˌhɒɡz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ouriços-cacheiros

Simple English: Small animals with sharp spines covering their backs.

Example: The croquet balls were live hedgehogs.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They would not be softened or put to sleep by the Pecksniffs, any more than hedgehogs or porcupines would. Go to

Original English Version

1. And the company; the jealous stony-hearted distrustful company, who were all shut up in themselves, and had no faith in anybody, and wouldn't believe anything, and would no more allow themselves to be softened or lulled asleep by the Pecksniffs than if they had been so many hedgehogs or porcupines! Go to

hedges /ˈhedʒɪz/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sebes; cercas vivas

Simple English: Lines of bushes planted close together as a boundary.

Example: The lane runs between two tall hedges.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Small green patches in the hedges, where a few twigs still resisted the cold winds and early frosts, brightened. Go to

2. They crept under house eaves, clung like bats to hay-ricks, rushed through open chamber windows, and hid close to hedges - anywhere safe. Go to

Original English Version

1. The wet grass sparkled in the light; the scanty patches of verdure in the hedges--where a few green twigs yet stood together bravely, resisting to the last the tyranny of nipping winds and early frosts--took heart and brightened up; the stream which had been dull and sullen all day long, broke out into a cheerful smile; the birds began to chirp and twitter on the naked boughs, as though the hopeful creatures half believed that winter had gone by, and spring had come already. Go to

2. The scared leaves only flew the faster for all this, and a giddy chase it was; for they got into unfrequented places, where there was no outlet, and where their pursuer kept them eddying round and round at his pleasure; and they crept under the eaves of houses, and clung tightly to the sides of hay-ricks, like bats; and tore in at open chamber windows, and cowered close to hedges; and, in short, went anywhere for safety. Go to

helplessly /ˈhɛlpləsli/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desamparadamente; sem saber o que fazer

Simple English: In a way that shows you cannot do anything.

Example: They watched helplessly as the boat sank.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He looked helplessly at the two Miss Pecksniffs. Go to

2. They are all afraid of me," he added, falling helplessly back on his pillow. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'My loves!' said Mr Pecksniff, with the same serene upraising of his hand; 'My dears!' After a solemn pause he meekly bowed to Mr Pinch, as who should say, 'Proceed;' but Mr Pinch was so very much at a loss how to resume, and looked so helplessly at the two Miss Pecksniffs, that the conversation would most probably have terminated there, if a good-looking youth, newly arrived at man's estate, had not stepped forward from the doorway and taken up the thread of the discourse. Go to

2. But they're all afraid of me,' he added, leaning helplessly backward on his pillow; 'even she! Go to

hem /hɛm/ (14 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: bainha

Simple English: The folded and sewn edge of a piece of cloth or clothing.

Example: The dress had been lengthened by letting down the hem.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Hem! Go to

2. 'Hem! Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff as slowly rose, and, with a prefatory hem, began as follows: Go to

2. Hem! Go to

3. 'Hem! Go to

heraldic /hɛˈrældɪk/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: heráldico

Simple English: Relating to coats of arms, family symbols, and heraldry.

Example: Old heraldic emblems stood above the gateway.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Thus, even then, the Chuzzlewits were linked by a bend sinister, or heraldic over-the-left, to some unknown noble and famous House. Go to

Original English Version

1. Rejecting a theory broached by some well-meaning but mistaken persons, that this Mr Toby Chuzzlewit's grandfather, to judge from his name, must surely have been a Mandarin (which is wholly insupportable, for there is no pretence of his grandmother ever having been out of this country, or of any Mandarin having been in it within some years of his father's birth; except those in the tea-shops, which cannot for a moment be regarded as having any bearing on the question, one way or other), rejecting this hypothesis, is it not manifest that Mr Toby Chuzzlewit had either received the name imperfectly from his father, or that he had forgotten it, or that he had mispronounced itâ and that even at the recent period in question, the Chuzzlewits were connected by a bend sinister, or kind of heraldic over-the-left, with some unknown noble and illustrious House? Go to

hesitated /ˈhɛzɪteɪtɪd/ (19 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: hesitou; vacilou

Simple English: Waited before acting because of doubt or fear.

Example: The Lion no longer hesitated.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The man therefore stood by the open door and hesitated. Go to

2. Mr Pecksniff hesitated to do this friendly act, so Mr Jonas did it himself and cried: Go to

Original English Version

1. 'This young'--in spite of himself he hesitated when "person" rose to his lips, and substituted another word: 'this young stranger, Mrs Lupin, will excuse me for replying briefly, that I reside in this village; it may be in an influential manner, however, undeserved; and that I have been summoned here by you. Go to

hesitating /ˈhezɪteɪtɪŋ/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: hesitante; titubeante

Simple English: Pausing before acting because of doubt or fear.

Example: He gave a hesitating answer that convinced nobody.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. An ungainly, awkward-looking man, extremely short-sighted, and prematurely bald, availed himself of this permission; and seeing that Mr Pecksniff sat with his back towards him, gazing at the fire, stood hesitating, with the door in his hand. Go to

2. Mr Pecksniff hesitating to perform this friendly office, Mr Jonas did it himself; at the same time crying: Go to

heyday /ˈheɪdeɪ/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: auge; ora essa! (interjeição)

Simple English: here used as an exclamation of surprise

Example: 'Heyday!' Martin asked, startled by a known name.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Heyday!' Martin asked, startled by a known name. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Heyday!' asked Martin, starting at the mention of a name he knew. Go to

hinted /ˈhɪntɪd/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: insinuou; deu a entender

Simple English: Said something in an indirect way.

Example: She hinted that the answer was in the letter.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. But what I have intended, what I have resolved upon (and this is the confidence I seek to place in you), is, on my return to England, in my own person, in my own Journal, to bear, for the behoof of my countrymen, such testimony to the gigantic changes in this country as I have hinted at to-night. Go to

hoarse /hɔːrs/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: rouco; áspero

Simple English: With a rough low voice, often from shouting or illness.

Example: His voice was hoarse from the cold.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. And what an impotent swaggerer it was too, for all its noise; for if it had any influence on that hoarse companion, it was but to make him roar his cheerful song the louder, and by consequence to make the fire burn the brighter, and the sparks to dance more gayly yet; at length, they whizzed so madly round and round, that it was too much for such a surly wind to bear; so off it flew with a howl giving the old sign before the ale-house door such a cuff as it went, that the Blue Dragon was more rampant than usual ever afterwards, and indeed, before Christmas, reared clean out of its crazy frame. Go to

2. At last a chain and some bolts were withdrawn with a rusty noise, as if the weather had made the very fastenings hoarse, and a small boy with a large red head, and no nose to speak of, and a very dirty Wellington boot on his left arm, appeared; who (being surprised) rubbed the nose just mentioned with the back of a shoe-brush, and said nothing. Go to

holiest /ˈhoʊliəst/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: o mais santo

Simple English: The most connected with God or religion.

Example: This is the holiest place in the city.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Gratitude, he said, was one of humanity's holiest feelings. Go to

Original English Version

1. And if we were no better off than anybody else, what would become of our sense of gratitude; which,' said Mr Pecksniff with tears in his eyes, as he shook his fist at a beggar who wanted to get up behind, 'is one of the holiest feelings of our common nature.' Go to

hoof /hʊf/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: casco

Simple English: The hard foot of a horse or a cow.

Example: A hoof print showed in the wet clay.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The horses went anywhere without asking why and could have stood still in a china shop, with a complete dinner set beside every hoof. Go to

Original English Version

1. Also there were farmers' wives in beaver bonnets and red cloaks, riding shaggy horses purged of all earthly passions, who went soberly into all manner of places without desiring to know why, and who, if required, would have stood stock still in a china shop, with a complete dinner-service at each hoof. Go to

hope's /hoʊp/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: esperança

Simple English: A feeling that something wanted may happen, here followed by contracted 'has.'

Example: After the bad news, that hope's gone.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'If either is run over at life's busy crossings, the other will take him to Hope's hospital and sit beside his bed in Bounty!' Go to

hopelessness /ˈhoʊpləsnəs/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desesperança; desalento

Simple English: The feeling that nothing good can happen any more.

Example: A sense of hopelessness settled over the crew.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. At length, in utter despair and hopelessness, some few of the belligerents began to speak to each other in only moderate terms of mutual aggravation; and nearly all addressed themselves with a show of tolerable decency to Mr Pecksniff, in recognition of his high character and influential position. Go to

horribly /ˈhɔːrəbli/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: horrivelmente; terrivelmente

Simple English: In a very unpleasant or frightening way.

Example: The wind howled horribly around her.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. At length they began to jolt and rumble over horribly uneven stones, and Mr Pecksniff looking out of window said it was to-morrow morning, and they were there. Go to

hostess /ˈhoʊstəs/ (64 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: anfitriã

Simple English: A woman who receives and looks after guests.

Example: Our hostess offered us tea and cake.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Many young ladies were less pleasant and beautiful than the shining hostess of the Blue Dragon. Go to

2. "Oh!" thought the hostess. Go to

3. When she immediately met the young lady's eyes, the honest hostess felt rather confused. Go to

4. "Father, I should have said," replied the hostess, knowing she had made an awkward mistake. Go to

5. 'A gentleman fell ill on the road and has been very ill upstairs, sir,' said the tearful hostess. Go to

6. 'But something serious must trouble him,' said the hostess, shaking her head. Go to

Original English Version

1. She had still a bright black eye, and jet black hair; was comely, dimpled, plump, and tight as a gooseberry; and though she was not exactly what the world calls young, you may make an affidavit, on trust, before any mayor or magistrate in Christendom, that there are a great many young ladies in the world (blessings on them one and all!) whom you wouldn't like half as well, or admire half as much, as the beaming hostess of the Blue Dragon. Go to

2. 'Oh!' thought the hostess, 'then we are in the habit of travelling, and of travelling together.' Go to

3. She was so conscious of expressing this in her face, that meeting the young lady's eyes immediately afterwards, and being a very honest hostess, she was rather confused. Go to

4. 'Father, I should have said,' returned the hostess, sensible of having made an awkward mistake. Go to

5. 'A gentleman taken ill upon the road, has been so very bad upstairs, sir,' said the tearful hostess. Go to

6. 'There must be weighty matters on his mind, though,' said the hostess, shaking her head, 'for he talks, sir, in the strangest way you ever heard. Go to

hostess's /ˈhoʊstɪsɪz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: da anfitriã

Simple English: Belonging to the woman who receives guests.

Example: She took her hostess's arm as they walked in.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Yes, I should,' cried Mr Tapley, shaking his head expressively enough, and looking (in a momentary state of forgetfulness) rather hard at the hostess's ripe lips. Go to

Original English Version

1. Yes, I should,' cried Mr Tapley, shaking his head expressively enough, and looking (in a momentary state of forgetfulness) rather hard at the hostess's ripe lips. Go to

hostler /ˈɒstlər/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cavalariço (de estalagem)

Simple English: a man who takes care of horses at an inn, especially for travelers

Example: Tell Sam the hostler not to let the horse go yet.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Cheerfully, you tell Sam the hostler not to let the horse go yet, fully believing it wants to go and would if allowed. Go to

2. Still, Dick the hostler somehow put it in with Mr Chuzzlewit's help. Go to

Original English Version

1. Blessings on thy simple heart, Tom Pinch, how proudly dost thou button up that scanty coat, called by a sad misnomer, for these many years, a 'great' one; and how thoroughly, as with thy cheerful voice thou pleasantly adjurest Sam the hostler 'not to let him go yet,' dost thou believe that quadruped desires to go, and would go if he might! Go to

2. Mr Pinch had a shrewd notion that Salisbury was a very desperate sort of place; an exceeding wild and dissipated city; and when he had put up the horse, and given the hostler to understand that he would look in again in the course of an hour or two to see him take his corn, he set forth on a stroll about the streets with a vague and not unpleasant idea that they teemed with all kinds of mystery and bedevilment. Go to

3. It was not precisely of that convenient size which would admit of its being squeezed into any odd corner, but Dick the hostler got it in somehow, and Mr Chuzzlewit helped him. Go to

hound /haʊnd/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cão de caça; perseguir sem trégua

Simple English: A dog used for hunting; also to chase someone without stopping.

Example: The hound picked up the scent at once.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Meanwhile crowds of frauds become famous, men no more equal to me than - Tigg, witness that I am the most persecuted hound on earth." Go to

Original English Version

1. And crowds of impostors, the while, becoming famous; men who are no more on a level with me than--Tigg, I take you to witness that I am the most persecuted hound on the face of the earth.' Go to

housekeeper /ˈhaʊskiːpər/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: governanta; caseira

Simple English: A person employed to manage a household.

Example: The housekeeper kept every key on one ring.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She was a housekeeper, was she not, Tom?' Go to

2. 'A gentleman's housekeeper.' Go to

Original English Version

1. HE never scraped and clawed into his pouch all your poor grandmother's hard savings--she was a housekeeper, wasn't she, Tom?' Go to

2. 'Yes,' said Mr Pinch, nursing one of his large knees, and nodding his head; 'a gentleman's housekeeper.' Go to

hovering /ˈhʌvərɪŋ/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pairando; rondando

Simple English: Staying in one place in the air, or waiting close by.

Example: A waiter was hovering near our table.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They should be content with what they already have instead of hovering around and putting their fingers into this family pie. Go to

Original English Version

1. I think it would be full as well, if not better, if those individuals would keep at home, contenting themselves with what they have got (luckily for them) already; instead of hovering about, and thrusting their fingers into, a family pie, which they flavour much more than enough, I can tell them, when they are fifty miles away.' Go to

howl /haʊl/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: uivo; lamúria

Simple English: A long loud cry, like that of a wolf or a dog.

Example: A howl came out of the dark forest.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The angry gentleman added an ironic howl, looked at the company for one moment in sudden silence, then rushed off again at the same great speed and was not seen again. Go to

Original English Version

1. And what an impotent swaggerer it was too, for all its noise; for if it had any influence on that hoarse companion, it was but to make him roar his cheerful song the louder, and by consequence to make the fire burn the brighter, and the sparks to dance more gayly yet; at length, they whizzed so madly round and round, that it was too much for such a surly wind to bear; so off it flew with a howl giving the old sign before the ale-house door such a cuff as it went, that the Blue Dragon was more rampant than usual ever afterwards, and indeed, before Christmas, reared clean out of its crazy frame. Go to

2. Adding to these exclamations a kind of ironical howl, and gazing upon the company for one brief instant afterwards, in a sudden silence, the irritated gentleman started off again at the same tremendous pace, and was seen no more. Go to

howling /ˈhaʊlɪŋ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: uivos; berreiro

Simple English: Long loud crying sounds.

Example: The howling of the dogs woke the village.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It fled howling, striking the old ale-house sign so hard that the Blue Dragon became more rampant than usual and, before Christmas, rose clean out of its broken frame. Go to

howsever /haʊˈsɛvər/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: no entanto

Simple English: in spite of that; a rural or old-fashioned way of saying 'however'

Example: Howsever, the boy went there to play.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Howsever, I must wait and see what turns up, sir; and hope for the worst.' Go to

Original English Version

1. Howsever, I must wait and see what turns up, sir; and hope for the worst.' Go to

hugged /hʌɡd/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: abraçou

Simple English: Held someone closely in the arms to show love.

Example: He was so happy that he hugged them all.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She hugged them both. Go to

2. She hugged them again and said she could not decide which sister most resembled their poor mother. Go to

Original English Version

1. She hugged them both; and being by this time overpowered by her feelings or the inclemency of the morning, jerked a little pocket handkerchief out of the little basket, and applied the same to her face. Go to

humanity's /hjuːˈmænətiz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: da humanidade

Simple English: The possessive form of humanity, meaning belonging to or associated with humankind.

Example: Flight had long been one of humanity's favorite dreams.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Gratitude, he said, was one of humanity's holiest feelings. Go to

humbly /ˈhʌmbli/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: humildemente; com modéstia

Simple English: In a modest way, without pride.

Example: The Lion spoke humbly about his courage.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. After a serious pause, he bowed humbly to Mr Pinch, meaning, 'Go on.' But Pinch did not know how to continue. Go to

2. He put one hand gently inside his waistcoat and humbly signed for her to lead the way. Go to

humiliated /hjuːˈmɪlieɪtɪd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: humilhado

Simple English: Made to feel ashamed and foolish in front of others.

Example: She felt humiliated by the correction in public.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He whined like a deeply humiliated dog and drank again. Go to

humming /ˈhʌmɪŋ/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cantarolando

Simple English: Singing a tune with the lips closed.

Example: She was humming while she washed the plates.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'She is humming as she goes,' said Mark, listening. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Humming a tune as she goes,' said Mark, listening, 'in case I should think she's at all put out, and should be made down-hearted. Go to

humoured /ˈhjuːmərd/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: bem-humorado (em 'good-humoured')

Simple English: having a good or pleasant temper, as in the compound 'good-humoured'

Example: The good-humoured people of the United States would not object.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I never wished to soften what was ridiculous or wrong at home, so I hoped the good-humoured people of the United States would not object when I did the same abroad. Go to

2. "See how you seize on one word!" said the mistress of the Blue Dragon, still good-humoured. Go to

Original English Version

1. And away he fluttered, with his red neckerchief, and his open coat, down a cross-lane; turning back from time to time to nod to Mr Pinch, and looking one of the most careless, good-humoured comical fellows in life. Go to

2. Tom was greatly pleased to see them so merry, for he took it as a token of their favour, and good-humoured regard. Go to

Hunting /ˈhʌntɪŋ/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: caça; caçar; caçando

Simple English: Pursuing and killing wild animals for food or sport.

Example: They went hunting for deer in the forest last autumn.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They wore loose work shirts, brown and grey coats, red wool scarves, leather leggings, strangely shaped hats, hunting whips, and carried rough sticks. Go to

hurrah /həˈrɑː/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: hurra!; viva!

Simple English: A shout of joy or of victory.

Example: The men gave a loud hurrah at the news.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Those wheel-makers are hearty fellows - hurrah! Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Hearty chaps them wheelwrights--hurrah! Go to

hurried /ˈhɜːrid/ (81 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: correram; foram depressa

Simple English: Moved or went quickly.

Example: The mice hurried away through the grass.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Withering leaves hurried about seeking shelter from its cold chase. Go to

2. Feet hurried up and down the stairs. Go to

3. 'Forgive me, sir; I have been so hurried tonight that I do not know what I say. Go to

4. After this, he hurried to the outer door of the Blue Dragon and soon returned with a shorter companion. Go to

5. Young women with bright eyes and snowy-white chests hurried to many upstairs windows as he passed. Go to

6. Tom thanked his friend, felt his way into the lamp-lit streets, and hurried to dinner. Go to

Original English Version

1. The withering leaves no longer quiet, hurried to and fro in search of shelter from its chill pursuit; the labourer unyoked his horses, and with head bent down, trudged briskly home beside them; and from the cottage windows lights began to glance and wink upon the darkening fields. Go to

2. Being by this time weary of such trifling performances, the boisterous rover hurried away rejoicing, roaring over moor and meadow, hill and flat, until it got out to sea, where it met with other winds similarly disposed, and made a night of it. Go to

3. 'A very young person,' said Mrs Lupin, curtseying and blushing; '--I beg your pardon, sir, but I have been so hurried to-night, that I don't know what I say--who is with him now.' Go to

4. With this announcement he hurried away to the outer door of the Blue Dragon, and almost immediately returned with a companion shorter than himself, who was wrapped in an old blue camlet cloak with a lining of faded scarlet. Go to

5. So he took leave of his friend, with many thanks, groped his way out, as well as he could, into the now lamp-lighted streets, and hurried off to get his dinner. Go to

hurriedly /ˈhɜːrɪdli/ (23 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: às pressas; apressadamente

Simple English: In a rushed way because there is little time.

Example: He hurriedly folded the map and left.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He hurriedly hid under the bed cover the paper on which he had been writing. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Call you?' cried the old man, looking quickly up, and hurriedly drawing beneath the coverlet the paper on which he had been writing. Go to

2. It happened that Mr Pecksniff, coming softly upon the dark passage into which a spiral ray of light usually darted through the same keyhole, was astonished to find no such ray visible; and it happened that Mr Pecksniff, when he had felt his way to the chamber-door, stooping hurriedly down to ascertain by personal inspection whether the jealousy of the old man had caused this keyhole to be stopped on the inside, brought his head into such violent contact with another head that he could not help uttering in an audible voice the monosyllable 'Oh!' which was, as it were, sharply unscrewed and jerked out of him by very anguish. Go to

3. Sparkling eyes and snowy breasts came hurriedly to many an upper casement as he clattered by, and gave him back his greeting: not stinted either, but sevenfold, good measure. Go to

hurrying /ˈhɜːriɪŋ/ (18 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: correndo; apressando-se

Simple English: Moving faster than usual.

Example: People were hurrying to catch the last bus.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Although the day was cold, he was hot from hurrying. Go to

Original English Version

1. For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs. Go to

2. Mr Pecksniff and his fair daughters had not stood warming themselves at the fire ten minutes, when the sound of feet was heard upon the stairs, and the presiding deity of the establishment came hurrying in. Go to

hush /hʌʃ/ (33 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: silêncio; quieto

Simple English: Used to tell someone to be quiet.

Example: Hush, my dear, he said softly.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Hush, do not trouble yourself, ma'am,' said Mr Pecksniff as the landlady began to answer. Go to

2. 'Hush!' cried Tigg. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Hush! don't trouble yourself, ma'am,' said Mr Pecksniff, as the landlady was about to answer. Go to

2. 'Hush!' cried the other. Go to

husky /ˈhʌski/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: husky; rouco; robusto

Simple English: A northern sled dog, or an adjective meaning rough-voiced, strong, or heavily built.

Example: The large husky sled dog stood beside the camp.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The perfect and entire satisfaction of Tom; his surpassing appreciation of the husky sandwiches, which crumbled in his mouth like saw-dust; the unspeakable relish with which he swallowed the thin wine by drops, and smacked his lips, as though it were so rich and generous that to lose an atom of its fruity flavour were a sin; the look with which he paused sometimes, with his glass in his hand, proposing silent toasts to himself; and the anxious shade that came upon his contented face when, after wandering round the room, exulting in its uninvaded snugness, his glance encountered the dull brow of his companion; no cynic in the world, though in his hatred of its men a very griffin, could have withstood these things in Thomas Pinch. Go to

hyacinths /ˈhaɪəsɪnθ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: jacintos

Simple English: Garden plants that grow from bulbs and bear clusters of fragrant flowers.

Example: Purple hyacinths grew beside the path.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Plants, hyacinths, books, and birds.' The birds were only one old, tail-less sparrow, borrowed from the kitchen. Go to

Original English Version

1. Plants you observe; hyacinths; books again; birds.' These birds, by the bye, comprised, in all, one staggering old sparrow without a tail, which had been borrowed expressly from the kitchen. Go to

hypocrite /ˈhɪpəkrɪt/ (21 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: hipócrita

Simple English: A person who pretends to have virtues or beliefs that their behavior does not show.

Example: She refused to believe that her father was a hypocrite.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "Pecksniff," said Anthony, who had watched everyone sharply from the start, "do not be a hypocrite." Go to

2. "A hypocrite." Go to

3. I may be a Hypocrite,' he added sharply, 'but I am not a Brute.' Go to

4. Hypocrite! Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Pecksniff,' said Anthony, who had been watching the whole party with peculiar keenness from the first--'don't you be a hypocrite.' Go to

2. 'A hypocrite.' Go to

3. I may be a Hypocrite,' said Mr Pecksniff, cuttingly; 'but I am not a Brute.' Go to

4. Hypocrite! why, we are all hypocrites. Go to

hypocrites /ˈhɪpəkrɪt/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: hipócritas

Simple English: People whose behavior contradicts the virtues or beliefs they claim to have.

Example: She complained that the church contained too many hypocrites.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. We are all hypocrites. Go to

2. We were all hypocrites the other day, and everyone seemed to agree about that. Go to

Original English Version

1. Hypocrite! why, we are all hypocrites. Go to

2. We were all hypocrites t'other day. Go to

3. We should not have been there at all, if we had not been hypocrites. Go to

hysterical /hɪˈsterɪkəl/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: histérico

Simple English: Unable to control extreme fear, grief, excitement, or laughter.

Example: The red-faced man helped the hysterical women put on life jackets.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Miss Mercy laughed hugely at everything and sometimes, after looking at Mr Pinch's happy face, nearly became hysterical. Go to

idlers /ˈaɪdlər/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ociosos; desocupados

Simple English: People who are doing no work or useful activity.

Example: Several idlers gathered nearby to watch.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. But it was of no use; the whole place was up to see Mark Tapley off; the boys, the dogs, the children, the old men, the busy people and the idlers; there they were, all calling out 'Good-b'ye, Mark,' after their own manner, and all sorry he was going. Go to

imaginative /ɪˈmædʒɪnətɪv/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: imaginativos; de imaginação

Simple English: Able to think of new and interesting ideas.

Example: She is an imaginative writer of stories.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The story is worth preserving in its original form because it shows what ingenious work by a commentator can often do to historical prose and imaginative poetry. Go to

Original English Version

1. Indeed the anecdote is so plainly susceptible of this meaning and no other, that it would be hardly worth recording in its original state, were it not a proof of what may be (and very often is) affected not only in historical prose but in imaginative poetry, by the exercise of a little ingenious labour on the part of a commentator. Go to

imitators /ˈɪmɪteɪtərz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: imitadores

Simple English: people who copy another person's work, style, or behavior

Example: Robur had not yet found any imitators.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There stood poor Robinson Crusoe, with dog, hatchet, goat-skin cap, and guns, looking calmly at Philip Quarn and all his imitators. Go to

Original English Version

1. There was another; not quite so bad at first, but still a trying shop; where children's books were sold, and where poor Robinson Crusoe stood alone in his might, with dog and hatchet, goat-skin cap and fowling-pieces; calmly surveying Philip Quarn and the host of imitators round him, and calling Mr Pinch to witness that he, of all the crowd, impressed one solitary footprint on the shore of boyish memory, whereof the tread of generations should not stir the lightest grain of sand. Go to

imparting /ɪmˈpɑːrtɪŋ/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: comunicando, revelando

Simple English: the act of sharing information with someone

Example: On my imparting this discovery in confidence to Peggotty, she told me more.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pinch imparting to his new friend, as they went, such further particulars of Mark Tapley's whimsical restlessness as the reader is already acquainted with. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pinch imparting to his new friend, as they went, such further particulars of Mark Tapley's whimsical restlessness as the reader is already acquainted with. Go to

impatience /ɪmˈpeɪʃəns/ (18 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: impaciência

Simple English: The feeling of not wanting to wait.

Example: His impatience showed in his quick steps.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Martin nodded assent; and adding, with a restless impatience, that if he had been a few days earlier he would have seen her; and that now she might be, for anything he knew, hundreds of miles away; threw himself, after a few turns across the room, into a chair, and chafed like a spoilt child. Go to

2. The other, that from his early habits of considering everything as a question of property, he had gradually come to look, with impatience, on his parent as a certain amount of personal estate, which had no right whatever to be going at large, but ought to be secured in that particular description of iron safe which is commonly called a coffin, and banked in the grave. Go to

impatiently /ɪmˈpeɪʃəntli/ (19 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: impacientemente

Simple English: In a way that shows you do not want to wait.

Example: He knocked impatiently on the closed door.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But mercy on us!" He impatiently roughened his hair and looked at Tom as if angry that he was not someone else. Go to

2. He therefore began to view his father impatiently as personal wealth that should not be walking free. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Oh!' cried the old man, moaning impatiently, as he tossed one restless arm upon the coverlet; 'why do you talk to me of friends! Go to

2. Of course you know,' he added, after a moment's pause, as he drew his chair towards the fire again, 'I should not hesitate to avail myself of your services if you could help me at all; but mercy on us!'--Here he rumpled his hair impatiently with his hand, and looked at Tom as if he took it rather ill that he was not somebody else--'you might as well be a toasting-fork or a frying-pan, Pinch, for any help you can render me.' Go to

imperfectly /ɪmˈpɜːrfɪktli/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: imperfeitamente, incompletamente

Simple English: in a way that is not complete or fully satisfactory

Example: I am imperfectly consoled for this disappointment by the sacred pledge.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Rejecting a theory broached by some well-meaning but mistaken persons, that this Mr Toby Chuzzlewit's grandfather, to judge from his name, must surely have been a Mandarin (which is wholly insupportable, for there is no pretence of his grandmother ever having been out of this country, or of any Mandarin having been in it within some years of his father's birth; except those in the tea-shops, which cannot for a moment be regarded as having any bearing on the question, one way or other), rejecting this hypothesis, is it not manifest that Mr Toby Chuzzlewit had either received the name imperfectly from his father, or that he had forgotten it, or that he had mispronounced itâ and that even at the recent period in question, the Chuzzlewits were connected by a bend sinister, or kind of heraldic over-the-left, with some unknown noble and illustrious House? Go to

impressing /ɪmˈprɛsɪŋ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: impressionando; incutindo

Simple English: Making a strong effect on someone or firmly communicating an idea.

Example: The owner kept impressing the rule upon the dog.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Cautious emigrants from Scotland or the North of England had been known to reach it safely, by impressing a charity-boy, town-bred, and bringing him along with them; or by clinging tenaciously to the postman; but these were rare exceptions, and only went to prove the rule that Todgers's was in a labyrinth, whereof the mystery was known but to a chosen few. Go to

impressively /ɪmˈprɛsɪvli/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de modo impressionante; com ênfase

Simple English: In a way that causes admiration or shows deliberate importance.

Example: Peter spoke impressively before revealing the news.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Besides; how, Mr Tigg,' continued Pecksniff even more gravely and impressively than he had spoken yet, 'how could Mr Chuzzlewit be prevented from having these peculiar and most extraordinary confidences of which you speak; the existence of which I must admit; and which I cannot but deplore--for his sake? Go to

impudent /ˈɪmpjədənt/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: atrevido; insolente

Simple English: Rude and disrespectful in a bold way.

Example: The servant answered with an impudent smile.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But he was an impudent fellow, she added. Go to

Original English Version

1. But he was an impudent fellow, she added. Go to

inasmuch /ˌɪnəzˈmʌtʃ/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: na medida em que

Simple English: used to introduce a reason, meaning 'since' or 'because'

Example: Inasmuch as the family never owned much land, they were not distinguished.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. It does not appear that this illustrious ancestor 'came over' that monarch, to employ the vulgar phrase, at any subsequent period; inasmuch as the Family do not seem to have been ever greatly distinguished by the possession of landed estate. Go to

2. Here, the eldest daughter of the strong-minded woman rose a little way from her seat, and trembling violently from head to foot, more as it seemed with passion than timidity, expressed a general hope that some people WOULD appear in their own characters, if it were only for such a proceeding having the attraction of novelty to recommend it; and that when they (meaning the some people before mentioned) talked about their relations, they would be careful to observe who was present in company at the time; otherwise it might come round to those relations' ears, in a way they little expected; and as to red noses (she observed) she had yet to learn that a red nose was any disgrace, inasmuch as people neither made nor coloured their own noses, but had that feature provided for them without being first consulted; though even upon that branch of the subject she had great doubts whether certain noses were redder than other noses, or indeed half as red as some. Go to

incident /ˈɪnsɪdənt/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: incidente

Simple English: A serious conflict or disagreement often involving countries.

Example: The incident between the two countries threatened to escalate into a war.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "I am not sorry," Mr Pecksniff continued, "really not sorry that this small incident happened. Go to

inclination /ˌɪnklɪˈneɪʃən/ (14 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: inclinação; vontade

Simple English: A desire or tendency to act, or the angle at which something slopes.

Example: She showed little inclination to invite them inside.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. It is a lamentable fact, that as Mr Pecksniff stood erect beside the bed, in all the dignity of Goodness, and addressed him thus, the old man cast an angry glance towards the candlestick, as if he were possessed by a strong inclination to launch it at his cousin's head. Go to

2. 'Why, is it likely,' rejoined Martin, with greater earnestness, 'that a young man newly escaped from this kennel of a place, and fresh to all the delights of being his own master in London, can have much leisure or inclination to think favourably of anything or anybody he has left behind him here? Go to

3. 'Except in the inclination,' said Tom, gently. Go to

4. If inclination went for anything, I shouldn't want help. Go to

5. Mr Pecksniff not being exempt from the common lot of humanity found himself, at the end of his nap, so decidedly the victim of these infirmities, that he had an irresistible inclination to visit them upon his daughters; which he had already begun to do in the shape of divers random kicks, and other unexpected motions of his shoes, when the coach stopped, and after a short delay the door was opened. Go to

indifference /ɪnˈdɪfərəns/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: indiferença

Simple English: A lack of interest or feeling about something.

Example: He listened with complete indifference.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. But the grand mystery of Todgers's was the cellarage, approachable only by a little back door and a rusty grating; which cellarage within the memory of man had had no connection with the house, but had always been the freehold property of somebody else, and was reported to be full of wealth; though in what shape--whether in silver, brass, or gold, or butts of wine, or casks of gun-powder--was matter of profound uncertainty and supreme indifference to Todgers's and all its inmates. Go to

indignantly /ɪnˈdɪɡnəntli/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: indignadamente

Simple English: with anger caused by something felt to be unfair

Example: He strongly and indignantly protested against the remark.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'In the first place,' returned the gentleman, 'you will permit me to say, that I object to that remark, and that I strongly and indignantly protest against it on behalf of my friend Slyme. Go to

2. These she shed so plentifully, and so much to the agitation and grief of Mr Spottletoe, that that gentleman, after holding his clenched fist close to Mr Pecksniff's eyes, as if it were some natural curiosity from the near inspection whereof he was likely to derive high gratification and improvement, and after offering (for no particular reason that anybody could discover) to kick Mr George Chuzzlewit for, and in consideration of, the trifling sum of sixpence, took his wife under his arm and indignantly withdrew. Go to

indignation /ˌɪndɪɡˈneɪʃən/ (28 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: indignação

Simple English: Anger caused by something believed to be unfair, insulting, or wrong.

Example: Tears of boyish indignation ran down his face.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'You a great eater!' retorted his companion, with no less indignation than before. Go to

ingenious /ɪnˈdʒiːniəs/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: engenhoso; inventivo

Simple English: clever, original, and effective

Example: The engineer proposed an ingenious solution.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The story is worth preserving in its original form because it shows what ingenious work by a commentator can often do to historical prose and imaginative poetry. Go to

Original English Version

1. Indeed the anecdote is so plainly susceptible of this meaning and no other, that it would be hardly worth recording in its original state, were it not a proof of what may be (and very often is) affected not only in historical prose but in imaginative poetry, by the exercise of a little ingenious labour on the part of a commentator. Go to

Glossary: New Words (4/7)

ingenuous /ɪnˈdʒɛnjuəs/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ingênuo, sincero

Simple English: honest and innocent in a simple, open way

Example: He is a fine lad, an ingenuous lad, and has but one fault.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. You're more exulting and rampant than usual tonight, I think; and you may well crow over your prize; for he is a fine lad, an ingenuous lad, and has but one fault that I know of; he don't mean it, but he is most cruelly unjust to Pecksniff!' Go to

2. Having said which, Mr Pecksniff threw himself back in the easy-chair; so radiant with ingenuous honesty, that Mrs Lupin almost wondered not to see a stained-glass Glory, such as the Saint wore in the church, shining about his head. Go to

ingratitude /ɪnˈɡrætɪtuːd/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ingratidão

Simple English: failure to show thanks for kindness or help

Example: She was hurt by his cold ingratitude.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. That person's ingratitude still pains me deeply, but I proudly forgive him. Go to

2. 'John, to me there is hardly any sin as terrible as ingratitude. Go to

Original English Version

1. With my breast still wrung and grieved to its inmost core by the ingratitude of that person, I am proud and glad to say that I forgive him. Go to

2. John, there is scarcely a sin in the world that is in my eyes such a crying one as ingratitude; and when he taxes me with that, and believes me to be guilty of it, he makes me miserable and wretched.' Go to

initials /ɪˈnɪʃəlz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: iniciais

Simple English: The first letters of the names of a person.

Example: His initials were cut into the desk.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Tigg added this condition to his memorandum; read the entry over to himself with a severe frown; and that the transaction might be the more correct and business-like, appended his initials to the whole. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Tigg added this condition to his memorandum; read the entry over to himself with a severe frown; and that the transaction might be the more correct and business-like, appended his initials to the whole. Go to

injure /ˈɪndʒər/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ferir; prejudicar

Simple English: to cause physical harm or damage to a person, animal, or thing

Example: The falling branches did not injure him.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Sometimes I injure my health rather more than I can quite justify to myself, by doing so; but art is long and time is short. Go to

inn's /ɪnz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: da hospedaria

Simple English: the possessive form of inn, showing that something belongs to a lodging house

Example: The inn's warm windows soon disappeared behind them.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. For many years, the Dragon had swung, creaked, and flapped before the two windows of the inn's best bedroom. Go to

innkeeper /ˈɪnkiːpər/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: estalajadeiro

Simple English: A person who owns or runs an inn.

Example: The innkeeper showed him to a small room.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Jonas thought this wiser than one drink costing a shilling, because the innkeeper might put more brandy in two glasses. Go to

Original English Version

1. When they could eat no more, Mr Pecksniff and Mr Jonas subscribed for two sixpenny-worths of hot brandy-and-water, which the latter gentleman considered a more politic order than one shillingsworth; there being a chance of their getting more spirit out of the innkeeper under this arrangement than if it were all in one glass. Go to

inquire /ɪnˈkwaɪər/ (23 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: perguntar; indagar

Simple English: to ask for information or investigate something

Example: He stopped to inquire about the village's name.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'And pray,' asked Mr Pecksniff, obviously not quite at his ease, 'what may be Mr Slyme's business here, if I may be permitted to inquire, who am compelled by a regard for my own character to disavow all interest in his proceedings?' Go to

2. Tom made frequent reference to it also; partly from a nervous sympathy with its taciturn companion; and partly because the new pupil was to inquire for him at half after six, and the hands were getting on towards that hour. Go to

3. 'The young gentleman, I expect,' remarked Tom, timidly, 'was to inquire at that time for a person by the name of Pinch.' Go to

4. I am the Mr Martin for whom you were to inquire. Go to

5. 'Let me inquire,' said Martin, interposing between this candid speech and the delivery of some blighting anathema by Mr Tigg, 'what the amount of this debt may be?' Go to

inquired /ɪnˈkwaɪərd/ (70 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: perguntou; indagou

Simple English: asked for information or investigated something

Example: The reporter inquired about the captain's reply.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. And it would seem to have been more suggestive in its aspect than street doors usually are; for he continued to lie there, rather a lengthy and unreasonable time, without so much as wondering whether he was hurt or no; neither, when Miss Pecksniff inquired through the key-hole in a shrill voice, which might have belonged to a wind in its teens, 'Who's there' did he make any reply; nor, when Miss Pecksniff opened the door again, and shading the candle with her hand, peered out, and looked provokingly round him, and about him, and over him, and everywhere but at him, did he offer any remark, or indicate in any manner the least hint of a desire to be picked up. Go to

2. 'Is he handsome, Pa?' inquired the younger daughter. Go to

3. 'What gentleman is this?' inquired the object of his virtuous doubts. Go to

4. 'Does Mrs Lupin know you are going to leave her?' Mr Pinch inquired. Go to

5. 'I'm not in your way, am I?' inquired Martin, glancing down at Mr Pinch, who was by this time looking at the fire over his leg. Go to

6. 'By your father?' inquired Mr Pinch, with open eyes. Go to

instruct /ɪnˈstrʌkt/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: instruir; ordenar

Simple English: To teach someone, or to give someone an order.

Example: She was asked to instruct the youngest class.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'When your mind requires to be refreshed by change of occupation,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'Thomas Pinch will instruct you in the art of surveying the back garden, or in ascertaining the dead level of the road between this house and the finger-post, or in any other practical and pleasing pursuit. Go to

intently /ɪnˈtɛntli/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: atentamente; fixamente

Simple English: With close and concentrated attention.

Example: She listened intently for movement in the forest.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. It soon deserted them, and even the distant bed with its strange burden, for the young creature immediately before her, who, with her downcast eyes intently fixed upon the fire, sat wrapped in silent meditation. Go to

2. He raised his head up in the bed, and, fixing on her two dark eyes whose brightness was exaggerated by the paleness of his hollow cheeks, as they in turn, together with his straggling locks of long grey hair, were rendered whiter by the tight black velvet skullcap which he wore, he searched her face intently. Go to

interposed /ˌɪntərˈpoʊzd/ (36 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: interveio; interrompeu

Simple English: Interrupted or placed oneself between people, actions, or statements.

Example: The instructor interposed before the argument grew worse.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'The less you say, Mr Pinch,' interposed the other, 'the better. Go to

2. 'Martin,' interposed the young lady, laying her hand upon his arm; 'reflect how short a time we have been in this house, and that even your name is unknown here.' Go to

3. Go!' interposed the other. Go to

4. 'Not his niece's husband,' interposed the stranger, 'I'll be sworn; for he was there before you.' Go to

5. 'No!' interposed the strong-minded woman in a loud voice. Go to

6. 'If Mr George Chuzzlewit has anything to say to ME,' interposed the strong-minded woman, sternly, 'I beg him to speak out like a man; and not to look at me and my daughters as if he could eat us.' Go to

interrupting /ˌɪntəˈrʌptɪŋ/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: interrompendo

Simple English: Stopping someone while they are speaking or doing something.

Example: Stop interrupting and let her finish the story.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff, not at all knowing what it might be best to say in the momentary pause which ensued upon these remarks, made an elaborate demonstration of intending to deliver something very oracular indeed; trusting to the certainty of the old man interrupting him, before he should utter a word. Go to

interruption /ˌɪntəˈrʌpʃən/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: interrupção

Simple English: Something that stops an action or a speech for a while.

Example: He read the whole afternoon without a single interruption.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Ignoring the interruption, Slyme said, 'So there are his brother and another nephew for you already.' Go to

2. When they moved toward the stairs, he seized Mr Pinch's coat lapel at the street door to stop interruption and gave him highly improving talk until they reached the Dragon, with Mark and the new pupil close behind. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'So there,' said Slyme, regardless of the interruption, 'are his brother and another nephew for you, already.' Go to

2. Being cut short in these speeches by a general move towards the stairs, he took possession at the street door of the lapel of Mr Pinch's coat, as a security against further interruption; and entertained that gentleman with some highly improving discourse until they reached the Dragon, whither they were closely followed by Mark and the new pupil. Go to

intrusion /ɪnˈtruʒən/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: intrusão; intromissão

Simple English: An unwelcome entry into a place, situation, or private matter.

Example: He protested against the intrusion into his family's privacy.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'No intrusion, Mr Pinch,' said Mr Pecksniff very sweetly, without looking round. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'No intrusion, Mr Pinch,' said that gentleman very sweetly, but without looking round. Go to

investment /ɪnˈvɛstmənt/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: investimento

Simple English: Money put into something to earn profit in the future.

Example: Her investment in the business led to significant financial returns.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Since the great family meeting, they had stayed in the area to watch the sale of some useful investments they had already noticed. Go to

invitations /ˌɪnvɪˈteɪʃənz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: convites

Simple English: Requests asking someone to come to an event.

Example: He sent out invitations to the whole street.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. On another occasion he wrote, "I have bestowed upon that irresistible uncle of mine everything I ever possessed." He apparently paid long visits to this uncle's mansion, or even lived there: "With the exception of the suit of clothes I carry about with me, the whole of my wearing apparel is at present at my uncle's." The uncle's influence must have been vast, for his nephew called it "too high," "too much," and "tremendous." Strangely, it got him no profitable post at court or elsewhere, and no distinction except the patronage of such a great man and invitations to entertainments so splendid and costly that he called them "Golden Balls." Go to

involuntarily /ɪnˈvɒləntərɪli/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: involuntariamente

Simple English: without conscious control or intention

Example: My mother involuntarily put out her trembling hand as if to interpose.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. That I should have called you "Miss," too, ma'am!' But when she had proceeded thus far, she glanced involuntarily at the third finger of the young lady's left hand, and faltered again; for there was no ring upon it. Go to

2. At first she had recoiled involuntarily, supposing him disordered in his mind; but the slow composure of his manner, and the settled purpose announced in his strong features, and gathering, most of all, about his puckered mouth, forbade the supposition. Go to

3. He even seemed to think that he was doing quite a regular thing, and to expect that Mr Pinch would follow his example, since he took occasion to observe of that young man 'that he didn't get on'; a speech of so tremendous a character, that Tom cast down his eyes involuntarily, and felt as if he himself had committed some horrible deed and heinous breach of Mr Pecksniff's confidence. Go to

involuntary /ɪnˈvɑlənˌtɛri/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: involuntário

Simple English: Done without conscious choice or control.

Example: The solemn music brought involuntary tears to her eyes.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He looked so sad that both Miss Pecksniffs gave an involuntary screech. Go to

Original English Version

1. But as a gentleman's looks, in such a case of all others, are by no means under his own control, Mr Pecksniff continued to keep his mouth and his eyes very wide open, and to drop his lower jaw, somewhat after the manner of a toy nut-cracker; and as his hat had fallen off, and his face was pale, and his hair erect, and his coat muddy, the spectacle he presented was so very doleful, that neither of the Miss Pecksniffs could repress an involuntary screech. Go to

2. 'Dear me!' cried Mr Pinch, with an involuntary start. Go to

inward /ˈɪnwərd/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: para dentro; interior; íntimo

Simple English: Towards the inside, or existing in the mind rather than outside.

Example: The door opens inward, so pull the handle.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. For some time they looked at each other in silence; or rather the old man looked at Mr Pecksniff, and Mr Pecksniff again closing his eyes on all outward objects, took an inward survey of his own breast. Go to

irreligious /ˌɪrɪˈlɪdʒəs/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: irreligioso; sem religião

Simple English: Not religious or showing little respect for religion.

Example: He had always been irreligious and mocked ideas about immortality.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Every man,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'has a right, an undoubted right, (which I, for one, would not call in question for any earthly consideration; oh no!) to regulate his own proceedings by his own likings and dislikings, supposing they are not immoral and not irreligious. Go to

irresistible /ˌɪrɪˈzɪstəbəl/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: irresistível

Simple English: Too powerful, attractive, or tempting to resist.

Example: The temptation to open the parcel was irresistible.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Their true meaning is plain and irresistible. Go to

2. On another occasion he wrote, "I have bestowed upon that irresistible uncle of mine everything I ever possessed." He apparently paid long visits to this uncle's mansion, or even lived there: "With the exception of the suit of clothes I carry about with me, the whole of my wearing apparel is at present at my uncle's." The uncle's influence must have been vast, for his nephew called it "too high," "too much," and "tremendous." Strangely, it got him no profitable post at court or elsewhere, and no distinction except the patronage of such a great man and invitations to entertainments so splendid and costly that he called them "Golden Balls." Go to

Original English Version

1. The just interpretation which they bear, and the conclusion to which they lead, are triumphant and irresistible. Go to

2. But what is the irresistible inference? Go to

3. On another occasion he says, 'I have bestowed upon that irresistible uncle of mine everything I ever possessed.' And that he was in the habit of paying long and constant visits to this gentleman at his mansion, if, indeed, he did not wholly reside there, is manifest from the following sentence: 'With the exception of the suit of clothes I carry about with me, the whole of my wearing apparel is at present at my uncle's.' This gentleman's patronage and influence must have been very extensive, for his nephew writes, 'His interest is too high'--'It is too much'--'It is tremendous'--and the like. Go to

4. Mr Pecksniff not being exempt from the common lot of humanity found himself, at the end of his nap, so decidedly the victim of these infirmities, that he had an irresistible inclination to visit them upon his daughters; which he had already begun to do in the shape of divers random kicks, and other unexpected motions of his shoes, when the coach stopped, and after a short delay the door was opened. Go to

irritably /ˈɪrɪtəbli/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: irritadamente; com irritação

Simple English: In an annoyed and impatient way.

Example: He answered irritably and turned away.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His friend replied irritably, 'Do you want anyone to shed blood for you? Go to

2. The young man did not receive this as well as Tom expected and replied irritably: Go to

jealousies /ˈdʒɛləsiz/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ciúmes; rivalidades

Simple English: Feelings of resentment or fear caused by rivalry, affection, or another person's advantages.

Example: Petty jealousies weakened cooperation among the officers.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. For a time, personal jealousies and interests must be forgotten, and everyone must unite against the common enemy. Go to

Original English Version

1. The time has come when individual jealousies and interests must be forgotten for a time, sir, and union must be made against the common enemy. Go to

2. As to eating, I beg to say, whatever bitterness your jealousies and disappointed expectations may suggest to you, that I am not a cannibal, ma'am.' Go to

jest /dʒɛst/ (16 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gracejo; piada

Simple English: Something said or done as a joke.

Example: The spectators laughed loudly at the cruel jest.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Tom entertained enough suspicion that Martin might possibly turn this interview into a jest, to render him desirous to avoid the company of that young gentleman for the present. Go to

Original English Version

1. Who could repress a smile--of love for thee, Tom Pinch, and not in jest at thy expense, for thou art poor enough already, Heaven knows--to think that such a holiday as lies before thee should awaken that quick flow and hurry of the spirits, in which thou settest down again, almost untasted, on the kitchen window-sill, that great white mug (put by, by thy own hands, last night, that breakfast might not hold thee late), and layest yonder crust upon the seat beside thee, to be eaten on the road, when thou art calmer in thy high rejoicing! Go to

2. But for these bursts of gaiety, her sister, in her better sense, reproved her; observing, in an angry whisper, that it was far from being a theme for jest; and that she had no patience with the creature; though it generally ended in her laughing too--but much more moderately--and saying that indeed it was a little too ridiculous and intolerable to be serious about. Go to

3. Tom entertained enough suspicion that Martin might possibly turn this interview into a jest, to render him desirous to avoid the company of that young gentleman for the present. Go to

jewellers /ˈdʒuːələrz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: joalheiros

Simple English: People who make, repair, or sell jewelry; the form may also mark plural possession.

Example: The delicate jewellers made tiny charms below.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. First were jewellers, showing all earth's treasures. Go to

Original English Version

1. First of all there were the jewellers' shops, with all the treasures of the earth displayed therein, and such large silver watches hanging up in every pane of glass, that if they were anything but first-rate goers it certainly was not because the works could decently complain of want of room. Go to

jingled /ˈdʒɪŋɡəld/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tilintaram

Simple English: Made a light ringing sound.

Example: Her keys jingled in her pocket.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. She had a little basket on her arm, and in it a bunch of keys that jingled as she came. Go to

jinkins /ˈdʒɪŋkɪnz/ (128 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Jinkins (sobrenome)

Simple English: Surname of a character, a fellow lodger.

Example: The other showed a side-view drawing of Jinkins.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The other showed a side-view drawing of Jinkins. Go to

2. Then she went to lead the other room, where loud jokes about Mr Jinkins continued. Go to

Original English Version

1. Inside the fender were some half-dozen pairs of shoes and boots, of various sizes, just cleaned and turned with the soles upwards to dry; and a pair of short black gaiters, on one of which was chalked--in sport, it would appear, by some gentleman who had slipped down for the purpose, pending his toilet, and gone up again--'Jinkins's Particular,' while the other exhibited a sketch in profile, claiming to be the portrait of Jinkins himself. Go to

jinkins's /ˈdʒɪŋkɪnzɪz/ (17 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Jinkins

Simple English: Possessive form of the surname Jinkins.

Example: Someone had written 'Jinkins's Particular' in chalk on one.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Someone had written 'Jinkins's Particular' in chalk on one. Go to

2. "THAT is Mr Jinkins's." Go to

Original English Version

1. Inside the fender were some half-dozen pairs of shoes and boots, of various sizes, just cleaned and turned with the soles upwards to dry; and a pair of short black gaiters, on one of which was chalked--in sport, it would appear, by some gentleman who had slipped down for the purpose, pending his toilet, and gone up again--'Jinkins's Particular,' while the other exhibited a sketch in profile, claiming to be the portrait of Jinkins himself. Go to

2. 'THAT is Mr Jinkins's.' Go to

3. Having prepared breakfast for the young ladies with her own hands, she withdrew to preside in the other room; where the joke at Mr Jinkins's expense seemed to be proceeding rather noisily. Go to

jokingly /ˈdʒoʊkɪŋli/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gracejando; de brincadeira

Simple English: In a way that is meant to be funny.

Example: He jokingly called himself the boss.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Then a shaggy, rather alarming head suddenly appeared at the doorway of their sanctuary of genius, smiling warmly, jokingly, and approvingly. Go to

jonas's /ˈdʒoʊnəsɪz/ (52 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Jonas

Simple English: belonging to a character named Jonas, referring to his idea of an ideal woman

Example: How different I must be from Jonas's ideal woman.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Jonas's low, rough, and cruel nature would seem unnatural without his early education. Go to

jovial /ˈdʒoʊviəl/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: jovial, alegre

Simple English: Cheerful and friendly in manner.

Example: Her face, by its jovial aspect, bore testimony to her hearty participation in good things.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The mistress of the Blue Dragon was in outward appearance just what a landlady should be: broad, buxom, comfortable, and good looking, with a face of clear red and white, which, by its jovial aspect, at once bore testimony to her hearty participation in the good things of the larder and cellar, and to their thriving and healthful influences. Go to

2. There were two bottles of currant wine, white and red; a dish of sandwiches (very long and very slim); another of apples; another of captain's biscuits (which are always a moist and jovial sort of viand); a plate of oranges cut up small and gritty; with powdered sugar, and a highly geological home-made cake. Go to

3. You will be jovial, my dear Martin, and will kill the fatted calf if you please!' Go to

joyful /ˈdʒɔɪfəl/ (17 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: jubiloso; alegre

Simple English: Feeling or showing great happiness.

Example: It was a joyful reunion after so many years.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The strong evergreens looked dark and serious, as if nature gave them long life instead of a sensitive and joyful nature. Go to

2. With these joyful words, they kissed Mr Pecksniff on both cheeks and took him inside. Go to

3. "Bless my life!" said Mr Pecksniff, looking up and slowly changing his thoughtful face to joyful recognition. Go to

Original English Version

1. With these joyful words they kissed Mr Pecksniff on either cheek; and bore him into the house. Go to

2. Bless my life!' said Mr Pecksniff, looking up, and gradually exchanging his abstracted face for one of joyful recognition. Go to

jug /dʒʌɡ/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: jarro; bilha

Simple English: A container with a handle for holding water.

Example: She filled the jug at the well.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Beside him stood a huge jug of Wiltshire beer. Go to

Original English Version

1. Beside him, too, there stood a jug of most stupendous Wiltshire beer; and the effect of the whole was so transcendent, that he was obliged every now and then to lay down his knife and fork, rub his hands, and think about it. Go to

juncture /ˈdʒʌŋktʃə/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: momento, ocasião

Simple English: A particular point in time, especially a critical one.

Example: At this juncture, Mr Pecksniff's face did not betoken certainty.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. To the extent of such a trifling loan as a crownpiece to a man of your talents, I look upon Mr Pecksniff as certain;' and seeing at this juncture that the expression of Mr Pecksniff's face by no means betokened that he shared this certainty, Mr Tigg laid his finger on his nose again for that gentleman's private and especial behoof; calling upon him thereby to take notice that the requisition of small loans was another instance of the peculiarities of genius as developed in his friend Slyme; that he, Tigg, winked at the same, because of the strong metaphysical interest which these weaknesses possessed; and that in reference to his own personal advocacy of such small advances, he merely consulted the humour of his friend, without the least regard to his own advantage or necessities. Go to

justify /ˈdʒʌstəˌfaɪ/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: justificar; alinhar

Simple English: To provide valid reason or explanation for an action.

Example: He tried to justify his absence by claiming he was unwell that day.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I am glad that this confidence in that great nation was justified. Go to

keenly /ˈkiːnli/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: vivamente; intensamente; atentamente

Simple English: With strong feeling or sharp attention.

Example: He watched the door keenly, waiting for her to appear.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Stay!' cried Mr Tigg, who had watched this proceeding keenly. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Stay!' cried Mr Tigg, who had watched this proceeding keenly. Go to

kennel /ˈkenəl/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: canil; casinha de cão

Simple English: A small shelter for a dog, or a place where dogs are kept.

Example: The puppy refused to sleep in its new kennel.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Why, is it likely,' rejoined Martin, with greater earnestness, 'that a young man newly escaped from this kennel of a place, and fresh to all the delights of being his own master in London, can have much leisure or inclination to think favourably of anything or anybody he has left behind him here? Go to

2. Taking a confused leave of Anthony and his son, and leaving the luggage of himself and daughters at the office to be called for afterwards, Mr Pecksniff, with one of the young ladies under each arm, dived across the street, and then across other streets, and so up the queerest courts, and down the strangest alleys and under the blindest archways, in a kind of frenzy; now skipping over a kennel, now running for his life from a coach and horses; now thinking he had lost his way, now thinking he had found it; now in a state of the highest confidence, now despondent to the last degree, but always in a great perspiration and flurry; until at length they stopped in a kind of paved yard near the Monument. Go to

kentish /ˈkɛntɪʃ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Kent; kentiano

Simple English: Belonging to or connected with the English county of Kent.

Example: A thin puff of smoke rose above the Kentish woods.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. When I left London - though I am Kentish by birth - and took this job, I decided it was England's dullest out-of-the-way corner. Go to

Original English Version

1. When I left London (I'm a Kentish man by birth, though), and took that situation here, I quite made up my mind that it was the dullest little out-of-the-way corner in England, and that there would be some credit in being jolly under such circumstances. Go to

keyhole /ˈkiːhoʊl/ (17 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: buraco da fechadura

Simple English: The hole in a lock where you put the key.

Example: He looked through the keyhole and saw nothing.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In his loving concern, he meant to listen at the keyhole again. Go to

2. In the dark passage, a narrow ray of light usually shone through that keyhole, but now he saw none. Go to

3. On my word of honour, I have looked through that keyhole, with short rests, since nine o'clock this morning. Go to

Original English Version

1. It happened on the fourth evening, that Mr Pecksniff walking, as usual, into the bar of the Dragon and finding no Mrs Lupin there, went straight upstairs; purposing, in the fervour of his affectionate zeal, to apply his ear once more to the keyhole, and quiet his mind by assuring himself that the hard-hearted patient was going on well. Go to

2. It happened that Mr Pecksniff, coming softly upon the dark passage into which a spiral ray of light usually darted through the same keyhole, was astonished to find no such ray visible; and it happened that Mr Pecksniff, when he had felt his way to the chamber-door, stooping hurriedly down to ascertain by personal inspection whether the jealousy of the old man had caused this keyhole to be stopped on the inside, brought his head into such violent contact with another head that he could not help uttering in an audible voice the monosyllable 'Oh!' which was, as it were, sharply unscrewed and jerked out of him by very anguish. Go to

3. I give you my brightest word of honour, sir, that I've been looking through that keyhole with short intervals of rest, ever since nine o'clock this morning, in expectation of receiving an answer to one of the most moderate and gentlemanly applications for a little temporary assistance--only fifteen pounds, and MY security--that the mind of man can conceive. Go to

kinder /ˈkaɪndər/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mais bondoso; mais gentil

Simple English: More kind than someone or something else.

Example: His new heart felt kinder than the old one.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Well then, my dear good woman,' said Mark, 'no kinder woman has ever lived. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Why, then, my dear good soul,' said Mark, 'and a kinder woman than you are never drawed breath--let me see the man as says she did!--what would be the likely consequence of us two being--' Go to

kindnesses /ˈkaɪndnəsɪz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gentilezas; bondades

Simple English: Kind and helpful acts done for other people.

Example: She repaid their kindnesses with a basket of fresh bread.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. With tears in his eyes, Tom Pinch described them and their many kindnesses. Go to

kith /kɪθ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: parentes, conhecidos

Simple English: Used in the phrase 'kith and kin' to mean friends and relatives.

Example: He is somehow kith and kin to me, if you can understand it.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. My grandfather is his cousin, so he is somehow kith and kin to me, if you can understand it. Go to

Original English Version

1. My grandfather is his cousin, so he's kith and kin to me, somehow, if you can make that out. Go to

knobby /ˈnɒbi/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: nodoso

Simple English: having small bumps or lumps, like an old finger or knuckle.

Example: Are you prepared for what may be before you?” He would nearly shake his finger at her, that knobby finger that had not changed much with age.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He had grazes on what the eldest called the 'knobby parts' of his body: his knees and elbows. Go to

Original English Version

1. They were not very serious in their nature; being limited to abrasions on what the eldest Miss Pecksniff called 'the knobby parts' of her parent's anatomy, such as his knees and elbows, and to the development of an entirely new organ, unknown to phrenologists, on the back of his head. Go to

knobs /nɑːbz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: puxadores; botões; saliências redondas

Simple English: Round handles or round raised parts on a surface.

Example: All the knobs on the old radio had been painted white.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff was quickly putting out the lights he had seen and reducing the brass knobs on his door from four or five hundred, which had strangely moved before his eyes, to about a dozen. Go to

Original English Version

1. She said it at a venture, but there was appropriate matter in it too; for Mr Pecksniff, being in the act of extinguishing the candles before mentioned pretty rapidly, and of reducing the number of brass knobs on his street door from four or five hundred (which had previously been juggling of their own accord before his eyes in a very novel manner) to a dozen or so, might in one sense have been said to be coming round the corner, and just turning it. Go to

knuckles /ˈnʌkəlz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: nós dos dedos; juntas da mão

Simple English: The joints where the fingers bend, on the back of the hand.

Example: He rapped on the door with his knuckles.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Spottletoe spoke angrily and struck the table hard with his knuckles. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'If you are about to pursue the course with which you have begun, sir,' pursued Mr Spottletoe in a great heat, and giving a violent rap on the table with his knuckles, 'the sooner you desist, and this assembly separates, the better. Go to

labourer /ˈleɪbərər/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: trabalhador braçal

Simple English: A person who does hard physical work.

Example: A labourer dug the ditch beside the road.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The labourer unyoked his horses and walked quickly home beside them, head down. Go to

Original English Version

1. The withering leaves no longer quiet, hurried to and fro in search of shelter from its chill pursuit; the labourer unyoked his horses, and with head bent down, trudged briskly home beside them; and from the cottage windows lights began to glance and wink upon the darkening fields. Go to

labours /ˈleɪbərz/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: trabalhos árduos

Simple English: hard work or difficult tasks; British spelling of 'labors'.

Example: Beautiful words came to her mind: “They rest from their labours.” “The weary are at rest.” “He giveth his beloved sleep.”

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Collecting rents was only an occasional change from his serious labours. Go to

lacing /ˈleɪsɪŋ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: amarração, cordão apertado

Simple English: the tight lacing of a corset or stays, seen as a visible sign of discomfort

Example: The sharp lacing showed in their noses after being pulled too tight.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Their tight stays had made their tempers smaller than their waists, and the sharp lacing showed in their noses. Go to

Original English Version

1. Beside her sat her spinster daughters, three in number, and of gentlemanly deportment, who had so mortified themselves with tight stays, that their tempers were reduced to something less than their waists, and sharp lacing was expressed in their very noses. Go to

ladders /ˈlædərz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: escadas de mão; escadas portáteis

Simple English: Frames with steps used for climbing up and down.

Example: Two ladders leaned against the wall of the barn.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Strange lonely pumps hid in blind alleys beside fire-ladders. Go to

Original English Version

1. Strange solitary pumps were found near Todgers's hiding themselves for the most part in blind alleys, and keeping company with fire-ladders. Go to

lady's /ˈleɪdiz/ (25 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: da senhora

Simple English: Belonging to a woman of high rank or good manners.

Example: The lady's gloves were left on the seat.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She wore a lady's clothes, but they were very plain. Go to

2. When she immediately met the young lady's eyes, the honest hostess felt rather confused. Go to

3. And I called you 'Miss,' too, ma'am!" Then, without meaning to, she looked at the third finger of the young lady's left hand. Go to

Original English Version

1. She was so conscious of expressing this in her face, that meeting the young lady's eyes immediately afterwards, and being a very honest hostess, she was rather confused. Go to

2. That I should have called you "Miss," too, ma'am!' But when she had proceeded thus far, she glanced involuntarily at the third finger of the young lady's left hand, and faltered again; for there was no ring upon it. Go to

3. Nobody but Mr Tigg, who, notwithstanding his extreme shabbiness, was still understood to be in some sort a lady's man, in right of his upper lip and his frogs, indicated a doubt of the justifiable nature of these measures; and he only ogled the three Miss Chuzzlewits with the least admixture of banter in his admiration, as though he would observe, 'You are positively down upon her to too great an extent, my sweet creatures, upon my soul you are!' Go to

lamb's /læmz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: do cordeiro

Simple English: Belonging to a young sheep.

Example: "Tell them at home that I should like supper, well, lamb's fry if they can get it; and if they can't, black-pot; and if they can't get that, chitterlings will do."

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His calm smile seemed to announce, "I am a messenger of peace!" He seemed to have the lamb's gentle nature and much of the dove. Go to

landladies /ˈlændˌleɪdiz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: senhorias (proprietárias que alugam quartos)

Simple English: Women who own and rent out houses or rooms to lodgers.

Example: At least that is what our landladies like to tell us.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He looked up in spite of himself directly; and having once looked up, there was no looking down again; for of all the tight, plump, buxom, bright-eyed, dimple-faced landladies that ever shone on earth, there stood before him then, bodily in that bar, the very pink and pineapple. Go to

Original English Version

1. He looked up in spite of himself directly; and having once looked up, there was no looking down again; for of all the tight, plump, buxom, bright-eyed, dimple-faced landladies that ever shone on earth, there stood before him then, bodily in that bar, the very pink and pineapple. Go to

landlady /ˈlændleɪdi/ (58 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: senhoria; dona da pensão

Simple English: A woman who rents rooms or a house to other people.

Example: The landlady asked for the rent on Friday.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He did nothing but frighten the landlady out of her five wits and refuse every suggestion. Go to

2. At the first alarm, the landlady had decided to send for him. Go to

3. The landlady was nearly out of her mind, so she quickly sent the same messenger for Mr Pecksniff. Go to

4. The mistress of the Blue Dragon looked just as a landlady should: broad, cheerful, comfortable, and pretty. Go to

5. By the fire, the fair landlady looked proudly around the large country bedroom. Go to

6. The rosy landlady of the Blue Dragon noticed all this and much more. Go to

Original English Version

1. An old gentleman and a young lady, travelling, unattended, in a rusty old chariot with post-horses; coming nobody knew whence and going nobody knew whither; had turned out of the high road, and driven unexpectedly to the Blue Dragon; and here was the old gentleman, who had taken this step by reason of his sudden illness in the carriage, suffering the most horrible cramps and spasms, yet protesting and vowing in the very midst of his pain, that he wouldn't have a doctor sent for, and wouldn't take any remedies but those which the young lady administered from a small medicine-chest, and wouldn't, in a word, do anything but terrify the landlady out of her five wits, and obstinately refuse compliance with every suggestion that was made to him. Go to

2. Now, there being no medical practitioner actually resident in the village, but a poor apothecary who was also a grocer and general dealer, the landlady had, upon her own responsibility, sent for him, in the very first burst and outset of the disaster. Go to

3. He had gone some miles away, and was not expected home until late at night; so the landlady, being by this time pretty well beside herself, dispatched the same messenger in all haste for Mr Pecksniff, as a learned man who could bear a deal of responsibility, and a moral man who could administer a world of comfort to a troubled mind. Go to

4. The mistress of the Blue Dragon was in outward appearance just what a landlady should be: broad, buxom, comfortable, and good looking, with a face of clear red and white, which, by its jovial aspect, at once bore testimony to her hearty participation in the good things of the larder and cellar, and to their thriving and healthful influences. Go to

5. Of all this, and much more, the rosy landlady of the Blue Dragon took as accurate note and observation as only woman can take of woman. Go to

6. 'What a Providence!' said the landlady of the Dragon, 'that you had the prescriptions and the medicines with you, miss!' Go to

landlady's /ˈlændˌleɪdiz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: da senhoria; da locadora

Simple English: Belonging to the woman who owns or manages a rented house or lodgings.

Example: The landlady's rules were strict about visitors after dark.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There was for just one second a shade, though not by any means a dark one, on the landlady's open brow. Go to

Original English Version

1. There was for just one second a shade, though not by any means a dark one, on the landlady's open brow. Go to

lanterns /ˈlæntərnz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: lanternas; lampiões

Simple English: Lamps with a cover, that can be carried.

Example: Coloured lanterns hung along the garden path.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A few years ago, a highly respectable, credible Chuzzlewit owned an ancient dark lantern, shaped much like lanterns used today. Go to

lapel /ləˈpɛl/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: lapela

Simple English: The folded front part of a coat or jacket collar.

Example: Then Cousin Ebenezer went right up to him, held his coat lapel, and whispered, 'Uncle Abraham, can you lend me an axe?'

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. When they moved toward the stairs, he seized Mr Pinch's coat lapel at the street door to stop interruption and gave him highly improving talk until they reached the Dragon, with Mark and the new pupil close behind. Go to

Original English Version

1. Being cut short in these speeches by a general move towards the stairs, he took possession at the street door of the lapel of Mr Pinch's coat, as a security against further interruption; and entertained that gentleman with some highly improving discourse until they reached the Dragon, whither they were closely followed by Mark and the new pupil. Go to

laughingly /ˈlæfɪŋli/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: rindo, com um sorriso

Simple English: in a laughing or cheerful manner

Example: She turned laughingly upon another child who was playing near her.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They both returned his greeting laughingly, and walked home arm-in-arm. Go to

Original English Version

1. They both returned his greeting laughingly, and walked home arm-in-arm. Go to

lazily /ˈleɪzɪli/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: preguiçosamente

Simple English: In a slow way, without effort.

Example: The cat stretched lazily in the sun.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. For a few moments, like someone newly awake, he looked lazily at his visitor without clearly knowing he was there. Go to

laziness /ˈleɪzinəs/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: preguiça

Simple English: The habit of not wanting to work.

Example: He lost the place through pure laziness.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There were no staring portraits to complain about laziness and no wide-eyed birds on the curtains to watch the guests. Go to

leaned /liːnd/ (39 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: apoiou; encostou

Simple English: Rested part of the body against something for support.

Example: Dorothy leaned her chin upon her hand.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Then they rested their elbows on the sill and leaned farther in, as unwilling to leave as crickets born around a burning fire. Go to

2. After this, Mr Pecksniff leaned back in his easy-chair, shining with such honest innocence that Mrs Lupin almost expected to see a stained-glass Glory, like the Saint's in church, around his head. Go to

3. He returned to the same seat and position, leaned back, and bit his nails. Go to

Original English Version

1. As to this idle company, there they stood, spellbound by the place, and, casting now and then a glance upon the darkness in their rear, settled their lazy elbows more at ease upon the sill, and leaned a little further in: no more disposed to tear themselves away than if they had been born to cluster round the blazing hearth like so many crickets. Go to

leggings /ˈlɛɡɪŋz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: perneiras; polainas

Simple English: Coverings worn over the lower legs.

Example: He pulled on his leather leggings.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They wore loose work shirts, brown and grey coats, red wool scarves, leather leggings, strangely shaped hats, hunting whips, and carried rough sticks. Go to

Original English Version

1. Then there were young farmers and old farmers with smock-frocks, brown great-coats, drab great-coats, red worsted comforters, leather-leggings, wonderful shaped hats, hunting-whips, and rough sticks, standing about in groups, or talking noisily together on the tavern steps, or paying and receiving huge amounts of greasy wealth, with the assistance of such bulky pocket-books that when they were in their pockets it was apoplexy to get them out, and when they were out it was spasms to get them in again. Go to

lends /lɛndz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: empresta

Simple English: Gives someone something temporarily.

Example: She lends me books.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Whoever lends it, tell them I have a proud spirit and finely tuned feelings that will not bear patronage. Go to

Original English Version

1. Perhaps in this place the history may pause to congratulate itself upon the enormous amount of bravery, wisdom, eloquence, virtue, gentle birth, and true nobility, that appears to have come into England with the Norman Invasion: an amount which the genealogy of every ancient family lends its aid to swell, and which would beyond all question have been found to be just as great, and to the full as prolific in giving birth to long lines of chivalrous descendants, boastful of their origin, even though William the Conqueror had been William the Conquered; a change of circumstances which, it is quite certain, would have made no manner of difference in this respect. Go to

lengthened /ˈlɛŋθənd/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: prolongado, alongado

Simple English: extended in time or duration, made longer

Example: He said abruptly, after another lengthened silence, that Pinch needed more devil in him.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In the meantime Mark, having a shrewd notion that his mistress was in very low spirits, and that he could not exactly answer for the consequences of any lengthened TETE-A-TETE in the bar, kept himself obstinately out of her way all the afternoon and evening. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'I'll tell you what, Pinch!' he said abruptly, after another lengthened silence--'You haven't half enough of the devil in you. Go to

2. In the meantime Mark, having a shrewd notion that his mistress was in very low spirits, and that he could not exactly answer for the consequences of any lengthened TETE-A-TETE in the bar, kept himself obstinately out of her way all the afternoon and evening. Go to

lighted /ˈlaɪtɪd/ (20 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: acesa; iluminada

Simple English: Turned on or set on fire so as to give light.

Example: A lighted candle stood alone on the windowsill.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It blew out Miss Pecksniff's lighted candle and slammed the front-door against Mr Pecksniff as he entered. Go to

2. I have been like a lighted torch in peaceful homes, setting fire to moral gases and vapours that might otherwise have stayed harmless. Go to

3. He took a lighted candle and, with his young relative, prepared to leave. Go to

Original English Version

1. But the oddest feat they achieved was, to take advantage of the sudden opening of Mr Pecksniff's front-door, to dash wildly into his passage; whither the wind following close upon them, and finding the back-door open, incontinently blew out the lighted candle held by Miss Pecksniff, and slammed the front-door against Mr Pecksniff who was at that moment entering, with such violence, that in the twinkling of an eye he lay on his back at the bottom of the steps. Go to

2. For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs. Go to

3. I have so corrupted and changed the nature of all those who have ever attended on me, by breeding avaricious plots and hopes within them; I have engendered such domestic strife and discord, by tarrying even with members of my own family; I have been such a lighted torch in peaceful homes, kindling up all the inflammable gases and vapours in their moral atmosphere, which, but for me, might have proved harmless to the end, that I have, I may say, fled from all who knew me, and taking refuge in secret places have lived, of late, the life of one who is hunted. Go to

4. So he took leave of his friend, with many thanks, groped his way out, as well as he could, into the now lamp-lighted streets, and hurried off to get his dinner. Go to

5. With that he took up a lighted candle, and, attended by his young relative, prepared to leave the room. Go to

6. To tell of half the queer old taverns that had a drowsy and secret existence near Todgers's, would fill a goodly book; while a second volume no less capacious might be devoted to an account of the quaint old guests who frequented their dimly lighted parlours. Go to

lightest /ˈlaɪtɪst/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mais leve; mais claro

Simple English: Having the least weight, or the most brightness, of all.

Example: She chose the lightest bag to carry up the mountain.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. There was another; not quite so bad at first, but still a trying shop; where children's books were sold, and where poor Robinson Crusoe stood alone in his might, with dog and hatchet, goat-skin cap and fowling-pieces; calmly surveying Philip Quarn and the host of imitators round him, and calling Mr Pinch to witness that he, of all the crowd, impressed one solitary footprint on the shore of boyish memory, whereof the tread of generations should not stir the lightest grain of sand. Go to

2. Great thoughts and hopes came crowding on his mind as the rich music rolled upon the air and yet among them--something more grave and solemn in their purpose, but the same--were all the images of that day, down to its very lightest recollection of childhood. Go to

likeness /ˈlaɪknəs/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: aparência; figura

Simple English: The fact of looking similar to someone.

Example: There is a strong likeness between the brothers.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Enemies mentioned earlier claimed they saw an imagined likeness between the horse and its master. Go to

2. It is thought a good likeness; I recognize something in the left corner of the nose.' Go to

3. Martin thought it a good likeness, though not intellectual enough. Go to

Original English Version

1. The latter is considered a good likeness. Go to

Limited /ˈlɪmɪtɪd/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: limitado; limita; restrito

Simple English: Very small in quantity or available for use.

Example: The store has a limited selection of books this week.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He will also have the constant company of people with a humble position and limited abilities. Go to

lingered /ˈlɪŋərɛd/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: demorar-se; permanecer

Simple English: To remain or continue longer than expected.

Example: At last they lingered on one away to the left, far back from the road, dimly white with blossoming trees in the twilight of the surrounding woods.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. There was an odd smell in the passage, as if the concentrated essence of all the dinners that had been cooked in the kitchen since the house was built, lingered at the top of the kitchen stairs to that hour, and like the Black Friar in Don Juan, 'wouldn't be driven away.' In particular, there was a sensation of cabbage; as if all the greens that had ever been boiled there, were evergreens, and flourished in immortal strength. Go to

2. Among the narrow thoroughfares at hand, there lingered, here and there, an ancient doorway of carved oak, from which, of old, the sounds of revelry and feasting often came; but now these mansions, only used for storehouses, were dark and dull, and, being filled with wool, and cotton, and the like--such heavy merchandise as stifles sound and stops the throat of echo--had an air of palpable deadness about them which, added to their silence and desertion, made them very grim. Go to

liquids /ˈlɪqʌɪds/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: líquido

Simple English: A substance that flows and takes the shape of its container.

Example: Nancy quickly brought a bottle from a cupboard holding many different liquids.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If we drink harmless fluids too much, we get dropsy; if we drink strong liquids, we get drunk. Go to

Original English Version

1. If we indulge in harmless fluids, we get the dropsy; if in exciting liquids, we get drunk. Go to

livelier /ˈlɪvɛlɪr/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: termo inglês: livelier

Simple English: Full of energy, animation, or interest.

Example: Sydney was none the livelier and none the soberer for so much application.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Even those tokens of the season which emphatically whispered of the coming winter, graced the landscape, and, for the moment, tinged its livelier features with no oppressive air of sadness. Go to

loaf /loʊf/ (18 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pão; fôrma de pão

Simple English: Bread that has been baked in one large piece.

Example: We bought a warm loaf on the way home.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. With this welcome and the sight of their breakfast on a round table by the fire, Tom's crust tasted as rich as bread from a fairy loaf. Go to

2. He asked Mr Pecksniff for the loaf and took a rasher of Pecksniff's private bacon quite calmly. Go to

3. It displayed pink boiled beef, a poorly baked soft loaf, many cups and saucers, and the usual other items. Go to

Original English Version

1. The very tollman, though an ugly chap in general, and one whom folks were rather shy of handling, came out himself to take the toll, and give him rough good morning; and that with all this, and a glimpse of the family breakfast on a little round table before the fire, the crust Tom Pinch had brought away with him acquired as rich a flavour as though it had been cut from a fairy loaf. Go to

2. There was something almost awful, too, about the self-possession of the new pupil; who 'troubled' Mr Pecksniff for the loaf, and helped himself to a rasher of that gentleman's own particular and private bacon, with all the coolness in life. Go to

3. 'Or if there's one in the eating parlour,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'I can find it myself.' So he led his daughters, without waiting for any further introduction, into a room on the ground-floor, where a table-cloth (rather a tight and scanty fit in reference to the table it covered) was already spread for breakfast; displaying a mighty dish of pink boiled beef; an instance of that particular style of loaf which is known to housekeepers as a slack-baked, crummy quartern; a liberal provision of cups and saucers; and the usual appendages. Go to

lodestar /ˈloʊdstɑː/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: estrela-guia

Simple English: something that serves as a guide or focus of one's attention and devotion

Example: She called the whiskers 'the lodestar of her existence.'

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She called the whiskers "the lodestar of her existence." Her love for her uncle Chuzzlewit was strong. Go to

Original English Version

1. Then there was Mrs Spottletoe, who being much too slim for her years, and of a poetical constitution, was accustomed to inform her more intimate friends that the said whiskers were 'the lodestar of her existence;' and who could now, by reason of her strong affection for her uncle Chuzzlewit, and the shock it gave her to be suspected of testamentary designs upon him, do nothing but cry--except moan. Go to

lodged /lɑːdʒd/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: alojou-se; ficou preso; hospedou-se

Simple English: Became fixed or stuck firmly in one place, or stayed somewhere as a guest.

Example: The large importance attached to the harpooneer's vocation is evinced by the fact, that originally in the old Dutch Fishery, two centuries and more ago, the command of a whale ship was not wholly lodged in the person now called the captain, but was divided between him and an officer called the Specksnyder.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Jonas lodged cheaply at the obscure Half Moon and Seven Stars. Go to

Original English Version

1. Well!' And then remembering that Mr Pecksniff had privately cautioned him to say nothing in reference to the old gentleman of the same name who had lodged at the Dragon, but to reserve all mention of that person for him, he had no better means of hiding his confusion than by raising his own glass to his mouth. Go to

lodging /ˈlɑːdʒɪŋ/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: alojamento; pousada

Simple English: A place where you stay for a short time.

Example: We found cheap lodging near the market.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Nor will he remember the seventy pounds a year for board and lodging, which would have been expensive even at seventeen pounds. Go to

Original English Version

1. He'll not even remember the five hundred pounds he had with me under false pretences; or the seventy pounds a year for board and lodging that would have been dear at seventeen! Go to

lodgings /ˈlɑːdʒɪŋz/ (23 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: aposentos alugados; moradia alugada

Simple English: Rented rooms where someone lives temporarily.

Example: “I think we must stay in lodgings and look for a house.”

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. All private lodgings--a full four beds and a sofa--rose cent per cent in price. Go to

Original English Version

1. Moreover, Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Jonas were economically quartered at the Half Moon and Seven Stars, which was an obscure ale-house; and by the very next coach there came posting to the scene of action, so many other affectionate members of the family (who quarrelled with each other, inside and out, all the way down, to the utter distraction of the coachman), that in less than four-and-twenty hours the scanty tavern accommodation was at a premium, and all the private lodgings in the place, amounting to full four beds and sofa, rose cent per cent in the market. Go to

2. But he stopped to read the playbill at the theatre and surveyed the doorway with a kind of awe, which was not diminished when a sallow gentleman with long dark hair came out, and told a boy to run home to his lodgings and bring down his broadsword. Go to

loveliest /ˈlʌvliɪst/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: o mais belo; o mais encantador

Simple English: The most beautiful or the most pleasant.

Example: That was the loveliest garden in the whole village.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "It led me," Tom said quietly, "to see one of the loveliest and most beautiful faces you can imagine." Go to

Original English Version

1. 'It led to my seeing,' said Tom, in a lower voice, 'one of the loveliest and most beautiful faces you can possibly picture to yourself.' Go to

lovingly /ˈlʌvɪŋli/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: carinhosamente

Simple English: In a way that shows love or care.

Example: She lovingly wrapped the child in a blanket.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Who would not smile lovingly, not to make fun of poor Tom, that this holiday excites you so much? Go to

lucifer /ˈluːsɪfər/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Lúcifer

Simple English: the name for the devil or the fallen angel Satan

Example: He is like Lucifer, if that proud spirit were trapped among soulless ghosts.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. So I am proud--proud as Lucifer. Go to

Original English Version

1. I am consequently proud--proud as Lucifer. Go to

luckier /ˈlʌkiər/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: mais sortudo

Simple English: Having better luck than someone else.

Example: The second traveller was luckier and found the path.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "For I assure you, I was thinking nothing could be luckier than Mr Pinch being like you." Go to

ludicrous /ˈluːdɪkrəs/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ridícula

Simple English: so foolish, unreasonable, or out of place as to be laughable

Example: There was a ludicrous disparity in our years.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The American portion of this story is in no other respect a caricature than as it is an exhibition, for the most part (Mr Bevan expected), of a ludicrous side, ONLY, of the American character--of that side which was, four-and-twenty years ago, from its nature, the most obtrusive, and the most likely to be seen by such travellers as Young Martin and Mark Tapley. Go to

2. He was far from handsome certainly; and was drest in a snuff-coloured suit, of an uncouth make at the best, which, being shrunk with long wear, was twisted and tortured into all kinds of odd shapes; but notwithstanding his attire, and his clumsy figure, which a great stoop in his shoulders, and a ludicrous habit he had of thrusting his head forward, by no means redeemed, one would not have been disposed (unless Mr Pecksniff said so) to consider him a bad fellow by any means. Go to

lung /lʌŋ/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pulmão

Simple English: Organ in chest responsible for breathing and oxygen exchange.

Example: Smoking can damage your lung health and reduce breathing capacity.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Inflammation of the lungs, perhaps? Go to

2. Well, there would be some credit in staying cheerful with inflammation of the lungs." Go to

lupin /ˈluːpɪn/ (183 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Lupin (sobrenome da dona da estalagem, Sra. Lupin)

Simple English: Surname of Mrs Lupin, the landlady of the Blue Dragon inn in Martin Chuzzlewit.

Example: 'There!' said Mrs Lupin - the Blue Dragon was licensed under that name to serve people and animals.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'There!' said Mrs Lupin - the Blue Dragon was licensed under that name to serve people and animals. Go to

2. 'At least, I am sure this young lady is your friend,' Mrs Lupin said gently. Go to

3. Mrs Lupin was very alarmed: he had worked hard on the paper, yet burnt it, and he might have set the Dragon on fire. Go to

4. Thanking Mrs Lupin for her care and company, she whispered that she would stay longer. Go to

5. Mrs Lupin was very curious, as women were said to be, and at another time it might have been hard to make her leave. Go to

6. 'Good evening, Mrs Lupin!' Go to

Original English Version

1. 'There!' said Mrs Lupin; for in that name the Blue Dragon was licensed to furnish entertainment, both to man and beast. Go to

2. 'At least,' urged Mrs Lupin, gently, 'this young lady is your friend, I am sure.' Go to

3. This destruction of the paper, both as being strangely inconsistent with the labour he had devoted to it, and as involving considerable danger of fire to the Dragon, occasioned Mrs Lupin not a little consternation. Go to

4. Mrs Lupin had her full share and dividend of that large capital of curiosity which is inherited by her sex, and at another time it might have been difficult so to impress this hint upon her as to induce her to take it. Go to

5. 'Good evening, Mrs Lupin!' Go to

6. What is the matter, Mrs Lupin?' Go to

lupin's /ˈluːpɪnz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Lupin (da Sra. Lupin)

Simple English: Possessive form referring to Mrs Lupin, the innkeeper.

Example: Though the statement was Mrs Lupin's and not Mr Pecksniff's, Mr Pecksniff made it his own and consoled her with it.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Here again, though the statement was Mrs Lupin's and not Mr Pecksniff's, Mr Pecksniff made it his own and consoled her with it. Go to

madhouse /ˈmædhaʊs/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: manicômio; lugar caótico

Simple English: An old term for a mental hospital; also a chaotic place.

Example: ['This is the Court of Chancery, which has its decaying houses and its blighted lands in every shire, which has its worn-out lunatic in every madhouse and its dead in every churchyard, which has its ruined suitor with his slipshod heels and threadbare dress borrowing and begging through the round of every man’s acquaintance, which gives to monied might the means abundantly of wearying out the right, which so exhausts finances, patience, courage, hope, so overthrows the brain and breaks the heart, that there is not an honourable man among its practitioners who would not give - who does not often give - the warning, “Suffer any wrong that can be done you rather than come here!”', 'The palace, the night-cellar, the jail, the madhouse: the chambers of birth and death, of health and sickness, the rigid face of the corpse and the calm sleep of the child: midnight was upon them all.', 'Who do you think helped Anne Catherick escape when the people from the madhouse were chasing her?', 'The man looked the place over and said, in effect, that he pitied us for having to live in a madhouse with a wild beast like that.', 'I opened the window and signed to the man not to notice, so he contented himself after looking the place over and making up his mind as to what kind of a place he had got to by saying: ‘Lor’ bless yer, sir, I wouldn’t mind what was said to me in a bloomin’ madhouse.', 'Together with the sound of gunfire and the screams and groans of the wounded, it made the deck of the Fuwalda look like a madhouse.']

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If she could, she would prove herself a mental Samson by putting her brother-in-law in a private madhouse. Go to

Original English Version

1. Then there was the widow of a deceased brother of Mr Martin Chuzzlewit, who being almost supernaturally disagreeable, and having a dreary face and a bony figure and a masculine voice, was, in right of these qualities, what is commonly called a strong-minded woman; and who, if she could, would have established her claim to the title, and have shown herself, mentally speaking, a perfect Samson, by shutting up her brother-in-law in a private madhouse, until he proved his complete sanity by loving her very much. Go to

madly /ˈmædli/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: loucamente; desesperadamente

Simple English: In a wild way, as if without reason.

Example: He laughed madly at his own words.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. At last the sparks whizzed madly, which the sour wind could not bear. Go to

Original English Version

1. And what an impotent swaggerer it was too, for all its noise; for if it had any influence on that hoarse companion, it was but to make him roar his cheerful song the louder, and by consequence to make the fire burn the brighter, and the sparks to dance more gayly yet; at length, they whizzed so madly round and round, that it was too much for such a surly wind to bear; so off it flew with a howl giving the old sign before the ale-house door such a cuff as it went, that the Blue Dragon was more rampant than usual ever afterwards, and indeed, before Christmas, reared clean out of its crazy frame. Go to

madman /ˈmædmæn/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: louco; doido

Simple English: A man who behaves in a wild, crazy way.

Example: He drove like a madman down the narrow road.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Who but a madman would think Pecksniff likes hearing this on Sundays? Go to

Original English Version

1. Who but a madman would suppose he cares to hear it said on Sundays, that the volunteer who plays the organ in the church, and practises on summer evenings in the dark, is Mr Pecksniff's young man, eh, Tom? Go to

2. Who but a madman would suppose it is the game of such a man as he, to have his name in everybody's mouth, connected with the thousand useless odds and ends you do (and which, of course, he taught you), eh, Tom? Go to

3. Who but a madman would suppose you advertised him hereabouts, much cheaper and much better than a chalker on the walls could, eh, Tom? Go to

madman's /ˈmædmænz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do louco

Simple English: Belonging to a man considered insane.

Example: ['If I could understand even one such mind, even one madman’s thoughts, I might raise my own science very high.', 'It was strangely comforting to find that, even in this madman’s mind, I was separate from the others.', "It was a madman's idea; luckily I fought the wish and lay down on my bed to calm my shaking body.", 'She threw the weapon to the ground at the laughing madman’s feet and turned back to kneel beside the Englishman.', "The madman's eyes bulged from his pale face, his mouth opened, and he let go of Tarzan's shoulder.", "She was free from the madman's hands, but she had fallen into the control of the man she had almost killed a moment before."]

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. At night one house can hold as many mixed fancies as a madman's mind. Go to

Original English Version

1. Thus in the quiet hours of the night, one house shuts in as many incoherent and incongruous fancies as a madman's head. Go to

mahogany /məˈhɑːɡəni/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mogno; castanho-avermelhado

Simple English: A hard reddish brown wood, or its colour.

Example: The table was of dark mahogany.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The old Spanish mahogany only winked sometimes, like a sleepy cat or dog. Go to

Original English Version

1. There was no wakeful reflection of the fire there, as in your modern chambers, which upon the darkest nights have a watchful consciousness of French polish; the old Spanish mahogany winked at it now and then, as a dozing cat or dog might, nothing more. Go to

mammon /ˈmæmən/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Mamom

Simple English: a biblical name representing greed and the love of money and wealth

Example: "He thought he could not serve God and Mammon, so he decided to stick to Mammon," said Miss Cornelia.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Oh, Mammon, Mammon!' cried Mr Pecksniff, striking his forehead. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Oh, Mammon, Mammon!' cried Mr Pecksniff, smiting his forehead. Go to

manboddo's /mænˈbɒdoʊz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: de Monboddo (filósofo escocês)

Simple English: possessive form referring to Lord Monboddo's theory that the human race may once have been monkeys.

Example: "Without accepting Manboddo's theory that the human race may once have been monkeys, men certainly do very strange things."

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. First, without accepting Manboddo's theory that the human race may once have been monkeys, men certainly do very strange things. Go to

mane /meɪn/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: juba

Simple English: The long hair on the neck of a lion or a horse.

Example: The Lion shook his shaggy mane.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "There is little credit in being cheerful while fellows like him go about like roaring lions, if there are lions all roar and mane. Go to

Original English Version

1. There's a little credit--not much--in being jolly, when such fellows as him is a-going about like roaring lions; if there is any breed of lions, at least, as is all roar and mane. Go to

mark's /mɑːrks/ (52 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do Mark

Simple English: belonging to a man named Mark

Example: I did not want to eat Uncle Mark's peppermints.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Such a question as this, propounded in such a manner, at such a time, and by such a person, proved (at least, as far as, Mark's flesh and blood were concerned) to be one of them. Go to

2. The hostess sat quite silent for a little time, but she very soon put both her hands in Mark's and shook them heartily. Go to

Original English Version

1. Such a question as this, propounded in such a manner, at such a time, and by such a person, proved (at least, as far as, Mark's flesh and blood were concerned) to be one of them. Go to

2. The hostess sat quite silent for a little time, but she very soon put both her hands in Mark's and shook them heartily. Go to

martin's /ˈmɑːrtɪnz/ (154 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Martin

Simple English: belonging to a character named Martin

Example: Something in the story troubled Martin's sense of beauty.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pinch eagerly rose and did so; the handle hung just above Martin's head as he warmed himself. Go to

2. Pleased by Martin's praise of the arrangements, he led them back to the parlour. Go to

3. Mr Pecksniff insisted on personally seeing to Martin's comfort. Go to

4. Martin's dreams may be understood from later pages. Go to

5. Tom tried once or twice to make ordinary conversation, then felt he should not interrupt Martin's thoughts and said no more. Go to

6. Martin looked down at Mr Pinch, who now had to look over Martin's leg to see the fire. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pinch rose, and complied with great alacrity--the handle hung just over Martin's head, as he warmed himself--and listened with a smiling face to what his friend went on to say. Go to

2. I can guess what SHE said when you told her,' he added, glancing at Martin's handsome face. Go to

martyr /ˈmɑːrtər/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mártir

Simple English: A person who is killed or suffers greatly because of their beliefs.

Example: The church is named after a martyr from the third century.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. What a martyr!' Go to

Original English Version

1. Here's a martyr!' Go to

martyrs /ˈmɑːrtərz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mártires

Simple English: people who suffer or die for a belief

Example: The martyrs were remembered at the service.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. We know Fox's Book of Martyrs, the Court of Requests, and the Star Chamber, but I fear no one when I say that holding Chevy Slyme for a bill is worse than any cockfighting I know.' Go to

Original English Version

1. Now,' said Mr Tigg, 'we have heard of Fox's Book of Martyrs, I believe, and we have heard of the Court of Requests, and the Star Chamber; but I fear the contradiction of no man alive or dead, when I assert that my friend Chevy Slyme being held in pawn for a bill, beats any amount of cockfighting with which I am acquainted.' Go to

mass /mæs/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: massa; missa; maciça

Simple English: Affecting a large number of people or things together.

Example: The mass protest gathered thousands of people in the city center.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It looked fierce and proud rather than gentle and kind, almost like Satan's, and he had a great mass of unbrushed hair. Go to

matron /ˈmeɪtrən/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: matrona

Simple English: a woman in charge of a school, hospital, or household

Example: The matron checked the rooms.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Family tradition also proves that, at some unstated time, there was a matron with destructive principles who knew much about making and using explosive devices. Go to

Original English Version

1. It is also clearly proved by the oral traditions of the Family, that there existed, at some one period of its history which is not distinctly stated, a matron of such destructive principles, and so familiarized to the use and composition of inflammatory and combustible engines, that she was called 'The Match Maker;' by which nickname and byword she is recognized in the Family legends to this day. Go to

2. As this fair matron sat beside the fire, she glanced occasionally with all the pride of ownership, about the room; which was a large apartment, such as one may see in country places, with a low roof and a sunken flooring, all downhill from the door, and a descent of two steps on the inside so exquisitely unexpected, that strangers, despite the most elaborate cautioning, usually dived in head first, as into a plunging-bath. Go to

mayor's /ˈmeɪərz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do prefeito; da prefeita

Simple English: The possessive form of mayor, showing that something belongs to or is connected with the head of a town or city government.

Example: Blossom became furious when he heard the mayor's order.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But this was a banquet, a private Lord Mayor's feast to remember afterwards. Go to

Original English Version

1. The magnitude of these preparations quite took away Tom Pinch's breath; for though the new pupils were usually let down softly, as one may say, particularly in the wine department, which had so many stages of declension, that sometimes a young gentleman was a whole fortnight in getting to the pump; still this was a banquet; a sort of Lord Mayor's feast in private life; a something to think of, and hold on by, afterwards. Go to

meanness /ˈmiːnnəs/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mesquinhez; baixeza

Simple English: The quality of being unkind or of not giving.

Example: His meanness lost him every friend.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Treachery, deceit, low plans, jealousy of real or imagined rivals, meanness, lies, shameful acts, and acting like servants to please me - or," he said, looking into his cousin's eyes, "a show of honest independence, almost worse than all - these are what my wealth reveals. Go to

Original English Version

1. Treachery, deceit, and low design; hatred of competitors, real or fancied, for my favour; meanness, falsehood, baseness, and servility; or,' and here he looked closely in his cousin's eyes, 'or an assumption of honest independence, almost worse than all; these are the beauties which my wealth has brought to light. Go to

measles /ˈmiːzəlz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sarampo

Simple English: A contagious viral disease that causes fever and a red rash.

Example: The child recovered from measles.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'There might be some credit in being happy with a wife, especially if the children had measles and were very difficult. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'There might be some credit in being jolly with a wife, 'specially if the children had the measles and that, and was very fractious indeed. Go to

meekness /ˈmiːknəs/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mansidão; humildade

Simple English: The quality of being gentle and humble.

Example: Her meekness was not weakness.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His eyes overflowed and his face shone with gracious sweat, so that he seemed covered in moist meekness. Go to

Original English Version

1. When Mr Pecksniff, rising from his seat at the table's head, with a daughter on either hand, received his guests in the best parlour and motioned them to chairs, with eyes so overflowing and countenance so damp with gracious perspiration, that he may be said to have been in a kind of moist meekness! Go to

melancholy /ˈmɛlənkəli/ (45 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: melancolia; tristeza pensativa

Simple English: Melancholy is a quiet, thoughtful feeling of sadness.

Example: A mood of melancholy filled the empty room.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The strong smith and his men dealt such strokes upon their work, as made even the melancholy night rejoice, and brought a glow into its dark face as it hovered about the door and windows, peeping curiously in above the shoulders of a dozen loungers. Go to

2. 'Mr Pinch, Mr Pinch!' said Pecksniff, wheeling his chair about, and looking at him with an aspect of the deepest melancholy, 'I did not expect this from you. Go to

3. 'I am afraid,' said Mr Pecksniff, pausing at the door, and giving his head a melancholy roll, 'I am afraid that this looks artful. Go to

4. But it is a melancholy truth, and a deplorable instance of the uncharitableness of the world, that they made the comparison. Go to

5. 'And yet there is a melancholy sweetness in these youthful hopes! Go to

6. Tom Pinch seemed a little disposed to be melancholy for half a minute or so, but he found comfort very soon, and pursued his ruminations thus: Go to

melodramas /ˈmɛlədrɑːməz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: melodramas

Simple English: plays or stories with exaggerated emotional plots and gestures

Example: He must have used a rule from melodramas.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If Mr Pecksniff understood from Martin Chuzzlewit's gestures that he wanted to speak, he must have used a rule from melodramas. Go to

Original English Version

1. Now if Mr Pecksniff knew, from anything Martin Chuzzlewit had expressed in gestures, that he wanted to speak to him, he could only have found it out on some such principle as prevails in melodramas, and in virtue of which the elderly farmer with the comic son always knows what the dumb girl means when she takes refuge in his garden, and relates her personal memoirs in incomprehensible pantomime. Go to

melt /mɛlt/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: derreter; derretimento; degelo

Simple English: To turn from solid into liquid because of heat exposure.

Example: The ice will melt quickly when exposed to the warm sun.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. From one side, it seemed to melt slowly through the sign-board and come out on the other. Go to

2. To say butter would not melt in Mr Pecksniff's mouth would not describe his gentleness. Go to

3. To Tom, it seemed to ask the sun to melt it gently. Go to

memorandum /ˌmeməˈrændəm/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: memorando; anotação

Simple English: A written note or record made so that information will be remembered.

Example: The King made a memorandum of the fact.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Tigg added this condition to his memorandum; read the entry over to himself with a severe frown; and that the transaction might be the more correct and business-like, appended his initials to the whole. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Tigg added this condition to his memorandum; read the entry over to himself with a severe frown; and that the transaction might be the more correct and business-like, appended his initials to the whole. Go to

mend /mɛnd/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: consertar; remendar

Simple English: To repair something that is broken or torn.

Example: She sat down to mend the coat.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Then Miss Charity asked him to tie her trunk, Miss Mercy asked him to mend her box, and he wrote full labels for all the luggage. Go to

Original English Version

1. He would not have had leisure to say much, had his new friend been ever so loquacious; for first of all Mr Pecksniff called him down to stand upon the top of his portmanteau and represent ancient statues there, until such time as it would consent to be locked; and then Miss Charity called him to come and cord her trunk; and then Miss Mercy sent for him to come and mend her box; and then he wrote the fullest possible cards for all the luggage; and then he volunteered to carry it all downstairs; and after that to see it safely carried on a couple of barrows to the old finger-post at the end of the lane; and then to mind it till the coach came up. Go to

merciful /ˈmɜːrsɪfəl/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: clemente; misericordioso

Simple English: Ready to forgive and not punish.

Example: The judge was merciful to the young man.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. But he wore a moustache--a shaggy moustache too; nothing in the meek and merciful way, but quite in the fierce and scornful style; the regular Satanic sort of thing--and he wore, besides, a vast quantity of unbrushed hair. Go to

mercy's /ˈmɜrsiz/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: da misericórdia

Simple English: Belonging to compassion or forgiveness shown to someone.

Example: They were at mercy's edge after the trial.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He lay at full length on a temporary sofa of three chairs, with Mercy's stool for a pillow. Go to

Original English Version

1. Martin had in the meantime made himself as comfortable as circumstances would permit, by constructing before the fire a temporary sofa of three chairs with Mercy's stool for a pillow, and lying down at full-length upon it. Go to

merriest /ˈmeriɪst/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: o mais alegre

Simple English: The most cheerful of all.

Example: It was the merriest feast of the whole year.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Why, I never thought if of myself till now!' said Mark, raising his eyebrows with a look of the merriest possible surprise. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Why, I never thought if of myself till now!' said Mark, raising his eyebrows with a look of the merriest possible surprise. Go to

merrily /ˈmɛrɪli/ (17 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: alegremente

Simple English: In a cheerful and lively way.

Example: The children laughed merrily together.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Upon my word, now,' said Mr Pecksniff, merrily, 'I shall be very curious to see what you make of the grammar-school. Go to

merriment /ˈmerimənt/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: alegria ruidosa; folguedo

Simple English: Laughter and happy noise made by people enjoying themselves.

Example: Sounds of merriment came from the kitchen.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'But if common report be true for once, Mark, as I think it is, being able to confirm it by what I know myself,' said Mr Pinch, 'you are the cause of half this merriment, and set it going.' Go to

2. With such stimulants to merriment did he beguile the time, and do the honours of the table; while Mr Pinch, perhaps to assure himself that what he saw and heard was holiday reality, and not a charming dream, ate of everything, and in particular disposed of the slim sandwiches to a surprising extent. Go to

3. 'They won't hurt us, sir, I dare say.' And having given him this answer with great demureness she was so overcome by her own humour, that she was fain to stifle her merriment in her sister's shawl. Go to

messrs /ˈmɛsərz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Srs.

Simple English: abreviação antes de nomes de homens

Example: Messrs Brown and Smith signed the letter.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The meditations of Mr Pecksniff that evening at the bar of the Dragon, and that night in his own house, were very serious and grave indeed; the more especially as the intelligence he had received from Messrs Tigg and Slyme touching the arrival of other members of the family, were fully confirmed on more particular inquiry. Go to

midsummer /ˌmɪdˈsʌmər/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pleno verão

Simple English: The middle of the summer.

Example: The pond dried up by midsummer.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He had just noticed that his companion's shirt was open as if it were Midsummer, and every breath of air moved it. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'But bless my soul, Mark,' said Mr Pinch, who in the progress of his observation just then made the discovery that the bosom of his companion's shirt was as much exposed as if it was Midsummer, and was ruffled by every breath of air, 'why don't you wear a waistcoat?' Go to

mildest /ˈmaɪldɪst/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: o mais suave

Simple English: Least strong, harsh or severe.

Example: It was the mildest weather they had found.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He had nothing of the crocodile or even the mildest touch of the serpent. Go to

Original English Version

1. If ever man combined within himself all the mild qualities of the lamb with a considerable touch of the dove, and not a dash of the crocodile, or the least possible suggestion of the very mildest seasoning of the serpent, that man was he. Go to

mildly /ˈmaɪldli/ (16 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: levemente; brandamente

Simple English: In a gentle way and not very much.

Example: He was only mildly surprised.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Aye, aye,' her father replied, raising his hand mildly. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Aye, aye,' returned her father, raising his hand mildly: 'it is very well to say what can we expect from Mr Pinch, but Mr Pinch is a fellow-creature, my dear; Mr Pinch is an item in the vast total of humanity, my love; and we have a right, it is our duty, to expect in Mr Pinch some development of those better qualities, the possession of which in our own persons inspires our humble self-respect. Go to

2. 'I bear,' answered Mr Pecksniff, mildly, 'no ill-will to any man on earth.' Go to

3. 'When I told you we were not related,' said the other mildly, but not without confusion on her own part, 'I meant not in any way. Go to

4. 'Yes, I feel that,' said Mr Pinch mildly. Go to

miltonic /mɪlˈtɒnɪk/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: miltônico, no estilo de Milton

Simple English: In the grand, elevated literary style of the poet John Milton.

Example: His writing was almost Miltonic in its grandeur.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He is the highest-minded, most independent, original, spiritual, classical, talented, most Shakspearian, if not Miltonic, and most terribly unappreciated man I know. Go to

2. He looked unhealthy and uncomfortable, not Shakspearian or Miltonic. Go to

Original English Version

1. For he is, without an exception, the highest-minded, the most independent-spirited, most original, spiritual, classical, talented, the most thoroughly Shakspearian, if not Miltonic, and at the same time the most disgustingly-unappreciated dog I know. Go to

2. His sharp features being much pinched and nipped by long waiting in the cold, and his straggling red whiskers and frowzy hair being more than usually dishevelled from the same cause, he certainly looked rather unwholesome and uncomfortable than Shakspearian or Miltonic. Go to

mind's /maɪndz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: da mente

Simple English: belonging to the mind, the part of a person that thinks

Example: The mind's great power can move beyond ordinary time and space.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. To you of all men, Mr Pinch, I have a right to make appeal on Mind's behalf, when it has not the art to push its fortune in the world. Go to

Original English Version

1. To you of all men, Mr Pinch, I have a right to make appeal on Mind's behalf, when it has not the art to push its fortune in the world. Go to

mingled /ˈmɪŋɡəld/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: misturou-se; misturava-se

Simple English: Mixed or moved together with other people or things.

Example: The guests mingled after dinner.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. It was then turning dark, and the yellow light that streamed in through the ancient windows in the choir was mingled with a murky red. Go to

minute's /ˈmɪnɪts/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de um minuto

Simple English: belonging to a minute, a short unit of time

Example: I won't know a minute's peace of mind until I know what happened.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. To give her one minute's pleasure each day, I would play at those times until I was old. Go to

Original English Version

1. Now, Heaven bless her!' cried Tom, 'to have given her but a minute's pleasure every day, I would have gone on playing the organ at those times until I was an old man; quite contented if she sometimes thought of a poor fellow like me, as a part of the music; and more than recompensed if she ever mixed me up with anything she liked as well as she liked that!' Go to

miraculous /mɪˈrækjələs/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: milagroso; prodigioso

Simple English: So extraordinary that it seems caused by a miracle.

Example: Their escape from the reef seemed miraculous.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His old enemies said this was almost miraculous: adding a back window, a kitchen door, six steps, or a water spout had sometimes changed a pupil's design into Mr Pecksniff's own work and brought him much money. Go to

Original English Version

1. Martin readily undertook this task, and Mr Pecksniff forthwith proceeded to entrust him with the materials necessary for its execution; dwelling meanwhile on the magical effect of a few finishing touches from the hand of a master; which, indeed, as some people said (and these were the old enemies again!) was unquestionably very surprising, and almost miraculous; as there were cases on record in which the masterly introduction of an additional back window, or a kitchen door, or half-a-dozen steps, or even a water spout, had made the design of a pupil Mr Pecksniff's own work, and had brought substantial rewards into that gentleman's pocket. Go to

miser /ˈmaɪzər/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: avarento

Simple English: A person who hates spending money.

Example: The miser kept all his gold.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I am not a miser, though people say and believe that I am. Go to

Original English Version

1. I am not a miser sir, though even that charge is made against me, as I hear, and currently believed. Go to

miserably /ˈmɪzərəbli/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: miseravelmente; tristemente; lamentavelmente

Simple English: In a very unhappy way, or very badly.

Example: The first attempt failed miserably.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Nothing, I hope,' said Cherry. (Both very miserably.) Go to

misguided /ˌmɪsˈɡaɪdɪd/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mal orientado

Simple English: Based on wrong ideas or advice.

Example: It was a misguided decision.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I will also forget the misguided person who brought you here tonight. Go to

Original English Version

1. I will not even remember the conduct of that misguided person'--and here, although he spoke like one at peace with all the world, he used an emphasis that plainly said "I have my eye upon the rascal now"--'that misguided person who has brought you here to-night, seeking to disturb (it is a happiness to say, in vain) the heart's repose and peace of one who would have shed his dearest blood to serve him.' Go to

misinformed /ˌmɪsɪnˈfɔːrmd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mal informado

Simple English: Given wrong or inaccurate information.

Example: The Press, being human, can be mistaken or misinformed.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The Press, being human, can be mistaken or misinformed. Go to

Original English Version

1. Even the Press, being human, may be sometimes mistaken or misinformed, and I rather think that I have in one or two rare instances observed its information to be not strictly accurate with reference to myself. Go to

moan /moʊn/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gemido; gemer; queixar-se

Simple English: A long low sound of pain or unhappiness, or to make it.

Example: A moan came from the room upstairs.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Oh!' cried the old man with an impatient moan, tossing one restless arm onto the bedcover. Go to

2. As a result, she could do nothing but cry and moan. Go to

Original English Version

1. Then there was Mrs Spottletoe, who being much too slim for her years, and of a poetical constitution, was accustomed to inform her more intimate friends that the said whiskers were 'the lodestar of her existence;' and who could now, by reason of her strong affection for her uncle Chuzzlewit, and the shock it gave her to be suspected of testamentary designs upon him, do nothing but cry--except moan. Go to

moaning /ˈmoʊnɪŋ/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gemendo; lamentando-se

Simple English: Making a long low sound because of pain or unhappiness.

Example: The wind was moaning in the chimney all night.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Thin branches cracked and rattled like skeletons dancing to its moaning music. Go to

Original English Version

1. An evening wind uprose too, and the slighter branches cracked and rattled as they moved, in skeleton dances, to its moaning music. Go to

2. 'Oh!' cried the old man, moaning impatiently, as he tossed one restless arm upon the coverlet; 'why do you talk to me of friends! Go to

mocked /mɑːkt/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: escarnecida; ridicularizada

Simple English: Laughed at someone in an unkind way.

Example: The other boys mocked his old shoes.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They fought, mocked one another, exchanged sharp words, and called each other names. Go to

moment's /ˈmoʊmənts/ (25 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de um momento; de um instante

Simple English: Lasting only a very short time.

Example: It held their attention for a moment's space.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Mine,' said the old man, after a moment's pause, 'is upon my chest, Pecksniff.' Go to

Original English Version

1. A moment's reflection got the better of that, of course, and fortunately it came to my relief so soon, that I didn't leave off playing.' Go to

2. Of course you know,' he added, after a moment's pause, as he drew his chair towards the fire again, 'I should not hesitate to avail myself of your services if you could help me at all; but mercy on us!'--Here he rumpled his hair impatiently with his hand, and looked at Tom as if he took it rather ill that he was not somebody else--'you might as well be a toasting-fork or a frying-pan, Pinch, for any help you can render me.' Go to

3. 'Mine,' said the old man, after a moment's pause, 'is upon my chest, Pecksniff.' Go to

momentary /ˈmoʊmənˌtɛri/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: momentâneo

Simple English: Lasting only a moment.

Example: There was a momentary silence.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Yes, I should,' cried Mr Tapley, shaking his head expressively enough, and looking (in a momentary state of forgetfulness) rather hard at the hostess's ripe lips. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff, not at all knowing what it might be best to say in the momentary pause which ensued upon these remarks, made an elaborate demonstration of intending to deliver something very oracular indeed; trusting to the certainty of the old man interrupting him, before he should utter a word. Go to

2. Yes, I should,' cried Mr Tapley, shaking his head expressively enough, and looking (in a momentary state of forgetfulness) rather hard at the hostess's ripe lips. Go to

montague /ˈmɒntəɡjuː/ (310 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Montague

Simple English: The given name of Captain Montague Brierly.

Example: Montague Brierly was proud of his command.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Perhaps the name Montague Tigg is familiar to you from the most remarkable events of the Peninsular War?' Go to

Original English Version

1. The name of Montague Tigg will perhaps be familiar to you, in connection with the most remarkable events of the Peninsular War?' Go to

moodily /ˈmuːdɪli/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mal-humoradamente

Simple English: In a sullen, bad-tempered manner.

Example: He sat moodily down before the fire in the most comfortable chair.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Martin Chuzzlewit beheld these roystering preparations with infinite contempt, and stirring the fire into a blaze (to the great destruction of Mr Pecksniff's coals), sat moodily down before it, in the most comfortable chair he could find. Go to

moor /mʊə/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: charneca

Simple English: Open high land, usually covered with low plants.

Example: They crossed the moor at dawn.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Tired of such small tricks, the roaring wanderer went happily over moor, meadow, hill, and flat until it reached the sea, met other winds of the same mind, and made a night of it. Go to

Original English Version

1. Being by this time weary of such trifling performances, the boisterous rover hurried away rejoicing, roaring over moor and meadow, hill and flat, until it got out to sea, where it met with other winds similarly disposed, and made a night of it. Go to

morrow /ˈmɒrəʊ/ (53 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: amanhã

Simple English: The following day, in literary or old-fashioned use.

Example: They planned to leave on the morrow.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I am off to-morrow morning.' Go to

2. 'My box is gone already, sir, by the waggon, and I'm going to walk on to-morrow morning, and get a lift by the day coach when it overtakes me. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff also became thoughtful at those moments, not to say dejected; but as he knew the vintage, it is very likely he may have been speculating on the probable condition of Mr Pinch upon the morrow, and discussing within himself the best remedies for colic. Go to

2. 'Very little more than was the matter yesterday, and much more, I hope, than will be the matter to-morrow. Go to

3. I am off to-morrow morning.' Go to

4. 'My box is gone already, sir, by the waggon, and I'm going to walk on to-morrow morning, and get a lift by the day coach when it overtakes me. Go to

5. At length they began to jolt and rumble over horribly uneven stones, and Mr Pecksniff looking out of window said it was to-morrow morning, and they were there. Go to

moths /mɔːθs/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mariposas

Simple English: Insects like butterflies that usually fly at night.

Example: Toto chased moths and butterflies.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In surviving letters, despite damage by moths - the general registers of the Insect World because they consume deeds and papers - Diggory often mentions an uncle from whom he expected much. Go to

Original English Version

1. Throughout such fragments of his correspondence as have escaped the ravages of the moths (who, in right of their extensive absorption of the contents of deeds and papers, may be called the general registers of the Insect World), we find him making constant reference to an uncle, in respect of whom he would seem to have entertained great expectations, as he was in the habit of seeking to propitiate his favour by presents of plate, jewels, books, watches, and other valuable articles. Go to

mouldy /ˈmoʊldi/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mofado

Simple English: Covered with or smelling of mould.

Example: They threw away the mouldy bread.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It was black, dirty, and mouldy. Go to

Original English Version

1. It was very black, begrimed, and mouldy. Go to

mounds /maʊndz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: montes

Simple English: Rounded heaps or raised areas of earth or other material.

Example: Small burial mounds rose beyond the field.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. As it went, the hills, mounds, and far fields with quiet sheep and noisy crows appeared bright and new. Go to

Original English Version

1. On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels; others stripped of all their garniture, stood, each the centre of its little heap of bright red leaves, watching their slow decay; others again, still wearing theirs, had them all crunched and crackled up, as though they had been burnt; about the stems of some were piled, in ruddy mounds, the apples they had borne that year; while others (hardy evergreens this class) showed somewhat stern and gloomy in their vigour, as charged by nature with the admonition that it is not to her more sensitive and joyous favourites she grants the longest term of life. Go to

2. The mist, too shy and gentle for such lusty company, fled off, quite scared, before it; and as it swept away, the hills and mounds and distant pasture lands, teeming with placid sheep and noisy crows, came out as bright as though they were unrolled bran new for the occasion. Go to

mount /maʊnt/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: montagem; montar; monte

Simple English: To increase gradually over time, especially intensity or frequency.

Example: The tension began to mount as the deadline approached quickly.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He did this if it was silver-mounted or valuable in another way. Go to

mourn /mɔːrn/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: prantear; lamentar a morte de

Simple English: To feel and show deep sadness because someone has died.

Example: He would mourn the man who gave him his heart.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She loses this support when I die but expects no inheritance, so perhaps she will mourn me. Go to

Original English Version

1. She is bound to me in life by ties of interest, and losing by my death, and having no expectation disappointed, will mourn it, perhaps; though for that I care little. Go to

mourned /mɔːrnd/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: lamentou; queixou-se

Simple English: Felt and showed deep sadness for someone who died.

Example: The village mourned the old teacher.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They called balloon travel sinful and mourned the decline of their times. Go to

moustache /ˈmʌstæʃ/ (14 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: bigode

Simple English: Hair that grows above a man's mouth.

Example: He curled the ends of his moustache.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He also had a huge rough moustache. Go to

2. Then he gathered his coat tails under his left arm, smoothed his moustache with his right thumb and first finger, and went on: Go to

3. For that attention, sir," said Mr Tigg, stroking his moustache, "Mark Tapley would have been better fed to suffocation by Mrs Tapley as an infant than kept alive until now." Go to

Original English Version

1. But he wore a moustache--a shaggy moustache too; nothing in the meek and merciful way, but quite in the fierce and scornful style; the regular Satanic sort of thing--and he wore, besides, a vast quantity of unbrushed hair. Go to

2. Then gathering the skirts of his coat under his left arm, and smoothing his moustache with his right thumb and forefinger, he resumed: Go to

3. And for that attention, sir,' added Mr Tigg, stroking his moustache, 'I can tell you, that Mark Tapley had better in his infancy have been fed to suffocation by Mrs Tapley, than preserved to this time.' Go to

mugs /mʌɡz/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: canecas

Simple English: Cups with handles for drinking.

Example: They filled the mugs with tea.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In this piece of generalship he was very much assisted by the great influx of company into the taproom; for the news of his intention having gone abroad, there was a perfect throng there all the evening, and much drinking of healths and clinking of mugs. Go to

Original English Version

1. In this piece of generalship he was very much assisted by the great influx of company into the taproom; for the news of his intention having gone abroad, there was a perfect throng there all the evening, and much drinking of healths and clinking of mugs. Go to

murmur /ˈmɜːrmər/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: murmúrio; queixa

Simple English: A soft low continuous sound, or to speak very quietly.

Example: A murmur of agreement ran through the room.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A general murmur repeated and approved this question. Go to

Original English Version

1. A general murmur echoed this inquiry, and applauded it. Go to

murmured /ˈmɜːrmərd/ (19 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: murmuraram

Simple English: Said something in a soft, low voice.

Example: The crowd murmured when the lights went out.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff looked kindly over the half-door of the bar into the private room beyond and murmured: Go to

2. "Oh Chiv, Chiv," murmured Mr Tigg, "what a nobly independent nature!" Go to

Original English Version

1. At this very crisis, a step was heard in the entry, and Mr Pecksniff, looking sweetly over the half-door of the bar, and into the vista of snug privacy beyond, murmured: Go to

2. 'Oh Chiv, Chiv,' murmured Mr Tigg, 'you have a nobly independent nature, Chiv!' Go to

muttered /ˈmʌtərd/ (37 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: resmungou; murmurou

Simple English: Said something in a low voice that was hard to hear.

Example: He muttered a few words and walked away.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'That is true enough,' the old man muttered. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'That's true enough,' muttered the old man. Go to

2. Martin lay for some time, with an expression on his face of silent wonder, not unmixed with rage; at length he muttered in a whisper: Go to

mutton /ˈmʌtən/ (14 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: carne de carneiro

Simple English: The meat of a grown sheep.

Example: They ate mutton with rice and onions.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Does he even give you enough legs of mutton compared with potatoes and vegetables?' Go to

Original English Version

1. Does he shed even legs of mutton for you in any decent proportion to potatoes and garden stuff?' Go to

muzzles /ˈmʌzəlz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: focinhos; bocas de armas

Simple English: The projecting mouths of animals or of guns.

Example: The dogs lifted their muzzles.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Nor can he stop dogs from being shot in hot weather when they run in the streets without muzzles. Go to

nat'rally /ˈnætrəli/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: naturalmente

Simple English: dialect contraction of 'naturally', used to note that a bailiff's job is not naturally a cheerful one.

Example: A bailiff's isn't a lively office, naturally.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. A bailiff's an't a lively office nat'rally. Go to

natur /ˈneɪtər/ (19 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: natureza

Simple English: dialect spelling of 'nature', used in the phrase 'human nature' during a jovial farewell toast.

Example: And children enough to hand down human nature to the latest posterity--good-b'ye, boys and girls!

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. And children enough to hand down human natur to the latest posterity--good-b'ye, boys and girls! Go to

nature's /ˈneɪtʃərz/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: da natureza

Simple English: Belonging to the natural world.

Example: Frost is one of nature's quietest workers.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Our respected relative might be persuaded to listen to nature's promptings, not to the - " Go to

2. He valued the help less for its temporary relief than because it proved that Nature's Nobs felt for Nature's Nobs, and great souls understood great souls everywhere. Go to

3. 'Friends who study the body tell me that digestion is one of nature's most wonderful works. Go to

Original English Version

1. It was not so much, he said, for the temporary relief of this assistance that he prized it, as for its vindication of the high principle that Nature's Nobs felt with Nature's Nobs, and that true greatness of soul sympathized with true greatness of soul, all the world over. Go to

natured /ˈneɪtʃərd/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de índole; de temperamento

Simple English: Having a nature of a certain kind, as in good-natured.

Example: He was a slow but good-natured man.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'He must be a devilish good-natured fellow,' said Martin, somewhat peevishly: 'because he can't mean that, you know.' Go to

natures /ˈneɪtʃərz/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: naturezas

Simple English: the basic qualities that make people or things different

Example: The two brothers had very different natures.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Even their embrace showed their different natures. Go to

2. Despite their different natures, Charity and Mercy both opened their eyes very wide. Go to

Original English Version

1. Notwithstanding their different natures, both Charity and Mercy concurred in opening their eyes uncommonly wide at this announcement, and in looking for the moment as blank as if their thoughts had actually had a direct bearing on the main chance. Go to

nearer /ˈnɪrər/ (27 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mais perto; mais próximo

Simple English: Closer in distance.

Example: The land grows beautiful as one comes nearer the city.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Miss Charity moved her chair nearer the fire, ready to talk, and looked at her father. Go to

2. Do come nearer!" Go to

Original English Version

1. Miss Charity drew her chair nearer the fire, as one prepared for conversation, and looked towards her father. Go to

2. Oh, do draw nearer, pray!' Go to

3. 'Pretty well for my time of life,' rejoined Martin, drawing his chair still nearer to the fire, and spreading his feet out on the fender. Go to

neatly /ˈniːtli/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: com capricho; cuidadosamente

Simple English: In a careful, tidy way.

Example: He soldered the tin neatly back in place.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'You are ambitious and draw very neatly, so - ha ha - you shall work on these plans for a grammar-school. Go to

Original English Version

1. That whiff of russia leather, too, and all those rows on rows of volumes neatly ranged within--what happiness did they suggest! Go to

neckcloth /ˈnɛkklɔːθ/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: lenço de pescoço; gravata antiga

Simple English: A cloth worn around the neck, an early form of necktie.

Example: He tied a white neckcloth under his chin.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The ends of his red neckcloth flew behind him, and bright winter berries showed in the buttonhole of his velveteen coat as clearly from behind as from the front. Go to

2. Do you see a fellow down there with a red neckcloth and no waistcoat?' Go to

Original English Version

1. He was a young fellow, of some five or six-and-twenty perhaps, and was dressed in such a free and fly-away fashion, that the long ends of his loose red neckcloth were streaming out behind him quite as often as before; and the bunch of bright winter berries in the buttonhole of his velveteen coat was as visible to Mr Pinch's rearward observation, as if he had worn that garment wrong side foremost. Go to

2. 'You see a fellow down there in a red neckcloth and no waistcoat?' Go to

neckerchief /ˈnekərtʃiːf/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: lenço de pescoço

Simple English: a square cloth worn around the neck

Example: She wore a red neckerchief on the hike.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He moved along a side lane, with his red neckerchief and open coat moving in the air. Go to

Original English Version

1. And away he fluttered, with his red neckerchief, and his open coat, down a cross-lane; turning back from time to time to nod to Mr Pinch, and looking one of the most careless, good-humoured comical fellows in life. Go to

needn't /ˈniːdənt/ (34 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: não preciso; não é preciso

Simple English: A short form of need not.

Example: You needn't wait for me.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Well! as you understand me,' resumed Martin, quickly, 'I needn't hunt for the precise expression I want. Go to

2. I have no power at all; I needn't tell you that; but I have an excellent will; and if I could ever be of use to you, in any way whatever, how very glad I should be!' Go to

3. You needn't leave off when you see me getting drowsy (unless you feel tired), for it's pleasant to wake gradually to the sounds again. Go to

4. This not being aggravation enough, he says this morning to me, in his usual captivating way, "We're going to-night, my man." "Are you, sir?" says I. "Perhaps you'd like the bill got ready, sir?" "Oh no, my man," he says; "you needn't mind that. Go to

neighbour's /ˈneɪbərz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do vizinho

Simple English: Belonging to a person who lives near you.

Example: Our neighbour's child passed the examination.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She sat on a stool and tied the petticoat of a large doll for a neighbour's child. Go to

Original English Version

1. Neither had Miss Mercy expected them, for she was sitting upon her stool, tying on the--oh good gracious!--the petticoat of a large doll that she was dressing for a neighbour's child--really, quite a grown-up doll, which made it more confusing--and had its little bonnet dangling by the ribbon from one of her fair curls, to which she had fastened it lest it should be lost or sat upon. Go to

nervously /ˈnɜːrvəsli/ (14 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: nervosamente; receosamente

Simple English: In a worried or frightened way.

Example: The mice looked at her nervously.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. However, he held the door wider open and nervously waved to someone outside. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Certainly, sir,' said Pinch; not doing so, however, but holding it rather wider open than before, and beckoning nervously to somebody without: 'Mr Westlock, sir, hearing that you were come home--' Go to

newcomer /ˈnuːkʌmər/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: recém-chegado; novato

Simple English: A person who has recently arrived somewhere.

Example: The newcomer was given the smallest desk.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "A very hard frost tonight, sir," said the newcomer, politely noticing Mr Pinch move his little table to make room. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Very hard frost to-night, sir,' said the newcomer, courteously acknowledging Mr Pinch's withdrawal of the little table, that he might have place: 'Don't disturb yourself, I beg.' Go to

newness /ˈnuːnəs/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: novidade

Simple English: The state of being new or unfamiliar.

Example: Everything about the moon had a strange newness.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I am tired by today's bustle and all this newness. Go to

niece's /ˈniːsɪz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: da sobrinha

Simple English: In this passage, ?niece's? is used as a noun (possessive); its meaning is fixed by the surrounding wording rather than by frequency alone.

Example: Ends at the same time was striving to repeat his niece’s appreciation of “The Ring of Bells,” said niece being a school-teacher in Alameda.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "Not his niece's husband," the stranger interrupted. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Not his niece's husband,' interposed the stranger, 'I'll be sworn; for he was there before you.' Go to

nightcap /ˈnaɪtkæp/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gorro de dormir; última bebida

Simple English: In this passage, ?nightcap? is used as a noun; its meaning is fixed by the surrounding wording rather than by frequency alone.

Example: He wore a tall red nightcap with a tassel.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. As you drive away happily and nod gratefully to Pecksniff in his nightcap at his chamber window, who would not cry, 'Heaven guide you, Tom. Go to

2. If he puts on his old flannel nightcap, I do not know what she will do! Go to

Original English Version

1. Who, as thou drivest off, a happy, man, and noddest with a grateful lovingness to Pecksniff in his nightcap at his chamber-window, would not cry, 'Heaven speed thee, Tom, and send that thou wert going off for ever to some quiet home where thou mightst live at peace, and sorrow should not touch thee!' Go to

2. If he puts on that old flannel nightcap of his, I don't know what she'll do! Go to

nightcaps /ˈnaɪtkæps/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gorros de dormir; últimas bebidas

Simple English: In this passage, ?nightcaps? is used as a noun (plural); its meaning is fixed by the surrounding wording rather than by frequency alone.

Example: Everyone looked poor, in rags and nightcaps, and even the things they used seemed gloomy.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A large wicker basket stood before her as she made impossible nightcaps for the poor. Go to

Original English Version

1. Neither had Miss Charity expected them, for she was busied, with a capacious wicker basket before her, in making impracticable nightcaps for the poor. Go to

nightmare /ˈnaɪtmeər/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pesadelo

Simple English: A frightening or disturbing dream.

Example: She woke up from a nightmare and felt scared and confused.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Wake up, father, or you will have a nightmare and scream. Go to

2. Do you ever have nightmares, cousin?' he asked his neighbour, lowering his voice and trying to be charming. Go to

3. 'Does SHE ever have the nightmare?' Go to

nobility /noʊˈbɪləti/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: nobreza; fidalguia; grandeza de caráter

Simple English: The people of the highest social class; also greatness of character.

Example: There was a quiet nobility in the way she refused.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Here history may praise the enormous bravery, wisdom, speech, virtue, good birth, and true nobility that came into England with the Norman Invasion. Go to

Original English Version

1. Perhaps in this place the history may pause to congratulate itself upon the enormous amount of bravery, wisdom, eloquence, virtue, gentle birth, and true nobility, that appears to have come into England with the Norman Invasion: an amount which the genealogy of every ancient family lends its aid to swell, and which would beyond all question have been found to be just as great, and to the full as prolific in giving birth to long lines of chivalrous descendants, boastful of their origin, even though William the Conqueror had been William the Conquered; a change of circumstances which, it is quite certain, would have made no manner of difference in this respect. Go to

nobleman's /ˈnoʊbəlmən/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: nobre

Simple English: A man who belongs to the nobility.

Example: The nobleman's estate overlooked the valley.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Design a monument to a Lord Mayor of London, a tomb for a sheriff, or a cow-house for a nobleman's park. Go to

Original English Version

1. So constantly was he a guest at that nobleman's table, indeed; and so unceasingly were His Grace's hospitality and companionship forced, as it were, upon him; that we find him uneasy, and full of constraint and reluctance; writing his friends to the effect that if they fail to do so and so by bearer, he will have no choice but to dine again with Duke Humphrey; and expressing himself in a very marked and extraordinary manner as one surfeited of High Life and Gracious Company. Go to

2. Suppose you were to give me your idea of a monument to a Lord Mayor of London; or a tomb for a sheriff; or your notion of a cow-house to be erected in a nobleman's park. Go to

nobly /ˈnoʊbli/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: nobremente; com dignidade

Simple English: In a brave and honourable way.

Example: He bore the loss nobly.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "You have acted nobly. Go to

2. "Oh Chiv, Chiv," murmured Mr Tigg, "what a nobly independent nature!" Go to

Original English Version

1. 'You have acted nobly. Go to

2. 'Oh Chiv, Chiv,' murmured Mr Tigg, 'you have a nobly independent nature, Chiv!' Go to

nobs /nɒbz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gente da alta roda

Simple English: 19th-century slang noun for wealthy or high-status people, used ironically here in the phrase 'Nature's Nobs', meaning people of natural distinction or good breeding.

Example: He valued the help because it proved that Nature's Nobs felt for Nature's Nobs, and great souls understood great souls everywhere.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He valued the help less for its temporary relief than because it proved that Nature's Nobs felt for Nature's Nobs, and great souls understood great souls everywhere. Go to

Original English Version

1. It was not so much, he said, for the temporary relief of this assistance that he prized it, as for its vindication of the high principle that Nature's Nobs felt with Nature's Nobs, and that true greatness of soul sympathized with true greatness of soul, all the world over. Go to

nodded /ˈnɑːdɪd/ (52 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: acenou com a cabeça

Simple English: Moved the head up and down to say yes or to greet someone.

Example: The figure nodded kindly at her.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But Mr Pecksniff spoke pleasantly and nodded in a gentle way. Go to

2. Mr George nodded fiercely at every second syllable. Go to

3. Mr Pinch only breathed hard, opened his eyes wide, and nodded strongly. Go to

4. Martin nodded. Go to

5. He tapped Tom's chest two or three times and nodded. Go to

Original English Version

1. Now there was nothing that one may call decidedly original in this remark, nor can it be exactly said to have contained any wise precept theretofore unknown to mankind, or to have opened any hidden source of consolation; but Mr Pecksniff's manner was so bland, and he nodded his head so soothingly, and showed in everything such an affable sense of his own excellence, that anybody would have been, as Mrs Lupin was, comforted by the mere voice and presence of such a man; and, though he had merely said 'a verb must agree with its nominative case in number and person, my good friend,' or 'eight times eight are sixty-four, my worthy soul,' must have felt deeply grateful to him for his humanity and wisdom. Go to

2. Martin nodded assent; and adding, with a restless impatience, that if he had been a few days earlier he would have seen her; and that now she might be, for anything he knew, hundreds of miles away; threw himself, after a few turns across the room, into a chair, and chafed like a spoilt child. Go to

3. With which he rapped Tom twice or thrice upon the breast and nodded several times, as though he would say that he saw they understood each other; that it was unnecessary to mention the circumstance before a third person; and that he would take it as a particular favour if Tom would slip the amount into his hand, as quietly as possible. Go to

4. Mr Tigg replenished his friend's glass, pressed it into his hand, and nodded an intimation to the visitors that they would see him in a better aspect immediately. Go to

nodding /ˈnɑːdɪŋ/ (37 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: acenando com a cabeça

Simple English: Moving the head down and up to show yes.

Example: He kept nodding while she talked.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Yes,' said Mr Pinch, holding one large knee and nodding. Go to

2. "Egad!" said Tigg, nodding seriously as if he had just noticed a reason against it. Go to

3. This morning I am searching in the city for a new and suitable job," he said, nodding toward the city. Go to

4. 'That is right,' said Tom, nodding warmly. Go to

5. "Oh!" said Tom, pursing his mouth and nodding. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Yes,' said Mr Pinch, nursing one of his large knees, and nodding his head; 'a gentleman's housekeeper.' Go to

2. 'Egad!' cried Tigg, gravely nodding his head as if some ground of objection occurred to him at that moment for the first time, 'it's very possible you may be right. Go to

3. 'And I will further add,' said Mr George, nodding his head violently at every second syllable; 'naming no names, and therefore hurting nobody but those whose consciences tell them they are alluded to, that I think it would be much more decent and becoming, if those who hooked and crooked themselves into this family by getting on the blind side of some of its members before marriage, and manslaughtering them afterwards by crowing over them to that strong pitch that they were glad to die, would refrain from acting the part of vultures in regard to other members of this family who are living. Go to

4. I'm looking out this morning for something new and suitable,' he said, nodding towards the city. Go to

5. As Mr Pinch returned no other answer than such as was conveyed in his breathing very hard, and opening his eyes very wide, and nodding his head very much, Mark thanked him for his ride, and without troubling him to stop, jumped lightly down. Go to

6. 'That's right,' said Tom, nodding approvingly. Go to

noisily /ˈnɔɪzɪli/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ruidosamente; com estardalhaço

Simple English: In a way that makes a lot of noise.

Example: He drank his soup noisily and asked for more.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Then there were young farmers and old farmers with smock-frocks, brown great-coats, drab great-coats, red worsted comforters, leather-leggings, wonderful shaped hats, hunting-whips, and rough sticks, standing about in groups, or talking noisily together on the tavern steps, or paying and receiving huge amounts of greasy wealth, with the assistance of such bulky pocket-books that when they were in their pockets it was apoplexy to get them out, and when they were out it was spasms to get them in again. Go to

2. Having prepared breakfast for the young ladies with her own hands, she withdrew to preside in the other room; where the joke at Mr Jinkins's expense seemed to be proceeding rather noisily. Go to

nor'west /ˌnɔːˈwɛst/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: noroeste

Simple English: Contracted form of 'north-west', a compass direction.

Example: There are views of the cathedral from north, south, east, west, and nor'west.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Passing the candle over paper rolls, Mr Pecksniff said, 'There are signs of our work: Salisbury Cathedral from north, south, east, west, south-east, and nor'west; a bridge, almshouse, jail, church, powder-magazine, wine-cellar, portico, summer-house, ice-house; plans, elevations, sections, everything.' In another large room with four little beds, he said, 'This is your room, which you will share with quiet Mr Pinch. Go to

Original English Version

1. From the nor'west. Go to

noses /ˈnoʊzɪz/ (21 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: narizes

Simple English: The parts of the face used for smelling.

Example: The cold air made their noses red.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. As a final spadeful, letters from their own mothers prove that many male and female Chuzzlewits had chiselled noses, clear chins, bodies fit for a sculptor, beautifully shaped limbs, and polished foreheads so transparent that blue veins showed like roads on an ethereal map. Go to

2. They raised their noses, wrinkled their brows, buried good feelings, and violently brought back old complaints. Go to

3. Their tight stays had made their tempers smaller than their waists, and the sharp lacing showed in their noses. Go to

4. She said red noses were no disgrace because people neither made nor coloured their own noses. Go to

5. They received their noses without being asked. Go to

6. She also doubted that certain noses were redder than others, or even half as red as some. Go to

Original English Version

1. As a goodly tumulus is already collected, and decently battened up above the Family grave, the present chapter is content to leave it as it is: merely adding, by way of a final spadeful, that many Chuzzlewits, both male and female, are proved to demonstration, on the faith of letters written by their own mothers, to have had chiselled noses, undeniable chins, forms that might have served the sculptor for a model, exquisitely-turned limbs and polished foreheads of so transparent a texture that the blue veins might be seen branching off in various directions, like so many roads on an ethereal map. Go to

2. Meantime the family forces were perpetually encountering each other in divers parts of the neighbourhood; and, as no one branch of the Chuzzlewit tree had ever been known to agree with another within the memory of man, there was such a skirmishing, and flouting, and snapping off of heads, in the metaphorical sense of that expression; such a bandying of words and calling of names; such an upturning of noses and wrinkling of brows; such a formal interment of good feelings and violent resurrection of ancient grievances; as had never been known in those quiet parts since the earliest record of their civilized existence. Go to

3. Beside her sat her spinster daughters, three in number, and of gentlemanly deportment, who had so mortified themselves with tight stays, that their tempers were reduced to something less than their waists, and sharp lacing was expressed in their very noses. Go to

4. Here, the eldest daughter of the strong-minded woman rose a little way from her seat, and trembling violently from head to foot, more as it seemed with passion than timidity, expressed a general hope that some people WOULD appear in their own characters, if it were only for such a proceeding having the attraction of novelty to recommend it; and that when they (meaning the some people before mentioned) talked about their relations, they would be careful to observe who was present in company at the time; otherwise it might come round to those relations' ears, in a way they little expected; and as to red noses (she observed) she had yet to learn that a red nose was any disgrace, inasmuch as people neither made nor coloured their own noses, but had that feature provided for them without being first consulted; though even upon that branch of the subject she had great doubts whether certain noses were redder than other noses, or indeed half as red as some. Go to

5. With such departing words, did this strong-minded female paralyse the Pecksniffian energies; and so she swept out of the room, and out of the house, attended by her daughters, who, as with one accord, elevated their three noses in the air, and joined in a contemptuous titter. Go to

notion (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: noção; ideia; conceito

Simple English: an idea or belief

Example: The notion of fairness is important.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In the meantime Mark, having a shrewd notion that his mistress was in very low spirits, and that he could not exactly answer for the consequences of any lengthened TETE-A-TETE in the bar, kept himself obstinately out of her way all the afternoon and evening. Go to

nudged /nʌdʒd/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cutucou de leve; empurrou com o cotovelo

Simple English: Pushed someone gently, usually with the elbow.

Example: She nudged him to keep him awake.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Here Mr Chevy Slyme, whose great abilities all seemed to point toward dishonesty, secretly nudged his friend with his elbow and whispered in his ear. Go to

Original English Version

1. Here Mr Chevy Slyme, whose great abilities seemed one and all to point towards the sneaking quarter of the moral compass, nudged his friend stealthily with his elbow, and whispered in his ear. Go to

obeyed /oʊˈbeɪd/ (18 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: obedecido; cumprido

Simple English: Done as someone has ordered.

Example: Your commands shall be obeyed.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The young lady obeyed, then returned to her stool, rested one arm on her father's knee, and laid her fresh cheek on it. Go to

2. Mark obeyed so fast that, almost as Tom and Mr Tigg shut the window, the threatened man stood before them. Go to

Original English Version

1. The young lady obeyed, and having done so, resumed her stool, reposed one arm upon her father's knee, and laid her blooming cheek upon it. Go to

2. Mr Pinch was not so dismayed by this terrible threat, but that he had voice enough to call to Mark to come in, and upstairs; a summons which he so speedily obeyed, that almost as soon as Tom and Mr Tigg had drawn in their heads and closed the window again, he, the denounced, appeared before them. Go to

objectionable /əbˈdʒekʃənəbəl/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: inaceitável; desagradável

Simple English: Likely to cause disapproval, offense, or dislike.

Example: Anne would not meet objectionable people in her house.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "That too," said Mr Pecksniff, "would be equally objectionable." Go to

Original English Version

1. 'And that,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'would be equally objectionable.' Go to

oblige /əˈblaɪdʒ/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: fazer a gentileza

Simple English: To do a favor or kindness for someone.

Example: He would much oblige me by drinking it, if he thought he could do it safely.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. How dare they oblige me!" Go to

Original English Version

1. I beg,' cried Mr Pecksniff, raising his voice, as Pinch appeared about to speak, 'I beg that individual not to offer a remark; he will truly oblige me by not uttering one word, just now. Go to

2. Will you oblige me by going down, and asking for a pair?' Go to

3. How dare they oblige me!' Go to

obstinacy /ˈɑːbstɪnəsi/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: obstinação; teimosia

Simple English: The habit of refusing to change your mind or your behaviour.

Example: His obstinacy over such a small detail delayed the whole project.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "Obstinacy," Tom suggested honestly. Go to

Original English Version

1. But such was the obstinacy and such the bitter nature of that stern old man, that no repentant summons came; and the fourth day found Mr Pecksniff apparently much farther from his Christian object than the first. Go to

2. In the first place, he has the most confirmed obstinacy of character you ever met with in any human creature. Go to

3. 'Well, sir,' resumed Martin, stirring the fire once more, and drawing his chair still closer to it, 'his selfishness makes him exacting, you see; and his obstinacy makes him resolute in his exactions. Go to

4. 'Obstinacy,' suggested Tom in perfect good faith. Go to

5. 'I told you obstinacy was no part of my character, did I not? Go to

obstinately /ˈɒbstɪnətli/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: obstinadamente

Simple English: In a stubborn manner, refusing to change one's mind.

Example: He obstinately refused compliance with every suggestion that was made to him.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In the meantime Mark, having a shrewd notion that his mistress was in very low spirits, and that he could not exactly answer for the consequences of any lengthened TETE-A-TETE in the bar, kept himself obstinately out of her way all the afternoon and evening. Go to

Original English Version

1. An old gentleman and a young lady, travelling, unattended, in a rusty old chariot with post-horses; coming nobody knew whence and going nobody knew whither; had turned out of the high road, and driven unexpectedly to the Blue Dragon; and here was the old gentleman, who had taken this step by reason of his sudden illness in the carriage, suffering the most horrible cramps and spasms, yet protesting and vowing in the very midst of his pain, that he wouldn't have a doctor sent for, and wouldn't take any remedies but those which the young lady administered from a small medicine-chest, and wouldn't, in a word, do anything but terrify the landlady out of her five wits, and obstinately refuse compliance with every suggestion that was made to him. Go to

2. But he resisted bravely; refusing to receive all letters, messages, and parcels; obstinately declining to treat with anybody; and holding out no hope or promise of capitulation. Go to

3. In the meantime Mark, having a shrewd notion that his mistress was in very low spirits, and that he could not exactly answer for the consequences of any lengthened TETE-A-TETE in the bar, kept himself obstinately out of her way all the afternoon and evening. Go to

offensive /əˈfɛnsɪv/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ofensiva

Simple English: Causing hurt or anger through inappropriate behavior or speech.

Example: His offensive comments made everyone in the room uncomfortable and upset.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. We are not all in two opposing ranks, the OFfensive and the DEfensive. Go to

2. Do not fear that I will repeat the offensive word that upset you. Go to

oilcake /ˈɔɪlkeɪk/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: torta de sementes oleaginosas

Simple English: A dense, flat cake of pressed seeds left over from oil extraction, used as animal feed; used here as a comparison for a thick layer on the pavement.

Example: A thick layer covered the pavement like oilcake.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A thick layer covered the pavement like oilcake. Go to

Original English Version

1. There was a dense fog too; as if it were a city in the clouds, which they had been travelling to all night up a magic beanstalk; and there was a thick crust upon the pavement like oilcake; which, one of the outsides (mad, no doubt) said to another (his keeper, of course), was Snow. Go to

oily /ˈɔɪli/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: untuoso; oleoso

Simple English: Covered with oil, or too friendly in a false way.

Example: He gave an oily smile and bowed.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His heavy eyelids, slim and smooth body, and soft, oily manner gave the same message. Go to

Original English Version

1. So did his manner, which was soft and oily. Go to

opposed /əˈpoʊzd/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: oposição; se opôs; se opunham

Simple English: Trying to stop something because of strong disagreement.

Example: He is opposed to increasing taxes, believing it will harm families.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They opposed steam and every new fashion. Go to

organist's /ˈɔːrɡənɪsts/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do organista

Simple English: belonging to the organist, the person who plays the organ

Example: The organist's assistant was Mr Pinch's friend.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The organist's assistant was Mr Pinch's friend. Go to

Original English Version

1. Now, the organist's assistant was a friend of Mr Pinch's, which was a good thing, for he too was a very quiet gentle soul, and had been, like Tom, a kind of old-fashioned boy at school, though well liked by the noisy fellow too. Go to

origin (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: origem; fonte; raiz

Simple English: the place or cause where something begins

Example: The origin of the word is Latin.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If jealous, malicious people say that any Chuzzlewit showed too much family pride, the weakness must seem pardonable, even praiseworthy, when the family's immense superiority to the rest of mankind in ancient origin is considered. Go to

2. It would surely have been just as great, with equally long lines of noble descendants boasting of their origin, even if William the Conqueror had been William the Conquered. Go to

3. The same base people spread a rumour that a male Chuzzlewit, whose birth is unclear, came from very low origins. Go to

4. Having completely satisfied itself, and therefore all readers, that the Chuzzlewits had an origin and were once important enough to be desirable friends for right-minded people, this history may now begin its real work. Go to

ornamental /ˌɔːrnəˈmentəl/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ornamental; decorativo

Simple English: Made or placed mainly to provide decoration.

Example: An ornamental pond filled the centre of the garden.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "On one hand, I will not say she deserves all the punishments so strongly and happily suggested." This was one of his ornamental sentences. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Now,' said Mr Pecksniff, crossing his two forefingers in a manner which was at once conciliatory and argumentative; 'I will not, upon the one hand, go so far as to say that she deserves all the inflictions which have been so very forcibly and hilariously suggested;' one of his ornamental sentences; 'nor will I, upon the other, on any account compromise my common understanding as a man, by making the assertion that she does not. Go to

2. An ornamental turnpike has a remarkable effect upon the imagination. Go to

3. What do you say to beginning with an ornamental turnpike?' Go to

orphan's /ˈɔːrfənz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do órfão; da órfã

Simple English: The possessive form of orphan, referring to something belonging to a child whose parent or parents have died.

Example: They still had no news of the poor orphan's father.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Who is with him now,' ruminated Mr Pecksniff, warming his back (as he had warmed his hands) as if it were a widow's back, or an orphan's back, or an enemy's back, or a back that any less excellent man would have suffered to be cold. Go to

ostrich /ˈɑːstrɪtʃ/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: avestruz

Simple English: A very large African bird that runs fast but cannot fly.

Example: An ostrich can outrun a horse over short distances.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Even when I discovered that I had cared for an ostrich, not a human pupil, they comforted me in that painful hour.' Go to

Original English Version

1. Even when I have had the anguish of discovering that I have nourished in my breast on ostrich, and not a human pupil--even in that hour of agony, they have soothed me.' Go to

outline /ˈaʊtlaɪn/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: contorno; esboço; delinear

Simple English: To give a brief description without detailed information.

Example: Please outline your main ideas before writing the essay.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The nephew with only an outline of a face spoke for the first and last time that day: "Oysters." Go to

outlived /ˌaʊtˈlɪvd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sobreviver a

Simple English: to go beyond, exceed, or be outside something

Example: My occupation was gone and I began to fear that I had outlived my usefulness.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Anyway, if I were a cannibal,' said Mr George Chuzzlewit, encouraged by this reply, 'I would think a lady who outlived three husbands and suffered so little from their loss must be very tough.' Go to

Original English Version

1. 'At all events, if I was a cannibal,' said Mr George Chuzzlewit, greatly stimulated by this retort, 'I think it would occur to me that a lady who had outlived three husbands, and suffered so very little from their loss, must be most uncommonly tough.' Go to

overflowed /ˌoʊvərˈfloʊd/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: transbordou; extravasou

Simple English: to do, have, or cause flowe more than is suitable or necessary

Example: He soon overflowed with energy, and each day when Ruth saw him, she again felt the old shock of his strength and health.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His eyes overflowed and his face shone with gracious sweat, so that he seemed covered in moist meekness. Go to

overflowing /ˌɑʊvərflæʊɪŋ/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: fazer flow em excesso

Simple English: to do, have, or cause flow more than is suitable or necessary

Example: Eric had graduated that day with first class honors in Arts, while David had come to watch the ceremony and was almost overflowing with pride in Eric's success.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. When Mr Pecksniff, rising from his seat at the table's head, with a daughter on either hand, received his guests in the best parlour and motioned them to chairs, with eyes so overflowing and countenance so damp with gracious perspiration, that he may be said to have been in a kind of moist meekness! Go to

overtakes /ˌoʊvərˈteɪks/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: alcança, ultrapassa

Simple English: catches up with and passes someone or something moving ahead

Example: I'll get a lift by the day coach when it overtakes me.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'My box is gone already, sir, by the waggon, and I'm going to walk on to-morrow morning, and get a lift by the day coach when it overtakes me. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'My box is gone already, sir, by the waggon, and I'm going to walk on to-morrow morning, and get a lift by the day coach when it overtakes me. Go to

owner's /ˈoʊnərz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do dono; do proprietário

Simple English: Belonging to the person who owns something.

Example: He was treated like the owner's son.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. When he saw an enormous watch called a repeater, able to strike every quarter hour inside its owner's pocket, he almost wished he were rich enough to buy it. Go to

oysters /ˈɔɪstərz/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ostras

Simple English: Sea animals with a hard flat shell, eaten as food.

Example: They ate oysters at the little inn.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The nephew with only an outline of a face spoke for the first and last time that day: "Oysters." Go to

2. "No," said Mr Pecksniff with his special politeness, "not oysters. Go to

3. But they are not at all unlike oysters. Go to

Original English Version

1. The nephew with the outline of a countenance, speaking for the first and last time on that occasion, propounded 'Oysters.' Go to

2. 'No,' said Mr Pecksniff, with his own peculiar urbanity, 'nor oysters. Go to

3. But by no means unlike oysters; a very excellent idea; thank you, my dear sir, very much. Go to

pacing /ˈpeɪsɪŋ/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: que caminha; em marcha lenta

Simple English: Walking up and down with regular steps.

Example: He was pacing the room in silence.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. After pacing the room a few times, he threw himself into a chair and fretted like a spoiled child. Go to

padding /ˈpædɪŋ/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: acolchoamento

Simple English: soft material put inside or under something for protection, shape, or comfort

Example: The sharp stake at the landing had torn off the padding nailed to the raft.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There is only padding there, and greasy padding too." Go to

Original English Version

1. There's nothing there but padding; and a greasy sort it is.' Go to

pane /peɪn/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: vidraça; painel de vidro

Simple English: A single sheet of glass in a window.

Example: One pane of the window was broken.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Dirty lane mud covered it so thickly that, though every pane was cracked and broken twenty times, none could fall out. Go to

Original English Version

1. First of all there were the jewellers' shops, with all the treasures of the earth displayed therein, and such large silver watches hanging up in every pane of glass, that if they were anything but first-rate goers it certainly was not because the works could decently complain of want of room. Go to

2. There was one staircase-window in it, at the side of the house, on the ground floor; which tradition said had not been opened for a hundred years at least, and which, abutting on an always dirty lane, was so begrimed and coated with a century's mud, that no one pane of glass could possibly fall out, though all were cracked and broken twenty times. Go to

pans /pænz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: panelas; frigideiras

Simple English: Metal containers used for cooking.

Example: Two black pans hung above the fire.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. People aired linen, and hot pans for warming beds gave off a burned smell. Go to

Original English Version

1. For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs. Go to

Glossary: New Words (5/7)

papered /ˈpeɪpərd/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: empapelado

Simple English: covered with wallpaper

Example: It was papered in pale blue and had a little, old-timey toilet table with sconces for.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Nobody remembered Todgers's being painted or papered. Go to

Original English Version

1. It had not been papered or painted, hadn't Todgers's, within the memory of man. Go to

parcels /ˈpɑːrsəlz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pacotes; encomendas

Simple English: Things wrapped in paper for sending or for carrying.

Example: She carried two parcels under her arm.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He resisted bravely and refused all letters, messages, and parcels. Go to

Original English Version

1. But he resisted bravely; refusing to receive all letters, messages, and parcels; obstinately declining to treat with anybody; and holding out no hope or promise of capitulation. Go to

pardonable /ˈpɑːrdənəbəl/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: perdoável

Simple English: able to be forgiven or excused

Example: The weakness must seem pardonable, even praiseworthy, given the family's superiority.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If jealous, malicious people say that any Chuzzlewit showed too much family pride, the weakness must seem pardonable, even praiseworthy, when the family's immense superiority to the rest of mankind in ancient origin is considered. Go to

Original English Version

1. If it should ever be urged by grudging and malicious persons, that a Chuzzlewit, in any period of the family history, displayed an overweening amount of family pride, surely the weakness will be considered not only pardonable but laudable, when the immense superiority of the house to the rest of mankind, in respect of this its ancient origin, is taken into account. Go to

parent's /ˈperənts/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do pai ou da mãe; de um dos pais

Simple English: The possessive form of parent, showing that something belongs or relates to a mother or father.

Example: Captain Servadac felt that some of a parent's duty had become his.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. They were not very serious in their nature; being limited to abrasions on what the eldest Miss Pecksniff called 'the knobby parts' of her parent's anatomy, such as his knees and elbows, and to the development of an entirely new organ, unknown to phrenologists, on the back of his head. Go to

Parliament /ˈpɑːrləmənt/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Parlamento; assembleia

Simple English: Elected representatives who create and amend laws.

Example: Parliament meets regularly to discuss and pass new pieces of legislation.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Their behavior is very similar to that of their Great Ancestor beneath the vaults of the Parliament House at Westminster, so no comment is needed. Go to

2. He also built many Castles, Houses of Parliament, and other Public Buildings in his imagination. Go to

3. An Act of Parliament officially allowed it to carry any six people who could be pushed through its door. Go to

parlour /ˈpɑːrlər/ (88 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sala de visitas (grafia britânica)

Simple English: A room for receiving visitors, in British spelling.

Example: They took tea in the little parlour.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. At this cry, another Miss Pecksniff jumped from the parlour. Go to

2. Then, after closing the door, both ladies cared for his wounds in the back parlour. Go to

3. But after a brief, low exchange of questions and answers, it was put down again, and someone knocked at the parlour door. Go to

4. After waiting uncertainly for a few seconds in the parlour, his face full of misery, poor Mr Pinch followed. Go to

5. But these mysteries amazed her so much that she went at once to her little parlour downstairs and sat unusually calm in her easy-chair. Go to

6. Mr Pecksniff rose at the table's head, a daughter on each side, welcomed his guests into the best parlour, and pointed them to chairs. Go to

Original English Version

1. At this exclamation, another Miss Pecksniff bounced out of the parlour; and the two Miss Pecksniffs, with many incoherent expressions, dragged Mr Pecksniff into an upright posture. Go to

2. Presently, the youngest Miss Pecksniff ran out again to pick up his hat, his brown paper parcel, his umbrella, his gloves, and other small articles; and that done, and the door closed, both young ladies applied themselves to tending Mr Pecksniff's wounds in the back parlour. Go to

3. Even as she spoke, the box appeared to be in progress of conveyance from the house, but after a brief murmuring of question and answer, it was put down again, and somebody knocked at the parlour door. Go to

4. So saying, he clapped that dejected companion on the shoulder, turned upon his heel, and walked out into the passage, whither poor Mr Pinch, after lingering irresolutely in the parlour for a few seconds, expressing in his countenance the deepest mental misery and gloom followed him. Go to

5. But now, in sheer wonder and amazement at these mysteries, she withdrew at once, and repairing straightway to her own little parlour below stairs, sat down in her easy-chair with unnatural composure. Go to

6. It happened then, and lastly, that Mr Pecksniff found himself immediately collared by something which smelt like several damp umbrellas, a barrel of beer, a cask of warm brandy-and-water, and a small parlour-full of stale tobacco smoke, mixed; and was straightway led downstairs into the bar from which he had lately come, where he found himself standing opposite to, and in the grasp of, a perfectly strange gentleman of still stranger appearance who, with his disengaged hand, rubbed his own head very hard, and looked at him, Pecksniff, with an evil countenance. Go to

parted /ˈpɑːrtɪd/ (53 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: nos separamos

Simple English: Went away from each other.

Example: We parted at the gate and never met again.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He wrote his brother about a borrowed gravy-spoon: "Do not be angry, I have parted with it--to my uncle." He said much the same about a child's mug given to him for repair. Go to

Original English Version

1. Thus, he writes on one occasion to his brother in reference to a gravy-spoon, the brother's property, which he (Diggory) would appear to have borrowed or otherwise possessed himself of: 'Do not be angry, I have parted with it--to my uncle.' On another occasion he expresses himself in a similar manner with regard to a child's mug which had been entrusted to him to get repaired. Go to

particulars /pərˈtɪkjələrz/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: detalhes

Simple English: specific facts or details about something

Example: The note gave particulars of the Gloria Scott's voyage.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pinch imparting to his new friend, as they went, such further particulars of Mark Tapley's whimsical restlessness as the reader is already acquainted with. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Come! as you're ambitious, and are a very neat draughtsman, you shall--ha ha!--you shall try your hand on these proposals for a grammar-school; regulating your plan, of course, by the printed particulars. Go to

2. Mr Pinch imparting to his new friend, as they went, such further particulars of Mark Tapley's whimsical restlessness as the reader is already acquainted with. Go to

parting /ˈpɑːrtɪŋ/ (44 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: despedida; separação

Simple English: The act of leaving someone, often for a long time.

Example: She cried at this sad parting from her friends.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Bear me no ill-will at parting, sir.' Go to

2. John Westlock returned his parting words with no less heartiness of manner, and sprung up to his seat upon the roof. Go to

3. Some people find their gratification in storing it up; and others theirs in parting with it; but I have no gratification connected with the thing. Go to

partway /ˈpɑːrtweɪ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: parte do caminho

Simple English: for only part of a distance or process

Example: They stopped partway up the hill.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The strong-minded woman's eldest daughter rose partway and shook from head to foot, more with anger than fear. Go to

patched /pætʃt/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: remendado; consertado

Simple English: Repaired by putting a piece of material over a hole.

Example: He wore an old coat patched at both elbows.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. And, at the top of the staircase, was an old, disjointed, rickety, ill-favoured skylight, patched and mended in all kinds of ways, which looked distrustfully down at everything that passed below, and covered Todgers's up as if it were a sort of human cucumber-frame, and only people of a peculiar growth were reared there. Go to

patronage /ˈpeɪtrənɪdʒ/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: condescendência

Simple English: an attitude of superior and often insulting kindness

Example: His patronage made him seem offensive.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. On another occasion he wrote, "I have bestowed upon that irresistible uncle of mine everything I ever possessed." He apparently paid long visits to this uncle's mansion, or even lived there: "With the exception of the suit of clothes I carry about with me, the whole of my wearing apparel is at present at my uncle's." The uncle's influence must have been vast, for his nephew called it "too high," "too much," and "tremendous." Strangely, it got him no profitable post at court or elsewhere, and no distinction except the patronage of such a great man and invitations to entertainments so splendid and costly that he called them "Golden Balls." Go to

2. When he had gone, Mr Pecksniff said with pitying patronage, 'You will excuse Thomas Pinch's lack of polish, Martin. Go to

3. Whoever lends it, tell them I have a proud spirit and finely tuned feelings that will not bear patronage. Go to

Original English Version

1. On another occasion he says, 'I have bestowed upon that irresistible uncle of mine everything I ever possessed.' And that he was in the habit of paying long and constant visits to this gentleman at his mansion, if, indeed, he did not wholly reside there, is manifest from the following sentence: 'With the exception of the suit of clothes I carry about with me, the whole of my wearing apparel is at present at my uncle's.' This gentleman's patronage and influence must have been very extensive, for his nephew writes, 'His interest is too high'--'It is too much'--'It is tremendous'--and the like. Go to

2. 'You will excuse Thomas Pinch's want of polish, Martin,' said Mr Pecksniff, with a smile of patronage and pity, as soon as he had left the room. Go to

3. He made the promise with so much condescension and patronage, that Tom felt he had asked a great deal (this had not occurred to his mind before), and thanked him earnestly. Go to

4. 'You go and do your duty, sir,' said Mr Slyme, angrily, 'and borrow money for travelling expenses; and whoever you borrow it of, let 'em know that I possess a haughty spirit, and a proud spirit, and have infernally finely-touched chords in my nature, which won't brook patronage. Go to

patted /ˈpætɪd/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: deu tapinhas; ajeitou com as mãos

Simple English: Touched something gently and repeatedly with the flat hand.

Example: She patted him back into shape.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He patted his unhappy companion on the shoulder, turned, and walked into the passage. Go to

2. He solemnly patted the bedcover once or twice, as if this showed him the patient's illness. Go to

3. With this kind greeting, Mr Pecksniff embraced him and patted his back several times with his right hand, as if his feelings were too strong for words. Go to

4. Some men would have patted Tom on the back and drunk a large glass of currant wine with him, even if it were the sharpest vinegar, and said they liked it. Go to

Original English Version

1. With this kind greeting, Mr Pecksniff fairly took him to his arms, and patted him several times upon the back with his right hand the while, as if to express that his feelings during the embrace were too much for utterance. Go to

patting /ˈpætɪŋ/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: afagando; dando tapinhas

Simple English: Touching gently and repeatedly with the flat hand.

Example: She kissed him, patting his big head gently.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. With these impressive words, Mr Pecksniff passed over to the bedside, where, after patting the counterpane once or twice in a very solemn manner, as if by that means he gained a clear insight into the patient's disorder, he took his seat in a large arm-chair, and in an attitude of some thoughtfulness and much comfort, waited for his waking. Go to

paused /pɔːzd/ (43 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: fizeram uma pausa; detiveram-se

Simple English: Stopped for a short time before going on.

Example: She paused at the door and looked back.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff paused at the door and sadly rolled his head. Go to

2. He paused for a moment and hid his face behind his pocket-handkerchief. Go to

3. He paused and placed himself directly before the fire, with his back to it. Go to

4. When his companion paused, he started and said, "Oh! Go to

Original English Version

1. Here he paused for an instant, and concealed his face behind his pocket-handkerchief. Go to

2. He paused to establish himself immediately in front of the fire with his back towards it. Go to

3. The perfect and entire satisfaction of Tom; his surpassing appreciation of the husky sandwiches, which crumbled in his mouth like saw-dust; the unspeakable relish with which he swallowed the thin wine by drops, and smacked his lips, as though it were so rich and generous that to lose an atom of its fruity flavour were a sin; the look with which he paused sometimes, with his glass in his hand, proposing silent toasts to himself; and the anxious shade that came upon his contented face when, after wandering round the room, exulting in its uninvaded snugness, his glance encountered the dull brow of his companion; no cynic in the world, though in his hatred of its men a very griffin, could have withstood these things in Thomas Pinch. Go to

4. But, as his good-nature presently suggested to him certain reasons for abstaining from this hint, he paused again, and then asked: Go to

pausing /ˈpɔːzɪŋ/ (21 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: parando

Simple English: stopping briefly before continuing

Example: The dog went back to camp, pausing twice.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'I am afraid,' said Mr Pecksniff, pausing at the door, and giving his head a melancholy roll, 'I am afraid that this looks artful. Go to

2. But on his companion pausing in this place, he started, and said 'Oh! of course'--and composed himself to listen again. Go to

paw /pɔː/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pata

Simple English: The foot of an animal such as a lion, a dog, or a cat.

Example: With one blow of his paw he sent the Scarecrow spinning.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Even in its weak standing pose, it kept one front paw near its nose, as if saying, "Don't mind me - it's only my fun." It held out the other paw to welcome guests. Go to

pecksniff /ˈpɛksnɪf/ (2516 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Pecksniff (sobrenome do personagem principal)

Simple English: The surname of Seth Pecksniff, the hypocritical architect who is the central comic villain of Martin Chuzzlewit.

Example: I believe that every member of the Pecksniff family agrees that Mr Pecksniff is an exaggerated character and that no such person ever existed.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I believe that every member of the Pecksniff family agrees that Mr Pecksniff is an exaggerated character and that no such person ever existed. Go to

2. It blew out Miss Pecksniff's lighted candle and slammed the front-door against Mr Pecksniff as he entered. Go to

3. Meanwhile, Mr Pecksniff lay calmly staring at his own street door. Go to

4. Miss Pecksniff called through the key-hole in a sharp voice like a young wind, "Who's there?" He did not answer. Go to

5. "I see you," cried Miss Pecksniff to the person she imagined had knocked and run away. Go to

6. Mr Pecksniff, perhaps because he had already caught it, still said nothing. Go to

Original English Version

1. All the Pecksniff family upon earth are quite agreed, I believe, that Mr Pecksniff is an exaggeration, and that no such character ever existed. Go to

2. But the oddest feat they achieved was, to take advantage of the sudden opening of Mr Pecksniff's front-door, to dash wildly into his passage; whither the wind following close upon them, and finding the back-door open, incontinently blew out the lighted candle held by Miss Pecksniff, and slammed the front-door against Mr Pecksniff who was at that moment entering, with such violence, that in the twinkling of an eye he lay on his back at the bottom of the steps. Go to

3. In the meantime Mr Pecksniff, having received from a sharp angle in the bottom step but one, that sort of knock on the head which lights up, for the patient's entertainment, an imaginary general illumination of very bright short-sixes, lay placidly staring at his own street door. Go to

4. And it would seem to have been more suggestive in its aspect than street doors usually are; for he continued to lie there, rather a lengthy and unreasonable time, without so much as wondering whether he was hurt or no; neither, when Miss Pecksniff inquired through the key-hole in a shrill voice, which might have belonged to a wind in its teens, 'Who's there' did he make any reply; nor, when Miss Pecksniff opened the door again, and shading the candle with her hand, peered out, and looked provokingly round him, and about him, and over him, and everywhere but at him, did he offer any remark, or indicate in any manner the least hint of a desire to be picked up. Go to

5. 'I see you,' cried Miss Pecksniff, to the ideal inflicter of a runaway knock. Go to

6. Still Mr Pecksniff, perhaps from having caught it already, said nothing. Go to

pecksniff's /ˈpɛksnɪfs/ (320 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Pecksniff (posessivo)

Simple English: Possessive form of the surname Pecksniff, referring to his house and front door.

Example: Their strangest act came when Mr Pecksniff's front-door suddenly opened and they dashed into his passage.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Their strangest act came when Mr Pecksniff's front-door suddenly opened and they dashed into his passage. Go to

2. It blew out Miss Pecksniff's lighted candle and slammed the front-door against Mr Pecksniff as he entered. Go to

3. The brass plate on Mr Pecksniff's door said, 'PECKSNIFF, ARCHITECT,' and his business cards added, 'AND LAND SURVEYOR.' He was a land surveyor in one sense only: a wide view lay before his windows. Go to

4. Mr Pecksniff's work consisted almost entirely of taking pupils. Go to

5. His enemies said that his great trust in sounds and appearances was the key to Mr Pecksniff's character. Go to

6. Mr Pecksniff's voice shook as he spoke, and his daughters sobbed. Go to

Original English Version

1. But the oddest feat they achieved was, to take advantage of the sudden opening of Mr Pecksniff's front-door, to dash wildly into his passage; whither the wind following close upon them, and finding the back-door open, incontinently blew out the lighted candle held by Miss Pecksniff, and slammed the front-door against Mr Pecksniff who was at that moment entering, with such violence, that in the twinkling of an eye he lay on his back at the bottom of the steps. Go to

2. Presently, the youngest Miss Pecksniff ran out again to pick up his hat, his brown paper parcel, his umbrella, his gloves, and other small articles; and that done, and the door closed, both young ladies applied themselves to tending Mr Pecksniff's wounds in the back parlour. Go to

3. The brazen plate upon the door (which being Mr Pecksniff's, could not lie) bore this inscription, 'PECKSNIFF, ARCHITECT,' to which Mr Pecksniff, on his cards of business, added, AND LAND SURVEYOR.' In one sense, and only one, he may be said to have been a Land Surveyor on a pretty large scale, as an extensive prospect lay stretched out before the windows of his house. Go to

4. Mr Pecksniff's professional engagements, indeed, were almost, if not entirely, confined to the reception of pupils; for the collection of rents, with which pursuit he occasionally varied and relieved his graver toils, can hardly be said to be a strictly architectural employment. Go to

5. A young gentleman's premium being paid, and the young gentleman come to Mr Pecksniff's house, Mr Pecksniff borrowed his case of mathematical instruments (if silver-mounted or otherwise valuable); entreated him, from that moment, to consider himself one of the family; complimented him highly on his parents or guardians, as the case might be; and turned him loose in a spacious room on the two-pair front; where, in the company of certain drawing-boards, parallel rulers, very stiff-legged compasses, and two, or perhaps three, other young gentlemen, he improved himself, for three or five years, according to his articles, in making elevations of Salisbury Cathedral from every possible point of sight; and in constructing in the air a vast quantity of Castles, Houses of Parliament, and other Public Buildings. Go to

6. Perhaps in no place in the world were so many gorgeous edifices of this class erected as under Mr Pecksniff's auspices; and if but one-twentieth part of the churches which were built in that front room, with one or other of the Miss Pecksniffs at the altar in the act of marrying the architect, could only be made available by the parliamentary commissioners, no more churches would be wanted for at least five centuries. Go to

pecksniffian /pɛkˈsnɪfiən/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pecksniffiano (hipócrita, com falsa virtude, à maneira de Pecksniff)

Simple English: An adjective coined from the character Pecksniff, meaning hypocritically sanctimonious or falsely benevolent; used here of the pompous energy of the household.

Example: With such departing words, did this strong-minded female paralyse the Pecksniffian energies.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. COMPRISES, AMONG OTHER IMPORTANT MATTERS, PECKSNIFFIAN AND ARCHITECTURAL, AND EXACT RELATION OF THE PROGRESS MADE BY MR PINCH IN THE CONFIDENCE AND FRIENDSHIP OF THE NEW PUPIL Go to

Original English Version

1. With such departing words, did this strong-minded female paralyse the Pecksniffian energies; and so she swept out of the room, and out of the house, attended by her daughters, who, as with one accord, elevated their three noses in the air, and joined in a contemptuous titter. Go to

2. COMPRISES, AMONG OTHER IMPORTANT MATTERS, PECKSNIFFIAN AND ARCHITECTURAL, AND EXACT RELATION OF THE PROGRESS MADE BY MR PINCH IN THE CONFIDENCE AND FRIENDSHIP OF THE NEW PUPIL Go to

pecksniffs /ˈpɛksnɪfs/ (110 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: os Pecksniff (plural do sobrenome, referindo-se às filhas)

Simple English: Plural form of the surname Pecksniff, referring collectively to Mr Pecksniff's two daughters, the 'Miss Pecksniffs'.

Example: With many confused words, the two Miss Pecksniffs pulled Mr Pecksniff upright.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. With many confused words, the two Miss Pecksniffs pulled Mr Pecksniff upright. Go to

2. He looked so sad that both Miss Pecksniffs gave an involuntary screech. Go to

3. There were especially many churches, with one of the Miss Pecksniffs at the altar marrying the architect. Go to

4. The two Miss Pecksniffs slapped each other and then settled into an embrace. Go to

5. He looked helplessly at the two Miss Pecksniffs. Go to

6. And the two Miss Pecksniffs! Go to

Original English Version

1. At this exclamation, another Miss Pecksniff bounced out of the parlour; and the two Miss Pecksniffs, with many incoherent expressions, dragged Mr Pecksniff into an upright posture. Go to

2. But as a gentleman's looks, in such a case of all others, are by no means under his own control, Mr Pecksniff continued to keep his mouth and his eyes very wide open, and to drop his lower jaw, somewhat after the manner of a toy nut-cracker; and as his hat had fallen off, and his face was pale, and his hair erect, and his coat muddy, the spectacle he presented was so very doleful, that neither of the Miss Pecksniffs could repress an involuntary screech. Go to

3. Nature played them off against each other; THEY had no hand in it, the two Miss Pecksniffs. Go to

4. Perhaps in no place in the world were so many gorgeous edifices of this class erected as under Mr Pecksniff's auspices; and if but one-twentieth part of the churches which were built in that front room, with one or other of the Miss Pecksniffs at the altar in the act of marrying the architect, could only be made available by the parliamentary commissioners, no more churches would be wanted for at least five centuries. Go to

5. It was perfectly charming, and worthy of the Pastoral age, to see how the two Miss Pecksniffs slapped each other after this, and then subsided into an embrace expressive of their different dispositions. Go to

6. 'My loves!' said Mr Pecksniff, with the same serene upraising of his hand; 'My dears!' After a solemn pause he meekly bowed to Mr Pinch, as who should say, 'Proceed;' but Mr Pinch was so very much at a loss how to resume, and looked so helplessly at the two Miss Pecksniffs, that the conversation would most probably have terminated there, if a good-looking youth, newly arrived at man's estate, had not stepped forward from the doorway and taken up the thread of the discourse. Go to

pedigree /ˈpɛdɪɡriː/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pedigree; genealogia

Simple English: The written record of an animal's parents and family.

Example: The pedigree of the white stallion is proved.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. INTRODUCTORY, CONCERNING THE PEDIGREE OF THE CHUZZLEWIT FAMILY Go to

Original English Version

1. INTRODUCTORY, CONCERNING THE PEDIGREE OF THE CHUZZLEWIT FAMILY Go to

peeping /ˈpiːpɪŋ/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: espreitando; espiando; assomando

Simple English: Looking quickly and secretly, or just beginning to appear.

Example: The first snowdrops were peeping through the frozen ground.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Poor fellow!' Tom softly said, peeping over the chairs. Go to

Original English Version

1. The strong smith and his men dealt such strokes upon their work, as made even the melancholy night rejoice, and brought a glow into its dark face as it hovered about the door and windows, peeping curiously in above the shoulders of a dozen loungers. Go to

2. Somehow he had a kind of sense that his old mistress was peeping from her chamber-window, but he couldn't make up his mind to look back. Go to

peevishly /ˈpiːvɪʃli/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de modo rabugento

Simple English: in an irritable, ill-tempered manner

Example: 'He must be a devilish good-natured fellow,' said Martin, somewhat peevishly.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'He must be a devilish good-natured fellow,' said Martin, somewhat peevishly: 'because he can't mean that, you know.' Go to

peninsular /pəˈnɪnsjələr/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Peninsular

Simple English: part of the name of a real shipping company, the Peninsular and Oriental Company

Example: The steamer Mongolia was owned by the Peninsular and Oriental Company.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Perhaps the name Montague Tigg is familiar to you from the most remarkable events of the Peninsular War?' Go to

Original English Version

1. The name of Montague Tigg will perhaps be familiar to you, in connection with the most remarkable events of the Peninsular War?' Go to

pension /ˈpɛnʃən/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: pensão; Pensões; previdência

Simple English: Regular payments given to someone after retirement from their job.

Example: She plans to travel the world with her pension after she retires.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. This was a sharp attack on the pension the strong-minded woman had received after her second husband died and before her last marriage. Go to

peopled /ˈpiːpəld/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: povoado

Simple English: filled with inhabitants; settled by people

Example: More land settled and peopled; vast new cities everywhere.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "I have been astonished by the changes everywhere: moral and physical changes; more land settled and peopled; vast new cities; old cities grown almost beyond recognition; greater grace in life; and changes in the Press, without whose advance no advance can happen anywhere. Go to

Original English Version

1. Also, to declare how astounded I have been by the amazing changes I have seen around me on every side--changes moral, changes physical, changes in the amount of land subdued and peopled, changes in the rise of vast new cities, changes in the growth of older cities almost out of recognition, changes in the graces and amenities of life, changes in the Press, without whose advancement no advancement can take place anywhere. Go to

perchance /pərˈtʃæns/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: por acaso; talvez

Simple English: by chance; perhaps

Example: Perchance he will return before nightfall.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Forgiveness,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'entire and pure forgiveness is not incompatible with a wounded heart; perchance when the heart is wounded, it becomes a greater virtue. Go to

persecuted /ˈpɜːrsɪkjuːtɪd/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: perseguido

Simple English: Treated cruelly, often because of race or belief.

Example: They were persecuted for their faith.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Meanwhile crowds of frauds become famous, men no more equal to me than - Tigg, witness that I am the most persecuted hound on earth." Go to

Original English Version

1. And crowds of impostors, the while, becoming famous; men who are no more on a level with me than--Tigg, I take you to witness that I am the most persecuted hound on the face of the earth.' Go to

peter's /ˈpiːtərz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Peter

Simple English: the possessive form of the name Peter, referring to a character

Example: Most folks think it's all Peter's fault.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. My dear Martin, pile them into any shape that reminds me of St. Peter's at Rome or the Mosque of St. Sophia at Constantinople. Go to

Original English Version

1. If you could pile them up my dear Martin, into any form which would remind me on my return say of St. Peter's at Rome, or the Mosque of St. Sophia at Constantinople, it would be at once improving to you and agreeable to my feelings. Go to

petticoat /ˈpɛtɪkoʊt/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: anáguas

Simple English: a skirt-like garment worn under a dress or skirt

Example: Her petticoat showed beneath the long dress.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She sat on a stool and tied the petticoat of a large doll for a neighbour's child. Go to

Original English Version

1. Neither had Miss Mercy expected them, for she was sitting upon her stool, tying on the--oh good gracious!--the petticoat of a large doll that she was dressing for a neighbour's child--really, quite a grown-up doll, which made it more confusing--and had its little bonnet dangling by the ribbon from one of her fair curls, to which she had fastened it lest it should be lost or sat upon. Go to

phantoms /ˈfæntəmz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: fantasmas

Simple English: ghostly figures or imagined things

Example: The old house seemed full of phantoms at night.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. These wonders stirred the lamp within Mr Pinch until, when he faced the busy street, phantoms waited for his command and he happily lived again the days before the Pecksniff era. Go to

Original English Version

1. Which matchless wonders, coming fast on Mr Pinch's mind, did so rub up and chafe that wonderful lamp within him, that when he turned his face towards the busy street, a crowd of phantoms waited on his pleasure, and he lived again, with new delight, the happy days before the Pecksniff era. Go to

phrenologists /frəˈnɒlədʒɪsts/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: frenologistas

Simple English: People who practiced phrenology, the discredited method of reading character from the shape of the skull.

Example: The narrator argued that phrenologists had overlooked the whale's spinal canal.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He also had a large new swelling on the back of his head, unknown to phrenologists. Go to

Original English Version

1. They were not very serious in their nature; being limited to abrasions on what the eldest Miss Pecksniff called 'the knobby parts' of her parent's anatomy, such as his knees and elbows, and to the development of an entirely new organ, unknown to phrenologists, on the back of his head. Go to

pickled /ˈpɪkəld/ (20 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: em conserva; salmourado

Simple English: Kept in vinegar or salt water so it does not go bad.

Example: A jar of pickled onions stood on the shelf.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They treated the injuries with patches of pickled brown paper. Go to

2. As a child, I thought pickled onions grew on trees and every elephant was born with a castle on its back. Go to

Original English Version

1. These injuries having been comforted externally, with patches of pickled brown paper, and Mr Pecksniff having been comforted internally, with some stiff brandy-and-water, the eldest Miss Pecksniff sat down to make the tea, which was all ready. Go to

2. I remember thinking once myself, in the days of my childhood, that pickled onions grew on trees, and that every elephant was born with an impregnable castle on his back. Go to

picturing /ˈpɪktʃərɪŋ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: imaginando, visualizando

Simple English: forming a mental image of something in one's mind

Example: I was still picturing her pale, gentle face as she lay dying.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Then you, even with your good humour, would be always on the fret and worrit, always uncomfortable in your own mind, always a-thinking as you was getting too old for my taste, always a-picturing me to yourself as being chained up to the Dragon door, and wanting to break away. Go to

piled /paɪld/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: amontoamos; empilhamos

Simple English: Put many things one on top of another.

Example: They piled the books on the small table.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If more proof were likely to be required, it could be piled up like an Alps of testimony, crushing all doubt. Go to

2. The sun fell behind long dark hills and clouds, piled in the west like an airy city with walls and battlements. Go to

Original English Version

1. On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels; others stripped of all their garniture, stood, each the centre of its little heap of bright red leaves, watching their slow decay; others again, still wearing theirs, had them all crunched and crackled up, as though they had been burnt; about the stems of some were piled, in ruddy mounds, the apples they had borne that year; while others (hardy evergreens this class) showed somewhat stern and gloomy in their vigour, as charged by nature with the admonition that it is not to her more sensitive and joyous favourites she grants the longest term of life. Go to

2. The sun went down beneath the long dark lines of hill and cloud which piled up in the west an airy city, wall heaped on wall, and battlement on battlement; the light was all withdrawn; the shining church turned cold and dark; the stream forgot to smile; the birds were silent; and the gloom of winter dwelt on everything. Go to

3. All day long, a stream of porters from the wharves beside the river, each bearing on his back a bursting chest of oranges, poured slowly through the narrow passages; while underneath the archway by the public-house, the knots of those who rested and regaled within, were piled from morning until night. Go to

pimples /ˈpɪmpəlz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: espinhas, borbulhas

Simple English: small inflamed spots on the skin, used figuratively for shiny bright marks

Example: The bright marks on his cravat looked like pimples breaking out on him.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The bright marks on his cravat, waistcoat, and trinkets looked like pimples breaking out on him. Go to

Original English Version

1. Then there was George Chuzzlewit, a gay bachelor cousin, who claimed to be young but had been younger, and was inclined to corpulency, and rather overfed himself; to that extent, indeed, that his eyes were strained in their sockets, as if with constant surprise; and he had such an obvious disposition to pimples, that the bright spots on his cravat, the rich pattern on his waistcoat, and even his glittering trinkets, seemed to have broken out upon him, and not to have come into existence comfortably. Go to

pinch's /ˈpɪntʃɪz/ (92 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Pinch

Simple English: Possessive form of the surname Pinch, referring to Tom Pinch's attention in the scene.

Example: Westlock advanced a step or two, bespeaking Mr Pinch's close attention with a glance.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. One bright, frosty morning, all Mr Pinch's thoughts and wishes centred on this horse and the covered vehicle it usually pulled. Go to

2. The organist's assistant was Mr Pinch's friend. Go to

3. Although he seemed concerned about Mr Pinch's comfort, he pulled a great chair with a leather seat to the middle of the fireplace. Go to

4. At last he removed his shawl and great-coat, which, unlike Mr Pinch's, was very thick and warm. Go to

5. It all stood on Mr Pinch's side. Go to

6. 'And how,' asked Mr Pecksniff, taking Mr Pinch's elbow kindly, 'has our friend used you, Martin?' Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Then you will shake hands, sir?' cried Westlock, advancing a step or two, and bespeaking Mr Pinch's close attention by a glance. Go to

2. In this horse, and the hooded vehicle, whatever its proper name might be, to which he was usually harnessed--it was more like a gig with a tumour than anything else--all Mr Pinch's thoughts and wishes centred, one bright frosty morning; for with this gallant equipage he was about to drive to Salisbury alone, there to meet with the new pupil, and thence to bring him home in triumph. Go to

3. He was a young fellow, of some five or six-and-twenty perhaps, and was dressed in such a free and fly-away fashion, that the long ends of his loose red neckcloth were streaming out behind him quite as often as before; and the bunch of bright winter berries in the buttonhole of his velveteen coat was as visible to Mr Pinch's rearward observation, as if he had worn that garment wrong side foremost. Go to

4. In good sooth they were big enough, and perhaps, as the saying is, ugly enough, to be the most correct of all mechanical performers; in Mr Pinch's eyes, however they were smaller than Geneva ware; and when he saw one very bloated watch announced as a repeater, gifted with the uncommon power of striking every quarter of an hour inside the pocket of its happy owner, he almost wished that he were rich enough to buy it. Go to

5. Which matchless wonders, coming fast on Mr Pinch's mind, did so rub up and chafe that wonderful lamp within him, that when he turned his face towards the busy street, a crowd of phantoms waited on his pleasure, and he lived again, with new delight, the happy days before the Pecksniff era. Go to

6. Now, the organist's assistant was a friend of Mr Pinch's, which was a good thing, for he too was a very quiet gentle soul, and had been, like Tom, a kind of old-fashioned boy at school, though well liked by the noisy fellow too. Go to

pinched /pɪntʃt/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: beliscou; apertou; encovado

Simple English: Squeezed between finger and thumb; also thin and drawn from hunger or cold.

Example: He pinched the candle out between two fingers.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Long waiting in the cold had pinched his sharp face and made his thin red whiskers and untidy hair even more wild. Go to

Original English Version

1. His sharp features being much pinched and nipped by long waiting in the cold, and his straggling red whiskers and frowzy hair being more than usually dishevelled from the same cause, he certainly looked rather unwholesome and uncomfortable than Shakspearian or Miltonic. Go to

pinching /ˈpɪnʧɪŋ/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: beliscar

Simple English: Here, pinching is used as a verb; in this context it means beliscar.

Example: They woke it up by pinching it.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She spoke his name with such scorn that she seemed eager to act it out by pinching the calf of his leg. Go to

2. Miss Mercy said yes while pinching her sister's arm and laughing a great deal. Go to

Original English Version

1. Miss Mercy replied in the affirmative, pinching her sister's arm at the same time, and giggling excessively. Go to

pities /ˈpɪti/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pena

Simple English: a feeling of sadness for someone else's trouble

Example: What a pity that the visit ended so soon!

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'I feared I would not have time to write this, and that would be a thousand pities. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'I was almost afraid,' said Tom, taking a letter from his pocket and wiping his face, for he was hot with bustling about though it was a cold day, 'that I shouldn't have had time to write it, and that would have been a thousand pities; postage from such a distance being a serious consideration, when one's not rich. Go to

pitiful /ˈpɪtɪfəl/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: lastimável; deplorável; que dá pena

Simple English: Making you feel sorry, or so poor in quality that it deserves scorn.

Example: The wet kitten made a pitiful sound at the door.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He was pitiful, drunken, rude, poor, and proud. Go to

Original English Version

1. And now so abject and so pitiful was he--at once so maudlin, insolent, beggarly, and proud--that even his friend and parasite, standing erect beside him, swelled into a Man by contrast. Go to

pitying /ˈpɪtiɪŋ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: compassivo; apiedando-se

Simple English: Showing sorrow and sympathy for another person's suffering.

Example: She gave the tired traveller a pitying look.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. When he had gone, Mr Pecksniff said with pitying patronage, 'You will excuse Thomas Pinch's lack of polish, Martin. Go to

2. 'They are almost the same thing, I believe,' said Mr Pecksniff with a pitying smile, 'or they were in my time. Go to

plainly /ˈpleɪnli/ (50 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: claramente; sem rodeios

Simple English: In a clear and simple way.

Example: She told him plainly that she would not go.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. What seems exaggerated to one person may seem plainly true to another. Go to

2. At times he plainly feared for his life, yet neither fear nor pain changed his decision. Go to

3. Mr Pecksniff had plainly not expected them for hours. Go to

Original English Version

1. Indeed the anecdote is so plainly susceptible of this meaning and no other, that it would be hardly worth recording in its original state, were it not a proof of what may be (and very often is) affected not only in historical prose but in imaginative poetry, by the exercise of a little ingenious labour on the part of a commentator. Go to

2. I will not even remember the conduct of that misguided person'--and here, although he spoke like one at peace with all the world, he used an emphasis that plainly said "I have my eye upon the rascal now"--'that misguided person who has brought you here to-night, seeking to disturb (it is a happiness to say, in vain) the heart's repose and peace of one who would have shed his dearest blood to serve him.' Go to

3. But neither the apprehensions which he plainly entertained, at times, for his life, nor the great pain he underwent, influenced his resolution in the least degree. Go to

4. The very size and shape, and hopeless immovability of the bedstead, and wardrobe, and in a minor degree of even the chairs and tables, provoked sleep; they were plainly apoplectic and disposed to snore. Go to

5. I plainly see to what foul uses all this money will be put at last,' he cried, almost writhing in the bed; 'after filling me with cares and miseries all my life, it will perpetuate discord and bad passions when I am dead. Go to

6. I--I am very glad,' said Tom, smiling with an embarrassed frankness peculiarly his, and which was as plainly a confession of his own imperfections, and an appeal to the kindness of the person he addressed, as if he had drawn one up in simple language and committed it to paper: 'I am very glad indeed that you turn out to be the party I expected. Go to

planks /plæŋks/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tábuas

Simple English: Long flat pieces of wood.

Example: The bridge was made of loose planks.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The cruel wind also drove small groups into the wheelwright's saw-pit and under planks and timber in the yard. Go to

Original English Version

1. Nor was this enough for its malicious fury; for not content with driving them abroad, it charged small parties of them and hunted them into the wheel wright's saw-pit, and below the planks and timbers in the yard, and, scattering the sawdust in the air, it looked for them underneath, and when it did meet with any, whew! how it drove them on and followed at their heels! Go to

playfully /ˈpleɪfəli/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: brincalhonamente; de brincadeira

Simple English: In a way that shows you are joking.

Example: He playfully pulled his sister's hair.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Oh Pa!' cried Mercy, lifting her finger playfully. Go to

pleasantly /ˈplɛzəntli/ (24 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: amavelmente; de modo agradável

Simple English: In a way that is enjoyable or friendly.

Example: The room was pleasantly cool after the street.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But Mr Pecksniff spoke pleasantly and nodded in a gentle way. Go to

2. 'Not very pleasantly, I must say,' answered Tom, after a little hesitation. Go to

Original English Version

1. Blessings on thy simple heart, Tom Pinch, how proudly dost thou button up that scanty coat, called by a sad misnomer, for these many years, a 'great' one; and how thoroughly, as with thy cheerful voice thou pleasantly adjurest Sam the hostler 'not to let him go yet,' dost thou believe that quadruped desires to go, and would go if he might! Go to

2. 'Not very pleasantly, I must say,' answered Tom, after a little hesitation. Go to

pleases /ˈpliːzɪz/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: agrada; apraz

Simple English: Makes someone happy; also, chooses to do as one wishes.

Example: He comes and goes as he pleases.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'For anyone's sake you choose, Tom, as long as it pleases you. Go to

2. 'Whatever Mr Pecksniff pleases,' Martin said doubtfully. Go to

3. You are two Whittingtons without the cat, which pleases me because I do not like cats. Go to

plotted /ˈplɑːtɪd/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tramou

Simple English: Made a secret plan to do something bad.

Example: They plotted against the ruler for months.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He has plotted against me like the rest; they are birds of one feather. Go to

Original English Version

1. They should have shown themselves fit objects to be robbed and preyed upon and plotted against and adulated by any knaves, who, but for joy, would have spat upon their coffins when they died their dupes; and then their search would have ended as mine has done, and they would be what I am.' Go to

plough /plaʊ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: arar; lavrar

Simple English: To turn over the soil before planting.

Example: They plough these fields in early spring.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. This peace matched the distant farmer scattering seed and the silent plough turning rich brown earth into patterns in the cut fields. Go to

Original English Version

1. The fallen leaves, with which the ground was strewn, gave forth a pleasant fragrance, and subduing all harsh sounds of distant feet and wheels created a repose in gentle unison with the light scattering of seed hither and thither by the distant husbandman, and with the noiseless passage of the plough as it turned up the rich brown earth, and wrought a graceful pattern in the stubbled fields. Go to

plump /plʌmp/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: rechonchudo; roliço

Simple English: Pleasantly fat and round.

Example: A plump little woman opened the door.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He looked up in spite of himself directly; and having once looked up, there was no looking down again; for of all the tight, plump, buxom, bright-eyed, dimple-faced landladies that ever shone on earth, there stood before him then, bodily in that bar, the very pink and pineapple. Go to

Original English Version

1. She had still a bright black eye, and jet black hair; was comely, dimpled, plump, and tight as a gooseberry; and though she was not exactly what the world calls young, you may make an affidavit, on trust, before any mayor or magistrate in Christendom, that there are a great many young ladies in the world (blessings on them one and all!) whom you wouldn't like half as well, or admire half as much, as the beaming hostess of the Blue Dragon. Go to

2. He looked up in spite of himself directly; and having once looked up, there was no looking down again; for of all the tight, plump, buxom, bright-eyed, dimple-faced landladies that ever shone on earth, there stood before him then, bodily in that bar, the very pink and pineapple. Go to

poet's /ˈpoʊəts/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do poeta

Simple English: The possessive form of poet, showing that words, thoughts, or another thing belong to a poet.

Example: The editor asked everyone to remember the poet's words.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A young gentleman had called her 'a gushing thing' in a poem in the Poet's Corner of a local newspaper. Go to

Original English Version

1. Oh! she was indeed 'a gushing thing' (as a young gentleman had observed in verse, in the Poet's Corner of a provincial newspaper), was the youngest Miss Pecksniff! Go to

politely /pəˈlaɪtli/ (35 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: educadamente; com cortesia

Simple English: In a way that shows good manners.

Example: I am quite well, thank you, she replied politely.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Miss Charity Pecksniff politely asked whether those very low remarks were aimed at her. Go to

2. "A very hard frost tonight, sir," said the newcomer, politely noticing Mr Pinch move his little table to make room. Go to

3. "Then he politely followed me here and waits to see me home. Go to

politeness /pəˈlaɪtnəs/ (29 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cortesia; boas maneiras

Simple English: Good manners in the way you treat people.

Example: He answered with great politeness.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "I will also record that in every place, small or large, I received unmatched politeness, delicacy, kindness, hospitality, consideration, and respect for the privacy required by my work and health. Go to

2. "No," said Mr Pecksniff with his special politeness, "not oysters. Go to

Original English Version

1. Also, to record that wherever I have been, in the smallest places equally with the largest, I have been received with unsurpassable politeness, delicacy, sweet temper, hospitality, consideration, and with unsurpassable respect for the privacy daily enforced upon me by the nature of my avocation here and the state of my health. Go to

2. This remark being received with a shrill titter by the two sisters of the speaker, Miss Charity Pecksniff begged with much politeness to be informed whether any of those very low observations were levelled at her; and receiving no more explanatory answer than was conveyed in the adage 'Those the cap fits, let them wear it,' immediately commenced a somewhat acrimonious and personal retort, wherein she was much comforted and abetted by her sister Mercy, who laughed at the same with great heartiness; indeed far more naturally than life. Go to

3. The young fellow made his acknowledgments and accepted the offer; stepping into the carriage directly, and seating himself on the very edge of the seat with his body half out of it, to express his being there on sufferance, and by the politeness of Mr Pinch. Go to

4. 'Then Mark Tapley had not only the great politeness to follow me to this house, but is waiting now, to see me home again. Go to

pooh /puː/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ora essa; bah

Simple English: A word said to show that you do not care about something.

Example: Pooh, said the boy, that is easy.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Pooh, pooh!' said the old man. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Pooh, pooh!' said the old man. Go to

porcupines /ˈpɔːrkjəpaɪnz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: porcos-espinhos

Simple English: animals with sharp protective quills

Example: Porcupines hid among the rocks.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They would not be softened or put to sleep by the Pecksniffs, any more than hedgehogs or porcupines would. Go to

Original English Version

1. And the company; the jealous stony-hearted distrustful company, who were all shut up in themselves, and had no faith in anybody, and wouldn't believe anything, and would no more allow themselves to be softened or lulled asleep by the Pecksniffs than if they had been so many hedgehogs or porcupines! Go to

porters /ˈpɔːrtərz/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: carregadores; porteiros

Simple English: People whose job is to carry luggage or to guard a door.

Example: Two porters carried the trunks upstairs.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. All day, porters came from the river wharves with bursting chests of oranges on their backs. Go to

2. Under the public-house arch, groups of resting porters drank from morning until night. Go to

Original English Version

1. All day long, a stream of porters from the wharves beside the river, each bearing on his back a bursting chest of oranges, poured slowly through the narrow passages; while underneath the archway by the public-house, the knots of those who rested and regaled within, were piled from morning until night. Go to

portico /ˈpɔːrtɪkoʊ/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pórtico

Simple English: A roofed entrance supported by columns.

Example: They waited beneath the hotel's yellow portico.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Passing the candle over paper rolls, Mr Pecksniff said, 'There are signs of our work: Salisbury Cathedral from north, south, east, west, south-east, and nor'west; a bridge, almshouse, jail, church, powder-magazine, wine-cellar, portico, summer-house, ice-house; plans, elevations, sections, everything.' In another large room with four little beds, he said, 'This is your room, which you will share with quiet Mr Pinch. Go to

Original English Version

1. A portico. Go to

portmanteau /pɔːrtˈmæntoʊ/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mala de viagem

Simple English: a large traveling bag or suitcase

Example: He packed his clothes in a portmanteau.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff first called him down to stand on his portmanteau like an ancient statue until it could be locked. Go to

Original English Version

1. And now,' said Mr Pecksniff, in conclusion, 'to drop, for the present, our professional relations and advert to private matters, I shall be glad to talk with you in my own room, while I pack up my portmanteau.' Go to

2. He would not have had leisure to say much, had his new friend been ever so loquacious; for first of all Mr Pecksniff called him down to stand upon the top of his portmanteau and represent ancient statues there, until such time as it would consent to be locked; and then Miss Charity called him to come and cord her trunk; and then Miss Mercy sent for him to come and mend her box; and then he wrote the fullest possible cards for all the luggage; and then he volunteered to carry it all downstairs; and after that to see it safely carried on a couple of barrows to the old finger-post at the end of the lane; and then to mind it till the coach came up. Go to

pose /poʊz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pose; posar; representar

Simple English: To introduce a threat, danger, or problem.

Example: High temperatures can pose a risk to people's health and safety.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Even in its weak standing pose, it kept one front paw near its nose, as if saying, "Don't mind me - it's only my fun." It held out the other paw to welcome guests. Go to

possess /pəˈzɛs/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: possuem

Simple English: To have something as one's own.

Example: He can possess any car he wants with his wealth.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. On another occasion he wrote, "I have bestowed upon that irresistible uncle of mine everything I ever possessed." He apparently paid long visits to this uncle's mansion, or even lived there: "With the exception of the suit of clothes I carry about with me, the whole of my wearing apparel is at present at my uncle's." The uncle's influence must have been vast, for his nephew called it "too high," "too much," and "tremendous." Strangely, it got him no profitable post at court or elsewhere, and no distinction except the patronage of such a great man and invitations to entertainments so splendid and costly that he called them "Golden Balls." Go to

postman /ˈpoʊstmən/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: carteiro

Simple English: a person who delivers mail

Example: The postman brought a letter.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They brought a town charity-boy as a guide or held tightly to the postman. Go to

Original English Version

1. Cautious emigrants from Scotland or the North of England had been known to reach it safely, by impressing a charity-boy, town-bred, and bringing him along with them; or by clinging tenaciously to the postman; but these were rare exceptions, and only went to prove the rule that Todgers's was in a labyrinth, whereof the mystery was known but to a chosen few. Go to

postscript /ˈpoʊstskrɪpt/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pós-escrito

Simple English: A short note added at the end of a letter.

Example: The postscript held the real news.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. POSTSCRIPT Go to

Original English Version

1. POSTSCRIPT Go to

powerless /ˈpaʊərləs/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sem forças; impotente

Simple English: Not able to do anything or to stop something.

Example: He stood powerless and watched.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Yet for all its noise it was powerless: it only made the bellows roar their cheerful song louder, the fire burn brighter, and the sparks dance more gaily. Go to

practises /ˈpræktɪsɪz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pratica

Simple English: performs an activity repeatedly to improve a skill

Example: The organ volunteer practises on dark summer evenings.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The church organ volunteer, who practises on dark summer evenings, is called Mr Pecksniff's young man, eh, Tom? Go to

Original English Version

1. Who but a madman would suppose he cares to hear it said on Sundays, that the volunteer who plays the organ in the church, and practises on summer evenings in the dark, is Mr Pecksniff's young man, eh, Tom? Go to

praiseworthy /ˈpreɪzwɜrði/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: louvável

Simple English: deserving approval or praise

Example: His honest action was praiseworthy.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If jealous, malicious people say that any Chuzzlewit showed too much family pride, the weakness must seem pardonable, even praiseworthy, when the family's immense superiority to the rest of mankind in ancient origin is considered. Go to

precept /ˈpriːsɛpt/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: preceito, ensinamento

Simple English: a rule or principle intended to guide behavior

Example: There was nothing in the precept and example before him to correct his vices.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. I conceive that the sordid coarseness and brutality of Jonas would be unnatural, if there had been nothing in his early education, and in the precept and example always before him, to engender and develop the vices that make him odious. Go to

2. He was a most exemplary man; fuller of virtuous precept than a copy book. Go to

3. Now there was nothing that one may call decidedly original in this remark, nor can it be exactly said to have contained any wise precept theretofore unknown to mankind, or to have opened any hidden source of consolation; but Mr Pecksniff's manner was so bland, and he nodded his head so soothingly, and showed in everything such an affable sense of his own excellence, that anybody would have been, as Mrs Lupin was, comforted by the mere voice and presence of such a man; and, though he had merely said 'a verb must agree with its nominative case in number and person, my good friend,' or 'eight times eight are sixty-four, my worthy soul,' must have felt deeply grateful to him for his humanity and wisdom. Go to

4. Then there were Anthony Chuzzlewit, and his son Jonas; the face of the old man so sharpened by the wariness and cunning of his life, that it seemed to cut him a passage through the crowded room, as he edged away behind the remotest chairs; while the son had so well profited by the precept and example of the father, that he looked a year or two the elder of the twain, as they stood winking their red eyes, side by side, and whispering to each other softly. Go to

preface /ˈprefəs/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: prefácio

Simple English: A short piece at the start of a book explaining it.

Example: The preface was written by a friend.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. PREFACE Go to

Original English Version

1. PREFACE Go to

2. And in the very prologue and preface to the first place, John, you must consider this, which nobody knows better than I: that I was born for much plainer and poorer things, that I am not a good hand for his kind of business, and have no talent for it, or indeed for anything else but odds and ends that are of no use or service to anybody.' Go to

prescriptions /prɪˈskrɪpʃənz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: receitas médicas

Simple English: written instructions from a doctor for medicine to treat an illness

Example: It was lucky she had brought the prescriptions and medicines with her.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "What a Providence," said the Dragon's landlady, "that you had the prescriptions and medicines with you, miss!" Go to

Original English Version

1. 'What a Providence!' said the landlady of the Dragon, 'that you had the prescriptions and the medicines with you, miss!' Go to

preserve /prɪˈzɜːrv/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: preservar; conservar; conserva

Simple English: To keep something in its original or good condition.

Example: We must preserve natural habitats to protect endangered species.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The story is worth preserving in its original form because it shows what ingenious work by a commentator can often do to historical prose and imaginative poetry. Go to

preside /prɪˈzaɪd/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: presidir; dirigir

Simple English: To be in charge of a meeting, a ceremony or an organisation.

Example: The oldest member will preside at tomorrow's meeting.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Having prepared breakfast for the young ladies with her own hands, she withdrew to preside in the other room; where the joke at Mr Jinkins's expense seemed to be proceeding rather noisily. Go to

pretensions /prɪˈtɛnʃənz/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pretensões, reivindicações de mérito

Simple English: claims to importance, ability, or status that others may or may not accept

Example: It was strange to be so servile to a man of such parts and pretensions.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. He doesn't keep you as his assistant because you are of any use to him; because your wonderful faith in his pretensions is of inestimable service in all his mean disputes; because your honesty reflects honesty on him; because your wandering about this little place all your spare hours, reading in ancient books and foreign tongues, gets noised abroad, even as far as Salisbury, making of him, Pecksniff the master, a man of learning and of vast importance. Go to

2. Now you must bear in mind, Pinch, that I am not only desperately fond of her (for though she is poor, her beauty and intellect would reflect great credit on anybody, I don't care of what pretensions who might become her husband), but that a chief ingredient in my composition is a most determined--' Go to

3. Wretched and forlorn as he looked, Mr Slyme had once been in his way, the choicest of swaggerers; putting forth his pretensions boldly, as a man of infinite taste and most undoubted promise. Go to

prig /prɪɡ/ (171 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pedante

Simple English: A person who acts as if he is better and wiser than others.

Example: Inga was not a prig, though he was solemn and studious.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mrs Betsey Prig fairly represented a Hospital Nurse, which showed serious bad management. Go to

Original English Version

1. I think it not the least among the instances of their mismanagement, that Mrs Betsey Prig was a fair specimen of a Hospital Nurse; and that the Hospitals, with their means and funds, should have left it to private humanity and enterprise, to enter on an attempt to improve that class of persons--since, greatly improved through the agency of good women. Go to

principle /ˈprɪnsəpl/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: princípio

Simple English: A fundamental rule considered true for reasoning or behavior.

Example: She believes in the principle of honesty in all relationships.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Family tradition also proves that, at some unstated time, there was a matron with destructive principles who knew much about making and using explosive devices. Go to

2. But that may take a principle a little too far, may it not?' Go to

3. But when a man like Slyme is held for a score, a mean thing written on a slate or perhaps in chalk on a door, I feel society is shaken and first principles cannot be trusted. Go to

privacy (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: privacidade; intimidade; confidencialidade

Simple English: the state of being free from public attention

Example: The app protects user privacy.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "I will also record that in every place, small or large, I received unmatched politeness, delicacy, kindness, hospitality, consideration, and respect for the privacy required by my work and health. Go to

progress /ˈprɑːɡrɛs/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: progresso; andamento; progredir

Simple English: Gradual movement toward achieving a specific goal.

Example: We need to keep track of our progress in the project each week.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He never filled her with hopes of your happiness and progress, though he knew better than anyone they would never come true! Go to

2. COMPRISES, AMONG OTHER IMPORTANT MATTERS, PECKSNIFFIAN AND ARCHITECTURAL, AND EXACT RELATION OF THE PROGRESS MADE BY MR PINCH IN THE CONFIDENCE AND FRIENDSHIP OF THE NEW PUPIL Go to

promptings /ˈprɒmptɪŋz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: impulsos, incitações

Simple English: inner urges or instincts that encourage a certain action or feeling

Example: He might be persuaded to listen to nature's promptings.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Our respected relative might be persuaded to listen to nature's promptings, not to the - " Go to

Original English Version

1. 'You are quite right, my dear madam, and I appreciate and thank you for your discriminating objection--our respected relative, to dispose himself to listen to the promptings of nature, and not to the--' Go to

2. I think, I say, that means might be devised of disposing our respected relative to listen to the promptings of nature, and not to the siren-like delusions of art. Go to

proofs /pruːfs/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: provas; demonstrações

Simple English: Facts or things that show something is true.

Example: He offered two proofs that the letter was genuine.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It must convince even anyone still unconvinced by these likely proofs. Go to

Original English Version

1. But there is one other piece of evidence, bearing immediate reference to their close connection with this memorable event in English History, which must carry conviction, even to a mind (if such a mind there be) remaining unconvinced by these presumptive proofs. Go to

2. If it came within the scope of reasonable probability that further proofs were required, they might be heaped upon each other until they formed an Alps of testimony, beneath which the boldest scepticism should be crushed and beaten flat. Go to

proposal /prəˈpoʊzəl/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: proposta

Simple English: The act of asking someone to marry formally romantically.

Example: Her proposal was a surprise that made her very happy.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. You will find us at the Half Moon and Seven Stars in this village at any time, open to any reasonable proposal. Go to

propounded /prəˈpaʊndɪd/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: propôs, apresentou

Simple English: put forward an idea or suggestion for consideration

Example: The nephew propounded 'Oysters' as his contribution to the discussion.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Such a question as this, propounded in such a manner, at such a time, and by such a person, proved (at least, as far as, Mark's flesh and blood were concerned) to be one of them. Go to

Original English Version

1. The nephew with the outline of a countenance, speaking for the first and last time on that occasion, propounded 'Oysters.' Go to

2. Such a question as this, propounded in such a manner, at such a time, and by such a person, proved (at least, as far as, Mark's flesh and blood were concerned) to be one of them. Go to

prospect (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: perspectiva; possibilidade; chance

Simple English: a possibility that something will happen

Example: There is little prospect of rain.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. My engagement to the young lady will probably last a long time, because neither of our prospects is bright. Go to

prototypes /ˈproʊtətaɪps/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: protótipos

Simple English: early or original models that real people or things later resemble

Example: The characters in the novel still have many counterparts and prototypes in the world around us.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. One day it will show that the members introduced here still have many counterparts and prototypes in the Great World around us. Go to

Original English Version

1. And having shown that they must have had, by reason of their ancient birth, a pretty large share in the foundation and increase of the human family, it will one day become its province to submit, that such of its members as shall be introduced in these pages, have still many counterparts and prototypes in the Great World about us. Go to

proverbial /prəˈvɜːbiəl/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: proverbial

Simple English: well known and often mentioned, like something in a proverb

Example: It is proverbial that there are certain things flesh and blood cannot bear.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It is proverbial that there are certain things which flesh and blood cannot bear. Go to

Original English Version

1. It is proverbial that there are certain things which flesh and blood cannot bear. Go to

punishments /ˈpʌnɪʃmənts/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: castigos; punições

Simple English: Things done to people because they have done wrong.

Example: The punishments were hard in those days.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Only Mr Tigg doubted whether these punishments were fair. Go to

2. "On one hand, I will not say she deserves all the punishments so strongly and happily suggested." This was one of his ornamental sentences. Go to

pupil's /ˈpjuːpəl/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: aluno

Simple English: A student, especially one taught by a teacher.

Example: The pupil’s work pleased her teacher.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He also praised the pupil's parents or guardians. Go to

2. The new pupil's confidence was almost frightening. Go to

3. His old enemies said this was almost miraculous: adding a back window, a kitchen door, six steps, or a water spout had sometimes changed a pupil's design into Mr Pecksniff's own work and brought him much money. Go to

pursing /ˈpɜːrsɪŋ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: franzindo (os lábios)

Simple English: pressing the lips together tightly, often as a gesture of thought or disapproval

Example: 'Oh!' said Tom, pursing his mouth and nodding.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "Oh!" said Tom, pursing his mouth and nodding. Go to

pursuance /pərˈsuːəns/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cumprimento, seguimento (de uma decisão)

Simple English: the carrying out or continuation of a plan or decision

Example: In pursuance of which opinion, two people took their seats in the vehicle.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. In pursuance of which opinion, two people took their seats in the vehicle, which was solemnly licensed by Act of Parliament to carry any six persons who could be got in at the door. Go to

pursue /pərˈsuː/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: perseguir; prosseguir; buscar

Simple English: To chase or follow someone or something actively.

Example: The police will pursue the suspect on foot until caught.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'An envious family,' pursued Mark, with a thoughtful face; 'or a quarrelsome family, or a malicious family, or even a good out-and-out mean family, would open a field of action as I might do something in. Go to

2. 'I thought,' pursued the landlady, with a most engaging hesitation, 'that you had been--fond--of the Dragon?' Go to

3. 'Then,' pursued the hostess--and it really was not an unnatural inquiry--'why do you desert it?' Go to

pursuits /pərˈsuːts/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: atividades, ocupações

Simple English: activities or hobbies that someone regularly engages in, often as a pastime

Example: These pursuits were the noble work and healthy recreation of the Quality.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In ancient days, these pursuits gave excitement and a hopeful way to repair ruined fortunes; they were the noble work and healthy recreation of the Quality of this land. Go to

Original English Version

1. It is a notable circumstance that in these later times, many Chuzzlewits, being unsuccessful in other pursuits, have, without the smallest rational hope of enriching themselves, or any conceivable reason, set up as coal-merchants; and have, month after month, continued gloomily to watch a small stock of coals, without in any one instance negotiating with a purchaser. Go to

2. Nay, my dears, why blush at being detected in your everyday pursuits? Go to

puzzled /ˈpʌzəld/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: intrigado; confuso

Simple English: Not able to understand something.

Example: The strange note left her puzzled.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pinch stared at the fire for minutes, puzzled as if asked an unusually difficult riddle. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pinch sat staring at the fire for some minutes with a puzzled look, such as he might have assumed if some uncommonly difficult conundrum had been proposed, which he found it impossible to guess. Go to

quarn /kwɔːrn/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Quarn (variante de Quarll, nome próprio)

Simple English: A variant spelling of 'Quarll', referring to the same fictional castaway character Philip Quarll, depicted as a toy figure beside Robinson Crusoe.

Example: There stood poor Robinson Crusoe, looking calmly at Philip Quarn and all his imitators.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There stood poor Robinson Crusoe, with dog, hatchet, goat-skin cap, and guns, looking calmly at Philip Quarn and all his imitators. Go to

Original English Version

1. There was another; not quite so bad at first, but still a trying shop; where children's books were sold, and where poor Robinson Crusoe stood alone in his might, with dog and hatchet, goat-skin cap and fowling-pieces; calmly surveying Philip Quarn and the host of imitators round him, and calling Mr Pinch to witness that he, of all the crowd, impressed one solitary footprint on the shore of boyish memory, whereof the tread of generations should not stir the lightest grain of sand. Go to

quarrel /ˈkwɔːrəl/ (46 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: briga; disputa (em quarrel-some, briguento)

Simple English: An angry argument, or to argue angrily.

Example: They had a short quarrel about money and made peace the next day.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The strong-minded lady, her two daughters, Mrs Spottletoe, and the deaf cousin all joined the quarrel. Go to

2. Mr Pinch, if you spare the bottle, we shall quarrel.' Go to

Original English Version

1. As I had never, in writing fiction, had any disposition to soften what is ridiculous or wrong at home, so I then hoped that the good-humored people of the United States would not be generally disposed to quarrel with me for carrying the same usage abroad. Go to

2. And it being quite impossible that any difference of opinion can take place among women without every woman who is within hearing taking active part in it, the strong-minded lady and her two daughters, and Mrs Spottletoe, and the deaf cousin (who was not at all disqualified from joining in the dispute by reason of being perfectly unacquainted with its merits), one and all plunged into the quarrel directly. Go to

3. Mr Pinch, if you spare the bottle we shall quarrel.' Go to

quarrelled /ˈkwɔːrəld/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: brigou; discutiu

Simple English: Argued angrily with someone.

Example: The brothers quarrelled over the land.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They quarrelled inside and outside throughout the journey, to the coachman's despair. Go to

2. Yet we quarrelled often because I could not adjust to his ways. Go to

Original English Version

1. Moreover, Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Jonas were economically quartered at the Half Moon and Seven Stars, which was an obscure ale-house; and by the very next coach there came posting to the scene of action, so many other affectionate members of the family (who quarrelled with each other, inside and out, all the way down, to the utter distraction of the coachman), that in less than four-and-twenty hours the scanty tavern accommodation was at a premium, and all the private lodgings in the place, amounting to full four beds and sofa, rose cent per cent in the market. Go to

quarrels /ˈkwɔːrəlz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: brigas; discussões

Simple English: Angry arguments between people.

Example: Their quarrels could be heard in the street.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Even among my family, I have caused quarrels and conflict merely by remaining with them. Go to

2. "It filled my life with worry and will cause quarrels after I die. Go to

Original English Version

1. I have borne a great deal from him, because I have been under obligations to him (if one can ever be said to be under obligations to one's own grandfather), and because I have been really attached to him; but we have had a great many quarrels for all that, for I could not accommodate myself to his ways very often--not out of the least reference to myself, you understand, but because--' he stammered here, and was rather at a loss. Go to

quarrelsome /ˈkwɔːrəlsəm/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: briguentos; rixosos

Simple English: Often arguing and starting fights.

Example: The two quarrelsome brothers never agreed.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'An envious family,' pursued Mark, with a thoughtful face; 'or a quarrelsome family, or a malicious family, or even a good out-and-out mean family, would open a field of action as I might do something in. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'An envious family,' pursued Mark, with a thoughtful face; 'or a quarrelsome family, or a malicious family, or even a good out-and-out mean family, would open a field of action as I might do something in. Go to

quitted /ˈkwɪtɪd/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: deixou, abandonou

Simple English: left a place, typically permanently or with finality

Example: He would leave the house directly, though he quitted it on foot.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. With this view he took a few turns up and down the skittle-ground, and did not re-enter the house until Mr Tigg and his friend had quitted it, and the new pupil and Mark were watching their departure from one of the windows. Go to

Original English Version

1. If they sent for any person to attend him, man, woman, or child, he would leave the house directly (so he told them), though he quitted it on foot, and died upon the threshold of the door. Go to

2. With this view he took a few turns up and down the skittle-ground, and did not re-enter the house until Mr Tigg and his friend had quitted it, and the new pupil and Mark were watching their departure from one of the windows. Go to

quoits /kɔɪts/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: argolas de arremesso

Simple English: A game in which flat rings are thrown at a peg.

Example: They played quoits on the lawn all afternoon.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There are skittles, cricket, quoits, nine-pins, comic songs, choruses, and company around the fire every winter evening. Go to

Original English Version

1. Skittles, cricket, quoits, nine-pins, comic songs, choruses, company round the chimney corner every winter's evening. Go to

quoth /kwoʊθ/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: disse

Simple English: Archaic word for 'said', typically placed after its subject, as in 'quoth she' meaning 'she said'.

Example: "Aye, aye," quoth she.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Aye, aye,' quoth she, and it will be observed that no emendation whatever is necessary to be made in these two initiative remarks, 'Aye, aye! Go to

ragged /ˈræɡɪd/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: esfarrapada; maltrapilha

Simple English: Old and torn in many places.

Example: The child wore a ragged coat.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If I were very ragged and very happy, then I would begin to feel I had achieved something, Mr Pinch.' Go to

Original English Version

1. If I was very ragged and very jolly, then I should begin to feel I had gained a point, Mr Pinch.' Go to

railing /ˈreɪlɪŋ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: balaustrada; grade; corrimão

Simple English: A fence of bars, or a bar to hold on to.

Example: She leaned on the railing and watched the boats.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He went in, out, and around, turning back at a wall or iron railing. Go to

Original English Version

1. A kind of resigned distraction came over the stranger as he trod those devious mazes, and, giving himself up for lost, went in and out and round about and quietly turned back again when he came to a dead wall or was stopped by an iron railing, and felt that the means of escape might possibly present themselves in their own good time, but that to anticipate them was hopeless. Go to

rank /ræŋk/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: rank; classificação; classificar

Simple English: The level or position someone holds in the armed forces.

Example: His rank increased after he demonstrated exceptional leadership in battle.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There is no need for more examples of the Chuzzlewits' high rank and great importance. Go to

2. We are not all in two opposing ranks, the OFfensive and the DEfensive. Go to

rascal /ˈræskəl/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: malandro; velhaco; traquinas

Simple English: A dishonest person, or a child who behaves badly in a playful way.

Example: That little rascal hid my glasses again.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He tried, but failed, to disturb the peace of one who would have shed his dearest blood to serve him.' Though Mr Pecksniff sounded peaceful, his stress showed, 'I am watching the rascal now.' Go to

Original English Version

1. I will not even remember the conduct of that misguided person'--and here, although he spoke like one at peace with all the world, he used an emphasis that plainly said "I have my eye upon the rascal now"--'that misguided person who has brought you here to-night, seeking to disturb (it is a happiness to say, in vain) the heart's repose and peace of one who would have shed his dearest blood to serve him.' Go to

rasher /ˈræʃər/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: fatia de bacon

Simple English: a thin slice of bacon, typically fried

Example: And my rasher of bacon, with a basin of milk besides.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He asked Mr Pecksniff for the loaf and took a rasher of Pecksniff's private bacon quite calmly. Go to

Original English Version

1. There was something almost awful, too, about the self-possession of the new pupil; who 'troubled' Mr Pecksniff for the loaf, and helped himself to a rasher of that gentleman's own particular and private bacon, with all the coolness in life. Go to

rattled /ˈrætəld/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sacudiu; fez chocalhar

Simple English: Made a series of short hard sounds; also made someone nervous.

Example: The windows rattled every time a lorry went by.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Thin branches cracked and rattled like skeletons dancing to its moaning music. Go to

2. On quiet Sundays, cart-horses troubled by rats rattled their halters like ghosts shaking chains in haunted-house tales. Go to

Original English Version

1. An evening wind uprose too, and the slighter branches cracked and rattled as they moved, in skeleton dances, to its moaning music. Go to

reasoned /ˈriːzənd/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: raciocinou; concluiu; ponderado

Simple English: Thought carefully to reach a conclusion.

Example: He reasoned that the shop would still be open.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But because you are not, I see two deep thinkers who can be reasoned with freely.' Go to

Original English Version

1. If you were on good terms, I should consider you a most confoundedly unnatural pair; but standing towards each other as you do, I took upon you as a couple of devilish deep-thoughted fellows, who may be reasoned with to any extent.' Go to

reassured /ˌriːəˈʃʊrd/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tranquilizado; convencido de que estava tudo bem

Simple English: Made less worried or more certain that nothing was wrong.

Example: The steady signal reassured the waiting crew.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. These small remarks about helping others reassured the sisters. Go to

Original English Version

1. There was something in these morsels of philanthropy which reassured the sisters. Go to

recited /rɪˈsaɪtɪd/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: recitou; declamou

Simple English: Said something aloud from memory.

Example: He recited the whole poem without a mistake.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. That worthy man Mr Pecksniff having taken leave of his cousin in the solemn terms recited in the last chapter, withdrew to his own home, and remained there three whole days; not so much as going out for a walk beyond the boundaries of his own garden, lest he should be hastily summoned to the bedside of his penitent and remorseful relative, whom, in his ample benevolence, he had made up his mind to forgive unconditionally, and to love on any terms. Go to

2. With which consolatory deduction from the gloomy premises recited, Mr Tigg roused himself by a great effort, and proceeded in his former strain. Go to

3. But he did not; for with the apt closing words above recited, Mr Slyme; of too haughty a stomach to work, to beg, to borrow, or to steal; yet mean enough to be worked or borrowed, begged or stolen for, by any catspaw that would serve his turn; too insolent to lick the hand that fed him in his need, yet cur enough to bite and tear it in the dark; with these apt closing words Mr Slyme fell forward with his head upon the table, and so declined into a sodden sleep. Go to

recollection /ˌrɛk.əˈlɛk.ʃən/ (27 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: lembrança

Simple English: a memory of a past event or fact

Example: I had an awful recollection of her drowned relations.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'It is to be lamented,' said Mr Pecksniff, with a forgiving recollection of Mr Spottletoe's fist, 'that our friend should have withdrawn himself so very hastily, though we have cause for mutual congratulation even in that, since we are assured that he is not distrustful of us in regard to anything we may say or do while he is absent. Go to

2. Great thoughts and hopes came crowding on his mind as the rich music rolled upon the air and yet among them--something more grave and solemn in their purpose, but the same--were all the images of that day, down to its very lightest recollection of childhood. Go to

redbreasts /ˈrɛd.brɛsts/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: piscos-de-peito-ruivo

Simple English: small red-breasted birds, plural form

Example: Robin-redbreasts might have covered her with leaves.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If she had walked out alone earlier in the season, robin-redbreasts might have covered her with leaves. Go to

Original English Version

1. Oh, the serene expression on the face of Charity, which seemed to say, 'I know that all my family have injured me beyond the possibility of reparation, but I forgive them, for it is my duty so to do!' And, oh, the gay simplicity of Mercy; so charming, innocent, and infant-like, that if she had gone out walking by herself, and it had been a little earlier in the season, the robin-redbreasts might have covered her with leaves against her will, believing her to be one of the sweet children in the wood, come out of it, and issuing forth once more to look for blackberries in the young freshness of her heart! Go to

redder /ˈredər/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mais vermelho

Simple English: More red in colour than before.

Example: His face grew redder as he spoke.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She also doubted that certain noses were redder than others, or even half as red as some. Go to

Original English Version

1. Here, the eldest daughter of the strong-minded woman rose a little way from her seat, and trembling violently from head to foot, more as it seemed with passion than timidity, expressed a general hope that some people WOULD appear in their own characters, if it were only for such a proceeding having the attraction of novelty to recommend it; and that when they (meaning the some people before mentioned) talked about their relations, they would be careful to observe who was present in company at the time; otherwise it might come round to those relations' ears, in a way they little expected; and as to red noses (she observed) she had yet to learn that a red nose was any disgrace, inasmuch as people neither made nor coloured their own noses, but had that feature provided for them without being first consulted; though even upon that branch of the subject she had great doubts whether certain noses were redder than other noses, or indeed half as red as some. Go to

redness ˈrɛdnəs (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: vermelhidão

Simple English: The quality of being red.

Example: The dominant colour was grey, and yet there was to it a faint reddish hue--a hue that was baffling, that appeared and disappeared, that was more like an illusion of the vision, now grey, distinctly grey, and again giving hints and glints of a vague redness of colour not classifiable in terms of ordinary experience.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Light from ivy-shaded windows reflected the glowing sky, as if the quiet buildings stored the warmth and redness of twenty summers. Go to

refinement /rɪˈfaɪnmənt/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: refinamento; requinte

Simple English: Good manners, taste and education.

Example: He spoke with the refinement of a well-read man.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Indeed it must be conceded to the whole brood of dragons of modern times, that they have made a great advance in civilisation and refinement. Go to

refreshed /rɪˈfrɛʃt/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: revigorados; descansados

Simple English: Feeling strong and rested again.

Example: After a short sleep he felt refreshed.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'When your mind requires to be refreshed by change of occupation,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'Thomas Pinch will instruct you in the art of surveying the back garden, or in ascertaining the dead level of the road between this house and the finger-post, or in any other practical and pleasing pursuit. Go to

refreshment /rɪˈfreʃmənt/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: refresco; comida e bebida; alívio

Simple English: Food and drink that give back your strength.

Example: They stopped at the inn for rest and refreshment.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. And from the narrow neck of that stone vessel he imbibed a copious refreshment. Go to

2. When he had said this, Mr Pecksniff, being exhausted, took some further refreshment. Go to

regimental /ˌrɛdʒɪˈmɛntəl/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do regimento

Simple English: Belonging to a large group of soldiers.

Example: The regimental sign was a red bull.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The women, children, and regimental plate-chest would have been in the centre. Go to

Original English Version

1. If you could have seen me, Mr Pinch, at the head of my regiment on the coast of Africa, charging in the form of a hollow square, with the women and children and the regimental plate-chest in the centre, you would not have known me for the same man. Go to

register /ˈrɛdʒɪstər/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: registrar; registo; cadastrar

Simple English: To record one's name on an official institutional list.

Example: You need to register for the course before attending the first class.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In surviving letters, despite damage by moths - the general registers of the Insect World because they consume deeds and papers - Diggory often mentions an uncle from whom he expected much. Go to

regretted /rɪˈɡretɪd/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: lamentou; arrependeu-se de

Simple English: Felt sorry about something that happened or was done.

Example: He regretted sending the letter almost at once.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I have never regretted helping Thomas Pinch.' Go to

Original English Version

1. I have never regretted having befriended Thomas Pinch.' Go to

rejoices rɪˈdʒɔɪsɪz (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: alegra-se

Simple English: Feels or expresses joy.

Example: "I think," said Phil, "that a room where one dreams, grieves, rejoices, and lives becomes linked with all that.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'It is a poor heart that never rejoices, and our hearts are not poor. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'It is a poor heart that never rejoices; and our hearts are not poor. Go to

rejoined riːˈdʒɔɪnd (80 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: reuniu-se

Simple English: Joined a person or group again.

Example: Fix soon rejoined Passepartout, who was lounging and looking about on the quay, as if he did not feel that he, at least, was obliged not to see anything.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'It'll be a very long time, then, if she does at all,' rejoined her cousin. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Well,' rejoined his friend, perfectly unmoved by this instance of generosity. Go to

2. 'Not at all,' rejoined Tom. Go to

3. 'Don't I say that it's ridiculous,' rejoined the other, 'even to think of such a thing?' Go to

4. 'No matter what, ma'am,' he rejoined: 'it wasn't I. Why how you stand there, Mary, as if I had the plague! Go to

5. 'I am sorry for that, sir,' rejoined Mr Pecksniff, 'because I have a duty to discharge, from which, depend upon it, I shall not shrink. Go to

6. 'Why, as to that,' rejoined Tigg, 'it certainly is a difficult question.' Go to

relative's /ˈrɛl.ə.tɪvz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do parente

Simple English: possessive of 'relative', a family member's

Example: Can we open our valued relative's eyes to his present foolishness?

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Can we open our valued relative's eyes to his present foolishness? Go to

relish ˈrɛlɪʃ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: acompanhamento saboroso

Simple English: A food or flavour that makes a meal more enjoyable.

Example: I will get some asparagus and a lobster, 'for a relish,' as Hannah says.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. But Martin by no means appeared to relish this suggestion. Go to

2. The perfect and entire satisfaction of Tom; his surpassing appreciation of the husky sandwiches, which crumbled in his mouth like saw-dust; the unspeakable relish with which he swallowed the thin wine by drops, and smacked his lips, as though it were so rich and generous that to lose an atom of its fruity flavour were a sin; the look with which he paused sometimes, with his glass in his hand, proposing silent toasts to himself; and the anxious shade that came upon his contented face when, after wandering round the room, exulting in its uninvaded snugness, his glance encountered the dull brow of his companion; no cynic in the world, though in his hatred of its men a very griffin, could have withstood these things in Thomas Pinch. Go to

repaid rɪˈpeɪd (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: retribuiu

Simple English: Gave back money or returned a kindness.

Example: Harrison repaid this kindness by smoking outside in good weather, and so they both stayed friendly and happy.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I would be more than repaid if she connected me with anything she liked as much as that." Go to

Original English Version

1. That it amply repaid him for his trouble, and afforded a delicious and enchanting prospect, was clear from the expression of his face. Go to

2. 'Five shillings!' pursued Mr Tigg, musing; 'and to be punctually repaid next week; that's the best of it. Go to

repays rɪˈpeɪz (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: retribui

Simple English: Gives back money or kindness.

Example: She repays me twenty-thousandfold, and twenty more to that, every hour in every day!”

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Speaking of the party, not the wine, he said, 'This meeting repays much disappointment and trouble. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'This,' he said, in allusion to the party, not the wine, 'is a mingling that repays one for much disappointment and vexation. Go to

repeater rɪˈpiːtər (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: relógio de repetição

Simple English: A watch that strikes the time when a button or spring is pressed.

Example: He touched the spring of his repeater, to correct this most preposterous clock.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. When he saw an enormous watch called a repeater, able to strike every quarter hour inside its owner's pocket, he almost wished he were rich enough to buy it. Go to

Original English Version

1. In good sooth they were big enough, and perhaps, as the saying is, ugly enough, to be the most correct of all mechanical performers; in Mr Pinch's eyes, however they were smaller than Geneva ware; and when he saw one very bloated watch announced as a repeater, gifted with the uncommon power of striking every quarter of an hour inside the pocket of its happy owner, he almost wished that he were rich enough to buy it. Go to

repentant rɪˈpɛntənt (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: arrependido

Simple English: Feeling sorry for having done something wrong.

Example: It was dark when supper was ready, and still no sign of Anne, coming hurriedly over the log bridge or up Lover's Lane, breathless and repentant with a sense of neglected duties.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He did not even walk beyond his garden, in case his repentant, sorry relative suddenly called him to the bedside. Go to

2. But the stern old man was so stubborn and bitter that no repentant call arrived. Go to

Original English Version

1. But such was the obstinacy and such the bitter nature of that stern old man, that no repentant summons came; and the fourth day found Mr Pecksniff apparently much farther from his Christian object than the first. Go to

representative /ˌrɛprɪˈzɛntətɪv/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: representante; representativo; mandatário

Simple English: Standing for or symbolizing something else.

Example: The representative showed us various options for our project.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. At a Public Dinner for me on Saturday the 18th of April, 1868, in New York, two hundred representatives of the Press of the United States of America heard, among other remarks, the following:-- Go to

reproachful /rɪˈproʊtʃfəl/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de censura; de reprovação

Simple English: Showing that you blame someone or have been hurt by them.

Example: She gave him a reproachful look and said nothing.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. And Charity, with her fine strong sense and her mild, yet not reproachful gravity, was so well named, and did so well set off and illustrate her sister! Go to

reproved /rɪˈpruːvd/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: repreendeu

Simple English: scolded or criticized someone for their conduct

Example: Her sister, in her better sense, reproved her for the outburst of gaiety.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. But for these bursts of gaiety, her sister, in her better sense, reproved her; observing, in an angry whisper, that it was far from being a theme for jest; and that she had no patience with the creature; though it generally ended in her laughing too--but much more moderately--and saying that indeed it was a little too ridiculous and intolerable to be serious about. Go to

republished ˌriːˈpʌblɪʃ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: republicar

Simple English: To publish a work again.

Example: This led to a full page in a Sunday supplement, with photographs and idealized drawings of Marian, many private details about Martin Eden and his family, and the full text of “The Palmist” in large print, republished by special permission of _Mackintosh’s Magazine_.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. As long as I live, and while my descendants have legal rights in my books, I will have this statement republished as an appendix to every copy of my two books that refer to America. Go to

Original English Version

1. This testimony, so long as I live, and so long as my descendants have any legal right in my books, I shall cause to be republished, as an appendix to every copy of those two books of mine in which I have referred to America. Go to

resembled rɪˈzɛmbəl (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: assemelhar-se

Simple English: To look or be like someone or something.

Example: Badger resembled neither man.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She hugged them again and said she could not decide which sister most resembled their poor mother. Go to

resolute ˈrɛzəluːt (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: resoluto

Simple English: Firmly determined and not easily changed.

Example: Finally, the British Government put the transport ship _Resolute_, Captain Bennett, at the expedition's service.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Well, sir,' resumed Martin, stirring the fire once more, and drawing his chair still closer to it, 'his selfishness makes him exacting, you see; and his obstinacy makes him resolute in his exactions. Go to

respectfully /rɪˈspɛktfəli/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: respeitosamente; com respeito

Simple English: In a polite way that shows respect.

Example: He bowed respectfully to the old teacher.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His daughters listened respectfully to their father's moral lesson and smiled to show they agreed. Go to

Original English Version

1. To behold each damsel in her very admiration of her sister, setting up in business for herself on an entirely different principle, and announcing no connection with over-the-way, and if the quality of goods at that establishment don't please you, you are respectfully invited to favour ME with a call! Go to

restlessly /ˈrestləsli/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: inquietamente; sem sossego

Simple English: In a way that shows you cannot stay still or calm.

Example: He paced restlessly outside the office door.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Restlessly he said that, had he arrived a few days earlier, he would have seen her, while now she might be hundreds of miles away. Go to

restlessness /ˈrestləsnəs/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: inquietação; desassossego

Simple English: The state of being unable to stay still or be satisfied.

Example: A restlessness came over him every spring.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pinch imparting to his new friend, as they went, such further particulars of Mark Tapley's whimsical restlessness as the reader is already acquainted with. Go to

Original English Version

1. The old man, with increased restlessness, changed his posture several times. Go to

2. Mr Pinch imparting to his new friend, as they went, such further particulars of Mark Tapley's whimsical restlessness as the reader is already acquainted with. Go to

retorted ritɔrtɪd (91 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: replicar

Simple English: Here, the verb form refers to answer sharply to a remark.

Example: "I'll pack a valise and go on the afternoon train," retorted Miss Rosetta triumphantly.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Won't you, John?' retorted Mr Pecksniff, with a smile. Go to

2. 'You a great eater!' retorted his companion, with no less indignation than before. Go to

3. 'What are only sick fancies?' he retorted. Go to

4. 'Yes,' retorted Mr Pecksniff. Go to

revered /rɪˈvɪərd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: reverenciado, venerado

Simple English: deeply respected or admired, of a person

Example: I suggest that practical means may persuade our respected, shall I say revered - ?

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I suggest that practical means may persuade our respected, shall I say revered - ?" Go to

Original English Version

1. What I would observe is, that I think some practical means might be devised of inducing our respected, shall I say our revered--?' Go to

ricks /rɪks/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: meda de feno

Simple English: a large, neatly stacked pile of hay or straw in a farmyard

Example: He stood against ricks and barns.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They crept under house eaves, clung like bats to hay-ricks, rushed through open chamber windows, and hid close to hedges - anywhere safe. Go to

Original English Version

1. The scared leaves only flew the faster for all this, and a giddy chase it was; for they got into unfrequented places, where there was no outlet, and where their pursuer kept them eddying round and round at his pleasure; and they crept under the eaves of houses, and clung tightly to the sides of hay-ricks, like bats; and tore in at open chamber windows, and cowered close to hedges; and, in short, went anywhere for safety. Go to

riddle /ˈrɪdəl/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: adivinha; enigma

Simple English: A question asked as a game, with a clever or funny answer.

Example: Nobody in the class could answer the riddle.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Life is a riddle, and a terribly hard one. Go to

2. Mr Pinch stared at the fire for minutes, puzzled as if asked an unusually difficult riddle. Go to

Original English Version

1. Life's a riddle; a most infernally hard riddle to guess, Mr Pecksniff. Go to

roared /rɔːrd/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: rugiu

Simple English: Made a very loud, deep sound, as a lion does.

Example: He learned that if he roared loudly, everything ran away.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The strong bellows roared "Ha ha!" at the clear fire, and the fire roared back. Go to

Original English Version

1. The lusty bellows roared Ha ha! to the clear fire, which roared in turn, and bade the shining sparks dance gayly to the merry clinking of the hammers on the anvil. Go to

robbers /ˈrɑːbərz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ladrões; salteadores

Simple English: People who take things by force.

Example: Robbers stopped the coach on the road.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There was the great talisman, Arabian Nights, and Cassim Baba, divided by four and hanging bloody in the robbers' cave. Go to

Original English Version

1. And there too were the Persian tales, with flying chests and students of enchanted books shut up for years in caverns; and there too was Abudah, the merchant, with the terrible little old woman hobbling out of the box in his bedroom; and there the mighty talisman, the rare Arabian Nights, with Cassim Baba, divided by four, like the ghost of a dreadful sum, hanging up, all gory, in the robbers' cave. Go to

rosy /ˈroʊzi/ (14 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: rosado; corado; risonho

Simple English: Pink like a rose; also hopeful and promising.

Example: The children came in from the cold with rosy cheeks.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The rosy landlady of the Blue Dragon noticed all this and much more. Go to

2. Beautiful Aurora, the Goddess of dawn whose story is often written and sung, seemed to pinch Miss Pecksniff's nose with rosy fingers. Go to

3. The rosy hostess hardly needed Mr Pinch's promise to free the two visitors. Go to

Original English Version

1. Of all this, and much more, the rosy landlady of the Blue Dragon took as accurate note and observation as only woman can take of woman. Go to

2. It was morning; and the beautiful Aurora, of whom so much hath been written, said, and sung, did, with her rosy fingers, nip and tweak Miss Pecksniff's nose. Go to

3. The rosy hostess scarcely needed Mr Pinch's word as a preliminary to the release of her two visitors, of whom she was glad to be rid on any terms; indeed, their brief detention had originated mainly with Mr Tapley, who entertained a constitutional dislike to gentleman out-at-elbows who flourished on false pretences; and had conceived a particular aversion to Mr Tigg and his friend, as choice specimens of the species. Go to

rotting /ˈrɑːtɪŋ/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: apodrecendo; em decomposição

Simple English: Slowly breaking down and going bad.

Example: Rotting leaves blocked the gutter.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A visitor first noticed damaged oranges with blue and green bruises, rotting in boxes and cellars. Go to

roughened /ˈrʌfənd/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: despenteou (deixou áspero)

Simple English: made rough or messy, as with hair being ruffled by hand

Example: He impatiently roughened his hair and looked at Tom.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But mercy on us!" He impatiently roughened his hair and looked at Tom as if angry that he was not someone else. Go to

rouse raʊz (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: despertar

Simple English: In this passage, it means wake someone or stir them into action.

Example: Towards the morning I came to a resolution to try what change of scene would do to rouse her.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. After this cheerful conclusion to his gloomy thoughts, Mr Tigg made a great effort to rouse himself and continued in his earlier style. Go to

roused raʊzd (21 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: despertar

Simple English: In this passage, it means woke or stirred someone into action.

Example: He did not open his eyes until the sounds of the waking camp roused him.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. In course of time his eyes opened; and he lay for a few moments as people newly roused sometimes will, gazing indolently at his visitor, without any distinct consciousness of his presence. Go to

2. With which consolatory deduction from the gloomy premises recited, Mr Tigg roused himself by a great effort, and proceeded in his former strain. Go to

3. The perfect silence which ensued upon the bustle and departure of the coach, together with the sharp air of the wintry afternoon, roused them both at the same time. Go to

rubber (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: borracha; látex; elástico

Simple English: an elastic material

Example: The tyres are made of rubber.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He pointed to a small round table with a lamp, sheets of paper, an India-rubber eraser, and a case of instruments. Go to

rudely /ˈruːdli/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: grosseiramente; sem educação

Simple English: In a way that is not polite.

Example: He rudely pushed past the old woman.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Long ago, they rudely demanded women's company without caring what the women wanted. Go to

Original English Version

1. They no longer demand a beautiful virgin for breakfast every morning, with as much regularity as any tame single gentleman expects his hot roll, but rest content with the society of idle bachelors and roving married men; and they are now remarkable rather for holding aloof from the softer sex and discouraging their visits (especially on Saturday nights), than for rudely insisting on their company without any reference to their inclinations, as they are known to have done in days of yore. Go to

ruefully ˈrufəli (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: com pesar

Simple English: In this passage, it means with regret or sadness.

Example: "I never felt helpless before in my life," he continued ruefully, "but I am free to admit that I don't know what in the devil to do."

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. With that piece of comfort, very ruefully uttered, he went, in anything but a jolly manner, to bed. Go to

rumble /ˈrʌmbəl/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ronco; estrondo surdo

Simple English: A long low sound, like distant thunder.

Example: A rumble came from the far hills.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. At length they began to jolt and rumble over horribly uneven stones, and Mr Pecksniff looking out of window said it was to-morrow morning, and they were there. Go to

rumour /ˈruːmər/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: rumor; boato

Simple English: A story or report that may not be true and is passed from person to person.

Example: A dark rumour spread through the port.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The same base people spread a rumour that a male Chuzzlewit, whose birth is unclear, came from very low origins. Go to

Original English Version

1. It has been rumoured, and it is needless to say the rumour originated in the same base quarters, that a certain male Chuzzlewit, whose birth must be admitted to be involved in some obscurity, was of very mean and low descent. Go to

ry /ri/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ri (segunda parte da palavra very)

Simple English: The last part of the word very, split in two for effect.

Example: The word very was printed as ve and then ry.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Ve-ry well!' Go to

Original English Version

1. Ve-ry well!' Go to

saint's /seɪnts/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: de santo; de santa

Simple English: Belonging to or characteristic of a saint, a person regarded as exceptionally holy.

Example: Her hair framed her face like a saint's halo.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. After this, Mr Pecksniff leaned back in his easy-chair, shining with such honest innocence that Mrs Lupin almost expected to see a stained-glass Glory, like the Saint's in church, around his head. Go to

saintly ˈseɪntli (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: santo

Simple English: very holy, gentle, or virtuous

Example: She was gentle and spiritual, if not saintly.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He gave them such a playful, almost saintly look that the younger one immediately sat on his knee. Go to

2. Thomas Pinch dreamed of holidays, church organs, and saintly Pecksniffs. Go to

Original English Version

1. Glancing towards his daughters for the first time since he had begun these reflections, and seeing that they both smiled, Mr Pecksniff eyed them for an instant so jocosely (though still with a kind of saintly waggishness) that the younger one was moved to sit upon his knee forthwith, put her fair arms round his neck, and kiss him twenty times. Go to

salts sɔlts (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sais

Simple English: chemical salts or grains of salt

Example: Bring smelling-salts, cold water, and vinegar quickly, or I will be angry."

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Let us say," he added very gently, "that it comes from a cold in the head, snuff, smelling-salts, onions, or anything except the true cause." Go to

Original English Version

1. We will say, if you please,' added Mr Pecksniff, with great tenderness of manner, 'that it arises from a cold in the head, or is attributable to snuff, or smelling-salts, or onions, or anything but the real cause.' Go to

samson /ˈsæmsən/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Samson (caso citado na história)

Simple English: A name given in the story as an example of a poisoning case, said to be from New Orleans.

Example: Then there was Mason of Bradford, the famous Muller, Lefevre of Montpellier, and Samson of New Orleans.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If she could, she would prove herself a mental Samson by putting her brother-in-law in a private madhouse. Go to

Original English Version

1. Then there was the widow of a deceased brother of Mr Martin Chuzzlewit, who being almost supernaturally disagreeable, and having a dreary face and a bony figure and a masculine voice, was, in right of these qualities, what is commonly called a strong-minded woman; and who, if she could, would have established her claim to the title, and have shown herself, mentally speaking, a perfect Samson, by shutting up her brother-in-law in a private madhouse, until he proved his complete sanity by loving her very much. Go to

sanity /ˈsænəti/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sanidade; juízo

Simple English: The state of having a healthy and reasonable mind.

Example: Long walks helped him keep his sanity.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Then there was the widow of a deceased brother of Mr Martin Chuzzlewit, who being almost supernaturally disagreeable, and having a dreary face and a bony figure and a masculine voice, was, in right of these qualities, what is commonly called a strong-minded woman; and who, if she could, would have established her claim to the title, and have shown herself, mentally speaking, a perfect Samson, by shutting up her brother-in-law in a private madhouse, until he proved his complete sanity by loving her very much. Go to

sash /sæʃ/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: faixa de cintura; caixilho de janela

Simple English: A wide band of cloth worn round the waist, or a sliding window frame.

Example: She wore a white dress with a red sash.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Tigg lifted the sash. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Very good,' said Mr Tigg, lifting the sash. Go to

satan's /ˈseɪtənz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: Satanás

Simple English: Belonging to Satan, the devil.

Example: "A fine addition to Satan's kingdom," said De Bracy.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It looked fierce and proud rather than gentle and kind, almost like Satan's, and he had a great mass of unbrushed hair. Go to

saucers /ˈsɔːsərz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pires

Simple English: Small shallow dishes placed under cups.

Example: Six cups and saucers stood on the tray.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It displayed pink boiled beef, a poorly baked soft loaf, many cups and saucers, and the usual other items. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Or if there's one in the eating parlour,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'I can find it myself.' So he led his daughters, without waiting for any further introduction, into a room on the ground-floor, where a table-cloth (rather a tight and scanty fit in reference to the table it covered) was already spread for breakfast; displaying a mighty dish of pink boiled beef; an instance of that particular style of loaf which is known to housekeepers as a slack-baked, crummy quartern; a liberal provision of cups and saucers; and the usual appendages. Go to

sawdust /ˈsɔːdʌst/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: serragem

Simple English: The fine powder made when wood is cut with a saw.

Example: The heart was made of silk and stuffed with sawdust.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It threw sawdust into the air, searched beneath it, and, whenever it found leaves, whistled and drove hard after them. Go to

2. He enjoyed the dry sandwiches, which broke in his mouth like sawdust, and drank the thin wine one drop at a time, smacking his lips as if every bit of fruit flavour was precious. Go to

Original English Version

1. Nor was this enough for its malicious fury; for not content with driving them abroad, it charged small parties of them and hunted them into the wheel wright's saw-pit, and below the planks and timbers in the yard, and, scattering the sawdust in the air, it looked for them underneath, and when it did meet with any, whew! how it drove them on and followed at their heels! Go to

scarcely /\u02c8sk\u025brsli/ (51 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mal

Simple English: only just; almost not

Example: He emerged from the theatre with the first of the crowd; but scarcely had he taken his position on the edge of the sidewalk when the two girls appeared.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. John, there is scarcely a sin in the world that is in my eyes such a crying one as ingratitude; and when he taxes me with that, and believes me to be guilty of it, he makes me miserable and wretched.' Go to

2. Gradually his hands became tightly clasped upon the elbows of the chair, his eyes dilated with surprise, his mouth opened, his hair stood more erect upon his forehead than its custom was, until, at length, when the old man rose in bed, and stared at him with scarcely less emotion than he showed himself, the Pecksniff doubts were all resolved, and he exclaimed aloud: Go to

3. Martin thought it was very like, but scarcely intellectual enough. Go to

4. 'Well,' cried Tom, 'now do you know I am in capital spirits today, and scarcely ever felt more disposed to be good company. Go to

5. Scarcely within my remembrance.' Go to

6. The rosy hostess scarcely needed Mr Pinch's word as a preliminary to the release of her two visitors, of whom she was glad to be rid on any terms; indeed, their brief detention had originated mainly with Mr Tapley, who entertained a constitutional dislike to gentleman out-at-elbows who flourished on false pretences; and had conceived a particular aversion to Mr Tigg and his friend, as choice specimens of the species. Go to

scarves /skɑːrvz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: cachecóis; lenços; echarpes

Simple English: Pieces of cloth worn around the neck or head.

Example: They sell woollen scarves at the market in winter.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They wore loose work shirts, brown and grey coats, red wool scarves, leather leggings, strangely shaped hats, hunting whips, and carried rough sticks. Go to

scattering /ˈskætərɪŋ/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: espalhando; dispersando

Simple English: Throwing or moving things in many directions.

Example: The wind was scattering leaves across the yard.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. This peace matched the distant farmer scattering seed and the silent plough turning rich brown earth into patterns in the cut fields. Go to

Original English Version

1. The fallen leaves, with which the ground was strewn, gave forth a pleasant fragrance, and subduing all harsh sounds of distant feet and wheels created a repose in gentle unison with the light scattering of seed hither and thither by the distant husbandman, and with the noiseless passage of the plough as it turned up the rich brown earth, and wrought a graceful pattern in the stubbled fields. Go to

2. Nor was this enough for its malicious fury; for not content with driving them abroad, it charged small parties of them and hunted them into the wheel wright's saw-pit, and below the planks and timbers in the yard, and, scattering the sawdust in the air, it looked for them underneath, and when it did meet with any, whew! how it drove them on and followed at their heels! Go to

scorn /skɔːrn/ (21 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desdém; desprezo

Simple English: A strong feeling that someone or something is worth nothing.

Example: She looked at the cheap copy with scorn.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She spoke his name with such scorn that she seemed eager to act it out by pinching the calf of his leg. Go to

2. 'Bah!' cried John Westlock with great disgust and scorn. Go to

scornful /ˈskɔːrnfəl/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desdenhoso; de desprezo

Simple English: Showing that you think someone or something is worthless.

Example: She gave a short scornful laugh.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The strong-minded woman moved to the door with a scornful smile, followed by her three daughters. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'But what can anyone expect from Mr Pinch!' cried Charity, with as strong and scornful an emphasis on the name as if it would have given her unspeakable pleasure to express it, in an acted charade, on the calf of that gentleman's leg. Go to

2. But he wore a moustache--a shaggy moustache too; nothing in the meek and merciful way, but quite in the fierce and scornful style; the regular Satanic sort of thing--and he wore, besides, a vast quantity of unbrushed hair. Go to

scornfully /ˈskɔːrnfəli/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desdenhosamente; com desprezo

Simple English: In a way that shows you think something is worthless.

Example: She looked scornfully at the cheap gift.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Do you think he does not know that?' the other replied scornfully. Go to

2. All three lifted their noses and laughed scornfully. Go to

3. This encouraged him; when he lowered the glass, he laughed scornfully. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Do you think he don't know that?' returned the other scornfully. Go to

2. He found some encouragement in it; for when he set it down he laughed scornfully. Go to

scoundrel /ˈskaʊndrəl/ (18 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: patife; canalha

Simple English: A dishonest person who treats others badly.

Example: The landlord was a scoundrel who cheated every tenant.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Without speaking, he told Mrs Spottletoe that the scoundrel Pecksniff could continue for now. Go to

Original English Version

1. From the strong-minded woman downwards everybody fell, that instant, upon Mr Spottletoe, who after vainly attempting to be heard in silence was fain to sit down again, folding his arms and shaking his head most wrathfully, and giving Mrs Spottletoe to understand in dumb show, that that scoundrel Pecksniff might go on for the present, but he would cut in presently, and annihilate him. Go to

scrape /skreɪp/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: raspar; arranhar; apuro

Simple English: To rub something hard against a surface; also a difficult situation.

Example: Use a knife to scrape the label off the jar.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He fluttered without someone to scrape his bread, limit his sugar to one lump, and give the small attentions he expected. Go to

Original English Version

1. But on the morning after the Installation Banquet, she suffered him to wander to and fro among the eatables and drinkables, a perfectly free and unchecked man; so utterly to Mr Pinch's wonder and confusion, that like the wretched captive who recovered his liberty in his old age, he could make but little use of his enlargement, and fell into a strange kind of flutter for want of some kind hand to scrape his bread, and cut him off in the article of sugar with a lump, and pay him those other little attentions to which he was accustomed. Go to

scraped /skreɪpt/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: raspou; arranhou; esfolou

Simple English: Rubbed something hard against a surface to clean it or remove a layer.

Example: He scraped the mud off his boots at the door.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She scraped her shoes on the scraper, then left their marks all over the top step, to show she was shaking the dust from her feet before leaving that dishonest, treacherous house. Go to

2. It usually looked scraped and frosty, almost as if someone had rubbed it with a rough tool. Go to

Original English Version

1. HE never scraped and clawed into his pouch all your poor grandmother's hard savings--she was a housekeeper, wasn't she, Tom?' Go to

2. 'HE never scraped and clawed into his pouch all her hard savings; dazzling her with prospects of your happiness and advancement, which he knew (and no man better) never would be realised! Go to

3. The moral position taken by Mr Tigg was something quite tremendous; and the deaf cousin, who had the complicated aggravation of seeing all the proceedings and hearing nothing but the catastrophe, actually scraped her shoes upon the scraper, and afterwards distributed impressions of them all over the top step, in token that she shook the dust from her feet before quitting that dissembling and perfidious mansion. Go to

4. For the most part, indeed, it wore, at that season of the day, a scraped and frosty look, as if it had been rasped; while a similar phenomenon developed itself in her humour, which was then observed to be of a sharp and acid quality, as though an extra lemon (figuratively speaking) had been squeezed into the nectar of her disposition, and had rather damaged its flavour. Go to

scraper /ˈskreɪpər/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: raspador

Simple English: A tool used for scraping mud or dirt off boots.

Example: You must use the scraper before entering.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She scraped her shoes on the scraper, then left their marks all over the top step, to show she was shaking the dust from her feet before leaving that dishonest, treacherous house. Go to

Original English Version

1. The moral position taken by Mr Tigg was something quite tremendous; and the deaf cousin, who had the complicated aggravation of seeing all the proceedings and hearing nothing but the catastrophe, actually scraped her shoes upon the scraper, and afterwards distributed impressions of them all over the top step, in token that she shook the dust from her feet before quitting that dissembling and perfidious mansion. Go to

screech /skriːtʃ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: guincho; grito agudo

Simple English: A loud, harsh, high-pitched cry or sound.

Example: A sudden screech came from the darkness.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He looked so sad that both Miss Pecksniffs gave an involuntary screech. Go to

Original English Version

1. But as a gentleman's looks, in such a case of all others, are by no means under his own control, Mr Pecksniff continued to keep his mouth and his eyes very wide open, and to drop his lower jaw, somewhat after the manner of a toy nut-cracker; and as his hat had fallen off, and his face was pale, and his hair erect, and his coat muddy, the spectacle he presented was so very doleful, that neither of the Miss Pecksniffs could repress an involuntary screech. Go to

sculptor /ˈskəlptər/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: escultor

Simple English: an artist who makes statues or carvings

Example: A sculptor friend would pay well to draw his body for a marble statue.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. As a final spadeful, letters from their own mothers prove that many male and female Chuzzlewits had chiselled noses, clear chins, bodies fit for a sculptor, beautifully shaped limbs, and polished foreheads so transparent that blue veins showed like roads on an ethereal map. Go to

Original English Version

1. As a goodly tumulus is already collected, and decently battened up above the Family grave, the present chapter is content to leave it as it is: merely adding, by way of a final spadeful, that many Chuzzlewits, both male and female, are proved to demonstration, on the faith of letters written by their own mothers, to have had chiselled noses, undeniable chins, forms that might have served the sculptor for a model, exquisitely-turned limbs and polished foreheads of so transparent a texture that the blue veins might be seen branching off in various directions, like so many roads on an ethereal map. Go to

seasoning /ˈsizənɪŋ/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tempero

Simple English: salt, herbs, or spices added to food

Example: "He said, 'Humor is the best seasoning in life.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. If ever man combined within himself all the mild qualities of the lamb with a considerable touch of the dove, and not a dash of the crocodile, or the least possible suggestion of the very mildest seasoning of the serpent, that man was he. Go to

secretive /ˈsiːkrətɪv/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: reservado; sigiloso

Simple English: Keeping things hidden from other people.

Example: He was secretive about his plans.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. With a strange, secretive, distrustful manner, he tried to use the writing materials he had ordered beside his bed. Go to

seeming /ˈsiːmɪŋ/ (27 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: aparente; que parece ser

Simple English: Appearing to be true, though perhaps it is not.

Example: His seeming calm hid a great deal of worry.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Without fear or favour, I tell you not to neglect your grandson, young Martin, who has the strongest natural claim on you." Mr Pecksniff stood on tiptoe among the curtains, seeming to rise above worldly concerns. Go to

2. He said this softly to his daughter, seeming cheerful because of a clear conscience, almost lively. Go to

Original English Version

1. And now the morning grew so fair, and all things were so wide awake and gay, that the sun seeming to say--Tom had no doubt he said--'I can't stand it any longer; I must have a look,' streamed out in radiant majesty. Go to

seizing /ˈsiːzɪŋ/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: agarrando; apoderando-se de; aproveitando

Simple English: Taking hold of something suddenly and firmly.

Example: Seizing the rope with both hands, she pulled herself up.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Why, I tell you what,' said Mark, throwing off all his constraint in an instant and seizing the hostess round the waist--at which she was not at all alarmed, for she knew what a good young man he was--'if I took what I liked most, I should take you. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Why, I tell you what,' said Mark, throwing off all his constraint in an instant and seizing the hostess round the waist--at which she was not at all alarmed, for she knew what a good young man he was--'if I took what I liked most, I should take you. Go to

selfishness /ˈsɛlfɪʃnəs/ (25 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: egoísmo

Simple English: Caring only about yourself and not others.

Example: His selfishness lost him many friends.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Selfishness everywhere! Go to

2. But he has two great faults: the strongest stubbornness you ever saw in a human being, and the most terrible selfishness." Go to

3. "His selfishness makes demands," Martin continued, moving closer to the fire, "and his stubbornness makes him firm in them. Go to

4. There, you see his selfishness. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Well, sir,' resumed Martin, stirring the fire once more, and drawing his chair still closer to it, 'his selfishness makes him exacting, you see; and his obstinacy makes him resolute in his exactions. Go to

2. He said nothing to her, but straightway attacked me in private, and charged me with designing to corrupt the fidelity to himself (there you observe his selfishness), of a young creature whom he had trained and educated to be his only disinterested and faithful companion, when he should have disposed of me in marriage to his heart's content. Go to

selfless sɛlflʌs (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: altruísta

Simple English: caring more about others than about oneself

Example: I believe no woman ever did anything more selfless than what Tannis did.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He said nothing to her, but privately accused me of trying to spoil the loyalty to him of a young creature he had raised and taught to be his only selfless, faithful companion, after he married me off as he wished. Go to

serpent /ˈsɜːrpənt/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: serpente

Simple English: A snake, especially a large one.

Example: A green serpent slid into the water.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He had nothing of the crocodile or even the mildest touch of the serpent. Go to

Original English Version

1. If ever man combined within himself all the mild qualities of the lamb with a considerable touch of the dove, and not a dash of the crocodile, or the least possible suggestion of the very mildest seasoning of the serpent, that man was he. Go to

settles /ˈsetəlz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: bancos de espaldar alto

Simple English: Long wooden benches with high backs.

Example: Two old settles stood beside the fire.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. This one fact settles the matter, since all books on such subjects say these features, especially chiselling, appear only in people of the very best condition. Go to

shabby /ˈʃæbi/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: surrado; maltrapilho; mesquinho

Simple English: Old and worn out; also unfair or mean in behaviour.

Example: He wore the same shabby coat every winter.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The gentleman had the poor but respectable look often called shabby-genteel. Go to

2. It would never do to throw myself into poverty, shabby clothes, and love in one room three flights up." Go to

3. He naturally disliked shabby gentlemen living on false claims and especially disliked Mr Tigg and his friend. Go to

Original English Version

1. The gentleman was of that order of appearance which is currently termed shabby-genteel, though in respect of his dress he can hardly be said to have been in any extremities, as his fingers were a long way out of his gloves, and the soles of his feet were at an inconvenient distance from the upper leather of his boots. Go to

shade /ʃeɪd/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sombra; máscara; tonalidade

Simple English: Area blocked from sunlight, producing darkness and coolness.

Example: We sat under the tree's shade to escape the heat.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There was for just one second a shade, though not by any means a dark one, on the landlady's open brow. Go to

shaded /ˈʃeɪdɪd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sombreado; à sombra

Simple English: Covered so that the sun does not reach it.

Example: We ate lunch in a shaded corner.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Light from ivy-shaded windows reflected the glowing sky, as if the quiet buildings stored the warmth and redness of twenty summers. Go to

Original English Version

1. The vane upon the tapering spire of the old church glistened from its lofty station in sympathy with the general gladness; and from the ivy-shaded windows such gleams of light shone back upon the glowing sky, that it seemed as if the quiet buildings were the hoarding-place of twenty summers, and all their ruddiness and warmth were stored within. Go to

shaggy /ˈʃæɡi/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: hirsuto; peludo e desgrenhado

Simple English: Covered with long, thick, untidy hair.

Example: The Lion shook his shaggy mane.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Farmers' wives in red cloaks and hats rode shaggy, calm horses. Go to

2. Then a shaggy, rather alarming head suddenly appeared at the doorway of their sanctuary of genius, smiling warmly, jokingly, and approvingly. Go to

Original English Version

1. But he wore a moustache--a shaggy moustache too; nothing in the meek and merciful way, but quite in the fierce and scornful style; the regular Satanic sort of thing--and he wore, besides, a vast quantity of unbrushed hair. Go to

2. Also there were farmers' wives in beaver bonnets and red cloaks, riding shaggy horses purged of all earthly passions, who went soberly into all manner of places without desiring to know why, and who, if required, would have stood stock still in a china shop, with a complete dinner-service at each hoof. Go to

3. They were both very busy on the afternoon succeeding the family's departure--Martin with the grammar-school, and Tom in balancing certain receipts of rents, and deducting Mr Pecksniff's commission from the same; in which abstruse employment he was much distracted by a habit his new friend had of whistling aloud while he was drawing--when they were not a little startled by the unexpected obtrusion into that sanctuary of genius, of a human head which, although a shaggy and somewhat alarming head in appearance, smiled affably upon them from the doorway, in a manner that was at once waggish, conciliatory, and expressive of approbation. Go to

shakspearian /ʃeɪkˈspɪəriən/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: shakespeariano

Simple English: 19th-century spelling variant of 'Shakespearian', meaning relating to or in the style of Shakespeare.

Example: 'He is the most Shakspearian, if not Miltonic, man I know.'

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He is the highest-minded, most independent, original, spiritual, classical, talented, most Shakspearian, if not Miltonic, and most terribly unappreciated man I know. Go to

2. He looked unhealthy and uncomfortable, not Shakspearian or Miltonic. Go to

Original English Version

1. For he is, without an exception, the highest-minded, the most independent-spirited, most original, spiritual, classical, talented, the most thoroughly Shakspearian, if not Miltonic, and at the same time the most disgustingly-unappreciated dog I know. Go to

2. His sharp features being much pinched and nipped by long waiting in the cold, and his straggling red whiskers and frowzy hair being more than usually dishevelled from the same cause, he certainly looked rather unwholesome and uncomfortable than Shakspearian or Miltonic. Go to

shapeless /ˈʃeɪpləs/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: disforme; sem forma

Simple English: Having no clear shape.

Example: The Witch became a shapeless mass on the floor.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. But there he hung; rearing, in a state of monstrous imbecility, on his hind legs; waxing, with every month that passed, so much more dim and shapeless, that as you gazed at him on one side of the sign-board it seemed as if he must be gradually melting through it, and coming out upon the other. Go to

sharpened /ˈʃɑːrpənd/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: afiou; amolou

Simple English: Made the edge of a tool sharp.

Example: The Woodman sharpened his axe on a grindstone.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Then there were Anthony Chuzzlewit, and his son Jonas; the face of the old man so sharpened by the wariness and cunning of his life, that it seemed to cut him a passage through the crowded room, as he edged away behind the remotest chairs; while the son had so well profited by the precept and example of the father, that he looked a year or two the elder of the twain, as they stood winking their red eyes, side by side, and whispering to each other softly. Go to

sharpest /ˈʃɑːrpɪst/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mais mordaz

Simple English: most quick, cutting, or clever

Example: Even Josie Pye had a certain fame as the sharpest-tongued girl at Queen's.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Some men would have patted Tom on the back and drunk a large glass of currant wine with him, even if it were the sharpest vinegar, and said they liked it. Go to

Original English Version

1. Some men would have slapped him on the back, and pledged him in a bumper of the currant wine, though it had been the sharpest vinegar--aye, and liked its flavour too; some would have seized him by his honest hand, and thanked him for the lesson that his simple nature taught them. Go to

sharpness /ˈʃɑːrpnəs/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: agudeza; aspereza

Simple English: The quality of having a fine cutting edge.

Example: He tested the sharpness of the blade with his thumb.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Usually this sharpness meant Mr Pinch's tea was very weak, he had little butter, or something similar. Go to

shawl /ʃɔːl/ (33 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: xale

Simple English: A large piece of cloth worn over the shoulders or head.

Example: She wrapped a warm shawl around herself.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. At last he removed his shawl and great-coat, which, unlike Mr Pinch's, was very thick and warm. Go to

2. 'I am sure they will not hurt us.' She gave this answer with a very serious look, but found her own joke so funny that she had to hide her laughter in her sister's shawl. Go to

Original English Version

1. At length he rose and divested himself of his shawl and great-coat, which (far different from Mr Pinch's) was a very warm and thick one; but he was not a whit more conversational out of his great-coat than in it, for he sat down again in the same place and attitude, and leaning back in his chair, began to bite his nails. Go to

2. 'They won't hurt us, sir, I dare say.' And having given him this answer with great demureness she was so overcome by her own humour, that she was fain to stifle her merriment in her sister's shawl. Go to

shelter /ˈʃɛltər/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: abrigo; refúgio

Simple English: A place providing food and housing to very poor people.

Example: The local shelter offers meals and beds for homeless individuals each night.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Withering leaves hurried about seeking shelter from its cold chase. Go to

shielding /ˈʃiːldɪŋ/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: protegendo

Simple English: Keeping something safe by covering or guarding it.

Example: He stood shielding his eyes from the sun.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Then, shielding his lips and putting them near Tom's ear, he added, 'I have come for the letter.' Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Then,' he added, shielding his lips with the palm of his hand, and applying them close to Mr Pinch's ear, 'I have come for the letter.' Go to

shilling /ˈʃɪlɪŋ/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: xelim

Simple English: An old British coin worth one twentieth of a pound.

Example: A shilling bought a good meal in those days.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Jonas thought this wiser than one drink costing a shilling, because the innkeeper might put more brandy in two glasses. Go to

shillings /ˈʃɪlɪŋz/ (31 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: xelins

Simple English: Old British coins worth one twentieth of a pound.

Example: The book cost three shillings when it first appeared.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Five shillings, eh?' said Mr Tigg thoughtfully. Go to

2. Thinking aloud, Mr Tigg continued, 'Five shillings! Go to

3. "Perhaps you would rather not lend Slyme five shillings?" Go to

4. Would you have the same objection to lending me five shillings now?" Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Five shillings, eh?' said Mr Tigg, thoughtfully. Go to

2. 'Five shillings!' pursued Mr Tigg, musing; 'and to be punctually repaid next week; that's the best of it. Go to

3. 'Perhaps you'd rather not lend Slyme five shillings?' Go to

4. Would you entertain the same sort of objection to lending me five shillings now?' Go to

shivering /ˈʃɪvərɪŋ/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tremendo de frio; tiritando

Simple English: Shaking slightly because of cold or fear.

Example: We stood shivering on the platform waiting for the late train.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. After about an hour Martin suddenly rose, shivering. Go to

shone /ʃoʊn/ (46 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: brilhavam; reluziam

Simple English: Gave out or reflected light.

Example: The little stars shone in the sun like diamonds.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It shone brightly on a small Wiltshire village, an easy journey from the old town of Salisbury. Go to

2. The weather vane on the old church spire shone too. Go to

3. In the dark passage, a narrow ray of light usually shone through that keyhole, but now he saw none. Go to

4. His eyes overflowed and his face shone with gracious sweat, so that he seemed covered in moist meekness. Go to

5. The morning became so beautiful and lively that the sun seemed to say - Tom was sure it did - 'I cannot bear it any longer; I must look,' and shone out brightly. Go to

6. Oh blessed star of Innocence, wherever you are, how you shone in your heavenly home! Go to

Original English Version

1. The vane upon the tapering spire of the old church glistened from its lofty station in sympathy with the general gladness; and from the ivy-shaded windows such gleams of light shone back upon the glowing sky, that it seemed as if the quiet buildings were the hoarding-place of twenty summers, and all their ruddiness and warmth were stored within. Go to

2. In this particular he was like the girl in the fairy tale, except that if they were not actual diamonds which fell from his lips, they were the very brightest paste, and shone prodigiously. Go to

3. In this way they went on, and on, and on--in the language of the story-books--until at last the village lights appeared before them, and the church spire cast a long reflection on the graveyard grass; as if it were a dial (alas, the truest in the world!) marking, whatever light shone out of Heaven, the flight of days and weeks and years, by some new shadow on that solemn ground. Go to

4. I am in love with one of the most beautiful girls the sun ever shone upon. Go to

5. He looked up in spite of himself directly; and having once looked up, there was no looking down again; for of all the tight, plump, buxom, bright-eyed, dimple-faced landladies that ever shone on earth, there stood before him then, bodily in that bar, the very pink and pineapple. Go to

shooting /ˈʃuːtɪŋ/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: atirando; tiroteio; tiro

Simple English: An event where gunfire injures or kills someone.

Example: The shooting outside the nightclub left several people injured and scared.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He held tight as if to stop himself shooting skyward like a rocket. Go to

shop's /ʃɒps/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: da loja

Simple English: belonging to a shop, as in the goods it sells

Example: If one shop's goods did not please you, the other invited you to call.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If one shop's goods did not please you, the other invited you to call. Go to

shrewd /ʃruːd/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: astuto; sagaz

Simple English: Quick to understand situations and make clever practical judgments.

Example: The shrewd merchant noticed the weakness in their offer.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In the meantime Mark, having a shrewd notion that his mistress was in very low spirits, and that he could not exactly answer for the consequences of any lengthened TETE-A-TETE in the bar, kept himself obstinately out of her way all the afternoon and evening. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pinch had a shrewd notion that Salisbury was a very desperate sort of place; an exceeding wild and dissipated city; and when he had put up the horse, and given the hostler to understand that he would look in again in the course of an hour or two to see him take his corn, he set forth on a stroll about the streets with a vague and not unpleasant idea that they teemed with all kinds of mystery and bedevilment. Go to

2. In the meantime Mark, having a shrewd notion that his mistress was in very low spirits, and that he could not exactly answer for the consequences of any lengthened TETE-A-TETE in the bar, kept himself obstinately out of her way all the afternoon and evening. Go to

shrill /ʃrɪl/ (24 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: agudo; estridente

Simple English: High-pitched, sharp, and unpleasantly loud.

Example: A shrill whistle sounded from the pier.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. And it would seem to have been more suggestive in its aspect than street doors usually are; for he continued to lie there, rather a lengthy and unreasonable time, without so much as wondering whether he was hurt or no; neither, when Miss Pecksniff inquired through the key-hole in a shrill voice, which might have belonged to a wind in its teens, 'Who's there' did he make any reply; nor, when Miss Pecksniff opened the door again, and shading the candle with her hand, peered out, and looked provokingly round him, and about him, and over him, and everywhere but at him, did he offer any remark, or indicate in any manner the least hint of a desire to be picked up. Go to

2. This remark being received with a shrill titter by the two sisters of the speaker, Miss Charity Pecksniff begged with much politeness to be informed whether any of those very low observations were levelled at her; and receiving no more explanatory answer than was conveyed in the adage 'Those the cap fits, let them wear it,' immediately commenced a somewhat acrimonious and personal retort, wherein she was much comforted and abetted by her sister Mercy, who laughed at the same with great heartiness; indeed far more naturally than life. Go to

Glossary: New Words (6/7)

shrinking /ˈʃrɪŋkɪŋ/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: acanhado; que se encolhe

Simple English: Becoming smaller, or moving back in fear.

Example: The shrinking pool dried up by June.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. She was very young; apparently no more than seventeen; timid and shrinking in her manner, and yet with a greater share of self possession and control over her emotions than usually belongs to a far more advanced period of female life. Go to

shrugged /ʃrʌɡd/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: encolheu os ombros

Simple English: Lifted the shoulders to show you do not know or do not care.

Example: She shrugged and said nothing.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff shrugged and seemed to roll his eyes before opening them. Go to

2. Mr Pecksniff shrugged as if to say, 'I know there is such a person, and I am sorry for it.' Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff shrugged his shoulders as though he would say 'I know there is such a person, and I am sorry for it.' Go to

shuddered /ˈʃʌdərd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: estremeceu; teve um arrepio

Simple English: Shook suddenly because of cold, fear or disgust.

Example: She shuddered when she saw the spider on the wall.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His clothes smelled--oh, so strongly!' She shuddered. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'And when I saw him on the stairs this morning, Pa,' said Mercy with her usual sprightliness, 'he looked, oh goodness, SUCH a monster! with his face all manner of colours, and his eyes as dull as if they had been boiled, and his head aching dreadfully, I am sure from the look of it, and his clothes smelling, oh it's impossible to say how strong, oh'--here the young lady shuddered--'of smoke and punch.' Go to

shuffled ʃʌfʌld (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: arrastou os pés

Simple English: walked with feet sliding slowly

Example: "I am going to follow," he said, and his eyes nearly popped out as he shuffled after the herd.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His voice was angry and unfriendly, and he shuffled his legs. Go to

shyer /ʃaɪ/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: mais tímido

Simple English: more nervous or less willing to speak

Example: The younger boy was shyer than his sister.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The contrast made Tom notice his own manner and feel even shyer than usual. Go to

shyly /ˈʃaɪli/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: timidamente; acanhadamente

Simple English: In a nervous way, without confidence.

Example: The soldier came into the room shyly.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "Neither have I," said Tom, touching the young man's hand and shyly drawing his own back. Go to

sickly /ˈsɪkli/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: enjoativo; adocicado demais

Simple English: Too sweet or too strong in a way that is unpleasant.

Example: The room had a sickly smell of old flowers.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Some of these dark resting places had tall but sickly trees. Go to

Original English Version

1. In some of these dingy resting-places which bore much the same analogy to green churchyards, as the pots of earth for mignonette and wall-flower in the windows overlooking them did to rustic gardens, there were trees; tall trees; still putting forth their leaves in each succeeding year, with such a languishing remembrance of their kind (so one might fancy, looking on their sickly boughs) as birds in cages have of theirs. Go to

sighed /saɪd/ (26 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: suspirou

Simple English: Let out a long, slow breath to show sadness or relief.

Example: The Scarecrow sighed and said nothing.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Well!' Pinch sighed. Go to

2. Pinch sighed again. Go to

3. 'Ah!' sighed the good lady, 'I must believe you, for now I look at 'em I think I should have known 'em anywhere. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Ah!' sighed the good lady, 'I must believe you, for now I look at 'em I think I should have known 'em anywhere. Go to

sighing /ˈsaɪɪŋ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: suspirando; lamentando

Simple English: Letting out a long breath, in sadness or in relief.

Example: She sat sighing over the letter.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It stopped sighing and blew fiercely around the merry forge, banging the wicket and growling in the chimney, as if it bullied the cheerful bellows for working to order. Go to

Original English Version

1. Out upon the angry wind! how from sighing, it began to bluster round the merry forge, banging at the wicket, and grumbling in the chimney, as if it bullied the jolly bellows for doing anything to order. Go to

2. 'I am afraid,' said Pinch, sighing again, 'that I am a great eater; I can't disguise from myself that I'm a great eater. Go to

signalled /ˈsɪɡnəld/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: fez sinal; sinalizou

Simple English: Made a sign to tell someone something.

Example: He signalled with his hand to stop.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Without asking how he knew, Martin signalled his young companion to leave. Go to

2. Mr Tigg filled his friend's glass, put it in his hand, and signalled the visitors that they would soon see a better side of him. Go to

signified /ˈsɪɡnɪfaɪd/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: manifestou, indicou

Simple English: showed or made known an opinion or approval

Example: He signified his approbation of her plans.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. His children heard with becoming reverence these moral precepts from the lips of their father, and signified their acquiescence in the same, by smiles. Go to

signpost saɪnpoʊst (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: placa indicativa

Simple English: a post carrying a direction sign

Example: That would set up a very clear signpost to the Future for Monseigneur to follow.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Some enemies compared him to a signpost that shows the way but never goes there. Go to

2. By then they had reached the signpost at the end of the lane. Go to

silences /ˈsaɪlənsɪz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: silêncios

Simple English: Periods when nobody speaks and no sound is heard.

Example: There were long silences between them.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But evidence silences these malicious critics. Go to

sill /sɪl/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: peitoril

Simple English: The flat shelf at the bottom of a window.

Example: A cat sat on the window sill.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Then they rested their elbows on the sill and leaned farther in, as unwilling to leave as crickets born around a burning fire. Go to

Original English Version

1. As to this idle company, there they stood, spellbound by the place, and, casting now and then a glance upon the darkness in their rear, settled their lazy elbows more at ease upon the sill, and leaned a little further in: no more disposed to tear themselves away than if they had been born to cluster round the blazing hearth like so many crickets. Go to

2. Who could repress a smile--of love for thee, Tom Pinch, and not in jest at thy expense, for thou art poor enough already, Heaven knows--to think that such a holiday as lies before thee should awaken that quick flow and hurry of the spirits, in which thou settest down again, almost untasted, on the kitchen window-sill, that great white mug (put by, by thy own hands, last night, that breakfast might not hold thee late), and layest yonder crust upon the seat beside thee, to be eaten on the road, when thou art calmer in thy high rejoicing! Go to

sincerity sɪnsɛrʌti (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sinceridade

Simple English: the quality of being honest and genuine

Example: "It is my duty, and it should be my pleasure, to kill you, John Carter," he said, "but always in my heart of hearts have I admired your prowess and believed in your sincerity the while I have questioned and disbelieved the therns and their religion.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Tom shook his head with complete sincerity. Go to

Original English Version

1. Tom shook his head to an extent that left no doubt of his entire sincerity. Go to

sinful /ˈsɪnfəl/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pecaminoso; pecador

Simple English: Morally wrong according to religious law.

Example: In the old sermons, idleness was treated as sinful.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They called balloon travel sinful and mourned the decline of their times. Go to

Original English Version

1. These gentry were much opposed to steam and all new-fangled ways, and held ballooning to be sinful, and deplored the degeneracy of the times; which that particular member of each little club who kept the keys of the nearest church, professionally, always attributed to the prevalence of dissent and irreligion; though the major part of the company inclined to the belief that virtue went out with hair-powder, and that Old England's greatness had decayed amain with barbers. Go to

siren /ˈsaɪrʌn/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sereia

Simple English: A woman or creature whose attraction is dangerous.

Example: A steam siren sounded to the left.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. We may persuade our respected relative to listen to nature, not the siren-like tricks of art. Go to

Original English Version

1. I think, I say, that means might be devised of disposing our respected relative to listen to the promptings of nature, and not to the siren-like delusions of art. Go to

sirens /ˈsaɪrʌn/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sereia

Simple English: A woman or creature whose attraction is dangerous.

Example: His face shone, and his eyes flashed with excitement as he explained the sounds of the horns and sirens.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Sirens. Go to

2. Dear me, sirens, of course. Go to

Original English Version

1. Sirens. Go to

2. Dear me! sirens, of course. Go to

sitivation /ˌsɪtɪˈveɪʃən/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: situação (emprego, colocação)

Simple English: Uneducated dialect spelling of "situation," meaning a job or post, here specifically a "wicked situation" - an exciting job with a disreputable household.

Example: ...wages an't so much an object as a wicked sitivation; can he, sir?

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If I could get into a wicked family, I might do myself justice; but the difficulty is to make sure of one's ground, because a young man can't very well advertise that he wants a place, and wages an't so much an object as a wicked sitivation; can he, sir?' Go to

Original English Version

1. If I could get into a wicked family, I might do myself justice; but the difficulty is to make sure of one's ground, because a young man can't very well advertise that he wants a place, and wages an't so much an object as a wicked sitivation; can he, sir?' Go to

sixpence /ˈsɪkspəns/ (17 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: moeda antiga de seis pence

Simple English: An old British coin worth six pence.

Example: She paid a sixpence for the ribbon.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She knows I have solemnly sworn not to leave her even sixpence when I die. Go to

2. For no clear reason, he also offered to kick Mr George Chuzzlewit for sixpence. Go to

3. When they could eat no more, Mr Pecksniff and Mr Jonas each ordered hot brandy-and-water costing sixpence. Go to

Original English Version

1. I have taken, as she knows, a solemn oath never to leave her sixpence when I die, but while I live I make her an annual allowance; not extravagant in its amount and yet not stinted. Go to

2. These she shed so plentifully, and so much to the agitation and grief of Mr Spottletoe, that that gentleman, after holding his clenched fist close to Mr Pecksniff's eyes, as if it were some natural curiosity from the near inspection whereof he was likely to derive high gratification and improvement, and after offering (for no particular reason that anybody could discover) to kick Mr George Chuzzlewit for, and in consideration of, the trifling sum of sixpence, took his wife under his arm and indignantly withdrew. Go to

skeletons /ˈskelɪtənz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: esqueletos

Simple English: The frames of bones inside human and animal bodies.

Example: The museum displays two whale skeletons in the main hall.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Thin branches cracked and rattled like skeletons dancing to its moaning music. Go to

skittle /ˈskɪtl/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: boliche (jogo)

Simple English: relating to skittles, a bowling-like game played with pins

Example: One minute in the skittle-ground would greatly ease my mind.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "One minute in the skittle-ground would greatly ease my mind. Go to

2. At the skittle-ground, Mr Tigg took what looked like the fossil remains of an ancient pocket-handkerchief from his hat and wiped his eyes. Go to

3. With this view he took a few turns up and down the skittle-ground, and did not re-enter the house until Mr Tigg and his friend had quitted it, and the new pupil and Mark were watching their departure from one of the windows. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'One minute of your company in the skittle-ground would very much relieve my mind. Go to

2. With this view he took a few turns up and down the skittle-ground, and did not re-enter the house until Mr Tigg and his friend had quitted it, and the new pupil and Mark were watching their departure from one of the windows. Go to

skittles /ˈskɪtlz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: jogo de boliche

Simple English: a game in which players roll a ball to knock down pins

Example: He was seen to play a lively game at skittles before noon.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There are skittles, cricket, quoits, nine-pins, comic songs, choruses, and company around the fire every winter evening. Go to

Original English Version

1. Skittles, cricket, quoits, nine-pins, comic songs, choruses, company round the chimney corner every winter's evening. Go to

skullcap /ˈskʌlkæp/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: solidéu, gorro justo

Simple English: a small close-fitting cap worn on the crown of the head

Example: He wore a tight black velvet skullcap.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His long grey hair seemed whiter under the tight black velvet skullcap he wore. Go to

Original English Version

1. He raised his head up in the bed, and, fixing on her two dark eyes whose brightness was exaggerated by the paleness of his hollow cheeks, as they in turn, together with his straggling locks of long grey hair, were rendered whiter by the tight black velvet skullcap which he wore, he searched her face intently. Go to

skylight /ˈskaɪlaɪt/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: claraboia; abertura envidraçada no convés

Simple English: A window or glazed opening in a roof or ship's deck that admits light.

Example: Smoke drifted through the engine-room skylight.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Above the stairs, a broken skylight repaired in many ways watched everyone below with distrust. Go to

Original English Version

1. And, at the top of the staircase, was an old, disjointed, rickety, ill-favoured skylight, patched and mended in all kinds of ways, which looked distrustfully down at everything that passed below, and covered Todgers's up as if it were a sort of human cucumber-frame, and only people of a peculiar growth were reared there. Go to

skyward /ˈskaɪwəd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: em direção ao céu

Simple English: moving toward the sky

Example: He held tight as if to stop himself shooting skyward like a rocket.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He held tight as if to stop himself shooting skyward like a rocket. Go to

Original English Version

1. And I tell you, sir,' said Mr Pecksniff, towering on tiptoe among the curtains, as if he were literally rising above all worldly considerations, and were fain to hold on tight, to keep himself from darting skyward like a rocket, 'I tell you without fear or favour, that it will not do for you to be unmindful of your grandson, young Martin, who has the strongest natural claim upon you. Go to

sleet /slˈit/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: chuva congelada

Simple English: rain mixed with small pieces of ice

Example: When Kotick went there, he almost smashed himself against sharp black cliffs in a heavy sleet storm with lightning and thunder.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Many winter storms of rain, snow, sleet, and hail had changed its bright blue color to dull grey. Go to

Original English Version

1. A faded, and an ancient dragon he was; and many a wintry storm of rain, snow, sleet, and hail, had changed his colour from a gaudy blue to a faint lack-lustre shade of grey. Go to

slight /slaɪt/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ligeira; leve; pequena

Simple English: Small in amount, degree, or extent; not significant.

Example: There was a slight chance of rain during our picnic last weekend.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Then, with a slight smile, quickly understanding what the landlady would add, she said, "Nor my uncle. Go to

2. My girls are proud of it, Martin.' Opening another, he said, 'This is the little room where I made my works, slight things at best. Go to

3. "Not exactly," Martin said with a slight frown. Go to

slowest /ˈsloʊɪst/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mais lento; o mais demorado

Simple English: The superlative form of slow: taking the most time.

Example: That was the slowest watch of the voyage.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Even at its slowest, it lifted its legs so high and moved with such action that it seemed to travel at fourteen miles an hour. Go to

Original English Version

1. When at his slowest rate of travelling he would sometimes lift up his legs so high, and display such mighty action, that it was difficult to believe he was doing less than fourteen miles an hour; and he was for ever so perfectly satisfied with his own speed, and so little disconcerted by opportunities of comparing himself with the fastest trotters, that the illusion was the more difficult of resistance. Go to

slyme /slaɪm/ (156 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Slyme (sobrenome de Chevy Slyme, parente pretensioso e oportunista da família Chuzzlewit)

Simple English: Surname of Chevy Slyme, a shiftless, self-pitying relative of the Chuzzlewit family.

Example: 'This is addressed to Chevy Slyme, Esquire,' said Mr Pecksniff.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'This is addressed to Chevy Slyme, Esquire,' said Mr Pecksniff. Go to

2. 'You know Chevy Slyme, Esquire, I believe?' replied the stranger. Go to

3. I know Mr Slyme. Go to

4. You think I would pretend to be Chevy Slyme. Go to

5. Sir, if a gentleman could be proud and honoured to be mistaken for any man, it would be my friend Slyme. Go to

6. But I am not vain enough to pass for Slyme. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'This is addressed to Chevy Slyme, Esquire,' said that gentleman. Go to

2. 'You know Chevy Slyme, Esquire, I believe?' returned the stranger. Go to

3. I know Mr Slyme, my friend; this will not do; honesty is the best policy you had better not; you had indeed.' Go to

4. You suppose I would set myself up for Chevy Slyme. Go to

5. Sir, if there is a man on earth whom a gentleman would feel proud and honoured to be mistaken for, that man is my friend Slyme. Go to

6. But, sir, I have not the vanity to attempt to pass for Slyme. Go to

slyme's /slaɪmz/ (17 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Slyme (forma possessiva referente a Chevy Slyme)

Simple English: Possessive form referring to Chevy Slyme's characteristic habit of hanging back and waiting rather than acting.

Example: My friend Slyme's special habit is always waiting round the corner.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. My friend Slyme's special habit is always waiting round the corner. Go to

2. 'That is a very curious and interesting part of Mr Slyme's character. Go to

3. When Slyme's life is written, the writer must explain it fully or society will not be satisfied. Go to

4. 'Whoever writes Slyme's life,' the gentleman continued, 'must ask me. Go to

5. Clearly uneasy, Mr Pecksniff asked, 'And what may be Mr Slyme's business here, if I may ask? Go to

6. Slyme's requests for small loans were another special habit of genius. Go to

Original English Version

1. Now,' said the gentleman, shaking his forefinger before his nose, and planting his legs wider apart as he looked attentively in Mr Pecksniff's face, 'that is a remarkably curious and interesting trait in Mr Slyme's character; and whenever Slyme's life comes to be written, that trait must be thoroughly worked out by his biographer or society will not be satisfied. Go to

2. 'Slyme's biographer, sir, whoever he may be,' resumed the gentleman, 'must apply to me; or, if I am gone to that what's-his-name from which no thingumbob comes back, he must apply to my executors for leave to search among my papers. Go to

3. 'And pray,' asked Mr Pecksniff, obviously not quite at his ease, 'what may be Mr Slyme's business here, if I may be permitted to inquire, who am compelled by a regard for my own character to disavow all interest in his proceedings?' Go to

smacking /ˈsmækɪŋ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: estalando os lábios

Simple English: Making a sharp sound with the lips.

Example: He sat back, smacking his lips after dinner.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He enjoyed the dry sandwiches, which broke in his mouth like sawdust, and drank the thin wine one drop at a time, smacking his lips as if every bit of fruit flavour was precious. Go to

smilingly /ˈsmaɪlɪŋli/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sorridentemente

Simple English: in a smiling manner

Example: He looked smilingly round, and said, 'Why not?'

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. But before he had well done so, he looked smilingly round, and said, 'Why not?' Go to

2. When the meal was nearly over, Mr Pecksniff smilingly explained the cause of their common satisfaction. Go to

smoothed /smuːðd/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: alisou

Simple English: Made a surface flat and even.

Example: She smoothed the cloth with both hands.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Then he gathered his coat tails under his left arm, smoothed his moustache with his right thumb and first finger, and went on: Go to

smoothing /ˈsmuːðɪŋ/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: alisando; desamassando

Simple English: Making something flat and even with the hands.

Example: She spoke, smoothing out the wrinkles in her dress.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Then gathering the skirts of his coat under his left arm, and smoothing his moustache with his right thumb and forefinger, he resumed: Go to

snapping /ˈsnæpɪŋ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: estalando; batendo ao vento

Simple English: Biting or closing the jaws quickly with a sharp sound.

Example: The dog kept snapping at the flies around its head.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Meantime the family forces were perpetually encountering each other in divers parts of the neighbourhood; and, as no one branch of the Chuzzlewit tree had ever been known to agree with another within the memory of man, there was such a skirmishing, and flouting, and snapping off of heads, in the metaphorical sense of that expression; such a bandying of words and calling of names; such an upturning of noses and wrinkling of brows; such a formal interment of good feelings and violent resurrection of ancient grievances; as had never been known in those quiet parts since the earliest record of their civilized existence. Go to

sneer /snɪr/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: escárnio; desprezo na voz

Simple English: An unkind smile that shows you think little of someone.

Example: He answered with a sneer and turned away.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A trick with the nose and a curled lip can make a fair sneer. Go to

Original English Version

1. The stock-in-trade requisite to set up an amateur in this department of business is very slight, and easily got together; a trick of the nose and a curl of the lip sufficient to compound a tolerable sneer, being ample provision for any exigency. Go to

sneezed /sniːzd/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: espirravam

Simple English: Pushed air suddenly out of the nose with a noise.

Example: He sneezed twice because of the dust.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff, still at the bottom of the steps, raised himself on one elbow and sneezed. Go to

Original English Version

1. With a sharply delivered warning relative to the cage and the constable, and the stocks and the gallows, Miss Pecksniff was about to close the door again, when Mr Pecksniff (being still at the bottom of the steps) raised himself on one elbow, and sneezed. Go to

snore /snɔːr/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ronco; roncar

Simple English: To breathe with a rough loud noise while asleep.

Example: His snore filled the small room.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Even the smaller chairs and tables looked heavy and ready to snore. Go to

Original English Version

1. The very size and shape, and hopeless immovability of the bedstead, and wardrobe, and in a minor degree of even the chairs and tables, provoked sleep; they were plainly apoplectic and disposed to snore. Go to

snored /snɔːrd/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: roncava

Simple English: Made loud noises while sleeping.

Example: He snored all through the night.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Before fifty lines were done, his friend snored. Go to

snoring /ˈsnɔːrɪŋ/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: que ronca; ressonante

Simple English: Making loud noises while sleeping.

Example: A snoring man lay across two seats.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Is that my father snoring, Pecksniff?' Go to

Original English Version

1. Before he had completed fifty lines his friend was snoring. Go to

2. Is that my father a-snoring, Pecksniff?' Go to

snowy /ˈsnoʊi/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: nevados; cobertos de neve

Simple English: Covered with snow.

Example: We could see the snowy peaks from the window.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Young women with bright eyes and snowy-white chests hurried to many upstairs windows as he passed. Go to

Original English Version

1. Sparkling eyes and snowy breasts came hurriedly to many an upper casement as he clattered by, and gave him back his greeting: not stinted either, but sevenfold, good measure. Go to

snuff /snʌf/ (28 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: rapé

Simple English: Powdered tobacco taken in through the nose.

Example: He offered his friend a pinch of snuff.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He was not handsome and wore a badly shaped, snuff-coloured suit. Go to

2. Let us say," he added very gently, "that it comes from a cold in the head, snuff, smelling-salts, onions, or anything except the true cause." Go to

3. He forgot to snuff the candle until its wick looked like a mushroom. Go to

Original English Version

1. He was far from handsome certainly; and was drest in a snuff-coloured suit, of an uncouth make at the best, which, being shrunk with long wear, was twisted and tortured into all kinds of odd shapes; but notwithstanding his attire, and his clumsy figure, which a great stoop in his shoulders, and a ludicrous habit he had of thrusting his head forward, by no means redeemed, one would not have been disposed (unless Mr Pecksniff said so) to consider him a bad fellow by any means. Go to

2. We will say, if you please,' added Mr Pecksniff, with great tenderness of manner, 'that it arises from a cold in the head, or is attributable to snuff, or smelling-salts, or onions, or anything but the real cause.' Go to

3. But suddenly remembering their compact, he took up the poem at the place where he had left off, and went on reading; always forgetting to snuff the candle, until its wick looked like a mushroom. Go to

snuffers /ˈsnʌfərz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: apagadores de vela; espevitadeiras

Simple English: A tool shaped like scissors used to trim or put out a candle.

Example: A pair of brass snuffers lay beside the candlestick.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Mr Pinch,' said Pecksniff, sitting with folded arms on a spare bed, 'there are no candle snuffers in that candlestick. Go to

2. By then Mr Pinch had returned with the snuffers. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'I don't see any snuffers in that candlestick. Go to

2. By this time Mr Pinch had returned with the snuffers. Go to

snug /snəg/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: aconchegante

Simple English: warm, comfortable, and protected

Example: We lived beneath the mat, warm and snug and fat.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. At this very crisis, a step was heard in the entry, and Mr Pecksniff, looking sweetly over the half-door of the bar, and into the vista of snug privacy beyond, murmured: Go to

sobbed /sɑːbd/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: soluçou

Simple English: Cried noisily, taking short breaths.

Example: I never killed anything willingly, she sobbed.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff's voice shook as he spoke, and his daughters sobbed. Go to

sobs /sɑːbz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: soluços; soluça

Simple English: Loud cries made while breathing in short sharp gasps.

Example: Her sobs could be heard from the next room.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The voice of Mr Pecksniff trembled as he spoke, and sobs were heard from his daughters. Go to

sockets /ˈsɑːkɪts/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cavidades; órbitas; encaixes

Simple English: Hollow places into which something fits.

Example: His eyes were deep in their sockets.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His eyes strained in their sockets as if always surprised. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff replied, by a shrug of his shoulders and an apparent turning round of his eyes in their sockets before he opened them, that he was still reduced to the necessity of entertaining that desire. Go to

2. Then there was George Chuzzlewit, a gay bachelor cousin, who claimed to be young but had been younger, and was inclined to corpulency, and rather overfed himself; to that extent, indeed, that his eyes were strained in their sockets, as if with constant surprise; and he had such an obvious disposition to pimples, that the bright spots on his cravat, the rich pattern on his waistcoat, and even his glittering trinkets, seemed to have broken out upon him, and not to have come into existence comfortably. Go to

soften /ˈsɔːfən/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: amolecer; suavizar; abrandar

Simple English: To make something less hard, less strong or less severe.

Example: Warm water will soften the dry paint on the brush.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I never wished to soften what was ridiculous or wrong at home, so I hoped the good-humoured people of the United States would not object when I did the same abroad. Go to

Original English Version

1. As I had never, in writing fiction, had any disposition to soften what is ridiculous or wrong at home, so I then hoped that the good-humored people of the United States would not be generally disposed to quarrel with me for carrying the same usage abroad. Go to

softened /ˈsɔːfənd/ (19 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: suavizaram-se; enterneceram-se

Simple English: Became or made less hard, less strong or less severe.

Example: His voice softened when he saw the child was crying.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Fallen leaves gave off a pleasant smell and softened the harsh sounds of distant feet and wheels. Go to

2. They would not be softened or put to sleep by the Pecksniffs, any more than hedgehogs or porcupines would. Go to

Original English Version

1. And the company; the jealous stony-hearted distrustful company, who were all shut up in themselves, and had no faith in anybody, and wouldn't believe anything, and would no more allow themselves to be softened or lulled asleep by the Pecksniffs than if they had been so many hedgehogs or porcupines! Go to

solemn /ˈsɑːləm/ (37 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: solene; grave; sério

Simple English: Very serious, without smiling.

Example: The children made a solemn promise.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Whatever light Heaven sent, each new shadow marked the passing days, weeks, and years on that solemn ground. Go to

2. When Tom repeated it more clearly, Tigg checked off each sentence with a solemn nod. Go to

Original English Version

1. Now this gentleman, since deceased, was at all times ready to make oath, and did again and again set forth upon his solemn asseveration, that he had frequently heard his grandmother say, when contemplating this venerable relic, 'Aye, aye! Go to

2. When the son of that individual, to whom the secret of his father's birth was supposed to have been communicated by his father in his lifetime, lay upon his deathbed, this question was put to him in a distinct, solemn, and formal way: 'Toby Chuzzlewit, who was your grandfather?' To which he, with his last breath, no less distinctly, solemnly, and formally replied: and his words were taken down at the time, and signed by six witnesses, each with his name and address in full: 'The Lord No Zoo.' It may be said--it HAS been said, for human wickedness has no limits--that there is no Lord of that name, and that among the titles which have become extinct, none at all resembling this, in sound even, is to be discovered. Go to

3. 'My loves!' said Mr Pecksniff, with the same serene upraising of his hand; 'My dears!' After a solemn pause he meekly bowed to Mr Pinch, as who should say, 'Proceed;' but Mr Pinch was so very much at a loss how to resume, and looked so helplessly at the two Miss Pecksniffs, that the conversation would most probably have terminated there, if a good-looking youth, newly arrived at man's estate, had not stepped forward from the doorway and taken up the thread of the discourse. Go to

4. With these impressive words, Mr Pecksniff passed over to the bedside, where, after patting the counterpane once or twice in a very solemn manner, as if by that means he gained a clear insight into the patient's disorder, he took his seat in a large arm-chair, and in an attitude of some thoughtfulness and much comfort, waited for his waking. Go to

5. I have taken, as she knows, a solemn oath never to leave her sixpence when I die, but while I live I make her an annual allowance; not extravagant in its amount and yet not stinted. Go to

6. That worthy man Mr Pecksniff having taken leave of his cousin in the solemn terms recited in the last chapter, withdrew to his own home, and remained there three whole days; not so much as going out for a walk beyond the boundaries of his own garden, lest he should be hastily summoned to the bedside of his penitent and remorseful relative, whom, in his ample benevolence, he had made up his mind to forgive unconditionally, and to love on any terms. Go to

solemnly /ˈsɑːləmli/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: solenemente; com gravidade

Simple English: In a very serious way.

Example: He solemnly promised to keep the secret.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Yet when his son lay dying, he was solemnly asked, "Toby Chuzzlewit, who was your grandfather?" With his last breath he answered, "The Lord No Zoo." Six witnesses wrote this down and signed with their full names and addresses. Go to

2. He solemnly patted the bedcover once or twice, as if this showed him the patient's illness. Go to

3. She knows I have solemnly sworn not to leave her even sixpence when I die. Go to

4. Mr Pecksniff solemnly waved his right hand, put it again into his waistcoat, and left. Go to

5. After leaving his cousin so solemnly, worthy Mr Pecksniff went home and stayed there for three full days. Go to

Original English Version

1. When the son of that individual, to whom the secret of his father's birth was supposed to have been communicated by his father in his lifetime, lay upon his deathbed, this question was put to him in a distinct, solemn, and formal way: 'Toby Chuzzlewit, who was your grandfather?' To which he, with his last breath, no less distinctly, solemnly, and formally replied: and his words were taken down at the time, and signed by six witnesses, each with his name and address in full: 'The Lord No Zoo.' It may be said--it HAS been said, for human wickedness has no limits--that there is no Lord of that name, and that among the titles which have become extinct, none at all resembling this, in sound even, is to be discovered. Go to

2. Thus, by little and little, they made common cause of Martin Chuzzlewit's obduracy, until it was agreed (if such a word can be used in connection with the Chuzzlewits) that there should be a general council and conference held at Mr Pecksniff's house upon a certain day at noon; which all members of the family who had brought themselves within reach of the summons, were forthwith bidden and invited, solemnly, to attend. Go to

3. Mr Tigg received this declaration with a grave request that Mr Pinch would have the goodness to make it again; and on Tom's repeating it in a still more emphatic and unmistakable manner, checked it off, sentence for sentence, by nodding his head solemnly at the end of each. Go to

4. In pursuance of which opinion, two people took their seats in the vehicle, which was solemnly licensed by Act of Parliament to carry any six persons who could be got in at the door. Go to

soles /soʊlz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: solas

Simple English: The bottom parts of shoes or feet.

Example: The soles of his boots were worn thin.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His fingers stuck far out of his gloves, and the soles had separated from the tops of his boots. Go to

Original English Version

1. The gentleman was of that order of appearance which is currently termed shabby-genteel, though in respect of his dress he can hardly be said to have been in any extremities, as his fingers were a long way out of his gloves, and the soles of his feet were at an inconvenient distance from the upper leather of his boots. Go to

2. Inside the fender were some half-dozen pairs of shoes and boots, of various sizes, just cleaned and turned with the soles upwards to dry; and a pair of short black gaiters, on one of which was chalked--in sport, it would appear, by some gentleman who had slipped down for the purpose, pending his toilet, and gone up again--'Jinkins's Particular,' while the other exhibited a sketch in profile, claiming to be the portrait of Jinkins himself. Go to

soothing /ˈsuːðɪŋ/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: calmante

Simple English: making someone feel calm or less upset

Example: “Never mind, Tommy,” I said, placing a soothing hand on his shoulder.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. What a soothing thought!' Go to

2. After a pause, while he tried without success to find another moral, Mr Pecksniff cried, 'Which is also very soothing. Go to

Original English Version

1. What a soothing reflection is that!' Go to

2. 'Which,' cried Mr Pecksniff after a pause, during which he seemed to have been casting about for a new moral, and not quite successfully, 'which is also very soothing. Go to

3. Now, that is very soothing, is it not?' Go to

sordid /ˈsɔːrdɪd/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sórdido

Simple English: Morally low, dirty, or wretched.

Example: He made his imaginative world out of such strange experiences and sordid things.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. And when I add that they will be returned by post, this week, I feel that you will blame me for that sordid stipulation.' Go to

Original English Version

1. I conceive that the sordid coarseness and brutality of Jonas would be unnatural, if there had been nothing in his early education, and in the precept and example always before him, to engender and develop the vices that make him odious. Go to

2. And when I add that they will be returned by post, this week, I feel that you will blame me for that sordid stipulation.' Go to

soundly /ˈsaʊndli/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: profundamente; a sono solto

Simple English: Deeply and well, especially of sleep.

Example: The children slept soundly all night.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They then slept more soundly below ground in another kind of box, but little else about their condition changed. Go to

sow /soʊ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: semear; espalhar; porca, fêmea do porco

Simple English: To plant seeds in the ground; also, said as /saʊ/, a female pig.

Example: They sow the first seeds as soon as the frost is gone.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. What is true of families is also true of a whole country: as we sow, we reap. Go to

Original English Version

1. As we sow, we reap. Go to

spadeful /ˈspeɪdfʊl/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pá cheia (fig. reforço final)

Simple English: A figurative final addition to a pile of evidence, like one last spadeful of dirt.

Example: As a final spadeful, letters from their own mothers gave more proof.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. As a final spadeful, letters from their own mothers prove that many male and female Chuzzlewits had chiselled noses, clear chins, bodies fit for a sculptor, beautifully shaped limbs, and polished foreheads so transparent that blue veins showed like roads on an ethereal map. Go to

Original English Version

1. As a goodly tumulus is already collected, and decently battened up above the Family grave, the present chapter is content to leave it as it is: merely adding, by way of a final spadeful, that many Chuzzlewits, both male and female, are proved to demonstration, on the faith of letters written by their own mothers, to have had chiselled noses, undeniable chins, forms that might have served the sculptor for a model, exquisitely-turned limbs and polished foreheads of so transparent a texture that the blue veins might be seen branching off in various directions, like so many roads on an ethereal map. Go to

sparkled /ˈspɑːrkəld/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cintilavam; brilhavam

Simple English: Shone with small, bright points of light.

Example: His small black eyes sparkled happily.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Wet grass sparkled. Go to

2. The hot iron also sparkled and threw red-hot jewels around. Go to

Original English Version

1. The wet grass sparkled in the light; the scanty patches of verdure in the hedges--where a few green twigs yet stood together bravely, resisting to the last the tyranny of nipping winds and early frosts--took heart and brightened up; the stream which had been dull and sullen all day long, broke out into a cheerful smile; the birds began to chirp and twitter on the naked boughs, as though the hopeful creatures half believed that winter had gone by, and spring had come already. Go to

2. The gleaming iron, in its emulation, sparkled too, and shed its red-hot gems around profusely. Go to

3. The sheep-bells rang as clearly in the vigorous air, as if they felt its wholesome influence like living creatures; the trees, in lieu of leaves or blossoms, shed upon the ground a frosty rime that sparkled as it fell, and might have been the dust of diamonds. Go to

sparrow /ˈspæroʊ/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pardal

Simple English: A small brown and grey bird, common in towns.

Example: A sparrow hopped along the sill.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Plants, hyacinths, books, and birds.' The birds were only one old, tail-less sparrow, borrowed from the kitchen. Go to

Original English Version

1. Plants you observe; hyacinths; books again; birds.' These birds, by the bye, comprised, in all, one staggering old sparrow without a tail, which had been borrowed expressly from the kitchen. Go to

spasms /ˈspæzəmz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: espasmos

Simple English: Sudden short tightenings of the muscles.

Example: Spasms of pain crossed his back.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. An old gentleman and a young lady, travelling, unattended, in a rusty old chariot with post-horses; coming nobody knew whence and going nobody knew whither; had turned out of the high road, and driven unexpectedly to the Blue Dragon; and here was the old gentleman, who had taken this step by reason of his sudden illness in the carriage, suffering the most horrible cramps and spasms, yet protesting and vowing in the very midst of his pain, that he wouldn't have a doctor sent for, and wouldn't take any remedies but those which the young lady administered from a small medicine-chest, and wouldn't, in a word, do anything but terrify the landlady out of her five wits, and obstinately refuse compliance with every suggestion that was made to him. Go to

2. Then there were young farmers and old farmers with smock-frocks, brown great-coats, drab great-coats, red worsted comforters, leather-leggings, wonderful shaped hats, hunting-whips, and rough sticks, standing about in groups, or talking noisily together on the tavern steps, or paying and receiving huge amounts of greasy wealth, with the assistance of such bulky pocket-books that when they were in their pockets it was apoplexy to get them out, and when they were out it was spasms to get them in again. Go to

spat /spæt/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cuspiram

Simple English: Pushed liquid out of the mouth.

Example: He spat the bitter medicine onto the ground.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Lights flashed, voices whispered, and newly lit wood smoked and spat in a damp chimney. Go to

2. Those crooks would have spat on their coffins after the rich men died as their victims. Go to

Original English Version

1. They should have shown themselves fit objects to be robbed and preyed upon and plotted against and adulated by any knaves, who, but for joy, would have spat upon their coffins when they died their dupes; and then their search would have ended as mine has done, and they would be what I am.' Go to

spectacles /ˈspɛktəkəlz/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: óculos

Simple English: A pair of glasses worn over the eyes to help someone see.

Example: First you must put on the spectacles.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I wore my spectacles and saw her through gaps in the curtains as clearly as I see you. Go to

Original English Version

1. I had my spectacles on, and saw her through the chinks in the curtains as plainly as I see you; and she was beautiful. Go to

spiller /ˈspɪlər/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Spiller (sobrenome do pintor)

Simple English: The surname of an artist mentioned boastfully as having painted the speaker's portrait.

Example: A portrait of me by Spiller hangs in the drawing room.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A portrait of me by Spiller. Go to

Original English Version

1. Portrait of myself by Spiller. Go to

spire /ˈspaɪər/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: agulha de igreja; pináculo

Simple English: A tall pointed tower on a church.

Example: The spire was visible from the hill.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The weather vane on the old church spire shone too. Go to

2. The church spire cast a long shadow across the graveyard grass. Go to

Original English Version

1. The vane upon the tapering spire of the old church glistened from its lofty station in sympathy with the general gladness; and from the ivy-shaded windows such gleams of light shone back upon the glowing sky, that it seemed as if the quiet buildings were the hoarding-place of twenty summers, and all their ruddiness and warmth were stored within. Go to

2. In this way they went on, and on, and on--in the language of the story-books--until at last the village lights appeared before them, and the church spire cast a long reflection on the graveyard grass; as if it were a dial (alas, the truest in the world!) marking, whatever light shone out of Heaven, the flight of days and weeks and years, by some new shadow on that solemn ground. Go to

spiritual /ˈspɪrɪtʃuəl/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: espiritual

Simple English: Related to religion or religious beliefs and practices.

Example: He goes on spiritual retreats to find peace and connect with nature.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He is the highest-minded, most independent, original, spiritual, classical, talented, most Shakspearian, if not Miltonic, and most terribly unappreciated man I know. Go to

splendour /ˈsplɛndər/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: esplendor

Simple English: great beauty or magnificence

Example: The hall shone with royal splendour.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Anyone seeking heartless splendour will seek in vain.' Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Would you like to drive?' said Mr Pinch; his whole face beaming with a consciousness of the splendour of his offer. Go to

2. Those who seek heartless splendour, would seek here in vain.' Go to

split /splɪt/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: dividir; divisão; rachar

Simple English: To divide into parts or separate sections or groups.

Example: We need to split the group into smaller teams for the project.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They were pulled so hard between his braces and straps that they seemed ready to split at the knees. Go to

spoilt /spɔɪlt/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mimado; estragado

Simple English: Given too much of what you want, or gone bad.

Example: He behaved like a spoilt child.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Martin nodded assent; and adding, with a restless impatience, that if he had been a few days earlier he would have seen her; and that now she might be, for anything he knew, hundreds of miles away; threw himself, after a few turns across the room, into a chair, and chafed like a spoilt child. Go to

spoker /ˈspoʊkər/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Spoker (nome próprio fictício de um escultor)

Simple English: An invented, comically pompous name for a sculptor mentioned in passing; "a bust by Spoker" refers to a bust supposedly made by this fictitious artist.

Example: A bust by Spoker stood prominently in the room, admired by the guests.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A bust by Spoker. Go to

Original English Version

1. Bust by Spoker. Go to

spottletoe /ˈspɒtəltoʊ/ (57 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Spottletoe (sobrenome, nome próprio não traduzido)

Simple English: The surname of a couple, relatives of old Martin Chuzzlewit, who scheme to inherit his fortune.

Example: "Mr and Mrs Spottletoe."

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Mr and Mrs Spottletoe. Go to

2. Spottletoe married my father's brother's child, did he not? Go to

3. Mrs Spottletoe is Chuzzlewit's own niece, is she not? Go to

4. First came Mr Spottletoe. Go to

5. Mrs Spottletoe was too thin for her years and had a poetic nature. Go to

6. "I am sorry to interrupt, Pecksniff," said Mr Spottletoe, his whiskers looking dangerous, "but you assume too much, sir. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Mr and Mrs Spottletoe,' said Chevy Slyme, Esquire, speaking aloud for the first time, and speaking very sulkily; shambling with his legs the while. Go to

2. 'Spottletoe married my father's brother's child, didn't he? Go to

3. And Mrs Spottletoe is Chuzzlewit's own niece, isn't she? Go to

4. First, there was Mr Spottletoe, who was so bald and had such big whiskers, that he seemed to have stopped his hair, by the sudden application of some powerful remedy, in the very act of falling off his head, and to have fastened it irrevocably on his face. Go to

5. Then there was Mrs Spottletoe, who being much too slim for her years, and of a poetical constitution, was accustomed to inform her more intimate friends that the said whiskers were 'the lodestar of her existence;' and who could now, by reason of her strong affection for her uncle Chuzzlewit, and the shock it gave her to be suspected of testamentary designs upon him, do nothing but cry--except moan. Go to

6. 'I am sorry to interrupt you, Pecksniff,' remarked Mr Spottletoe, with his whiskers in a very portentous state; 'but you are assuming too much to yourself, sir. Go to

spottletoe's /ˈspɒtəltoʊz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Spottletoe (forma possessiva do sobrenome)

Simple English: Possessive form of the surname Spottletoe, indicating something belonging to Mr Spottletoe, here his clenched fist.

Example: Mr Pecksniff forgivingly remembered Mr Spottletoe's fist after their friend left so quickly.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "It is a pity," said Mr Pecksniff, forgivingly remembering Mr Spottletoe's fist, "that our friend left so quickly. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'It is to be lamented,' said Mr Pecksniff, with a forgiving recollection of Mr Spottletoe's fist, 'that our friend should have withdrawn himself so very hastily, though we have cause for mutual congratulation even in that, since we are assured that he is not distrustful of us in regard to anything we may say or do while he is absent. Go to

spottletoes /ˈspɒtəltoʊz/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: os Spottletoe (o casal/a família)

Simple English: Plural form of the surname Spottletoe, referring to Mr and Mrs Spottletoe together as a couple.

Example: I suppose you do not know that the Spottletoes are here?

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'I suppose you do not know that the Spottletoes are here?' said Mr Tigg. Go to

2. What Spottletoes?' Go to

3. You may well ask what Spottletoes.' Go to

4. Looking at Tigg but speaking to Mr Pecksniff, Slyme said, 'It is not only the Spottletoes, Tigg. Go to

5. The Spottletoes had gone straight to the Dragon, where they stayed on guard. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'You don't know that the Spottletoes are here, I suppose?' said Mr Tigg. Go to

2. 'What do you mean, sirâ what Spottletoes?' asked Pecksniff, stopping abruptly on his way to the door. Go to

3. You may well ask what Spottletoes.' Go to

4. 'It's not only the Spottletoes either, Tigg,' said Slyme, looking at that gentleman and speaking at Mr Pecksniff. Go to

5. For the Spottletoes had actually gone straight to the Dragon, where they were at that moment housed and mounting guard, and where their appearance had occasioned such a vast sensation that Mrs Lupin, scenting their errand before they had been under her roof half an hour, carried the news herself with all possible secrecy straight to Mr Pecksniff's house; indeed it was her great caution in doing so which occasioned her to miss that gentleman, who entered at the front door of the Dragon just as she emerged from the back one. Go to

spout /spaʊt/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: jorrar

Simple English: send liquid or steam out in a strong stream

Example: Water began to spout from the pipe.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His old enemies said this was almost miraculous: adding a back window, a kitchen door, six steps, or a water spout had sometimes changed a pupil's design into Mr Pecksniff's own work and brought him much money. Go to

Original English Version

1. Martin readily undertook this task, and Mr Pecksniff forthwith proceeded to entrust him with the materials necessary for its execution; dwelling meanwhile on the magical effect of a few finishing touches from the hand of a master; which, indeed, as some people said (and these were the old enemies again!) was unquestionably very surprising, and almost miraculous; as there were cases on record in which the masterly introduction of an additional back window, or a kitchen door, or half-a-dozen steps, or even a water spout, had made the design of a pupil Mr Pecksniff's own work, and had brought substantial rewards into that gentleman's pocket. Go to

squeezing /ˈskwiːzɪŋ/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: apertando; espremendo

Simple English: Pressing something firmly from two sides.

Example: She was squeezing the juice from a lemon.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. That done, he assured Mr Pinch that everything was now perfectly regular; and, after squeezing his hand with great fervour, departed. Go to

Original English Version

1. That done, he assured Mr Pinch that everything was now perfectly regular; and, after squeezing his hand with great fervour, departed. Go to

stables /ˈsteɪbəlz/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: estábulos; cavalariças

Simple English: Buildings where horses are kept.

Example: The boy slept above the stables.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Deep under these buildings were stables. Go to

Original English Version

1. In the throats and maws of dark no-thoroughfares near Todgers's, individual wine-merchants and wholesale dealers in grocery-ware had perfect little towns of their own; and, deep among the foundations of these buildings, the ground was undermined and burrowed out into stables, where cart-horses, troubled by rats, might be heard on a quiet Sunday rattling their halters, as disturbed spirits in tales of haunted houses are said to clank their chains. Go to

stagger /ˈstæɡər/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cambalear; vacilar

Simple English: To walk unsteadily, as if about to fall.

Example: He was so tired that he began to stagger on the last hill.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. And he did this so boldly, and in such an imposing manner, that he would sometimes stagger the wisest people with his eloquence, and make them gasp again. Go to

stair /ster/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: degrau; escada

Simple English: One step in a set of steps inside a building.

Example: The bottom stair creaks whenever anyone comes home late.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A ground-floor side stair window was said not to have opened for a hundred years. Go to

stale /steɪl/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: velho; passado

Simple English: No longer fresh.

Example: The stale bread was hard as wood.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It smelled like several damp umbrellas, a beer barrel, a cask of warm brandy-and-water, and a small room full of stale tobacco smoke. Go to

Original English Version

1. It happened then, and lastly, that Mr Pecksniff found himself immediately collared by something which smelt like several damp umbrellas, a barrel of beer, a cask of warm brandy-and-water, and a small parlour-full of stale tobacco smoke, mixed; and was straightway led downstairs into the bar from which he had lately come, where he found himself standing opposite to, and in the grasp of, a perfectly strange gentleman of still stranger appearance who, with his disengaged hand, rubbed his own head very hard, and looked at him, Pecksniff, with an evil countenance. Go to

stammered /ˈstæmərd/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gaguejou

Simple English: Spoke with pauses and repeated sounds.

Example: He stammered when he heard the question.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. I have borne a great deal from him, because I have been under obligations to him (if one can ever be said to be under obligations to one's own grandfather), and because I have been really attached to him; but we have had a great many quarrels for all that, for I could not accommodate myself to his ways very often--not out of the least reference to myself, you understand, but because--' he stammered here, and was rather at a loss. Go to

startled /ˈstɑːrtəld/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: assustada; sobressaltada

Simple English: Suddenly surprised or frightened.

Example: Aunt Em was startled by the child's laughter.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Heyday!' Martin asked, startled by a known name. Go to

Original English Version

1. They were both very busy on the afternoon succeeding the family's departure--Martin with the grammar-school, and Tom in balancing certain receipts of rents, and deducting Mr Pecksniff's commission from the same; in which abstruse employment he was much distracted by a habit his new friend had of whistling aloud while he was drawing--when they were not a little startled by the unexpected obtrusion into that sanctuary of genius, of a human head which, although a shaggy and somewhat alarming head in appearance, smiled affably upon them from the doorway, in a manner that was at once waggish, conciliatory, and expressive of approbation. Go to

steaming /ˈstiːmɪŋ/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: fumegante; quente que solta vapor

Simple English: Very hot and giving off steam.

Example: She brought in a steaming bowl of soup.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Meanwhile, the youngest brought a steaming dish of ham and eggs from the kitchen. Go to

2. His small table was drawn close to the fire, and he greatly enjoyed a well-cooked steak and steaming potatoes. Go to

3. After they drank to each other in the steaming mixture, they became very open. Go to

Original English Version

1. After drinking to each other in the steaming mixture, they became quite confidential. Go to

steeple /ˈstiːpəl/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: campanário; torre pontiaguda

Simple English: A tall pointed tower on a church.

Example: You can see the steeple from the far side of the lake.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Here I had an idea for a steeple which I may one day give the world. Go to

Original English Version

1. This is a room in which an idea for a steeple occurred to me that I may one day give to the world. Go to

sternly /ˈstɜːrnli/ (16 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: severamente; com firmeza

Simple English: In a serious and strict way.

Example: The guard spoke sternly to the boys.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A thought came into Pecksniff's mind and must have shown on his face, or Martin Chuzzlewit would not have continued so quickly and sternly: Go to

Original English Version

1. A thought arose in Pecksniff's mind, which must have instantly mounted to his face, or Martin Chuzzlewit would not have resumed as quickly and as sternly as he did: Go to

2. 'If Mr George Chuzzlewit has anything to say to ME,' interposed the strong-minded woman, sternly, 'I beg him to speak out like a man; and not to look at me and my daughters as if he could eat us.' Go to

3. Considering his years, which were tender, the youth may be said to have preferred this question sternly, and in something of a defiant manner. Go to

stipulate /ˈstɪpjəleɪt/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: estipular, exigir como condição

Simple English: to demand or specify something as a condition of an agreement

Example: I must stipulate, in justice to myself, that you do so as to a stranger.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Did we stipulate for this week?' Go to

Original English Version

1. 'If you desire to speak to me before I go, sir,' continued that gentleman, after another pause, 'you may command my leisure; but I must stipulate, in justice to myself, that you do so as to a stranger, strictly as to a stranger.' Go to

2. Did we stipulate for this week?' Go to

stipulated /ˈstɪpjəleɪtɪd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: estipulado

Simple English: specified or demanded as part of an agreement

Example: If we stipulated for this week, Saturday is the latest day.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'If we stipulated for this week, Saturday is the latest day. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'If we stipulated for this week, Saturday is the latest day. Go to

stipulation /ˌstɪpjəˈleɪʃən/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: estipulação, condição

Simple English: a condition specified as part of an agreement

Example: I feel that you will blame me for that sordid stipulation.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. And when I add that they will be returned by post, this week, I feel that you will blame me for that sordid stipulation.' Go to

Original English Version

1. And when I add that they will be returned by post, this week, I feel that you will blame me for that sordid stipulation.' Go to

stirred /stɜːrd/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sacudiu; despertou

Simple English: Moved someone or something a little.

Example: A soft wind stirred the long grass.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. These wonders stirred the lamp within Mr Pinch until, when he faced the busy street, phantoms waited for his command and he happily lived again the days before the Pecksniff era. Go to

2. "Well, Pinch," the other said quickly as he stirred the fire, "it is right to love parents when we have them and remember them when they are dead, if we knew them. Go to

Original English Version

1. Full half an hour elapsed before the old man stirred, but at length he turned himself in bed, and, though not yet awake, gave tokens that his sleep was drawing to an end. Go to

stock (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: estoque; inventário; ações

Simple English: a supply of goods or shares in a company

Example: The store has no stock left.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. After sharply warning about the cage, constable, stocks, and gallows, Miss Pecksniff was about to shut the door. Go to

stony /ˈstoʊni/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pedregosas

Simple English: Covered with stones.

Example: A stony path led up to the hut.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. And the company; the jealous stony-hearted distrustful company, who were all shut up in themselves, and had no faith in anybody, and wouldn't believe anything, and would no more allow themselves to be softened or lulled asleep by the Pecksniffs than if they had been so many hedgehogs or porcupines! Go to

2. Nor was he stinted in his draughts of wine; but on the contrary, remembering Mr Pecksniff's speech, attacked the bottle with such vigour, that every time he filled his glass anew, Miss Charity, despite her amiable resolves, could not repress a fixed and stony glare, as if her eyes had rested on a ghost. Go to

stooping /ˈstuːpɪŋ/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: curvando-se; postura curvada

Simple English: Bending the upper body forward or habitually holding it bent.

Example: Years of stooping had made the tall old man seem shorter.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. It happened that Mr Pecksniff, coming softly upon the dark passage into which a spiral ray of light usually darted through the same keyhole, was astonished to find no such ray visible; and it happened that Mr Pecksniff, when he had felt his way to the chamber-door, stooping hurriedly down to ascertain by personal inspection whether the jealousy of the old man had caused this keyhole to be stopped on the inside, brought his head into such violent contact with another head that he could not help uttering in an audible voice the monosyllable 'Oh!' which was, as it were, sharply unscrewed and jerked out of him by very anguish. Go to

stoppers /ˈstɑpərz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: rolhas; tampas

Simple English: Objects used to close bottles, containers, or openings.

Example: He opened several bottles and touched their stoppers to his lips.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pinch cared less for the pharmacy shops, with their great glowing bottles and smaller lights in the stoppers. Go to

Original English Version

1. He had less interest now in the chemists' shops, with their great glowing bottles (with smaller repositories of brightness in their very stoppers); and in their agreeable compromises between medicine and perfumery, in the shape of toothsome lozenges and virgin honey. Go to

storehouses /ˈstɔːrhaʊzɪz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: armazéns

Simple English: Buildings where goods are kept.

Example: The royal storehouses were full of grain.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Now the old houses were dark storehouses filled with wool, cotton, and other heavy goods. Go to

Original English Version

1. Among the narrow thoroughfares at hand, there lingered, here and there, an ancient doorway of carved oak, from which, of old, the sounds of revelry and feasting often came; but now these mansions, only used for storehouses, were dark and dull, and, being filled with wool, and cotton, and the like--such heavy merchandise as stifles sound and stops the throat of echo--had an air of palpable deadness about them which, added to their silence and desertion, made them very grim. Go to

stranger's /ˈstreɪndʒərz/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do estranho; do desconhecido

Simple English: Belonging to a person you do not know.

Example: A stranger's umbrella was left in the hallway.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Several fruit-brokers had their marts near Todgers's; and one of the first impressions wrought upon the stranger's senses was of oranges--of damaged oranges--with blue and green bruises on them, festering in boxes, or mouldering away in cellars. Go to

strangest /ˈstreɪndʒɪst/ (24 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: o mais estranho

Simple English: The most strange of all.

Example: The strangest thing was the people who lived there.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Their strangest act came when Mr Pecksniff's front-door suddenly opened and they dashed into his passage. Go to

2. 'He talks in the strangest way you ever heard. Go to

3. Mr Pecksniff, this is the strangest life, and we do not know why we are in it. Go to

4. 'Mark, you are the strangest young man I have ever known. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'There must be weighty matters on his mind, though,' said the hostess, shaking her head, 'for he talks, sir, in the strangest way you ever heard. Go to

2. 'Well!' cried Pinch, 'you are the strangest young man, Mark, I ever knew in my life. Go to

3. Taking a confused leave of Anthony and his son, and leaving the luggage of himself and daughters at the office to be called for afterwards, Mr Pecksniff, with one of the young ladies under each arm, dived across the street, and then across other streets, and so up the queerest courts, and down the strangest alleys and under the blindest archways, in a kind of frenzy; now skipping over a kennel, now running for his life from a coach and horses; now thinking he had lost his way, now thinking he had found it; now in a state of the highest confidence, now despondent to the last degree, but always in a great perspiration and flurry; until at length they stopped in a kind of paved yard near the Monument. Go to

straps /stræps/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: correias; tiras; alças

Simple English: Narrow bands of leather or cloth used to fasten or carry things.

Example: One of the straps on my bag broke at the station.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They were pulled so hard between his braces and straps that they seemed ready to split at the knees. Go to

Original English Version

1. His nether garments were of a bluish grey--violent in its colours once, but sobered now by age and dinginess--and were so stretched and strained in a tough conflict between his braces and his straps, that they appeared every moment in danger of flying asunder at the knees. Go to

strictest /ˈstrɪktɪst/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: o mais rigoroso; o mais severo

Simple English: The most severe in demanding that rules be obeyed.

Example: He kept the strictest silence about what he had seen.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The education of Mr Jonas had been conducted from his cradle on the strictest principles of the main chance. Go to

strode /stroʊd/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: caminhou a passos largos

Simple English: Walked somewhere with long, confident steps.

Example: She turned and strode to the door.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He waved his hat on his walking stick and strode quickly up the little street. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Good-b'ye one, good-b'ye all!' cried Mark, waving his hat on the top of his walking-stick, as he strode at a quick pace up the little street. Go to

stroking /ˈstroʊkɪŋ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: acariciando; afagando

Simple English: Moving your hand gently over something again and again.

Example: He sat stroking the dog behind the ears.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. For that attention, sir," said Mr Tigg, stroking his moustache, "Mark Tapley would have been better fed to suffocation by Mrs Tapley as an infant than kept alive until now." Go to

Original English Version

1. And for that attention, sir,' added Mr Tigg, stroking his moustache, 'I can tell you, that Mark Tapley had better in his infancy have been fed to suffocation by Mrs Tapley, than preserved to this time.' Go to

stubbornness /ˈstʌbərnnəs/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: teimosia; obstinação

Simple English: Refusing to change your mind or your way of doing things.

Example: His stubbornness kept the argument going for hours.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Little by little they united against Martin Chuzzlewit's stubbornness. Go to

2. But he has two great faults: the strongest stubbornness you ever saw in a human being, and the most terrible selfishness." Go to

3. "His selfishness makes demands," Martin continued, moving closer to the fire, "and his stubbornness makes him firm in them. Go to

4. I told you stubbornness is no part of my character. Go to

stump /stʌmp/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: toco; cepo; coto

Simple English: The short part of a tree left in the ground after it is cut down.

Example: We sat on a stump and shared the last of the water.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'At Seth Pecksniff's, Esquire,' repeated Mr Tigg, taking an exact note of it with a stump of pencil. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'At Seth Pecksniff's, Esquire,' repeated Mr Tigg, taking an exact note of it with a stump of pencil. Go to

stupidly /ˈstuːpɪdli/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: estupidamente; sem entender nada

Simple English: In a foolish or unintelligent way.

Example: I stupidly left the compass on the quay.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He hit the table stupidly, then rested his weak head on his hand as drunken tears left his eyes. Go to

subdued /səbˈduːd/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: contido; abafado; subjugado

Simple English: made quieter, less intense, or brought under control.

Example: These creatures, which are known as thoats, are as dangerous and vicious as their masters, but when once subdued are sufficiently tractable for the purposes of the green Martians.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Also, to declare how astounded I have been by the amazing changes I have seen around me on every side--changes moral, changes physical, changes in the amount of land subdued and peopled, changes in the rise of vast new cities, changes in the growth of older cities almost out of recognition, changes in the graces and amenities of life, changes in the Press, without whose advancement no advancement can take place anywhere. Go to

2. 'Well!' said Mr Pinch, after a short silence, his usually subdued tone being even now more subdued than ever. Go to

3. After a short reflection, Mr Pinch replied, in a more subdued tone, that to be sure it was unreasonable to expect any such thing, and that he had no doubt Martin knew best. Go to

subsided /səbˈsaɪdɪd/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: acalmou-se, cessou

Simple English: became calmer or less intense after a moment of strong feeling

Example: They slapped each other and then subsided into an embrace.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. It was perfectly charming, and worthy of the Pastoral age, to see how the two Miss Pecksniffs slapped each other after this, and then subsided into an embrace expressive of their different dispositions. Go to

2. His mirth having subsided, Mr Jonas gave him to understand that himself and parent were in fact travelling to their home in the metropolis; and that, since the memorable day of the great family gathering, they had been tarrying in that part of the country, watching the sale of certain eligible investments, which they had had in their copartnership eye when they came down; for it was their custom, Mr Jonas said, whenever such a thing was practicable, to kill two birds with one stone, and never to throw away sprats, but as bait for whales. Go to

subtracting /səbˈtræktɪŋ/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: subtraindo

Simple English: taking one number or amount away from another.

Example: They decoded the message by subtracting the letters' positions in the alphabet.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The afternoon after the family left, both were busy: Martin with the grammar-school and Tom balancing rent receipts and subtracting Mr Pecksniff's commission. Go to

suffocation /ˌsʌfəˈkeɪʃn/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sufocamento

Simple English: Death, or near death, from lack of air.

Example: They feared suffocation in the narrow tunnel.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. For that attention, sir," said Mr Tigg, stroking his moustache, "Mark Tapley would have been better fed to suffocation by Mrs Tapley as an infant than kept alive until now." Go to

Original English Version

1. And for that attention, sir,' added Mr Tigg, stroking his moustache, 'I can tell you, that Mark Tapley had better in his infancy have been fed to suffocation by Mrs Tapley, than preserved to this time.' Go to

sulkily /ˈsʌlkɪli/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: emburradamente

Simple English: in an angry and unwilling-to-talk manner

Example: She answered sulkily and looked away.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "Owe two strangers for a tavern bill!" Mr Slyme repeated after drinking sulkily. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Mr and Mrs Spottletoe,' said Chevy Slyme, Esquire, speaking aloud for the first time, and speaking very sulkily; shambling with his legs the while. Go to

sulky /ˈsʌlki/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: emburrado; amuado

Simple English: Silent and bad-tempered because of being upset.

Example: She picked up the leg with a sulky look.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Obliged to two strangers for a tavern bill, eh!' repeated Mr Slyme, after a sulky application to his glass. Go to

summons /ˈsʌmənz/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: convocação; chamado; intimação

Simple English: An order to come to a place, especially to a court.

Example: A summons arrived asking him to appear on Tuesday.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Every family member within reach of the summons was formally invited to attend. Go to

Original English Version

1. But such was the obstinacy and such the bitter nature of that stern old man, that no repentant summons came; and the fourth day found Mr Pecksniff apparently much farther from his Christian object than the first. Go to

2. Thus, by little and little, they made common cause of Martin Chuzzlewit's obduracy, until it was agreed (if such a word can be used in connection with the Chuzzlewits) that there should be a general council and conference held at Mr Pecksniff's house upon a certain day at noon; which all members of the family who had brought themselves within reach of the summons, were forthwith bidden and invited, solemnly, to attend. Go to

3. 'I have a summons here to repair to London; on professional business, my dear Martin; strictly on professional business; and I promised my girls, long ago, that whenever that happened again, they should accompany me. Go to

4. Mr Pinch was not so dismayed by this terrible threat, but that he had voice enough to call to Mark to come in, and upstairs; a summons which he so speedily obeyed, that almost as soon as Tom and Mr Tigg had drawn in their heads and closed the window again, he, the denounced, appeared before them. Go to

sunken /ˈsʌŋkən/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: afundado; submerso; encovado

Simple English: Under water, or lower than the surface around it.

Example: Divers photographed the sunken ship on the sea floor.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. As this fair matron sat beside the fire, she glanced occasionally with all the pride of ownership, about the room; which was a large apartment, such as one may see in country places, with a low roof and a sunken flooring, all downhill from the door, and a descent of two steps on the inside so exquisitely unexpected, that strangers, despite the most elaborate cautioning, usually dived in head first, as into a plunging-bath. Go to

superscription /ˌsuːpərˈskrɪpʃən/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sobrescrito (endereço escrito num envelope)

Simple English: words written on the outside of a letter or envelope, such as the address

Example: 'Oh!' said Mr Pecksniff, glancing at the superscription.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Oh!' said Mr Pecksniff, glancing at the superscription. Go to

supposition /ˌsʌpəˈzɪʃən/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: suposição

Simple English: An idea that you believe is true without proof.

Example: The plan rests on a single supposition.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. At first she had recoiled involuntarily, supposing him disordered in his mind; but the slow composure of his manner, and the settled purpose announced in his strong features, and gathering, most of all, about his puckered mouth, forbade the supposition. Go to

surveyor /sərˈveɪər/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: agrimensor, inspetor de terras

Simple English: a person whose job is to measure and examine land, or here, one who merely looks out over a view

Example: His business cards added, 'AND LAND SURVEYOR.'

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The brass plate on Mr Pecksniff's door said, 'PECKSNIFF, ARCHITECT,' and his business cards added, 'AND LAND SURVEYOR.' He was a land surveyor in one sense only: a wide view lay before his windows. Go to

2. The excellent architect and land surveyor kept a horse. Go to

Original English Version

1. The brazen plate upon the door (which being Mr Pecksniff's, could not lie) bore this inscription, 'PECKSNIFF, ARCHITECT,' to which Mr Pecksniff, on his cards of business, added, AND LAND SURVEYOR.' In one sense, and only one, he may be said to have been a Land Surveyor on a pretty large scale, as an extensive prospect lay stretched out before the windows of his house. Go to

surveyors /sərˈveɪərz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: agrimensores

Simple English: People who measure land to make accurate maps.

Example: I wish I had surveyors with me, said the Doctor.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The best of architects and land surveyors kept a horse, in whom the enemies already mentioned more than once in these pages pretended to detect a fanciful resemblance to his master. Go to

swans /swɑːnz/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cisnes

Simple English: Large white water birds with long necks.

Example: Two swans glided across the still lake.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr George Chuzzlewit suggested "swans." Go to

2. "Not swans. Go to

3. Very like swans, though. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr George Chuzzlewit suggested 'swans.' Go to

2. 'Not swans. Go to

3. Very like swans, too. Go to

sweepers /ˈswiːpərz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: varredores

Simple English: People whose work is cleaning floors and streets.

Example: The god of the sweepers is Lal Beg.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. At last it was time to follow the old rule for health, riches, and wisdom: early to bed and early to rise, a rule proved by the great fortunes of chimney-sweepers and others. Go to

Original English Version

1. At length it became high time to remember the first clause of that great discovery made by the ancient philosopher, for securing health, riches, and wisdom; the infallibility of which has been for generations verified by the enormous fortunes constantly amassed by chimney-sweepers and other persons who get up early and go to bed betimes. Go to

sweetest /ˈswiːtɪst/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: o mais encantador; o mais lindo

Simple English: The most pleasant or lovely of all.

Example: It was the sweetest little room in the world.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "It has the sweetest little organ you ever heard. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'There's the sweetest little organ there you ever heard. Go to

sweetly /ˈswiːtli/ (16 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: docemente; suavemente

Simple English: In a pleasant, gentle way.

Example: The little bells rang sweetly when they moved.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Oh, good gracious, Cherry!' cried Miss Mercy, lifting her hands and giggling sweetly. Go to

2. 'No intrusion, Mr Pinch,' said Mr Pecksniff very sweetly, without looking round. Go to

3. The ladies sweetly said goodnight to Mr Chuzzlewit, dutifully to their father, and condescendingly to Mr Pinch, then went to their bower. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'No intrusion, Mr Pinch,' said that gentleman very sweetly, but without looking round. Go to

2. At this very crisis, a step was heard in the entry, and Mr Pecksniff, looking sweetly over the half-door of the bar, and into the vista of snug privacy beyond, murmured: Go to

sweetness /ˈswiːtnəs/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: doçura; suavidade

Simple English: The quality of tasting like sugar, or of being gentle and kind.

Example: There was a sweetness in her voice that calmed the child.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'There is a sad sweetness in young hopes. Go to

Original English Version

1. The young ladies accordingly rose, and having taken leave of Mr Chuzzlewit with much sweetness, and of their father with much duty and of Mr Pinch with much condescension, retired to their bower. Go to

2. 'And yet there is a melancholy sweetness in these youthful hopes! Go to

swine /swaɪn/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: porco; canalha

Simple English: A rude word for a person who behaves badly.

Example: That swine took the money and ran.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Second, without accepting Blumenbach's theory that Adam's descendants have many qualities belonging especially to swine, some men take unusually good care of themselves. Go to

Original English Version

1. Secondly, and yet without trenching on the Blumenbach theory as to the descendants of Adam having a vast number of qualities which belong more particularly to swine than to any other class of animals in the creation, that some men certainly are remarkable for taking uncommon good care of themselves. Go to

swung /swʌŋ/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: abriu-se girando; balançou

Simple English: Moved smoothly in a curve, as a door does.

Example: The big gate swung slowly open.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. We have already mentioned the Dragon that swung and creaked before the village alehouse. Go to

2. For many years, the Dragon had swung, creaked, and flapped before the two windows of the inn's best bedroom. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mention has been already made more than once, of a certain Dragon who swung and creaked complainingly before the village alehouse door. Go to

2. For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs. Go to

syllable /ˈsɪləbəl/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sílaba

Simple English: A part of a word with one vowel sound.

Example: The last syllable of the name is stressed.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr George nodded fiercely at every second syllable. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'And I will further add,' said Mr George, nodding his head violently at every second syllable; 'naming no names, and therefore hurting nobody but those whose consciences tell them they are alluded to, that I think it would be much more decent and becoming, if those who hooked and crooked themselves into this family by getting on the blind side of some of its members before marriage, and manslaughtering them afterwards by crowing over them to that strong pitch that they were glad to die, would refrain from acting the part of vultures in regard to other members of this family who are living. Go to

2. The same man was in waiting for the horse who had been adjured by Mr Pinch in the morning not to yield to his rabid desire to start; and after delivering the animal into his charge, and beseeching Mr Chuzzlewit in a whisper never to reveal a syllable of what he had just told him in the fullness of his heart, Tom led the pupil in, for instant presentation. Go to

syllables /ˈsɪləbəlz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sílabas

Simple English: The separate sound parts of a word.

Example: The word banana has three syllables.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The first word he learned to spell was 'gain,' and the second, when he reached two syllables, was 'money.' His careful father had not expected two results of this training. Go to

Original English Version

1. The very first word he learnt to spell was 'gain,' and the second (when he got into two syllables), 'money.' But for two results, which were not clearly foreseen perhaps by his watchful parent in the beginning, his training may be said to have been unexceptionable. Go to

sympathize /ˈsɪmpəθaɪz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: solidarizar-se; compadecer-se

Simple English: To share and understand the feelings of another person.

Example: I sympathize with you in this loss.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. No well-bred lady or gentleman can sympathize with the Chuzzlewit Family without first knowing how ancient it is. Go to

Original English Version

1. As no lady or gentleman, with any claims to polite breeding, can possibly sympathize with the Chuzzlewit Family without being first assured of the extreme antiquity of the race, it is a great satisfaction to know that it undoubtedly descended in a direct line from Adam and Eve; and was, in the very earliest times, closely connected with the agricultural interest. Go to

table's /ˈteɪbəlz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: da mesa

Simple English: Possessive form of 'table', showing something belonging to or located at the table.

Example: Mr Pecksniff rose at the table's head to welcome his guests.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff rose at the table's head, a daughter on each side, welcomed his guests into the best parlour, and pointed them to chairs. Go to

Original English Version

1. When Mr Pecksniff, rising from his seat at the table's head, with a daughter on either hand, received his guests in the best parlour and motioned them to chairs, with eyes so overflowing and countenance so damp with gracious perspiration, that he may be said to have been in a kind of moist meekness! Go to

tablecloth /ˈteɪbəlklɔːθ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: toalha de mesa

Simple English: A cloth spread over a table.

Example: She laid a clean tablecloth for the guests.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A tablecloth, too small for the table, was ready for breakfast. Go to

tailors /ˈteɪlərz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: alfaiates

Simple English: People whose work is making clothes to measure.

Example: Two tailors sat sewing by the window.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He cared even less, as always, for tailors. Go to

Original English Version

1. Neither had he the least regard (but he never had much) for the tailors', where the newest metropolitan waistcoat patterns were hanging up, which by some strange transformation always looked amazing there, and never appeared at all like the same thing anywhere else. Go to

Tale /teɪl/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: conto; fadas; história

Simple English: True or imaginary story full of events, often exciting.

Example: She told a fascinating tale about her travels around the world.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He was like the girl in the fairy tale whose words became jewels. Go to

2. There were Persian tales, flying chests, students of enchanted books shut for years in caverns, Abudah the merchant, and the terrible little old woman who came from a box in his bedroom. Go to

3. On quiet Sundays, cart-horses troubled by rats rattled their halters like ghosts shaking chains in haunted-house tales. Go to

talisman /ˈtælɪsmən/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: talismã; amuleto

Simple English: An object believed to bring luck or magical protection.

Example: He carried the old ring as a talisman.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. There was the great talisman, Arabian Nights, and Cassim Baba, divided by four and hanging bloody in the robbers' cave. Go to

Original English Version

1. To what man or woman; to what worthy, honest, incorruptible creature; shall I confide such a talisman, either now or when I die? Go to

2. And there too were the Persian tales, with flying chests and students of enchanted books shut up for years in caverns; and there too was Abudah, the merchant, with the terrible little old woman hobbling out of the box in his bedroom; and there the mighty talisman, the rare Arabian Nights, with Cassim Baba, divided by four, like the ghost of a dreadful sum, hanging up, all gory, in the robbers' cave. Go to

talkative /ˈtɔːkətɪv/ (14 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tagarelas; faladores

Simple English: Liking to talk a lot.

Example: Our new neighbour is very talkative.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. By listening hard at the door, Mr Pecksniff could tell that Martin was talkative enough when they were together. Go to

2. But without it he was no more talkative. Go to

3. They shared it and became no less talkative. Go to

4. Tom would not have had time to talk even if his new friend were very talkative. Go to

Original English Version

1. It was only when he and the young lady were alone, that he would utter a word, even in answer to the simplest inquiry; though Mr Pecksniff could make out, by hard listening at the door, that they two being left together, he was talkative enough. Go to

tallow /ˈtæloʊ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sebo

Simple English: Hard animal fat used to make candles and soap.

Example: The room smelled of tallow and smoke.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In her other hand was a burning tallow candle. Go to

Original English Version

1. In her other hand she bore a flaming tallow candle, which, after surveying Mr Pecksniff for one instant by its light, she put down upon the table, to the end that she might receive him with the greater cordiality. Go to

tapley /ˈtæpli/ (379 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Tapley

Simple English: A cheerful Dickens character used as a byword for someone who stays merry despite hardship.

Example: That would depress anyone except a Mark Tapley.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Four-and-twenty years ago, that side was most noticeable to travellers like Young Martin and Mark Tapley. Go to

2. "That is Mark Tapley." Go to

3. "Mark Tapley?" said the gentleman. Go to

4. For that attention, sir," said Mr Tigg, stroking his moustache, "Mark Tapley would have been better fed to suffocation by Mrs Tapley as an infant than kept alive until now." Go to

5. I ask any sensible lady or gentleman whether Mr Tigg is not disagreeable-looking!" Mr Tapley finished by pointing his hat at him. Go to

6. Yes, I should,' cried Mr Tapley, shaking his head expressively enough, and looking (in a momentary state of forgetfulness) rather hard at the hostess's ripe lips. Go to

Original English Version

1. The American portion of this story is in no other respect a caricature than as it is an exhibition, for the most part (Mr Bevan expected), of a ludicrous side, ONLY, of the American character--of that side which was, four-and-twenty years ago, from its nature, the most obtrusive, and the most likely to be seen by such travellers as Young Martin and Mark Tapley. Go to

2. 'That's Mark Tapley.' Go to

3. 'Mark Tapley is it?' said the gentleman. Go to

4. 'Then Mark Tapley had not only the great politeness to follow me to this house, but is waiting now, to see me home again. Go to

5. And for that attention, sir,' added Mr Tigg, stroking his moustache, 'I can tell you, that Mark Tapley had better in his infancy have been fed to suffocation by Mrs Tapley, than preserved to this time.' Go to

6. And I ask,' said Mr Tapley, pointing, in conclusion, to Mr Tigg, with his hat, 'any lady or gentleman, possessing ordinary strength of mind, to say whether he's a disagreeable-looking chap or not!' Go to

tapley's /ˈtæpliz/ (20 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Tapley

Simple English: Possessive form of the surname Tapley, indicating something belonging to Mr Tapley.

Example: Their brief detention was mainly Mr Tapley's doing.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Their brief detention was mainly Mr Tapley's doing. Go to

2. Mr Pinch imparting to his new friend, as they went, such further particulars of Mark Tapley's whimsical restlessness as the reader is already acquainted with. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pinch imparting to his new friend, as they went, such further particulars of Mark Tapley's whimsical restlessness as the reader is already acquainted with. Go to

taproom /ˈtæpruːm/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: salão de bebidas

Simple English: A room in a pub where drinks are served.

Example: They met in the taproom after work.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In this piece of generalship he was very much assisted by the great influx of company into the taproom; for the news of his intention having gone abroad, there was a perfect throng there all the evening, and much drinking of healths and clinking of mugs. Go to

Original English Version

1. In this piece of generalship he was very much assisted by the great influx of company into the taproom; for the news of his intention having gone abroad, there was a perfect throng there all the evening, and much drinking of healths and clinking of mugs. Go to

target /ˈtɑːrɡɪt/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: alvo; destino; meta

Simple English: To aim attacks at a specific object or location.

Example: The military must target specific locations to minimize civilian casualties.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They should have searched their own characters by showing themselves as rich targets for robbery, plots, and praise from crooks. Go to

taunting /ˈtɔːntɪŋ/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: provocando, zombando

Simple English: Mocking or provoking someone with insulting remarks.

Example: I was shaken with fear about what might happen because of my taunting words.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But the strong-minded woman was famous for sharp insults and attacked Mrs Spottletoe with taunting words. Go to

Original English Version

1. The two Miss Pecksniffs being a pretty good match for the three Miss Chuzzlewits, and all five young ladies having, in the figurative language of the day, a great amount of steam to dispose of, the altercation would no doubt have been a long one but for the high valour and prowess of the strong-minded woman, who, in right of her reputation for powers of sarcasm, did so belabour and pummel Mrs Spottletoe with taunting words that the poor lady, before the engagement was two minutes old, had no refuge but in tears. Go to

tavern's /ˈtævərnz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: da taverna

Simple English: The possessive form of tavern, a public house serving drinks.

Example: The tavern's games noisily greeted the coroner.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. By then, all the farmers were riding home, so the tavern's sitting room, which had sand on the floor, was empty. Go to

taverns /ˈtævərnz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tavernas

Simple English: places where alcoholic drinks are served

Example: Oliver sat there for some time, noticing the many taverns and watching coaches pass.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Telling about half the strange old taverns near Todgers's would fill one book. Go to

Original English Version

1. To tell of half the queer old taverns that had a drowsy and secret existence near Todgers's, would fill a goodly book; while a second volume no less capacious might be devoted to an account of the quaint old guests who frequented their dimly lighted parlours. Go to

tearful /ˈtɪrfəl/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: lacrimoso; em lágrimas

Simple English: Crying, or close to crying.

Example: She gave a tearful goodbye.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'A gentleman fell ill on the road and has been very ill upstairs, sir,' said the tearful hostess. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'A gentleman taken ill upon the road, has been so very bad upstairs, sir,' said the tearful hostess. Go to

teemed /tiːmd/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: estava repleto, abundava

Simple English: Was full of or abounding with something.

Example: He had a notion that the streets teemed with mystery and bedevilment.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Mr Pinch had a shrewd notion that Salisbury was a very desperate sort of place; an exceeding wild and dissipated city; and when he had put up the horse, and given the hostler to understand that he would look in again in the course of an hour or two to see him take his corn, he set forth on a stroll about the streets with a vague and not unpleasant idea that they teemed with all kinds of mystery and bedevilment. Go to

tempers /ˈtempərz/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: temperamentos; ânimos

Simple English: The moods of people, especially when they get angry.

Example: Tempers rose as the day went on.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Their tight stays had made their tempers smaller than their waists, and the sharp lacing showed in their noses. Go to

Original English Version

1. Beside her sat her spinster daughters, three in number, and of gentlemanly deportment, who had so mortified themselves with tight stays, that their tempers were reduced to something less than their waists, and sharp lacing was expressed in their very noses. Go to

temporary /ˈtɛmpərəri/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: temporário; provisório

Simple English: Existing or in use for a short time, not permanent.

Example: He took a temporary job at the store until he found something permanent.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He lay at full length on a temporary sofa of three chairs, with Mercy's stool for a pillow. Go to

2. He valued the help less for its temporary relief than because it proved that Nature's Nobs felt for Nature's Nobs, and great souls understood great souls everywhere. Go to

tenderness /ˈtendərnəs/ (29 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ternura; carinho; sensibilidade

Simple English: Gentle and loving feeling; also soreness when a part of the body is touched.

Example: He spoke of his old teacher with real tenderness.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. We will say, if you please,' added Mr Pecksniff, with great tenderness of manner, 'that it arises from a cold in the head, or is attributable to snuff, or smelling-salts, or onions, or anything but the real cause.' Go to

2. When I have wound myself up, if I may employ such a term,' said Mr Pecksniff with exquisite tenderness, 'and know that I am Going, I feel that in the lesson afforded by the works within me, I am a Benefactor to my Kind!' Go to

terrier /ˈtɛriər/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: terrier (cão pequeno e vivo)

Simple English: A small brave dog often kept for hunting.

Example: The little terrier barked at the horse.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. And here comes the female terrier from across the road. Go to

Original English Version

1. And the terrier-bitch from over the way--hie, then, lass! Go to

terrify /ˈterɪfaɪ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: aterrorizar

Simple English: To make somebody feel very great fear.

Example: The sharp pikes began to terrify the people.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. An old gentleman and a young lady, travelling, unattended, in a rusty old chariot with post-horses; coming nobody knew whence and going nobody knew whither; had turned out of the high road, and driven unexpectedly to the Blue Dragon; and here was the old gentleman, who had taken this step by reason of his sudden illness in the carriage, suffering the most horrible cramps and spasms, yet protesting and vowing in the very midst of his pain, that he wouldn't have a doctor sent for, and wouldn't take any remedies but those which the young lady administered from a small medicine-chest, and wouldn't, in a word, do anything but terrify the landlady out of her five wits, and obstinately refuse compliance with every suggestion that was made to him. Go to

2. 'The gentleman--your grandpapa'--she resumed, after a short pause, 'being so bent on having no assistance, must terrify you very much, miss?' Go to

tete /tɛt/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cabeça

Simple English: a French word meaning 'head', used here for a fancy poetic effect

Example: Very few people there knew what "tete" meant, but the poem was still quite satisfying.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In the meantime Mark, having a shrewd notion that his mistress was in very low spirits, and that he could not exactly answer for the consequences of any lengthened TETE-A-TETE in the bar, kept himself obstinately out of her way all the afternoon and evening. Go to

Original English Version

1. In the meantime Mark, having a shrewd notion that his mistress was in very low spirits, and that he could not exactly answer for the consequences of any lengthened TETE-A-TETE in the bar, kept himself obstinately out of her way all the afternoon and evening. Go to

thickly /ˈθɪkli/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: densamente; espessamente

Simple English: In a dense way, with many things close together.

Example: The snow lay thickly on the road.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Dirty lane mud covered it so thickly that, though every pane was cracked and broken twenty times, none could fall out. Go to

thingumbob /ˈθɪŋəmbɒb/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: treco / troço

Simple English: An informal placeholder word for something or someone whose name is forgotten or being avoided, used here jokingly to mean 'traveller'.

Example: 'If I am gone to that what's-his-name from which no thingumbob returns...'

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If I am gone to that what's-his-name from which no thingumbob returns, the writer must ask those managing my affairs to search my papers. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Slyme's biographer, sir, whoever he may be,' resumed the gentleman, 'must apply to me; or, if I am gone to that what's-his-name from which no thingumbob comes back, he must apply to my executors for leave to search among my papers. Go to

thinkers /ˈθɪŋkəz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: pensadores

Simple English: people who examine ideas deeply and carefully

Example: Even the greatest thinkers depend on knowledge gathered by specialists.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But because you are not, I see two deep thinkers who can be reasoned with freely.' Go to

thither /ˈðɪðər/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: para lá, para aquele lugar

Simple English: To or toward that place, used with 'hither' to mean here and there.

Example: There was a scattering of seed hither and thither by the distant husbandman.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. ACCOMPANIES MR PECKSNIFF AND HIS CHARMING DAUGHTERS TO THE CITY OF LONDON; AND RELATES WHAT FELL OUT UPON THEIR WAY THITHER Go to

Original English Version

1. The fallen leaves, with which the ground was strewn, gave forth a pleasant fragrance, and subduing all harsh sounds of distant feet and wheels created a repose in gentle unison with the light scattering of seed hither and thither by the distant husbandman, and with the noiseless passage of the plough as it turned up the rich brown earth, and wrought a graceful pattern in the stubbled fields. Go to

2. ACCOMPANIES MR PECKSNIFF AND HIS CHARMING DAUGHTERS TO THE CITY OF LONDON; AND RELATES WHAT FELL OUT UPON THEIR WAY THITHER Go to

thoughtfully /ˈθɔːtfəli/ (41 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pensativamente; com ar pensativo

Simple English: In a quiet way, while thinking carefully.

Example: She gazed thoughtfully at the Scarecrow.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Five shillings, eh?' said Mr Tigg thoughtfully. Go to

2. "Then Martin is your Christian name?" said Mr Pinch thoughtfully. Go to

3. "Yet I can imagine a beautiful face," said his friend thoughtfully, "or should, if I have any memory." Go to

4. Do you know, I would very much like to see your idea of a cow-house?' He folded his hands and looked thoughtfully at his young relative. Go to

5. Martin, after leaving his beautiful companion, stood thoughtfully against the finger-post with his eyes nearly always on the ground. Go to

6. Mr Pinch had been thoughtfully watching the fire bars. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Five shillings, eh?' said Mr Tigg, thoughtfully. Go to

2. 'Then Martin is your Christian name?' said Mr Pinch, thoughtfully. Go to

3. 'And yet I am able to picture a beautiful one,' said his friend, thoughtfully, 'or should be, if I have any memory.' Go to

4. Even when the coach had rolled away with the olive-branches in the boot and the family of doves inside, he stood waving his hand and bowing; so much gratified by the unusually courteous demeanour of the young ladies, that he was quite regardless, for the moment, of Martin Chuzzlewit, who stood leaning thoughtfully against the finger-post, and who after disposing of his fair charge had hardly lifted his eyes from the ground. Go to

5. Mr Pinch was just then looking thoughtfully at the bars. Go to

thoughtless /ˈθɔːtləs/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: irrefletido; desatencioso

Simple English: Not thinking about how your actions affect others.

Example: It was thoughtless to leave without telling her.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But, Mr Pinch, though I am a rough and thoughtless man, I can honour Mind. Go to

Original English Version

1. But, Mr Pinch, though I am a rough and thoughtless man, I can honour Mind. Go to

thousandth /ˈθaʊzənθ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: milésimo

Simple English: Coming after 999 others in a sequence.

Example: For the thousandth time, he warned them to stay away.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "Being firm," Martin continued, "I would not yield to him by even a thousandth of an inch." Go to

Original English Version

1. 'And being firm,' pursued Martin, 'of course I was not going to yield to him, or give way by so much as the thousandth part of an inch.' Go to

threat /θrɛt/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ameaça

Simple English: Something posing danger or potential harm.

Example: The storm was a serious threat to the coastal community.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pinch was not too frightened by this threat to call Mark inside and upstairs. Go to

thrice /θraɪs/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: três vezes

Simple English: Three times; an old or formal alternative to three times.

Example: The urgent message was repeated thrice.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The wandering attention of the mistress of the Blue Dragon roved to these things but twice or thrice, and then for but an instant at a time. Go to

2. This diversion, by distracting the attention of the combatants, put an end to the strife, which, after breaking out afresh some twice or thrice in certain inconsiderable spurts and dashes, died away in silence. Go to

3. You remind me of Whittington, afterwards thrice Lord Mayor of London. Go to

4. With which he rapped Tom twice or thrice upon the breast and nodded several times, as though he would say that he saw they understood each other; that it was unnecessary to mention the circumstance before a third person; and that he would take it as a particular favour if Tom would slip the amount into his hand, as quietly as possible. Go to

5. It seemed that M. Todgers was not up yet, for Mr Pecksniff knocked twice and rang thrice, without making any impression on anything but a dog over the way. Go to

throats /θroʊts/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gargantas

Simple English: The front parts of the neck.

Example: The cold wind hurt their throats.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I am very soft-hearted in my way, and cannot watch you two cut each other's throats when there is nothing to gain. Go to

Original English Version

1. I'm a most confoundedly soft-hearted kind of fellow in my way, and I cannot stand by, and see you two blades cutting each other's throats when there's nothing to be got by it. Go to

2. In the throats and maws of dark no-thoroughfares near Todgers's, individual wine-merchants and wholesale dealers in grocery-ware had perfect little towns of their own; and, deep among the foundations of these buildings, the ground was undermined and burrowed out into stables, where cart-horses, troubled by rats, might be heard on a quiet Sunday rattling their halters, as disturbed spirits in tales of haunted houses are said to clank their chains. Go to

throng /θrɔːŋ/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: multidão; turba; apinhar-se

Simple English: A large crowd of people pressed close together.

Example: A throng of visitors filled the square by noon.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. In this piece of generalship he was very much assisted by the great influx of company into the taproom; for the news of his intention having gone abroad, there was a perfect throng there all the evening, and much drinking of healths and clinking of mugs. Go to

Original English Version

1. In this piece of generalship he was very much assisted by the great influx of company into the taproom; for the news of his intention having gone abroad, there was a perfect throng there all the evening, and much drinking of healths and clinking of mugs. Go to

thrusting /ˈθrʌstɪŋ/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: enfiando; impelindo com força

Simple English: Pushing something suddenly and strongly.

Example: Thrusting the note into my hand, he hurried off.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. He was far from handsome certainly; and was drest in a snuff-coloured suit, of an uncouth make at the best, which, being shrunk with long wear, was twisted and tortured into all kinds of odd shapes; but notwithstanding his attire, and his clumsy figure, which a great stoop in his shoulders, and a ludicrous habit he had of thrusting his head forward, by no means redeemed, one would not have been disposed (unless Mr Pecksniff said so) to consider him a bad fellow by any means. Go to

2. I think it would be full as well, if not better, if those individuals would keep at home, contenting themselves with what they have got (luckily for them) already; instead of hovering about, and thrusting their fingers into, a family pie, which they flavour much more than enough, I can tell them, when they are fifty miles away.' Go to

ticking /ˈtɪkɪŋ/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: tiquetaqueando

Simple English: Making the short repeated sound of a clock.

Example: The clock kept ticking on the shelf.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Its heavy ticking warned people not to walk into it. Go to

tigg /tɪɡ/ (386 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Tigg (sobrenome do personagem Montague Tigg, em Martin Chuzzlewit)

Simple English: Surname of Montague Tigg, a shabby, swindling character who later reinvents himself as 'Tigg Montague.'

Example: 'My name is Tigg,' he said, introducing himself.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. My name is Tigg. Go to

2. Perhaps the name Montague Tigg is familiar to you from the most remarkable events of the Peninsular War?' Go to

3. Mr Tigg put one hand on his attractive friend's shoulder and pointed him out with the other. Go to

4. 'Chiv,' said Mr Tigg aloud in the proud tone of someone who would not be controlled, 'I shall come to that soon. Go to

5. So Mr Tigg put his finger on his nose again, privately asking him to understand. Go to

6. Tigg allowed them because those weaknesses were deeply interesting to him. Go to

Original English Version

1. My name, sir, is Tigg. Go to

2. The name of Montague Tigg will perhaps be familiar to you, in connection with the most remarkable events of the Peninsular War?' Go to

3. 'Now,' said Mr Tigg, clapping one hand on the shoulder of his prepossessing friend, and calling Mr Pecksniff's attention to him with the other, 'you two are related; and relations never did agree, and never will; which is a wise dispensation and an inevitable thing, or there would be none but family parties, and everybody in the world would bore everybody else to death. Go to

4. 'Chiv,' said Mr Tigg aloud, in the high tone of one who was not to be tampered with. Go to

5. To the extent of such a trifling loan as a crownpiece to a man of your talents, I look upon Mr Pecksniff as certain;' and seeing at this juncture that the expression of Mr Pecksniff's face by no means betokened that he shared this certainty, Mr Tigg laid his finger on his nose again for that gentleman's private and especial behoof; calling upon him thereby to take notice that the requisition of small loans was another instance of the peculiarities of genius as developed in his friend Slyme; that he, Tigg, winked at the same, because of the strong metaphysical interest which these weaknesses possessed; and that in reference to his own personal advocacy of such small advances, he merely consulted the humour of his friend, without the least regard to his own advantage or necessities. Go to

6. 'Oh, Chiv, Chiv!' added Mr Tigg, surveying his adopted brother with an air of profound contemplation after dismissing this piece of pantomime. Go to

timekeepers /ˈtaɪmˌkiːpərz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: cronômetros/relógios

Simple English: Devices, such as watches, that measure and show time accurately.

Example: If they were not excellent timekeepers, it could not be for lack of works.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Huge silver watches hung in every windowpane; if they were not excellent timekeepers, it could not be because their works lacked room. Go to

timid /ˈtɪmɪd/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tímido; receoso

Simple English: Shy and easily frightened.

Example: The timid child hid behind her mother.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. You are timid, doubt yourself, and trust everyone else, especially the man who least deserves it. Go to

Original English Version

1. As well might one suppose that he doesn't on all occasions pour out his whole heart and soul to you; that he doesn't make you a very liberal and indeed rather an extravagant allowance; or, to be more wild and monstrous still, if that be possible, as well might one suppose,' and here, at every word, he struck him lightly on the breast, 'that Pecksniff traded in your nature, and that your nature was to be timid and distrustful of yourself, and trustful of all other men, but most of all, of him who least deserves it. Go to

2. She was very young; apparently no more than seventeen; timid and shrinking in her manner, and yet with a greater share of self possession and control over her emotions than usually belongs to a far more advanced period of female life. Go to

timidly /ˈtɪmɪdli/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: timidamente; com receio

Simple English: In a shy, frightened way.

Example: What was that? she asked timidly.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "The young gentleman," Tom said timidly, "was to ask at that time for someone called Pinch." Go to

Original English Version

1. 'The young gentleman, I expect,' remarked Tom, timidly, 'was to inquire at that time for a person by the name of Pinch.' Go to

2. 'Neither have I,' said Tom, touching the young man's hand with his own and timidly withdrawing it again. Go to

tiptoe /ˈtɪptoʊ/ (19 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: na ponta dos pés; andar na ponta dos pés

Simple English: To walk quietly on the front part of the feet.

Example: She had to tiptoe past the baby's room.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They went in on tiptoe - or rather, the hostess did, because Mr Pecksniff always walked softly. Go to

2. Without fear or favour, I tell you not to neglect your grandson, young Martin, who has the strongest natural claim on you." Mr Pecksniff stood on tiptoe among the curtains, seeming to rise above worldly concerns. Go to

Original English Version

1. They went in on tiptoe; or rather the hostess took that precaution for Mr Pecksniff always walked softly. Go to

2. And I tell you, sir,' said Mr Pecksniff, towering on tiptoe among the curtains, as if he were literally rising above all worldly considerations, and were fain to hold on tight, to keep himself from darting skyward like a rocket, 'I tell you without fear or favour, that it will not do for you to be unmindful of your grandson, young Martin, who has the strongest natural claim upon you. Go to

titter /ˈtɪtər/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: risinho contido

Simple English: A short, quiet, often nervous laugh.

Example: A titter ran through the room.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. This remark being received with a shrill titter by the two sisters of the speaker, Miss Charity Pecksniff begged with much politeness to be informed whether any of those very low observations were levelled at her; and receiving no more explanatory answer than was conveyed in the adage 'Those the cap fits, let them wear it,' immediately commenced a somewhat acrimonious and personal retort, wherein she was much comforted and abetted by her sister Mercy, who laughed at the same with great heartiness; indeed far more naturally than life. Go to

2. With such departing words, did this strong-minded female paralyse the Pecksniffian energies; and so she swept out of the room, and out of the house, attended by her daughters, who, as with one accord, elevated their three noses in the air, and joined in a contemptuous titter. Go to

toasting /ˈtoʊstɪŋ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: aquecendo junto ao fogo

Simple English: Warming something or oneself close to a fire or stove.

Example: Great-aunt Eliza was toasting her toes at the stove.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "You might as well be a toasting-fork or frying-pan, Pinch, for any help you can give me." Go to

Original English Version

1. Of course you know,' he added, after a moment's pause, as he drew his chair towards the fire again, 'I should not hesitate to avail myself of your services if you could help me at all; but mercy on us!'--Here he rumpled his hair impatiently with his hand, and looked at Tom as if he took it rather ill that he was not somebody else--'you might as well be a toasting-fork or a frying-pan, Pinch, for any help you can render me.' Go to

toasts /toʊsts/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: brindes

Simple English: Short speeches followed by drinking in honour of someone or something.

Example: The guests were drinking their fine toasts.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Sometimes he held his glass and made silent toasts. Go to

Original English Version

1. The perfect and entire satisfaction of Tom; his surpassing appreciation of the husky sandwiches, which crumbled in his mouth like saw-dust; the unspeakable relish with which he swallowed the thin wine by drops, and smacked his lips, as though it were so rich and generous that to lose an atom of its fruity flavour were a sin; the look with which he paused sometimes, with his glass in his hand, proposing silent toasts to himself; and the anxious shade that came upon his contented face when, after wandering round the room, exulting in its uninvaded snugness, his glance encountered the dull brow of his companion; no cynic in the world, though in his hatred of its men a very griffin, could have withstood these things in Thomas Pinch. Go to

todger's /ˈtɒdʒərz/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Todger's (grafia usada no título do capítulo para a pensão Todgers's)

Simple English: A shortened, chapter-title spelling of 'Todgers's,' the commercial boarding-house central to a section of Martin Chuzzlewit.

Example: The chapter is titled 'Town and Todger's.'

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. TOWN AND TODGER'S Go to

Original English Version

1. TOWN AND TODGER'S Go to

todgers /ˈtɒdʒərz/ (420 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Todgers (nome da pensão comercial e de sua proprietária, em Martin Chuzzlewit)

Simple English: The name of the boarding house (and its proprietress, Mrs. Todgers) where several characters lodge in London.

Example: 'Todgers.'

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A small oval sign like a tea tray read: 'Commercial Boarding-House: M. Todgers.' Go to

2. M. Todgers did not seem awake. Go to

3. M. Todgers was a thin, hard-faced lady. Go to

4. 'Mr Pecksniff!' cried Mrs Todgers. Go to

5. 'YOU are, I am sure!' said Mrs Todgers. Go to

6. Mr Pecksniff smiled with satisfaction, shook his head, and said, 'My daughters, Mrs Todgers. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff looked about him for a moment, and then knocked at the door of a very dingy edifice, even among the choice collection of dingy edifices at hand; on the front of which was a little oval board like a tea-tray, with this inscription--'Commercial Boarding-House: M. Todgers.' Go to

2. It seemed that M. Todgers was not up yet, for Mr Pecksniff knocked twice and rang thrice, without making any impression on anything but a dog over the way. Go to

3. M. Todgers was a lady, rather a bony and hard-featured lady, with a row of curls in front of her head, shaped like little barrels of beer; and on the top of it something made of net--you couldn't call it a cap exactly--which looked like a black cobweb. Go to

4. 'Mr Pecksniff!' cried Mrs Todgers. Go to

5. 'YOU are, I am sure!' said Mrs Todgers. Go to

6. Mr Pecksniff smiled complacently; shook his head; and said, 'My daughters, Mrs Todgers. Go to

todgers's /ˈtɒdʒərzɪz/ (151 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de Todgers (a pensão Todgers's Commercial Boarding-House)

Simple English: The full possessive name of the boarding house, Todgers's Commercial Boarding-House, described as always dark inside.

Example: Todgers's Commercial Boarding-House was always dark, but that morning especially so.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. M. Todgers's Commercial Boarding-House was always dark, but that morning especially so. Go to

2. Nobody remembered Todgers's being painted or papered. Go to

3. Surely no other borough, city, or hamlet had a place as strange as Todgers's. Go to

4. This part of London therefore seemed a proper relative of Todgers's and thousands of other odd houses like it. Go to

5. You could not walk through Todgers's area as through another neighbourhood. Go to

6. Some people invited to dinner at Todgers's went round for ages with its chimneys in sight. Go to

Original English Version

1. M. Todgers's Commercial Boarding-House was a house of that sort which is likely to be dark at any time; but that morning it was especially dark. Go to

2. It had not been papered or painted, hadn't Todgers's, within the memory of man. Go to

3. And, at the top of the staircase, was an old, disjointed, rickety, ill-favoured skylight, patched and mended in all kinds of ways, which looked distrustfully down at everything that passed below, and covered Todgers's up as if it were a sort of human cucumber-frame, and only people of a peculiar growth were reared there. Go to

4. Surely there never was, in any other borough, city, or hamlet in the world, such a singular sort of a place as Todgers's. Go to

5. And surely London, to judge from that part of it which hemmed Todgers's round and hustled it, and crushed it, and stuck its brick-and-mortar elbows into it, and kept the air from it, and stood perpetually between it and the light, was worthy of Todgers's, and qualified to be on terms of close relationship and alliance with hundreds and thousands of the odd family to which Todgers's belonged. Go to

6. You couldn't walk about Todgers's neighbourhood, as you could in any other neighbourhood. Go to

toga /ˈtoʊɡə/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: toga

Simple English: A loose outer garment worn in ancient Rome.

Example: The actor wore a white toga.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Was there ever such classical thought, such toga-like simplicity, or such flowing speech? Go to

Original English Version

1. Was there ever a man of such a purely classical turn of thought, and of such a toga-like simplicity of nature? Go to

tolerable /ˈtɒlərəbəl/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: razoável/aceitável

Simple English: Fairly good, acceptable though not excellent.

Example: Even when I did get through the morning with tolerable credit, little was gained.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. At length, in utter despair and hopelessness, some few of the belligerents began to speak to each other in only moderate terms of mutual aggravation; and nearly all addressed themselves with a show of tolerable decency to Mr Pecksniff, in recognition of his high character and influential position. Go to

2. The stock-in-trade requisite to set up an amateur in this department of business is very slight, and easily got together; a trick of the nose and a curl of the lip sufficient to compound a tolerable sneer, being ample provision for any exigency. Go to

tollgate /ˈtoʊlɡeɪt/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: praça de pedágio

Simple English: A gate or point where travellers pay a road fee.

Example: The coach stopped at the tollgate.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. When he was still far from the tollgate, he saw the tollman's wife run back into her little house after stopping a wagon, knowing Mr Pinch was coming. Go to

2. A decorative tollgate has a strong effect on the imagination. Go to

3. What do you say to starting with a decorative tollgate?' Go to

tollman /ˈtoʊlmæn/ (18 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cobrador de pedágio

Simple English: A man who collects tolls, especially at a tollgate.

Example: Even the tollman came out to take the toll.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Even the tollman, usually ugly and someone people avoided, came out to take the toll and give a rough good morning. Go to

Original English Version

1. The very tollman, though an ugly chap in general, and one whom folks were rather shy of handling, came out himself to take the toll, and give him rough good morning; and that with all this, and a glimpse of the family breakfast on a little round table before the fire, the crust Tom Pinch had brought away with him acquired as rich a flavour as though it had been cut from a fairy loaf. Go to

tollman's /ˈtoʊlmænz/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do cobrador de pedágio

Simple English: Possessive form of 'tollman.'

Example: He saw the tollman's wife run back into her little house.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. When he was still far from the tollgate, he saw the tollman's wife run back into her little house after stopping a wagon, knowing Mr Pinch was coming. Go to

2. When he came near enough to call, the tollman's children ran out and shouted, 'Mr Pinch!' This delighted Tom. Go to

Original English Version

1. Thus when he came within sight of the turnpike, and was--oh a long way off!--he saw the tollman's wife, who had that moment checked a waggon, run back into the little house again like mad, to say (she knew) that Mr Pinch was coming up. Go to

2. And she was right, for when he drew within hail of the gate, forth rushed the tollman's children, shrieking in tiny chorus, 'Mr Pinch!' to Tom's intense delight. Go to

tom's /tɒmz/ (253 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Tom

Simple English: used here as the contraction 'Tom has'

Example: "Tom's quit."

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. With this welcome and the sight of their breakfast on a round table by the fire, Tom's crust tasted as rich as bread from a fairy loaf. Go to

2. The cold air came from Tom's side, and the wall of box and man fully protected the new pupil. Go to

3. The new pupil was clearly amazed by Tom's weakness and would probably have given him advice. Go to

4. The new pupil accepted Tom's praise kindly and had grown fond of him in his own way. Go to

5. Then, shielding his lips and putting them near Tom's ear, he added, 'I have come for the letter.' Go to

6. He tapped Tom's chest two or three times and nodded. Go to

Original English Version

1. The crust of ice on the else rippling brook was so transparent, and so thin in texture, that the lively water might of its own free will have stopped--in Tom's glad mind it had--to look upon the lovely morning. Go to

2. And she was right, for when he drew within hail of the gate, forth rushed the tollman's children, shrieking in tiny chorus, 'Mr Pinch!' to Tom's intense delight. Go to

3. The new pupil received Tom's compliments very graciously; and having by this time conceived a real regard for him, in his own peculiar way, predicted that they would always be the very best of friends, and that neither of them, he was certain (but particularly Tom), would ever have reason to regret the day on which they became acquainted. Go to

4. Mr Tigg received this declaration with a grave request that Mr Pinch would have the goodness to make it again; and on Tom's repeating it in a still more emphatic and unmistakable manner, checked it off, sentence for sentence, by nodding his head solemnly at the end of each. Go to

5. All Tom's worldly wealth until next quarter-day. Go to

tongues /tʌŋz/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: línguas; bocas

Simple English: The soft parts inside the mouth used for speaking.

Example: The news passed by a thousand tongues.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. He doesn't keep you as his assistant because you are of any use to him; because your wonderful faith in his pretensions is of inestimable service in all his mean disputes; because your honesty reflects honesty on him; because your wandering about this little place all your spare hours, reading in ancient books and foreign tongues, gets noised abroad, even as far as Salisbury, making of him, Pecksniff the master, a man of learning and of vast importance. Go to

2. Also a great many dogs, who were strongly interested in the state of the market and the bargains of their masters; and a great confusion of tongues, both brute and human. Go to

toothache /ˈtuːθeɪk/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: dor de dente

Simple English: A pain in a tooth.

Example: He could not sleep for toothache.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A female cousin was known only for being very deaf, living alone, and always having toothache. Go to

2. The cousin with toothache wanted Botany Bay, while the two Miss Pecksniffs suggested flogging. Go to

Original English Version

1. Then there was a solitary female cousin who was remarkable for nothing but being very deaf, and living by herself, and always having the toothache. Go to

2. The strong-minded lady was for poison, her three daughters were for Bridewell and bread-and-water, the cousin with the toothache advocated Botany Bay, the two Miss Pecksniffs suggested flogging. Go to

tossing /ˈtɔːsɪŋ/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: atirando; lançando

Simple English: Throwing something lightly.

Example: He walked in, tossing his keys in the air.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Oh!' cried the old man with an impatient moan, tossing one restless arm onto the bedcover. Go to

tough /tʌf/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: difícil; resistente; duro

Simple English: Strong or difficult.

Example: This is a tough problem.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Anyway, if I were a cannibal,' said Mr George Chuzzlewit, encouraged by this reply, 'I would think a lady who outlived three husbands and suffered so little from their loss must be very tough.' Go to

towering /ˈtaʊərɪŋ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: altíssimo; imponente; descomunal

Simple English: Very tall and impressive, or very great in degree.

Example: A towering wave broke over the pier.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. And I tell you, sir,' said Mr Pecksniff, towering on tiptoe among the curtains, as if he were literally rising above all worldly considerations, and were fain to hold on tight, to keep himself from darting skyward like a rocket, 'I tell you without fear or favour, that it will not do for you to be unmindful of your grandson, young Martin, who has the strongest natural claim upon you. Go to

trapping /ˈtræpɪŋ/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: prendendo

Simple English: Catching or holding something so that it cannot escape.

Example: In the confusion of the chase, this natural line can sometimes tangle with the hemp line, trapping the calf.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He was skilled at trapping parents and guardians and taking their fees. Go to

traveller /ˈtrævələr/ (35 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: viajante

Simple English: A person who is on a journey or who travels often.

Example: A tired traveller asked for a room and a hot meal.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pinch rode along happily when he saw a traveller walking ahead in the same direction. Go to

2. "No, sir, certainly not," he said, turning from the horizon to his fellow traveller. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pinch was jogging along, full of pleasant thoughts and cheerful influences, when he saw, upon the path before him, going in the same direction with himself, a traveller on foot, who walked with a light quick step, and sang as he went--for certain in a very loud voice, but not unmusically. Go to

2. 'No, sir, certainly not,' returned the other, withdrawing his gaze from the horizon, and looking at his fellow-traveller. Go to

traveller's /ˈtrævələrz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do viajante

Simple English: British spelling of the possessive form of traveller.

Example: He wore a flapping broad-brimmed traveller’s hat, and under it a handkerchief tied over his head in the manner of a cap: so that he showed no hair.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Although the speech seemed harmless, it fed the traveller's distrust like oil on fire. Go to

Original English Version

1. Harmless as this speech appeared to be, it acted on the traveller's distrust, like oil on fire. Go to

treacherous /ˈtretʃərəs/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: traiçoeiro; pérfido; perigoso

Simple English: Ready to betray you, or dangerous in a hidden way.

Example: The path is treacherous after rain.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She scraped her shoes on the scraper, then left their marks all over the top step, to show she was shaking the dust from her feet before leaving that dishonest, treacherous house. Go to

treachery /ˈtrɛtʃəri/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: traição

Simple English: The act or quality of betraying someone's trust.

Example: Martin Eden could not have believed at that moment that her brother would be capable of such treachery, especially since he had helped get that same brother out of an unpleasant quarrel.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Treachery, deceit, low plans, jealousy of real or imagined rivals, meanness, lies, shameful acts, and acting like servants to please me - or," he said, looking into his cousin's eyes, "a show of honest independence, almost worse than all - these are what my wealth reveals. Go to

Original English Version

1. But, so born and so bred, admired for that which made him hateful, and justified from his cradle in cunning, treachery, and avarice; I claim him as the legitimate issue of the father upon whom those vices are seen to recoil. Go to

2. Treachery, deceit, and low design; hatred of competitors, real or fancied, for my favour; meanness, falsehood, baseness, and servility; or,' and here he looked closely in his cousin's eyes, 'or an assumption of honest independence, almost worse than all; these are the beauties which my wealth has brought to light. Go to

trembled /ˈtrɛmbəld/ (18 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tremeu; vacilou

Simple English: Shook because of fear or strong feeling.

Example: The old house trembled when the train passed.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The voice of Mr Pecksniff trembled as he spoke, and sobs were heard from his daughters. Go to

2. His head distilled such oil upon his whiskers, that they were rich and clogged with unctuous drops; his face was violently inflamed, his limbs trembled; and he gasped and strove for breath. Go to

trembling /ˈtrɛmblɪŋ/ (31 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: trêmulo; que treme

Simple English: Shaking a little because of fear, cold or strong feeling.

Example: His hands were trembling when he opened the letter.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Here, the eldest daughter of the strong-minded woman rose a little way from her seat, and trembling violently from head to foot, more as it seemed with passion than timidity, expressed a general hope that some people WOULD appear in their own characters, if it were only for such a proceeding having the attraction of novelty to recommend it; and that when they (meaning the some people before mentioned) talked about their relations, they would be careful to observe who was present in company at the time; otherwise it might come round to those relations' ears, in a way they little expected; and as to red noses (she observed) she had yet to learn that a red nose was any disgrace, inasmuch as people neither made nor coloured their own noses, but had that feature provided for them without being first consulted; though even upon that branch of the subject she had great doubts whether certain noses were redder than other noses, or indeed half as red as some. Go to

trickery /ˈtrɪkəri/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: astúcia; embuste

Simple English: The use of clever plans to fool people.

Example: He won the game by simple trickery.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He was born and raised this way, praised for what made him hateful, and taught from childhood that trickery, betrayal, and greed were right. Go to

trifle /ˈtraɪfəl/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pequena quantidade; coisa sem importância

Simple English: A very small amount or something of little importance.

Example: The witness left at nine or a trifle later.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. By the time the cheese and celery came, Mr Pinch had taken a book out of his pocket, and could afford to trifle with the viands; now eating a little, now drinking a little, now reading a little, and now stopping to wonder what sort of a young man the new pupil would turn out to be. Go to

trinkets /ˈtrɪŋkɪts/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pequenas joias; berloques

Simple English: Small ornaments or pieces of jewellery of modest value.

Example: Her watch, lace, gloves, and trinkets lay beside the mirror.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The bright marks on his cravat, waistcoat, and trinkets looked like pimples breaking out on him. Go to

Original English Version

1. Then there was George Chuzzlewit, a gay bachelor cousin, who claimed to be young but had been younger, and was inclined to corpulency, and rather overfed himself; to that extent, indeed, that his eyes were strained in their sockets, as if with constant surprise; and he had such an obvious disposition to pimples, that the bright spots on his cravat, the rich pattern on his waistcoat, and even his glittering trinkets, seemed to have broken out upon him, and not to have come into existence comfortably. Go to

tripe /traɪp/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: dobradinha

Simple English: The stomach of a cow or a sheep, cooked as food.

Example: Pickled tripe was served with fried onions.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Streets around the market were packed with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, wagons, vegetables, meat, tripe, pies, poultry, and sellers' goods of every kind. Go to

Original English Version

1. To one of his quiet habits this little delusion was greatly assisted by the circumstance of its being market-day, and the thoroughfares about the market-place being filled with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, waggons, garden-stuff, meat, tripe, pies, poultry and huckster's wares of every opposite description and possible variety of character. Go to

tripod /ˈtraɪpɑːd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tripé

Simple English: A stand with three legs.

Example: He set a small silver tripod on the table.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Could he not have sat on a tripod in ancient times and made endless predictions, if public money supplied gin-and-water first?" Go to

Original English Version

1. Might he not, gents both, I ask, have sat upon a tripod in the ancient times, and prophesied to a perfectly unlimited extent, if previously supplied with gin-and-water at the public cost?' Go to

truest /ˈtruːəst/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: o mais verdadeiro

Simple English: The most true or the most faithful.

Example: He was the truest friend she had.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It was like a dial--alas, the truest in the world. Go to

Original English Version

1. In this way they went on, and on, and on--in the language of the story-books--until at last the village lights appeared before them, and the church spire cast a long reflection on the graveyard grass; as if it were a dial (alas, the truest in the world!) marking, whatever light shone out of Heaven, the flight of days and weeks and years, by some new shadow on that solemn ground. Go to

trunks /trʌŋks/ (16 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: troncos

Simple English: The thick main stems of trees.

Example: Its legs were as long as tree trunks.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Other trees still held dry leaves that cracked as if burned, while red piles of apples from that year lay around some trunks. Go to

trustful /ˈtrʌstfəl/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: confiante, crédulo

Simple English: tending to trust others readily and without suspicion

Example: He said your nature was to be trustful of all other men, but most of all, of him who least deserves it.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. As well might one suppose that he doesn't on all occasions pour out his whole heart and soul to you; that he doesn't make you a very liberal and indeed rather an extravagant allowance; or, to be more wild and monstrous still, if that be possible, as well might one suppose,' and here, at every word, he struck him lightly on the breast, 'that Pecksniff traded in your nature, and that your nature was to be timid and distrustful of yourself, and trustful of all other men, but most of all, of him who least deserves it. Go to

2. How trustful and generous in him to bestow all this confidence in me. Go to

trustfulness /ˈtrʌstfəlnəs/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: credulidade, confiança excessiva

Simple English: the quality of trusting others readily, sometimes to a naive degree

Example: A strong trustfulness in sounds and forms was the master-key to Mr Pecksniff's character.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. His enemies asserted, by the way, that a strong trustfulness in sounds and forms was the master-key to Mr Pecksniff's character. Go to

tumblers /ˈtʌmblərz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: copos sem haste

Simple English: Tumblers are flat-bottomed drinking glasses without stems.

Example: Wolf Larsen asked for tumblers instead of small liquor glasses.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. For a few seconds they looked at each other through their tumblers, then set them down empty. Go to

Original English Version

1. They looked at each other out of their respective tumblers for a few seconds, and then put them down empty. Go to

turnpike /ˈtɜːrnpaɪk/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: estrada com pedágio

Simple English: A road on which travelers once paid a toll.

Example: They took the longer turnpike road around the field.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Thus when he came within sight of the turnpike, and was--oh a long way off!--he saw the tollman's wife, who had that moment checked a waggon, run back into the little house again like mad, to say (she knew) that Mr Pinch was coming up. Go to

2. An ornamental turnpike has a remarkable effect upon the imagination. Go to

3. What do you say to beginning with an ornamental turnpike?' Go to

tut /tʌt/ (37 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ora essa! (som de reprovação)

Simple English: A sound made with the tongue to show mild disapproval.

Example: The old man said tut and shook his head.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Tut, tut,' said Mr Pecksniff, pushing his youngest away and running his fingers through his hair as his calm face returned. Go to

2. 'Tut, tut!' cried Charity. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Tut, tut,' said Mr Pecksniff, pushing his latest-born away and running his fingers through his hair, as he resumed his tranquil face. Go to

2. 'Tut, tut!' cried Charity. Go to

Glossary: New Words (7/7)

twigs /twɪɡz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: gravetos; ramos finos

Simple English: Very thin branches of a tree or bush.

Example: She gathered dry twigs to start the fire.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Small green patches in the hedges, where a few twigs still resisted the cold winds and early frosts, brightened. Go to

Original English Version

1. The wet grass sparkled in the light; the scanty patches of verdure in the hedges--where a few green twigs yet stood together bravely, resisting to the last the tyranny of nipping winds and early frosts--took heart and brightened up; the stream which had been dull and sullen all day long, broke out into a cheerful smile; the birds began to chirp and twitter on the naked boughs, as though the hopeful creatures half believed that winter had gone by, and spring had come already. Go to

twinkle /ˈtwɪŋkəl/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: brilho travesso; cintilação

Simple English: A bright playful look in the eyes.

Example: He said it with a twinkle in his eye.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. How did you twinkle, as if fluttering with sympathy, when Mercy, reminded of the bonnet in her hair, hid her fair face and turned her head aside; the while her gentle sister plucked it out, and smote her with a sister's soft reproof, upon her buxom shoulder! Go to

twinkled /ˈtwɪŋkəld/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cintilaram; bruxulearam

Simple English: Shone with a light that changes quickly.

Example: Lights twinkled far down in the valley.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. How you twinkled with sympathy when Mercy remembered the bonnet in her hair! Go to

umbrellas /ʌmˈbrɛləz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: guarda-sóis; guarda-chuvas

Simple English: Round covers on a stick that keep off rain or sun.

Example: Gold umbrellas shone above the palace.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It smelled like several damp umbrellas, a beer barrel, a cask of warm brandy-and-water, and a small room full of stale tobacco smoke. Go to

Original English Version

1. It happened then, and lastly, that Mr Pecksniff found himself immediately collared by something which smelt like several damp umbrellas, a barrel of beer, a cask of warm brandy-and-water, and a small parlour-full of stale tobacco smoke, mixed; and was straightway led downstairs into the bar from which he had lately come, where he found himself standing opposite to, and in the grasp of, a perfectly strange gentleman of still stranger appearance who, with his disengaged hand, rubbed his own head very hard, and looked at him, Pecksniff, with an evil countenance. Go to

umph /ʌmf/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: hum!; grunhido

Simple English: a grunt used to show doubt, recognition, or mild displeasure

Example: “Umph!” he said when he found the barrier in his path.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Umph!' Go to

2. 'Umph!' said Mr Pecksniff in his most pleasant voice. Go to

Original English Version

1. Umph!' Go to

2. 'Umph!' said Mr Pecksniff, in his most winning tone. Go to

unappreciated /ˌʌnəˈpriːʃieɪtɪd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: não reconhecido, subestimado

Simple English: not valued or recognized as deserving admiration

Example: He is the highest-minded, most independent, most terribly unappreciated man I know.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He is the highest-minded, most independent, original, spiritual, classical, talented, most Shakspearian, if not Miltonic, and most terribly unappreciated man I know. Go to

Original English Version

1. For he is, without an exception, the highest-minded, the most independent-spirited, most original, spiritual, classical, talented, the most thoroughly Shakspearian, if not Miltonic, and at the same time the most disgustingly-unappreciated dog I know. Go to

unbearable /ʌnˈbɛrəbəl/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: insuportável

Simple English: Too painful or unpleasant to accept.

Example: The heat in the attic was unbearable by noon.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Yet she usually laughed too, more moderately, saying it was too ridiculous and unbearable to take seriously. Go to

unbroken /ʌnˈbroʊkən/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ininterrupto; intacto; contínuo

Simple English: Not interrupted and not damaged; continuing without a gap.

Example: They kept an unbroken silence for a full minute.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. But she took it notwithstanding; and after one or two remarks on the extreme heaviness of the coach, and the number of places it stopped at, they fell into a silence which remained unbroken by any member of the party until supper-time. Go to

unbrushed /ʌnˈbrəʃt/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sem escovar

Simple English: not made neat or clean with a brush

Example: Meredith, with unbrushed hair, in carpet slippers and faded dressing gown, married them.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It looked fierce and proud rather than gentle and kind, almost like Satan's, and he had a great mass of unbrushed hair. Go to

Original English Version

1. But he wore a moustache--a shaggy moustache too; nothing in the meek and merciful way, but quite in the fierce and scornful style; the regular Satanic sort of thing--and he wore, besides, a vast quantity of unbrushed hair. Go to

uncertainly /ʌnˈsɜːrtənli/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: com hesitação; sem certeza

Simple English: In a doubtful way, without being sure.

Example: Dorothy said uncertainly that there must be a mistake.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. After waiting uncertainly for a few seconds in the parlour, his face full of misery, poor Mr Pinch followed. Go to

2. 'A one-eyed calender, I think, sir,' Tom said uncertainly. Go to

uncle's /ˈʌŋkəlz/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do tio

Simple English: Belonging to an uncle, the brother of a parent.

Example: We spent the summer at my uncle's farm.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He tried to win the uncle's favour with plate, jewels, books, watches, and other valuables. Go to

2. On another occasion he wrote, "I have bestowed upon that irresistible uncle of mine everything I ever possessed." He apparently paid long visits to this uncle's mansion, or even lived there: "With the exception of the suit of clothes I carry about with me, the whole of my wearing apparel is at present at my uncle's." The uncle's influence must have been vast, for his nephew called it "too high," "too much," and "tremendous." Strangely, it got him no profitable post at court or elsewhere, and no distinction except the patronage of such a great man and invitations to entertainments so splendid and costly that he called them "Golden Balls." Go to

Original English Version

1. On another occasion he says, 'I have bestowed upon that irresistible uncle of mine everything I ever possessed.' And that he was in the habit of paying long and constant visits to this gentleman at his mansion, if, indeed, he did not wholly reside there, is manifest from the following sentence: 'With the exception of the suit of clothes I carry about with me, the whole of my wearing apparel is at present at my uncle's.' This gentleman's patronage and influence must have been very extensive, for his nephew writes, 'His interest is too high'--'It is too much'--'It is tremendous'--and the like. Go to

uncles /ˈʌŋkəlz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: tios

Simple English: Brothers of a person's father or mother, or husbands of their aunts.

Example: His uncles argued over the family property.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Yet I have a rich uncle, Tigg, who could buy the uncles of fifty strangers. Go to

Original English Version

1. Yet I think I've a rich uncle, Tigg, who could buy up the uncles of fifty strangers! Go to

unconvinced /ˌʌnkənˈvɪnst/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: não convencido

Simple English: Still not believing what you have been told.

Example: He listened politely, but he looked unconvinced.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It must convince even anyone still unconvinced by these likely proofs. Go to

Original English Version

1. But there is one other piece of evidence, bearing immediate reference to their close connection with this memorable event in English History, which must carry conviction, even to a mind (if such a mind there be) remaining unconvinced by these presumptive proofs. Go to

unease /ʌnˈiːz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: inquietação; mal-estar

Simple English: A feeling of worry that something is wrong.

Example: A sense of unease filled the room.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Seeing this unease, the younger man perhaps smiled and said: Go to

uneasily /ʌnˈiːzəli/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: inquietamente; sem à vontade

Simple English: In a worried way that is not comfortable.

Example: She moved uneasily in her chair.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Poor Pinch looked uneasily down at Mr Pecksniff, who had watched him from the beginning. Go to

2. During one quiet interval, the old gentleman looked cautiously around and reached uneasily from his nest of pillows. Go to

3. He stopped, shifted uneasily in bed, and was silent. Go to

Original English Version

1. Poor Pinch looked down uneasily at Mr Pecksniff, whose eye was fixed upon him as it had been from the first; and looking up at the ceiling again, made no reply. Go to

2. It was in one of his intervals of repose, when, looking round with great caution, and reaching uneasily out of his nest of pillows, he endeavoured, with a strange air of secrecy and distrust, to make use of the writing materials which he had ordered to be placed on a table beside him, that the young lady and the mistress of the Blue Dragon found themselves sitting side by side before the fire in the sick chamber. Go to

uneasy /ʌnˈiːzi/ (28 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: inquieto; pouco à vontade

Simple English: Feeling worried or not comfortable.

Example: The Scarecrow felt a little uneasy.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He was so often His Grace's guest that he seemed uneasy and unwilling. Go to

2. Clearly uneasy, Mr Pecksniff asked, 'And what may be Mr Slyme's business here, if I may ask? Go to

Original English Version

1. So constantly was he a guest at that nobleman's table, indeed; and so unceasingly were His Grace's hospitality and companionship forced, as it were, upon him; that we find him uneasy, and full of constraint and reluctance; writing his friends to the effect that if they fail to do so and so by bearer, he will have no choice but to dine again with Duke Humphrey; and expressing himself in a very marked and extraordinary manner as one surfeited of High Life and Gracious Company. Go to

2. 'Unless,' he said, 'you--' He was evidently tempted to express a suspicion of her having broken his confidence in favour of the landlady, but either remembering her tender nursing, or being moved in some sort by her face, he checked himself, and changing his uneasy posture in the bed, was silent. Go to

3. I would have asked John Westlock to call and see her, and tell her all about me by word of mouth, but I was afraid he might speak against Pecksniff to her, and make her uneasy. Go to

unexplained /ˌʌnɪkˈspleɪnd/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: inexplicado

Simple English: With no reason given or known.

Example: His absence was still unexplained.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But Mr Pinch was so shocked by this unexplained behaviour that he openly said there was some mistake. Go to

unfriendly /ʌnˈfrɛndli/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: hostil; pouco amigável

Simple English: Not kind or pleasant to others.

Example: He growled at the Scarecrow in an unfriendly way.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His voice was angry and unfriendly, and he shuffled his legs. Go to

ungrateful /ʌnˈɡreɪtfəl/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ingrato

Simple English: Not showing thanks for what someone has done.

Example: I would be ungrateful if I did not mourn him.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Besides, whether I do or not has little to do with his thinking me ungrateful,' he added. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Besides, whether I am or no,' he added, 'that has little or nothing to do with his thinking me ungrateful. Go to

unhappiness /ʌnˈhæpinəs/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: infelicidade; tristeza

Simple English: The state of being sad.

Example: I will bear all the unhappiness without a word.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. That devil, money, gives me nothing but unhappiness." Go to

Original English Version

1. I have no pleasure in the possession of money, The devil that we call by that name can give me nothing but unhappiness.' Go to

unimpaired /ˌʌn.ɪmˈpeəd/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: intacto

Simple English: not weakened or damaged, kept in full strength

Example: She couldn't hug me enough in token of her unimpaired affection.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Only see again there, how you take one up!' said the mistress of the Blue Dragon, with unimpaired good humour. Go to

unimportant /ˌʌnɪmˈpɔːrtənt/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sem importância

Simple English: Not mattering very much.

Example: He forgot the date because it seemed unimportant.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pinch was so overwhelmed that he could only make occasional comments on unimportant subjects and look sideways at his bright-faced, odd friend, who seemed unaware. Go to

unjust /ʌnˈdʒʌst/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: injusto

Simple English: Not fair or right.

Example: He felt the punishment was unjust.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. You're more exulting and rampant than usual tonight, I think; and you may well crow over your prize; for he is a fine lad, an ingenuous lad, and has but one fault that I know of; he don't mean it, but he is most cruelly unjust to Pecksniff!' Go to

unkind /ʌnˈkaɪnd/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cruel; maldoso; sem bondade

Simple English: Not kind; causing hurt to others.

Example: He took care never to be unkind to anything.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "All our thoughts concern our dear but unkind relative. Go to

2. Sadly, the unkind world did make that comparison. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'All our thoughts centring in our very dear but unkind relative, and he being as it were beyond our reach, we are met to-day, really as if we were a funeral party, except--a blessed exception--that there is no body in the house.' Go to

unkindly /ʌnˈkaɪndli/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de modo pouco amável

Simple English: In a way that is not kind.

Example: He spoke unkindly to the tired old servant.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But as he gave no manner of answer to this question; not even on its being repeated; Mrs Lupin put his money into his hand, and asked him--not unkindly, quite the contrary--what he would take? Go to

Original English Version

1. But as he gave no manner of answer to this question; not even on its being repeated; Mrs Lupin put his money into his hand, and asked him--not unkindly, quite the contrary--what he would take? Go to

unmarried /ʌnˈmærid/ (14 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: solteiro; não casado

Simple English: Not married.

Example: Two of the three sisters were still unmarried.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They are content with idle unmarried men and married men away from home. Go to

2. Beside her sat her three unmarried daughters, who had gentlemanly manners. Go to

unmatched /ʌnˈmætʃt/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: sem igual; incompatível

Simple English: not equaled in quality, or not suitably matched with another person or thing

Example: Her unmatched skill impressed them, although the two partners themselves seemed unmatched.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "I will also record that in every place, small or large, I received unmatched politeness, delicacy, kindness, hospitality, consideration, and respect for the privacy required by my work and health. Go to

unmindful /ʌnˈmaɪnd.fəl/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desatento

Simple English: not paying attention to or considerate of something

Example: They are not unmindful of their moral responsibilities.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'He will avail himself of the eligible opportunity which now offers, for uniting the advantages of the best practical architectural education with the comforts of a home, and the constant association with some who (however humble their sphere, and limited their capacity) are not unmindful of their moral responsibilities.' Go to

2. And I tell you, sir,' said Mr Pecksniff, towering on tiptoe among the curtains, as if he were literally rising above all worldly considerations, and were fain to hold on tight, to keep himself from darting skyward like a rocket, 'I tell you without fear or favour, that it will not do for you to be unmindful of your grandson, young Martin, who has the strongest natural claim upon you. Go to

unmoved /ʌnˈmuːvd/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: impassível; indiferente; imperturbável

Simple English: Not feeling pity or emotion about something.

Example: He listened to the whole story unmoved.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'Well,' rejoined his friend, perfectly unmoved by this instance of generosity. Go to

unnatural /ʌnˈnætʃərəl/ (33 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: antinatural; artificial; desumano

Simple English: Not normal, or not the way nature usually works.

Example: The room was filled with an unnatural silence.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Jonas's low, rough, and cruel nature would seem unnatural without his early education. Go to

2. Your conduct is wrong, unnatural, impossible to defend, and terrible. Go to

3. If you were friendly, I would call you a very unnatural pair. Go to

4. 'Then,' pursued the hostess--and it really was not an unnatural inquiry--'why do you desert it?' Go to

Original English Version

1. I conceive that the sordid coarseness and brutality of Jonas would be unnatural, if there had been nothing in his early education, and in the precept and example always before him, to engender and develop the vices that make him odious. Go to

2. But now, in sheer wonder and amazement at these mysteries, she withdrew at once, and repairing straightway to her own little parlour below stairs, sat down in her easy-chair with unnatural composure. Go to

3. 'But, Mr Chuzzlewit, while I am forgetful of myself, I owe it to myself, and to my character--aye, sir, and I HAVE a character which is very dear to me, and will be the best inheritance of my two daughters--to tell you, on behalf of another, that your conduct is wrong, unnatural, indefensible, monstrous. Go to

4. If you were on good terms, I should consider you a most confoundedly unnatural pair; but standing towards each other as you do, I took upon you as a couple of devilish deep-thoughted fellows, who may be reasoned with to any extent.' Go to

5. 'Then,' pursued the hostess--and it really was not an unnatural inquiry--'why do you desert it?' Go to

unnaturally /ʌnˈnætʃərəli/ (7 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: de modo antinatural; forçadamente

Simple English: In a way that is not normal or not comfortable.

Example: The child sat unnaturally still during the whole visit.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. She was almost unnaturally unpleasant, with a dreary face, thin body, and masculine voice. Go to

unrolled /ʌnˈroʊld/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desenrolou; desenrolado

Simple English: Opened something that was rolled up.

Example: He unrolled the map on the table.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. The mist, too shy and gentle for such lusty company, fled off, quite scared, before it; and as it swept away, the hills and mounds and distant pasture lands, teeming with placid sheep and noisy crows, came out as bright as though they were unrolled bran new for the occasion. Go to

unselfish /ʌnˈselfɪʃ/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: altruísta; desprendido

Simple English: Thinking of other people before yourself.

Example: It was an unselfish decision that cost him a lot.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His unselfish concern moved her to tears of admiration and delight. Go to

unstated /ʌnˈsteɪtɪd/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: não especificado

Simple English: not mentioned or made clear explicitly

Example: At some unstated time, there was a matron with destructive principles.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Family tradition also proves that, at some unstated time, there was a matron with destructive principles who knew much about making and using explosive devices. Go to

untidy /ʌnˈtaɪdi/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desarrumado; desordenado

Simple English: Not clean and not in good order.

Example: His untidy room made his mother angry.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Long waiting in the cold had pinched his sharp face and made his thin red whiskers and untidy hair even more wild. Go to

unworldly /ʌnˈwɜrldli/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desprendido; alheio ao mundo; simples

Simple English: not interested in money, fashion or worldly success

Example: He was a poor, unworldly, abstracted minister.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "When you say 'I think so,' I hear the true unworldly sound of YOUR metal. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Oh yes,' cried the old man, 'I think so! and in your telling me "I think so," I recognize the true unworldly ring of YOUR metal. Go to

unyoked /ʌnˈjoʊkt/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: desatrelado; desjungido

Simple English: freed from the wooden yoke that joins working animals

Example: The horses had been left there when they were unyoked.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The labourer unyoked his horses and walked quickly home beside them, head down. Go to

Original English Version

1. The withering leaves no longer quiet, hurried to and fro in search of shelter from its chill pursuit; the labourer unyoked his horses, and with head bent down, trudged briskly home beside them; and from the cottage windows lights began to glance and wink upon the darkening fields. Go to

urgently /ˈɜːrdʒəntli/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: urgentemente; com urgência

Simple English: In a way that requires immediate attention or action.

Example: She urgently called for everyone to leave.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. But Mr Tigg begged urgently to introduce them to Slyme. Go to

Original English Version

1. But Mr Tigg so urgently conjured them, by coughs and signs, to remain in the shadow of the door, that they stopped there. Go to

usefulness /ˈjuːsflnəs/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: utilidade

Simple English: The quality of being of use to somebody.

Example: He doubted the usefulness of the old map.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pecksniff, probably proud of his moral usefulness, went to sleep again. Go to

utterance /ˈʌtərəns/ (21 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: manifestação, expressão vocal

Simple English: the act of expressing something aloud, especially a sound or cry

Example: His fear found utterance in terrific gasps and snorts.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. That her guest had need of some efficient services under the latter head was obvious enough from the restless expressions, importing, however, rather a worldly than a spiritual anxiety, to which he gave frequent utterance. Go to

2. With this kind greeting, Mr Pecksniff fairly took him to his arms, and patted him several times upon the back with his right hand the while, as if to express that his feelings during the embrace were too much for utterance. Go to

uttered /ˈʌtəd/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: proferiu, soltou (um grito)

Simple English: spoke or made a sound aloud

Example: I laughed at the cry I had uttered.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. With that piece of comfort, very ruefully uttered, he went, in anything but a jolly manner, to bed. Go to

vagabond /ˈvæɡəbɑːnd/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: vagabundo; vadio

Simple English: A person who wanders without a settled home or regular work.

Example: The vagabond slept beneath an abandoned shed.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It is remarkable that the oldest recorded family had both a murderer and a vagabond, and old family records always repeat such characters. Go to

2. "You were eavesdropping at that door, you vagabond!" said the gentleman. Go to

Original English Version

1. It is remarkable that as there was, in the oldest family of which we have any record, a murderer and a vagabond, so we never fail to meet, in the records of all old families, with innumerable repetitions of the same phase of character. Go to

2. 'You were eaves-dropping at that door, you vagabond!' said this gentleman. Go to

3. In like manner, there were gloomy courtyards in these parts, into which few but belated wayfarers ever strayed, and where vast bags and packs of goods, upward or downward bound, were for ever dangling between heaven and earth from lofty cranes There were more trucks near Todgers's than you would suppose whole city could ever need; not active trucks, but a vagabond race, for ever lounging in the narrow lanes before their masters' doors and stopping up the pass; so that when a stray hackney-coach or lumbering waggon came that way, they were the cause of such an uproar as enlivened the whole neighbourhood, and made the bells in the next churchtower vibrate again. Go to

vainly /ˈveɪnli/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: em vão; com vaidade

Simple English: without success, or in a proud showy way

Example: He walked around proudly and vainly, like a peacock.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. From the strong-minded woman downwards everybody fell, that instant, upon Mr Spottletoe, who after vainly attempting to be heard in silence was fain to sit down again, folding his arms and shaking his head most wrathfully, and giving Mrs Spottletoe to understand in dumb show, that that scoundrel Pecksniff might go on for the present, but he would cut in presently, and annihilate him. Go to

valuables /ˈvæljəbəlz/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: objetos de valor

Simple English: Small things that are worth a lot of money.

Example: She locked her valuables in a box.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He tried to win the uncle's favour with plate, jewels, books, watches, and other valuables. Go to

vane /veɪn/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cata-vento

Simple English: A pointer on a roof that shows which way the wind blows.

Example: The vane on the barn turned to the north.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The weather vane on the old church spire shone too. Go to

Original English Version

1. The vane upon the tapering spire of the old church glistened from its lofty station in sympathy with the general gladness; and from the ivy-shaded windows such gleams of light shone back upon the glowing sky, that it seemed as if the quiet buildings were the hoarding-place of twenty summers, and all their ruddiness and warmth were stored within. Go to

vapours /ˈveɪpərz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: vapores; humores do corpo

Simple English: An old word for feelings of illness or low spirits.

Example: He suffered from these vapours as a young man.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. I have been like a lighted torch in peaceful homes, setting fire to moral gases and vapours that might otherwise have stayed harmless. Go to

Original English Version

1. I have so corrupted and changed the nature of all those who have ever attended on me, by breeding avaricious plots and hopes within them; I have engendered such domestic strife and discord, by tarrying even with members of my own family; I have been such a lighted torch in peaceful homes, kindling up all the inflammable gases and vapours in their moral atmosphere, which, but for me, might have proved harmless to the end, that I have, I may say, fled from all who knew me, and taking refuge in secret places have lived, of late, the life of one who is hunted. Go to

vast /væst/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: vasta; vasto; grande

Simple English: Extremely large in size, area, or extent.

Example: The ocean covers a vast area of the Earth's surface.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "I have been astonished by the changes everywhere: moral and physical changes; more land settled and peopled; vast new cities; old cities grown almost beyond recognition; greater grace in life; and changes in the Press, without whose advance no advance can happen anywhere. Go to

2. On another occasion he wrote, "I have bestowed upon that irresistible uncle of mine everything I ever possessed." He apparently paid long visits to this uncle's mansion, or even lived there: "With the exception of the suit of clothes I carry about with me, the whole of my wearing apparel is at present at my uncle's." The uncle's influence must have been vast, for his nephew called it "too high," "too much," and "tremendous." Strangely, it got him no profitable post at court or elsewhere, and no distinction except the patronage of such a great man and invitations to entertainments so splendid and costly that he called them "Golden Balls." Go to

vaults /vɔːlts/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: abóbadas; criptas; cofres-fortes

Simple English: Arched roofs, or strong underground rooms used to store valuable things.

Example: The bank keeps old documents in its vaults.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Their behavior is very similar to that of their Great Ancestor beneath the vaults of the Parliament House at Westminster, so no comment is needed. Go to

Original English Version

1. The remarkable similarity between this course of proceeding and that adopted by their Great Ancestor beneath the vaults of the Parliament House at Westminster, is too obvious and too full of interest, to stand in need of comment. Go to

vehicle's /ˈviːɪkəlz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: do veículo

Simple English: possessive form of 'vehicle', a means of transport such as a carriage

Example: Whatever the vehicle's proper name was, it looked like a gig.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Whatever the vehicle's proper name was, it looked more like a gig with a swelling than anything else. Go to

velveteen /ˌvɛlvəˈtin/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: veludinho de algodão

Simple English: a cotton cloth that looks and feels like velvet

Example: We found a man in a velveteen suit and knee-breeches.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The ends of his red neckcloth flew behind him, and bright winter berries showed in the buttonhole of his velveteen coat as clearly from behind as from the front. Go to

Original English Version

1. He was a young fellow, of some five or six-and-twenty perhaps, and was dressed in such a free and fly-away fashion, that the long ends of his loose red neckcloth were streaming out behind him quite as often as before; and the bunch of bright winter berries in the buttonhole of his velveteen coat was as visible to Mr Pinch's rearward observation, as if he had worn that garment wrong side foremost. Go to

venerable /ˈvɛnərəbəl/ (17 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: venerável

Simple English: Old and deserving great respect.

Example: A venerable teacher sat by the door.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Now this gentleman, since deceased, was at all times ready to make oath, and did again and again set forth upon his solemn asseveration, that he had frequently heard his grandmother say, when contemplating this venerable relic, 'Aye, aye! Go to

2. One of these flaws was, that having been long taught by his father to over-reach everybody, he had imperceptibly acquired a love of over-reaching that venerable monitor himself. Go to

vices /ˈvaɪsɪz/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: vícios; tornos de bancada

Simple English: Bad habits or moral faults; also tools that hold objects tightly.

Example: Gambling and drinking were his only vices.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. I conceive that the sordid coarseness and brutality of Jonas would be unnatural, if there had been nothing in his early education, and in the precept and example always before him, to engender and develop the vices that make him odious. Go to

2. But, so born and so bred, admired for that which made him hateful, and justified from his cradle in cunning, treachery, and avarice; I claim him as the legitimate issue of the father upon whom those vices are seen to recoil. Go to

3. I make this comment, and solicit the reader's attention to it in his or her consideration of this tale, because nothing is more common in real life than a want of profitable reflection on the causes of many vices and crimes that awaken the general horror. Go to

vigorous /ˈvɪɡərəs/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: vigoroso; enérgico; forte

Simple English: strong, healthy and full of energy

Example: His healthy face and vigorous step calmed the crowd.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He was clearly very ill and suffered greatly, perhaps even more because he was a strong, vigorous old man with an iron will and a brass voice. Go to

Original English Version

1. He was, beyond all question, very ill, and suffered exceedingly; not the less, perhaps, because he was a strong and vigorous old man, with a will of iron, and a voice of brass. Go to

2. The sheep-bells rang as clearly in the vigorous air, as if they felt its wholesome influence like living creatures; the trees, in lieu of leaves or blossoms, shed upon the ground a frosty rime that sparkled as it fell, and might have been the dust of diamonds. Go to

virtues /ˈvɜrtʃuz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: virtudes; boas qualidades

Simple English: good qualities in a person's character or behaviour

Example: His virtues and services could not sustain him.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Your virtues are of course beyond value, but can you name any other living person who can bear contact with me?" Go to

Original English Version

1. And it is well known that for the bestowal of that kind of property upon his favourites, the liberality and gratitude of the Norman were as remarkable as those virtues are usually found to be in great men when they give away what belongs to other people. Go to

2. YOUR virtues are of course inestimable, but can you tell me of any other living creature who will bear the test of contact with myself?' Go to

virtuous /ˈvɜːrtʃuəs/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: virtuoso; honesto

Simple English: Behaving in a good and honest way.

Example: He hoped to end his days as a virtuous man.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. By then he had recovered from surprise and returned fully to his virtuous manner. Go to

Original English Version

1. He was a most exemplary man; fuller of virtuous precept than a copy book. Go to

2. 'What gentleman is this?' inquired the object of his virtuous doubts. Go to

3. 'Pray do not be hasty, Mr Chuzzlewit,' said Pecksniff, in a tone that was at once in the sublimest degree compassionate and dispassionate; for he had by this time recovered from his surprise, and was in full possession of his virtuous self. Go to

virtuously /ˈvɜːtʃuəsli/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: virtuosamente

Simple English: in a morally good or righteous manner

Example: Come in! cried Mr Pecksniff - not severely; only virtuously.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'What gentleman is this?' asked the young lady whom he so virtuously suspected. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Come in!' cried Mr Pecksniff--not severely; only virtuously. Go to

vultures /ˈvʌltʃərz/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: abutres

Simple English: large birds that eat the bodies of dead animals

Example: The vultures would not touch ye, ye villains!

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Those who entered this family by deceiving its members, then ruled over them until they were glad to die, should stop acting like vultures around other family members who are still alive. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'And I will further add,' said Mr George, nodding his head violently at every second syllable; 'naming no names, and therefore hurting nobody but those whose consciences tell them they are alluded to, that I think it would be much more decent and becoming, if those who hooked and crooked themselves into this family by getting on the blind side of some of its members before marriage, and manslaughtering them afterwards by crowing over them to that strong pitch that they were glad to die, would refrain from acting the part of vultures in regard to other members of this family who are living. Go to

wage /weɪdʒ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: salário; travar; empreender

Simple English: The amount of money paid to a worker for their labor.

Example: Her wage increased after she worked there for over two years successfully.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. If I could get into a wicked family, I might do myself justice; but the difficulty is to make sure of one's ground, because a young man can't very well advertise that he wants a place, and wages an't so much an object as a wicked sitivation; can he, sir?' Go to

waggon /ˈwæɡən/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: carroça; vagão

Simple English: a large four-wheeled vehicle pulled by horses

Example: A waggon with a train of beautiful horses came by us.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'My box is gone already, sir, by the waggon, and I'm going to walk on to-morrow morning, and get a lift by the day coach when it overtakes me. Go to

2. When a stray coach or heavy waggon came through, it caused a great noise. Go to

Original English Version

1. Thus when he came within sight of the turnpike, and was--oh a long way off!--he saw the tollman's wife, who had that moment checked a waggon, run back into the little house again like mad, to say (she knew) that Mr Pinch was coming up. Go to

2. 'My box is gone already, sir, by the waggon, and I'm going to walk on to-morrow morning, and get a lift by the day coach when it overtakes me. Go to

3. In like manner, there were gloomy courtyards in these parts, into which few but belated wayfarers ever strayed, and where vast bags and packs of goods, upward or downward bound, were for ever dangling between heaven and earth from lofty cranes There were more trucks near Todgers's than you would suppose whole city could ever need; not active trucks, but a vagabond race, for ever lounging in the narrow lanes before their masters' doors and stopping up the pass; so that when a stray hackney-coach or lumbering waggon came that way, they were the cause of such an uproar as enlivened the whole neighbourhood, and made the bells in the next churchtower vibrate again. Go to

waggons /ˈwæɡənz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: carroças; vagões

Simple English: large four-wheeled vehicles pulled by horses

Example: The streets were crowded with waggons and carts.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. To one of his quiet habits this little delusion was greatly assisted by the circumstance of its being market-day, and the thoroughfares about the market-place being filled with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, waggons, garden-stuff, meat, tripe, pies, poultry and huckster's wares of every opposite description and possible variety of character. Go to

wagons /ˈwæɡənz/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: carroças; carros de carga

Simple English: Large carts pulled by animals to carry goods.

Example: Ten wagons of grain came into the town.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Streets around the market were packed with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, wagons, vegetables, meat, tripe, pies, poultry, and sellers' goods of every kind. Go to

waistcoat /ˈwɛskət/ (68 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: colete

Simple English: A short jacket without sleeves worn over a shirt.

Example: He wore a blue waistcoat to the wedding.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He put one hand gently inside his waistcoat and humbly signed for her to lead the way. Go to

2. "No," said Mr Pecksniff, keeping a hand in his waistcoat as if ready to show Martin Chuzzlewit his heart. Go to

3. Mr Pecksniff solemnly waved his right hand, put it again into his waistcoat, and left. Go to

4. The bright marks on his cravat, waistcoat, and trinkets looked like pimples breaking out on him. Go to

5. "Why do you not wear a waistcoat?" Go to

6. Even if it did, what might happen if I wore no waistcoat? Go to

Original English Version

1. 'No,' said Mr Pecksniff, keeping his hand in his waistcoat as though he were ready, on the shortest notice, to produce his heart for Martin Chuzzlewit's inspection, 'I came here to offer my services to a stranger. Go to

2. So saying, Mr Pecksniff waved his right hand with much solemnity, and once more inserting it in his waistcoat, departed. Go to

3. Then there was George Chuzzlewit, a gay bachelor cousin, who claimed to be young but had been younger, and was inclined to corpulency, and rather overfed himself; to that extent, indeed, that his eyes were strained in their sockets, as if with constant surprise; and he had such an obvious disposition to pimples, that the bright spots on his cravat, the rich pattern on his waistcoat, and even his glittering trinkets, seemed to have broken out upon him, and not to have come into existence comfortably. Go to

4. 'But bless my soul, Mark,' said Mr Pinch, who in the progress of his observation just then made the discovery that the bosom of his companion's shirt was as much exposed as if it was Midsummer, and was ruffled by every breath of air, 'why don't you wear a waistcoat?' Go to

5. Even if it did, what would no waistcoat bring it to? Go to

6. Neither had he the least regard (but he never had much) for the tailors', where the newest metropolitan waistcoat patterns were hanging up, which by some strange transformation always looked amazing there, and never appeared at all like the same thing anywhere else. Go to

waists /weɪsts/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cinturas

Simple English: The middle parts of the body, above the hips.

Example: The water reached their waists.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Their tight stays had made their tempers smaller than their waists, and the sharp lacing showed in their noses. Go to

Original English Version

1. Beside her sat her spinster daughters, three in number, and of gentlemanly deportment, who had so mortified themselves with tight stays, that their tempers were reduced to something less than their waists, and sharp lacing was expressed in their very noses. Go to

wallets /ˈwɑːlɪts/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: carteiras; bolsas de viagem

Simple English: small flat cases for carrying money and papers

Example: 'Two wallets,' replied the Dodger.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They traded large amounts of greasy money, using huge wallets that were very hard to pull out and push back in. Go to

wanderer /ˈwɑːndərər/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: andarilho; peregrino

Simple English: A person who travels from place to place.

Example: The old wanderer knew every road.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Tired of such small tricks, the roaring wanderer went happily over moor, meadow, hill, and flat until it reached the sea, met other winds of the same mind, and made a night of it. Go to

warbler /ˈwɔːblə/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cantora, passarinho cantor

Simple English: A person who sings, used affectionately as a nickname here.

Example: 'Playful--playful warbler,' said Mr Pecksniff.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Playful--playful warbler,' said Mr Pecksniff. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Playful--playful warbler,' said Mr Pecksniff. Go to

2. It may be observed in connection with his calling his daughter a 'warbler,' that she was not at all vocal, but that Mr Pecksniff was in the frequent habit of using any word that occurred to him as having a good sound, and rounding a sentence well without much care for its meaning. Go to

warmed /wɔːrmd/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: aqueceu

Simple English: Made someone or something less cold.

Example: The fire warmed her and made her feel less lonely.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He removed his gloves and warmed his hands at the fire as kindly as if they belonged to someone else. Go to

2. He warmed his back as he had warmed his hands. Go to

3. Mr Pinch eagerly rose and did so; the handle hung just above Martin's head as he warmed himself. Go to

4. Mr Pecksniff and his daughters had warmed themselves for less than ten minutes when feet sounded on the stairs. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Who is with him now,' ruminated Mr Pecksniff, warming his back (as he had warmed his hands) as if it were a widow's back, or an orphan's back, or an enemy's back, or a back that any less excellent man would have suffered to be cold. Go to

2. Mr Pinch rose, and complied with great alacrity--the handle hung just over Martin's head, as he warmed himself--and listened with a smiling face to what his friend went on to say. Go to

warmly /ˈwɔːrmli/ (60 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: calorosamente; com cordialidade

Simple English: In a friendly, kind way.

Example: Come along, said the Scarecrow warmly.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. John Westlock answered his farewell just as warmly and climbed to his seat on the roof. Go to

2. On hearing this, Mr Tigg warmly shook both of Mr Pecksniff's hands. Go to

3. He promised so proudly and as if doing Tom a favour that Tom suddenly felt he had asked a great deal, and thanked him warmly. Go to

4. 'That is right,' said Tom, nodding warmly. Go to

5. Then a shaggy, rather alarming head suddenly appeared at the doorway of their sanctuary of genius, smiling warmly, jokingly, and approvingly. Go to

6. Tigg warmly shook his hand, saying his faith in everything was restored. Go to

Original English Version

1. Mr Pinch, complying, at once imparted the intelligence to Mr Tigg, who shook him warmly by the hand in return, assuring him that his faith in anything and everything was again restored. Go to

2. It proved to him, he said, that like him they admired genius, even when it was coupled with the alloy occasionally visible in the metal of his friend Slyme; and on behalf of that friend, he thanked them; as warmly and heartily as if the cause were his own. Go to

watchful /ˈwɑːtʃfəl/ (21 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: vigilante; atento

Simple English: Careful to notice everything that happens around you.

Example: A watchful dog lay across the doorway.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. There was no wakeful reflection of the fire there, as in your modern chambers, which upon the darkest nights have a watchful consciousness of French polish; the old Spanish mahogany winked at it now and then, as a dozing cat or dog might, nothing more. Go to

2. 'Apart from that consideration,' said Mr Pecksniff, watchful of the effect he made, 'it must be plain to you (I am sure) by this time, that if I had wished to insinuate myself into your good opinion, I should have been, of all things, careful not to address you as a relative; knowing your humour, and being quite certain beforehand that I could not have a worse letter of recommendation.' Go to

3. The very first word he learnt to spell was 'gain,' and the second (when he got into two syllables), 'money.' But for two results, which were not clearly foreseen perhaps by his watchful parent in the beginning, his training may be said to have been unexceptionable. Go to

watchfulness /ˈwɑːtʃfəlnəs/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: vigilância; atenção constante

Simple English: The habit of watching carefully for danger.

Example: Years at sea had taught him watchfulness.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Even the old stuffed fox on top of the wardrobe showed no watchfulness. Go to

watchmen /ˈwɑːtʃmen/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: vigias

Simple English: Men whose job is to guard a place, especially at night.

Example: Two watchmen stood at the palace gate.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Old watchmen with little strength guarded the dead there at night, year after year. Go to

2. At last, the watchmen joined the dead. Go to

Original English Version

1. Here, paralysed old watchmen guarded the bodies of the dead at night, year after year, until at last they joined that solemn brotherhood; and, saving that they slept below the ground a sounder sleep than even they had ever known above it, and were shut up in another kind of box, their condition can hardly be said to have undergone any material change when they, in turn, were watched themselves. Go to

watertoast /ˈwɔːtərtoʊst/ (31 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Watertoast

Simple English: Name of a fictional American town in Martin Chuzzlewit, home to the satirical 'Watertoast Association' Dickens invents to mock excessive patriotism.

Example: When this book first appeared, some authorities said the Watertoast Association and its speeches were impossible.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. When this book first appeared, some authorities said the Watertoast Association and its speeches were impossible. Go to

Original English Version

1. When this book was first published, I was given to understand, by some authorities, that the Watertoast Association and eloquence were beyond all bounds of belief. Go to

weakly /ˈwiːkli/ (16 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: debilmente; sem convicção

Simple English: In a way that shows very little strength.

Example: The sick man smiled weakly at his friend.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Yet it still hung there, rising weakly on its back legs. Go to

2. Each year, the trees produced leaves as if they weakly remembered their own kind. Go to

westlock /ˈwɛstlɒk/ (278 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Westlock

Simple English: Surname of John Westlock, a former pupil of Pecksniff's and a good-natured character in Martin Chuzzlewit.

Example: 'John Westlock has gone, I hope?'

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. John Westlock has gone, I hope?' Go to

2. He knew that John Westlock had tried to hurt my feelings at the end of our long time together. Go to

3. Mark my words: he has returned with John Westlock for his box and will help him take it to the mail. Go to

4. 'Mr Westlock, sir, heard that you had come home--' Go to

5. 'Mr Westlock is leaving for good and wants to leave only friends behind. Go to

6. 'Then you will shake hands, sir?' cried Westlock. Go to

Original English Version

1. John Westlock is gone, I hope?' Go to

2. Now mark my words, he has come back with John Westlock for his box, and is going to help him to take it to the mail. Go to

3. 'Certainly, sir,' said Pinch; not doing so, however, but holding it rather wider open than before, and beckoning nervously to somebody without: 'Mr Westlock, sir, hearing that you were come home--' Go to

4. Mr Westlock, sir, going away for good and all, wishes to leave none but friends behind him. Go to

5. Mr Westlock and you, sir, had a little difference the other day; you have had many little differences.' Go to

6. 'Then you will shake hands, sir?' cried Westlock, advancing a step or two, and bespeaking Mr Pinch's close attention by a glance. Go to

wharves /wɔrvz/ (11 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cais; ancoradouros

Simple English: flat structures at the water's edge where ships load and unload

Example: Manhattan is surrounded by wharves like coral reefs.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. All day, porters came from the river wharves with bursting chests of oranges on their backs. Go to

Original English Version

1. All day long, a stream of porters from the wharves beside the river, each bearing on his back a bursting chest of oranges, poured slowly through the narrow passages; while underneath the archway by the public-house, the knots of those who rested and regaled within, were piled from morning until night. Go to

wheelbarrows /ˈwiːlbæroʊz/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: carrinhos de mão

Simple English: Small carts with one wheel, pushed by hand.

Example: The nomes pushed wheelbarrows full of ore.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He offered to carry it downstairs, have it taken in two wheelbarrows to the old finger-post, and watch it until the coach arrived. Go to

wheelwright's /ˈwiːlraɪts/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do carroceiro, do fabricante de rodas

Simple English: Belonging to a wheelwright, a craftsman who makes wheels; here his sawpit.

Example: Small groups sheltered in the wheelwright's saw-pit.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The cruel wind also drove small groups into the wheelwright's saw-pit and under planks and timber in the yard. Go to

wheezy /ˈwiːzi/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: chiado; ofegante; roufenho

Simple English: making a rough whistling sound when breathing or playing

Example: They heard music like a wheezy hand-organ.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They were now wheezy and short of breath, except when telling very long stories. Go to

Original English Version

1. These were, in general, ancient inhabitants of that region; born, and bred there from boyhood, who had long since become wheezy and asthmatical, and short of breath, except in the article of story-telling; in which respect they were still marvellously long-winded. Go to

whereof /wɛəˈɒv/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: do qual, cujo

Simple English: Archaic word meaning 'of which', referring to something previously mentioned.

Example: A low fence of white cravat, whereof no man had beheld the tie.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. You looked over a very low fence of white cravat (whereof no man had ever beheld the tie for he fastened it behind), and there it lay, a valley between two jutting heights of collar, serene and whiskerless before you. Go to

2. These she shed so plentifully, and so much to the agitation and grief of Mr Spottletoe, that that gentleman, after holding his clenched fist close to Mr Pecksniff's eyes, as if it were some natural curiosity from the near inspection whereof he was likely to derive high gratification and improvement, and after offering (for no particular reason that anybody could discover) to kick Mr George Chuzzlewit for, and in consideration of, the trifling sum of sixpence, took his wife under his arm and indignantly withdrew. Go to

3. There was another; not quite so bad at first, but still a trying shop; where children's books were sold, and where poor Robinson Crusoe stood alone in his might, with dog and hatchet, goat-skin cap and fowling-pieces; calmly surveying Philip Quarn and the host of imitators round him, and calling Mr Pinch to witness that he, of all the crowd, impressed one solitary footprint on the shore of boyish memory, whereof the tread of generations should not stir the lightest grain of sand. Go to

4. Cautious emigrants from Scotland or the North of England had been known to reach it safely, by impressing a charity-boy, town-bred, and bringing him along with them; or by clinging tenaciously to the postman; but these were rare exceptions, and only went to prove the rule that Todgers's was in a labyrinth, whereof the mystery was known but to a chosen few. Go to

whew /hwjuː/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ufa!; puxa!

Simple English: a sound you make when tired, relieved or surprised

Example: Whew, this street is hard work!

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Nor was this enough for its malicious fury; for not content with driving them abroad, it charged small parties of them and hunted them into the wheel wright's saw-pit, and below the planks and timbers in the yard, and, scattering the sawdust in the air, it looked for them underneath, and when it did meet with any, whew! how it drove them on and followed at their heels! Go to

whimsical /ˈwɪmzɪkəl/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: excêntrico, extravagante

Simple English: Playfully odd or fanciful in appearance or manner.

Example: He turned a whimsical face and merry blue eyes on Mr Pinch.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Mr Pinch imparting to his new friend, as they went, such further particulars of Mark Tapley's whimsical restlessness as the reader is already acquainted with. Go to

Original English Version

1. He continued to sing with so much energy, that he did not hear the sound of wheels until it was close behind him; when he turned a whimsical face and a very merry pair of blue eyes on Mr Pinch, and checked himself directly. Go to

2. Mr Pinch imparting to his new friend, as they went, such further particulars of Mark Tapley's whimsical restlessness as the reader is already acquainted with. Go to

whined /waɪnd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: ganiu; choramingou

Simple English: Made a long, high, sad sound, as a dog does.

Example: Toto pushed his nose into her face and whined.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He whined like a deeply humiliated dog and drank again. Go to

whips /wɪps/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: chicotes; açoita; bate energicamente

Simple English: Long thin pieces of leather used for hitting; also to hit with one.

Example: The museum has a case of old carriage whips.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They wore loose work shirts, brown and grey coats, red wool scarves, leather leggings, strangely shaped hats, hunting whips, and carried rough sticks. Go to

Original English Version

1. Then there were young farmers and old farmers with smock-frocks, brown great-coats, drab great-coats, red worsted comforters, leather-leggings, wonderful shaped hats, hunting-whips, and rough sticks, standing about in groups, or talking noisily together on the tavern steps, or paying and receiving huge amounts of greasy wealth, with the assistance of such bulky pocket-books that when they were in their pockets it was apoplexy to get them out, and when they were out it was spasms to get them in again. Go to

whiskers /ˈwɪskərz/ (21 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: bigodes; suíças

Simple English: The hair growing on a man's face, or the long hairs on an animal's face.

Example: The soldier with the green whiskers came in.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Long waiting in the cold had pinched his sharp face and made his thin red whiskers and untidy hair even more wild. Go to

2. He was so bald and had such large whiskers that his falling hair seemed to have been stopped by a powerful remedy. Go to

3. She called the whiskers "the lodestar of her existence." Her love for her uncle Chuzzlewit was strong. Go to

4. "I am sorry to interrupt, Pecksniff," said Mr Spottletoe, his whiskers looking dangerous, "but you assume too much, sir. Go to

5. Oil ran from his head onto his whiskers, his face was red, his limbs shook, and he gasped for breath. Go to

Original English Version

1. His sharp features being much pinched and nipped by long waiting in the cold, and his straggling red whiskers and frowzy hair being more than usually dishevelled from the same cause, he certainly looked rather unwholesome and uncomfortable than Shakspearian or Miltonic. Go to

2. First, there was Mr Spottletoe, who was so bald and had such big whiskers, that he seemed to have stopped his hair, by the sudden application of some powerful remedy, in the very act of falling off his head, and to have fastened it irrevocably on his face. Go to

3. Then there was Mrs Spottletoe, who being much too slim for her years, and of a poetical constitution, was accustomed to inform her more intimate friends that the said whiskers were 'the lodestar of her existence;' and who could now, by reason of her strong affection for her uncle Chuzzlewit, and the shock it gave her to be suspected of testamentary designs upon him, do nothing but cry--except moan. Go to

4. 'I am sorry to interrupt you, Pecksniff,' remarked Mr Spottletoe, with his whiskers in a very portentous state; 'but you are assuming too much to yourself, sir. Go to

5. His head distilled such oil upon his whiskers, that they were rich and clogged with unctuous drops; his face was violently inflamed, his limbs trembled; and he gasped and strove for breath. Go to

whispered /ˈwɪspərd/ (113 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sussurraram; cochicharam

Simple English: Spoke very quietly, so that few people could hear.

Example: They stopped and whispered among themselves.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Lights flashed, voices whispered, and newly lit wood smoked and spat in a damp chimney. Go to

2. Thanking Mrs Lupin for her care and company, she whispered that she would stay longer. Go to

3. Mr Pecksniff glanced at the book in her hand and whispered again to Mrs Lupin, sounding even more sad. Go to

4. At last he whispered: Go to

5. Here Mr Chevy Slyme, whose great abilities all seemed to point toward dishonesty, secretly nudged his friend with his elbow and whispered in his ear. Go to

6. He then whispered to Mr Chuzzlewit, begging him never to repeat a word of his heartfelt story. Go to

Original English Version

1. Even those tokens of the season which emphatically whispered of the coming winter, graced the landscape, and, for the moment, tinged its livelier features with no oppressive air of sadness. Go to

2. But the young lady evincing no surprise, curiosity, or alarm, whispered her, with many thanks for her solicitude and company, that she would remain there some time longer; and that she begged her not to share her watch, as she was well used to being alone, and would pass the time in reading. Go to

3. Mr Pecksniff glanced at the volume she held, and whispered Mrs Lupin again; if possible, with increased despondency. Go to

4. Here Mr Chevy Slyme, whose great abilities seemed one and all to point towards the sneaking quarter of the moral compass, nudged his friend stealthily with his elbow, and whispered in his ear. Go to

5. 'The letter,' whispered Tigg in the same cautious manner as before, 'which my friend Pecksniff addressed to Chevy Slyme, Esquire, and left with you.' Go to

6. 'That was lucky!' whispered the old man, when they moved on again. Go to

whispering /ˈwɪspərɪŋ/ (15 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: sussurrando

Simple English: Speaking very softly so that few can hear.

Example: The two girls were whispering at the back.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. As he finished whispering, he walked ahead of the hostess. Go to

2. They stood together, winking their red eyes and quietly whispering. Go to

Original English Version

1. For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs. Go to

2. Then there were Anthony Chuzzlewit, and his son Jonas; the face of the old man so sharpened by the wariness and cunning of his life, that it seemed to cut him a passage through the crowded room, as he edged away behind the remotest chairs; while the son had so well profited by the precept and example of the father, that he looked a year or two the elder of the twain, as they stood winking their red eyes, side by side, and whispering to each other softly. Go to

whistled /ˈwɪsəld/ (16 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: assobiou

Simple English: Made a high sound by blowing through the lips.

Example: The farmer whistled and the dog came running.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It threw sawdust into the air, searched beneath it, and, whenever it found leaves, whistled and drove hard after them. Go to

2. While Mrs Todgers was away, he whistled and drew figures on his corduroys with burned wood. Go to

whistling /ˈwɪslɪŋ/ (14 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: assobio; silvo

Simple English: A high sound made by air moving quickly.

Example: A sharp whistling came through the air.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Martin's loud whistling while drawing distracted Tom. Go to

Original English Version

1. They were both very busy on the afternoon succeeding the family's departure--Martin with the grammar-school, and Tom in balancing certain receipts of rents, and deducting Mr Pecksniff's commission from the same; in which abstruse employment he was much distracted by a habit his new friend had of whistling aloud while he was drawing--when they were not a little startled by the unexpected obtrusion into that sanctuary of genius, of a human head which, although a shaggy and somewhat alarming head in appearance, smiled affably upon them from the doorway, in a manner that was at once waggish, conciliatory, and expressive of approbation. Go to

2. In the first of these sanctuaries a fire was speedily kindled by the youthful porter, who, whistling at his work in the absence of Mrs Todgers (not to mention his sketching figures on his corduroys with burnt firewood), and being afterwards taken by that lady in the fact, was dismissed with a box on his ears. Go to

whiter /ˈwaɪtər/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mais branco

Simple English: more white than something else

Example: His hair was whiter than snow.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. His long grey hair seemed whiter under the tight black velvet skullcap he wore. Go to

Original English Version

1. He raised his head up in the bed, and, fixing on her two dark eyes whose brightness was exaggerated by the paleness of his hollow cheeks, as they in turn, together with his straggling locks of long grey hair, were rendered whiter by the tight black velvet skullcap which he wore, he searched her face intently. Go to

whither /ˈwɪðər/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: para onde; aonde

Simple English: an old word meaning 'to what place'

Example: Whither goest thou - to heaven or hell?

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. But the oddest feat they achieved was, to take advantage of the sudden opening of Mr Pecksniff's front-door, to dash wildly into his passage; whither the wind following close upon them, and finding the back-door open, incontinently blew out the lighted candle held by Miss Pecksniff, and slammed the front-door against Mr Pecksniff who was at that moment entering, with such violence, that in the twinkling of an eye he lay on his back at the bottom of the steps. Go to

2. So saying, he clapped that dejected companion on the shoulder, turned upon his heel, and walked out into the passage, whither poor Mr Pinch, after lingering irresolutely in the parlour for a few seconds, expressing in his countenance the deepest mental misery and gloom followed him. Go to

3. An old gentleman and a young lady, travelling, unattended, in a rusty old chariot with post-horses; coming nobody knew whence and going nobody knew whither; had turned out of the high road, and driven unexpectedly to the Blue Dragon; and here was the old gentleman, who had taken this step by reason of his sudden illness in the carriage, suffering the most horrible cramps and spasms, yet protesting and vowing in the very midst of his pain, that he wouldn't have a doctor sent for, and wouldn't take any remedies but those which the young lady administered from a small medicine-chest, and wouldn't, in a word, do anything but terrify the landlady out of her five wits, and obstinately refuse compliance with every suggestion that was made to him. Go to

4. Being cut short in these speeches by a general move towards the stairs, he took possession at the street door of the lapel of Mr Pinch's coat, as a security against further interruption; and entertained that gentleman with some highly improving discourse until they reached the Dragon, whither they were closely followed by Mark and the new pupil. Go to

whittington /ˈwɪtɪŋtən/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Whittington

Simple English: Dick Whittington, a legendary Lord Mayor of London

Example: Richard said the road reminded him of his namesake Whittington, and the wagon completed the picture.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. You remind me strongly of Whittington, later three times Lord Mayor of London. Go to

Original English Version

1. You remind me of Whittington, afterwards thrice Lord Mayor of London. Go to

whittingtons /ˈwɪtɪŋtənz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Whittingtons (alusão a Dick Whittington, o rapaz pobre que virou prefeito de Londres)

Simple English: an allusive plural use of the name Dick Whittington, the poor boy of legend who became Lord Mayor of London thanks to his cat; here it jokingly compares two young men to him, minus the lucky cat.

Example: You are two Whittingtons without the cat, which pleases me because I do not like cats.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. You are two Whittingtons without the cat, which pleases me because I do not like cats. Go to

Original English Version

1. You are a pair of Whittingtons, gents, without the cat; which is a most agreeable and blessed exception to me, for I am not attached to the feline species. Go to

whizzed /wɪzd/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: passou zunindo

Simple English: Moved very fast with a light hissing sound.

Example: A stone whizzed past his ear.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. At last the sparks whizzed madly, which the sour wind could not bear. Go to

Original English Version

1. And what an impotent swaggerer it was too, for all its noise; for if it had any influence on that hoarse companion, it was but to make him roar his cheerful song the louder, and by consequence to make the fire burn the brighter, and the sparks to dance more gayly yet; at length, they whizzed so madly round and round, that it was too much for such a surly wind to bear; so off it flew with a howl giving the old sign before the ale-house door such a cuff as it went, that the Blue Dragon was more rampant than usual ever afterwards, and indeed, before Christmas, reared clean out of its crazy frame. Go to

why's /waɪz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: por que é

Simple English: a short form of 'why is'

Example: Why's that?

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Like the famous question, "Why's a man in jail like a man out of jail?" it has no answer. Go to

Original English Version

1. My own opinions, that like that celebrated conundrum, "Why's a man in jail like a man out of jail?" there's no answer to it. Go to

wick /wɪk/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pavio

Simple English: The string in a candle or lamp that burns.

Example: He trimmed the wick of the lamp.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He forgot to snuff the candle until its wick looked like a mushroom. Go to

Original English Version

1. But suddenly remembering their compact, he took up the poem at the place where he had left off, and went on reading; always forgetting to snuff the candle, until its wick looked like a mushroom. Go to

wickedness /ˈwɪkɪdnəs/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: maldade; perversidade

Simple English: Very bad and cruel behaviour.

Example: He spoke of the wickedness of the world.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Then he walked through the streets, enjoying the idea that they were full of mystery and wickedness. Go to

Original English Version

1. When the son of that individual, to whom the secret of his father's birth was supposed to have been communicated by his father in his lifetime, lay upon his deathbed, this question was put to him in a distinct, solemn, and formal way: 'Toby Chuzzlewit, who was your grandfather?' To which he, with his last breath, no less distinctly, solemnly, and formally replied: and his words were taken down at the time, and signed by six witnesses, each with his name and address in full: 'The Lord No Zoo.' It may be said--it HAS been said, for human wickedness has no limits--that there is no Lord of that name, and that among the titles which have become extinct, none at all resembling this, in sound even, is to be discovered. Go to

wicker /ˈwɪkər/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: vime

Simple English: Thin branches woven together to make furniture and baskets.

Example: Two wicker chairs stood on the porch.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. A large wicker basket stood before her as she made impossible nightcaps for the poor. Go to

Original English Version

1. Neither had Miss Charity expected them, for she was busied, with a capacious wicker basket before her, in making impracticable nightcaps for the poor. Go to

widower /ˈwɪdoʊər/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: viúvo

Simple English: a man whose wife has died

Example: He was a widower when he came, and he stayed that way.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. So did his plain black suit, his state as a widower, and his hanging double eyeglass. Go to

Original English Version

1. In a word, even his plain black suit, and state of widower and dangling double eye-glass, all tended to the same purpose, and cried aloud, 'Behold the moral Pecksniff!' Go to

wilder /ˈwaɪldər/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mais selvagem; mais agreste

Simple English: More wild and less cared for by people.

Example: This part of the country seemed even wilder.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Market-day made the city seem even wilder to this quiet man. Go to

wildness /ˈwaɪldnəs/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: selvageria; descontrole

Simple English: The quality of being wild, natural or out of control.

Example: There was a wildness in the wind that night.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Miss Pecksniff sat upon a stool because she was all girlishness, and playfulness, and wildness, and kittenish buoyancy. Go to

2. 'I saw a wildness in her eye, t'other day,' said Mr Jonas, addressing Charity. Go to

wiltshire /ˈwɪltʃər/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: Wiltshire (condado inglês)

Simple English: the name of an English county, home to the village near Salisbury described in the scene.

Example: It shone brightly on a small Wiltshire village, an easy journey from Salisbury.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. It shone brightly on a small Wiltshire village, an easy journey from the old town of Salisbury. Go to

2. Beside him stood a huge jug of Wiltshire beer. Go to

Original English Version

1. It was pretty late in the autumn of the year, when the declining sun struggling through the mist which had obscured it all day, looked brightly down upon a little Wiltshire village, within an easy journey of the fair old town of Salisbury. Go to

2. Beside him, too, there stood a jug of most stupendous Wiltshire beer; and the effect of the whole was so transcendent, that he was obliged every now and then to lay down his knife and fork, rub his hands, and think about it. Go to

windowpane /ˈwɪndoʊpeɪn/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: vidraça

Simple English: A single piece of glass in a window.

Example: Rain streaked down the windowpane.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Huge silver watches hung in every windowpane; if they were not excellent timekeepers, it could not be because their works lacked room. Go to

winked /wɪŋkt/ (32 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: piscou

Simple English: Closed and opened one eye quickly.

Example: The eyes winked three times.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. The old Spanish mahogany only winked sometimes, like a sleepy cat or dog. Go to

Original English Version

1. There was no wakeful reflection of the fire there, as in your modern chambers, which upon the darkest nights have a watchful consciousness of French polish; the old Spanish mahogany winked at it now and then, as a dozing cat or dog might, nothing more. Go to

2. To the extent of such a trifling loan as a crownpiece to a man of your talents, I look upon Mr Pecksniff as certain;' and seeing at this juncture that the expression of Mr Pecksniff's face by no means betokened that he shared this certainty, Mr Tigg laid his finger on his nose again for that gentleman's private and especial behoof; calling upon him thereby to take notice that the requisition of small loans was another instance of the peculiarities of genius as developed in his friend Slyme; that he, Tigg, winked at the same, because of the strong metaphysical interest which these weaknesses possessed; and that in reference to his own personal advocacy of such small advances, he merely consulted the humour of his friend, without the least regard to his own advantage or necessities. Go to

winking /ˈwɪŋkɪŋ/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: cintilantes; que piscam

Simple English: Closing and opening one eye quickly as a sign.

Example: He kept winking at the other man.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They stood together, winking their red eyes and quietly whispering. Go to

Original English Version

1. I will not say,' continued Mr Pecksniff, drawing out his pocket-handkerchief, and winking with both eyes at once, as it were, against his will, 'I will not say that you are mistaken in me. Go to

2. Then there were Anthony Chuzzlewit, and his son Jonas; the face of the old man so sharpened by the wariness and cunning of his life, that it seemed to cut him a passage through the crowded room, as he edged away behind the remotest chairs; while the son had so well profited by the precept and example of the father, that he looked a year or two the elder of the twain, as they stood winking their red eyes, side by side, and whispering to each other softly. Go to

winks /wɪŋks/ (5 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: pisca o olho; pestaneja

Simple English: shuts and opens one eye quickly as a sign or from strain

Example: Mr. Smallweed winks upon her.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Nothing's good enough for him; all the women is dying for him he thinks, and is overpaid if he winks at 'em; and all the men was made to be ordered about by him. Go to

wiping /ˈwaɪpɪŋ/ (16 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: enxugando; limpando

Simple English: Rubbing something to make it clean or dry.

Example: The Lion spoke, wiping a tear from his eye.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'I was almost afraid,' said Tom, taking a letter from his pocket and wiping his face, for he was hot with bustling about though it was a cold day, 'that I shouldn't have had time to write it, and that would have been a thousand pities; postage from such a distance being a serious consideration, when one's not rich. Go to

wiser /ˈwaɪzər/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mais sábio

Simple English: Having more good sense than someone else.

Example: My grandmother is wiser than all of us.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. That is a small matter; you will be wiser next time.' Go to

2. Mr Jonas thought this wiser than one drink costing a shilling, because the innkeeper might put more brandy in two glasses. Go to

Original English Version

1. That's small matter; you'll be wiser another time.' Go to

wisest /ˈwaɪzɪst/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: o mais sábio

Simple English: The most wise of all.

Example: You will be the wisest man in all the Land of Oz.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He spoke with such confidence and in such an impressive way that even the wisest people sometimes became confused and lost their breath. Go to

Original English Version

1. And he did this so boldly, and in such an imposing manner, that he would sometimes stagger the wisest people with his eloquence, and make them gasp again. Go to

withering /ˈwɪðərɪŋ/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: fulminante; que murcha

Simple English: Making someone feel small and ashamed, or drying up.

Example: She gave him a withering look.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Withering leaves hurried about seeking shelter from its cold chase. Go to

Original English Version

1. The withering leaves no longer quiet, hurried to and fro in search of shelter from its chill pursuit; the labourer unyoked his horses, and with head bent down, trudged briskly home beside them; and from the cottage windows lights began to glance and wink upon the darkening fields. Go to

wits /wɪts/ (6 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: juízo; inteligência; esperteza

Simple English: your ability to think quickly and cleverly

Example: The girls put their wits to work and made whatever they needed.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. He did nothing but frighten the landlady out of her five wits and refuse every suggestion. Go to

Original English Version

1. An old gentleman and a young lady, travelling, unattended, in a rusty old chariot with post-horses; coming nobody knew whence and going nobody knew whither; had turned out of the high road, and driven unexpectedly to the Blue Dragon; and here was the old gentleman, who had taken this step by reason of his sudden illness in the carriage, suffering the most horrible cramps and spasms, yet protesting and vowing in the very midst of his pain, that he wouldn't have a doctor sent for, and wouldn't take any remedies but those which the young lady administered from a small medicine-chest, and wouldn't, in a word, do anything but terrify the landlady out of her five wits, and obstinately refuse compliance with every suggestion that was made to him. Go to

woken /ˈwoʊkən/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: acordado; desperto

Simple English: No longer sleeping.

Example: Toto had woken up.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'He has woken up!' cried the youngest Miss Pecksniff. Go to

womanhood /ˈwʊmənhʊd/ (1 occurrence in the simplified text)

Português: condição de mulher adulta

Simple English: The state of being a grown woman.

Example: She grew to womanhood in that house.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. All the beauty of youth and young womanhood appeared in her gentle face. Go to

womanly /ˈwʊmənli/ (3 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: feminino; próprio de mulher

Simple English: Having qualities thought to belong to a woman.

Example: There was a womanly kindness in her voice.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Her figure was quite full and womanly, but sometimes--yes, sometimes--she even wore a child's apron. Go to

Original English Version

1. Moderately buxom was her shape, and quite womanly too; but sometimes--yes, sometimes--she even wore a pinafore; and how charming THAT was! Go to

workhouses /ˈwɜrkˌhaʊzɪz/ (2 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: asilos de pobres; casas de trabalho

Simple English: old public places where the very poor were made to live and work

Example: And the Union workhouses? Scrooge asked.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Visit the children's section of any prison in England or, sadly, of many workhouses. Go to

Original English Version

1. Let the reader go into the children's side of any prison in England, or, I grieve to add, of many workhouses, and judge whether those are monsters who disgrace our streets, people our hulks and penitentiaries, and overcrowd our penal colonies, or are creatures whom we have deliberately suffered to be bred for misery and ruin. Go to

worldly /ˈwɜːrldli/ (17 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: mundanos; do século

Simple English: Belonging to ordinary life and not to religion.

Example: He left his worldly goods behind.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Even the worldly goods we have just used,' said Mr Pecksniff, looking round the table after he finished, 'even cream, sugar, tea, toast, ham--' Go to

2. People rightly praise it as the key to the strong gates of worldly honour, fortune, and enjoyment. Go to

3. Without fear or favour, I tell you not to neglect your grandson, young Martin, who has the strongest natural claim on you." Mr Pecksniff stood on tiptoe among the curtains, seeming to rise above worldly concerns. Go to

4. All Tom's worldly wealth until next quarter-day. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Even the worldly goods of which we have just disposed,' said Mr Pecksniff, glancing round the table when he had finished, 'even cream, sugar, tea, toast, ham--' Go to

2. That her guest had need of some efficient services under the latter head was obvious enough from the restless expressions, importing, however, rather a worldly than a spiritual anxiety, to which he gave frequent utterance. Go to

3. In other hands, I have known money do good; in other hands I have known it triumphed in, and boasted of with reason, as the master-key to all the brazen gates that close upon the paths to worldly honour, fortune, and enjoyment. Go to

4. And I tell you, sir,' said Mr Pecksniff, towering on tiptoe among the curtains, as if he were literally rising above all worldly considerations, and were fain to hold on tight, to keep himself from darting skyward like a rocket, 'I tell you without fear or favour, that it will not do for you to be unmindful of your grandson, young Martin, who has the strongest natural claim upon you. Go to

5. All Tom's worldly wealth until next quarter-day. Go to

wormy /ˈwɜrmi/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: bichado; cheio de vermes

Simple English: having worms inside, or damaged by worms

Example: It blooms well, but the fruit is small and wormy.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. "It is a good damp, wormy business, sir," said Mark, arguing with a shake of his head. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'It's a good damp, wormy sort of business, sir,' said Mark, shaking his head argumentatively, 'and there might be some credit in being jolly, with one's mind in that pursuit, unless grave-diggers is usually given that way; which would be a drawback. Go to

wos /wɒz/ (12 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: era/estava

Simple English: past tense of 'be'; dialect pronunciation used by a Cockney character

Example: Even if it wos so--I don't say it is, but even if it wos.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. 'I wish they wos still a-bed. Go to

wrinkled /ˈrɪŋkəld/ (4 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: enrugado

Simple English: Covered with small lines and folds.

Example: Behind the screen stood a little man with a wrinkled face.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They raised their noses, wrinkled their brows, buried good feelings, and violently brought back old complaints. Go to

wronged /rɔːŋd/ (13 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: prejudiquei; fiz mal a

Simple English: Treated someone in an unfair way.

Example: He said he had never wronged anyone.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. They never deceived me or, as far as I knew, wronged one another. Go to

2. Charity's calm face seemed to say, "All my family have wronged me beyond repair. Go to

3. I must pray more carefully than usual for Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit, who has wronged me." Go to

Original English Version

1. I tell you, man,' he added, with increasing bitterness, 'that I have gone, a rich man, among people of all grades and kinds; relatives, friends, and strangers; among people in whom, when I was poor, I had confidence, and justly, for they never once deceived me then, or, to me, wronged each other. Go to

wrongly /ˈrɔːŋli/ (9 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: erradamente; fora de propósito

Simple English: In a way that is not correct.

Example: The parcel was wrongly sent to another town.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. Clearly, Mr Toby Chuzzlewit either heard, remembered, or pronounced the name wrongly. Go to

2. You proudly button your thin coat, wrongly called a 'great' coat for years. Go to

yawning /ˈjɔːnɪŋ/ (10 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: bocejando

Simple English: Opening the mouth wide because of being tired.

Example: He sat down, yawning.

Use in this Book:

Simplified (B1) English Version

1. 'Aye!' said his friend, yawning and stretching. Go to

Original English Version

1. 'Aye!' replied his friend, yawning and stretching himself. Go to

yonder /ˈjɑndər/ (20 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: além; ali adiante; acolá

Simple English: over there, in a place you can see but not close by

Example: They loitered under the shady lee of yonder warehouses.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. Can the false-hearted boy have chosen such a tool as yonder fellow who has just gone out? Go to

2. Who could repress a smile--of love for thee, Tom Pinch, and not in jest at thy expense, for thou art poor enough already, Heaven knows--to think that such a holiday as lies before thee should awaken that quick flow and hurry of the spirits, in which thou settest down again, almost untasted, on the kitchen window-sill, that great white mug (put by, by thy own hands, last night, that breakfast might not hold thee late), and layest yonder crust upon the seat beside thee, to be eaten on the road, when thou art calmer in thy high rejoicing! Go to

zeal /ziːl/ (8 occurrences in the simplified text)

Português: zelo; fervor

Simple English: Great energy for a belief or a cause.

Example: He worked with the zeal of a new believer.

Use in this Book:

Original English Version

1. It happened on the fourth evening, that Mr Pecksniff walking, as usual, into the bar of the Dragon and finding no Mrs Lupin there, went straight upstairs; purposing, in the fervour of his affectionate zeal, to apply his ear once more to the keyhole, and quiet his mind by assuring himself that the hard-hearted patient was going on well. Go to

Original Text: Rare Words (1/7)

Compact help for additional rare words found only in the original text. Each entry gives the spelling, pronunciation, common Portuguese meanings and one exact return to the source paragraph.

abashed /əˈbæʃt/ — envergonhado; constrangido. And so he took himself off; as little abashed by his recent failure as any gentleman would desire to be. Return to Original English Version

abetted /əˈbɛtɪd/ — ajudou e incentivou; foi cúmplice de. This remark being received with a shrill titter by the two sisters of the speaker, Miss Charity Pecksniff begged with much politeness to be informed whether any of those very low observations were levelled at her; and receiving no more explanatory answer than was conveyed in the adage 'Those the cap fits, let them wear it,' immediately commenced a somewhat acrimonious and personal retort, wherein she was much comforted and abetted by her sister Mercy, who laughed at the same with great heartiness; indeed far more naturally than life. Return to Original English Version

abject /ˈæbdʒekt/ — abjeto; vil. And now so abject and so pitiful was he--at once so maudlin, insolent, beggarly, and proud--that even his friend and parasite, standing erect beside him, swelled into a Man by contrast. Return to Original English Version

abominably /əˈbɑːmɪnəbli/ — abominavelmente; horrivelmente. In the second, he is most abominably selfish.' Return to Original English Version

abrasions /əˈbreɪʒənz/ — abrasões; escoriações. They were not very serious in their nature; being limited to abrasions on what the eldest Miss Pecksniff called 'the knobby parts' of her parent's anatomy, such as his knees and elbows, and to the development of an entirely new organ, unknown to phrenologists, on the back of his head. Return to Original English Version

abstaining /əbˈsteɪnɪŋ/ — abstendo-se. But, as his good-nature presently suggested to him certain reasons for abstaining from this hint, he paused again, and then asked: Return to Original English Version

abstracted /æbˈstræktɪd/ — distraído; absorto. Bless my life!' said Mr Pecksniff, looking up, and gradually exchanging his abstracted face for one of joyful recognition. Return to Original English Version

abstractedly /æbˈstræktɪdli/ — distraidamente; absorto. Mr Pecksniff toyed abstractedly with his eye-glass, and kept his eyes shut, that he might ruminate the better. Return to Original English Version

abstraction /æbˈstrækʃən/ — abstração; distração; alheamento. He did so, at first, in pure abstraction, but they presently became the subject of his thoughts. Return to Original English Version

abstruse /əbˈstruːs/ — abstruso; obscuro. They were both very busy on the afternoon succeeding the family's departure--Martin with the grammar-school, and Tom in balancing certain receipts of rents, and deducting Mr Pecksniff's commission from the same; in which abstruse employment he was much distracted by a habit his new friend had of whistling aloud while he was drawing--when they were not a little startled by the unexpected obtrusion into that sanctuary of genius, of a human head which, although a shaggy and somewhat alarming head in appearance, smiled affably upon them from the doorway, in a manner that was at once waggish, conciliatory, and expressive of approbation. Return to Original English Version

abundantly /əˈbʌndəntli/ — abundantemente; plenamente. This she had abundantly shown, but now, in her tending of the sick gentleman. Return to Original English Version

abutting /əˈbʌtɪŋ/ — confinando com; voltado para. There was one staircase-window in it, at the side of the house, on the ground floor; which tradition said had not been opened for a hundred years at least, and which, abutting on an always dirty lane, was so begrimed and coated with a century's mud, that no one pane of glass could possibly fall out, though all were cracked and broken twenty times. Return to Original English Version

acknowledgments /əkˈnɑːlɪdʒmənts/ — agradecimentos; reconhecimentos. The young fellow made his acknowledgments and accepted the offer; stepping into the carriage directly, and seating himself on the very edge of the seat with his body half out of it, to express his being there on sufferance, and by the politeness of Mr Pinch. Return to Original English Version

acquiescence /ˌækwiˈesəns/ — aquiescência; consentimento. His children heard with becoming reverence these moral precepts from the lips of their father, and signified their acquiescence in the same, by smiles. Return to Original English Version

acrimonious /ˌækrɪˈmoʊniəs/ — acrimonioso; amargo e hostil. This remark being received with a shrill titter by the two sisters of the speaker, Miss Charity Pecksniff begged with much politeness to be informed whether any of those very low observations were levelled at her; and receiving no more explanatory answer than was conveyed in the adage 'Those the cap fits, let them wear it,' immediately commenced a somewhat acrimonious and personal retort, wherein she was much comforted and abetted by her sister Mercy, who laughed at the same with great heartiness; indeed far more naturally than life. Return to Original English Version

adieux /əˈdjuːz/ — adeuses; despedidas. In truth, the new pupil, not at all disconcerted by the honour of having Miss Mercy Pecksniff on his arm, or by the affectionate adieux of that young lady, approached as Mr Pinch spoke, followed by Miss Charity and Mr Pecksniff. Return to Original English Version

adjured /əˈdʒʊrd/ — conjurou; suplicou solenemente. The same man was in waiting for the horse who had been adjured by Mr Pinch in the morning not to yield to his rabid desire to start; and after delivering the animal into his charge, and beseeching Mr Chuzzlewit in a whisper never to reveal a syllable of what he had just told him in the fullness of his heart, Tom led the pupil in, for instant presentation. Return to Original English Version

adjurest /əˈdʒʊərəst/ — instas solenemente. Blessings on thy simple heart, Tom Pinch, how proudly dost thou button up that scanty coat, called by a sad misnomer, for these many years, a 'great' one; and how thoroughly, as with thy cheerful voice thou pleasantly adjurest Sam the hostler 'not to let him go yet,' dost thou believe that quadruped desires to go, and would go if he might! Return to Original English Version

admixture /ədˈmɪkstʃər/ — mistura; acréscimo misturado. Nobody but Mr Tigg, who, notwithstanding his extreme shabbiness, was still understood to be in some sort a lady's man, in right of his upper lip and his frogs, indicated a doubt of the justifiable nature of these measures; and he only ogled the three Miss Chuzzlewits with the least admixture of banter in his admiration, as though he would observe, 'You are positively down upon her to too great an extent, my sweet creatures, upon my soul you are!' Return to Original English Version

ado /əˈduː/ — alarde; rodeios; agitação. It was all on Mr Pinch's side, and Mr Chuzzlewit said he was very much afraid it would encumber him; to which Tom said, 'Not at all;' though it forced him into such an awkward position, that he had much ado to see anything but his own knees. Return to Original English Version

adulated /ˈædjʊleɪtɪd/ — bajulados. They should have shown themselves fit objects to be robbed and preyed upon and plotted against and adulated by any knaves, who, but for joy, would have spat upon their coffins when they died their dupes; and then their search would have ended as mine has done, and they would be what I am.' Return to Original English Version

adversity /ədˈvɜːrsɪti/ — adversidade; infortúnio. 'All will be well in time,' said Tom, 'I have no doubt; and some trial and adversity just now will only serve to make you more attached to each other in better days. Return to Original English Version

advert /ədˈvɜːrt/ — referir-se a; mencionar. And now,' said Mr Pecksniff, in conclusion, 'to drop, for the present, our professional relations and advert to private matters, I shall be glad to talk with you in my own room, while I pack up my portmanteau.' Return to Original English Version

affable /ˈæfəbəl/ — afável; cordial. Now there was nothing that one may call decidedly original in this remark, nor can it be exactly said to have contained any wise precept theretofore unknown to mankind, or to have opened any hidden source of consolation; but Mr Pecksniff's manner was so bland, and he nodded his head so soothingly, and showed in everything such an affable sense of his own excellence, that anybody would have been, as Mrs Lupin was, comforted by the mere voice and presence of such a man; and, though he had merely said 'a verb must agree with its nominative case in number and person, my good friend,' or 'eight times eight are sixty-four, my worthy soul,' must have felt deeply grateful to him for his humanity and wisdom. Return to Original English Version

affably /ˈæfəbli/ — afavelmente; com cordialidade. They were both very busy on the afternoon succeeding the family's departure--Martin with the grammar-school, and Tom in balancing certain receipts of rents, and deducting Mr Pecksniff's commission from the same; in which abstruse employment he was much distracted by a habit his new friend had of whistling aloud while he was drawing--when they were not a little startled by the unexpected obtrusion into that sanctuary of genius, of a human head which, although a shaggy and somewhat alarming head in appearance, smiled affably upon them from the doorway, in a manner that was at once waggish, conciliatory, and expressive of approbation. Return to Original English Version

affidavit /ˌæfɪˈdeɪvɪt/ — declaração juramentada; afidávit. She had still a bright black eye, and jet black hair; was comely, dimpled, plump, and tight as a gooseberry; and though she was not exactly what the world calls young, you may make an affidavit, on trust, before any mayor or magistrate in Christendom, that there are a great many young ladies in the world (blessings on them one and all!) whom you wouldn't like half as well, or admire half as much, as the beaming hostess of the Blue Dragon. Return to Original English Version

afforded /əˈfɔːrdɪd/ — proporcionou; permitiu-se; teve meios para. That it amply repaid him for his trouble, and afforded a delicious and enchanting prospect, was clear from the expression of his face. Return to Original English Version

aggravation /ˌæɡrəˈveɪʃən/ — irritação; agravamento. At length, in utter despair and hopelessness, some few of the belligerents began to speak to each other in only moderate terms of mutual aggravation; and nearly all addressed themselves with a show of tolerable decency to Mr Pecksniff, in recognition of his high character and influential position. Return to Original English Version

agreeably /əˈɡriːəbli/ — agradavelmente; de modo grato. Such was the pleasant little family circle now assembled in Mr Pecksniff's best parlour, agreeably prepared to fall foul of Mr Pecksniff or anybody else who might venture to say anything whatever upon any subject. Return to Original English Version

alluded /əˈluːdɪd/ — aludiu; referiu-se indiretamente. 'And I will further add,' said Mr George, nodding his head violently at every second syllable; 'naming no names, and therefore hurting nobody but those whose consciences tell them they are alluded to, that I think it would be much more decent and becoming, if those who hooked and crooked themselves into this family by getting on the blind side of some of its members before marriage, and manslaughtering them afterwards by crowing over them to that strong pitch that they were glad to die, would refrain from acting the part of vultures in regard to other members of this family who are living. Return to Original English Version

allusion /əˈluːʒən/ — alusão; referência. 'This,' he said, in allusion to the party, not the wine, 'is a mingling that repays one for much disappointment and vexation. Return to Original English Version

aloft /əˈlɔːft/ — no alto; ao alto; em cima, no cordame. As he spoke he drew himself aloft, and seemed to grow more mindful, suddenly, of the moral gulf between himself and the creature he addressed. Return to Original English Version

aloof /əˈluːf/ — distante; reservado. They no longer demand a beautiful virgin for breakfast every morning, with as much regularity as any tame single gentleman expects his hot roll, but rest content with the society of idle bachelors and roving married men; and they are now remarkable rather for holding aloof from the softer sex and discouraging their visits (especially on Saturday nights), than for rudely insisting on their company without any reference to their inclinations, as they are known to have done in days of yore. Return to Original English Version

amain /əˈmeɪn/ — com toda a força; impetuosamente. These gentry were much opposed to steam and all new-fangled ways, and held ballooning to be sinful, and deplored the degeneracy of the times; which that particular member of each little club who kept the keys of the nearest church, professionally, always attributed to the prevalence of dissent and irreligion; though the major part of the company inclined to the belief that virtue went out with hair-powder, and that Old England's greatness had decayed amain with barbers. Return to Original English Version

amassed /əˈmæst/ — acumulou; reuniu. At length it became high time to remember the first clause of that great discovery made by the ancient philosopher, for securing health, riches, and wisdom; the infallibility of which has been for generations verified by the enormous fortunes constantly amassed by chimney-sweepers and other persons who get up early and go to bed betimes. Return to Original English Version

amiable /ˈeɪmiəbəl/ — amável; afável. Nor was he stinted in his draughts of wine; but on the contrary, remembering Mr Pecksniff's speech, attacked the bottle with such vigour, that every time he filled his glass anew, Miss Charity, despite her amiable resolves, could not repress a fixed and stony glare, as if her eyes had rested on a ghost. Return to Original English Version

amounting /əˈmaʊntɪŋ/ — totalizando; equivalendo a. Moreover, Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Jonas were economically quartered at the Half Moon and Seven Stars, which was an obscure ale-house; and by the very next coach there came posting to the scene of action, so many other affectionate members of the family (who quarrelled with each other, inside and out, all the way down, to the utter distraction of the coachman), that in less than four-and-twenty hours the scanty tavern accommodation was at a premium, and all the private lodgings in the place, amounting to full four beds and sofa, rose cent per cent in the market. Return to Original English Version

amply /ˈæmpli/ — amplamente; fartamente. That it amply repaid him for his trouble, and afforded a delicious and enchanting prospect, was clear from the expression of his face. Return to Original English Version

amusements /əˈmjuːzmənts/ — diversões; passatempos. Indeed, it may be laid down as a general principle, that the more extended the ancestry, the greater the amount of violence and vagabondism; for in ancient days those two amusements, combining a wholesome excitement with a promising means of repairing shattered fortunes, were at once the ennobling pursuit and the healthful recreation of the Quality of this land. Return to Original English Version

anathema /əˈnæθəmə/ — anátema; algo abominável. 'Let me inquire,' said Martin, interposing between this candid speech and the delivery of some blighting anathema by Mr Tigg, 'what the amount of this debt may be?' Return to Original English Version

anatomical /ˌænəˈtɒmɪkəl/ — anatômico. 'The process of digestion, as I have been informed by anatomical friends, is one of the most wonderful works of nature. Return to Original English Version

anecdote /ˈænɪkdoʊt/ — anedota; caso contado. Indeed the anecdote is so plainly susceptible of this meaning and no other, that it would be hardly worth recording in its original state, were it not a proof of what may be (and very often is) affected not only in historical prose but in imaginative poetry, by the exercise of a little ingenious labour on the part of a commentator. Return to Original English Version

anew /əˈnuː/ — de novo; novamente. Nor was he stinted in his draughts of wine; but on the contrary, remembering Mr Pecksniff's speech, attacked the bottle with such vigour, that every time he filled his glass anew, Miss Charity, despite her amiable resolves, could not repress a fixed and stony glare, as if her eyes had rested on a ghost. Return to Original English Version

anguish /ˈæŋɡwɪʃ/ — angústia; sofrimento intenso. It happened that Mr Pecksniff, coming softly upon the dark passage into which a spiral ray of light usually darted through the same keyhole, was astonished to find no such ray visible; and it happened that Mr Pecksniff, when he had felt his way to the chamber-door, stooping hurriedly down to ascertain by personal inspection whether the jealousy of the old man had caused this keyhole to be stopped on the inside, brought his head into such violent contact with another head that he could not help uttering in an audible voice the monosyllable 'Oh!' which was, as it were, sharply unscrewed and jerked out of him by very anguish. Return to Original English Version

annihilate /əˈnaɪəleɪt/ — aniquilar; exterminar. From the strong-minded woman downwards everybody fell, that instant, upon Mr Spottletoe, who after vainly attempting to be heard in silence was fain to sit down again, folding his arms and shaking his head most wrathfully, and giving Mrs Spottletoe to understand in dumb show, that that scoundrel Pecksniff might go on for the present, but he would cut in presently, and annihilate him. Return to Original English Version

antediluvian /ˌæntɪdɪˈluːviən/ — antediluviano; antiquíssimo. 'Oh, certainly,' replied Tom, 'if you really wish it.' So he accompanied Mr Tigg to the retreat in question; on arriving at which place that gentleman took from his hat what seemed to be the fossil remains of an antediluvian pocket-handkerchief, and wiped his eyes therewith. Return to Original English Version

antidoting /ˈæntɪdəʊtɪŋ/ — neutralizando. What a pleasant sight was that the contrast they presented; to see each loved and loving one sympathizing with, and devoted to, and leaning on, and yet correcting and counter-checking, and, as it were, antidoting, the other! Return to Original English Version

antiquity /ænˈtɪkwəti/ — Antiguidade; tempos antigos. As no lady or gentleman, with any claims to polite breeding, can possibly sympathize with the Chuzzlewit Family without being first assured of the extreme antiquity of the race, it is a great satisfaction to know that it undoubtedly descended in a direct line from Adam and Eve; and was, in the very earliest times, closely connected with the agricultural interest. Return to Original English Version

apiece /əˈpiːs/ — cada um; por pessoa. 'If you like punch, you'll allow me to order a glass apiece, as hot as it can be made, that we may usher in our friendship in a becoming manner. Return to Original English Version

apoplectic /ˌæpəˈplɛktɪk/ — apoplético; furioso. The very size and shape, and hopeless immovability of the bedstead, and wardrobe, and in a minor degree of even the chairs and tables, provoked sleep; they were plainly apoplectic and disposed to snore. Return to Original English Version

apoplexy /ˈæpəplɛksi/ — apoplexia; derrame. Then there were young farmers and old farmers with smock-frocks, brown great-coats, drab great-coats, red worsted comforters, leather-leggings, wonderful shaped hats, hunting-whips, and rough sticks, standing about in groups, or talking noisily together on the tavern steps, or paying and receiving huge amounts of greasy wealth, with the assistance of such bulky pocket-books that when they were in their pockets it was apoplexy to get them out, and when they were out it was spasms to get them in again. Return to Original English Version

apostolic /ˌæpəˈstɒlɪk/ — apostólico. If ever Mr Pecksniff wore an apostolic look, he wore it on this memorable day. Return to Original English Version

apostrophizing /əˈpɒstrəfaɪzɪŋ/ — apostrofando; dirigindo-se diretamente a. 'Go your ways,' said Pinch, apostrophizing the coach; 'I can hardly persuade myself but you're alive, and are some great monster who visits this place at certain intervals, to bear my friends away into the world. Return to Original English Version

apothecary /əˈpɑːθəkeri/ — boticário; farmacêutico. Now, there being no medical practitioner actually resident in the village, but a poor apothecary who was also a grocer and general dealer, the landlady had, upon her own responsibility, sent for him, in the very first burst and outset of the disaster. Return to Original English Version

appendages /əˈpendɪdʒɪz/ — apêndices; membros. 'Or if there's one in the eating parlour,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'I can find it myself.' So he led his daughters, without waiting for any further introduction, into a room on the ground-floor, where a table-cloth (rather a tight and scanty fit in reference to the table it covered) was already spread for breakfast; displaying a mighty dish of pink boiled beef; an instance of that particular style of loaf which is known to housekeepers as a slack-baked, crummy quartern; a liberal provision of cups and saucers; and the usual appendages. Return to Original English Version

apprehensions /ˌæprɪˈhenʃənz/ — receios; temores. But neither the apprehensions which he plainly entertained, at times, for his life, nor the great pain he underwent, influenced his resolution in the least degree. Return to Original English Version

apprehensive /ˌæprɪˈhensɪv/ — apreensivo; receoso. I am apprehensive that this is a very deep thing indeed!' Return to Original English Version

approachable /əˈproʊtʃəbəl/ — acessível; afável. But the grand mystery of Todgers's was the cellarage, approachable only by a little back door and a rusty grating; which cellarage within the memory of man had had no connection with the house, but had always been the freehold property of somebody else, and was reported to be full of wealth; though in what shape--whether in silver, brass, or gold, or butts of wine, or casks of gun-powder--was matter of profound uncertainty and supreme indifference to Todgers's and all its inmates. Return to Original English Version

approbation /ˌæprəˈbeɪʃən/ — aprovação; beneplácito. They were both very busy on the afternoon succeeding the family's departure--Martin with the grammar-school, and Tom in balancing certain receipts of rents, and deducting Mr Pecksniff's commission from the same; in which abstruse employment he was much distracted by a habit his new friend had of whistling aloud while he was drawing--when they were not a little startled by the unexpected obtrusion into that sanctuary of genius, of a human head which, although a shaggy and somewhat alarming head in appearance, smiled affably upon them from the doorway, in a manner that was at once waggish, conciliatory, and expressive of approbation. Return to Original English Version

appropriating /əˈproʊprieɪtɪŋ/ — apropriando-se de; tomando. There was not the least objection, doubtless, to the young man's slaughtering and appropriating to his own use any calf, fat or lean, that he might happen to find upon the premises; but as no such animal chanced at that time to be grazing on Mr Pecksniff's estate, this request must be considered rather as a polite compliment that a substantial hospitality. Return to Original English Version

archly /ˈɑːrtʃli/ — com malícia divertida. 'Oh Pa!' cried Mercy, holding up her finger archly. Return to Original English Version

archways /ˈɑːrtʃweɪz/ — arcadas. Taking a confused leave of Anthony and his son, and leaving the luggage of himself and daughters at the office to be called for afterwards, Mr Pecksniff, with one of the young ladies under each arm, dived across the street, and then across other streets, and so up the queerest courts, and down the strangest alleys and under the blindest archways, in a kind of frenzy; now skipping over a kennel, now running for his life from a coach and horses; now thinking he had lost his way, now thinking he had found it; now in a state of the highest confidence, now despondent to the last degree, but always in a great perspiration and flurry; until at length they stopped in a kind of paved yard near the Monument. Return to Original English Version

ardent /ˈɑːrdənt/ — ardente; apaixonado; intenso. 'Ardent child!' said Mr Pecksniff, gazing on her in a dreamy way. Return to Original English Version

ardour /ˈɑːrdər/ — ardor; fervor. Mrs Todgers meant by this that she must embrace them once more, which she accordingly did with great ardour. Return to Original English Version

argumentative /ˌɑːrɡjəˈmɛntətɪv/ — argumentativo; propenso a discutir. 'Now,' said Mr Pecksniff, crossing his two forefingers in a manner which was at once conciliatory and argumentative; 'I will not, upon the one hand, go so far as to say that she deserves all the inflictions which have been so very forcibly and hilariously suggested;' one of his ornamental sentences; 'nor will I, upon the other, on any account compromise my common understanding as a man, by making the assertion that she does not. Return to Original English Version

argumentatively /ˌɑːrɡjəˈmentətɪvli/ — em tom argumentativo; contestando. 'It's a good damp, wormy sort of business, sir,' said Mark, shaking his head argumentatively, 'and there might be some credit in being jolly, with one's mind in that pursuit, unless grave-diggers is usually given that way; which would be a drawback. Return to Original English Version

arrayed /əˈreɪd/ — trajado; disposto em ordem. We are not all arrayed in two opposite ranks; the OFfensive and the DEfensive. Return to Original English Version

artful /ˈɑːrtfəl/ — astuto; ardiloso. 'I am afraid,' said Mr Pecksniff, pausing at the door, and giving his head a melancholy roll, 'I am afraid that this looks artful. Return to Original English Version

articled /ˈɑːrtɪkəld/ — contratado como aprendiz; em estágio profissional. Having seen him eat unto his heart's content he issued forth again, to wander round the town and regale himself with the shop windows; previously taking a long stare at the bank, and wondering in what direction underground the caverns might be where they kept the money; and turning to look back at one or two young men who passed him, whom he knew to be articled to solicitors in the town; and who had a sort of fearful interest in his eyes, as jolly dogs who knew a thing or two, and kept it up tremendously. Return to Original English Version

artless /ˈɑːrtləs/ — ingênuo; sem malícia. She was the most arch and at the same time the most artless creature, was the youngest Miss Pecksniff, that you can possibly imagine. Return to Original English Version

ascertain /ˌæsərˈteɪn/ — averiguar; apurar. It happened that Mr Pecksniff, coming softly upon the dark passage into which a spiral ray of light usually darted through the same keyhole, was astonished to find no such ray visible; and it happened that Mr Pecksniff, when he had felt his way to the chamber-door, stooping hurriedly down to ascertain by personal inspection whether the jealousy of the old man had caused this keyhole to be stopped on the inside, brought his head into such violent contact with another head that he could not help uttering in an audible voice the monosyllable 'Oh!' which was, as it were, sharply unscrewed and jerked out of him by very anguish. Return to Original English Version

ascertaining /ˌæsərˈteɪnɪŋ/ — averiguando; apurando. 'When your mind requires to be refreshed by change of occupation,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'Thomas Pinch will instruct you in the art of surveying the back garden, or in ascertaining the dead level of the road between this house and the finger-post, or in any other practical and pleasing pursuit. Return to Original English Version

assembling /əˈsemblɪŋ/ — reunindo-se; montando. We thank you for assembling here. Return to Original English Version

assent /əˈsɛnt/ — assentimento; anuência. Martin nodded assent; and adding, with a restless impatience, that if he had been a few days earlier he would have seen her; and that now she might be, for anything he knew, hundreds of miles away; threw himself, after a few turns across the room, into a chair, and chafed like a spoilt child. Return to Original English Version

asseveration /əˌsevəˈreɪʃən/ — asseveração; afirmação solene. Now this gentleman, since deceased, was at all times ready to make oath, and did again and again set forth upon his solemn asseveration, that he had frequently heard his grandmother say, when contemplating this venerable relic, 'Aye, aye! Return to Original English Version

assurances /əˈʃʊrənsɪz/ — garantias; asseverações. Mr Pinch was delighted to hear him say this, and felt so much flattered by his kind assurances of friendship and protection, that he was at a loss how to express the pleasure they afforded him. Return to Original English Version

assuring /əˈʃʊrɪŋ/ — assegurando; garantindo. It happened on the fourth evening, that Mr Pecksniff walking, as usual, into the bar of the Dragon and finding no Mrs Lupin there, went straight upstairs; purposing, in the fervour of his affectionate zeal, to apply his ear once more to the keyhole, and quiet his mind by assuring himself that the hard-hearted patient was going on well. Return to Original English Version

asthmatical /æsˈmætɪkəl/ — asmático. These were, in general, ancient inhabitants of that region; born, and bred there from boyhood, who had long since become wheezy and asthmatical, and short of breath, except in the article of story-telling; in which respect they were still marvellously long-winded. Return to Original English Version

astounded /əˈstaʊndɪd/ — pasmado; estupefato. Also, to declare how astounded I have been by the amazing changes I have seen around me on every side--changes moral, changes physical, changes in the amount of land subdued and peopled, changes in the rise of vast new cities, changes in the growth of older cities almost out of recognition, changes in the graces and amenities of life, changes in the Press, without whose advancement no advancement can take place anywhere. Return to Original English Version

astounding /əˈstaʊndɪŋ/ — assombroso; espantoso. 'How can that be done, when I am detained also?' said Mr Tigg; 'and when moreover, owing to the astounding, and I must add, guilty negligence of my friend Pecksniff, I have no money for coach-hire?' Return to Original English Version

asunder /əˈsʌndər/ — em pedaços; ao meio. His nether garments were of a bluish grey--violent in its colours once, but sobered now by age and dinginess--and were so stretched and strained in a tough conflict between his braces and his straps, that they appeared every moment in danger of flying asunder at the knees. Return to Original English Version

athwart /əˈθwɔːrt/ — atravessado sobre; de través. Still athwart their darker boughs, the sunbeams struck out paths of deeper gold; and the red light, mantling in among their swarthy branches, used them as foils to set its brightness off, and aid the lustre of the dying day. Return to Original English Version

attainment /əˈteɪnmənt/ — obtenção; realização. 'Yes,' said Mr Pecksniff, after a short pause, during which he had been silently smiling, and shaking his head at the fire--'I have again been fortunate in the attainment of my object. Return to Original English Version

attentively /əˈtentɪvli/ — atentamente; com atenção. Now,' said the gentleman, shaking his forefinger before his nose, and planting his legs wider apart as he looked attentively in Mr Pecksniff's face, 'that is a remarkably curious and interesting trait in Mr Slyme's character; and whenever Slyme's life comes to be written, that trait must be thoroughly worked out by his biographer or society will not be satisfied. Return to Original English Version

attire /əˈtaɪər/ — traje; vestimenta. He was far from handsome certainly; and was drest in a snuff-coloured suit, of an uncouth make at the best, which, being shrunk with long wear, was twisted and tortured into all kinds of odd shapes; but notwithstanding his attire, and his clumsy figure, which a great stoop in his shoulders, and a ludicrous habit he had of thrusting his head forward, by no means redeemed, one would not have been disposed (unless Mr Pecksniff said so) to consider him a bad fellow by any means. Return to Original English Version

audible /ˈɔːdəbəl/ — audível. It happened that Mr Pecksniff, coming softly upon the dark passage into which a spiral ray of light usually darted through the same keyhole, was astonished to find no such ray visible; and it happened that Mr Pecksniff, when he had felt his way to the chamber-door, stooping hurriedly down to ascertain by personal inspection whether the jealousy of the old man had caused this keyhole to be stopped on the inside, brought his head into such violent contact with another head that he could not help uttering in an audible voice the monosyllable 'Oh!' which was, as it were, sharply unscrewed and jerked out of him by very anguish. Return to Original English Version

auspices /ˈɔːspɪsɪz/ — auspícios; patrocínio. Perhaps in no place in the world were so many gorgeous edifices of this class erected as under Mr Pecksniff's auspices; and if but one-twentieth part of the churches which were built in that front room, with one or other of the Miss Pecksniffs at the altar in the act of marrying the architect, could only be made available by the parliamentary commissioners, no more churches would be wanted for at least five centuries. Return to Original English Version

availed /əˈveɪld/ — valeu-se de; aproveitou. An ungainly, awkward-looking man, extremely short-sighted, and prematurely bald, availed himself of this permission; and seeing that Mr Pecksniff sat with his back towards him, gazing at the fire, stood hesitating, with the door in his hand. Return to Original English Version

avarice /ˈævərɪs/ — avareza; ganância. But, so born and so bred, admired for that which made him hateful, and justified from his cradle in cunning, treachery, and avarice; I claim him as the legitimate issue of the father upon whom those vices are seen to recoil. Return to Original English Version

avaricious /ˌævəˈrɪʃəs/ — avarento; ganancioso. I have so corrupted and changed the nature of all those who have ever attended on me, by breeding avaricious plots and hopes within them; I have engendered such domestic strife and discord, by tarrying even with members of my own family; I have been such a lighted torch in peaceful homes, kindling up all the inflammable gases and vapours in their moral atmosphere, which, but for me, might have proved harmless to the end, that I have, I may say, fled from all who knew me, and taking refuge in secret places have lived, of late, the life of one who is hunted. Return to Original English Version

aversion /əˈvɜːrʒən/ — aversão; repulsa. The rosy hostess scarcely needed Mr Pinch's word as a preliminary to the release of her two visitors, of whom she was glad to be rid on any terms; indeed, their brief detention had originated mainly with Mr Tapley, who entertained a constitutional dislike to gentleman out-at-elbows who flourished on false pretences; and had conceived a particular aversion to Mr Tigg and his friend, as choice specimens of the species. Return to Original English Version

avocation /ˌævoʊˈkeɪʃən/ — ocupação secundária. Also, to record that wherever I have been, in the smallest places equally with the largest, I have been received with unsurpassable politeness, delicacy, sweet temper, hospitality, consideration, and with unsurpassable respect for the privacy daily enforced upon me by the nature of my avocation here and the state of my health. Return to Original English Version

awakened /əˈweɪkənd/ — acordou; foi acordada; despertou. The feeling that the sounds awakened, in the moment of their existence, seemed to include his whole life and being; and as the surrounding realities of stone and wood and glass grew dimmer in the darkness, these visions grew so much the brighter that Tom might have forgotten the new pupil and the expectant master, and have sat there pouring out his grateful heart till midnight, but for a very earthy old verger insisting on locking up the cathedral forthwith. Return to Original English Version

axiom /ˈæksiəm/ — axioma; verdade evidente. So in very many cases of friendship, or what passes for it, the old axiom is reversed, and like clings to unlike more than to like. Return to Original English Version

bachelors /ˈbætʃələrz/ — solteiros; machos sem parceira. They no longer demand a beautiful virgin for breakfast every morning, with as much regularity as any tame single gentleman expects his hot roll, but rest content with the society of idle bachelors and roving married men; and they are now remarkable rather for holding aloof from the softer sex and discouraging their visits (especially on Saturday nights), than for rudely insisting on their company without any reference to their inclinations, as they are known to have done in days of yore. Return to Original English Version

bailiff's /ˈbeɪlɪfs/ — de um oficial de justiça. A bailiff's an't a lively office nat'rally. Return to Original English Version

baldness /ˈbɔːldnəs/ — calvície. Even such a thing as this,' said Mr Pecksniff, laying the fore-finger of his left hand upon the brown paper patch on the top of his head, 'slight casual baldness though it be, reminds us that we are but'--he was going to say 'worms,' but recollecting that worms were not remarkable for heads of hair, he substituted 'flesh and blood.' Return to Original English Version

ballooning /ˈbæluːnɪŋ/ — voo de balão. These gentry were much opposed to steam and all new-fangled ways, and held ballooning to be sinful, and deplored the degeneracy of the times; which that particular member of each little club who kept the keys of the nearest church, professionally, always attributed to the prevalence of dissent and irreligion; though the major part of the company inclined to the belief that virtue went out with hair-powder, and that Old England's greatness had decayed amain with barbers. Return to Original English Version

balustrades /ˌbæləˈstreɪdz/ — balaustradas. The staircase was very gloomy and very broad, with balustrades so thick and heavy that they would have served for a bridge. Return to Original English Version

bandying /ˈbændiɪŋ/ — trocando palavras; discutindo. Meantime the family forces were perpetually encountering each other in divers parts of the neighbourhood; and, as no one branch of the Chuzzlewit tree had ever been known to agree with another within the memory of man, there was such a skirmishing, and flouting, and snapping off of heads, in the metaphorical sense of that expression; such a bandying of words and calling of names; such an upturning of noses and wrinkling of brows; such a formal interment of good feelings and violent resurrection of ancient grievances; as had never been known in those quiet parts since the earliest record of their civilized existence. Return to Original English Version

banked /bæŋkt/ — tinha conta bancária; inclinou-se numa curva. The other, that from his early habits of considering everything as a question of property, he had gradually come to look, with impatience, on his parent as a certain amount of personal estate, which had no right whatever to be going at large, but ought to be secured in that particular description of iron safe which is commonly called a coffin, and banked in the grave. Return to Original English Version

banter /ˈbæntər/ — gracejo; troça amigável. Nobody but Mr Tigg, who, notwithstanding his extreme shabbiness, was still understood to be in some sort a lady's man, in right of his upper lip and his frogs, indicated a doubt of the justifiable nature of these measures; and he only ogled the three Miss Chuzzlewits with the least admixture of banter in his admiration, as though he would observe, 'You are positively down upon her to too great an extent, my sweet creatures, upon my soul you are!' Return to Original English Version

barrows /ˈbæroʊz/ — carrinhos de mão; túmulos antigos. He would not have had leisure to say much, had his new friend been ever so loquacious; for first of all Mr Pecksniff called him down to stand upon the top of his portmanteau and represent ancient statues there, until such time as it would consent to be locked; and then Miss Charity called him to come and cord her trunk; and then Miss Mercy sent for him to come and mend her box; and then he wrote the fullest possible cards for all the luggage; and then he volunteered to carry it all downstairs; and after that to see it safely carried on a couple of barrows to the old finger-post at the end of the lane; and then to mind it till the coach came up. Return to Original English Version

baseness /ˈbeɪsnəs/ — baixeza; vileza. Treachery, deceit, and low design; hatred of competitors, real or fancied, for my favour; meanness, falsehood, baseness, and servility; or,' and here he looked closely in his cousin's eyes, 'or an assumption of honest independence, almost worse than all; these are the beauties which my wealth has brought to light. Return to Original English Version

basest /ˈbeɪsɪst/ — o mais vil. Whether it is possible to make him acquainted by any means with the real character and purpose of that young female whose strange, whose very strange position, in reference to himself'--here Mr Pecksniff sunk his voice to an impressive whisper--'really casts a shadow of disgrace and shame upon this family; and who, we know'--here he raised his voice again--'else why is she his companion? harbours the very basest designs upon his weakness and his property.' Return to Original English Version

battened /ˈbætənd/ — fechado e preso lá embaixo. As a goodly tumulus is already collected, and decently battened up above the Family grave, the present chapter is content to leave it as it is: merely adding, by way of a final spadeful, that many Chuzzlewits, both male and female, are proved to demonstration, on the faith of letters written by their own mothers, to have had chiselled noses, undeniable chins, forms that might have served the sculptor for a model, exquisitely-turned limbs and polished foreheads of so transparent a texture that the blue veins might be seen branching off in various directions, like so many roads on an ethereal map. Return to Original English Version

battlement /ˈbætəlmənt/ — ameia; parapeito fortificado. The sun went down beneath the long dark lines of hill and cloud which piled up in the west an airy city, wall heaped on wall, and battlement on battlement; the light was all withdrawn; the shining church turned cold and dark; the stream forgot to smile; the birds were silent; and the gloom of winter dwelt on everything. Return to Original English Version

beauty's /ˈbjuːtiz/ — da beleza. That never ran smooth yet,' said Tom, with a smile which, despite the homeliness of his face, was pleasanter to see than many a proud beauty's brightest glance; 'what never ran smooth yet, can hardly be expected to change its character for us; so we must take it as we find it, and fashion it into the very best shape we can, by patience and good-humour. Return to Original English Version

beaux /boʊz/ — namorados; pretendentes. 'Lots of beaux in London, cousin!' said Mr Jonas, slightly advancing his elbow. Return to Original English Version

bedevilment /bɪˈdevəlmənt/ — confusão; complicação infernal. Mr Pinch had a shrewd notion that Salisbury was a very desperate sort of place; an exceeding wild and dissipated city; and when he had put up the horse, and given the hostler to understand that he would look in again in the course of an hour or two to see him take his corn, he set forth on a stroll about the streets with a vague and not unpleasant idea that they teemed with all kinds of mystery and bedevilment. Return to Original English Version

befriended /bɪˈfrendɪd/ — fez amizade com; ajudou. I have never regretted having befriended Thomas Pinch.' Return to Original English Version

begrimed /bɪˈɡraɪmd/ — encardido; enegrecido de sujeira. As he said this, he touched the tip of his high nose, by way of intimation that he would let Mr Pecksniff into a secret presently; and pulling off his hat, began to search inside the crown among a mass of crumpled documents and small pieces of what may be called the bark of broken cigars; whence he presently selected the cover of an old letter, begrimed with dirt and redolent of tobacco. Return to Original English Version

beguile /bɪˈɡaɪl/ — enganar; distrair agradavelmente. With such stimulants to merriment did he beguile the time, and do the honours of the table; while Mr Pinch, perhaps to assure himself that what he saw and heard was holiday reality, and not a charming dream, ate of everything, and in particular disposed of the slim sandwiches to a surprising extent. Return to Original English Version

beheld /bɪˈhɛld/ — viu; contemplou. You looked over a very low fence of white cravat (whereof no man had ever beheld the tie for he fastened it behind), and there it lay, a valley between two jutting heights of collar, serene and whiskerless before you. Return to Original English Version

behoof /bɪˈhuːf/ — proveito; benefício, arcaico. But what I have intended, what I have resolved upon (and this is the confidence I seek to place in you), is, on my return to England, in my own person, in my own Journal, to bear, for the behoof of my countrymen, such testimony to the gigantic changes in this country as I have hinted at to-night. Return to Original English Version

belabour /bɪˈleɪbə/ — criticar duramente. The two Miss Pecksniffs being a pretty good match for the three Miss Chuzzlewits, and all five young ladies having, in the figurative language of the day, a great amount of steam to dispose of, the altercation would no doubt have been a long one but for the high valour and prowess of the strong-minded woman, who, in right of her reputation for powers of sarcasm, did so belabour and pummel Mrs Spottletoe with taunting words that the poor lady, before the engagement was two minutes old, had no refuge but in tears. Return to Original English Version

belated /bɪˈleɪtɪd/ — tardio; retardatário; surpreendido pela noite. In like manner, there were gloomy courtyards in these parts, into which few but belated wayfarers ever strayed, and where vast bags and packs of goods, upward or downward bound, were for ever dangling between heaven and earth from lofty cranes There were more trucks near Todgers's than you would suppose whole city could ever need; not active trucks, but a vagabond race, for ever lounging in the narrow lanes before their masters' doors and stopping up the pass; so that when a stray hackney-coach or lumbering waggon came that way, they were the cause of such an uproar as enlivened the whole neighbourhood, and made the bells in the next churchtower vibrate again. Return to Original English Version

belligerents /bəˈlɪdʒərənts/ — contendores. At length, in utter despair and hopelessness, some few of the belligerents began to speak to each other in only moderate terms of mutual aggravation; and nearly all addressed themselves with a show of tolerable decency to Mr Pecksniff, in recognition of his high character and influential position. Return to Original English Version

benediction /ˌbɛnɪˈdɪkʃən/ — bênção. Invoking this benediction on the heads of his young friends with great fervour, he withdrew to his own room; while they, being tired, soon fell asleep. Return to Original English Version

benevolence /bəˈnevələns/ — benevolência; bondade. That worthy man Mr Pecksniff having taken leave of his cousin in the solemn terms recited in the last chapter, withdrew to his own home, and remained there three whole days; not so much as going out for a walk beyond the boundaries of his own garden, lest he should be hastily summoned to the bedside of his penitent and remorseful relative, whom, in his ample benevolence, he had made up his mind to forgive unconditionally, and to love on any terms. Return to Original English Version

benevolently /bəˈnevələntli/ — benevolamente. 'And how,' asked Mr Pecksniff, drawing off his gloves and warming his hands before the fire, as benevolently as if they were somebody else's, not his; 'and how is he now?' Return to Original English Version

beseech /bɪˈsiːtʃ/ — suplicar; rogar. Might I beseech that favour?' Return to Original English Version

beseeching /bɪˈsiːtʃɪŋ/ — suplicante; implorando. The same man was in waiting for the horse who had been adjured by Mr Pinch in the morning not to yield to his rabid desire to start; and after delivering the animal into his charge, and beseeching Mr Chuzzlewit in a whisper never to reveal a syllable of what he had just told him in the fullness of his heart, Tom led the pupil in, for instant presentation. Return to Original English Version

beset /bɪˈset/ — assediado; acossado; cercar. 'You are, upon my life, a strange instance of the little frailties that beset a mighty mind. Return to Original English Version

besought /bɪˈsɔːt/ — suplicou; implorou (passado de beseech). To this entertainment, which apart from its own intrinsic merits, had the additional choice quality, that it was in strict keeping with the night, being both light and cool, Mr Pecksniff besought the company to do full justice. Return to Original English Version

bespeaking /bɪˈspiːkɪŋ/ — indicando; encomendando antecipadamente. 'Then you will shake hands, sir?' cried Westlock, advancing a step or two, and bespeaking Mr Pinch's close attention by a glance. Return to Original English Version

bestow /bɪˈstoʊ/ — conceder; outorgar; dar. How trustful and generous in him to bestow all this confidence in me. Return to Original English Version

bestowal /bɪˈstoʊəl/ — concessão; entrega. And it is well known that for the bestowal of that kind of property upon his favourites, the liberality and gratitude of the Norman were as remarkable as those virtues are usually found to be in great men when they give away what belongs to other people. Return to Original English Version

betimes /bɪˈtaɪmz/ — cedo; a tempo. At length it became high time to remember the first clause of that great discovery made by the ancient philosopher, for securing health, riches, and wisdom; the infallibility of which has been for generations verified by the enormous fortunes constantly amassed by chimney-sweepers and other persons who get up early and go to bed betimes. Return to Original English Version

betokened /bɪˈtoʊkənd/ — indicava; pressagiava. To the extent of such a trifling loan as a crownpiece to a man of your talents, I look upon Mr Pecksniff as certain;' and seeing at this juncture that the expression of Mr Pecksniff's face by no means betokened that he shared this certainty, Mr Tigg laid his finger on his nose again for that gentleman's private and especial behoof; calling upon him thereby to take notice that the requisition of small loans was another instance of the peculiarities of genius as developed in his friend Slyme; that he, Tigg, winked at the same, because of the strong metaphysical interest which these weaknesses possessed; and that in reference to his own personal advocacy of such small advances, he merely consulted the humour of his friend, without the least regard to his own advantage or necessities. Return to Original English Version

bewilderment /bɪˈwɪldərmənt/ — perplexidade; confusão; desconcerto. Mr Pinch had listened to all this with looks of bewilderment, which seemed to be in part occasioned by the matter of his companion's speech, and in part by his rapid and vehement manner. Return to Original English Version

bidden /ˈbɪdən/ — ordenado; convidado, arcaico. Thus, by little and little, they made common cause of Martin Chuzzlewit's obduracy, until it was agreed (if such a word can be used in connection with the Chuzzlewits) that there should be a general council and conference held at Mr Pecksniff's house upon a certain day at noon; which all members of the family who had brought themselves within reach of the summons, were forthwith bidden and invited, solemnly, to attend. Return to Original English Version

bile /baɪl/ — bile; amargor. But, in an evil hour, this off-shoot of the Chuzzlewit trunk, being lazy, and ill qualified for any regular pursuit and having dissipated such means as he ever possessed, had formally established himself as a professor of Taste for a livelihood; and finding, too late, that something more than his old amount of qualifications was necessary to sustain him in this calling, had quickly fallen to his present level, where he retained nothing of his old self but his boastfulness and his bile, and seemed to have no existence separate or apart from his friend Tigg. Return to Original English Version

biographer /baɪˈɒɡrəfər/ — biógrafo; biógrafa. Now,' said the gentleman, shaking his forefinger before his nose, and planting his legs wider apart as he looked attentively in Mr Pecksniff's face, 'that is a remarkably curious and interesting trait in Mr Slyme's character; and whenever Slyme's life comes to be written, that trait must be thoroughly worked out by his biographer or society will not be satisfied. Return to Original English Version

bitterest /ˈbɪtərɪst/ — mais amargo; mais doloroso. There was, within a few years, in the possession of a highly respectable and in every way credible and unimpeachable member of the Chuzzlewit Family (for his bitterest enemy never dared to hint at his being otherwise than a wealthy man), a dark lantern of undoubted antiquity; rendered still more interesting by being, in shape and pattern, extremely like such as are in use at the present day. Return to Original English Version

blazing /ˈbleɪzɪŋ/ — flamejante; ardente; em chamas. As to this idle company, there they stood, spellbound by the place, and, casting now and then a glance upon the darkness in their rear, settled their lazy elbows more at ease upon the sill, and leaned a little further in: no more disposed to tear themselves away than if they had been born to cluster round the blazing hearth like so many crickets. Return to Original English Version

blighting /ˈblaɪtɪŋ/ — fulminante; devastador. 'Let me inquire,' said Martin, interposing between this candid speech and the delivery of some blighting anathema by Mr Tigg, 'what the amount of this debt may be?' Return to Original English Version

blindest /ˈblaɪndɪst/ — o mais cego; o menos atento. Taking a confused leave of Anthony and his son, and leaving the luggage of himself and daughters at the office to be called for afterwards, Mr Pecksniff, with one of the young ladies under each arm, dived across the street, and then across other streets, and so up the queerest courts, and down the strangest alleys and under the blindest archways, in a kind of frenzy; now skipping over a kennel, now running for his life from a coach and horses; now thinking he had lost his way, now thinking he had found it; now in a state of the highest confidence, now despondent to the last degree, but always in a great perspiration and flurry; until at length they stopped in a kind of paved yard near the Monument. Return to Original English Version

bloated /ˈbloʊtɪd/ — inchado; estufado. In good sooth they were big enough, and perhaps, as the saying is, ugly enough, to be the most correct of all mechanical performers; in Mr Pinch's eyes, however they were smaller than Geneva ware; and when he saw one very bloated watch announced as a repeater, gifted with the uncommon power of striking every quarter of an hour inside the pocket of its happy owner, he almost wished that he were rich enough to buy it. Return to Original English Version

blooms /bluːmz/ — flores; floradas. 'You are the American aloe of the human race, my dear Chiv,' said Mr Tigg, 'which only blooms once in a hundred years!' Return to Original English Version

blossoms /ˈblɑːsəmz/ — flores; floradas. The sheep-bells rang as clearly in the vigorous air, as if they felt its wholesome influence like living creatures; the trees, in lieu of leaves or blossoms, shed upon the ground a frosty rime that sparkled as it fell, and might have been the dust of diamonds. Return to Original English Version

bluish /ˈbluːɪʃ/ — azulado. His nether garments were of a bluish grey--violent in its colours once, but sobered now by age and dinginess--and were so stretched and strained in a tough conflict between his braces and his straps, that they appeared every moment in danger of flying asunder at the knees. Return to Original English Version

blumenbach /ˈbluːmənbɑːx/ — Blumenbach. Secondly, and yet without trenching on the Blumenbach theory as to the descendants of Adam having a vast number of qualities which belong more particularly to swine than to any other class of animals in the creation, that some men certainly are remarkable for taking uncommon good care of themselves. Return to Original English Version

bluster /ˈblʌstər/ — bravata. Out upon the angry wind! how from sighing, it began to bluster round the merry forge, banging at the wicket, and grumbling in the chimney, as if it bullied the jolly bellows for doing anything to order. Return to Original English Version

boasted /boʊstɪd/ — gabou-se. In other hands, I have known money do good; in other hands I have known it triumphed in, and boasted of with reason, as the master-key to all the brazen gates that close upon the paths to worldly honour, fortune, and enjoyment. Return to Original English Version

boastfulness /ˈboʊstfəlnəs/ — jactância; gabolice. But, in an evil hour, this off-shoot of the Chuzzlewit trunk, being lazy, and ill qualified for any regular pursuit and having dissipated such means as he ever possessed, had formally established himself as a professor of Taste for a livelihood; and finding, too late, that something more than his old amount of qualifications was necessary to sustain him in this calling, had quickly fallen to his present level, where he retained nothing of his old self but his boastfulness and his bile, and seemed to have no existence separate or apart from his friend Tigg. Return to Original English Version

bodice /ˈbɑːdɪs/ — corpete; parte superior do vestido. She was a widow, but years ago had passed through her state of weeds, and burst into flower again; and in full bloom she had continued ever since; and in full bloom she was now; with roses on her ample skirts, and roses on her bodice, roses in her cap, roses in her cheeks,--aye, and roses, worth the gathering too, on her lips, for that matter. Return to Original English Version

boisterous /ˈbɔɪstərəs/ — barulhento; turbulento. Being by this time weary of such trifling performances, the boisterous rover hurried away rejoicing, roaring over moor and meadow, hill and flat, until it got out to sea, where it met with other winds similarly disposed, and made a night of it. Return to Original English Version

boned /boʊnd/ — de ossatura; com ossos. Not in his outward person, for he was a raw-boned, haggard horse, always on a much shorter allowance of corn than Mr Pecksniff; but in his moral character, wherein, said they, he was full of promise, but of no performance. Return to Original English Version

boughs /baʊz/ — galhos grandes. The wet grass sparkled in the light; the scanty patches of verdure in the hedges--where a few green twigs yet stood together bravely, resisting to the last the tyranny of nipping winds and early frosts--took heart and brightened up; the stream which had been dull and sullen all day long, broke out into a cheerful smile; the birds began to chirp and twitter on the naked boughs, as though the hopeful creatures half believed that winter had gone by, and spring had come already. Return to Original English Version

bounced /baʊnst/ — quicou; ricocheteou. At this exclamation, another Miss Pecksniff bounced out of the parlour; and the two Miss Pecksniffs, with many incoherent expressions, dragged Mr Pecksniff into an upright posture. Return to Original English Version

bracing /ˈbreɪsɪŋ/ — preparando-se; revigorante. This was the glad commencement of a bracing day in early winter, such as may put the languid summer season (speaking of it when it can't be had) to the blush, and shame the spring for being sometimes cold by halves. Return to Original English Version

braid /breɪd/ — galão; trança (de fios). She was too fresh and guileless, and too full of child-like vivacity, was the youngest Miss Pecksniff, to wear combs in her hair, or to turn it up, or to frizzle it, or braid it. Return to Original English Version

bran /bræn/ — farelo. The mist, too shy and gentle for such lusty company, fled off, quite scared, before it; and as it swept away, the hills and mounds and distant pasture lands, teeming with placid sheep and noisy crows, came out as bright as though they were unrolled bran new for the occasion. Return to Original English Version

branching /ˈbræntʃɪŋ/ — ramificando-se. As a goodly tumulus is already collected, and decently battened up above the Family grave, the present chapter is content to leave it as it is: merely adding, by way of a final spadeful, that many Chuzzlewits, both male and female, are proved to demonstration, on the faith of letters written by their own mothers, to have had chiselled noses, undeniable chins, forms that might have served the sculptor for a model, exquisitely-turned limbs and polished foreheads of so transparent a texture that the blue veins might be seen branching off in various directions, like so many roads on an ethereal map. Return to Original English Version

brazen /ˈbreɪzən/ — de latão; descarado; audacioso. The brazen plate upon the door (which being Mr Pecksniff's, could not lie) bore this inscription, 'PECKSNIFF, ARCHITECT,' to which Mr Pecksniff, on his cards of business, added, AND LAND SURVEYOR.' In one sense, and only one, he may be said to have been a Land Surveyor on a pretty large scale, as an extensive prospect lay stretched out before the windows of his house. Return to Original English Version

brisk /brɪsk/ — rápido; enérgico; vivo. What better time for driving, riding, walking, moving through the air by any means, than a fresh, frosty morning, when hope runs cheerily through the veins with the brisk blood, and tingles in the frame from head to foot! Return to Original English Version

briskly /ˈbrɪskli/ — rapidamente; com energia; a passo firme. The withering leaves no longer quiet, hurried to and fro in search of shelter from its chill pursuit; the labourer unyoked his horses, and with head bent down, trudged briskly home beside them; and from the cottage windows lights began to glance and wink upon the darkening fields. Return to Original English Version

broached /broʊtʃt/ — abordou (um assunto). Rejecting a theory broached by some well-meaning but mistaken persons, that this Mr Toby Chuzzlewit's grandfather, to judge from his name, must surely have been a Mandarin (which is wholly insupportable, for there is no pretence of his grandmother ever having been out of this country, or of any Mandarin having been in it within some years of his father's birth; except those in the tea-shops, which cannot for a moment be regarded as having any bearing on the question, one way or other), rejecting this hypothesis, is it not manifest that Mr Toby Chuzzlewit had either received the name imperfectly from his father, or that he had forgotten it, or that he had mispronounced itâ and that even at the recent period in question, the Chuzzlewits were connected by a bend sinister, or kind of heraldic over-the-left, with some unknown noble and illustrious House? Return to Original English Version

broadsword /ˈbrɔːdsɔːrd/ — espada larga. But he stopped to read the playbill at the theatre and surveyed the doorway with a kind of awe, which was not diminished when a sallow gentleman with long dark hair came out, and told a boy to run home to his lodgings and bring down his broadsword. Return to Original English Version

broker's /ˈbroʊkərz/ — do corretor; na corretora. A broker's man in a poor neighbourhood wouldn't be bad perhaps. Return to Original English Version

brooding /ˈbruːdɪŋ/ — remoendo; sombrio. He was brooding over the remains of yesterday's decanter of brandy, and was engaged in the thoughtful occupation of making a chain of rings on the top of the table with the wet foot of his drinking-glass. Return to Original English Version

bulky /ˈbʌlki/ — volumoso; desajeitado de tão grande. Then there were young farmers and old farmers with smock-frocks, brown great-coats, drab great-coats, red worsted comforters, leather-leggings, wonderful shaped hats, hunting-whips, and rough sticks, standing about in groups, or talking noisily together on the tavern steps, or paying and receiving huge amounts of greasy wealth, with the assistance of such bulky pocket-books that when they were in their pockets it was apoplexy to get them out, and when they were out it was spasms to get them in again. Return to Original English Version

bullyings /ˈbʊliɪŋz/ — atos de intimidação. Of all the bullyings and denunciations that were ever heaped on one unlucky head, none can ever have exceeded in energy and heartiness those with which he was complimented by each of his remaining relatives, singly, upon bidding him farewell. Return to Original English Version

buoyancy /ˈbɔɪənsi/ — flutuabilidade; sustentação. Miss Pecksniff sat upon a stool because she was all girlishness, and playfulness, and wildness, and kittenish buoyancy. Return to Original English Version

buoyant /ˈbɔɪənt/ — que boia. I shall die outright if he talks to me any more; I shall, positively!' To prevent which fatal consequence, the buoyant creature skipped out of her seat as she spoke, and squeezed her sister into the place from which she had risen. Return to Original English Version

burrowed /ˈbʌroʊd/ — escavou; abriu uma toca. For as Mr Pecksniff justly observed--when he and his daughters had burrowed their feet deep in the straw, wrapped themselves to the chin, and pulled up both windows--it is always satisfactory to feel, in keen weather, that many other people are not as warm as you are. Return to Original English Version

busied /ˈbɪzid/ — ocupou-se; manteve-se ocupado. Neither had Miss Charity expected them, for she was busied, with a capacious wicker basket before her, in making impracticable nightcaps for the poor. Return to Original English Version

bustling /ˈbʌslɪŋ/ — agitado; movimentado. 'I was almost afraid,' said Tom, taking a letter from his pocket and wiping his face, for he was hot with bustling about though it was a cold day, 'that I shouldn't have had time to write it, and that would have been a thousand pities; postage from such a distance being a serious consideration, when one's not rich. Return to Original English Version

byways /ˈbaɪweɪz/ — atalhos; caminhos secundários. You groped your way for an hour through lanes and byways, and court-yards, and passages; and you never once emerged upon anything that might be reasonably called a street. Return to Original English Version

byword /ˈbaɪwɜːrd/ — sinônimo; exemplo notório. It is also clearly proved by the oral traditions of the Family, that there existed, at some one period of its history which is not distinctly stated, a matron of such destructive principles, and so familiarized to the use and composition of inflammatory and combustible engines, that she was called 'The Match Maker;' by which nickname and byword she is recognized in the Family legends to this day. Return to Original English Version

cajolery /kəˈdʒoʊləri/ — lisonja persuasiva; adulação. There is a compact between us that no term of affectionate cajolery shall ever be addressed by either to the other, but that she shall call me always by my Christian name; I her, by hers. Return to Original English Version

candid /ˈkændɪd/ — franco; imparcial. 'Let me inquire,' said Martin, interposing between this candid speech and the delivery of some blighting anathema by Mr Tigg, 'what the amount of this debt may be?' Return to Original English Version

capacious /kəˈpeɪʃəs/ — espaçoso; de grande capacidade. Neither had Miss Charity expected them, for she was busied, with a capacious wicker basket before her, in making impracticable nightcaps for the poor. Return to Original English Version

capitulation /kəˌpɪtʃəˈleɪʃən/ — capitulação; rendição. But he resisted bravely; refusing to receive all letters, messages, and parcels; obstinately declining to treat with anybody; and holding out no hope or promise of capitulation. Return to Original English Version

casement /ˈkeɪsmənt/ — janela de batente; caixilho. Sparkling eyes and snowy breasts came hurriedly to many an upper casement as he clattered by, and gave him back his greeting: not stinted either, but sevenfold, good measure. Return to Original English Version

casks /kɑːsks/ — barris. He's enough to turn the very beer in the casks sour with his looks; he is! Return to Original English Version

catspaw /ˈkætsˌpɔː/ — pau-mandado. But he did not; for with the apt closing words above recited, Mr Slyme; of too haughty a stomach to work, to beg, to borrow, or to steal; yet mean enough to be worked or borrowed, begged or stolen for, by any catspaw that would serve his turn; too insolent to lick the hand that fed him in his need, yet cur enough to bite and tear it in the dark; with these apt closing words Mr Slyme fell forward with his head upon the table, and so declined into a sodden sleep. Return to Original English Version

cautioned /ˈkɔːʃənd/ — advertiu. Well!' And then remembering that Mr Pecksniff had privately cautioned him to say nothing in reference to the old gentleman of the same name who had lodged at the Dragon, but to reserve all mention of that person for him, he had no better means of hiding his confusion than by raising his own glass to his mouth. Return to Original English Version

cautioning /ˈkɔːʃənɪŋ/ — advertindo; avisando do perigo. As this fair matron sat beside the fire, she glanced occasionally with all the pride of ownership, about the room; which was a large apartment, such as one may see in country places, with a low roof and a sunken flooring, all downhill from the door, and a descent of two steps on the inside so exquisitely unexpected, that strangers, despite the most elaborate cautioning, usually dived in head first, as into a plunging-bath. Return to Original English Version

centring /ˈsɛntrɪŋ/ — centralizando; concentrando. 'All our thoughts centring in our very dear but unkind relative, and he being as it were beyond our reach, we are met to-day, really as if we were a funeral party, except--a blessed exception--that there is no body in the house.' Return to Original English Version

century's /ˈsɛntʃəriz/ — de um século. There was one staircase-window in it, at the side of the house, on the ground floor; which tradition said had not been opened for a hundred years at least, and which, abutting on an always dirty lane, was so begrimed and coated with a century's mud, that no one pane of glass could possibly fall out, though all were cracked and broken twenty times. Return to Original English Version

chafe /tʃeɪf/ — esfregar; irritar-se. Which matchless wonders, coming fast on Mr Pinch's mind, did so rub up and chafe that wonderful lamp within him, that when he turned his face towards the busy street, a crowd of phantoms waited on his pleasure, and he lived again, with new delight, the happy days before the Pecksniff era. Return to Original English Version

chafed /tʃeɪft/ — irritou; roçou; incomodou. Martin nodded assent; and adding, with a restless impatience, that if he had been a few days earlier he would have seen her; and that now she might be, for anything he knew, hundreds of miles away; threw himself, after a few turns across the room, into a chair, and chafed like a spoilt child. Return to Original English Version

chalked /tʃɔːkt/ — marcou com giz; escreveu com giz. 'If it had been for anything but a bill, I could have borne it, and could still have looked upon mankind with some feeling of respect; but when such a man as my friend Slyme is detained for a score--a thing in itself essentially mean; a low performance on a slate, or possibly chalked upon the back of a door--I do feel that there is a screw of such magnitude loose somewhere, that the whole framework of society is shaken, and the very first principles of things can no longer be trusted. Return to Original English Version

chalker /ˈtʃɔːkə/ — pintor de anúncios a giz. Who but a madman would suppose you advertised him hereabouts, much cheaper and much better than a chalker on the walls could, eh, Tom? Return to Original English Version

chanced /tʃænst/ — aconteceu por acaso; calhou de. As good luck would have it (Tom always said he had great good luck) the assistant chanced that very afternoon to be on duty by himself, with no one in the dusty organ loft but Tom; so while he played, Tom helped him with the stops; and finally, the service being just over, Tom took the organ himself. Return to Original English Version

chaps /tʃæps/ — sujeitos; camaradas. 'Hearty chaps them wheelwrights--hurrah! Return to Original English Version

charade /ʃəˈreɪd/ — charada; encenação falsa. 'But what can anyone expect from Mr Pinch!' cried Charity, with as strong and scornful an emphasis on the name as if it would have given her unspeakable pleasure to express it, in an acted charade, on the calf of that gentleman's leg. Return to Original English Version

chariot /ˈtʃæriət/ — carruagem; biga. An old gentleman and a young lady, travelling, unattended, in a rusty old chariot with post-horses; coming nobody knew whence and going nobody knew whither; had turned out of the high road, and driven unexpectedly to the Blue Dragon; and here was the old gentleman, who had taken this step by reason of his sudden illness in the carriage, suffering the most horrible cramps and spasms, yet protesting and vowing in the very midst of his pain, that he wouldn't have a doctor sent for, and wouldn't take any remedies but those which the young lady administered from a small medicine-chest, and wouldn't, in a word, do anything but terrify the landlady out of her five wits, and obstinately refuse compliance with every suggestion that was made to him. Return to Original English Version

charmingest /ˈtʃɑːmɪŋɪst/ — mais encantadoras. I wish I may turn grey and ugly, if it isn't in my opinion, next to genius, one of the very charmingest qualities of the human mind. Return to Original English Version

chaste /tʃeɪst/ — casto; puro; recatado. 'A pump,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'is very chaste practice. Return to Original English Version

cheerily /ˈtʃɪrəli/ — alegremente; com bom humor. Now that he had come to a close, he drew a very long breath; and gazing wistfully in his face as if he were unable to settle in his own mind what expression it wore, and were desirous to draw from it as good a clue to his real meaning as it was possible to obtain in the dark, was about to answer, when the sound of the mail guard's horn came cheerily upon their ears, putting an immediate end to the conference; greatly as it seemed to the satisfaction of the younger man, who jumped up briskly, and gave his hand to his companion. Return to Original English Version

chemists /ˈkemɪsts/ — químicos; farmacêuticos. He had less interest now in the chemists' shops, with their great glowing bottles (with smaller repositories of brightness in their very stoppers); and in their agreeable compromises between medicine and perfumery, in the shape of toothsome lozenges and virgin honey. Return to Original English Version

chinks /tʃɪŋks/ — frestas; rachaduras estreitas. I had my spectacles on, and saw her through the chinks in the curtains as plainly as I see you; and she was beautiful. Return to Original English Version

chirp /tʃɜːrp/ — pio; voz aguda. The wet grass sparkled in the light; the scanty patches of verdure in the hedges--where a few green twigs yet stood together bravely, resisting to the last the tyranny of nipping winds and early frosts--took heart and brightened up; the stream which had been dull and sullen all day long, broke out into a cheerful smile; the birds began to chirp and twitter on the naked boughs, as though the hopeful creatures half believed that winter had gone by, and spring had come already. Return to Original English Version

chivalrous /ˈʃɪvəlrəs/ — cavalheiresco; cortês; galante. Perhaps in this place the history may pause to congratulate itself upon the enormous amount of bravery, wisdom, eloquence, virtue, gentle birth, and true nobility, that appears to have come into England with the Norman Invasion: an amount which the genealogy of every ancient family lends its aid to swell, and which would beyond all question have been found to be just as great, and to the full as prolific in giving birth to long lines of chivalrous descendants, boastful of their origin, even though William the Conqueror had been William the Conquered; a change of circumstances which, it is quite certain, would have made no manner of difference in this respect. Return to Original English Version

choicest /ˈtʃɔɪsəst/ — o mais seleto. Wretched and forlorn as he looked, Mr Slyme had once been in his way, the choicest of swaggerers; putting forth his pretensions boldly, as a man of infinite taste and most undoubted promise. Return to Original English Version

christened /ˈkrɪsənd/ — batizado; nomeado. Mr Pecksniff was a moral man--a grave man, a man of noble sentiments and speech--and he had had her christened Mercy. Return to Original English Version

churchtower /ˈtʃɜːtʃtaʊə/ — torre da igreja. In like manner, there were gloomy courtyards in these parts, into which few but belated wayfarers ever strayed, and where vast bags and packs of goods, upward or downward bound, were for ever dangling between heaven and earth from lofty cranes There were more trucks near Todgers's than you would suppose whole city could ever need; not active trucks, but a vagabond race, for ever lounging in the narrow lanes before their masters' doors and stopping up the pass; so that when a stray hackney-coach or lumbering waggon came that way, they were the cause of such an uproar as enlivened the whole neighbourhood, and made the bells in the next churchtower vibrate again. Return to Original English Version

Original Text: Rare Words (2/7)

cigars /sɪˈɡɑːrz/ — charutos. As he said this, he touched the tip of his high nose, by way of intimation that he would let Mr Pecksniff into a secret presently; and pulling off his hat, began to search inside the crown among a mass of crumpled documents and small pieces of what may be called the bark of broken cigars; whence he presently selected the cover of an old letter, begrimed with dirt and redolent of tobacco. Return to Original English Version

circumspection /ˌsɜːrkəmˈspekʃən/ — circunspecção; cautela. 'Although I had conducted myself from the first with the utmost circumspection,' pursued Martin, 'I had not managed matters so well but that my grandfather, who is full of jealousy and distrust, suspected me of loving her. Return to Original English Version

circumstanced /ˈsɜːrkəmstænst/ — situado; colocado em certas circunstâncias. But lying on that bed, sir, I regard you as a stranger, and I have just that amount of interest in you which I hope I should feel in any stranger, circumstanced as you are. Return to Original English Version

clank /klæŋk/ — ruído metálico seco; tinido. In the throats and maws of dark no-thoroughfares near Todgers's, individual wine-merchants and wholesale dealers in grocery-ware had perfect little towns of their own; and, deep among the foundations of these buildings, the ground was undermined and burrowed out into stables, where cart-horses, troubled by rats, might be heard on a quiet Sunday rattling their halters, as disturbed spirits in tales of haunted houses are said to clank their chains. Return to Original English Version

clattered /ˈklætərd/ — matraqueou; fez estrépito. Sparkling eyes and snowy breasts came hurriedly to many an upper casement as he clattered by, and gave him back his greeting: not stinted either, but sevenfold, good measure. Return to Original English Version

clawed /klɔːd/ — arranhou; agarrou com as garras. HE never scraped and clawed into his pouch all your poor grandmother's hard savings--she was a housekeeper, wasn't she, Tom?' Return to Original English Version

clenched /klɛntʃt/ — cerrou. This fact in itself, though it had been a solitary one, would have utterly settled and clenched the business in hand; for it is well known, on the authority of all the books which treat of such matters, that every one of these phenomena, but especially that of the chiselling, are invariably peculiar to, and only make themselves apparent in, persons of the very best condition. Return to Original English Version

clinging /ˈklɪŋɪŋ/ — agarrando-se; aderente. Cautious emigrants from Scotland or the North of England had been known to reach it safely, by impressing a charity-boy, town-bred, and bringing him along with them; or by clinging tenaciously to the postman; but these were rare exceptions, and only went to prove the rule that Todgers's was in a labyrinth, whereof the mystery was known but to a chosen few. Return to Original English Version

clings /klɪŋz/ — agarra-se; apega-se. So in very many cases of friendship, or what passes for it, the old axiom is reversed, and like clings to unlike more than to like. Return to Original English Version

clodhopping /ˈklɒdhɒpɪŋ/ — rústica. There is actually at this instant, at the Blue Dragon in this village--an ale-house, observe; a common, paltry, low-minded, clodhopping, pipe-smoking ale-house--an individual, of whom it may be said, in the language of the Poet, that nobody but himself can in any way come up to him; who is detained there for his bill. Return to Original English Version

clogged /klɑːɡd/ — entupido; obstruído. His head distilled such oil upon his whiskers, that they were rich and clogged with unctuous drops; his face was violently inflamed, his limbs trembled; and he gasped and strove for breath. Return to Original English Version

closeted /ˈklɑːzɪtɪd/ — fechado em conversa reservada. In the meantime, sir, he is perpetually closeted with, and pouring his whole confidence into the bosom of, a stranger. Return to Original English Version

clustered /ˈklʌstərd/ — agrupado; reunido em cachos. She was short in stature; and her figure was slight, as became her years; but all the charms of youth and maidenhood set it off, and clustered on her gentle brow. Return to Original English Version

coarseness /ˈkɔːrsnəs/ — grosseria; aspereza. I conceive that the sordid coarseness and brutality of Jonas would be unnatural, if there had been nothing in his early education, and in the precept and example always before him, to engender and develop the vices that make him odious. Return to Original English Version

cogitate /ˈkɒdʒɪteɪt/ — refletir. 'Yes, sir,' he rejoined, looking straight before him and a long way off, as men do sometimes when they cogitate profoundly. Return to Original English Version

coldnesses /ˈkoʊldnəsɪz/ — atitudes frias. I may feel grieved and hurt at the circumstance; still I may not rush to the conclusion that Mr Chuzzlewit is wholly without a justification in all his coldnesses. Return to Original English Version

collared /ˈkɒlərd/ — com gola. It happened then, and lastly, that Mr Pecksniff found himself immediately collared by something which smelt like several damp umbrellas, a barrel of beer, a cask of warm brandy-and-water, and a small parlour-full of stale tobacco smoke, mixed; and was straightway led downstairs into the bar from which he had lately come, where he found himself standing opposite to, and in the grasp of, a perfectly strange gentleman of still stranger appearance who, with his disengaged hand, rubbed his own head very hard, and looked at him, Pecksniff, with an evil countenance. Return to Original English Version

combatants /kəmˈbætənts/ — combatentes. This diversion, by distracting the attention of the combatants, put an end to the strife, which, after breaking out afresh some twice or thrice in certain inconsiderable spurts and dashes, died away in silence. Return to Original English Version

combustible /kəmˈbʌstəbəl/ — combustível; inflamável. It is also clearly proved by the oral traditions of the Family, that there existed, at some one period of its history which is not distinctly stated, a matron of such destructive principles, and so familiarized to the use and composition of inflammatory and combustible engines, that she was called 'The Match Maker;' by which nickname and byword she is recognized in the Family legends to this day. Return to Original English Version

comely /ˈkʌmli/ — bonita; de boa aparência. She had still a bright black eye, and jet black hair; was comely, dimpled, plump, and tight as a gooseberry; and though she was not exactly what the world calls young, you may make an affidavit, on trust, before any mayor or magistrate in Christendom, that there are a great many young ladies in the world (blessings on them one and all!) whom you wouldn't like half as well, or admire half as much, as the beaming hostess of the Blue Dragon. Return to Original English Version

comforters /ˈkʌmfərtərz/ — consoladores; fontes de consolo. Then there were young farmers and old farmers with smock-frocks, brown great-coats, drab great-coats, red worsted comforters, leather-leggings, wonderful shaped hats, hunting-whips, and rough sticks, standing about in groups, or talking noisily together on the tavern steps, or paying and receiving huge amounts of greasy wealth, with the assistance of such bulky pocket-books that when they were in their pockets it was apoplexy to get them out, and when they were out it was spasms to get them in again. Return to Original English Version

comical /ˈkɒmɪkəl/ — cômico; engraçado. And away he fluttered, with his red neckerchief, and his open coat, down a cross-lane; turning back from time to time to nod to Mr Pinch, and looking one of the most careless, good-humoured comical fellows in life. Return to Original English Version

commencement /kəˈmensmənt/ — início; começo. This was the glad commencement of a bracing day in early winter, such as may put the languid summer season (speaking of it when it can't be had) to the blush, and shame the spring for being sometimes cold by halves. Return to Original English Version

commended /kəˈmendɪd/ — elogiou; recomendou. 'If that is Mr Pinch,' cried Tigg, kissing his hand again, and beginning to follow his head into the room, 'he will permit me to say that I greatly esteem and respect his character, which has been most highly commended to me by my friend Pecksniff; and that I deeply appreciate his talent for the organ, notwithstanding that I do not, if I may use the expression, grind myself. Return to Original English Version

companionship /kəmˈpænjənʃɪp/ — companhia; companheirismo. So constantly was he a guest at that nobleman's table, indeed; and so unceasingly were His Grace's hospitality and companionship forced, as it were, upon him; that we find him uneasy, and full of constraint and reluctance; writing his friends to the effect that if they fail to do so and so by bearer, he will have no choice but to dine again with Duke Humphrey; and expressing himself in a very marked and extraordinary manner as one surfeited of High Life and Gracious Company. Return to Original English Version

compassionately /kəmˈpæʃənətli/ — compassivamente; com pena. 'They are pretty nearly the same thing, I believe,' said Mr Pecksniff, smiling compassionately; 'or they used to be in my time. Return to Original English Version

complainingly /kəmˈpleɪnɪŋli/ — em tom de queixa; queixosamente. Mention has been already made more than once, of a certain Dragon who swung and creaked complainingly before the village alehouse door. Return to Original English Version

complexioned /kəmˈplekʃənd/ — de tez (clara, escura). There was unquestionably a Chuzzlewit in the Gunpowder Plot, if indeed the arch-traitor, Fawkes himself, were not a scion of this remarkable stock; as he might easily have been, supposing another Chuzzlewit to have emigrated to Spain in the previous generation, and there intermarried with a Spanish lady, by whom he had issue, one olive-complexioned son. Return to Original English Version

complied /kəmˈplaɪd/ — obedeceu; acatou; cumpriu. Mr Pinch rose, and complied with great alacrity--the handle hung just over Martin's head, as he warmed himself--and listened with a smiling face to what his friend went on to say. Return to Original English Version

complimented /ˈkɑːmplɪmentɪd/ — elogiado; lisonjeado. A young gentleman's premium being paid, and the young gentleman come to Mr Pecksniff's house, Mr Pecksniff borrowed his case of mathematical instruments (if silver-mounted or otherwise valuable); entreated him, from that moment, to consider himself one of the family; complimented him highly on his parents or guardians, as the case might be; and turned him loose in a spacious room on the two-pair front; where, in the company of certain drawing-boards, parallel rulers, very stiff-legged compasses, and two, or perhaps three, other young gentlemen, he improved himself, for three or five years, according to his articles, in making elevations of Salisbury Cathedral from every possible point of sight; and in constructing in the air a vast quantity of Castles, Houses of Parliament, and other Public Buildings. Return to Original English Version

complying /kəmˈplaɪɪŋ/ — cumprindo; atendendo. Mr Pinch, complying, at once imparted the intelligence to Mr Tigg, who shook him warmly by the hand in return, assuring him that his faith in anything and everything was again restored. Return to Original English Version

composedly /kəmˈpoʊzɪdli/ — calmamente; sem se alterar. 'Now, this is very distressing, my friend,' said Mr Pecksniff, shaking his head and smiling composedly. Return to Original English Version

composure /kəmˈpoʊʒər/ — compostura; calma. At first she had recoiled involuntarily, supposing him disordered in his mind; but the slow composure of his manner, and the settled purpose announced in his strong features, and gathering, most of all, about his puckered mouth, forbade the supposition. Return to Original English Version

compromises /ˈkɒmprəmaɪzɪz/ — concessões mútuas. He had less interest now in the chemists' shops, with their great glowing bottles (with smaller repositories of brightness in their very stoppers); and in their agreeable compromises between medicine and perfumery, in the shape of toothsome lozenges and virgin honey. Return to Original English Version

conceivable /kənˈsiːvəbəl/ — concebível. It is a notable circumstance that in these later times, many Chuzzlewits, being unsuccessful in other pursuits, have, without the smallest rational hope of enriching themselves, or any conceivable reason, set up as coal-merchants; and have, month after month, continued gloomily to watch a small stock of coals, without in any one instance negotiating with a purchaser. Return to Original English Version

conceive /kənˈsiːv/ — conceber; imaginar. I conceive that the sordid coarseness and brutality of Jonas would be unnatural, if there had been nothing in his early education, and in the precept and example always before him, to engender and develop the vices that make him odious. Return to Original English Version

conciliatory /kənˈsɪliətɔːri/ — conciliador; apaziguador. 'Now,' said Mr Pecksniff, crossing his two forefingers in a manner which was at once conciliatory and argumentative; 'I will not, upon the one hand, go so far as to say that she deserves all the inflictions which have been so very forcibly and hilariously suggested;' one of his ornamental sentences; 'nor will I, upon the other, on any account compromise my common understanding as a man, by making the assertion that she does not. Return to Original English Version

concocted /kənˈkɑːktɪd/ — forjou; inventou. This,' opening another door, 'is the little chamber in which my works (slight things at best) have been concocted. Return to Original English Version

concurred /kənˈkɜːrd/ — concordou; convergiu. Notwithstanding their different natures, both Charity and Mercy concurred in opening their eyes uncommonly wide at this announcement, and in looking for the moment as blank as if their thoughts had actually had a direct bearing on the main chance. Return to Original English Version

condescension /ˌkɑːndɪˈsɛnʃən/ — condescendência; benevolência. The young ladies accordingly rose, and having taken leave of Mr Chuzzlewit with much sweetness, and of their father with much duty and of Mr Pinch with much condescension, retired to their bower. Return to Original English Version

confer /kənˈfɜːr/ — conferir; outorgar; deliberar. Who do you imagine has it in contemplation to confer a distinction upon YOU, sir?' Return to Original English Version

conferred /kənˈfɜːrd/ — conferenciou; consultou-se. Still it does not appear (which is strange) to have procured for him any lucrative post at court or elsewhere, or to have conferred upon him any other distinction than that which was necessarily included in the countenance of so great a man, and the being invited by him to certain entertainment's, so splendid and costly in their nature, that he calls them 'Golden Balls.' Return to Original English Version

confide /kənˈfaɪd/ — confiar; contar em segredo. To what man or woman; to what worthy, honest, incorruptible creature; shall I confide such a talisman, either now or when I die? Return to Original English Version

confidences /ˈkɒnfɪdənsɪz/ — confidências. Besides; how, Mr Tigg,' continued Pecksniff even more gravely and impressively than he had spoken yet, 'how could Mr Chuzzlewit be prevented from having these peculiar and most extraordinary confidences of which you speak; the existence of which I must admit; and which I cannot but deplore--for his sake? Return to Original English Version

confines /ˈkɑːnfaɪnz/ — limites; confins. Miss Mercy laughed immensely at everything that was said; and sometimes, after glancing at the happy face of Mr Pinch, was seized with such fits of mirth as brought her to the very confines of hysterics. Return to Original English Version

confoundedly /kənˈfaʊndɪdli/ — terrivelmente; endiabradamente. If you were on good terms, I should consider you a most confoundedly unnatural pair; but standing towards each other as you do, I took upon you as a couple of devilish deep-thoughted fellows, who may be reasoned with to any extent.' Return to Original English Version

congratulation /kənˌɡrætʃuˈleɪʃən/ — felicitação. 'It is to be lamented,' said Mr Pecksniff, with a forgiving recollection of Mr Spottletoe's fist, 'that our friend should have withdrawn himself so very hastily, though we have cause for mutual congratulation even in that, since we are assured that he is not distrustful of us in regard to anything we may say or do while he is absent. Return to Original English Version

conjecture /kənˈdʒektʃər/ — conjectura; suposição. This probable conjecture is strengthened, if not absolutely confirmed, by a fact which cannot fail to be interesting to those who are curious in tracing the progress of hereditary tastes through the lives of their unconscious inheritors. Return to Original English Version

conjured /ˈkʌndʒərd/ — evocou; imaginou. But Mr Tigg so urgently conjured them, by coughs and signs, to remain in the shadow of the door, that they stopped there. Return to Original English Version

considerate /kənˈsɪdərət/ — atencioso; solícito. He was a courteous and considerate dragon, too; or had been in his distincter days; for in the midst of his rampant feebleness, he kept one of his forepaws near his nose, as though he would say, 'Don't mind me--it's only my fun;' while he held out the other in polite and hospitable entreaty. Return to Original English Version

consolatory /kənˈsɑːlətɔːri/ — consolador; que conforta. With which consolatory deduction from the gloomy premises recited, Mr Tigg roused himself by a great effort, and proceeded in his former strain. Return to Original English Version

conspiracies /kənˈspɪrəsiz/ — conspirações. Consequently, it is a source of inexpressible comfort and happiness to find, that in various periods of our history, the Chuzzlewits were actively connected with divers slaughterous conspiracies and bloody frays. Return to Original English Version

conspired /kənˈspaɪərd/ — conspirou; concorreu para. He has conspired against me, like the rest, and they are but birds of one feather. Return to Original English Version

constellation /ˌkɑːnstəˈleɪʃən/ — constelação. There is at this present moment in this very place, a perfect constellation of talent and genius, who is involved, through what I cannot but designate as the culpable negligence of my friend Pecksniff, in a situation as tremendous, perhaps, as the social intercourse of the nineteenth century will readily admit of. Return to Original English Version

consternation /ˌkɑːnstərˈneɪʃən/ — consternação; espanto. This destruction of the paper, both as being strangely inconsistent with the labour he had devoted to it, and as involving considerable danger of fire to the Dragon, occasioned Mrs Lupin not a little consternation. Return to Original English Version

constrained /kənˈstreɪnd/ — constrangido; obrigado por regra. But he constrained himself, and pointing with his finger to the door, informed him that his road lay there. Return to Original English Version

contemptuously /kənˈtɛmptʃuəsli/ — com desdém; desdenhosamente. 'You know!' said Martin, contemptuously. Return to Original English Version

contented /kənˈtɛntɪd/ — satisfeito; contente. "So much of my voice has lately been heard in the land, that I might have been contented with troubling you no further from my present standing-point, were it not a duty with which I henceforth charge myself, not only here but on every suitable occasion, whatsoever and wheresoever, to express my high and grateful sense of my second reception in America, and to bear my honest testimony to the national generosity and magnanimity. Return to Original English Version

contenting /kənˈtentɪŋ/ — contentando-se; satisfazendo. I think it would be full as well, if not better, if those individuals would keep at home, contenting themselves with what they have got (luckily for them) already; instead of hovering about, and thrusting their fingers into, a family pie, which they flavour much more than enough, I can tell them, when they are fifty miles away.' Return to Original English Version

contentment /kənˈtɛntmənt/ — contentamento; satisfação. This history having, to its own perfect satisfaction, (and, consequently, to the full contentment of all its readers,) proved the Chuzzlewits to have had an origin, and to have been at one time or other of an importance which cannot fail to render them highly improving and acceptable acquaintance to all right-minded individuals, may now proceed in earnest with its task. Return to Original English Version

contradiction /ˌkɒntrəˈdɪkʃən/ — contradição. Now,' said Mr Tigg, 'we have heard of Fox's Book of Martyrs, I believe, and we have heard of the Court of Requests, and the Star Chamber; but I fear the contradiction of no man alive or dead, when I assert that my friend Chevy Slyme being held in pawn for a bill, beats any amount of cockfighting with which I am acquainted.' Return to Original English Version

conundrum /kəˈnʌndrəm/ — enigma; charada. My own opinions, that like that celebrated conundrum, "Why's a man in jail like a man out of jail?" there's no answer to it. Return to Original English Version

conversation's /ˌkɒnvəˈseɪʃənz/ — conversa é. 'Your conversation's always equal to print, sir,' rejoined Mark, with a broad grin. Return to Original English Version

converse /kənˈvɜːrs/ — conversar; falar. In a very short space of time, I shall have sufficient fortitude, I trust to converse with him as if these events had never happened. Return to Original English Version

conveyance /kənˈveɪəns/ — veículo; transporte; escritura de transmissão. Even as she spoke, the box appeared to be in progress of conveyance from the house, but after a brief murmuring of question and answer, it was put down again, and somebody knocked at the parlour door. Return to Original English Version

conveyed /kənˈveɪd/ — transmitiu; deu a entender. This remark being received with a shrill titter by the two sisters of the speaker, Miss Charity Pecksniff begged with much politeness to be informed whether any of those very low observations were levelled at her; and receiving no more explanatory answer than was conveyed in the adage 'Those the cap fits, let them wear it,' immediately commenced a somewhat acrimonious and personal retort, wherein she was much comforted and abetted by her sister Mercy, who laughed at the same with great heartiness; indeed far more naturally than life. Return to Original English Version

copartnership /kəʊˈpɑːtnəʃɪp/ — sociedade comercial. His mirth having subsided, Mr Jonas gave him to understand that himself and parent were in fact travelling to their home in the metropolis; and that, since the memorable day of the great family gathering, they had been tarrying in that part of the country, watching the sale of certain eligible investments, which they had had in their copartnership eye when they came down; for it was their custom, Mr Jonas said, whenever such a thing was practicable, to kill two birds with one stone, and never to throw away sprats, but as bait for whales. Return to Original English Version

copious /ˈkoʊpiəs/ — copioso; abundante. This additional pungency on the part of the fair young creature led, on ordinary occasions, to such slight consequences as the copious dilution of Mr Pinch's tea, or to his coming off uncommonly short in respect of butter, or to other the like results. Return to Original English Version

cordiality /ˌkɔːrdiˈæləti/ — cordialidade. In her other hand she bore a flaming tallow candle, which, after surveying Mr Pecksniff for one instant by its light, she put down upon the table, to the end that she might receive him with the greater cordiality. Return to Original English Version

corked /kɔːrkt/ — arrolhou; fechou; reprimiu. That choice liquor in which to steep these dainties might not be wanting, the remains of the two bottles of currant wine had been poured together and corked with a curl-paper; so that every material was at hand for making quite a heavy night of it. Return to Original English Version

corns /kɔːrnz/ — calos. The tendency of mankind when it falls asleep in coaches, is to wake up cross; to find its legs in its way; and its corns an aggravation. Return to Original English Version

coronet /ˈkɔːrənet/ — coroa pequena. In a sombre corner on the first landing, stood a gruff old giant of a clock, with a preposterous coronet of three brass balls on his head; whom few had ever seen--none ever looked in the face--and who seemed to continue his heavy tick for no other reason than to warn heedless people from running into him accidentally. Return to Original English Version

corpulency /ˈkɔːrpjələnsi/ — corpulência; obesidade. So did his person, which was sleek though free from corpulency. Return to Original English Version

corroboration /kəˌrɑːbəˈreɪʃən/ — corroboração; confirmação. It was undoubtedly true, and may be stated in corroboration of Mr Pecksniff, that any pupil had the most liberal permission to mention anything in this way that suggested itself to his fancy. Return to Original English Version

counteract /ˌkaʊntərˈækt/ — contrariar; neutralizar. Mr Pecksniff, now that your cousin (and Chiv's uncle) has turned up, some steps must be taken to prevent his disappearing again; and, if possible, to counteract the influence which is exercised over him now, by this designing favourite. Return to Original English Version

counterpane /ˈkaʊntərpeɪn/ — colcha; coberta. With these impressive words, Mr Pecksniff passed over to the bedside, where, after patting the counterpane once or twice in a very solemn manner, as if by that means he gained a clear insight into the patient's disorder, he took his seat in a large arm-chair, and in an attitude of some thoughtfulness and much comfort, waited for his waking. Return to Original English Version

courteous /ˈkɜːrtiəs/ — cortês; educado. He was a courteous and considerate dragon, too; or had been in his distincter days; for in the midst of his rampant feebleness, he kept one of his forepaws near his nose, as though he would say, 'Don't mind me--it's only my fun;' while he held out the other in polite and hospitable entreaty. Return to Original English Version

courteously /ˈkɜːrtiəsli/ — cortesmente; com cortesia. 'Very hard frost to-night, sir,' said the newcomer, courteously acknowledging Mr Pinch's withdrawal of the little table, that he might have place: 'Don't disturb yourself, I beg.' Return to Original English Version

coverlet /ˈkʌvərlət/ — colcha. 'Call you?' cried the old man, looking quickly up, and hurriedly drawing beneath the coverlet the paper on which he had been writing. Return to Original English Version

coverture /ˈkʌvərtʃər/ — condição jurídica de mulher casada. This was a smart stab at a pension enjoyed by the strong-minded woman, during her second widowhood and before her last coverture. Return to Original English Version

coveted /ˈkʌvətɪd/ — cobiçado. There is nothing in your possession that I know of, Mr Chuzzlewit, which is much to be coveted for the happiness it brings you.' Return to Original English Version

cowered /ˈkaʊərd/ — encolheu-se; acovardou-se. The scared leaves only flew the faster for all this, and a giddy chase it was; for they got into unfrequented places, where there was no outlet, and where their pursuer kept them eddying round and round at his pleasure; and they crept under the eaves of houses, and clung tightly to the sides of hay-ricks, like bats; and tore in at open chamber windows, and cowered close to hedges; and, in short, went anywhere for safety. Return to Original English Version

crackled /ˈkrækəld/ — crepitou; estalou. On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels; others stripped of all their garniture, stood, each the centre of its little heap of bright red leaves, watching their slow decay; others again, still wearing theirs, had them all crunched and crackled up, as though they had been burnt; about the stems of some were piled, in ruddy mounds, the apples they had borne that year; while others (hardy evergreens this class) showed somewhat stern and gloomy in their vigour, as charged by nature with the admonition that it is not to her more sensitive and joyous favourites she grants the longest term of life. Return to Original English Version

crave /kreɪv/ — desejar intensamente. But before I go, I crave your leave to speak, and more than that, Mr Chuzzlewit, I must and will--yes indeed, I repeat it, must and will--be heard. Return to Original English Version

crowning /ˈkraʊnɪŋ/ — coroação. And the crowning circumstance of the whole delightful catalogue was, that both the fair creatures were so utterly unconscious of all this! Return to Original English Version

crumbled /ˈkrʌmbəld/ — desmoronou; esfarelou. The perfect and entire satisfaction of Tom; his surpassing appreciation of the husky sandwiches, which crumbled in his mouth like saw-dust; the unspeakable relish with which he swallowed the thin wine by drops, and smacked his lips, as though it were so rich and generous that to lose an atom of its fruity flavour were a sin; the look with which he paused sometimes, with his glass in his hand, proposing silent toasts to himself; and the anxious shade that came upon his contented face when, after wandering round the room, exulting in its uninvaded snugness, his glance encountered the dull brow of his companion; no cynic in the world, though in his hatred of its men a very griffin, could have withstood these things in Thomas Pinch. Return to Original English Version

crummy /ˈkrʌmi/ — cheio de miolo. 'Or if there's one in the eating parlour,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'I can find it myself.' So he led his daughters, without waiting for any further introduction, into a room on the ground-floor, where a table-cloth (rather a tight and scanty fit in reference to the table it covered) was already spread for breakfast; displaying a mighty dish of pink boiled beef; an instance of that particular style of loaf which is known to housekeepers as a slack-baked, crummy quartern; a liberal provision of cups and saucers; and the usual appendages. Return to Original English Version

crunched /krʌntʃt/ — estalou sob os pés. On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels; others stripped of all their garniture, stood, each the centre of its little heap of bright red leaves, watching their slow decay; others again, still wearing theirs, had them all crunched and crackled up, as though they had been burnt; about the stems of some were piled, in ruddy mounds, the apples they had borne that year; while others (hardy evergreens this class) showed somewhat stern and gloomy in their vigour, as charged by nature with the admonition that it is not to her more sensitive and joyous favourites she grants the longest term of life. Return to Original English Version

culpable /ˈkʌlpəbəl/ — culpado; censurável. There is at this present moment in this very place, a perfect constellation of talent and genius, who is involved, through what I cannot but designate as the culpable negligence of my friend Pecksniff, in a situation as tremendous, perhaps, as the social intercourse of the nineteenth century will readily admit of. Return to Original English Version

cur /kɜːr/ — vira-lata; canalha. But he did not; for with the apt closing words above recited, Mr Slyme; of too haughty a stomach to work, to beg, to borrow, or to steal; yet mean enough to be worked or borrowed, begged or stolen for, by any catspaw that would serve his turn; too insolent to lick the hand that fed him in his need, yet cur enough to bite and tear it in the dark; with these apt closing words Mr Slyme fell forward with his head upon the table, and so declined into a sodden sleep. Return to Original English Version

curtseying /ˈkɜːrtsiɪŋ/ — fazendo uma reverência. 'A very young person,' said Mrs Lupin, curtseying and blushing; '--I beg your pardon, sir, but I have been so hurried to-night, that I don't know what I say--who is with him now.' Return to Original English Version

cutlery /ˈkʌtləri/ — talheres; cutelaria. Mr Pinch regarded everything exposed for sale with great delight, and was particularly struck by the itinerant cutlery, which he considered of the very keenest kind, insomuch that he purchased a pocket knife with seven blades in it, and not a cut (as he afterwards found out) among them. Return to Original English Version

cuttingly /ˈkʌtɪŋli/ — mordazmente. I may be a Hypocrite,' said Mr Pecksniff, cuttingly; 'but I am not a Brute.' Return to Original English Version

dainties /ˈdeɪntiz/ — iguarias. That choice liquor in which to steep these dainties might not be wanting, the remains of the two bottles of currant wine had been poured together and corked with a curl-paper; so that every material was at hand for making quite a heavy night of it. Return to Original English Version

dainty /ˈdeɪnti/ — delicado. Here too were the dainty frontispiece and trim vignette, pointing like handposts on the outskirts of great cities, to the rich stock of incident beyond; and store of books, with many a grave portrait and time-honoured name, whose matter he knew well, and would have given mines to have, in any form, upon the narrow shell beside his bed at Mr Pecksniff's. Return to Original English Version

damsel /ˈdæmzəl/ — donzela; jovem mulher. To behold each damsel in her very admiration of her sister, setting up in business for herself on an entirely different principle, and announcing no connection with over-the-way, and if the quality of goods at that establishment don't please you, you are respectfully invited to favour ME with a call! Return to Original English Version

dangling /ˈdæŋɡəlɪŋ/ — pendente; balançando. In a word, even his plain black suit, and state of widower and dangling double eye-glass, all tended to the same purpose, and cried aloud, 'Behold the moral Pecksniff!' Return to Original English Version

darting /ˈdɑːrtɪŋ/ — disparando; lançando; movendo-se rapidamente. And I tell you, sir,' said Mr Pecksniff, towering on tiptoe among the curtains, as if he were literally rising above all worldly considerations, and were fain to hold on tight, to keep himself from darting skyward like a rocket, 'I tell you without fear or favour, that it will not do for you to be unmindful of your grandson, young Martin, who has the strongest natural claim upon you. Return to Original English Version

dashing /ˈdæʃɪŋ/ — correndo; precipitando-se; garboso. Why, we were companions directly! and he a relation of Pecksniff's too, and a clever, dashing youth who might cut his way through the world as if it were a cheese! Return to Original English Version

deadness /ˈdednəs/ — desolação. Among the narrow thoroughfares at hand, there lingered, here and there, an ancient doorway of carved oak, from which, of old, the sounds of revelry and feasting often came; but now these mansions, only used for storehouses, were dark and dull, and, being filled with wool, and cotton, and the like--such heavy merchandise as stifles sound and stops the throat of echo--had an air of palpable deadness about them which, added to their silence and desertion, made them very grim. Return to Original English Version

decanter /dɪˈkæntər/ — decantador. He was brooding over the remains of yesterday's decanter of brandy, and was engaged in the thoughtful occupation of making a chain of rings on the top of the table with the wet foot of his drinking-glass. Return to Original English Version

decently /ˈdiːsəntli/ — decentemente; com dignidade. As a goodly tumulus is already collected, and decently battened up above the Family grave, the present chapter is content to leave it as it is: merely adding, by way of a final spadeful, that many Chuzzlewits, both male and female, are proved to demonstration, on the faith of letters written by their own mothers, to have had chiselled noses, undeniable chins, forms that might have served the sculptor for a model, exquisitely-turned limbs and polished foreheads of so transparent a texture that the blue veins might be seen branching off in various directions, like so many roads on an ethereal map. Return to Original English Version

decidedly /dɪˈsaɪdɪdli/ — decididamente. Now there was nothing that one may call decidedly original in this remark, nor can it be exactly said to have contained any wise precept theretofore unknown to mankind, or to have opened any hidden source of consolation; but Mr Pecksniff's manner was so bland, and he nodded his head so soothingly, and showed in everything such an affable sense of his own excellence, that anybody would have been, as Mrs Lupin was, comforted by the mere voice and presence of such a man; and, though he had merely said 'a verb must agree with its nominative case in number and person, my good friend,' or 'eight times eight are sixty-four, my worthy soul,' must have felt deeply grateful to him for his humanity and wisdom. Return to Original English Version

decoyed /dɪˈkɔɪd/ — atraiu com engodo. That you haven't decoyed us here, and laid a plot and a plan against us! Return to Original English Version

deducting /dɪˈdʌktɪŋ/ — descontando; subtraindo. They were both very busy on the afternoon succeeding the family's departure--Martin with the grammar-school, and Tom in balancing certain receipts of rents, and deducting Mr Pecksniff's commission from the same; in which abstruse employment he was much distracted by a habit his new friend had of whistling aloud while he was drawing--when they were not a little startled by the unexpected obtrusion into that sanctuary of genius, of a human head which, although a shaggy and somewhat alarming head in appearance, smiled affably upon them from the doorway, in a manner that was at once waggish, conciliatory, and expressive of approbation. Return to Original English Version

deduction /dɪˈdʌkʃən/ — dedução. With which consolatory deduction from the gloomy premises recited, Mr Tigg roused himself by a great effort, and proceeded in his former strain. Return to Original English Version

degeneracy /dɪˈdʒenərəsi/ — degeneração; decadência moral. These gentry were much opposed to steam and all new-fangled ways, and held ballooning to be sinful, and deplored the degeneracy of the times; which that particular member of each little club who kept the keys of the nearest church, professionally, always attributed to the prevalence of dissent and irreligion; though the major part of the company inclined to the belief that virtue went out with hair-powder, and that Old England's greatness had decayed amain with barbers. Return to Original English Version

dejected /dɪˈdʒektɪd/ — abatido; desanimado. So saying, he clapped that dejected companion on the shoulder, turned upon his heel, and walked out into the passage, whither poor Mr Pinch, after lingering irresolutely in the parlour for a few seconds, expressing in his countenance the deepest mental misery and gloom followed him. Return to Original English Version

delights /dɪˈlaɪts/ — delícias; prazeres. 'Why, is it likely,' rejoined Martin, with greater earnestness, 'that a young man newly escaped from this kennel of a place, and fresh to all the delights of being his own master in London, can have much leisure or inclination to think favourably of anything or anybody he has left behind him here? Return to Original English Version

delusions /dɪˈluːʒənz/ — ilusões; delírios. I think, I say, that means might be devised of disposing our respected relative to listen to the promptings of nature, and not to the siren-like delusions of art. Return to Original English Version

demeanour /dɪˈmiːnər/ — comportamento; porte. With a cheerfulness of conscience, prompting almost a sprightly demeanour, he then resumed: Return to Original English Version

demureness /dɪˈmjʊənəs/ — compostura recatada. 'They won't hurt us, sir, I dare say.' And having given him this answer with great demureness she was so overcome by her own humour, that she was fain to stifle her merriment in her sister's shawl. Return to Original English Version

denounced /dɪˈnaʊnst/ — denunciado. Mr Pinch was not so dismayed by this terrible threat, but that he had voice enough to call to Mark to come in, and upstairs; a summons which he so speedily obeyed, that almost as soon as Tom and Mr Tigg had drawn in their heads and closed the window again, he, the denounced, appeared before them. Return to Original English Version

denunciations /dɪˌnʌnsiˈeɪʃənz/ — denúncias; invectivas condenatórias. Of all the bullyings and denunciations that were ever heaped on one unlucky head, none can ever have exceeded in energy and heartiness those with which he was complimented by each of his remaining relatives, singly, upon bidding him farewell. Return to Original English Version

deplorable /dɪˈplɔːrəbəl/ — deplorável; lamentável. But it is a melancholy truth, and a deplorable instance of the uncharitableness of the world, that they made the comparison. Return to Original English Version

deplore /dɪˈplɔːr/ — deplorar; lamentar. Besides; how, Mr Tigg,' continued Pecksniff even more gravely and impressively than he had spoken yet, 'how could Mr Chuzzlewit be prevented from having these peculiar and most extraordinary confidences of which you speak; the existence of which I must admit; and which I cannot but deplore--for his sake? Return to Original English Version

deplored /dɪˈplɔːrd/ — deplorou; lamentado. These gentry were much opposed to steam and all new-fangled ways, and held ballooning to be sinful, and deplored the degeneracy of the times; which that particular member of each little club who kept the keys of the nearest church, professionally, always attributed to the prevalence of dissent and irreligion; though the major part of the company inclined to the belief that virtue went out with hair-powder, and that Old England's greatness had decayed amain with barbers. Return to Original English Version

deportment /dɪˈpɔːrtmənt/ — porte; compostura. Beside her sat her spinster daughters, three in number, and of gentlemanly deportment, who had so mortified themselves with tight stays, that their tempers were reduced to something less than their waists, and sharp lacing was expressed in their very noses. Return to Original English Version

desertion /dɪˈzɜːrʃən/ — deserção; abandono. Among the narrow thoroughfares at hand, there lingered, here and there, an ancient doorway of carved oak, from which, of old, the sounds of revelry and feasting often came; but now these mansions, only used for storehouses, were dark and dull, and, being filled with wool, and cotton, and the like--such heavy merchandise as stifles sound and stops the throat of echo--had an air of palpable deadness about them which, added to their silence and desertion, made them very grim. Return to Original English Version

designate /ˈdɛzɪɡneɪt/ — designar; indicar. There is at this present moment in this very place, a perfect constellation of talent and genius, who is involved, through what I cannot but designate as the culpable negligence of my friend Pecksniff, in a situation as tremendous, perhaps, as the social intercourse of the nineteenth century will readily admit of. Return to Original English Version

desiring /dɪˈzaɪərɪŋ/ — desejando; querendo apenas. Also there were farmers' wives in beaver bonnets and red cloaks, riding shaggy horses purged of all earthly passions, who went soberly into all manner of places without desiring to know why, and who, if required, would have stood stock still in a china shop, with a complete dinner-service at each hoof. Return to Original English Version

desist /dɪˈzɪst/ — desistir; cessar. 'If you are about to pursue the course with which you have begun, sir,' pursued Mr Spottletoe in a great heat, and giving a violent rap on the table with his knuckles, 'the sooner you desist, and this assembly separates, the better. Return to Original English Version

detractors /dɪˈtræktərz/ — detratores. But here again the sneering detractors who weave such miserable figments from their malicious brains, are stricken dumb by evidence. Return to Original English Version

deuce /duːs/ — diabo; diacho. 'Deuce take it, I must talk openly to somebody. Return to Original English Version

devious /ˈdiːviəs/ — tortuoso; sinuoso; ardiloso. A kind of resigned distraction came over the stranger as he trod those devious mazes, and, giving himself up for lost, went in and out and round about and quietly turned back again when he came to a dead wall or was stopped by an iron railing, and felt that the means of escape might possibly present themselves in their own good time, but that to anticipate them was hopeless. Return to Original English Version

devising /dɪˈvaɪzɪŋ/ — idealizando; arquitetando. 'Oh! let us not be for ever calculating, devising, and plotting for the future,' said Mr Pecksniff, smiling more and more, and looking at the fire as a man might, who was cracking a joke with it: 'I am weary of such arts. Return to Original English Version

devoid /dɪˈvɔɪd/ — desprovido; totalmente sem. Even the old stuffed fox upon the top of the wardrobe was devoid of any spark of vigilance, for his glass eye had fallen out, and he slumbered as he stood. Return to Original English Version

digression /daɪˈɡreʃən/ — digressão. Nor is this tribute to the reclaimed animals in question so wide a digression into the realms of Natural History as it may, at first sight, appear to be; for the present business of these pages in with the dragon who had his retreat in Mr Pecksniff's neighbourhood, and that courteous animal being already on the carpet, there is nothing in the way of its immediate transaction. Return to Original English Version

dilated /ˈdaɪleɪtɪd/ — dilataram-se; alargaram-se. Gradually his hands became tightly clasped upon the elbows of the chair, his eyes dilated with surprise, his mouth opened, his hair stood more erect upon his forehead than its custom was, until, at length, when the old man rose in bed, and stared at him with scarcely less emotion than he showed himself, the Pecksniff doubts were all resolved, and he exclaimed aloud: Return to Original English Version

dilution /daɪˈluːʃən/ — diluição. This additional pungency on the part of the fair young creature led, on ordinary occasions, to such slight consequences as the copious dilution of Mr Pinch's tea, or to his coming off uncommonly short in respect of butter, or to other the like results. Return to Original English Version

dimly /ˈdɪmli/ — debilmente; com pouca luz. To tell of half the queer old taverns that had a drowsy and secret existence near Todgers's, would fill a goodly book; while a second volume no less capacious might be devoted to an account of the quaint old guests who frequented their dimly lighted parlours. Return to Original English Version

dinginess /ˈdɪndʒinəs/ — aspecto encardido. His nether garments were of a bluish grey--violent in its colours once, but sobered now by age and dinginess--and were so stretched and strained in a tough conflict between his braces and his straps, that they appeared every moment in danger of flying asunder at the knees. Return to Original English Version

dingy /ˈdɪndʒi/ — encardido; sujo e desbotado. For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs. Return to Original English Version

disarm /dɪsˈɑːrm/ — desarmar. 'At the same time I am bound to say, and I do say with all my heart,' observed the hostess, earnestly, 'that her looks and manner almost disarm suspicion.' Return to Original English Version

disavow /ˌdɪsəˈvaʊ/ — renegar. 'And pray,' asked Mr Pecksniff, obviously not quite at his ease, 'what may be Mr Slyme's business here, if I may be permitted to inquire, who am compelled by a regard for my own character to disavow all interest in his proceedings?' Return to Original English Version

disclosing /dɪsˈkloʊzɪŋ/ — revelando. What do you mean by not disclosing?' Return to Original English Version

discord /ˈdɪskɔːrd/ — discórdia; dissonância. I have so corrupted and changed the nature of all those who have ever attended on me, by breeding avaricious plots and hopes within them; I have engendered such domestic strife and discord, by tarrying even with members of my own family; I have been such a lighted torch in peaceful homes, kindling up all the inflammable gases and vapours in their moral atmosphere, which, but for me, might have proved harmless to the end, that I have, I may say, fled from all who knew me, and taking refuge in secret places have lived, of late, the life of one who is hunted. Return to Original English Version

discouragement /dɪsˈkʌrɪdʒmənt/ — desânimo; desencorajamento. As they passed the parlour window on the outside, they were seen to counterfeit a perfect transport of delight among themselves; and with this final blow and great discouragement for those within, they vanished. Return to Original English Version

discriminating /dɪˈskrɪmɪneɪtɪŋ/ — de gosto apurado; que sabe distinguir. 'You are quite right, my dear madam, and I appreciate and thank you for your discriminating objection--our respected relative, to dispose himself to listen to the promptings of nature, and not to the--' Return to Original English Version

disdainful /dɪsˈdeɪnfəl/ — desdenhoso. 'I might have been prepared for this!' cried the strong-minded woman, looking about her with a disdainful smile as she moved towards the door, followed by her three daughters. Return to Original English Version

disengaged /ˌdɪsɪnˈɡeɪdʒd/ — desprendeu; soltou; desocupado. It happened then, and lastly, that Mr Pecksniff found himself immediately collared by something which smelt like several damp umbrellas, a barrel of beer, a cask of warm brandy-and-water, and a small parlour-full of stale tobacco smoke, mixed; and was straightway led downstairs into the bar from which he had lately come, where he found himself standing opposite to, and in the grasp of, a perfectly strange gentleman of still stranger appearance who, with his disengaged hand, rubbed his own head very hard, and looked at him, Pecksniff, with an evil countenance. Return to Original English Version

disgustingly /dɪsˈɡʌstɪŋli/ — de modo repugnante. There were no staring portraits to remonstrate with you for being lazy; no round-eyed birds upon the curtains, disgustingly wide awake, and insufferably prying. Return to Original English Version

dishevelled /dɪˈʃevəld/ — desgrenhado. His sharp features being much pinched and nipped by long waiting in the cold, and his straggling red whiskers and frowzy hair being more than usually dishevelled from the same cause, he certainly looked rather unwholesome and uncomfortable than Shakspearian or Miltonic. Return to Original English Version

disinterestedness /dɪsˈɪntrəstɪdnəs/ — isenção; ausência de interesse próprio. 'There is disinterestedness in the world, I hope? Return to Original English Version

disjointed /dɪsˈdʒɔɪntɪd/ — desconexo; sem nexo. And, at the top of the staircase, was an old, disjointed, rickety, ill-favoured skylight, patched and mended in all kinds of ways, which looked distrustfully down at everything that passed below, and covered Todgers's up as if it were a sort of human cucumber-frame, and only people of a peculiar growth were reared there. Return to Original English Version

dislikings /dɪsˈlaɪkɪŋz/ — antipatias. 'Every man,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'has a right, an undoubted right, (which I, for one, would not call in question for any earthly consideration; oh no!) to regulate his own proceedings by his own likings and dislikings, supposing they are not immoral and not irreligious. Return to Original English Version

dismayed /dɪsˈmeɪd/ — consternado; desalentado. Mr Pinch was not so dismayed by this terrible threat, but that he had voice enough to call to Mark to come in, and upstairs; a summons which he so speedily obeyed, that almost as soon as Tom and Mr Tigg had drawn in their heads and closed the window again, he, the denounced, appeared before them. Return to Original English Version

disordered /dɪsˈɔːrdərd/ — desordenado; perturbado. Her dark brown hair, disordered from the same cause, had fallen negligently from its bonds, and hung upon her neck; for which instance of its waywardness no male observer would have had the heart to blame it. Return to Original English Version

disparagement /dɪˈspærɪdʒmənt/ — depreciação; menosprezo. 'I'll say anything of him, you like,' returned the other, 'and not another word to his disparagement.' Return to Original English Version

disparagingly /dɪˈspærɪdʒɪŋli/ — com menosprezo. He only shook his head; disparagingly of himself too. Return to Original English Version

dispassionate /dɪsˈpæʃənət/ — imparcial; sem paixão. 'Pray do not be hasty, Mr Chuzzlewit,' said Pecksniff, in a tone that was at once in the sublimest degree compassionate and dispassionate; for he had by this time recovered from his surprise, and was in full possession of his virtuous self. Return to Original English Version

dispensation /ˌdɪspənˈseɪʃən/ — dispensa; autorização especial. 'Now,' said Mr Tigg, clapping one hand on the shoulder of his prepossessing friend, and calling Mr Pecksniff's attention to him with the other, 'you two are related; and relations never did agree, and never will; which is a wise dispensation and an inevitable thing, or there would be none but family parties, and everybody in the world would bore everybody else to death. Return to Original English Version

disperse /dɪˈspɜːrs/ — dispersar-se; espalhar. It was small tyranny for a respectable wind to go wreaking its vengeance on such poor creatures as the fallen leaves, but this wind happening to come up with a great heap of them just after venting its humour on the insulted Dragon, did so disperse and scatter them that they fled away, pell-mell, some here, some there, rolling over each other, whirling round and round upon their thin edges, taking frantic flights into the air, and playing all manner of extraordinary gambols in the extremity of their distress. Return to Original English Version

disposing /dɪˈspoʊzɪŋ/ — dispondo; desfazendo-se de. I think, I say, that means might be devised of disposing our respected relative to listen to the promptings of nature, and not to the siren-like delusions of art. Return to Original English Version

dispositions /ˌdɪspəˈzɪʃənz/ — índoles; disposições. It was perfectly charming, and worthy of the Pastoral age, to see how the two Miss Pecksniffs slapped each other after this, and then subsided into an embrace expressive of their different dispositions. Return to Original English Version

disqualified /dɪsˈkwɒlɪfaɪd/ — desqualificado; impedido. And it being quite impossible that any difference of opinion can take place among women without every woman who is within hearing taking active part in it, the strong-minded lady and her two daughters, and Mrs Spottletoe, and the deaf cousin (who was not at all disqualified from joining in the dispute by reason of being perfectly unacquainted with its merits), one and all plunged into the quarrel directly. Return to Original English Version

disrupted /dɪsˈrʌptɪd/ — interrompeu; desorganizou. In virtue of which liberal arrangement, they had the happiness to find awaiting them in the parlour two chaotic heaps of the remains of last night's pleasure, consisting of certain filmy bits of oranges, some mummied sandwiches, various disrupted masses of the geological cake, and several entire captain's biscuits. Return to Original English Version

dissembling /dɪˈsɛmblɪŋ/ — dissimulando; fingindo. The moral position taken by Mr Tigg was something quite tremendous; and the deaf cousin, who had the complicated aggravation of seeing all the proceedings and hearing nothing but the catastrophe, actually scraped her shoes upon the scraper, and afterwards distributed impressions of them all over the top step, in token that she shook the dust from her feet before quitting that dissembling and perfidious mansion. Return to Original English Version

dissipated /ˈdɪsəpeɪtɪd/ — dissipado; desfeito. Mr Pinch had a shrewd notion that Salisbury was a very desperate sort of place; an exceeding wild and dissipated city; and when he had put up the horse, and given the hostler to understand that he would look in again in the course of an hour or two to see him take his corn, he set forth on a stroll about the streets with a vague and not unpleasant idea that they teemed with all kinds of mystery and bedevilment. Return to Original English Version

dissolve /dɪˈzɑːlv/ — dissolver; desaparecer. And lest the sun should break this charm too eagerly, there moved between him and the ground, a mist like that which waits upon the moon on summer nights--the very same to Tom--and wooed him to dissolve it gently. Return to Original English Version

distilled /dɪˈstɪld/ — destilado. His head distilled such oil upon his whiskers, that they were rich and clogged with unctuous drops; his face was violently inflamed, his limbs trembled; and he gasped and strove for breath. Return to Original English Version

distincter /dɪˈstɪŋktər/ — mais distinto; mais nítido. He was a courteous and considerate dragon, too; or had been in his distincter days; for in the midst of his rampant feebleness, he kept one of his forepaws near his nose, as though he would say, 'Don't mind me--it's only my fun;' while he held out the other in polite and hospitable entreaty. Return to Original English Version

distrustfully /dɪsˈtrʌstfəli/ — com desconfiança. And, at the top of the staircase, was an old, disjointed, rickety, ill-favoured skylight, patched and mended in all kinds of ways, which looked distrustfully down at everything that passed below, and covered Todgers's up as if it were a sort of human cucumber-frame, and only people of a peculiar growth were reared there. Return to Original English Version

divested /daɪˈvestɪd/ — despojado de. At length he rose and divested himself of his shawl and great-coat, which (far different from Mr Pinch's) was a very warm and thick one; but he was not a whit more conversational out of his great-coat than in it, for he sat down again in the same place and attitude, and leaning back in his chair, began to bite his nails. Return to Original English Version

doings /ˈduːɪŋz/ — atos; atividades. Of his architectural doings, nothing was clearly known, except that he had never designed or built anything; but it was generally understood that his knowledge of the science was almost awful in its profundity. Return to Original English Version

doleful /ˈdoʊlfəl/ — lúgubre; lamentoso. But as a gentleman's looks, in such a case of all others, are by no means under his own control, Mr Pecksniff continued to keep his mouth and his eyes very wide open, and to drop his lower jaw, somewhat after the manner of a toy nut-cracker; and as his hat had fallen off, and his face was pale, and his hair erect, and his coat muddy, the spectacle he presented was so very doleful, that neither of the Miss Pecksniffs could repress an involuntary screech. Return to Original English Version

dolts /dəʊlts/ — estúpidos. They were dolts and idiots for their pains. Return to Original English Version

dost /dʌst/ — fazes. Blessings on thy simple heart, Tom Pinch, how proudly dost thou button up that scanty coat, called by a sad misnomer, for these many years, a 'great' one; and how thoroughly, as with thy cheerful voice thou pleasantly adjurest Sam the hostler 'not to let him go yet,' dost thou believe that quadruped desires to go, and would go if he might! Return to Original English Version

doubly /ˈdʌbli/ — duplamente; duas vezes mais. As soon as I found it to be his, I was doubly bent on coming to him if possible, on account of his being--' Return to Original English Version

doubtless /ˈdaʊtləs/ — sem dúvida; provavelmente. There was not the least objection, doubtless, to the young man's slaughtering and appropriating to his own use any calf, fat or lean, that he might happen to find upon the premises; but as no such animal chanced at that time to be grazing on Mr Pecksniff's estate, this request must be considered rather as a polite compliment that a substantial hospitality. Return to Original English Version

downcast /ˈdaʊnkɑːst/ — abatido; de olhos baixos. It soon deserted them, and even the distant bed with its strange burden, for the young creature immediately before her, who, with her downcast eyes intently fixed upon the fire, sat wrapped in silent meditation. Return to Original English Version

downwards /ˈdaʊnwərdz/ — para baixo. From the strong-minded woman downwards everybody fell, that instant, upon Mr Spottletoe, who after vainly attempting to be heard in silence was fain to sit down again, folding his arms and shaking his head most wrathfully, and giving Mrs Spottletoe to understand in dumb show, that that scoundrel Pecksniff might go on for the present, but he would cut in presently, and annihilate him. Return to Original English Version

dozing /ˈdoʊzɪŋ/ — cochilando; dormitando. There was no wakeful reflection of the fire there, as in your modern chambers, which upon the darkest nights have a watchful consciousness of French polish; the old Spanish mahogany winked at it now and then, as a dozing cat or dog might, nothing more. Return to Original English Version

drab /dræb/ — pardacento; sem graça. Then there were young farmers and old farmers with smock-frocks, brown great-coats, drab great-coats, red worsted comforters, leather-leggings, wonderful shaped hats, hunting-whips, and rough sticks, standing about in groups, or talking noisily together on the tavern steps, or paying and receiving huge amounts of greasy wealth, with the assistance of such bulky pocket-books that when they were in their pockets it was apoplexy to get them out, and when they were out it was spasms to get them in again. Return to Original English Version

draughts /drɑːfts/ — damas; correntes de ar. Nor was he stinted in his draughts of wine; but on the contrary, remembering Mr Pecksniff's speech, attacked the bottle with such vigour, that every time he filled his glass anew, Miss Charity, despite her amiable resolves, could not repress a fixed and stony glare, as if her eyes had rested on a ghost. Return to Original English Version

draughtsman /ˈdrɑːftsmən/ — desenhista; projetista. 'Come! as you're ambitious, and are a very neat draughtsman, you shall--ha ha!--you shall try your hand on these proposals for a grammar-school; regulating your plan, of course, by the printed particulars. Return to Original English Version

drawbacks /ˈdrɔːbæks/ — desvantagens; inconvenientes. He moreover observed that there were many little characteristics about his friend Slyme, of which he could by no means, as a man of strict honour, approve; but that he was prepared to forgive him all these slight drawbacks, and much more, in consideration of the great pleasure he himself had that day enjoyed in his social intercourse with Mr Pecksniff, which had given him a far higher and more enduring delight than the successful negotiation of any small loan on the part of his friend could possibly have imparted. Return to Original English Version

drawed /drɔːd/ — desenhou. 'Why, then, my dear good soul,' said Mark, 'and a kinder woman than you are never drawed breath--let me see the man as says she did!--what would be the likely consequence of us two being--' Return to Original English Version

drest /drɛst/ — vestido; trajado. He was far from handsome certainly; and was drest in a snuff-coloured suit, of an uncouth make at the best, which, being shrunk with long wear, was twisted and tortured into all kinds of odd shapes; but notwithstanding his attire, and his clumsy figure, which a great stoop in his shoulders, and a ludicrous habit he had of thrusting his head forward, by no means redeemed, one would not have been disposed (unless Mr Pecksniff said so) to consider him a bad fellow by any means. Return to Original English Version

drinkables /ˈdrɪŋkəbəlz/ — bebidas. But on the morning after the Installation Banquet, she suffered him to wander to and fro among the eatables and drinkables, a perfectly free and unchecked man; so utterly to Mr Pinch's wonder and confusion, that like the wretched captive who recovered his liberty in his old age, he could make but little use of his enlargement, and fell into a strange kind of flutter for want of some kind hand to scrape his bread, and cut him off in the article of sugar with a lump, and pay him those other little attentions to which he was accustomed. Return to Original English Version

drivest /ˈdraɪvɪst/ — expulsas; conduzes. Who, as thou drivest off, a happy, man, and noddest with a grateful lovingness to Pecksniff in his nightcap at his chamber-window, would not cry, 'Heaven speed thee, Tom, and send that thou wert going off for ever to some quiet home where thou mightst live at peace, and sorrow should not touch thee!' Return to Original English Version

droll /droʊl/ — cômico; esquisito e engraçado. Now it really will be,' continued Mr Pecksniff, clapping his young friend on the back in his droll humour, 'an amusement to me, to see what you make of the grammar-school.' Return to Original English Version

drooping /ˈdruːpɪŋ/ — pendente; caído; murcho. The landlady looked in great astonishment at her whom he called Mary, and finding no rejoinder in the drooping face, looked back again at him. Return to Original English Version

drowsy /ˈdraʊzi/ — sonolento; entorpecido. It was none of your frivolous and preposterously bright bedrooms, where nobody can close an eye with any kind of propriety or decent regard to the association of ideas; but it was a good, dull, leaden, drowsy place, where every article of furniture reminded you that you came there to sleep, and that you were expected to go to sleep. Return to Original English Version

dullness /ˈdʌlnəs/ — entorpecimento; monotonia; falta de vivacidade. But, Lord, there's no dullness at the Dragon! Return to Original English Version

dupes /duːps/ — ludibria; os enganados. They should have shown themselves fit objects to be robbed and preyed upon and plotted against and adulated by any knaves, who, but for joy, would have spat upon their coffins when they died their dupes; and then their search would have ended as mine has done, and they would be what I am.' Return to Original English Version

dwellings /ˈdwɛlɪŋz/ — moradias; habitações. In all my writings, I hope I have taken every available opportunity of showing the want of sanitary improvements in the neglected dwellings of the poor. Return to Original English Version

dwelt /dwɛlt/ — moravam; habitavam. The sun went down beneath the long dark lines of hill and cloud which piled up in the west an airy city, wall heaped on wall, and battlement on battlement; the light was all withdrawn; the shining church turned cold and dark; the stream forgot to smile; the birds were silent; and the gloom of winter dwelt on everything. Return to Original English Version

earthy /ˈɜːθi/ — terroso. The feeling that the sounds awakened, in the moment of their existence, seemed to include his whole life and being; and as the surrounding realities of stone and wood and glass grew dimmer in the darkness, these visions grew so much the brighter that Tom might have forgotten the new pupil and the expectant master, and have sat there pouring out his grateful heart till midnight, but for a very earthy old verger insisting on locking up the cathedral forthwith. Return to Original English Version

easterly /ˈiːstərli/ — oriental; em direção ao leste. If that is Mr Pinch, I will venture to express a hope that I see him well, and that he is suffering no inconvenience from the easterly wind?' Return to Original English Version

eatables /ˈiːtəbəlz/ — comestíveis. But on the morning after the Installation Banquet, she suffered him to wander to and fro among the eatables and drinkables, a perfectly free and unchecked man; so utterly to Mr Pinch's wonder and confusion, that like the wretched captive who recovered his liberty in his old age, he could make but little use of his enlargement, and fell into a strange kind of flutter for want of some kind hand to scrape his bread, and cut him off in the article of sugar with a lump, and pay him those other little attentions to which he was accustomed. Return to Original English Version

eccentricities /ˌɛksɛnˈtrɪsətiz/ — excentricidades; esquisitices. 'We must not be too hard,' he said, 'upon the little eccentricities of our friend Slyme. Return to Original English Version

ecstatically /ɪkˈstætɪkli/ — extasiadamente. 'Perhaps?' cried Mrs Todgers ecstatically. Return to Original English Version

eddying /ˈediɪŋ/ — redemoinhante; que gira em turbilhão. The scared leaves only flew the faster for all this, and a giddy chase it was; for they got into unfrequented places, where there was no outlet, and where their pursuer kept them eddying round and round at his pleasure; and they crept under the eaves of houses, and clung tightly to the sides of hay-ricks, like bats; and tore in at open chamber windows, and cowered close to hedges; and, in short, went anywhere for safety. Return to Original English Version

edifice /ˈedɪfɪs/ — edifício imponente; construção. Mr Pecksniff looked about him for a moment, and then knocked at the door of a very dingy edifice, even among the choice collection of dingy edifices at hand; on the front of which was a little oval board like a tea-tray, with this inscription--'Commercial Boarding-House: M. Todgers.' Return to Original English Version

edifices /ˈedɪfɪsɪz/ — edifícios imponentes. Perhaps in no place in the world were so many gorgeous edifices of this class erected as under Mr Pecksniff's auspices; and if but one-twentieth part of the churches which were built in that front room, with one or other of the Miss Pecksniffs at the altar in the act of marrying the architect, could only be made available by the parliamentary commissioners, no more churches would be wanted for at least five centuries. Return to Original English Version

effected /ɪˈfektɪd/ — realizou; efetuou; causou. Whether it occurred to the dutiful son that he had in some degree over-reached himself by contributing to the prolongation of his father's days; or whether the cold had effected his temper; is doubtful. Return to Original English Version

effectually /ɪˈfektʃuəli/ — eficazmente; de fato. But it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good; and the wisdom of the saying was verified in this instance; for the cold air came from Mr Pinch's side of the carriage, and by interposing a perfect wall of box and man between it and the new pupil, he shielded that young gentleman effectually; which was a great comfort. Return to Original English Version

elapsed /ɪˈlæpst/ — transcorreu. Full half an hour elapsed before the old man stirred, but at length he turned himself in bed, and, though not yet awake, gave tokens that his sleep was drawing to an end. Return to Original English Version

eloquence /ˈeləkwəns/ — eloquência. When this book was first published, I was given to understand, by some authorities, that the Watertoast Association and eloquence were beyond all bounds of belief. Return to Original English Version

Original Text: Rare Words (3/7)

emendation /ˌiːmɛnˈdeɪʃən/ — correção textual. 'Aye, aye,' quoth she, and it will be observed that no emendation whatever is necessary to be made in these two initiative remarks, 'Aye, aye! Return to Original English Version

emigrated /ˈemɪɡreɪtɪd/ — emigrou. There was unquestionably a Chuzzlewit in the Gunpowder Plot, if indeed the arch-traitor, Fawkes himself, were not a scion of this remarkable stock; as he might easily have been, supposing another Chuzzlewit to have emigrated to Spain in the previous generation, and there intermarried with a Spanish lady, by whom he had issue, one olive-complexioned son. Return to Original English Version

emphatic /ɪmˈfætɪk/ — enfático; categórico. Mr Tigg received this declaration with a grave request that Mr Pinch would have the goodness to make it again; and on Tom's repeating it in a still more emphatic and unmistakable manner, checked it off, sentence for sentence, by nodding his head solemnly at the end of each. Return to Original English Version

emulation /ˌemjəˈleɪʃən/ — emulação; desejo de igualar. The gleaming iron, in its emulation, sparkled too, and shed its red-hot gems around profusely. Return to Original English Version

enchanting /ɪnˈtʃɑːntɪŋ/ — encantador; fascinante. That it amply repaid him for his trouble, and afforded a delicious and enchanting prospect, was clear from the expression of his face. Return to Original English Version

encomiums /enˈkəʊmiəmz/ — elogios; panegíricos. 'The domestic assistants,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'sleep above; and that is all.' After which, and listening complacently as he went, to the encomiums passed by his young friend on the arrangements generally, he led the way to the parlour again. Return to Original English Version

encountering /ɪnˈkaʊntərɪŋ/ — encontrando; deparando com; enfrentando. Meantime the family forces were perpetually encountering each other in divers parts of the neighbourhood; and, as no one branch of the Chuzzlewit tree had ever been known to agree with another within the memory of man, there was such a skirmishing, and flouting, and snapping off of heads, in the metaphorical sense of that expression; such a bandying of words and calling of names; such an upturning of noses and wrinkling of brows; such a formal interment of good feelings and violent resurrection of ancient grievances; as had never been known in those quiet parts since the earliest record of their civilized existence. Return to Original English Version

encumber /ɪnˈkʌmbər/ — sobrecarregar; dificultar. It was all on Mr Pinch's side, and Mr Chuzzlewit said he was very much afraid it would encumber him; to which Tom said, 'Not at all;' though it forced him into such an awkward position, that he had much ado to see anything but his own knees. Return to Original English Version

endeavoured /ɪnˈdevərd/ — esforçou-se; procurou. 'Now I think,' said Mr Pecksniff with his accustomed gentleness, though still with the air of one who suffered under injury without complaint, 'I think Mr Pinch might have done better than choose for his companion one who, at the close of a long intercourse, had endeavoured, as he knew, to wound my feelings. Return to Original English Version

endowments /ɪnˈdaʊmənts/ — dons; capacidades. Martin began to work at the grammar-school next morning, with so much vigour and expedition, that Mr Pinch had new reason to do homage to the natural endowments of that young gentleman, and to acknowledge his infinite superiority to himself. Return to Original English Version

enemy's /ˈenəmiz/ — do inimigo. 'Who is with him now,' ruminated Mr Pecksniff, warming his back (as he had warmed his hands) as if it were a widow's back, or an orphan's back, or an enemy's back, or a back that any less excellent man would have suffered to be cold. Return to Original English Version

engagements /ɪnˈɡeɪdʒmənts/ — compromissos; noivados. Mr Pecksniff's professional engagements, indeed, were almost, if not entirely, confined to the reception of pupils; for the collection of rents, with which pursuit he occasionally varied and relieved his graver toils, can hardly be said to be a strictly architectural employment. Return to Original English Version

engender /ɪnˈdʒendər/ — gerar; causar. I conceive that the sordid coarseness and brutality of Jonas would be unnatural, if there had been nothing in his early education, and in the precept and example always before him, to engender and develop the vices that make him odious. Return to Original English Version

engendered /ɪnˈdʒendərd/ — gerou; engendrado. I have so corrupted and changed the nature of all those who have ever attended on me, by breeding avaricious plots and hopes within them; I have engendered such domestic strife and discord, by tarrying even with members of my own family; I have been such a lighted torch in peaceful homes, kindling up all the inflammable gases and vapours in their moral atmosphere, which, but for me, might have proved harmless to the end, that I have, I may say, fled from all who knew me, and taking refuge in secret places have lived, of late, the life of one who is hunted. Return to Original English Version

enlargement /ɪnˈlɑːrdʒmənt/ — ampliação; expansão; libertação. But on the morning after the Installation Banquet, she suffered him to wander to and fro among the eatables and drinkables, a perfectly free and unchecked man; so utterly to Mr Pinch's wonder and confusion, that like the wretched captive who recovered his liberty in his old age, he could make but little use of his enlargement, and fell into a strange kind of flutter for want of some kind hand to scrape his bread, and cut him off in the article of sugar with a lump, and pay him those other little attentions to which he was accustomed. Return to Original English Version

enlivened /ɪnˈlaɪvənd/ — animou; tornou mais alegre. In like manner, there were gloomy courtyards in these parts, into which few but belated wayfarers ever strayed, and where vast bags and packs of goods, upward or downward bound, were for ever dangling between heaven and earth from lofty cranes There were more trucks near Todgers's than you would suppose whole city could ever need; not active trucks, but a vagabond race, for ever lounging in the narrow lanes before their masters' doors and stopping up the pass; so that when a stray hackney-coach or lumbering waggon came that way, they were the cause of such an uproar as enlivened the whole neighbourhood, and made the bells in the next churchtower vibrate again. Return to Original English Version

enlivening /ɪnˈlaɪvənɪŋ/ — animador; revigorante. Having swallowed his share of the enlivening fluid, Mr Pecksniff, under pretence of going to see if the coach were ready, went secretly to the bar, and had his own little bottle filled, in order that he might refresh himself at leisure in the dark coach without being observed. Return to Original English Version

ennobling /ɪˈnoʊblɪŋ/ — enobrecedor. Indeed, it may be laid down as a general principle, that the more extended the ancestry, the greater the amount of violence and vagabondism; for in ancient days those two amusements, combining a wholesome excitement with a promising means of repairing shattered fortunes, were at once the ennobling pursuit and the healthful recreation of the Quality of this land. Return to Original English Version

enriching /ɪnˈrɪtʃɪŋ/ — enriquecendo. It is a notable circumstance that in these later times, many Chuzzlewits, being unsuccessful in other pursuits, have, without the smallest rational hope of enriching themselves, or any conceivable reason, set up as coal-merchants; and have, month after month, continued gloomily to watch a small stock of coals, without in any one instance negotiating with a purchaser. Return to Original English Version

ensnaring /ɪnˈsnɛrɪŋ/ — enredador; que serve de armadilha. His genius lay in ensnaring parents and guardians, and pocketing premiums. Return to Original English Version

ensued /ɪnˈsuːd/ — seguiu-se; sobreveio. Mr Pecksniff, not at all knowing what it might be best to say in the momentary pause which ensued upon these remarks, made an elaborate demonstration of intending to deliver something very oracular indeed; trusting to the certainty of the old man interrupting him, before he should utter a word. Return to Original English Version

entertainment's /ˌɛntəˈteɪnmənts/ — eventos sociais. Still it does not appear (which is strange) to have procured for him any lucrative post at court or elsewhere, or to have conferred upon him any other distinction than that which was necessarily included in the countenance of so great a man, and the being invited by him to certain entertainment's, so splendid and costly in their nature, that he calls them 'Golden Balls.' Return to Original English Version

entreated /ɪnˈtriːtɪd/ — suplicou; implorou. A young gentleman's premium being paid, and the young gentleman come to Mr Pecksniff's house, Mr Pecksniff borrowed his case of mathematical instruments (if silver-mounted or otherwise valuable); entreated him, from that moment, to consider himself one of the family; complimented him highly on his parents or guardians, as the case might be; and turned him loose in a spacious room on the two-pair front; where, in the company of certain drawing-boards, parallel rulers, very stiff-legged compasses, and two, or perhaps three, other young gentlemen, he improved himself, for three or five years, according to his articles, in making elevations of Salisbury Cathedral from every possible point of sight; and in constructing in the air a vast quantity of Castles, Houses of Parliament, and other Public Buildings. Return to Original English Version

entreaties /ɪnˈtriːtiz/ — súplicas; rogos. The business in hand thus easily settled, Mr Pinch and Martin would have withdrawn immediately, but for the urgent entreaties of Mr Tigg that they would allow him the honour of presenting them to his friend Slyme, which were so very difficult of resistance that, yielding partly to these persuasions and partly to their own curiosity, they suffered themselves to be ushered into the presence of that distinguished gentleman. Return to Original English Version

entreaty /ɪnˈtriːti/ — súplica; rogo. He was a courteous and considerate dragon, too; or had been in his distincter days; for in the midst of his rampant feebleness, he kept one of his forepaws near his nose, as though he would say, 'Don't mind me--it's only my fun;' while he held out the other in polite and hospitable entreaty. Return to Original English Version

entrust /ɪnˈtrʌst/ — confiar a. Martin readily undertook this task, and Mr Pecksniff forthwith proceeded to entrust him with the materials necessary for its execution; dwelling meanwhile on the magical effect of a few finishing touches from the hand of a master; which, indeed, as some people said (and these were the old enemies again!) was unquestionably very surprising, and almost miraculous; as there were cases on record in which the masterly introduction of an additional back window, or a kitchen door, or half-a-dozen steps, or even a water spout, had made the design of a pupil Mr Pecksniff's own work, and had brought substantial rewards into that gentleman's pocket. Return to Original English Version

entrusted /ɪnˈtrʌstɪd/ — incumbido; confiado a. Thus, he writes on one occasion to his brother in reference to a gravy-spoon, the brother's property, which he (Diggory) would appear to have borrowed or otherwise possessed himself of: 'Do not be angry, I have parted with it--to my uncle.' On another occasion he expresses himself in a similar manner with regard to a child's mug which had been entrusted to him to get repaired. Return to Original English Version

equipage /ˈekwɪpɪdʒ/ — equipagem; carruagem com criados. In this horse, and the hooded vehicle, whatever its proper name might be, to which he was usually harnessed--it was more like a gig with a tumour than anything else--all Mr Pinch's thoughts and wishes centred, one bright frosty morning; for with this gallant equipage he was about to drive to Salisbury alone, there to meet with the new pupil, and thence to bring him home in triumph. Return to Original English Version

escorted /ˈeskɔːrtɪd/ — escoltou; acompanhado. In short, his day's work would have been a pretty heavy one for a porter, but his thorough good-will made nothing of it; and as he sat upon the luggage at last, waiting for the Pecksniffs, escorted by the new pupil, to come down the lane, his heart was light with the hope of having pleased his benefactor. Return to Original English Version

especial /ɪˈspeʃəl/ — especial; particular. To the extent of such a trifling loan as a crownpiece to a man of your talents, I look upon Mr Pecksniff as certain;' and seeing at this juncture that the expression of Mr Pecksniff's face by no means betokened that he shared this certainty, Mr Tigg laid his finger on his nose again for that gentleman's private and especial behoof; calling upon him thereby to take notice that the requisition of small loans was another instance of the peculiarities of genius as developed in his friend Slyme; that he, Tigg, winked at the same, because of the strong metaphysical interest which these weaknesses possessed; and that in reference to his own personal advocacy of such small advances, he merely consulted the humour of his friend, without the least regard to his own advantage or necessities. Return to Original English Version

esteemed /ɪˈstiːmd/ — apreciou; teve em boa conta. Now we must not lose sight of the fact that our esteemed friend has a grandson, to whom he was, until lately, very much attached, and whom I could have wished to see here to-day, for I have a real and deep regard for him. Return to Original English Version

ether /ˈiːθər/ — éter. Oh blessed star of Innocence, wherever you may be, how did you glitter in your home of ether, when the two Miss Pecksniffs put forth each her lily hand, and gave the same, with mantling cheeks, to Martin! Return to Original English Version

evasion /ɪˈveɪʒən/ — evasão; fuga. It was in vain for Mr Pecksniff to assure them that this new and opportune evasion of the family was at least as great a shock and surprise to him as to anybody else. Return to Original English Version

evinced /ɪˈvɪnst/ — evidenciou; manifestado. During the whole of this interval, he haunted the Dragon at all times and seasons in the day and night, and, returning good for evil evinced the deepest solicitude in the progress of the obdurate invalid, in so much that Mrs Lupin was fairly melted by his disinterested anxiety (for he often particularly required her to take notice that he would do the same by any stranger or pauper in the like condition), and shed many tears of admiration and delight. Return to Original English Version

evincing /ɪˈvɪnsɪŋ/ — evidenciando; dando mostras de. But the young lady evincing no surprise, curiosity, or alarm, whispered her, with many thanks for her solicitude and company, that she would remain there some time longer; and that she begged her not to share her watch, as she was well used to being alone, and would pass the time in reading. Return to Original English Version

exacted /ɪɡˈzæktɪd/ — exigiu; cobrou; extorquiu. The consequence is that he has always exacted a great deal from me in the way of respect, and submission, and self-denial when his wishes were in question, and so forth. Return to Original English Version

exacting /ɪɡˈzæktɪŋ/ — exigente; exigindo. 'Well, sir,' resumed Martin, stirring the fire once more, and drawing his chair still closer to it, 'his selfishness makes him exacting, you see; and his obstinacy makes him resolute in his exactions. Return to Original English Version

exactions /ɪɡˈzækʃənz/ — exigências opressivas; cobranças. 'Well, sir,' resumed Martin, stirring the fire once more, and drawing his chair still closer to it, 'his selfishness makes him exacting, you see; and his obstinacy makes him resolute in his exactions. Return to Original English Version

exceedingly /ɪkˈsiːdɪŋli/ — extremamente; sobremaneira. He was, beyond all question, very ill, and suffered exceedingly; not the less, perhaps, because he was a strong and vigorous old man, with a will of iron, and a voice of brass. Return to Original English Version

excepting /ɪkˈsɛptɪŋ/ — exceto; com exceção de. 'I don't see no gentleman here sir, excepting you and the new gentleman,' to whom he made a rough kind of bow--'and there's nothing wrong between Mrs Lupin and either of you, Mr Pinch, I am sure.' Return to Original English Version

excessively /ɪkˈsesɪvli/ — excessivamente; em demasia. Miss Mercy replied in the affirmative, pinching her sister's arm at the same time, and giggling excessively. Return to Original English Version

exclamations /ˌekskləˈmeɪʃənz/ — exclamações. Adding to these exclamations a kind of ironical howl, and gazing upon the company for one brief instant afterwards, in a sudden silence, the irritated gentleman started off again at the same tremendous pace, and was seen no more. Return to Original English Version

exemplary /ɪɡˈzempləri/ — exemplar; modelar. He was a most exemplary man; fuller of virtuous precept than a copy book. Return to Original English Version

exhaustion /ɪɡˈzɔːstʃən/ — exaustão; esgotamento. By degrees, he ceased to suffer at all; though his exhaustion was occasionally so great that it suggested hardly less alarm than his actual endurance had done. Return to Original English Version

exigency /ˈeksɪdʒənsi/ — exigência; emergência. The stock-in-trade requisite to set up an amateur in this department of business is very slight, and easily got together; a trick of the nose and a curl of the lip sufficient to compound a tolerable sneer, being ample provision for any exigency. Return to Original English Version

expectant /ɪkˈspektənt/ — expectante. The feeling that the sounds awakened, in the moment of their existence, seemed to include his whole life and being; and as the surrounding realities of stone and wood and glass grew dimmer in the darkness, these visions grew so much the brighter that Tom might have forgotten the new pupil and the expectant master, and have sat there pouring out his grateful heart till midnight, but for a very earthy old verger insisting on locking up the cathedral forthwith. Return to Original English Version

explanatory /ɪkˈsplænətɔːri/ — explicativo; esclarecedor. This remark being received with a shrill titter by the two sisters of the speaker, Miss Charity Pecksniff begged with much politeness to be informed whether any of those very low observations were levelled at her; and receiving no more explanatory answer than was conveyed in the adage 'Those the cap fits, let them wear it,' immediately commenced a somewhat acrimonious and personal retort, wherein she was much comforted and abetted by her sister Mercy, who laughed at the same with great heartiness; indeed far more naturally than life. Return to Original English Version

expressly /ɪkˈspresli/ — expressamente; explicitamente. Plants you observe; hyacinths; books again; birds.' These birds, by the bye, comprised, in all, one staggering old sparrow without a tail, which had been borrowed expressly from the kitchen. Return to Original English Version

exquisitely /ɪkˈskwɪzɪtli/ — primorosamente; requintadamente. As a goodly tumulus is already collected, and decently battened up above the Family grave, the present chapter is content to leave it as it is: merely adding, by way of a final spadeful, that many Chuzzlewits, both male and female, are proved to demonstration, on the faith of letters written by their own mothers, to have had chiselled noses, undeniable chins, forms that might have served the sculptor for a model, exquisitely-turned limbs and polished foreheads of so transparent a texture that the blue veins might be seen branching off in various directions, like so many roads on an ethereal map. Return to Original English Version

extinguished /ɪkˈstɪŋɡwɪʃt/ — apagou; extinto; sufocado. That done, he extinguished the light, and turning his face away with a heavy sigh, drew the coverlet about his head, and lay quite still. Return to Original English Version

extinguishing /ɪkˈstɪŋɡwɪʃɪŋ/ — apagando; extinguindo. She said it at a venture, but there was appropriate matter in it too; for Mr Pecksniff, being in the act of extinguishing the candles before mentioned pretty rapidly, and of reducing the number of brass knobs on his street door from four or five hundred (which had previously been juggling of their own accord before his eyes in a very novel manner) to a dozen or so, might in one sense have been said to be coming round the corner, and just turning it. Return to Original English Version

extravagant /ɪkˈstrævəɡənt/ — exagerado; desmedido. As well might one suppose that he doesn't on all occasions pour out his whole heart and soul to you; that he doesn't make you a very liberal and indeed rather an extravagant allowance; or, to be more wild and monstrous still, if that be possible, as well might one suppose,' and here, at every word, he struck him lightly on the breast, 'that Pecksniff traded in your nature, and that your nature was to be timid and distrustful of yourself, and trustful of all other men, but most of all, of him who least deserves it. Return to Original English Version

extremities /ɪkˈstremətiz/ — extremidades; pontas; situações extremas. The gentleman was of that order of appearance which is currently termed shabby-genteel, though in respect of his dress he can hardly be said to have been in any extremities, as his fingers were a long way out of his gloves, and the soles of his feet were at an inconvenient distance from the upper leather of his boots. Return to Original English Version

extremity /ɪkˈstrɛməti/ — aperto extremo; situação desesperada. It was small tyranny for a respectable wind to go wreaking its vengeance on such poor creatures as the fallen leaves, but this wind happening to come up with a great heap of them just after venting its humour on the insulted Dragon, did so disperse and scatter them that they fled away, pell-mell, some here, some there, rolling over each other, whirling round and round upon their thin edges, taking frantic flights into the air, and playing all manner of extraordinary gambols in the extremity of their distress. Return to Original English Version

exulting /ɪɡˈzʌltɪŋ/ — exultante; jubiloso. You're more exulting and rampant than usual tonight, I think; and you may well crow over your prize; for he is a fine lad, an ingenuous lad, and has but one fault that I know of; he don't mean it, but he is most cruelly unjust to Pecksniff!' Return to Original English Version

fabled /ˈfeɪbəld/ — lendário. On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels; others stripped of all their garniture, stood, each the centre of its little heap of bright red leaves, watching their slow decay; others again, still wearing theirs, had them all crunched and crackled up, as though they had been burnt; about the stems of some were piled, in ruddy mounds, the apples they had borne that year; while others (hardy evergreens this class) showed somewhat stern and gloomy in their vigour, as charged by nature with the admonition that it is not to her more sensitive and joyous favourites she grants the longest term of life. Return to Original English Version

failings /ˈfeɪlɪŋz/ — falhas. I have often heard from those who know, that they have been, time out of mind, the failings of our family; and I believe there's some truth in it. Return to Original English Version

fain /feɪn/ — de bom grado. Keeping his hand upon the lock of the door, he glanced from Mr Pecksniff to Mercy, from Mercy to Charity, and from Charity to Mr Pecksniff again, several times; but the young ladies being as intent upon the fire as their father was, and neither of the three taking any notice of him, he was fain to say, at last, Return to Original English Version

faithfulness /ˈfeɪθfəlnəs/ — fidelidade; lealdade. 'And Thomas Pinch and I,' said Mr Pecksniff, in a deeper voice, 'will walk it yet, in mutual faithfulness and friendship! Return to Original English Version

falsehood /ˈfɔːlshʊd/ — falsidade; mentira; inverdade. Treachery, deceit, and low design; hatred of competitors, real or fancied, for my favour; meanness, falsehood, baseness, and servility; or,' and here he looked closely in his cousin's eyes, 'or an assumption of honest independence, almost worse than all; these are the beauties which my wealth has brought to light. Return to Original English Version

familiarized /fəˈmɪliəraɪzd/ — familiarizou. It is also clearly proved by the oral traditions of the Family, that there existed, at some one period of its history which is not distinctly stated, a matron of such destructive principles, and so familiarized to the use and composition of inflammatory and combustible engines, that she was called 'The Match Maker;' by which nickname and byword she is recognized in the Family legends to this day. Return to Original English Version

fancied /ˈfænsid/ — imaginou. Treachery, deceit, and low design; hatred of competitors, real or fancied, for my favour; meanness, falsehood, baseness, and servility; or,' and here he looked closely in his cousin's eyes, 'or an assumption of honest independence, almost worse than all; these are the beauties which my wealth has brought to light. Return to Original English Version

fanciful /ˈfænsɪfəl/ — fantasioso. The best of architects and land surveyors kept a horse, in whom the enemies already mentioned more than once in these pages pretended to detect a fanciful resemblance to his master. Return to Original English Version

fangled /ˈfæŋɡəld/ — da nova moda (em new-fangled). These gentry were much opposed to steam and all new-fangled ways, and held ballooning to be sinful, and deplored the degeneracy of the times; which that particular member of each little club who kept the keys of the nearest church, professionally, always attributed to the prevalence of dissent and irreligion; though the major part of the company inclined to the belief that virtue went out with hair-powder, and that Old England's greatness had decayed amain with barbers. Return to Original English Version

fastenings /ˈfæsənɪŋz/ — fechos; travas. At last a chain and some bolts were withdrawn with a rusty noise, as if the weather had made the very fastenings hoarse, and a small boy with a large red head, and no nose to speak of, and a very dirty Wellington boot on his left arm, appeared; who (being surprised) rubbed the nose just mentioned with the back of a shoe-brush, and said nothing. Return to Original English Version

fathom /ˈfæðəm/ — braça; medida de profundidade. 'Why, not exactly, Pinch,' he rejoined, with a slight frown; 'because she has some girlish notions about duty and gratitude, and all the rest of it, which are rather hard to fathom; but in the main you are right. Return to Original English Version

fatigued /fəˈtiːɡd/ — fatigado; exausto. Thereupon she embraced them once more, observing that she could not decide which was most like their poor mother (which was highly probable, seeing that she had never beheld that lady), but that she rather thought the youngest was; and then she said that as the gentlemen would be down directly, and the ladies were fatigued with travelling, would they step into her room at once? Return to Original English Version

faultless /ˈfɔːltləs/ — impecável; sem falhas. But what were even gold and silver, precious stones and clockwork, to the bookshops, whence a pleasant smell of paper freshly pressed came issuing forth, awakening instant recollections of some new grammar had at school, long time ago, with 'Master Pinch, Grove House Academy,' inscribed in faultless writing on the fly-leaf! Return to Original English Version

favourably /ˈfeɪvərəbli/ — favoravelmente; com aprovação. 'Why, is it likely,' rejoined Martin, with greater earnestness, 'that a young man newly escaped from this kennel of a place, and fresh to all the delights of being his own master in London, can have much leisure or inclination to think favourably of anything or anybody he has left behind him here? Return to Original English Version

favours /ˈfeɪvərz/ — favores. He might have added that he hated two sorts of men; all those who did him favours, and all those who were better off than himself; as in either case their position was an insult to a man of his stupendous merits. Return to Original English Version

feasting /ˈfiːstɪŋ/ — banqueteando-se; festejando. Among the narrow thoroughfares at hand, there lingered, here and there, an ancient doorway of carved oak, from which, of old, the sounds of revelry and feasting often came; but now these mansions, only used for storehouses, were dark and dull, and, being filled with wool, and cotton, and the like--such heavy merchandise as stifles sound and stops the throat of echo--had an air of palpable deadness about them which, added to their silence and desertion, made them very grim. Return to Original English Version

feebleness /ˈfiːbəlnəs/ — fraqueza; debilidade. He was a courteous and considerate dragon, too; or had been in his distincter days; for in the midst of his rampant feebleness, he kept one of his forepaws near his nose, as though he would say, 'Don't mind me--it's only my fun;' while he held out the other in polite and hospitable entreaty. Return to Original English Version

feigned /feɪnd/ — finge; fez de conta. So surely as she came into the room, however, Martin feigned to fall asleep. Return to Original English Version

feline /ˈfiːlaɪn/ — felino. You are a pair of Whittingtons, gents, without the cat; which is a most agreeable and blessed exception to me, for I am not attached to the feline species. Return to Original English Version

ferocious /fəˈroʊʃəs/ — feroz; brutal. Mr Tigg shook his head with a ferocious look, and smote himself once upon the breast. Return to Original English Version

festering /ˈfestərɪŋ/ — supurando; apodrecendo. Several fruit-brokers had their marts near Todgers's; and one of the first impressions wrought upon the stranger's senses was of oranges--of damaged oranges--with blue and green bruises on them, festering in boxes, or mouldering away in cellars. Return to Original English Version

figments /ˈfɪɡmənts/ — produtos da imaginação. But here again the sneering detractors who weave such miserable figments from their malicious brains, are stricken dumb by evidence. Return to Original English Version

figurative /ˈfɪɡjərətɪv/ — figurado. The two Miss Pecksniffs being a pretty good match for the three Miss Chuzzlewits, and all five young ladies having, in the figurative language of the day, a great amount of steam to dispose of, the altercation would no doubt have been a long one but for the high valour and prowess of the strong-minded woman, who, in right of her reputation for powers of sarcasm, did so belabour and pummel Mrs Spottletoe with taunting words that the poor lady, before the engagement was two minutes old, had no refuge but in tears. Return to Original English Version

figuratively /ˈfɪɡjərətɪvli/ — figuradamente. For the most part, indeed, it wore, at that season of the day, a scraped and frosty look, as if it had been rasped; while a similar phenomenon developed itself in her humour, which was then observed to be of a sharp and acid quality, as though an extra lemon (figuratively speaking) had been squeezed into the nectar of her disposition, and had rather damaged its flavour. Return to Original English Version

filmy /ˈfɪlmi/ — tênue; diáfano. In virtue of which liberal arrangement, they had the happiness to find awaiting them in the parlour two chaotic heaps of the remains of last night's pleasure, consisting of certain filmy bits of oranges, some mummied sandwiches, various disrupted masses of the geological cake, and several entire captain's biscuits. Return to Original English Version

fixedly /ˈfɪksɪdli/ — fixamente; sem desviar os olhos. Mark looked more fixedly before him, and further off still, as he answered that he didn't suppose it would be much of an object to her. Return to Original English Version

flaming /ˈfleɪmɪŋ/ — flamejante; em chamas; ardente. In her other hand she bore a flaming tallow candle, which, after surveying Mr Pecksniff for one instant by its light, she put down upon the table, to the end that she might receive him with the greater cordiality. Return to Original English Version

flooring /ˈflɔːrɪŋ/ — assoalho; revestimento do piso. As this fair matron sat beside the fire, she glanced occasionally with all the pride of ownership, about the room; which was a large apartment, such as one may see in country places, with a low roof and a sunken flooring, all downhill from the door, and a descent of two steps on the inside so exquisitely unexpected, that strangers, despite the most elaborate cautioning, usually dived in head first, as into a plunging-bath. Return to Original English Version

flourished /ˈflɜːrɪʃt/ — prosperou; floresceu. The rosy hostess scarcely needed Mr Pinch's word as a preliminary to the release of her two visitors, of whom she was glad to be rid on any terms; indeed, their brief detention had originated mainly with Mr Tapley, who entertained a constitutional dislike to gentleman out-at-elbows who flourished on false pretences; and had conceived a particular aversion to Mr Tigg and his friend, as choice specimens of the species. Return to Original English Version

flouting /ˈflaʊtɪŋ/ — desafiando; desrespeitando abertamente. Meantime the family forces were perpetually encountering each other in divers parts of the neighbourhood; and, as no one branch of the Chuzzlewit tree had ever been known to agree with another within the memory of man, there was such a skirmishing, and flouting, and snapping off of heads, in the metaphorical sense of that expression; such a bandying of words and calling of names; such an upturning of noses and wrinkling of brows; such a formal interment of good feelings and violent resurrection of ancient grievances; as had never been known in those quiet parts since the earliest record of their civilized existence. Return to Original English Version

flurry /ˈflɜːri/ — estertor; convulsão final da baleia. Taking a confused leave of Anthony and his son, and leaving the luggage of himself and daughters at the office to be called for afterwards, Mr Pecksniff, with one of the young ladies under each arm, dived across the street, and then across other streets, and so up the queerest courts, and down the strangest alleys and under the blindest archways, in a kind of frenzy; now skipping over a kennel, now running for his life from a coach and horses; now thinking he had lost his way, now thinking he had found it; now in a state of the highest confidence, now despondent to the last degree, but always in a great perspiration and flurry; until at length they stopped in a kind of paved yard near the Monument. Return to Original English Version

fluttering /ˈflʌtərɪŋ/ — esvoaçante; que tremula. How did you twinkle, as if fluttering with sympathy, when Mercy, reminded of the bonnet in her hair, hid her fair face and turned her head aside; the while her gentle sister plucked it out, and smote her with a sister's soft reproof, upon her buxom shoulder! Return to Original English Version

foils /fɔɪlz/ — floretes. Still athwart their darker boughs, the sunbeams struck out paths of deeper gold; and the red light, mantling in among their swarthy branches, used them as foils to set its brightness off, and aid the lustre of the dying day. Return to Original English Version

forbade /fərˈbæd/ — proibia. At first she had recoiled involuntarily, supposing him disordered in his mind; but the slow composure of his manner, and the settled purpose announced in his strong features, and gathering, most of all, about his puckered mouth, forbade the supposition. Return to Original English Version

forcible /ˈfɔːrsəbəl/ — enérgico; forçado; contundente. There appeared to be forcible matter in this inquiry, for Mr Pinch only repeated in an undertone that he had a strong misgiving on the subject, and that he greatly feared he was. Return to Original English Version

forcibly /ˈfɔːrsəbli/ — à força; compulsoriamente. 'Now,' said Mr Pecksniff, crossing his two forefingers in a manner which was at once conciliatory and argumentative; 'I will not, upon the one hand, go so far as to say that she deserves all the inflictions which have been so very forcibly and hilariously suggested;' one of his ornamental sentences; 'nor will I, upon the other, on any account compromise my common understanding as a man, by making the assertion that she does not. Return to Original English Version

forefingers /ˈfɔːrfɪŋɡərz/ — dedos indicadores. 'Now,' said Mr Pecksniff, crossing his two forefingers in a manner which was at once conciliatory and argumentative; 'I will not, upon the one hand, go so far as to say that she deserves all the inflictions which have been so very forcibly and hilariously suggested;' one of his ornamental sentences; 'nor will I, upon the other, on any account compromise my common understanding as a man, by making the assertion that she does not. Return to Original English Version

forepaws /ˈfɔːrpɔːz/ — patas dianteiras. He was a courteous and considerate dragon, too; or had been in his distincter days; for in the midst of his rampant feebleness, he kept one of his forepaws near his nose, as though he would say, 'Don't mind me--it's only my fun;' while he held out the other in polite and hospitable entreaty. Return to Original English Version

foresight /ˈfɔːrsaɪt/ — previdência. Their principal topic of discourse was naturally Mr Pecksniff and his family; of whom, and of the great obligations they had heaped upon him, Tom Pinch, with the tears standing in his eyes, drew such a picture as would have inclined any one of common feeling almost to revere them; and of which Mr Pecksniff had not the slightest foresight or preconceived idea, or he certainly (being very humble) would not have sent Tom Pinch to bring the pupil home. Return to Original English Version

forgetful /fərˈɡɛtfəl/ — esquecido; sem se lembrar. 'But, Mr Chuzzlewit, while I am forgetful of myself, I owe it to myself, and to my character--aye, sir, and I HAVE a character which is very dear to me, and will be the best inheritance of my two daughters--to tell you, on behalf of another, that your conduct is wrong, unnatural, indefensible, monstrous. Return to Original English Version

forlorn /fərˈlɔːrn/ — desolado. Wretched and forlorn as he looked, Mr Slyme had once been in his way, the choicest of swaggerers; putting forth his pretensions boldly, as a man of infinite taste and most undoubted promise. Return to Original English Version

forthwith /ˌfɔːrθˈwɪθ/ — imediatamente; sem demora. Glancing towards his daughters for the first time since he had begun these reflections, and seeing that they both smiled, Mr Pecksniff eyed them for an instant so jocosely (though still with a kind of saintly waggishness) that the younger one was moved to sit upon his knee forthwith, put her fair arms round his neck, and kiss him twenty times. Return to Original English Version

fortitude /ˈfɔːrtɪtuːd/ — fortaleza de ânimo; coragem serena. In a very short space of time, I shall have sufficient fortitude, I trust to converse with him as if these events had never happened. Return to Original English Version

fowling /ˈfaʊlɪŋ/ — caça de aves. There was another; not quite so bad at first, but still a trying shop; where children's books were sold, and where poor Robinson Crusoe stood alone in his might, with dog and hatchet, goat-skin cap and fowling-pieces; calmly surveying Philip Quarn and the host of imitators round him, and calling Mr Pinch to witness that he, of all the crowd, impressed one solitary footprint on the shore of boyish memory, whereof the tread of generations should not stir the lightest grain of sand. Return to Original English Version

fractious /ˈfrækʃəs/ — irritadiço; indisciplinado. 'There might be some credit in being jolly with a wife, 'specially if the children had the measles and that, and was very fractious indeed. Return to Original English Version

frail /freɪl/ — frágil; débil. The old lady, naturally strong-minded, was nevertheless frail and fading; she was notoriously subject to that confusion of ideas, or, to say the least, of speech, to which age and garrulity are liable. Return to Original English Version

frailties /ˈfreɪltiz/ — fraquezas; fragilidades. 'You are, upon my life, a strange instance of the little frailties that beset a mighty mind. Return to Original English Version

frantic /ˈfræntɪk/ — desesperados; fora de si. It was small tyranny for a respectable wind to go wreaking its vengeance on such poor creatures as the fallen leaves, but this wind happening to come up with a great heap of them just after venting its humour on the insulted Dragon, did so disperse and scatter them that they fled away, pell-mell, some here, some there, rolling over each other, whirling round and round upon their thin edges, taking frantic flights into the air, and playing all manner of extraordinary gambols in the extremity of their distress. Return to Original English Version

frays /freɪz/ — brigas. Consequently, it is a source of inexpressible comfort and happiness to find, that in various periods of our history, the Chuzzlewits were actively connected with divers slaughterous conspiracies and bloody frays. Return to Original English Version

freehold /ˈfriːhoʊld/ — propriedade plena; imóvel próprio. But the grand mystery of Todgers's was the cellarage, approachable only by a little back door and a rusty grating; which cellarage within the memory of man had had no connection with the house, but had always been the freehold property of somebody else, and was reported to be full of wealth; though in what shape--whether in silver, brass, or gold, or butts of wine, or casks of gun-powder--was matter of profound uncertainty and supreme indifference to Todgers's and all its inmates. Return to Original English Version

frenzy /ˈfrenzi/ — frenesi; fúria. Taking a confused leave of Anthony and his son, and leaving the luggage of himself and daughters at the office to be called for afterwards, Mr Pecksniff, with one of the young ladies under each arm, dived across the street, and then across other streets, and so up the queerest courts, and down the strangest alleys and under the blindest archways, in a kind of frenzy; now skipping over a kennel, now running for his life from a coach and horses; now thinking he had lost his way, now thinking he had found it; now in a state of the highest confidence, now despondent to the last degree, but always in a great perspiration and flurry; until at length they stopped in a kind of paved yard near the Monument. Return to Original English Version

frequented /ˈfriːkwentɪd/ — frequentado; frequentava. To tell of half the queer old taverns that had a drowsy and secret existence near Todgers's, would fill a goodly book; while a second volume no less capacious might be devoted to an account of the quaint old guests who frequented their dimly lighted parlours. Return to Original English Version

fret /frɛt/ — afligir-se; impacientar-se. Then you, even with your good humour, would be always on the fret and worrit, always uncomfortable in your own mind, always a-thinking as you was getting too old for my taste, always a-picturing me to yourself as being chained up to the Dragon door, and wanting to break away. Return to Original English Version

frivolous /ˈfrɪvələs/ — frívolo; fútil. It was none of your frivolous and preposterously bright bedrooms, where nobody can close an eye with any kind of propriety or decent regard to the association of ideas; but it was a good, dull, leaden, drowsy place, where every article of furniture reminded you that you came there to sleep, and that you were expected to go to sleep. Return to Original English Version

frizzle /ˈfrɪzəl/ — mecha encrespada; caracol. She was too fresh and guileless, and too full of child-like vivacity, was the youngest Miss Pecksniff, to wear combs in her hair, or to turn it up, or to frizzle it, or braid it. Return to Original English Version

frocks /frɑːks/ — vestidos; túnicas. Then there were young farmers and old farmers with smock-frocks, brown great-coats, drab great-coats, red worsted comforters, leather-leggings, wonderful shaped hats, hunting-whips, and rough sticks, standing about in groups, or talking noisily together on the tavern steps, or paying and receiving huge amounts of greasy wealth, with the assistance of such bulky pocket-books that when they were in their pockets it was apoplexy to get them out, and when they were out it was spasms to get them in again. Return to Original English Version

frogged /frɑːɡd/ — ornado com alamares. His coat, in colour blue and of a military cut, was buttoned and frogged up to his chin. Return to Original English Version

frolicsome /ˈfrɑːlɪksəm/ — folgazão; brincalhão. It was the frolicsome custom of the Goddess, in her intercourse with the fair Cherry, so to do; or in more prosaic phrase, the tip of that feature in the sweet girl's countenance was always very red at breakfast-time. Return to Original English Version

frontispiece /ˈfrʌntɪspiːs/ — frontispício. Here too were the dainty frontispiece and trim vignette, pointing like handposts on the outskirts of great cities, to the rich stock of incident beyond; and store of books, with many a grave portrait and time-honoured name, whose matter he knew well, and would have given mines to have, in any form, upon the narrow shell beside his bed at Mr Pecksniff's. Return to Original English Version

frowzy /ˈfraʊzi/ — sujo; desleixado; desgrenhado. His sharp features being much pinched and nipped by long waiting in the cold, and his straggling red whiskers and frowzy hair being more than usually dishevelled from the same cause, he certainly looked rather unwholesome and uncomfortable than Shakspearian or Miltonic. Return to Original English Version

fruity /ˈfruːti/ — frutado. The perfect and entire satisfaction of Tom; his surpassing appreciation of the husky sandwiches, which crumbled in his mouth like saw-dust; the unspeakable relish with which he swallowed the thin wine by drops, and smacked his lips, as though it were so rich and generous that to lose an atom of its fruity flavour were a sin; the look with which he paused sometimes, with his glass in his hand, proposing silent toasts to himself; and the anxious shade that came upon his contented face when, after wandering round the room, exulting in its uninvaded snugness, his glance encountered the dull brow of his companion; no cynic in the world, though in his hatred of its men a very griffin, could have withstood these things in Thomas Pinch. Return to Original English Version

fullest /ˈfʊlɪst/ — mais completo. He would not have had leisure to say much, had his new friend been ever so loquacious; for first of all Mr Pecksniff called him down to stand upon the top of his portmanteau and represent ancient statues there, until such time as it would consent to be locked; and then Miss Charity called him to come and cord her trunk; and then Miss Mercy sent for him to come and mend her box; and then he wrote the fullest possible cards for all the luggage; and then he volunteered to carry it all downstairs; and after that to see it safely carried on a couple of barrows to the old finger-post at the end of the lane; and then to mind it till the coach came up. Return to Original English Version

furtherance /ˈfɜːrðərəns/ — promoção; avanço. When he had communicated to Mr Pecksniff these pithy scraps of intelligence, he said, 'That if it was all the same to him, he would turn him over to father, and have a chat with the gals;' and in furtherance of this polite scheme, he vacated his seat adjoining that gentleman, and established himself in the opposite corner, next to the fair Miss Mercy. Return to Original English Version

gaiety /ˈɡeɪəti/ — alegria; jovialidade. But for these bursts of gaiety, her sister, in her better sense, reproved her; observing, in an angry whisper, that it was far from being a theme for jest; and that she had no patience with the creature; though it generally ended in her laughing too--but much more moderately--and saying that indeed it was a little too ridiculous and intolerable to be serious about. Return to Original English Version

gallant /ˈɡælənt/ — galante; bravo; garboso. In this horse, and the hooded vehicle, whatever its proper name might be, to which he was usually harnessed--it was more like a gig with a tumour than anything else--all Mr Pinch's thoughts and wishes centred, one bright frosty morning; for with this gallant equipage he was about to drive to Salisbury alone, there to meet with the new pupil, and thence to bring him home in triumph. Return to Original English Version

gallantry /ˈɡæləntri/ — galanteria; bravura; cortesia. 'Come, wake up, father, or you'll be having the nightmare, and screeching out, I know.--Do you ever have the nightmare, cousin?' he asked his neighbour, with characteristic gallantry, as he dropped his voice again. Return to Original English Version

gambols /ˈɡæmbəlz/ — cabriolas; saltos brincalhões. It was small tyranny for a respectable wind to go wreaking its vengeance on such poor creatures as the fallen leaves, but this wind happening to come up with a great heap of them just after venting its humour on the insulted Dragon, did so disperse and scatter them that they fled away, pell-mell, some here, some there, rolling over each other, whirling round and round upon their thin edges, taking frantic flights into the air, and playing all manner of extraordinary gambols in the extremity of their distress. Return to Original English Version

garb /ɡɑːrb/ — traje; vestimenta. There are stories told--they may be true or false--of rich men who, in the garb of poverty, have found out virtue and rewarded it. Return to Original English Version

garniture /ˈɡɑːrnɪtʃər/ — ornamentos; guarnição. On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels; others stripped of all their garniture, stood, each the centre of its little heap of bright red leaves, watching their slow decay; others again, still wearing theirs, had them all crunched and crackled up, as though they had been burnt; about the stems of some were piled, in ruddy mounds, the apples they had borne that year; while others (hardy evergreens this class) showed somewhat stern and gloomy in their vigour, as charged by nature with the admonition that it is not to her more sensitive and joyous favourites she grants the longest term of life. Return to Original English Version

garrulity /ɡəˈruːləti/ — loquacidade; tagarelice. The old lady, naturally strong-minded, was nevertheless frail and fading; she was notoriously subject to that confusion of ideas, or, to say the least, of speech, to which age and garrulity are liable. Return to Original English Version

gasp /ɡæsp/ — arquejo; suspiro de espanto. And he did this so boldly, and in such an imposing manner, that he would sometimes stagger the wisest people with his eloquence, and make them gasp again. Return to Original English Version

gatherer /ˈɡæðərər/ — catadora; a que recolhe. Even a tax-gatherer must find his feelings rather worked upon, at times. Return to Original English Version

gaudy /ˈɡɔːdi/ — espalhafatoso; berrante. A faded, and an ancient dragon he was; and many a wintry storm of rain, snow, sleet, and hail, had changed his colour from a gaudy blue to a faint lack-lustre shade of grey. Return to Original English Version

gayly /ˈɡeɪli/ — alegremente (grafia antiga). The lusty bellows roared Ha ha! to the clear fire, which roared in turn, and bade the shining sparks dance gayly to the merry clinking of the hammers on the anvil. Return to Original English Version

gentry /ˈdʒɛntri/ — pequena nobreza; pessoas de posição. These gentry were much opposed to steam and all new-fangled ways, and held ballooning to be sinful, and deplored the degeneracy of the times; which that particular member of each little club who kept the keys of the nearest church, professionally, always attributed to the prevalence of dissent and irreligion; though the major part of the company inclined to the belief that virtue went out with hair-powder, and that Old England's greatness had decayed amain with barbers. Return to Original English Version

gents /dʒɛnts/ — senhores; cavalheiros. 'I am not industrious myself, gents both,' said the head, 'but I know how to appreciate that quality in others. Return to Original English Version

gesticulated /dʒeˈstɪkjuleɪtɪd/ — gesticulou. Upon that Mr Tigg gesticulated to the visitors once more, and with great expression, implying that now the time was come when they would see Chiv in his greatness. Return to Original English Version

giggle /ˈɡɪɡəl/ — risadinha. 'Oh, good gracious, Cherry!' cried Miss Mercy, holding up her hands with the most winning giggle in the world, 'what a mercenary girl you are! oh you naughty, thoughtful, prudent thing!' Return to Original English Version

girlishness /ˈɡɜːrlɪʃnəs/ — jeito juvenil; feminilidade juvenil. Miss Pecksniff sat upon a stool because she was all girlishness, and playfulness, and wildness, and kittenish buoyancy. Return to Original English Version

gladness /ˈɡlædnəs/ — contentamento; júbilo. The vane upon the tapering spire of the old church glistened from its lofty station in sympathy with the general gladness; and from the ivy-shaded windows such gleams of light shone back upon the glowing sky, that it seemed as if the quiet buildings were the hoarding-place of twenty summers, and all their ruddiness and warmth were stored within. Return to Original English Version

glances /ˈɡlænsɪz/ — olhares rápidos. They exchanged glances, and brightened very much. Return to Original English Version

glare /ɡlɛr/ — brilho ofuscante; clarão. Nor was he stinted in his draughts of wine; but on the contrary, remembering Mr Pecksniff's speech, attacked the bottle with such vigour, that every time he filled his glass anew, Miss Charity, despite her amiable resolves, could not repress a fixed and stony glare, as if her eyes had rested on a ghost. Return to Original English Version

gleaming /ˈɡliːmɪŋ/ — brilhante; reluzente. The gleaming iron, in its emulation, sparkled too, and shed its red-hot gems around profusely. Return to Original English Version

gleams /ɡliːmz/ — lampejos; brilhos. The vane upon the tapering spire of the old church glistened from its lofty station in sympathy with the general gladness; and from the ivy-shaded windows such gleams of light shone back upon the glowing sky, that it seemed as if the quiet buildings were the hoarding-place of twenty summers, and all their ruddiness and warmth were stored within. Return to Original English Version

glittering /ˈɡlɪtərɪŋ/ — brilhando; reluzente. Then there was George Chuzzlewit, a gay bachelor cousin, who claimed to be young but had been younger, and was inclined to corpulency, and rather overfed himself; to that extent, indeed, that his eyes were strained in their sockets, as if with constant surprise; and he had such an obvious disposition to pimples, that the bright spots on his cravat, the rich pattern on his waistcoat, and even his glittering trinkets, seemed to have broken out upon him, and not to have come into existence comfortably. Return to Original English Version

gloomily /ˈɡluːmɪli/ — sombriamente; tristemente; melancolicamente. It is a notable circumstance that in these later times, many Chuzzlewits, being unsuccessful in other pursuits, have, without the smallest rational hope of enriching themselves, or any conceivable reason, set up as coal-merchants; and have, month after month, continued gloomily to watch a small stock of coals, without in any one instance negotiating with a purchaser. Return to Original English Version

goaded /ˈɡoʊdɪd/ — aguilhoado; instigado. But he gave his father such a nudge in reply, that that good old gentleman was taken with a cough which lasted for full five minutes without intermission, and goaded Mr Pecksniff to that pitch of irritation, that he said at last--and very suddenly: Return to Original English Version

goers /ˈɡoʊərz/ — pessoas que vão; frequentadores. First of all there were the jewellers' shops, with all the treasures of the earth displayed therein, and such large silver watches hanging up in every pane of glass, that if they were anything but first-rate goers it certainly was not because the works could decently complain of want of room. Return to Original English Version

goodly /ˈɡʊdli/ — considerável; vistoso; de bom tamanho. As a goodly tumulus is already collected, and decently battened up above the Family grave, the present chapter is content to leave it as it is: merely adding, by way of a final spadeful, that many Chuzzlewits, both male and female, are proved to demonstration, on the faith of letters written by their own mothers, to have had chiselled noses, undeniable chins, forms that might have served the sculptor for a model, exquisitely-turned limbs and polished foreheads of so transparent a texture that the blue veins might be seen branching off in various directions, like so many roads on an ethereal map. Return to Original English Version

gory /ˈɡɔːri/ — ensanguentado; sangrento. And there too were the Persian tales, with flying chests and students of enchanted books shut up for years in caverns; and there too was Abudah, the merchant, with the terrible little old woman hobbling out of the box in his bedroom; and there the mighty talisman, the rare Arabian Nights, with Cassim Baba, divided by four, like the ghost of a dreadful sum, hanging up, all gory, in the robbers' cave. Return to Original English Version

gouty /ˈɡaʊti/ — com gota. 'The foot next you's the gouty one.' Return to Original English Version

graced /ɡreɪst/ — agraciou; honrado com a presença. Even those tokens of the season which emphatically whispered of the coming winter, graced the landscape, and, for the moment, tinged its livelier features with no oppressive air of sadness. Return to Original English Version

graces /ˈɡreɪsɪz/ — graças; encantos; mercês. Also, to declare how astounded I have been by the amazing changes I have seen around me on every side--changes moral, changes physical, changes in the amount of land subdued and peopled, changes in the rise of vast new cities, changes in the growth of older cities almost out of recognition, changes in the graces and amenities of life, changes in the Press, without whose advancement no advancement can take place anywhere. Return to Original English Version

graciously /ˈɡreɪʃəsli/ — gentilmente; com benevolência. The new pupil received Tom's compliments very graciously; and having by this time conceived a real regard for him, in his own peculiar way, predicted that they would always be the very best of friends, and that neither of them, he was certain (but particularly Tom), would ever have reason to regret the day on which they became acquainted. Return to Original English Version

gratification /ˌɡrætɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/ — satisfação; contentamento. Some people find their gratification in storing it up; and others theirs in parting with it; but I have no gratification connected with the thing. Return to Original English Version

gratified /ˈɡrætɪfaɪd/ — satisfeito; contente. 'You shall be gratified,' said Martin. Return to Original English Version

gratify /ˈɡrætɪfaɪ/ — satisfazer; comprazer. If our inclinations are but good and open-hearted, let us gratify them boldly, though they bring upon us Loss instead of Profit. Return to Original English Version

grating /ˈɡreɪtɪŋ/ — grade; grelha; áspero ao ouvido. I thought you was the Paper, and wondered why you didn't shove yourself through the grating as usual. Return to Original English Version

graver /ˈɡreɪvər/ — mais grave; mais sério. Mr Pecksniff's professional engagements, indeed, were almost, if not entirely, confined to the reception of pupils; for the collection of rents, with which pursuit he occasionally varied and relieved his graver toils, can hardly be said to be a strictly architectural employment. Return to Original English Version

grazing /ˈɡreɪzɪŋ/ — pastagem; pastoreio. There was not the least objection, doubtless, to the young man's slaughtering and appropriating to his own use any calf, fat or lean, that he might happen to find upon the premises; but as no such animal chanced at that time to be grazing on Mr Pecksniff's estate, this request must be considered rather as a polite compliment that a substantial hospitality. Return to Original English Version

grievances /ˈɡriːvənsɪz/ — queixas; injustiças sofridas. Meantime the family forces were perpetually encountering each other in divers parts of the neighbourhood; and, as no one branch of the Chuzzlewit tree had ever been known to agree with another within the memory of man, there was such a skirmishing, and flouting, and snapping off of heads, in the metaphorical sense of that expression; such a bandying of words and calling of names; such an upturning of noses and wrinkling of brows; such a formal interment of good feelings and violent resurrection of ancient grievances; as had never been known in those quiet parts since the earliest record of their civilized existence. Return to Original English Version

grieve /ɡriːv/ — lamentar; sofrer. Let the reader go into the children's side of any prison in England, or, I grieve to add, of many workhouses, and judge whether those are monsters who disgrace our streets, people our hulks and penitentiaries, and overcrowd our penal colonies, or are creatures whom we have deliberately suffered to be bred for misery and ruin. Return to Original English Version

grievously /ˈɡriːvəsli/ — gravemente; penosamente. Even you, perhaps, would rid me of a burden under which I suffer so grievously. Return to Original English Version

grizzled /ˈɡrɪzəld/ — grisalho. It seemed to say, on the part of Mr Pecksniff, 'There is no deception, ladies and gentlemen, all is peace, a holy calm pervades me.' So did his hair, just grizzled with an iron-grey which was all brushed off his forehead, and stood bolt upright, or slightly drooped in kindred action with his heavy eyelids. Return to Original English Version

grocer /ˈɡroʊsər/ — dono de mercearia; comerciante de alimentos. Now, there being no medical practitioner actually resident in the village, but a poor apothecary who was also a grocer and general dealer, the landlady had, upon her own responsibility, sent for him, in the very first burst and outset of the disaster. Return to Original English Version

groped /ɡroʊpt/ — tateou; procurou às apalpadelas. So he took leave of his friend, with many thanks, groped his way out, as well as he could, into the now lamp-lighted streets, and hurried off to get his dinner. Return to Original English Version

grossness /ˈɡroʊsnəs/ — grosseria; baixeza. From cottage chimneys, smoke went streaming up high, high, as if the earth had lost its grossness, being so fair, and must not be oppressed by heavy vapour. Return to Original English Version

grovelling /ˈɡrʌvəlɪŋ/ — rastejando; servil. 'I'll let 'em know, and I'll let all men know,' cried Chevy Slyme, 'that I'm none of the mean, grovelling, tame characters they meet with commonly. Return to Original English Version

grudging /ˈɡrʌdʒɪŋ/ — a contragosto; relutante. If it should ever be urged by grudging and malicious persons, that a Chuzzlewit, in any period of the family history, displayed an overweening amount of family pride, surely the weakness will be considered not only pardonable but laudable, when the immense superiority of the house to the rest of mankind, in respect of this its ancient origin, is taken into account. Return to Original English Version

gruff /ɡrʌf/ — rude; áspero; de voz rouca. In a sombre corner on the first landing, stood a gruff old giant of a clock, with a preposterous coronet of three brass balls on his head; whom few had ever seen--none ever looked in the face--and who seemed to continue his heavy tick for no other reason than to warn heedless people from running into him accidentally. Return to Original English Version

grumbling /ˈɡrʌmblɪŋ/ — resmungando; reclamando. Out upon the angry wind! how from sighing, it began to bluster round the merry forge, banging at the wicket, and grumbling in the chimney, as if it bullied the jolly bellows for doing anything to order. Return to Original English Version

guileless /ˈɡaɪlləs/ — inocente; sem malícia. She was too fresh and guileless, and too full of child-like vivacity, was the youngest Miss Pecksniff, to wear combs in her hair, or to turn it up, or to frizzle it, or braid it. Return to Original English Version

haggard /ˈhæɡərd/ — abatido; exausto. Not in his outward person, for he was a raw-boned, haggard horse, always on a much shorter allowance of corn than Mr Pecksniff; but in his moral character, wherein, said they, he was full of promise, but of no performance. Return to Original English Version

hairdressers /ˈhɛərˌdrɛsərz/ — cabeleireiros. His cravat was, in hue and pattern, like one of those mantles which hairdressers are accustomed to wrap about their clients, during the progress of the professional mysteries. Return to Original English Version

halfpay /ˈhɑːfpeɪ/ — de meio soldo. 'Don't direct your halfpay-officers' gaze at me, ma'am, if you please,' interposed Miss Charity; 'for I won't bear it.' Return to Original English Version

handposts /ˈhændpəʊsts/ — postes indicadores. Here too were the dainty frontispiece and trim vignette, pointing like handposts on the outskirts of great cities, to the rich stock of incident beyond; and store of books, with many a grave portrait and time-honoured name, whose matter he knew well, and would have given mines to have, in any form, upon the narrow shell beside his bed at Mr Pecksniff's. Return to Original English Version

hangings /ˈhæŋɪŋz/ — tapeçarias; reposteiros. The thick neutral hangings, and the dark blinds, and the heavy heap of bed-clothes, were all designed to hold in sleep, and act as nonconductors to the day and getting up. Return to Original English Version

harbours /ˈhɑːrbərz/ — portos; abriga; acolhe. Whether it is possible to make him acquainted by any means with the real character and purpose of that young female whose strange, whose very strange position, in reference to himself'--here Mr Pecksniff sunk his voice to an impressive whisper--'really casts a shadow of disgrace and shame upon this family; and who, we know'--here he raised his voice again--'else why is she his companion? harbours the very basest designs upon his weakness and his property.' Return to Original English Version

harnessed /ˈhɑːrnɪst/ — atrelados; arreados. In this horse, and the hooded vehicle, whatever its proper name might be, to which he was usually harnessed--it was more like a gig with a tumour than anything else--all Mr Pinch's thoughts and wishes centred, one bright frosty morning; for with this gallant equipage he was about to drive to Salisbury alone, there to meet with the new pupil, and thence to bring him home in triumph. Return to Original English Version

haste /heɪst/ — pressa; urgência. He had gone some miles away, and was not expected home until late at night; so the landlady, being by this time pretty well beside herself, dispatched the same messenger in all haste for Mr Pecksniff, as a learned man who could bear a deal of responsibility, and a moral man who could administer a world of comfort to a troubled mind. Return to Original English Version

haughty /ˈhɔːti/ — altivo; arrogante; soberbo. 'You go and do your duty, sir,' said Mr Slyme, angrily, 'and borrow money for travelling expenses; and whoever you borrow it of, let 'em know that I possess a haughty spirit, and a proud spirit, and have infernally finely-touched chords in my nature, which won't brook patronage. Return to Original English Version

healthful /ˈhelθfəl/ — salubre; salutar. Indeed, it may be laid down as a general principle, that the more extended the ancestry, the greater the amount of violence and vagabondism; for in ancient days those two amusements, combining a wholesome excitement with a promising means of repairing shattered fortunes, were at once the ennobling pursuit and the healthful recreation of the Quality of this land. Return to Original English Version

heaped /hiːpt/ — amontoado; imposto em grande quantidade. If it came within the scope of reasonable probability that further proofs were required, they might be heaped upon each other until they formed an Alps of testimony, beneath which the boldest scepticism should be crushed and beaten flat. Return to Original English Version

heartiness /ˈhɑːrtinəs/ — cordialidade calorosa. John Westlock returned his parting words with no less heartiness of manner, and sprung up to his seat upon the roof. Return to Original English Version

heaviness /ˈhɛvinəs/ — peso; sensação de peso; torpor. But she took it notwithstanding; and after one or two remarks on the extreme heaviness of the coach, and the number of places it stopped at, they fell into a silence which remained unbroken by any member of the party until supper-time. Return to Original English Version

heed /hiːd/ — prestar atenção; levar em conta. Let us take heed how we laugh without reason lest we cry with it. Return to Original English Version

heedless /ˈhiːdləs/ — descuidado; imprudente. In a sombre corner on the first landing, stood a gruff old giant of a clock, with a preposterous coronet of three brass balls on his head; whom few had ever seen--none ever looked in the face--and who seemed to continue his heavy tick for no other reason than to warn heedless people from running into him accidentally. Return to Original English Version

heinous /ˈheɪnəs/ — hediondo. He even seemed to think that he was doing quite a regular thing, and to expect that Mr Pinch would follow his example, since he took occasion to observe of that young man 'that he didn't get on'; a speech of so tremendous a character, that Tom cast down his eyes involuntarily, and felt as if he himself had committed some horrible deed and heinous breach of Mr Pecksniff's confidence. Return to Original English Version

hemmed /hɛmd/ — embainhado; com bainha feita. And surely London, to judge from that part of it which hemmed Todgers's round and hustled it, and crushed it, and stuck its brick-and-mortar elbows into it, and kept the air from it, and stood perpetually between it and the light, was worthy of Todgers's, and qualified to be on terms of close relationship and alliance with hundreds and thousands of the odd family to which Todgers's belonged. Return to Original English Version

henceforth /ˌhɛnsˈfɔːrθ/ — daqui em diante; doravante. "So much of my voice has lately been heard in the land, that I might have been contented with troubling you no further from my present standing-point, were it not a duty with which I henceforth charge myself, not only here but on every suitable occasion, whatsoever and wheresoever, to express my high and grateful sense of my second reception in America, and to bear my honest testimony to the national generosity and magnanimity. Return to Original English Version

hereabouts /ˈhɪrəbaʊts/ — por aqui perto; nas redondezas. Who but a madman would suppose you advertised him hereabouts, much cheaper and much better than a chalker on the walls could, eh, Tom? Return to Original English Version

hereditary /həˈrɛdɪteri/ — hereditário. This probable conjecture is strengthened, if not absolutely confirmed, by a fact which cannot fail to be interesting to those who are curious in tracing the progress of hereditary tastes through the lives of their unconscious inheritors. Return to Original English Version

hideous /ˈhɪdiəs/ — horrendo; repulsivo. It is a spectre walking before me through the world, and making every social pleasure hideous.' Return to Original English Version

hie /haɪ/ — apressar-se (arcaico). And the terrier-bitch from over the way--hie, then, lass! Return to Original English Version

hilariously /hɪˈleriəsli/ — hilariantemente; com folguedo. 'Now,' said Mr Pecksniff, crossing his two forefingers in a manner which was at once conciliatory and argumentative; 'I will not, upon the one hand, go so far as to say that she deserves all the inflictions which have been so very forcibly and hilariously suggested;' one of his ornamental sentences; 'nor will I, upon the other, on any account compromise my common understanding as a man, by making the assertion that she does not. Return to Original English Version

himâ /hɪm/ — ele - em 'Vocês estão ouvindo o que ele diz - todos vocês!'. You hear himâ all of you!' Return to Original English Version

hither /ˈhɪðər/ — para cá; até aqui. The fallen leaves, with which the ground was strewn, gave forth a pleasant fragrance, and subduing all harsh sounds of distant feet and wheels created a repose in gentle unison with the light scattering of seed hither and thither by the distant husbandman, and with the noiseless passage of the plough as it turned up the rich brown earth, and wrought a graceful pattern in the stubbled fields. Return to Original English Version

hitherto /ˌhɪðərˈtuː/ — até agora; até então. She had sat, at first looking anxiously towards the bed; but seeing that the patient remained quiet, and was busy with his writing, she had softly moved her chair into its present place; partly, as it seemed, from an instinctive consciousness that he desired to avoid observation; and partly that she might, unseen by him, give some vent to the natural feelings she had hitherto suppressed. Return to Original English Version

hoar /hɔːr/ — branco-acinzentado; geada. The whole landscape was silvered by its light and by the hoar-frost; and everything looked exquisitely beautiful. Return to Original English Version

hoarder /ˈhɔːrdər/ — pessoa que acumula, avarento. 'For the same reason that I am not a hoarder of money,' said the old man, 'I am not lavish of it. Return to Original English Version

hoarding /ˈhɔːrdɪŋ/ — tapume; acúmulo; guardando. The vane upon the tapering spire of the old church glistened from its lofty station in sympathy with the general gladness; and from the ivy-shaded windows such gleams of light shone back upon the glowing sky, that it seemed as if the quiet buildings were the hoarding-place of twenty summers, and all their ruddiness and warmth were stored within. Return to Original English Version

hob /hɒb/ — chapa do fogão; apoio junto ao fogo. Though he said this with a vast amount of consideration for Mr Pinch's comfort, he dragged one of the great leather-bottomed chairs to the very centre of the hearth, notwithstanding; and sat down in front of the fire, with a foot on each hob. Return to Original English Version

hobbling /ˈhɑːblɪŋ/ — coxeando. And there too were the Persian tales, with flying chests and students of enchanted books shut up for years in caverns; and there too was Abudah, the merchant, with the terrible little old woman hobbling out of the box in his bedroom; and there the mighty talisman, the rare Arabian Nights, with Cassim Baba, divided by four, like the ghost of a dreadful sum, hanging up, all gory, in the robbers' cave. Return to Original English Version

homeliness /ˈhoʊmlinəs/ — aconchego simples. That never ran smooth yet,' said Tom, with a smile which, despite the homeliness of his face, was pleasanter to see than many a proud beauty's brightest glance; 'what never ran smooth yet, can hardly be expected to change its character for us; so we must take it as we find it, and fashion it into the very best shape we can, by patience and good-humour. Return to Original English Version

homely /ˈhoʊmli/ — acolhedor; simples; caseiro. It was once said of him by a homely admirer, that he had a Fortunatus's purse of good sentiments in his inside. Return to Original English Version

Original Text: Rare Words (4/7)

homewards /ˈhoʊmwərdz/ — rumo a casa; de volta. All the farmers being by this time jogging homewards, there was nobody in the sanded parlour of the tavern where he had left the horse; so he had his little table drawn out close before the fire, and fell to work upon a well-cooked steak and smoking hot potatoes, with a strong appreciation of their excellence, and a very keen sense of enjoyment. Return to Original English Version

hooded /ˈhʊdɪd/ — encapuzado. In this horse, and the hooded vehicle, whatever its proper name might be, to which he was usually harnessed--it was more like a gig with a tumour than anything else--all Mr Pinch's thoughts and wishes centred, one bright frosty morning; for with this gallant equipage he was about to drive to Salisbury alone, there to meet with the new pupil, and thence to bring him home in triumph. Return to Original English Version

hospitable /hɒˈspɪtəbəl/ — hospitaleiro; acolhedor. He was a courteous and considerate dragon, too; or had been in his distincter days; for in the midst of his rampant feebleness, he kept one of his forepaws near his nose, as though he would say, 'Don't mind me--it's only my fun;' while he held out the other in polite and hospitable entreaty. Return to Original English Version

hostilities /hɒˈstɪlətiz/ — hostilidades; combates. 'Nay, Mark,' urged Mr Pinch, interposing to prevent hostilities, 'tell me what I ask you. Return to Original English Version

hotbed /ˈhɒtbɛd/ — celeiro, foco (de ideias ou atividade). It was the finishing ornament of the conversation; for when he had delivered it, Mr Pecksniff rose and led the way to that hotbed of architectural genius, the two-pair front. Return to Original English Version

housekeepers /ˈhaʊskiːpərz/ — governantas; responsáveis pela casa. 'Or if there's one in the eating parlour,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'I can find it myself.' So he led his daughters, without waiting for any further introduction, into a room on the ground-floor, where a table-cloth (rather a tight and scanty fit in reference to the table it covered) was already spread for breakfast; displaying a mighty dish of pink boiled beef; an instance of that particular style of loaf which is known to housekeepers as a slack-baked, crummy quartern; a liberal provision of cups and saucers; and the usual appendages. Return to Original English Version

hovered /ˈhʌvərd/ — pairou; rondou; ficou suspenso. The strong smith and his men dealt such strokes upon their work, as made even the melancholy night rejoice, and brought a glow into its dark face as it hovered about the door and windows, peeping curiously in above the shoulders of a dozen loungers. Return to Original English Version

huckster's /ˈhʌkstərz/ — do vendedor ambulante (possessivo). To one of his quiet habits this little delusion was greatly assisted by the circumstance of its being market-day, and the thoroughfares about the market-place being filled with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, waggons, garden-stuff, meat, tripe, pies, poultry and huckster's wares of every opposite description and possible variety of character. Return to Original English Version

hue /hjuː/ — matiz; tonalidade. His cravat was, in hue and pattern, like one of those mantles which hairdressers are accustomed to wrap about their clients, during the progress of the professional mysteries. Return to Original English Version

hulks /hʌlks/ — cascos abandonados; navios à deriva. Let the reader go into the children's side of any prison in England, or, I grieve to add, of many workhouses, and judge whether those are monsters who disgrace our streets, people our hulks and penitentiaries, and overcrowd our penal colonies, or are creatures whom we have deliberately suffered to be bred for misery and ruin. Return to Original English Version

humiliating /hjuːˈmɪlieɪtɪŋ/ — humilhante; vexatório. I almost wish, indeed, that I had a different nature, that I might repress even this slight confession of weakness; which I cannot disguise from you; which I feel is humiliating; but which you will have the goodness to excuse. Return to Original English Version

humored /ˈhjuːmərd/ — fez a vontade de. As I had never, in writing fiction, had any disposition to soften what is ridiculous or wrong at home, so I then hoped that the good-humored people of the United States would not be generally disposed to quarrel with me for carrying the same usage abroad. Return to Original English Version

husbandman /ˈhʌzbəndmən/ — lavrador; agricultor. The fallen leaves, with which the ground was strewn, gave forth a pleasant fragrance, and subduing all harsh sounds of distant feet and wheels created a repose in gentle unison with the light scattering of seed hither and thither by the distant husbandman, and with the noiseless passage of the plough as it turned up the rich brown earth, and wrought a graceful pattern in the stubbled fields. Return to Original English Version

hustled /ˈhʌsəld/ — empurrou às pressas. And surely London, to judge from that part of it which hemmed Todgers's round and hustled it, and crushed it, and stuck its brick-and-mortar elbows into it, and kept the air from it, and stood perpetually between it and the light, was worthy of Todgers's, and qualified to be on terms of close relationship and alliance with hundreds and thousands of the odd family to which Todgers's belonged. Return to Original English Version

hysterics /hɪˈsterɪks/ — crise histérica; descontrole emocional. Miss Mercy laughed immensely at everything that was said; and sometimes, after glancing at the happy face of Mr Pinch, was seized with such fits of mirth as brought her to the very confines of hysterics. Return to Original English Version

illumination /ɪˌluːməˈneɪʃən/ — iluminação; clareza súbita. In the meantime Mr Pecksniff, having received from a sharp angle in the bottom step but one, that sort of knock on the head which lights up, for the patient's entertainment, an imaginary general illumination of very bright short-sixes, lay placidly staring at his own street door. Return to Original English Version

illustrious /ɪˈlʌstriəs/ — ilustres; eminentes. It does not appear that this illustrious ancestor 'came over' that monarch, to employ the vulgar phrase, at any subsequent period; inasmuch as the Family do not seem to have been ever greatly distinguished by the possession of landed estate. Return to Original English Version

imbecile /ˈɪmbəsiːl/ — imbecil; pessoa muito tola. 'I swear,' cried Mr Slyme, giving the table an imbecile blow with his fist, and then feebly leaning his head upon his hand, while some drunken drops oozed from his eyes, 'that I am the wretchedest creature on record. Return to Original English Version

imbecility /ˌɪmbəˈsɪləti/ — imbecilidade; fraqueza mental. But there he hung; rearing, in a state of monstrous imbecility, on his hind legs; waxing, with every month that passed, so much more dim and shapeless, that as you gazed at him on one side of the sign-board it seemed as if he must be gradually melting through it, and coming out upon the other. Return to Original English Version

imbibed /ɪmˈbaɪbd/ — absorveu; ingeriu. And from the narrow neck of that stone vessel he imbibed a copious refreshment. Return to Original English Version

immoderate /ɪˈmɑːdərət/ — excessivo; desmedido. During the whole of this affectionate display she laughed to a most immoderate extent: in which hilarious indulgence even the prudent Cherry joined. Return to Original English Version

immoral /ɪˈmɔːrəl/ — imoral. 'Every man,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'has a right, an undoubted right, (which I, for one, would not call in question for any earthly consideration; oh no!) to regulate his own proceedings by his own likings and dislikings, supposing they are not immoral and not irreligious. Return to Original English Version

immovability /ɪˌmuːvəˈbɪləti/ — imobilidade; firmeza. The very size and shape, and hopeless immovability of the bedstead, and wardrobe, and in a minor degree of even the chairs and tables, provoked sleep; they were plainly apoplectic and disposed to snore. Return to Original English Version

imparted /ɪmˈpɑːrtɪd/ — transmitiu; comunicou; conferiu. He moreover observed that there were many little characteristics about his friend Slyme, of which he could by no means, as a man of strict honour, approve; but that he was prepared to forgive him all these slight drawbacks, and much more, in consideration of the great pleasure he himself had that day enjoyed in his social intercourse with Mr Pecksniff, which had given him a far higher and more enduring delight than the successful negotiation of any small loan on the part of his friend could possibly have imparted. Return to Original English Version

imperceptibly /ˌɪmpərˈsɛptəbli/ — imperceptivelmente; quase sem se notar. One of these flaws was, that having been long taught by his father to over-reach everybody, he had imperceptibly acquired a love of over-reaching that venerable monitor himself. Return to Original English Version

imperfections /ˌɪmpərˈfekʃənz/ — imperfeições; defeitos. I--I am very glad,' said Tom, smiling with an embarrassed frankness peculiarly his, and which was as plainly a confession of his own imperfections, and an appeal to the kindness of the person he addressed, as if he had drawn one up in simple language and committed it to paper: 'I am very glad indeed that you turn out to be the party I expected. Return to Original English Version

impetuosity /ɪmˌpetʃuˈɑːsəti/ — impetuosidade; ímpeto. 'Wrong!' cried the other, with all the heat and impetuosity of his age. Return to Original English Version

importing /ɪmˈpɔːrtɪŋ/ — importando; significando. That her guest had need of some efficient services under the latter head was obvious enough from the restless expressions, importing, however, rather a worldly than a spiritual anxiety, to which he gave frequent utterance. Return to Original English Version

impossibility /ɪmˌpɑːsəˈbɪləti/ — impossibilidade. And in the window were the spick-and-span new works from London, with the title-pages, and sometimes even the first page of the first chapter, laid wide open; tempting unwary men to begin to read the book, and then, in the impossibility of turning over, to rush blindly in, and buy it! Return to Original English Version

impostors /ɪmˈpɒstərz/ — impostores. And crowds of impostors, the while, becoming famous; men who are no more on a level with me than--Tigg, I take you to witness that I am the most persecuted hound on the face of the earth.' Return to Original English Version

impotent /ˈɪmpətənt/ — incapaz; sem faculdades. And what an impotent swaggerer it was too, for all its noise; for if it had any influence on that hoarse companion, it was but to make him roar his cheerful song the louder, and by consequence to make the fire burn the brighter, and the sparks to dance more gayly yet; at length, they whizzed so madly round and round, that it was too much for such a surly wind to bear; so off it flew with a howl giving the old sign before the ale-house door such a cuff as it went, that the Blue Dragon was more rampant than usual ever afterwards, and indeed, before Christmas, reared clean out of its crazy frame. Return to Original English Version

impracticable /ɪmˈpræktɪkəbəl/ — impraticável. Neither had Miss Charity expected them, for she was busied, with a capacious wicker basket before her, in making impracticable nightcaps for the poor. Return to Original English Version

impregnable /ɪmˈpreɡnəbəl/ — inexpugnável; inatacável. I remember thinking once myself, in the days of my childhood, that pickled onions grew on trees, and that every elephant was born with an impregnable castle on his back. Return to Original English Version

improbable /ɪmˈprɑːbəbəl/ — improvável; inverossímil. But she is gone now, and of all unlikely things in this wide world, it is perhaps the most improbable that I shall ever look upon her face again.' Return to Original English Version

incessantly /ɪnˈsesəntli/ — incessantemente. At first, the great serenity and peace through which they travelled, disposed them both to silence; but in a very short time the punch within them and the healthful air without, made them loquacious, and they talked incessantly. Return to Original English Version

inclemency /ɪnˈklɛmənsi/ — intempérie; rigor do clima. She hugged them both; and being by this time overpowered by her feelings or the inclemency of the morning, jerked a little pocket handkerchief out of the little basket, and applied the same to her face. Return to Original English Version

inclinations /ˌɪnklɪˈneɪʃənz/ — inclinações; propensões. If our inclinations are but good and open-hearted, let us gratify them boldly, though they bring upon us Loss instead of Profit. Return to Original English Version

incoherent /ˌɪnkoʊˈhɪrənt/ — incoerente; desconexo. At this exclamation, another Miss Pecksniff bounced out of the parlour; and the two Miss Pecksniffs, with many incoherent expressions, dragged Mr Pecksniff into an upright posture. Return to Original English Version

incompatible /ˌɪnkəmˈpætəbəl/ — incompatível. 'Forgiveness,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'entire and pure forgiveness is not incompatible with a wounded heart; perchance when the heart is wounded, it becomes a greater virtue. Return to Original English Version

incomprehensible /ɪnˌkɑːmprɪˈhensəbəl/ — incompreensível. Now if Mr Pecksniff knew, from anything Martin Chuzzlewit had expressed in gestures, that he wanted to speak to him, he could only have found it out on some such principle as prevails in melodramas, and in virtue of which the elderly farmer with the comic son always knows what the dumb girl means when she takes refuge in his garden, and relates her personal memoirs in incomprehensible pantomime. Return to Original English Version

incongruous /ɪnˈkɑːŋɡruəs/ — incongruente; deslocado. Thus in the quiet hours of the night, one house shuts in as many incoherent and incongruous fancies as a madman's head. Return to Original English Version

inconsiderable /ˌɪnkənˈsɪdərəbəl/ — insignificante; de pouca monta. This diversion, by distracting the attention of the combatants, put an end to the strife, which, after breaking out afresh some twice or thrice in certain inconsiderable spurts and dashes, died away in silence. Return to Original English Version

incontinently /ɪnˈkɑːntɪnəntli/ — imediatamente (arcaico). But the oddest feat they achieved was, to take advantage of the sudden opening of Mr Pecksniff's front-door, to dash wildly into his passage; whither the wind following close upon them, and finding the back-door open, incontinently blew out the lighted candle held by Miss Pecksniff, and slammed the front-door against Mr Pecksniff who was at that moment entering, with such violence, that in the twinkling of an eye he lay on his back at the bottom of the steps. Return to Original English Version

inconvenient /ˌɪnkənˈviːnjənt/ — incômodo; inconveniente. The gentleman was of that order of appearance which is currently termed shabby-genteel, though in respect of his dress he can hardly be said to have been in any extremities, as his fingers were a long way out of his gloves, and the soles of his feet were at an inconvenient distance from the upper leather of his boots. Return to Original English Version

incorruptible /ˌɪnkəˈrʌptəbəl/ — incorruptível. To what man or woman; to what worthy, honest, incorruptible creature; shall I confide such a talisman, either now or when I die? Return to Original English Version

incredulously /ɪnˈkredʒələsli/ — com incredulidade. It is this: I have never touched a character precisely from the life, but some counterpart of that character has incredulously asked me: "Now really, did I ever really, see one like it?" Return to Original English Version

indefensible /ˌɪndɪˈfensəbəl/ — indefensável. 'But, Mr Chuzzlewit, while I am forgetful of myself, I owe it to myself, and to my character--aye, sir, and I HAVE a character which is very dear to me, and will be the best inheritance of my two daughters--to tell you, on behalf of another, that your conduct is wrong, unnatural, indefensible, monstrous. Return to Original English Version

indefinable /ˌɪndɪˈfaɪnəbəl/ — indefinível. Her attire was that of a lady, but extremely plain; and in her manner, even when she sat as still as she did then, there was an indefinable something which appeared to be in kindred with her scrupulously unpretending dress. Return to Original English Version

indifferent /ɪnˈdɪfrənt/ — indiferente; apático; medíocre. Beyond that, I am quite as indifferent to you, Mr Chuzzlewit, as you are to me.' Return to Original English Version

indignant /ɪnˈdɪɡnənt/ — indignado; revoltado. 'What do you mean?' said Mr Pecksniff, with indignant surprise. Return to Original English Version

indiscreet /ˌɪndɪˈskriːt/ — indiscreto. Indeed, the agony of having such an indiscreet remark addressed to him before the assembled family, was breakfast enough in itself, and would, without any other matter of reflection, have settled Mr Pinch's business and quenched his appetite, for one meal, though he had been never so hungry. Return to Original English Version

indolently /ˈɪndələntli/ — indolentemente. In course of time his eyes opened; and he lay for a few moments as people newly roused sometimes will, gazing indolently at his visitor, without any distinct consciousness of his presence. Return to Original English Version

inducing /ɪnˈduːsɪŋ/ — induzindo; levando a. What I would observe is, that I think some practical means might be devised of inducing our respected, shall I say our revered--?' Return to Original English Version

indulgence /ɪnˈdʌldʒəns/ — indulgência; concessão. During the whole of this affectionate display she laughed to a most immoderate extent: in which hilarious indulgence even the prudent Cherry joined. Return to Original English Version

industrious /ɪnˈdʌstriəs/ — trabalhador; diligente. 'I am not industrious myself, gents both,' said the head, 'but I know how to appreciate that quality in others. Return to Original English Version

inestimable /ɪnˈestɪməbəl/ — inestimável; inapreciável. He doesn't keep you as his assistant because you are of any use to him; because your wonderful faith in his pretensions is of inestimable service in all his mean disputes; because your honesty reflects honesty on him; because your wandering about this little place all your spare hours, reading in ancient books and foreign tongues, gets noised abroad, even as far as Salisbury, making of him, Pecksniff the master, a man of learning and of vast importance. Return to Original English Version

inexplicable /ˌɪnɪkˈsplɪkəbəl/ — inexplicável. Mr Pinch, however, was so very much astounded by this (to him) inexplicable deportment, that he at once openly declared there must be some mistake, and that he had been entrusted with no commission whatever having any reference to Mr Tigg or to his friend, either. Return to Original English Version

inexpressible /ˌɪnɪkˈspresəbəl/ — inexprimível; indizível. Consequently, it is a source of inexpressible comfort and happiness to find, that in various periods of our history, the Chuzzlewits were actively connected with divers slaughterous conspiracies and bloody frays. Return to Original English Version

infallibility /ɪnˌfælɪˈbɪləti/ — infalibilidade. At length it became high time to remember the first clause of that great discovery made by the ancient philosopher, for securing health, riches, and wisdom; the infallibility of which has been for generations verified by the enormous fortunes constantly amassed by chimney-sweepers and other persons who get up early and go to bed betimes. Return to Original English Version

infancy /ˈɪnfənsi/ — infância; estágio inicial. And for that attention, sir,' added Mr Tigg, stroking his moustache, 'I can tell you, that Mark Tapley had better in his infancy have been fed to suffocation by Mrs Tapley, than preserved to this time.' Return to Original English Version

infatuation /ɪnˌfætʃuˈeɪʃən/ — paixão cega; fascinação. 'Very good, my dear madam, very good; whether it is possible by ANY means, we will say by ANY means, to open the eyes of our valued relative to his present infatuation. Return to Original English Version

inference /ˈɪnfərəns/ — inferência; dedução. But what is the irresistible inference? Return to Original English Version

infernally /ɪnˈfɜːrnəli/ — infernalmente; terrivelmente. Life's a riddle; a most infernally hard riddle to guess, Mr Pecksniff. Return to Original English Version

inferred /ɪnˈfɜːrd/ — deduzida; subentendida. It must not be inferred from this position of humility, that the youngest Miss Pecksniff was so young as to be, as one may say, forced to sit upon a stool, by reason of the shortness of her legs. Return to Original English Version

infirmities /ɪnˈfɜːrmətiz/ — enfermidades; achaques. Mr Pecksniff not being exempt from the common lot of humanity found himself, at the end of his nap, so decidedly the victim of these infirmities, that he had an irresistible inclination to visit them upon his daughters; which he had already begun to do in the shape of divers random kicks, and other unexpected motions of his shoes, when the coach stopped, and after a short delay the door was opened. Return to Original English Version

inflamed /ɪnˈfleɪmd/ — inflamado. His head distilled such oil upon his whiskers, that they were rich and clogged with unctuous drops; his face was violently inflamed, his limbs trembled; and he gasped and strove for breath. Return to Original English Version

inflammable /ɪnˈflæməbəl/ — inflamável. I have so corrupted and changed the nature of all those who have ever attended on me, by breeding avaricious plots and hopes within them; I have engendered such domestic strife and discord, by tarrying even with members of my own family; I have been such a lighted torch in peaceful homes, kindling up all the inflammable gases and vapours in their moral atmosphere, which, but for me, might have proved harmless to the end, that I have, I may say, fled from all who knew me, and taking refuge in secret places have lived, of late, the life of one who is hunted. Return to Original English Version

inflexible /ɪnˈflɛksəbəl/ — Inflexible. The worse he grew, the more rigid and inflexible he became in his determination. Return to Original English Version

inflicter /ɪnˈflɪktər/ — o causador, o suposto autor. 'I see you,' cried Miss Pecksniff, to the ideal inflicter of a runaway knock. Return to Original English Version

inflictions /ɪnˈflɪkʃənz/ — sofrimentos impostos; punições. 'Now,' said Mr Pecksniff, crossing his two forefingers in a manner which was at once conciliatory and argumentative; 'I will not, upon the one hand, go so far as to say that she deserves all the inflictions which have been so very forcibly and hilariously suggested;' one of his ornamental sentences; 'nor will I, upon the other, on any account compromise my common understanding as a man, by making the assertion that she does not. Return to Original English Version

infused /ɪnˈfjuːzd/ — infundiu. He was a kind of animal who infused into the breasts of strangers a lively sense of hope, and possessed all those who knew him better with a grim despair. Return to Original English Version

inheritors /ɪnˈhɛrɪtərz/ — herdeiros. This probable conjecture is strengthened, if not absolutely confirmed, by a fact which cannot fail to be interesting to those who are curious in tracing the progress of hereditary tastes through the lives of their unconscious inheritors. Return to Original English Version

inmost /ˈɪnmoʊst/ — mais íntimo. With my breast still wrung and grieved to its inmost core by the ingratitude of that person, I am proud and glad to say that I forgive him. Return to Original English Version

innumerable /ɪˈnuːmərəbəl/ — inumerável; incontável. That which is commonly called a long-sight, perceives in a prospect innumerable features and bearings non-existent to a short-sighted person. Return to Original English Version

inscribed /ɪnˈskraɪbd/ — inscritas; com letras gravadas. But what were even gold and silver, precious stones and clockwork, to the bookshops, whence a pleasant smell of paper freshly pressed came issuing forth, awakening instant recollections of some new grammar had at school, long time ago, with 'Master Pinch, Grove House Academy,' inscribed in faultless writing on the fly-leaf! Return to Original English Version

inseparable /ɪnˈsepərəbəl/ — inseparável. So long as this book shall last, I hope that they will form a part of it, and will be fairly read as inseparable from my experiences and impressions of America. Return to Original English Version

inserting /ɪnˈsɜːrtɪŋ/ — inserindo. So saying, Mr Pecksniff waved his right hand with much solemnity, and once more inserting it in his waistcoat, departed. Return to Original English Version

insinuate /ɪnˈsɪnjueɪt/ — insinuar; introduzir suavemente. 'Apart from that consideration,' said Mr Pecksniff, watchful of the effect he made, 'it must be plain to you (I am sure) by this time, that if I had wished to insinuate myself into your good opinion, I should have been, of all things, careful not to address you as a relative; knowing your humour, and being quite certain beforehand that I could not have a worse letter of recommendation.' Return to Original English Version

insolent /ˈɪnsələnt/ — insolente. And now so abject and so pitiful was he--at once so maudlin, insolent, beggarly, and proud--that even his friend and parasite, standing erect beside him, swelled into a Man by contrast. Return to Original English Version

insomuch /ˌɪnsoʊˈmʌtʃ/ — a tal ponto que; de tal modo. Mr Pinch regarded everything exposed for sale with great delight, and was particularly struck by the itinerant cutlery, which he considered of the very keenest kind, insomuch that he purchased a pocket knife with seven blades in it, and not a cut (as he afterwards found out) among them. Return to Original English Version

inspires /ɪnˈspaɪərz/ — inspira; desperta. 'Aye, aye,' returned her father, raising his hand mildly: 'it is very well to say what can we expect from Mr Pinch, but Mr Pinch is a fellow-creature, my dear; Mr Pinch is an item in the vast total of humanity, my love; and we have a right, it is our duty, to expect in Mr Pinch some development of those better qualities, the possession of which in our own persons inspires our humble self-respect. Return to Original English Version

instinctive /ɪnˈstɪŋktɪv/ — instintivo; espontâneo. She had sat, at first looking anxiously towards the bed; but seeing that the patient remained quiet, and was busy with his writing, she had softly moved her chair into its present place; partly, as it seemed, from an instinctive consciousness that he desired to avoid observation; and partly that she might, unseen by him, give some vent to the natural feelings she had hitherto suppressed. Return to Original English Version

instinctively /ɪnˈstɪŋktɪvli/ — instintivamente; por instinto. He said this with so much earnestness, and in a tone so full of feeling, that his companion instinctively changed his manner as he sat down on the box (they had by this time reached the finger-post at the end of the lane); motioned him to sit down beside him; and laid his hand upon his shoulder. Return to Original English Version

insufferably /ɪnˈsʌfərəbli/ — insuportavelmente. There were no staring portraits to remonstrate with you for being lazy; no round-eyed birds upon the curtains, disgustingly wide awake, and insufferably prying. Return to Original English Version

insupportable /ˌɪnsəˈpɔːrtəbəl/ — insuportável; intolerável. Rejecting a theory broached by some well-meaning but mistaken persons, that this Mr Toby Chuzzlewit's grandfather, to judge from his name, must surely have been a Mandarin (which is wholly insupportable, for there is no pretence of his grandmother ever having been out of this country, or of any Mandarin having been in it within some years of his father's birth; except those in the tea-shops, which cannot for a moment be regarded as having any bearing on the question, one way or other), rejecting this hypothesis, is it not manifest that Mr Toby Chuzzlewit had either received the name imperfectly from his father, or that he had forgotten it, or that he had mispronounced itâ and that even at the recent period in question, the Chuzzlewits were connected by a bend sinister, or kind of heraldic over-the-left, with some unknown noble and illustrious House? Return to Original English Version

intellect /ˈɪntəlɛkt/ — intelecto; inteligência. Now you must bear in mind, Pinch, that I am not only desperately fond of her (for though she is poor, her beauty and intellect would reflect great credit on anybody, I don't care of what pretensions who might become her husband), but that a chief ingredient in my composition is a most determined--' Return to Original English Version

intending /ɪnˈtendɪŋ/ — pretendendo; tencionando. Mr Pecksniff, not at all knowing what it might be best to say in the momentary pause which ensued upon these remarks, made an elaborate demonstration of intending to deliver something very oracular indeed; trusting to the certainty of the old man interrupting him, before he should utter a word. Return to Original English Version

intermarried /ˌɪntərˈmærid/ — casou-se (entre famílias/grupos diferentes). There was unquestionably a Chuzzlewit in the Gunpowder Plot, if indeed the arch-traitor, Fawkes himself, were not a scion of this remarkable stock; as he might easily have been, supposing another Chuzzlewit to have emigrated to Spain in the previous generation, and there intermarried with a Spanish lady, by whom he had issue, one olive-complexioned son. Return to Original English Version

interment /ɪnˈtɜːrmənt/ — sepultamento. Meantime the family forces were perpetually encountering each other in divers parts of the neighbourhood; and, as no one branch of the Chuzzlewit tree had ever been known to agree with another within the memory of man, there was such a skirmishing, and flouting, and snapping off of heads, in the metaphorical sense of that expression; such a bandying of words and calling of names; such an upturning of noses and wrinkling of brows; such a formal interment of good feelings and violent resurrection of ancient grievances; as had never been known in those quiet parts since the earliest record of their civilized existence. Return to Original English Version

intermission /ˌɪntərˈmɪʃən/ — intervalo; pausa. But he gave his father such a nudge in reply, that that good old gentleman was taken with a cough which lasted for full five minutes without intermission, and goaded Mr Pecksniff to that pitch of irritation, that he said at last--and very suddenly: Return to Original English Version

interposing /ˌɪntərˈpoʊzɪŋ/ — interpondo-se; intervindo. But it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good; and the wisdom of the saying was verified in this instance; for the cold air came from Mr Pinch's side of the carriage, and by interposing a perfect wall of box and man between it and the new pupil, he shielded that young gentleman effectually; which was a great comfort. Return to Original English Version

interrogatively /ˌɪntəˈrɑːɡətɪvli/ — interrogativamente; em tom de pergunta. 'Chevy Slyme?' said Mr Tigg, interrogatively, and kissing his left hand in token of friendship. Return to Original English Version

intimation /ˌɪntɪˈmeɪʃən/ — insinuação; indício; aviso velado. As he said this, he touched the tip of his high nose, by way of intimation that he would let Mr Pecksniff into a secret presently; and pulling off his hat, began to search inside the crown among a mass of crumpled documents and small pieces of what may be called the bark of broken cigars; whence he presently selected the cover of an old letter, begrimed with dirt and redolent of tobacco. Return to Original English Version

intolerable /ɪnˈtɑlərəbəl/ — intolerável. As Hamlet says, Hercules may lay about him with his club in every possible direction, but he can't prevent the cats from making a most intolerable row on the roofs of the houses, or the dogs from being shot in the hot weather if they run about the streets unmuzzled. Return to Original English Version

intrinsic /ɪnˈtrɪnzɪk/ — intrínseco. To this entertainment, which apart from its own intrinsic merits, had the additional choice quality, that it was in strict keeping with the night, being both light and cool, Mr Pecksniff besought the company to do full justice. Return to Original English Version

intruding /ɪnˈtruːdɪŋ/ — intrometendo-se. I beg your pardon, Mr Pecksniff: I beg your pardon for intruding; but--' Return to Original English Version

invariably /ɪnˈveriəbli/ — invariavelmente; sempre. This fact in itself, though it had been a solitary one, would have utterly settled and clenched the business in hand; for it is well known, on the authority of all the books which treat of such matters, that every one of these phenomena, but especially that of the chiselling, are invariably peculiar to, and only make themselves apparent in, persons of the very best condition. Return to Original English Version

inveterate /ɪnˈvetərət/ — inveterado; arraigado. 'Why, not so much on that account, if the truth must be spoken,' returned Martin, 'as because my grandfather has an inveterate dislike to him, and after the old man's arbitrary treatment of me, I had a natural desire to run as directly counter to all his opinions as I could. Return to Original English Version

invincible /ɪnˈvɪnsəbəl/ — invencível. It is further recorded of them, that being clad from head to heel in steel of proof, they did on many occasions lead their leather-jerkined soldiers to the death with invincible courage, and afterwards return home gracefully to their relations and friends. Return to Original English Version

invoking /ɪnˈvoʊkɪŋ/ — invocando; suplicando. Invoking this benediction on the heads of his young friends with great fervour, he withdrew to his own room; while they, being tired, soon fell asleep. Return to Original English Version

ironical /aɪˈrɑːnɪkəl/ — irônico. Adding to these exclamations a kind of ironical howl, and gazing upon the company for one brief instant afterwards, in a sudden silence, the irritated gentleman started off again at the same tremendous pace, and was seen no more. Return to Original English Version

irreligion /ˌɪrɪˈlɪdʒən/ — irreligião. These gentry were much opposed to steam and all new-fangled ways, and held ballooning to be sinful, and deplored the degeneracy of the times; which that particular member of each little club who kept the keys of the nearest church, professionally, always attributed to the prevalence of dissent and irreligion; though the major part of the company inclined to the belief that virtue went out with hair-powder, and that Old England's greatness had decayed amain with barbers. Return to Original English Version

irresolutely /ɪˈrezəluːtli/ — indecisamente. So saying, he clapped that dejected companion on the shoulder, turned upon his heel, and walked out into the passage, whither poor Mr Pinch, after lingering irresolutely in the parlour for a few seconds, expressing in his countenance the deepest mental misery and gloom followed him. Return to Original English Version

irrevocably /ɪˈrevəkəbli/ — irrevogavelmente; em definitivo. First, there was Mr Spottletoe, who was so bald and had such big whiskers, that he seemed to have stopped his hair, by the sudden application of some powerful remedy, in the very act of falling off his head, and to have fastened it irrevocably on his face. Return to Original English Version

irritation /ˌɪrɪˈteɪʃən/ — irritação; aborrecimento. 'Do you WANT any blood shed for you?' returned his friend, with considerable irritation. Return to Original English Version

itinerant /aɪˈtɪnərənt/ — itinerante. Mr Pinch regarded everything exposed for sale with great delight, and was particularly struck by the itinerant cutlery, which he considered of the very keenest kind, insomuch that he purchased a pocket knife with seven blades in it, and not a cut (as he afterwards found out) among them. Return to Original English Version

itâ /ɪt/ — isso. Rejecting a theory broached by some well-meaning but mistaken persons, that this Mr Toby Chuzzlewit's grandfather, to judge from his name, must surely have been a Mandarin (which is wholly insupportable, for there is no pretence of his grandmother ever having been out of this country, or of any Mandarin having been in it within some years of his father's birth; except those in the tea-shops, which cannot for a moment be regarded as having any bearing on the question, one way or other), rejecting this hypothesis, is it not manifest that Mr Toby Chuzzlewit had either received the name imperfectly from his father, or that he had forgotten it, or that he had mispronounced itâ and that even at the recent period in question, the Chuzzlewits were connected by a bend sinister, or kind of heraldic over-the-left, with some unknown noble and illustrious House? Return to Original English Version

jailor /ˈdʒeɪlər/ — carcereiro. A jailor sees a deal of misery. Return to Original English Version

jaunty /ˈdʒɔːnti/ — garboso. He was very dirty and very jaunty; very bold and very mean; very swaggering and very slinking; very much like a man who might have been something better, and unspeakably like a man who deserved to be something worse. Return to Original English Version

jerked /dʒɜːrkt/ — teve um sobressalto; sacudiu-se. It happened that Mr Pecksniff, coming softly upon the dark passage into which a spiral ray of light usually darted through the same keyhole, was astonished to find no such ray visible; and it happened that Mr Pecksniff, when he had felt his way to the chamber-door, stooping hurriedly down to ascertain by personal inspection whether the jealousy of the old man had caused this keyhole to be stopped on the inside, brought his head into such violent contact with another head that he could not help uttering in an audible voice the monosyllable 'Oh!' which was, as it were, sharply unscrewed and jerked out of him by very anguish. Return to Original English Version

jerkined /ˈdʒɜːrkɪnd/ — vestido(s) de gibão de couro / trajado(s) com gibão. It is further recorded of them, that being clad from head to heel in steel of proof, they did on many occasions lead their leather-jerkined soldiers to the death with invincible courage, and afterwards return home gracefully to their relations and friends. Return to Original English Version

jocosely /dʒoʊˈkoʊsli/ — jocosamente; em tom de brincadeira. Glancing towards his daughters for the first time since he had begun these reflections, and seeing that they both smiled, Mr Pecksniff eyed them for an instant so jocosely (though still with a kind of saintly waggishness) that the younger one was moved to sit upon his knee forthwith, put her fair arms round his neck, and kiss him twenty times. Return to Original English Version

jogged /dʒɑɡd/ — trotou; deu um leve empurrão. These arrangements concluded, and the coach being ready, they got into their old places and jogged on again. Return to Original English Version

jogging /ˈdʒɑɡɪŋ/ — trotando; avançando devagar. Mr Pinch was jogging along, full of pleasant thoughts and cheerful influences, when he saw, upon the path before him, going in the same direction with himself, a traveller on foot, who walked with a light quick step, and sang as he went--for certain in a very loud voice, but not unmusically. Return to Original English Version

jolt /dʒoʊlt/ — solavanco; sobressalto. At length they began to jolt and rumble over horribly uneven stones, and Mr Pecksniff looking out of window said it was to-morrow morning, and they were there. Return to Original English Version

jotting /ˈdʒɑtɪŋ/ — anotando rapidamente. Every facility you see for jotting down crude notions, even here.' Return to Original English Version

joyous /ˈdʒɔɪəs/ — alegre; jubiloso. On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels; others stripped of all their garniture, stood, each the centre of its little heap of bright red leaves, watching their slow decay; others again, still wearing theirs, had them all crunched and crackled up, as though they had been burnt; about the stems of some were piled, in ruddy mounds, the apples they had borne that year; while others (hardy evergreens this class) showed somewhat stern and gloomy in their vigour, as charged by nature with the admonition that it is not to her more sensitive and joyous favourites she grants the longest term of life. Return to Original English Version

juggling /ˈdʒʌɡlɪŋ/ — fazendo malabarismo; malabarismo. She said it at a venture, but there was appropriate matter in it too; for Mr Pecksniff, being in the act of extinguishing the candles before mentioned pretty rapidly, and of reducing the number of brass knobs on his street door from four or five hundred (which had previously been juggling of their own accord before his eyes in a very novel manner) to a dozen or so, might in one sense have been said to be coming round the corner, and just turning it. Return to Original English Version

justifiable /ˈdʒʌstɪfaɪəbəl/ — justificável. 'Be that as it may, here we are; and being here, we are to consider whether it is possible by any justifiable means--' Return to Original English Version

justly /ˈdʒʌstli/ — justamente; com razão; com justiça. I tell you, man,' he added, with increasing bitterness, 'that I have gone, a rich man, among people of all grades and kinds; relatives, friends, and strangers; among people in whom, when I was poor, I had confidence, and justly, for they never once deceived me then, or, to me, wronged each other. Return to Original English Version

jutting /ˈdʒʌtɪŋ/ — saliente; que se projeta. You looked over a very low fence of white cravat (whereof no man had ever beheld the tie for he fastened it behind), and there it lay, a valley between two jutting heights of collar, serene and whiskerless before you. Return to Original English Version

keenest /ˈkiːnəst/ — o mais vivo; o mais agudo. Mr Pinch regarded everything exposed for sale with great delight, and was particularly struck by the itinerant cutlery, which he considered of the very keenest kind, insomuch that he purchased a pocket knife with seven blades in it, and not a cut (as he afterwards found out) among them. Return to Original English Version

keenness /ˈkiːnnəs/ — agudeza; entusiasmo. 'I forgot,' cried the old man, looking at him with a keenness which the other seemed to feel, although he did not raise his eyes so as to see it. Return to Original English Version

kindled /ˈkɪndəld/ — acendeu; ateado; despertado. In the first of these sanctuaries a fire was speedily kindled by the youthful porter, who, whistling at his work in the absence of Mrs Todgers (not to mention his sketching figures on his corduroys with burnt firewood), and being afterwards taken by that lady in the fact, was dismissed with a box on his ears. Return to Original English Version

kindling /ˈkɪndlɪŋ/ — gravetos; acendendo; despertando. Like a sudden flash of memory or spirit kindling up the mind of an old man, it shed a glory upon the scene, in which its departed youth and freshness seemed to live again. Return to Original English Version

kindred /ˈkɪndrɪd/ — afim; semelhante; aparentado. It seemed to say, on the part of Mr Pecksniff, 'There is no deception, ladies and gentlemen, all is peace, a holy calm pervades me.' So did his hair, just grizzled with an iron-grey which was all brushed off his forehead, and stood bolt upright, or slightly drooped in kindred action with his heavy eyelids. Return to Original English Version

kittenish /ˈkɪtənɪʃ/ — gatinha, brincalhona. Miss Pecksniff sat upon a stool because she was all girlishness, and playfulness, and wildness, and kittenish buoyancy. Return to Original English Version

knaves /neɪvz/ — patifes; velhacos. They should have shown themselves fit objects to be robbed and preyed upon and plotted against and adulated by any knaves, who, but for joy, would have spat upon their coffins when they died their dupes; and then their search would have ended as mine has done, and they would be what I am.' Return to Original English Version

knotty /ˈnɑːti/ — nodoso; complicado. But the truth was that the house being full with the exception of one bed, which would now be occupied by Mr Pecksniff, she wanted time for consideration; and so much time too (for it was a knotty point how to dispose of them), that even when this second embrace was over, she stood for some moments gazing at the sisters, with affection beaming in one eye, and calculation shining out of the other. Return to Original English Version

labyrinth /see source pronunciation/ — termo lexical. Cautious emigrants from Scotland or the North of England had been known to reach it safely, by impressing a charity-boy, town-bred, and bringing him along with them; or by clinging tenaciously to the postman; but these were rare exceptions, and only went to prove the rule that Todgers's was in a labyrinth, whereof the mystery was known but to a chosen few. Return to Original English Version

lamentable /ˈlæməntəbəl/ — lamentável; penoso. It is a lamentable fact, that as Mr Pecksniff stood erect beside the bed, in all the dignity of Goodness, and addressed him thus, the old man cast an angry glance towards the candlestick, as if he were possessed by a strong inclination to launch it at his cousin's head. Return to Original English Version

lamented /ləˈmɛntɪd/ — lamentou; chorou por. 'It is to be lamented,' said Mr Pecksniff, with a forgiving recollection of Mr Spottletoe's fist, 'that our friend should have withdrawn himself so very hastily, though we have cause for mutual congratulation even in that, since we are assured that he is not distrustful of us in regard to anything we may say or do while he is absent. Return to Original English Version

languid /ˈlæŋɡwɪd/ — lânguido; sem energia. This was the glad commencement of a bracing day in early winter, such as may put the languid summer season (speaking of it when it can't be had) to the blush, and shame the spring for being sometimes cold by halves. Return to Original English Version

languishing /ˈlæŋɡwɪʃɪŋ/ — lânguido; definhando. In some of these dingy resting-places which bore much the same analogy to green churchyards, as the pots of earth for mignonette and wall-flower in the windows overlooking them did to rustic gardens, there were trees; tall trees; still putting forth their leaves in each succeeding year, with such a languishing remembrance of their kind (so one might fancy, looking on their sickly boughs) as birds in cages have of theirs. Return to Original English Version

lapse /læps/ — intervalo; decurso (de tempo); deslize. He gradually became so much interested, that he quite forgot to replenish the fire; and was only reminded of his neglect by Martin Chuzzlewit starting up after the lapse of an hour or so, and crying with a shiver. Return to Original English Version

larder /ˈlɑːrdər/ — despensa. The mistress of the Blue Dragon was in outward appearance just what a landlady should be: broad, buxom, comfortable, and good looking, with a face of clear red and white, which, by its jovial aspect, at once bore testimony to her hearty participation in the good things of the larder and cellar, and to their thriving and healthful influences. Return to Original English Version

lass /læs/ — moça; garota. And the terrier-bitch from over the way--hie, then, lass! Return to Original English Version

latent /ˈleɪtənt/ — latente; adormecido. But I have never found one nature, no, not one, in which, being wealthy and alone, I was not forced to detect the latent corruption that lay hid within it waiting for such as I to bring it forth. Return to Original English Version

laudable /ˈlɔːdəbəl/ — louvável. If it should ever be urged by grudging and malicious persons, that a Chuzzlewit, in any period of the family history, displayed an overweening amount of family pride, surely the weakness will be considered not only pardonable but laudable, when the immense superiority of the house to the rest of mankind, in respect of this its ancient origin, is taken into account. Return to Original English Version

lavish /ˈlævɪʃ/ — pródigo; suntuoso; esbanjar. 'For the same reason that I am not a hoarder of money,' said the old man, 'I am not lavish of it. Return to Original English Version

layest /ˈleɪɪst/ — pousas/deitas (tu pousas). Who could repress a smile--of love for thee, Tom Pinch, and not in jest at thy expense, for thou art poor enough already, Heaven knows--to think that such a holiday as lies before thee should awaken that quick flow and hurry of the spirits, in which thou settest down again, almost untasted, on the kitchen window-sill, that great white mug (put by, by thy own hands, last night, that breakfast might not hold thee late), and layest yonder crust upon the seat beside thee, to be eaten on the road, when thou art calmer in thy high rejoicing! Return to Original English Version

leaden /ˈledən/ — plúmbeo; pesado e cinzento. It was none of your frivolous and preposterously bright bedrooms, where nobody can close an eye with any kind of propriety or decent regard to the association of ideas; but it was a good, dull, leaden, drowsy place, where every article of furniture reminded you that you came there to sleep, and that you were expected to go to sleep. Return to Original English Version

lenient /ˈliːniənt/ — indulgente; tolerante. Tom Pinch's heart was very tender, and he could not bear to see the most indifferent person in distress; still less one who had awakened an interest in him, and who regarded him (either in fact, or as he supposed) with kindness, and in a spirit of lenient construction. Return to Original English Version

levelled /ˈlevəld/ — nivelou; apontou; arrasado. This remark being received with a shrill titter by the two sisters of the speaker, Miss Charity Pecksniff begged with much politeness to be informed whether any of those very low observations were levelled at her; and receiving no more explanatory answer than was conveyed in the adage 'Those the cap fits, let them wear it,' immediately commenced a somewhat acrimonious and personal retort, wherein she was much comforted and abetted by her sister Mercy, who laughed at the same with great heartiness; indeed far more naturally than life. Return to Original English Version

liberality /ˌlɪbəˈræləti/ — liberalidade; generosidade. And it is well known that for the bestowal of that kind of property upon his favourites, the liberality and gratitude of the Norman were as remarkable as those virtues are usually found to be in great men when they give away what belongs to other people. Return to Original English Version

lieu /luː/ — lugar, em in lieu of, em vez de. The sheep-bells rang as clearly in the vigorous air, as if they felt its wholesome influence like living creatures; the trees, in lieu of leaves or blossoms, shed upon the ground a frosty rime that sparkled as it fell, and might have been the dust of diamonds. Return to Original English Version

lightens /ˈlaɪtənz/ — alivia; clareia. The young girl whom you just now saw--what! your eye lightens when I talk of her! Return to Original English Version

likened /ˈlaɪkənd/ — comparou. Some people likened him to a direction-post, which is always telling the way to a place, and never goes there; but these were his enemies, the shadows cast by his brightness; that was all. Return to Original English Version

likings /ˈlaɪkɪŋz/ — gostos; preferências. 'Every man,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'has a right, an undoubted right, (which I, for one, would not call in question for any earthly consideration; oh no!) to regulate his own proceedings by his own likings and dislikings, supposing they are not immoral and not irreligious. Return to Original English Version

lingering /ˈlɪŋərɪŋ/ — demorar-se; permanecer. So saying, he clapped that dejected companion on the shoulder, turned upon his heel, and walked out into the passage, whither poor Mr Pinch, after lingering irresolutely in the parlour for a few seconds, expressing in his countenance the deepest mental misery and gloom followed him. Return to Original English Version

livelihood /ˈlaɪvlihʊd/ — sustento; meio de vida. But, in an evil hour, this off-shoot of the Chuzzlewit trunk, being lazy, and ill qualified for any regular pursuit and having dissipated such means as he ever possessed, had formally established himself as a professor of Taste for a livelihood; and finding, too late, that something more than his old amount of qualifications was necessary to sustain him in this calling, had quickly fallen to his present level, where he retained nothing of his old self but his boastfulness and his bile, and seemed to have no existence separate or apart from his friend Tigg. Return to Original English Version

liveliness /ˈlɪvɛlɪnɛss/ — termo inglês: livelines. Martin and the young ladies were excellent friends already, and compared recollections of their childish days, to their mutual liveliness and entertainment. Return to Original English Version

lofty /ˈlɒfti/ — elevado. It is needless to multiply instances of the high and lofty station, and the vast importance of the Chuzzlewits, at different periods. Return to Original English Version

loquacious /loʊˈkweɪʃəs/ — loquaz; muito falante. At first, the great serenity and peace through which they travelled, disposed them both to silence; but in a very short time the punch within them and the healthful air without, made them loquacious, and they talked incessantly. Return to Original English Version

loungers /ˈlaʊndʒərz/ — ociosos; pessoas descansando. The strong smith and his men dealt such strokes upon their work, as made even the melancholy night rejoice, and brought a glow into its dark face as it hovered about the door and windows, peeping curiously in above the shoulders of a dozen loungers. Return to Original English Version

lounging /ˈlaʊndʒɪŋ/ — vadiando; recostado à toa. In like manner, there were gloomy courtyards in these parts, into which few but belated wayfarers ever strayed, and where vast bags and packs of goods, upward or downward bound, were for ever dangling between heaven and earth from lofty cranes There were more trucks near Todgers's than you would suppose whole city could ever need; not active trucks, but a vagabond race, for ever lounging in the narrow lanes before their masters' doors and stopping up the pass; so that when a stray hackney-coach or lumbering waggon came that way, they were the cause of such an uproar as enlivened the whole neighbourhood, and made the bells in the next churchtower vibrate again. Return to Original English Version

lovingness /ˈlʌvɪŋnəs/ — afeição. Who, as thou drivest off, a happy, man, and noddest with a grateful lovingness to Pecksniff in his nightcap at his chamber-window, would not cry, 'Heaven speed thee, Tom, and send that thou wert going off for ever to some quiet home where thou mightst live at peace, and sorrow should not touch thee!' Return to Original English Version

lozenges /ˈlɑːzɪndʒɪz/ — pastilhas. He had less interest now in the chemists' shops, with their great glowing bottles (with smaller repositories of brightness in their very stoppers); and in their agreeable compromises between medicine and perfumery, in the shape of toothsome lozenges and virgin honey. Return to Original English Version

ludicrously /ˈluːdɪkrəsli/ — ridiculamente; de modo absurdo. The slight, the very slight, confusion apparent in these expressions is manifest, and is ludicrously easy of correction. Return to Original English Version

lulled /lʌld/ — acalmou; embalou. And the company; the jealous stony-hearted distrustful company, who were all shut up in themselves, and had no faith in anybody, and wouldn't believe anything, and would no more allow themselves to be softened or lulled asleep by the Pecksniffs than if they had been so many hedgehogs or porcupines! Return to Original English Version

lumbering /ˈlʌmbərɪŋ/ — desajeitado e pesado. In like manner, there were gloomy courtyards in these parts, into which few but belated wayfarers ever strayed, and where vast bags and packs of goods, upward or downward bound, were for ever dangling between heaven and earth from lofty cranes There were more trucks near Todgers's than you would suppose whole city could ever need; not active trucks, but a vagabond race, for ever lounging in the narrow lanes before their masters' doors and stopping up the pass; so that when a stray hackney-coach or lumbering waggon came that way, they were the cause of such an uproar as enlivened the whole neighbourhood, and made the bells in the next churchtower vibrate again. Return to Original English Version

lustre /ˈlʌstər/ — lustro; brilho. Still athwart their darker boughs, the sunbeams struck out paths of deeper gold; and the red light, mantling in among their swarthy branches, used them as foils to set its brightness off, and aid the lustre of the dying day. Return to Original English Version

lusty /ˈlʌsti/ — vigoroso; robusto; sonoro. The lusty bellows roared Ha ha! to the clear fire, which roared in turn, and bade the shining sparks dance gayly to the merry clinking of the hammers on the anvil. Return to Original English Version

magnanimity /ˌmæɡnəˈnɪməti/ — magnanimidade; grandeza de alma. "So much of my voice has lately been heard in the land, that I might have been contented with troubling you no further from my present standing-point, were it not a duty with which I henceforth charge myself, not only here but on every suitable occasion, whatsoever and wheresoever, to express my high and grateful sense of my second reception in America, and to bear my honest testimony to the national generosity and magnanimity. Return to Original English Version

maidenhood /ˈmeɪdənˌhʊd/ — donzelice. She was short in stature; and her figure was slight, as became her years; but all the charms of youth and maidenhood set it off, and clustered on her gentle brow. Return to Original English Version

manboddo /mænˈbɒdoʊ/ — Monboddo (filósofo escocês). At present it contents itself with remarking, in a general way, on this head: Firstly, that it may be safely asserted, and yet without implying any direct participation in the Manboddo doctrine touching the probability of the human race having once been monkeys, that men do play very strange and extraordinary tricks. Return to Original English Version

mansions /ˈmænʃənz/ — mansões. Among the narrow thoroughfares at hand, there lingered, here and there, an ancient doorway of carved oak, from which, of old, the sounds of revelry and feasting often came; but now these mansions, only used for storehouses, were dark and dull, and, being filled with wool, and cotton, and the like--such heavy merchandise as stifles sound and stops the throat of echo--had an air of palpable deadness about them which, added to their silence and desertion, made them very grim. Return to Original English Version

manslaughtering /ˈmænslɔːtərɪŋ/ — levando à morte. 'And I will further add,' said Mr George, nodding his head violently at every second syllable; 'naming no names, and therefore hurting nobody but those whose consciences tell them they are alluded to, that I think it would be much more decent and becoming, if those who hooked and crooked themselves into this family by getting on the blind side of some of its members before marriage, and manslaughtering them afterwards by crowing over them to that strong pitch that they were glad to die, would refrain from acting the part of vultures in regard to other members of this family who are living. Return to Original English Version

mantles /ˈmæntəlz/ — mantos. His cravat was, in hue and pattern, like one of those mantles which hairdressers are accustomed to wrap about their clients, during the progress of the professional mysteries. Return to Original English Version

mantling /ˈmæntlɪŋ/ — espalhando-se; aflorando; cobrindo. Still athwart their darker boughs, the sunbeams struck out paths of deeper gold; and the red light, mantling in among their swarthy branches, used them as foils to set its brightness off, and aid the lustre of the dying day. Return to Original English Version

marts /mɑːrt/ — mercado. Several fruit-brokers had their marts near Todgers's; and one of the first impressions wrought upon the stranger's senses was of oranges--of damaged oranges--with blue and green bruises on them, festering in boxes, or mouldering away in cellars. Return to Original English Version

marvellous /ˈmɑːrvələs/ — maravilhoso; assombroso. There was nothing remarkable in these proceedings, except the influence they worked on Mr Pecksniff, which could hardly have been surpassed by the most marvellous of natural phenomena. Return to Original English Version

marvellously /ˈmɑːrvələsli/ — maravilhosamente. These were, in general, ancient inhabitants of that region; born, and bred there from boyhood, who had long since become wheezy and asthmatical, and short of breath, except in the article of story-telling; in which respect they were still marvellously long-winded. Return to Original English Version

masterly /ˈmæstərli/ — magistral; de mestre. Martin readily undertook this task, and Mr Pecksniff forthwith proceeded to entrust him with the materials necessary for its execution; dwelling meanwhile on the magical effect of a few finishing touches from the hand of a master; which, indeed, as some people said (and these were the old enemies again!) was unquestionably very surprising, and almost miraculous; as there were cases on record in which the masterly introduction of an additional back window, or a kitchen door, or half-a-dozen steps, or even a water spout, had made the design of a pupil Mr Pecksniff's own work, and had brought substantial rewards into that gentleman's pocket. Return to Original English Version

matchless /ˈmætʃləs/ — sem igual. Which matchless wonders, coming fast on Mr Pinch's mind, did so rub up and chafe that wonderful lamp within him, that when he turned his face towards the busy street, a crowd of phantoms waited on his pleasure, and he lived again, with new delight, the happy days before the Pecksniff era. Return to Original English Version

maudlin /ˈmɔːdlɪn/ — piegas; choroso. And now so abject and so pitiful was he--at once so maudlin, insolent, beggarly, and proud--that even his friend and parasite, standing erect beside him, swelled into a Man by contrast. Return to Original English Version

maws /mɔːz/ — bocas vorazes. In the throats and maws of dark no-thoroughfares near Todgers's, individual wine-merchants and wholesale dealers in grocery-ware had perfect little towns of their own; and, deep among the foundations of these buildings, the ground was undermined and burrowed out into stables, where cart-horses, troubled by rats, might be heard on a quiet Sunday rattling their halters, as disturbed spirits in tales of haunted houses are said to clank their chains. Return to Original English Version

mayn't /ˈmeɪənt/ — não pode; talvez não. I'll give Pecksniff orders to see to that." In reply to which, the Dragon makes answer, "Thankee, sir, you're very kind to honour us so far, but as we don't know any particular good of you, and you don't travel with luggage, and Mr Pecksniff an't at home (which perhaps you mayn't happen to be aware of, sir), we should prefer something more satisfactory;" and that's where the matter stands. Return to Original English Version

mazes /ˈmeɪzɪz/ — labirintos. A kind of resigned distraction came over the stranger as he trod those devious mazes, and, giving himself up for lost, went in and out and round about and quietly turned back again when he came to a dead wall or was stopped by an iron railing, and felt that the means of escape might possibly present themselves in their own good time, but that to anticipate them was hopeless. Return to Original English Version

meditations /ˌmedɪˈteɪʃənz/ — reflexões; meditações. The meditations of Mr Pecksniff that evening at the bar of the Dragon, and that night in his own house, were very serious and grave indeed; the more especially as the intelligence he had received from Messrs Tigg and Slyme touching the arrival of other members of the family, were fully confirmed on more particular inquiry. Return to Original English Version

meek /miːk/ — manso; humilde. But he wore a moustache--a shaggy moustache too; nothing in the meek and merciful way, but quite in the fierce and scornful style; the regular Satanic sort of thing--and he wore, besides, a vast quantity of unbrushed hair. Return to Original English Version

meekly /ˈmiːkli/ — humildemente; docilmente. 'My loves!' said Mr Pecksniff, with the same serene upraising of his hand; 'My dears!' After a solemn pause he meekly bowed to Mr Pinch, as who should say, 'Proceed;' but Mr Pinch was so very much at a loss how to resume, and looked so helplessly at the two Miss Pecksniffs, that the conversation would most probably have terminated there, if a good-looking youth, newly arrived at man's estate, had not stepped forward from the doorway and taken up the thread of the discourse. Return to Original English Version

mell /mel/ — em pell-mell, à desfilada; em desordem. It was small tyranny for a respectable wind to go wreaking its vengeance on such poor creatures as the fallen leaves, but this wind happening to come up with a great heap of them just after venting its humour on the insulted Dragon, did so disperse and scatter them that they fled away, pell-mell, some here, some there, rolling over each other, whirling round and round upon their thin edges, taking frantic flights into the air, and playing all manner of extraordinary gambols in the extremity of their distress. Return to Original English Version

mended /ˈmɛndɪd/ — consertado; remendado. And, at the top of the staircase, was an old, disjointed, rickety, ill-favoured skylight, patched and mended in all kinds of ways, which looked distrustfully down at everything that passed below, and covered Todgers's up as if it were a sort of human cucumber-frame, and only people of a peculiar growth were reared there. Return to Original English Version

mercenary /ˈmɜrsəneri/ — mercenário. 'Oh, good gracious, Cherry!' cried Miss Mercy, holding up her hands with the most winning giggle in the world, 'what a mercenary girl you are! oh you naughty, thoughtful, prudent thing!' Return to Original English Version

metaphorical /ˌmɛtəˈfɔːrɪkəl/ — metafórico. Meantime the family forces were perpetually encountering each other in divers parts of the neighbourhood; and, as no one branch of the Chuzzlewit tree had ever been known to agree with another within the memory of man, there was such a skirmishing, and flouting, and snapping off of heads, in the metaphorical sense of that expression; such a bandying of words and calling of names; such an upturning of noses and wrinkling of brows; such a formal interment of good feelings and violent resurrection of ancient grievances; as had never been known in those quiet parts since the earliest record of their civilized existence. Return to Original English Version

metaphysical /ˌmɛtəˈfɪzɪkəl/ — metafísico. To the extent of such a trifling loan as a crownpiece to a man of your talents, I look upon Mr Pecksniff as certain;' and seeing at this juncture that the expression of Mr Pecksniff's face by no means betokened that he shared this certainty, Mr Tigg laid his finger on his nose again for that gentleman's private and especial behoof; calling upon him thereby to take notice that the requisition of small loans was another instance of the peculiarities of genius as developed in his friend Slyme; that he, Tigg, winked at the same, because of the strong metaphysical interest which these weaknesses possessed; and that in reference to his own personal advocacy of such small advances, he merely consulted the humour of his friend, without the least regard to his own advantage or necessities. Return to Original English Version

mightily /ˈmaɪtɪli/ — poderosamente; muito. The sleeping apartment designed for the young ladies was approached from this chamber by a mightily convenient little door, which would only open when fallen against by a strong person. Return to Original English Version

mightn't /ˈmaɪtənt/ — não poderia; talvez não. 'So it would, sir; but that might be carrying out a principle a little too far, mightn't it?' Return to Original English Version

mightst /maɪtst/ — poderias; forma arcaica. Who, as thou drivest off, a happy, man, and noddest with a grateful lovingness to Pecksniff in his nightcap at his chamber-window, would not cry, 'Heaven speed thee, Tom, and send that thou wert going off for ever to some quiet home where thou mightst live at peace, and sorrow should not touch thee!' Return to Original English Version

mignonette /ˌmɪnjəˈnɛt/ — resedá; mignonete. In some of these dingy resting-places which bore much the same analogy to green churchyards, as the pots of earth for mignonette and wall-flower in the windows overlooking them did to rustic gardens, there were trees; tall trees; still putting forth their leaves in each succeeding year, with such a languishing remembrance of their kind (so one might fancy, looking on their sickly boughs) as birds in cages have of theirs. Return to Original English Version

mildness /ˈmaɪldnəs/ — brandura. Mr Pinch was about to contest this latter position with his usual mildness, when, observing that his companion had already gone downstairs, he prepared to follow him. Return to Original English Version

mindful /ˈmaɪndfəl/ — atento e cuidadoso em relação a algo. As he spoke he drew himself aloft, and seemed to grow more mindful, suddenly, of the moral gulf between himself and the creature he addressed. Return to Original English Version

mingling /ˈmɪŋɡlɪŋ/ — misturando-se; entremeando. 'This,' he said, in allusion to the party, not the wine, 'is a mingling that repays one for much disappointment and vexation. Return to Original English Version

minx /mɪŋks/ — garota travessa. 'I passed from the memory of a grateful country, you very miserable minx,' said Mrs Ned, 'when I entered this family; and I feel now, though I did not feel then, that it served me right, and that I lost my claim upon the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland when I so degraded myself. Return to Original English Version

mirth /mɜːrθ/ — riso; hilaridade. Miss Mercy laughed immensely at everything that was said; and sometimes, after glancing at the happy face of Mr Pinch, was seized with such fits of mirth as brought her to the very confines of hysterics. Return to Original English Version

miseries /ˈmɪzəriz/ — misérias; desgraças. I plainly see to what foul uses all this money will be put at last,' he cried, almost writhing in the bed; 'after filling me with cares and miseries all my life, it will perpetuate discord and bad passions when I am dead. Return to Original English Version

misgiving /mɪsˈɡɪvɪŋ/ — receio; pressentimento ruim. There appeared to be forcible matter in this inquiry, for Mr Pinch only repeated in an undertone that he had a strong misgiving on the subject, and that he greatly feared he was. Return to Original English Version

mismanagement /ˌmɪsˈmænɪdʒmənt/ — má administração. I think it not the least among the instances of their mismanagement, that Mrs Betsey Prig was a fair specimen of a Hospital Nurse; and that the Hospitals, with their means and funds, should have left it to private humanity and enterprise, to enter on an attempt to improve that class of persons--since, greatly improved through the agency of good women. Return to Original English Version

misnomer /mɪsˈnoʊmər/ — nome impróprio, denominação errada. Blessings on thy simple heart, Tom Pinch, how proudly dost thou button up that scanty coat, called by a sad misnomer, for these many years, a 'great' one; and how thoroughly, as with thy cheerful voice thou pleasantly adjurest Sam the hostler 'not to let him go yet,' dost thou believe that quadruped desires to go, and would go if he might! Return to Original English Version

Original Text: Rare Words (5/7)

misplaced /ˌmɪsˈpleɪst/ — inadequado. I am happy to believe that my confidence in that great nation was not misplaced. Return to Original English Version

mispronounced /ˌmɪsprəˈnaʊnst/ — pronunciou de forma errada. Rejecting a theory broached by some well-meaning but mistaken persons, that this Mr Toby Chuzzlewit's grandfather, to judge from his name, must surely have been a Mandarin (which is wholly insupportable, for there is no pretence of his grandmother ever having been out of this country, or of any Mandarin having been in it within some years of his father's birth; except those in the tea-shops, which cannot for a moment be regarded as having any bearing on the question, one way or other), rejecting this hypothesis, is it not manifest that Mr Toby Chuzzlewit had either received the name imperfectly from his father, or that he had forgotten it, or that he had mispronounced itâ and that even at the recent period in question, the Chuzzlewits were connected by a bend sinister, or kind of heraldic over-the-left, with some unknown noble and illustrious House? Return to Original English Version

monosyllable /ˈmɑːnəsɪləbəl/ — monossílabo. 'Bah!' cried John Westlock, with the utmost disgust and disdain the monosyllable is capable of expressing. Return to Original English Version

monstrous /ˈmɒnstrəs/ — monstruoso. As well might one suppose that he doesn't on all occasions pour out his whole heart and soul to you; that he doesn't make you a very liberal and indeed rather an extravagant allowance; or, to be more wild and monstrous still, if that be possible, as well might one suppose,' and here, at every word, he struck him lightly on the breast, 'that Pecksniff traded in your nature, and that your nature was to be timid and distrustful of yourself, and trustful of all other men, but most of all, of him who least deserves it. Return to Original English Version

moralise /ˈmɒrəlaɪz/ — moralizar. Moralise as we will, the world goes on. Return to Original English Version

morsels /ˈmɔːrsəlz/ — bocados; pedacinhos. There was something in these morsels of philanthropy which reassured the sisters. Return to Original English Version

mortified /ˈmɔːrtɪfaɪd/ — humilhado; envergonhado. Beside her sat her spinster daughters, three in number, and of gentlemanly deportment, who had so mortified themselves with tight stays, that their tempers were reduced to something less than their waists, and sharp lacing was expressed in their very noses. Return to Original English Version

motioned /ˈmoʊʃənd/ — fez sinal; acenou; indicou com um gesto. He said this with so much earnestness, and in a tone so full of feeling, that his companion instinctively changed his manner as he sat down on the box (they had by this time reached the finger-post at the end of the lane); motioned him to sit down beside him; and laid his hand upon his shoulder. Return to Original English Version

motionless /ˈmoʊʃənləs/ — imóvel; sem se mexer. On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels; others stripped of all their garniture, stood, each the centre of its little heap of bright red leaves, watching their slow decay; others again, still wearing theirs, had them all crunched and crackled up, as though they had been burnt; about the stems of some were piled, in ruddy mounds, the apples they had borne that year; while others (hardy evergreens this class) showed somewhat stern and gloomy in their vigour, as charged by nature with the admonition that it is not to her more sensitive and joyous favourites she grants the longest term of life. Return to Original English Version

mouldering /ˈmoʊldərɪŋ/ — em decomposição; esboroando-se. Several fruit-brokers had their marts near Todgers's; and one of the first impressions wrought upon the stranger's senses was of oranges--of damaged oranges--with blue and green bruises on them, festering in boxes, or mouldering away in cellars. Return to Original English Version

mummied /ˈmʌmid/ — ressecados. In virtue of which liberal arrangement, they had the happiness to find awaiting them in the parlour two chaotic heaps of the remains of last night's pleasure, consisting of certain filmy bits of oranges, some mummied sandwiches, various disrupted masses of the geological cake, and several entire captain's biscuits. Return to Original English Version

murky /ˈmɜːrki/ — turvo; sombrio. It was then turning dark, and the yellow light that streamed in through the ancient windows in the choir was mingled with a murky red. Return to Original English Version

murmuring /ˈmɜːrmərɪŋ/ — murmurando; sussurrando. Even as she spoke, the box appeared to be in progress of conveyance from the house, but after a brief murmuring of question and answer, it was put down again, and somebody knocked at the parlour door. Return to Original English Version

musing /ˈmjuːzɪŋ/ — refletindo. 'Five shillings!' pursued Mr Tigg, musing; 'and to be punctually repaid next week; that's the best of it. Return to Original English Version

nay /neɪ/ — nï¿½o; de modo algum. Nay! Return to Original English Version

necessities /nəˈsesətiz/ — necessidades. To the extent of such a trifling loan as a crownpiece to a man of your talents, I look upon Mr Pecksniff as certain;' and seeing at this juncture that the expression of Mr Pecksniff's face by no means betokened that he shared this certainty, Mr Tigg laid his finger on his nose again for that gentleman's private and especial behoof; calling upon him thereby to take notice that the requisition of small loans was another instance of the peculiarities of genius as developed in his friend Slyme; that he, Tigg, winked at the same, because of the strong metaphysical interest which these weaknesses possessed; and that in reference to his own personal advocacy of such small advances, he merely consulted the humour of his friend, without the least regard to his own advantage or necessities. Return to Original English Version

nectar /ˈnektər/ — néctar. For the most part, indeed, it wore, at that season of the day, a scraped and frosty look, as if it had been rasped; while a similar phenomenon developed itself in her humour, which was then observed to be of a sharp and acid quality, as though an extra lemon (figuratively speaking) had been squeezed into the nectar of her disposition, and had rather damaged its flavour. Return to Original English Version

negligently /ˈneɡlɪdʒəntli/ — negligentemente; com desleixo. Her dark brown hair, disordered from the same cause, had fallen negligently from its bonds, and hung upon her neck; for which instance of its waywardness no male observer would have had the heart to blame it. Return to Original English Version

nether /ˈneðər/ — inferior; de baixo. His nether garments were of a bluish grey--violent in its colours once, but sobered now by age and dinginess--and were so stretched and strained in a tough conflict between his braces and his straps, that they appeared every moment in danger of flying asunder at the knees. Return to Original English Version

nettled /ˈnɛtəld/ — irritou; picou o amor-próprio de. 'You may be sure,' said Martin, 'that this nettled him, and that he began to be the very reverse of complimentary to myself. Return to Original English Version

nip /nɪp/ — trago pequeno; beliscão. It was morning; and the beautiful Aurora, of whom so much hath been written, said, and sung, did, with her rosy fingers, nip and tweak Miss Pecksniff's nose. Return to Original English Version

nipped /n?pt/ — beliscado; mordiscado. His sharp features being much pinched and nipped by long waiting in the cold, and his straggling red whiskers and frowzy hair being more than usually dishevelled from the same cause, he certainly looked rather unwholesome and uncomfortable than Shakspearian or Miltonic. Return to Original English Version

nipping /ˈnɪpɪŋ/ — beliscando; frio cortante. The wet grass sparkled in the light; the scanty patches of verdure in the hedges--where a few green twigs yet stood together bravely, resisting to the last the tyranny of nipping winds and early frosts--took heart and brightened up; the stream which had been dull and sullen all day long, broke out into a cheerful smile; the birds began to chirp and twitter on the naked boughs, as though the hopeful creatures half believed that winter had gone by, and spring had come already. Return to Original English Version

noddest /ˈnɒdɪst/ — acenas com a cabeça. Who, as thou drivest off, a happy, man, and noddest with a grateful lovingness to Pecksniff in his nightcap at his chamber-window, would not cry, 'Heaven speed thee, Tom, and send that thou wert going off for ever to some quiet home where thou mightst live at peace, and sorrow should not touch thee!' Return to Original English Version

noised /nɔɪzd/ — fez barulho. He doesn't keep you as his assistant because you are of any use to him; because your wonderful faith in his pretensions is of inestimable service in all his mean disputes; because your honesty reflects honesty on him; because your wandering about this little place all your spare hours, reading in ancient books and foreign tongues, gets noised abroad, even as far as Salisbury, making of him, Pecksniff the master, a man of learning and of vast importance. Return to Original English Version

noiseless /ˈnɔɪzləs/ — silencioso; sem ruído. The fallen leaves, with which the ground was strewn, gave forth a pleasant fragrance, and subduing all harsh sounds of distant feet and wheels created a repose in gentle unison with the light scattering of seed hither and thither by the distant husbandman, and with the noiseless passage of the plough as it turned up the rich brown earth, and wrought a graceful pattern in the stubbled fields. Return to Original English Version

nominative /ˈnɒmɪnətɪv/ — nominativo. Now there was nothing that one may call decidedly original in this remark, nor can it be exactly said to have contained any wise precept theretofore unknown to mankind, or to have opened any hidden source of consolation; but Mr Pecksniff's manner was so bland, and he nodded his head so soothingly, and showed in everything such an affable sense of his own excellence, that anybody would have been, as Mrs Lupin was, comforted by the mere voice and presence of such a man; and, though he had merely said 'a verb must agree with its nominative case in number and person, my good friend,' or 'eight times eight are sixty-four, my worthy soul,' must have felt deeply grateful to him for his humanity and wisdom. Return to Original English Version

nonconductors /ˌnɒnkənˈdʌktəz/ — isolantes. The thick neutral hangings, and the dark blinds, and the heavy heap of bed-clothes, were all designed to hold in sleep, and act as nonconductors to the day and getting up. Return to Original English Version

nothing's /ˈnʌθɪŋz/ — nada é. Nothing's good enough for him; all the women is dying for him he thinks, and is overpaid if he winks at 'em; and all the men was made to be ordered about by him. Return to Original English Version

notoriously /noʊˈtɔːriəsli/ — notoriamente; como todos sabiam. The old lady, naturally strong-minded, was nevertheless frail and fading; she was notoriously subject to that confusion of ideas, or, to say the least, of speech, to which age and garrulity are liable. Return to Original English Version

notwithstanding /ˌnɑːtwɪθˈstændɪŋ/ — não obstante; apesar de. Notwithstanding their different natures, both Charity and Mercy concurred in opening their eyes uncommonly wide at this announcement, and in looking for the moment as blank as if their thoughts had actually had a direct bearing on the main chance. Return to Original English Version

nourished /ˈnɜːrɪʃt/ — alimentou; nutriu. Even when I have had the anguish of discovering that I have nourished in my breast on ostrich, and not a human pupil--even in that hour of agony, they have soothed me.' Return to Original English Version

nudge /nʌdʒ/ — cutucão. But he gave his father such a nudge in reply, that that good old gentleman was taken with a cough which lasted for full five minutes without intermission, and goaded Mr Pecksniff to that pitch of irritation, that he said at last--and very suddenly: Return to Original English Version

numbed /nʌmd/ — dormente. 'My feet are quite numbed. Return to Original English Version

obduracy /ˈɒbdjʊrəsi/ — obstinação. Thus, by little and little, they made common cause of Martin Chuzzlewit's obduracy, until it was agreed (if such a word can be used in connection with the Chuzzlewits) that there should be a general council and conference held at Mr Pecksniff's house upon a certain day at noon; which all members of the family who had brought themselves within reach of the summons, were forthwith bidden and invited, solemnly, to attend. Return to Original English Version

obdurate /ˈɑːbdərət/ — obstinado; empedernido. During the whole of this interval, he haunted the Dragon at all times and seasons in the day and night, and, returning good for evil evinced the deepest solicitude in the progress of the obdurate invalid, in so much that Mrs Lupin was fairly melted by his disinterested anxiety (for he often particularly required her to take notice that he would do the same by any stranger or pauper in the like condition), and shed many tears of admiration and delight. Return to Original English Version

obnoxious /əbˈnɑːkʃəs/ — detestável; ofensivo. Neither, sir, need you entertain the least misgiving that I shall repeat that obnoxious word which has given you so much offence already. Return to Original English Version

obscured /əbˈskjʊrd/ — obscureceu; encoberto. It was pretty late in the autumn of the year, when the declining sun struggling through the mist which had obscured it all day, looked brightly down upon a little Wiltshire village, within an easy journey of the fair old town of Salisbury. Return to Original English Version

obscurity /əbˈskjʊərɪti/ — obscuridade. It has been rumoured, and it is needless to say the rumour originated in the same base quarters, that a certain male Chuzzlewit, whose birth must be admitted to be involved in some obscurity, was of very mean and low descent. Return to Original English Version

obtruding /əbˈtruːdɪŋ/ — intrometendo-se; impondo-se. When the young man returned, he was very taciturn and dull, in which state he remained all day; so that Tom, after trying him once or twice with indifferent conversation, felt a delicacy in obtruding himself upon his thoughts, and said no more. Return to Original English Version

obtrusion /əbˈtruːʒən/ — intromissão. They were both very busy on the afternoon succeeding the family's departure--Martin with the grammar-school, and Tom in balancing certain receipts of rents, and deducting Mr Pecksniff's commission from the same; in which abstruse employment he was much distracted by a habit his new friend had of whistling aloud while he was drawing--when they were not a little startled by the unexpected obtrusion into that sanctuary of genius, of a human head which, although a shaggy and somewhat alarming head in appearance, smiled affably upon them from the doorway, in a manner that was at once waggish, conciliatory, and expressive of approbation. Return to Original English Version

obtrusive /əbˈtruːsɪv/ — intrometido; que se impõe. The American portion of this story is in no other respect a caricature than as it is an exhibition, for the most part (Mr Bevan expected), of a ludicrous side, ONLY, of the American character--of that side which was, four-and-twenty years ago, from its nature, the most obtrusive, and the most likely to be seen by such travellers as Young Martin and Mark Tapley. Return to Original English Version

occasioned /əˈkeɪʒənd/ — ocasionou; provocado por. I wouldn't have occasioned him so much distress--don't laugh, please--for a mine of money; and Heaven knows I could find good use for it too, John. Return to Original English Version

oddest /ˈɑːdɪst/ — os mais estranhos; os mais esquisitos. But the oddest feat they achieved was, to take advantage of the sudden opening of Mr Pecksniff's front-door, to dash wildly into his passage; whither the wind following close upon them, and finding the back-door open, incontinently blew out the lighted candle held by Miss Pecksniff, and slammed the front-door against Mr Pecksniff who was at that moment entering, with such violence, that in the twinkling of an eye he lay on his back at the bottom of the steps. Return to Original English Version

odious /ˈoʊdiəs/ — odioso; detestável. I conceive that the sordid coarseness and brutality of Jonas would be unnatural, if there had been nothing in his early education, and in the precept and example always before him, to engender and develop the vices that make him odious. Return to Original English Version

ogled /ˈəʊɡəld/ — olhou com desejo. Nobody but Mr Tigg, who, notwithstanding his extreme shabbiness, was still understood to be in some sort a lady's man, in right of his upper lip and his frogs, indicated a doubt of the justifiable nature of these measures; and he only ogled the three Miss Chuzzlewits with the least admixture of banter in his admiration, as though he would observe, 'You are positively down upon her to too great an extent, my sweet creatures, upon my soul you are!' Return to Original English Version

oozed /uːzd/ — escorreu lentamente; ressumou. 'I swear,' cried Mr Slyme, giving the table an imbecile blow with his fist, and then feebly leaning his head upon his hand, while some drunken drops oozed from his eyes, 'that I am the wretchedest creature on record. Return to Original English Version

opportune /ˌɑːpərˈtuːn/ — oportuno. It was in vain for Mr Pecksniff to assure them that this new and opportune evasion of the family was at least as great a shock and surprise to him as to anybody else. Return to Original English Version

oppressive /əˈpresɪv/ — opressivo. Even those tokens of the season which emphatically whispered of the coming winter, graced the landscape, and, for the moment, tinged its livelier features with no oppressive air of sadness. Return to Original English Version

oracular /ɒˈrækjʊlə(r)/ — oracular. Mr Pecksniff, not at all knowing what it might be best to say in the momentary pause which ensued upon these remarks, made an elaborate demonstration of intending to deliver something very oracular indeed; trusting to the certainty of the old man interrupting him, before he should utter a word. Return to Original English Version

orchards /ˈɔːtʃədz/ — pomares. On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels; others stripped of all their garniture, stood, each the centre of its little heap of bright red leaves, watching their slow decay; others again, still wearing theirs, had them all crunched and crackled up, as though they had been burnt; about the stems of some were piled, in ruddy mounds, the apples they had borne that year; while others (hardy evergreens this class) showed somewhat stern and gloomy in their vigour, as charged by nature with the admonition that it is not to her more sensitive and joyous favourites she grants the longest term of life. Return to Original English Version

ordinarily /ˌɔːrdəˈnɛrəli/ — normalmente; em circunstâncias comuns. I will go further and say, I am not quite sure that this was even ordinarily grateful in Mr Pinch.' Return to Original English Version

ornament /ˈɔːrnəmənt/ — ornamento; enfeite. It was the finishing ornament of the conversation; for when he had delivered it, Mr Pecksniff rose and led the way to that hotbed of architectural genius, the two-pair front. Return to Original English Version

outset /ˈaʊtset/ — início; princípio. Now, there being no medical practitioner actually resident in the village, but a poor apothecary who was also a grocer and general dealer, the landlady had, upon her own responsibility, sent for him, in the very first burst and outset of the disaster. Return to Original English Version

outsides /ˈaʊtsaɪdz/ — lado de fora. There was a dense fog too; as if it were a city in the clouds, which they had been travelling to all night up a magic beanstalk; and there was a thick crust upon the pavement like oilcake; which, one of the outsides (mad, no doubt) said to another (his keeper, of course), was Snow. Return to Original English Version

overcrowd /ˌoʊvərˈkraʊd/ — superlotar. Let the reader go into the children's side of any prison in England, or, I grieve to add, of many workhouses, and judge whether those are monsters who disgrace our streets, people our hulks and penitentiaries, and overcrowd our penal colonies, or are creatures whom we have deliberately suffered to be bred for misery and ruin. Return to Original English Version

overfed /ˌoʊvərˈfɛd/ — empanturrados; sobrealimentados. Then there was George Chuzzlewit, a gay bachelor cousin, who claimed to be young but had been younger, and was inclined to corpulency, and rather overfed himself; to that extent, indeed, that his eyes were strained in their sockets, as if with constant surprise; and he had such an obvious disposition to pimples, that the bright spots on his cravat, the rich pattern on his waistcoat, and even his glittering trinkets, seemed to have broken out upon him, and not to have come into existence comfortably. Return to Original English Version

overgrown /ˌoʊvərˈɡroʊn/ — coberto de vegetação; crescido em excesso. There were churches also by dozens, with many a ghostly little churchyard, all overgrown with such straggling vegetation as springs up spontaneously from damp, and graves, and rubbish. Return to Original English Version

overpaid /ˌoʊvərˈpeɪd/ — recompensado em excesso. Nothing's good enough for him; all the women is dying for him he thinks, and is overpaid if he winks at 'em; and all the men was made to be ordered about by him. Return to Original English Version

overpowered /ˌoʊvərˈpaʊərd/ — dominou; subjugado; sobrepujado. She hugged them both; and being by this time overpowered by her feelings or the inclemency of the morning, jerked a little pocket handkerchief out of the little basket, and applied the same to her face. Return to Original English Version

overweening /ˌoʊvərˈwiːnɪŋ/ — excessivamente presunçoso. If it should ever be urged by grudging and malicious persons, that a Chuzzlewit, in any period of the family history, displayed an overweening amount of family pride, surely the weakness will be considered not only pardonable but laudable, when the immense superiority of the house to the rest of mankind, in respect of this its ancient origin, is taken into account. Return to Original English Version

paleness /ˈpeɪlnəs/ — palidez. He raised his head up in the bed, and, fixing on her two dark eyes whose brightness was exaggerated by the paleness of his hollow cheeks, as they in turn, together with his straggling locks of long grey hair, were rendered whiter by the tight black velvet skullcap which he wore, he searched her face intently. Return to Original English Version

palpable /ˈpælpəbəl/ — palpável; evidente. Among the narrow thoroughfares at hand, there lingered, here and there, an ancient doorway of carved oak, from which, of old, the sounds of revelry and feasting often came; but now these mansions, only used for storehouses, were dark and dull, and, being filled with wool, and cotton, and the like--such heavy merchandise as stifles sound and stops the throat of echo--had an air of palpable deadness about them which, added to their silence and desertion, made them very grim. Return to Original English Version

paltry /ˈpɔːltri/ — insignificante; mesquinho. There is actually at this instant, at the Blue Dragon in this village--an ale-house, observe; a common, paltry, low-minded, clodhopping, pipe-smoking ale-house--an individual, of whom it may be said, in the language of the Poet, that nobody but himself can in any way come up to him; who is detained there for his bill. Return to Original English Version

pantomime /ˈpæntəmaɪm/ — mímica; pantomima. Now if Mr Pecksniff knew, from anything Martin Chuzzlewit had expressed in gestures, that he wanted to speak to him, he could only have found it out on some such principle as prevails in melodramas, and in virtue of which the elderly farmer with the comic son always knows what the dumb girl means when she takes refuge in his garden, and relates her personal memoirs in incomprehensible pantomime. Return to Original English Version

paralyse /ˈpærəlaɪz/ — paralisar; deixar estupefato. With such departing words, did this strong-minded female paralyse the Pecksniffian energies; and so she swept out of the room, and out of the house, attended by her daughters, who, as with one accord, elevated their three noses in the air, and joined in a contemptuous titter. Return to Original English Version

paralysed /ˈpærəlaɪzd/ — paralisado. Here, paralysed old watchmen guarded the bodies of the dead at night, year after year, until at last they joined that solemn brotherhood; and, saving that they slept below the ground a sounder sleep than even they had ever known above it, and were shut up in another kind of box, their condition can hardly be said to have undergone any material change when they, in turn, were watched themselves. Return to Original English Version

paraphrase /ˈpærəfreɪz/ — paráfrase. Therefore I record the fact that all that portion of Martin Chuzzlewit's experiences is a literal paraphrase of some reports of public proceedings in the United States (especially of the proceedings of a certain Brandywine Association), which were printed in the Times Newspaper in June and July, 1843--at about the time when I was engaged in writing those parts of the book; and which remain on the file of the Times Newspaper, of course. Return to Original English Version

parlance /ˈpɑːrləns/ — linguagem. It would be no description of Mr Pecksniff's gentleness of manner to adopt the common parlance, and say that he looked at this moment as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth. Return to Original English Version

parlours /ˈpɑːrlərz/ — salas de estar. To tell of half the queer old taverns that had a drowsy and secret existence near Todgers's, would fill a goodly book; while a second volume no less capacious might be devoted to an account of the quaint old guests who frequented their dimly lighted parlours. Return to Original English Version

pasture /ˈpæstʃər/ — pastagem. The mist, too shy and gentle for such lusty company, fled off, quite scared, before it; and as it swept away, the hills and mounds and distant pasture lands, teeming with placid sheep and noisy crows, came out as bright as though they were unrolled bran new for the occasion. Return to Original English Version

patronised /ˈpeɪtrənaɪzd/ — tratou com condescendência. And indeed it may be observed of this friendship, such as it was, that it had within it more likely materials of endurance than many a sworn brotherhood that has been rich in promise; for so long as the one party found a pleasure in patronizing, and the other in being patronised (which was in the very essence of their respective characters), it was of all possible events among the least probable, that the twin demons, Envy and Pride, would ever arise between them. Return to Original English Version

patronizing /ˈpeɪtrənaɪzɪŋ/ — condescendente; de superioridade. And indeed it may be observed of this friendship, such as it was, that it had within it more likely materials of endurance than many a sworn brotherhood that has been rich in promise; for so long as the one party found a pleasure in patronizing, and the other in being patronised (which was in the very essence of their respective characters), it was of all possible events among the least probable, that the twin demons, Envy and Pride, would ever arise between them. Return to Original English Version

pauper /ˈpɔːpər/ — indigente; pobre assistido. During the whole of this interval, he haunted the Dragon at all times and seasons in the day and night, and, returning good for evil evinced the deepest solicitude in the progress of the obdurate invalid, in so much that Mrs Lupin was fairly melted by his disinterested anxiety (for he often particularly required her to take notice that he would do the same by any stranger or pauper in the like condition), and shed many tears of admiration and delight. Return to Original English Version

paã /pɑː/ — papai - 'Quanto é o prêmio, papai?'. 'What is the premium, Paã tell us that.' Return to Original English Version

peculiarities /pɪˌkjuːliˈærətiz/ — peculiaridades; singularidades. 'But, Mr Pecksniff, the whole thing resolves itself into an instance of the peculiarities of genius. Return to Original English Version

peculiarity /pɪˌkjuːliˈærəti/ — particularidade. Every man of true genius has his peculiarity. Return to Original English Version

peculiarly /pɪˈkjuːljərli/ — particularmente; de modo especial. I--I am very glad,' said Tom, smiling with an embarrassed frankness peculiarly his, and which was as plainly a confession of his own imperfections, and an appeal to the kindness of the person he addressed, as if he had drawn one up in simple language and committed it to paper: 'I am very glad indeed that you turn out to be the party I expected. Return to Original English Version

peep /piːp/ — espiada; espiar; dar uma olhada rápida. 'Poor fellow!' said Tom, softly, as he stretched out his head to peep at him over the backs of the chairs. Return to Original English Version

peered /pɪrd/ — espiou; olhou para fora. And it would seem to have been more suggestive in its aspect than street doors usually are; for he continued to lie there, rather a lengthy and unreasonable time, without so much as wondering whether he was hurt or no; neither, when Miss Pecksniff inquired through the key-hole in a shrill voice, which might have belonged to a wind in its teens, 'Who's there' did he make any reply; nor, when Miss Pecksniff opened the door again, and shading the candle with her hand, peered out, and looked provokingly round him, and about him, and over him, and everywhere but at him, did he offer any remark, or indicate in any manner the least hint of a desire to be picked up. Return to Original English Version

pell /pel/ — parte da expressão pell-mell (em desordem). It was small tyranny for a respectable wind to go wreaking its vengeance on such poor creatures as the fallen leaves, but this wind happening to come up with a great heap of them just after venting its humour on the insulted Dragon, did so disperse and scatter them that they fled away, pell-mell, some here, some there, rolling over each other, whirling round and round upon their thin edges, taking frantic flights into the air, and playing all manner of extraordinary gambols in the extremity of their distress. Return to Original English Version

penal /ˈpiːnəl/ — penal; punitivo. Let the reader go into the children's side of any prison in England, or, I grieve to add, of many workhouses, and judge whether those are monsters who disgrace our streets, people our hulks and penitentiaries, and overcrowd our penal colonies, or are creatures whom we have deliberately suffered to be bred for misery and ruin. Return to Original English Version

penitent /ˈpɛnɪtənt/ — penitente. That worthy man Mr Pecksniff having taken leave of his cousin in the solemn terms recited in the last chapter, withdrew to his own home, and remained there three whole days; not so much as going out for a walk beyond the boundaries of his own garden, lest he should be hastily summoned to the bedside of his penitent and remorseful relative, whom, in his ample benevolence, he had made up his mind to forgive unconditionally, and to love on any terms. Return to Original English Version

penitentiaries /ˌpɛnɪˈtɛnʃəriz/ — penitenciárias. Let the reader go into the children's side of any prison in England, or, I grieve to add, of many workhouses, and judge whether those are monsters who disgrace our streets, people our hulks and penitentiaries, and overcrowd our penal colonies, or are creatures whom we have deliberately suffered to be bred for misery and ruin. Return to Original English Version

pensive /ˈpensɪv/ — pensativo. Do you know, now,' said Mr Pecksniff, folding his hands, and looking at his young relation with an air of pensive interest, 'that I should very much like to see your notion of a cow-house?' Return to Original English Version

perceives /pərˈsiːvz/ — percebe. That which is commonly called a long-sight, perceives in a prospect innumerable features and bearings non-existent to a short-sighted person. Return to Original English Version

perfidious /pərˈfɪdiəs/ — pérfido; traiçoeiro. The moral position taken by Mr Tigg was something quite tremendous; and the deaf cousin, who had the complicated aggravation of seeing all the proceedings and hearing nothing but the catastrophe, actually scraped her shoes upon the scraper, and afterwards distributed impressions of them all over the top step, in token that she shook the dust from her feet before quitting that dissembling and perfidious mansion. Return to Original English Version

perfumery /pərˈfjuːməri/ — perfumaria. He had less interest now in the chemists' shops, with their great glowing bottles (with smaller repositories of brightness in their very stoppers); and in their agreeable compromises between medicine and perfumery, in the shape of toothsome lozenges and virgin honey. Return to Original English Version

perjury /ˈpɜːrdʒəri/ — perjúrio, falso testemunho. What lawsuits grow out of the graves of rich men, every day; sowing perjury, hatred, and lies among near kindred, where there should be nothing but love! Return to Original English Version

perpetually /pərˈpetʃuəli/ — perpetuamente; incessantemente. For letters are yet in the possession of various branches of the family, from which it distinctly appears, being stated in so many words, that one Diggory Chuzzlewit was in the habit of perpetually dining with Duke Humphrey. Return to Original English Version

perpetuate /pərˈpetʃueɪt/ — perpetuar. I plainly see to what foul uses all this money will be put at last,' he cried, almost writhing in the bed; 'after filling me with cares and miseries all my life, it will perpetuate discord and bad passions when I am dead. Return to Original English Version

perseverance /ˌpɜːrsəˈvɪrəns/ — perseverança; persistência. Thus, the vigour and perseverance with which I have for some months past been collecting materials for, and hammering away at, a new book on America has much astonished me; seeing that all that time my declaration has been perfectly well known to my publishers on both sides of the Atlantic, that no consideration on earth would induce me to write one. Return to Original English Version

perspiration /ˌpɜːrspəˈreɪʃən/ — transpiração; suor. When Mr Pecksniff, rising from his seat at the table's head, with a daughter on either hand, received his guests in the best parlour and motioned them to chairs, with eyes so overflowing and countenance so damp with gracious perspiration, that he may be said to have been in a kind of moist meekness! Return to Original English Version

persuasions /pərˈsweɪʒənz/ — convicções; crenças; persuasões. The business in hand thus easily settled, Mr Pinch and Martin would have withdrawn immediately, but for the urgent entreaties of Mr Tigg that they would allow him the honour of presenting them to his friend Slyme, which were so very difficult of resistance that, yielding partly to these persuasions and partly to their own curiosity, they suffered themselves to be ushered into the presence of that distinguished gentleman. Return to Original English Version

pervades /pərˈveɪdz/ — permeia; impregna. It seemed to say, on the part of Mr Pecksniff, 'There is no deception, ladies and gentlemen, all is peace, a holy calm pervades me.' So did his hair, just grizzled with an iron-grey which was all brushed off his forehead, and stood bolt upright, or slightly drooped in kindred action with his heavy eyelids. Return to Original English Version

pettishly /ˈpetɪʃli/ — com irritação birrenta. 'What are you talking about, Pinch?' said Martin pettishly: 'don't make yourself ridiculous, my good fellow! Return to Original English Version

petulant /ˈpetʃələnt/ — petulante; rabugento. 'No,' he repeated, with a petulant emphasis. Return to Original English Version

philanthropy /fɪˈlænθrəpi/ — filantropia. There was something in these morsels of philanthropy which reassured the sisters. Return to Original English Version

phraseology /ˌfreɪziˈɑːlədʒi/ — fraseologia; modo de dizer. Whether Mr Pecksniff's business in London was as strictly professional as he had given his new pupil to understand, we shall see, to adopt that worthy man's phraseology, 'all in good time.' Return to Original English Version

pinafore /ˈpɪnæfɔrɛ/ — avental infantil. Moderately buxom was her shape, and quite womanly too; but sometimes--yes, sometimes--she even wore a pinafore; and how charming THAT was! Return to Original English Version

pithy /ˈpɪθi/ — conciso e importante. When he had communicated to Mr Pecksniff these pithy scraps of intelligence, he said, 'That if it was all the same to him, he would turn him over to father, and have a chat with the gals;' and in furtherance of this polite scheme, he vacated his seat adjoining that gentleman, and established himself in the opposite corner, next to the fair Miss Mercy. Return to Original English Version

placid /ˈplæsɪd/ — plácido; sereno. The mist, too shy and gentle for such lusty company, fled off, quite scared, before it; and as it swept away, the hills and mounds and distant pasture lands, teeming with placid sheep and noisy crows, came out as bright as though they were unrolled bran new for the occasion. Return to Original English Version

placidly /ˈplæsɪdli/ — placidamente; com serenidade. In the meantime Mr Pecksniff, having received from a sharp angle in the bottom step but one, that sort of knock on the head which lights up, for the patient's entertainment, an imaginary general illumination of very bright short-sixes, lay placidly staring at his own street door. Return to Original English Version

plainer /pleɪn/ — mais simples. And in the very prologue and preface to the first place, John, you must consider this, which nobody knows better than I: that I was born for much plainer and poorer things, that I am not a good hand for his kind of business, and have no talent for it, or indeed for anything else but odds and ends that are of no use or service to anybody.' Return to Original English Version

plainest /pleɪn/ — mais evidente. 'Then,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'he is the sort of customer for me.' But though he said this in the plainest language, he didn't speak a word. Return to Original English Version

playbill /ˈpleɪbɪl/ — cartaz de teatro; programa teatral. But he stopped to read the playbill at the theatre and surveyed the doorway with a kind of awe, which was not diminished when a sallow gentleman with long dark hair came out, and told a boy to run home to his lodgings and bring down his broadsword. Return to Original English Version

playfulness /ˈpleɪfəlnəs/ — alegria brincalhona. Miss Pecksniff sat upon a stool because she was all girlishness, and playfulness, and wildness, and kittenish buoyancy. Return to Original English Version

pleasanter /ˈplɛzəntər/ — mais agradável. That never ran smooth yet,' said Tom, with a smile which, despite the homeliness of his face, was pleasanter to see than many a proud beauty's brightest glance; 'what never ran smooth yet, can hardly be expected to change its character for us; so we must take it as we find it, and fashion it into the very best shape we can, by patience and good-humour. Return to Original English Version

plentifully /ˈplentɪfəli/ — abundantemente. These she shed so plentifully, and so much to the agitation and grief of Mr Spottletoe, that that gentleman, after holding his clenched fist close to Mr Pecksniff's eyes, as if it were some natural curiosity from the near inspection whereof he was likely to derive high gratification and improvement, and after offering (for no particular reason that anybody could discover) to kick Mr George Chuzzlewit for, and in consideration of, the trifling sum of sixpence, took his wife under his arm and indignantly withdrew. Return to Original English Version

plucked /plʌkt/ — arrancou; colheu. How did you twinkle, as if fluttering with sympathy, when Mercy, reminded of the bonnet in her hair, hid her fair face and turned her head aside; the while her gentle sister plucked it out, and smote her with a sister's soft reproof, upon her buxom shoulder! Return to Original English Version

plumpness /ˈplʌmpnəs/ — corpulência; volume. Although Mr Jonas conducted Charity to the hotel and sat himself beside her at the board, it was pretty clear that he had an eye to 'the other one' also, for he often glanced across at Mercy, and seemed to draw comparisons between the personal appearance of the two, which were not unfavourable to the superior plumpness of the younger sister. Return to Original English Version

plunged /plʌndʒd/ — lançaram-se; precipitaram-se. And it being quite impossible that any difference of opinion can take place among women without every woman who is within hearing taking active part in it, the strong-minded lady and her two daughters, and Mrs Spottletoe, and the deaf cousin (who was not at all disqualified from joining in the dispute by reason of being perfectly unacquainted with its merits), one and all plunged into the quarrel directly. Return to Original English Version

plunging /plʌndʒ/ — mergulhando. As this fair matron sat beside the fire, she glanced occasionally with all the pride of ownership, about the room; which was a large apartment, such as one may see in country places, with a low roof and a sunken flooring, all downhill from the door, and a descent of two steps on the inside so exquisitely unexpected, that strangers, despite the most elaborate cautioning, usually dived in head first, as into a plunging-bath. Return to Original English Version

pocketing /ˈpɑːkɪtɪŋ/ — embolsando; guardando no bolso. His genius lay in ensnaring parents and guardians, and pocketing premiums. Return to Original English Version

poetical /poʊˈetɪkəl/ — poético. And I submit that their recoil upon that old man, in his unhonoured age, is not a mere piece of poetical justice, but is the extreme exposition of a direct truth. Return to Original English Version

politic /ˈpɑːlətɪk/ — hábil; sagaz; prudente por conveniência. When they could eat no more, Mr Pecksniff and Mr Jonas subscribed for two sixpenny-worths of hot brandy-and-water, which the latter gentleman considered a more politic order than one shillingsworth; there being a chance of their getting more spirit out of the innkeeper under this arrangement than if it were all in one glass. Return to Original English Version

portentous /pɔːrˈtɛntəs/ — descomunal; de aspecto solene. 'I am sorry to interrupt you, Pecksniff,' remarked Mr Spottletoe, with his whiskers in a very portentous state; 'but you are assuming too much to yourself, sir. Return to Original English Version

posterity /pɒˈstɛrɪti/ — posteridade. And children enough to hand down human natur to the latest posterity--good-b'ye, boys and girls! Return to Original English Version

pouch /paʊtʃ/ — bolsa pequena; saquinho. HE never scraped and clawed into his pouch all your poor grandmother's hard savings--she was a housekeeper, wasn't she, Tom?' Return to Original English Version

powdered /ˈpaʊdərd/ — empoadado. There were two bottles of currant wine, white and red; a dish of sandwiches (very long and very slim); another of apples; another of captain's biscuits (which are always a moist and jovial sort of viand); a plate of oranges cut up small and gritty; with powdered sugar, and a highly geological home-made cake. Return to Original English Version

practicable /ˈpræktɪkəbəl/ — praticável; exequível. His mirth having subsided, Mr Jonas gave him to understand that himself and parent were in fact travelling to their home in the metropolis; and that, since the memorable day of the great family gathering, they had been tarrying in that part of the country, watching the sale of certain eligible investments, which they had had in their copartnership eye when they came down; for it was their custom, Mr Jonas said, whenever such a thing was practicable, to kill two birds with one stone, and never to throw away sprats, but as bait for whales. Return to Original English Version

precaution /prɪˈkɔʃən/ — precaução. They went in on tiptoe; or rather the hostess took that precaution for Mr Pecksniff always walked softly. Return to Original English Version

precepts /ˈpriːsepts/ — preceitos. His children heard with becoming reverence these moral precepts from the lips of their father, and signified their acquiescence in the same, by smiles. Return to Original English Version

precincts /ˈpriːsɪŋkts/ — recintos; imediações; circunscrições. For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs. Return to Original English Version

precipitately /prɪˈsɪpɪtətli/ — precipitadamente. At this dread allusion to John Westlock, Mr Pinch precipitately choked in his tea; for he had that very morning received a letter from him, as Mr Pecksniff very well knew. Return to Original English Version

preconceived /ˌpriːkənˈsiːvd/ — preconcebido. Their principal topic of discourse was naturally Mr Pecksniff and his family; of whom, and of the great obligations they had heaped upon him, Tom Pinch, with the tears standing in his eyes, drew such a picture as would have inclined any one of common feeling almost to revere them; and of which Mr Pecksniff had not the slightest foresight or preconceived idea, or he certainly (being very humble) would not have sent Tom Pinch to bring the pupil home. Return to Original English Version

prefatory /ˈprefətɔːri/ — introdutório. Mr Pecksniff as slowly rose, and, with a prefatory hem, began as follows: Return to Original English Version

prematurely /ˌpriːməˈtʊrli/ — prematuramente; antes da hora. An ungainly, awkward-looking man, extremely short-sighted, and prematurely bald, availed himself of this permission; and seeing that Mr Pecksniff sat with his back towards him, gazing at the fire, stood hesitating, with the door in his hand. Return to Original English Version

prepossessing /ˌpriːpəˈzɛsɪŋ/ — agradável. 'Now,' said Mr Tigg, clapping one hand on the shoulder of his prepossessing friend, and calling Mr Pecksniff's attention to him with the other, 'you two are related; and relations never did agree, and never will; which is a wise dispensation and an inevitable thing, or there would be none but family parties, and everybody in the world would bore everybody else to death. Return to Original English Version

preposterous /prɪˈpɑːstərəs/ — absurdo; despropositado. This lantern was carried by my forefather'--not fourth son, which is preposterous--'on the fifth of November. Return to Original English Version

preposterously /prɪˈpɒstərəsli/ — absurdamente. It was none of your frivolous and preposterously bright bedrooms, where nobody can close an eye with any kind of propriety or decent regard to the association of ideas; but it was a good, dull, leaden, drowsy place, where every article of furniture reminded you that you came there to sleep, and that you were expected to go to sleep. Return to Original English Version

presided /prɪˈzaɪdɪd/ — presidiu. For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs. Return to Original English Version

presiding /prɪˈzaɪdɪŋ/ — presidindo; que preside. Mr Pecksniff and his fair daughters had not stood warming themselves at the fire ten minutes, when the sound of feet was heard upon the stairs, and the presiding deity of the establishment came hurrying in. Return to Original English Version

presumptive /prɪˈzʌmptɪv/ — presuntivo. But there is one other piece of evidence, bearing immediate reference to their close connection with this memorable event in English History, which must carry conviction, even to a mind (if such a mind there be) remaining unconvinced by these presumptive proofs. Return to Original English Version

pretence /prɪˈtɛns/ — pretexto. Rejecting a theory broached by some well-meaning but mistaken persons, that this Mr Toby Chuzzlewit's grandfather, to judge from his name, must surely have been a Mandarin (which is wholly insupportable, for there is no pretence of his grandmother ever having been out of this country, or of any Mandarin having been in it within some years of his father's birth; except those in the tea-shops, which cannot for a moment be regarded as having any bearing on the question, one way or other), rejecting this hypothesis, is it not manifest that Mr Toby Chuzzlewit had either received the name imperfectly from his father, or that he had forgotten it, or that he had mispronounced itâ and that even at the recent period in question, the Chuzzlewits were connected by a bend sinister, or kind of heraldic over-the-left, with some unknown noble and illustrious House? Return to Original English Version

pretences /prɪˈtɛnsɪz/ — pretextos. He'll not even remember the five hundred pounds he had with me under false pretences; or the seventy pounds a year for board and lodging that would have been dear at seventeen! Return to Original English Version

prevails /prɪˈveɪlz/ — prevalece. Now if Mr Pecksniff knew, from anything Martin Chuzzlewit had expressed in gestures, that he wanted to speak to him, he could only have found it out on some such principle as prevails in melodramas, and in virtue of which the elderly farmer with the comic son always knows what the dumb girl means when she takes refuge in his garden, and relates her personal memoirs in incomprehensible pantomime. Return to Original English Version

preyed /preɪd/ — corroía; pesava sobre. They should have shown themselves fit objects to be robbed and preyed upon and plotted against and adulated by any knaves, who, but for joy, would have spat upon their coffins when they died their dupes; and then their search would have ended as mine has done, and they would be what I am.' Return to Original English Version

prim /prɪm/ — empertigado; afetado; formal demais. I say--You were regularly prim, cousin!' Return to Original English Version

prized /praɪzd/ — muito estimado. It was not so much, he said, for the temporary relief of this assistance that he prized it, as for its vindication of the high principle that Nature's Nobs felt with Nature's Nobs, and that true greatness of soul sympathized with true greatness of soul, all the world over. Return to Original English Version

procure /prəˈkjʊr/ — conseguir; obter; providenciar. Pain and bitterness are the only goods it ever could procure for me. Return to Original English Version

procured /proʊˈkjʊrd/ — obtida; conseguida. Still it does not appear (which is strange) to have procured for him any lucrative post at court or elsewhere, or to have conferred upon him any other distinction than that which was necessarily included in the countenance of so great a man, and the being invited by him to certain entertainment's, so splendid and costly in their nature, that he calls them 'Golden Balls.' Return to Original English Version

prodigiously /prəˈdɪdʒəsli/ — prodigiosamente; sem parar. In this particular he was like the girl in the fairy tale, except that if they were not actual diamonds which fell from his lips, they were the very brightest paste, and shone prodigiously. Return to Original English Version

profited /ˈprɑːfɪtɪd/ — lucrou; tirou proveito. Then there were Anthony Chuzzlewit, and his son Jonas; the face of the old man so sharpened by the wariness and cunning of his life, that it seemed to cut him a passage through the crowded room, as he edged away behind the remotest chairs; while the son had so well profited by the precept and example of the father, that he looked a year or two the elder of the twain, as they stood winking their red eyes, side by side, and whispering to each other softly. Return to Original English Version

profundity /prəˈfʌndəti/ — profundidade de pensamento. Of his architectural doings, nothing was clearly known, except that he had never designed or built anything; but it was generally understood that his knowledge of the science was almost awful in its profundity. Return to Original English Version

profusely /prəˈfjuːsli/ — profusamente. The gleaming iron, in its emulation, sparkled too, and shed its red-hot gems around profusely. Return to Original English Version

prologue /ˈproʊlɒɡ/ — prólogo, introdução. And in the very prologue and preface to the first place, John, you must consider this, which nobody knows better than I: that I was born for much plainer and poorer things, that I am not a good hand for his kind of business, and have no talent for it, or indeed for anything else but odds and ends that are of no use or service to anybody.' Return to Original English Version

prolongation /prəˌlɒŋˈɡeɪʃən/ — prolongamento. Whether it occurred to the dutiful son that he had in some degree over-reached himself by contributing to the prolongation of his father's days; or whether the cold had effected his temper; is doubtful. Return to Original English Version

prompting /ˈprɒmptɪŋ/ — motivando. With a cheerfulness of conscience, prompting almost a sprightly demeanour, he then resumed: Return to Original English Version

prophesied /prɑfʌsaɪd/ — profetizar. Might he not, gents both, I ask, have sat upon a tripod in the ancient times, and prophesied to a perfectly unlimited extent, if previously supplied with gin-and-water at the public cost?' Return to Original English Version

propitiate /prəˈpɪʃieɪt/ — propiciar; aplacar. Throughout such fragments of his correspondence as have escaped the ravages of the moths (who, in right of their extensive absorption of the contents of deeds and papers, may be called the general registers of the Insect World), we find him making constant reference to an uncle, in respect of whom he would seem to have entertained great expectations, as he was in the habit of seeking to propitiate his favour by presents of plate, jewels, books, watches, and other valuable articles. Return to Original English Version

propriety /prʌpraɪʌti/ — decoro. It was none of your frivolous and preposterously bright bedrooms, where nobody can close an eye with any kind of propriety or decent regard to the association of ideas; but it was a good, dull, leaden, drowsy place, where every article of furniture reminded you that you came there to sleep, and that you were expected to go to sleep. Return to Original English Version

prosaic /proʊˈzeɪɪk/ — prosaico; banal. It was the frolicsome custom of the Goddess, in her intercourse with the fair Cherry, so to do; or in more prosaic phrase, the tip of that feature in the sweet girl's countenance was always very red at breakfast-time. Return to Original English Version

provokingly /prəˈvoʊkɪŋli/ — de modo irritante. And it would seem to have been more suggestive in its aspect than street doors usually are; for he continued to lie there, rather a lengthy and unreasonable time, without so much as wondering whether he was hurt or no; neither, when Miss Pecksniff inquired through the key-hole in a shrill voice, which might have belonged to a wind in its teens, 'Who's there' did he make any reply; nor, when Miss Pecksniff opened the door again, and shading the candle with her hand, peered out, and looked provokingly round him, and about him, and over him, and everywhere but at him, did he offer any remark, or indicate in any manner the least hint of a desire to be picked up. Return to Original English Version

prowess /ˈpraʊəs/ — proeza; destreza. The two Miss Pecksniffs being a pretty good match for the three Miss Chuzzlewits, and all five young ladies having, in the figurative language of the day, a great amount of steam to dispose of, the altercation would no doubt have been a long one but for the high valour and prowess of the strong-minded woman, who, in right of her reputation for powers of sarcasm, did so belabour and pummel Mrs Spottletoe with taunting words that the poor lady, before the engagement was two minutes old, had no refuge but in tears. Return to Original English Version

prudent /prudʌnt/ — prudente. 'Oh, good gracious, Cherry!' cried Miss Mercy, holding up her hands with the most winning giggle in the world, 'what a mercenary girl you are! oh you naughty, thoughtful, prudent thing!' Return to Original English Version

prying /ˈpraɪɪŋ/ — bisbilhotando; xereta. There were no staring portraits to remonstrate with you for being lazy; no round-eyed birds upon the curtains, disgustingly wide awake, and insufferably prying. Return to Original English Version

puckered /ˈpʌkərd/ — franzir. At first she had recoiled involuntarily, supposing him disordered in his mind; but the slow composure of his manner, and the settled purpose announced in his strong features, and gathering, most of all, about his puckered mouth, forbade the supposition. Return to Original English Version

pummel /ˈpʊməl/ — socar. The two Miss Pecksniffs being a pretty good match for the three Miss Chuzzlewits, and all five young ladies having, in the figurative language of the day, a great amount of steam to dispose of, the altercation would no doubt have been a long one but for the high valour and prowess of the strong-minded woman, who, in right of her reputation for powers of sarcasm, did so belabour and pummel Mrs Spottletoe with taunting words that the poor lady, before the engagement was two minutes old, had no refuge but in tears. Return to Original English Version

punctually /ˈpʋŋktʃuəli/ — pontualmente. 'Five shillings!' pursued Mr Tigg, musing; 'and to be punctually repaid next week; that's the best of it. Return to Original English Version

pungency /ˈpʌndʒənsi/ — intensidade. This additional pungency on the part of the fair young creature led, on ordinary occasions, to such slight consequences as the copious dilution of Mr Pinch's tea, or to his coming off uncommonly short in respect of butter, or to other the like results. Return to Original English Version

purchaser /ˈpɜːrtʃəsər/ — comprador. It is a notable circumstance that in these later times, many Chuzzlewits, being unsuccessful in other pursuits, have, without the smallest rational hope of enriching themselves, or any conceivable reason, set up as coal-merchants; and have, month after month, continued gloomily to watch a small stock of coals, without in any one instance negotiating with a purchaser. Return to Original English Version

purged /pɜːrdʒ/ — purificado. Also there were farmers' wives in beaver bonnets and red cloaks, riding shaggy horses purged of all earthly passions, who went soberly into all manner of places without desiring to know why, and who, if required, would have stood stock still in a china shop, with a complete dinner-service at each hoof. Return to Original English Version

purposing /ˈpɜːrpəsɪŋ/ — pretendendo. It happened on the fourth evening, that Mr Pecksniff walking, as usual, into the bar of the Dragon and finding no Mrs Lupin there, went straight upstairs; purposing, in the fervour of his affectionate zeal, to apply his ear once more to the keyhole, and quiet his mind by assuring himself that the hard-hearted patient was going on well. Return to Original English Version

pursuer /pərˈsuːər/ — perseguidor. The scared leaves only flew the faster for all this, and a giddy chase it was; for they got into unfrequented places, where there was no outlet, and where their pursuer kept them eddying round and round at his pleasure; and they crept under the eaves of houses, and clung tightly to the sides of hay-ricks, like bats; and tore in at open chamber windows, and cowered close to hedges; and, in short, went anywhere for safety. Return to Original English Version

quadruped /ˈkwɑːdruped/ — quadrúpede. Blessings on thy simple heart, Tom Pinch, how proudly dost thou button up that scanty coat, called by a sad misnomer, for these many years, a 'great' one; and how thoroughly, as with thy cheerful voice thou pleasantly adjurest Sam the hostler 'not to let him go yet,' dost thou believe that quadruped desires to go, and would go if he might! Return to Original English Version

quaint /kweɪnt/ — pitoresco. To tell of half the queer old taverns that had a drowsy and secret existence near Todgers's, would fill a goodly book; while a second volume no less capacious might be devoted to an account of the quaint old guests who frequented their dimly lighted parlours. Return to Original English Version

quartered /ˈkwɔːrtərd/ — dividido em quatro; alojado. Moreover, Mr Anthony Chuzzlewit and his son Jonas were economically quartered at the Half Moon and Seven Stars, which was an obscure ale-house; and by the very next coach there came posting to the scene of action, so many other affectionate members of the family (who quarrelled with each other, inside and out, all the way down, to the utter distraction of the coachman), that in less than four-and-twenty hours the scanty tavern accommodation was at a premium, and all the private lodgings in the place, amounting to full four beds and sofa, rose cent per cent in the market. Return to Original English Version

quartern /ˈkwɔːtən/ — quarta parte (medida antiga). 'Or if there's one in the eating parlour,' said Mr Pecksniff, 'I can find it myself.' So he led his daughters, without waiting for any further introduction, into a room on the ground-floor, where a table-cloth (rather a tight and scanty fit in reference to the table it covered) was already spread for breakfast; displaying a mighty dish of pink boiled beef; an instance of that particular style of loaf which is known to housekeepers as a slack-baked, crummy quartern; a liberal provision of cups and saucers; and the usual appendages. Return to Original English Version

queerest /ˈkwɪrɪst/ — os mais esquisitos; os mais estranhos. I wish I may die, if this isn't the queerest state of existence that we find ourselves forced into without knowing why or wherefore, Mr Pecksniff! Return to Original English Version

quenched /kwentʃt/ — apagado; saciado. Indeed, the agony of having such an indiscreet remark addressed to him before the assembled family, was breakfast enough in itself, and would, without any other matter of reflection, have settled Mr Pinch's business and quenched his appetite, for one meal, though he had been never so hungry. Return to Original English Version

quickness /ˈkwɪknəs/ — rapidez. He was young--one-and-twenty, perhaps--and handsome; with a keen dark eye, and a quickness of look and manner which made Tom sensible of a great contrast in his own bearing, and caused him to feel even more shy than usual. Return to Original English Version

rabid /ˈræb.ɪd/ — furioso. The same man was in waiting for the horse who had been adjured by Mr Pinch in the morning not to yield to his rabid desire to start; and after delivering the animal into his charge, and beseeching Mr Chuzzlewit in a whisper never to reveal a syllable of what he had just told him in the fullness of his heart, Tom led the pupil in, for instant presentation. Return to Original English Version

radiant /ˈreɪdiənt/ — radiante; resplandecente. Having said which, Mr Pecksniff threw himself back in the easy-chair; so radiant with ingenuous honesty, that Mrs Lupin almost wondered not to see a stained-glass Glory, such as the Saint wore in the church, shining about his head. Return to Original English Version

ramifications /ˌræmɪfɪˈkeɪʃənz/ — ramificações; desdobramentos. And this, he said, was quite natural, and a very beautiful arrangement; not confined to coaches, but extending itself into many social ramifications. Return to Original English Version

rampancy /ˈræmpənsi/ — desenfreio. 'And rampant animals too' repeated Mr Pecksniff with so much determination, that he may be said to have exhibited, at the moment a sort of moral rampancy himself;'--and Virtue is the drag. Return to Original English Version

rapacity /rəˈpæsəti/ — rapacidade; ganância predatória. The rapacity of these people is absolutely frightful!' Return to Original English Version

rapped /ræp/ — dar uma batida leve. With which he rapped Tom twice or thrice upon the breast and nodded several times, as though he would say that he saw they understood each other; that it was unnecessary to mention the circumstance before a third person; and that he would take it as a particular favour if Tom would slip the amount into his hand, as quietly as possible. Return to Original English Version

rapture /ˈræptʃər/ — arrebatamento; deleite. But love my heart alive!' he added, looking at her in a sort of rapture, 'if you ARE that way disposed, what a lot of suitable husbands there is as you may drive distracted!' Return to Original English Version

rasped /ræsp/ — raspar; ranger. For the most part, indeed, it wore, at that season of the day, a scraped and frosty look, as if it had been rasped; while a similar phenomenon developed itself in her humour, which was then observed to be of a sharp and acid quality, as though an extra lemon (figuratively speaking) had been squeezed into the nectar of her disposition, and had rather damaged its flavour. Return to Original English Version

rattling /ˈrætəlɪŋ/ — chacoalhando; sacudindo com ruído. In the throats and maws of dark no-thoroughfares near Todgers's, individual wine-merchants and wholesale dealers in grocery-ware had perfect little towns of their own; and, deep among the foundations of these buildings, the ground was undermined and burrowed out into stables, where cart-horses, troubled by rats, might be heard on a quiet Sunday rattling their halters, as disturbed spirits in tales of haunted houses are said to clank their chains. Return to Original English Version

ravages /ˈrævɪdʒɪz/ — estragos; devastação. Throughout such fragments of his correspondence as have escaped the ravages of the moths (who, in right of their extensive absorption of the contents of deeds and papers, may be called the general registers of the Insect World), we find him making constant reference to an uncle, in respect of whom he would seem to have entertained great expectations, as he was in the habit of seeking to propitiate his favour by presents of plate, jewels, books, watches, and other valuable articles. Return to Original English Version

reader's /ˈriːdərz/ — do leitor. I make this comment, and solicit the reader's attention to it in his or her consideration of this tale, because nothing is more common in real life than a want of profitable reflection on the causes of many vices and crimes that awaken the general horror. Return to Original English Version

realisation /ˌriːələˈzeɪʃən/ — percepção; realização (grafia britânica). The curse of my existence, and the realisation of my own mad desire is that by the golden standard which I bear about me, I am doomed to try the metal of all other men, and find it false and hollow.' Return to Original English Version

realms /relmz/ — reinos; domínios. Nor is this tribute to the reclaimed animals in question so wide a digression into the realms of Natural History as it may, at first sight, appear to be; for the present business of these pages in with the dragon who had his retreat in Mr Pecksniff's neighbourhood, and that courteous animal being already on the carpet, there is nothing in the way of its immediate transaction. Return to Original English Version

reared rɪrd — ergueu. And what an impotent swaggerer it was too, for all its noise; for if it had any influence on that hoarse companion, it was but to make him roar his cheerful song the louder, and by consequence to make the fire burn the brighter, and the sparks to dance more gayly yet; at length, they whizzed so madly round and round, that it was too much for such a surly wind to bear; so off it flew with a howl giving the old sign before the ale-house door such a cuff as it went, that the Blue Dragon was more rampant than usual ever afterwards, and indeed, before Christmas, reared clean out of its crazy frame. Return to Original English Version

rearing /ˈrɪrɪŋ/ — erguendo-se; empinando. But there he hung; rearing, in a state of monstrous imbecility, on his hind legs; waxing, with every month that passed, so much more dim and shapeless, that as you gazed at him on one side of the sign-board it seemed as if he must be gradually melting through it, and coming out upon the other. Return to Original English Version

rearward /ˈrɪrwərd/ — para trás; na retaguarda. He was a young fellow, of some five or six-and-twenty perhaps, and was dressed in such a free and fly-away fashion, that the long ends of his loose red neckcloth were streaming out behind him quite as often as before; and the bunch of bright winter berries in the buttonhole of his velveteen coat was as visible to Mr Pinch's rearward observation, as if he had worn that garment wrong side foremost. Return to Original English Version

reclaimed /rɪˈkleɪmd/ — reavido; recuperado. Nor is this tribute to the reclaimed animals in question so wide a digression into the realms of Natural History as it may, at first sight, appear to be; for the present business of these pages in with the dragon who had his retreat in Mr Pecksniff's neighbourhood, and that courteous animal being already on the carpet, there is nothing in the way of its immediate transaction. Return to Original English Version

recoil rɪˈkɔɪl — reagir negativamente. But, so born and so bred, admired for that which made him hateful, and justified from his cradle in cunning, treachery, and avarice; I claim him as the legitimate issue of the father upon whom those vices are seen to recoil. Return to Original English Version

recoiled /rɪˈkɔɪld/ — recuou; retraiu-se. At first she had recoiled involuntarily, supposing him disordered in his mind; but the slow composure of his manner, and the settled purpose announced in his strong features, and gathering, most of all, about his puckered mouth, forbade the supposition. Return to Original English Version

recollecting /ˌrekəˈlektɪŋ/ — recordando. Even such a thing as this,' said Mr Pecksniff, laying the fore-finger of his left hand upon the brown paper patch on the top of his head, 'slight casual baldness though it be, reminds us that we are but'--he was going to say 'worms,' but recollecting that worms were not remarkable for heads of hair, he substituted 'flesh and blood.' Return to Original English Version

recollections ˌrɛkəˈlɛkʃənz — lembranças. But what were even gold and silver, precious stones and clockwork, to the bookshops, whence a pleasant smell of paper freshly pressed came issuing forth, awakening instant recollections of some new grammar had at school, long time ago, with 'Master Pinch, Grove House Academy,' inscribed in faultless writing on the fly-leaf! Return to Original English Version

recompensed ˈrɛkəmpɛnst — recompensou. Now, Heaven bless her!' cried Tom, 'to have given her but a minute's pleasure every day, I would have gone on playing the organ at those times until I was an old man; quite contented if she sometimes thought of a poor fellow like me, as a part of the music; and more than recompensed if she ever mixed me up with anything she liked as well as she liked that!' Return to Original English Version

redeemed rɪˈdiːmd — resgatou. He was far from handsome certainly; and was drest in a snuff-coloured suit, of an uncouth make at the best, which, being shrunk with long wear, was twisted and tortured into all kinds of odd shapes; but notwithstanding his attire, and his clumsy figure, which a great stoop in his shoulders, and a ludicrous habit he had of thrusting his head forward, by no means redeemed, one would not have been disposed (unless Mr Pecksniff said so) to consider him a bad fellow by any means. Return to Original English Version

redolent ˈrɛdələnt — perfumado. As he said this, he touched the tip of his high nose, by way of intimation that he would let Mr Pecksniff into a secret presently; and pulling off his hat, began to search inside the crown among a mass of crumpled documents and small pieces of what may be called the bark of broken cigars; whence he presently selected the cover of an old letter, begrimed with dirt and redolent of tobacco. Return to Original English Version

refine rɪˈfaɪn — refinar. I have found that a lamp post is calculated to refine the mind and give it a classical tendency. Return to Original English Version

regale rɪˈɡeɪl — deleitar. Having seen him eat unto his heart's content he issued forth again, to wander round the town and regale himself with the shop windows; previously taking a long stare at the bank, and wondering in what direction underground the caverns might be where they kept the money; and turning to look back at one or two young men who passed him, whom he knew to be articled to solicitors in the town; and who had a sort of fearful interest in his eyes, as jolly dogs who knew a thing or two, and kept it up tremendously. Return to Original English Version

regaled /rɪˈɡeɪld/ — regalou; entreteve com fartura. All day long, a stream of porters from the wharves beside the river, each bearing on his back a bursting chest of oranges, poured slowly through the narrow passages; while underneath the archway by the public-house, the knots of those who rested and regaled within, were piled from morning until night. Return to Original English Version

regaling rɪˈɡeɪlɪŋ — deleitando. I do not know how it may be with others, but it is a great satisfaction to me to know, when regaling on my humble fare, that I am putting in motion the most beautiful machinery with which we have any acquaintance. Return to Original English Version

Original Text: Rare Words (6/7)

regularity /ˌrɛɡjəˈlærəti/ — regularidade. They no longer demand a beautiful virgin for breakfast every morning, with as much regularity as any tame single gentleman expects his hot roll, but rest content with the society of idle bachelors and roving married men; and they are now remarkable rather for holding aloof from the softer sex and discouraging their visits (especially on Saturday nights), than for rudely insisting on their company without any reference to their inclinations, as they are known to have done in days of yore. Return to Original English Version

rejoice rɪˈdʒɔɪs — alegrar-se. The strong smith and his men dealt such strokes upon their work, as made even the melancholy night rejoice, and brought a glow into its dark face as it hovered about the door and windows, peeping curiously in above the shoulders of a dozen loungers. Return to Original English Version

rejoicing rɪˈdʒɔɪsɪŋ — alegrando-se. Being by this time weary of such trifling performances, the boisterous rover hurried away rejoicing, roaring over moor and meadow, hill and flat, until it got out to sea, where it met with other winds similarly disposed, and made a night of it. Return to Original English Version

rejoinder /rɪˈdʒɔɪndər/ — réplica. The landlady looked in great astonishment at her whom he called Mary, and finding no rejoinder in the drooping face, looked back again at him. Return to Original English Version

relic ˈrɛlɪk — relíquia. Now this gentleman, since deceased, was at all times ready to make oath, and did again and again set forth upon his solemn asseveration, that he had frequently heard his grandmother say, when contemplating this venerable relic, 'Aye, aye! Return to Original English Version

reluctance /rɪˈlʌktəns/ — relutância; hesitação. So constantly was he a guest at that nobleman's table, indeed; and so unceasingly were His Grace's hospitality and companionship forced, as it were, upon him; that we find him uneasy, and full of constraint and reluctance; writing his friends to the effect that if they fail to do so and so by bearer, he will have no choice but to dine again with Duke Humphrey; and expressing himself in a very marked and extraordinary manner as one surfeited of High Life and Gracious Company. Return to Original English Version

remarking /rɪˈmɑːrkɪŋ/ — observando; comentando. At present it contents itself with remarking, in a general way, on this head: Firstly, that it may be safely asserted, and yet without implying any direct participation in the Manboddo doctrine touching the probability of the human race having once been monkeys, that men do play very strange and extraordinary tricks. Return to Original English Version

remit rɪˈmɪt — enviar. Wouldn't it be better, sir, if you were to go to--to wherever you came from--yourself, and remit the money to your friend?' Return to Original English Version

remittance rɪˈmɪtəns — remessa de dinheiro. Tom thought of reminding the gentleman (who, no doubt, in his agitation had forgotten it) that there was a post-office in the land; and that possibly if he wrote to some friend or agent for a remittance it might not be lost upon the road; or at all events that the chance, however desperate, was worth trusting to. Return to Original English Version

remonstrate /rɪˈmɑːnstreɪt/ — protestar; objetar. There were no staring portraits to remonstrate with you for being lazy; no round-eyed birds upon the curtains, disgustingly wide awake, and insufferably prying. Return to Original English Version

remorseful /rɪˈmɔːrsfəl/ — cheio de remorso. That worthy man Mr Pecksniff having taken leave of his cousin in the solemn terms recited in the last chapter, withdrew to his own home, and remained there three whole days; not so much as going out for a walk beyond the boundaries of his own garden, lest he should be hastily summoned to the bedside of his penitent and remorseful relative, whom, in his ample benevolence, he had made up his mind to forgive unconditionally, and to love on any terms. Return to Original English Version

remotest /rɪˈmoʊtəst/ — a mais remota; a mais distante. Then there were Anthony Chuzzlewit, and his son Jonas; the face of the old man so sharpened by the wariness and cunning of his life, that it seemed to cut him a passage through the crowded room, as he edged away behind the remotest chairs; while the son had so well profited by the precept and example of the father, that he looked a year or two the elder of the twain, as they stood winking their red eyes, side by side, and whispering to each other softly. Return to Original English Version

renounce /rɪˈnaʊns/ — renunciar a; abdicar de; repudiar. Interview succeeded interview; words engendered words, as they always do; and the upshot of it was, that I was to renounce her, or be renounced by him. Return to Original English Version

renounced /rɪˈnaʊnst/ — renunciou a; repudiou. Interview succeeded interview; words engendered words, as they always do; and the upshot of it was, that I was to renounce her, or be renounced by him. Return to Original English Version

reparation /ˌrepəˈreɪʃən/ — reparação. Oh, the serene expression on the face of Charity, which seemed to say, 'I know that all my family have injured me beyond the possibility of reparation, but I forgive them, for it is my duty so to do!' And, oh, the gay simplicity of Mercy; so charming, innocent, and infant-like, that if she had gone out walking by herself, and it had been a little earlier in the season, the robin-redbreasts might have covered her with leaves against her will, believing her to be one of the sweet children in the wood, come out of it, and issuing forth once more to look for blackberries in the young freshness of her heart! Return to Original English Version

repetition /ˌrɛpəˈtɪʃən/ — repetição. 'Hear me to an end; judge what profit you are like to gain from any repetition of this visit; and leave me. Return to Original English Version

repetitions ˌrɛpɪˈtɪʃən — repetição. It is remarkable that as there was, in the oldest family of which we have any record, a murderer and a vagabond, so we never fail to meet, in the records of all old families, with innumerable repetitions of the same phase of character. Return to Original English Version

replenish /rɪˈplenɪʃ/ — reabastecer. He gradually became so much interested, that he quite forgot to replenish the fire; and was only reminded of his neglect by Martin Chuzzlewit starting up after the lapse of an hour or so, and crying with a shiver. Return to Original English Version

replenished /rɪˈplenɪʃt/ — reabastecido. Mr Tigg replenished his friend's glass, pressed it into his hand, and nodded an intimation to the visitors that they would see him in a better aspect immediately. Return to Original English Version

repletion rɪˈpliːʃən — saciedade. His father and Mr Pecksniff, probably acting on the same wise principle, demolished everything that came within their reach, and by that means acquired a greasy expression of countenance, indicating contentment, if not repletion, which it was very pleasant to contemplate. Return to Original English Version

repose rɪˈpoʊz — repouso. The fallen leaves, with which the ground was strewn, gave forth a pleasant fragrance, and subduing all harsh sounds of distant feet and wheels created a repose in gentle unison with the light scattering of seed hither and thither by the distant husbandman, and with the noiseless passage of the plough as it turned up the rich brown earth, and wrought a graceful pattern in the stubbled fields. Return to Original English Version

reposed /rɪˈpoʊzd/ — repousou; depositado (confiança). The young lady obeyed, and having done so, resumed her stool, reposed one arm upon her father's knee, and laid her blooming cheek upon it. Return to Original English Version

repositories rɪˈpɑːzɪtɔːri — repositório. He had less interest now in the chemists' shops, with their great glowing bottles (with smaller repositories of brightness in their very stoppers); and in their agreeable compromises between medicine and perfumery, in the shape of toothsome lozenges and virgin honey. Return to Original English Version

repress /rɪˈpres/ — reprimir. But as a gentleman's looks, in such a case of all others, are by no means under his own control, Mr Pecksniff continued to keep his mouth and his eyes very wide open, and to drop his lower jaw, somewhat after the manner of a toy nut-cracker; and as his hat had fallen off, and his face was pale, and his hair erect, and his coat muddy, the spectacle he presented was so very doleful, that neither of the Miss Pecksniffs could repress an involuntary screech. Return to Original English Version

reproach rɪˈproʊtʃ — reprovação. I had already forgiven you, even before you ceased to reproach and taunt me. Return to Original English Version

reproof rɪˈpruːf — repreensão. How did you twinkle, as if fluttering with sympathy, when Mercy, reminded of the bonnet in her hair, hid her fair face and turned her head aside; the while her gentle sister plucked it out, and smote her with a sister's soft reproof, upon her buxom shoulder! Return to Original English Version

repudiated /rɪˈpjuːdieɪtɪd/ — repudiou. Mr Pecksniff cast him off, as Saint George might have repudiated the Dragon in that animal's last moments, and said: Return to Original English Version

requisite /ˈrekwəzɪt/ — requisito; necessário; indispensável. The stock-in-trade requisite to set up an amateur in this department of business is very slight, and easily got together; a trick of the nose and a curl of the lip sufficient to compound a tolerable sneer, being ample provision for any exigency. Return to Original English Version

requisition /ˌrekwɪˈzɪʃən/ — requisição. To the extent of such a trifling loan as a crownpiece to a man of your talents, I look upon Mr Pecksniff as certain;' and seeing at this juncture that the expression of Mr Pecksniff's face by no means betokened that he shared this certainty, Mr Tigg laid his finger on his nose again for that gentleman's private and especial behoof; calling upon him thereby to take notice that the requisition of small loans was another instance of the peculiarities of genius as developed in his friend Slyme; that he, Tigg, winked at the same, because of the strong metaphysical interest which these weaknesses possessed; and that in reference to his own personal advocacy of such small advances, he merely consulted the humour of his friend, without the least regard to his own advantage or necessities. Return to Original English Version

resolves rɪˈzɑːlv — decidir. 'But, Mr Pecksniff, the whole thing resolves itself into an instance of the peculiarities of genius. Return to Original English Version

resounded /rɪˈzaʊndɪd/ — ressoou; retumbou. As the grand tones resounded through the church, they seemed, to Tom, to find an echo in the depth of every ancient tomb, no less than in the deep mystery of his own heart. Return to Original English Version

restrain /rɪˈstreɪn/ — conter; refrear; reprimir. Some would have laughed with, and others would have laughed at him; of which last class was Martin Chuzzlewit, who, unable to restrain himself, at last laughed loud and long. Return to Original English Version

resuming /rɪˈzuːmɪŋ/ — retomando; reassumindo. 'You will take care, my dear Martin,' said Mr Pecksniff, resuming his former cheerfulness, 'that the house does not run away in our absence. Return to Original English Version

resumption rɪˈzʌmpʃən — retomada. 'I am not sorry,' said Mr Pecksniff in resumption of his address, 'I am really not sorry that this little incident has happened. Return to Original English Version

retort ritɔrt — replicar. This remark being received with a shrill titter by the two sisters of the speaker, Miss Charity Pecksniff begged with much politeness to be informed whether any of those very low observations were levelled at her; and receiving no more explanatory answer than was conveyed in the adage 'Those the cap fits, let them wear it,' immediately commenced a somewhat acrimonious and personal retort, wherein she was much comforted and abetted by her sister Mercy, who laughed at the same with great heartiness; indeed far more naturally than life. Return to Original English Version

revelry /ˈrevəlri/ — folia; festança. Among the narrow thoroughfares at hand, there lingered, here and there, an ancient doorway of carved oak, from which, of old, the sounds of revelry and feasting often came; but now these mansions, only used for storehouses, were dark and dull, and, being filled with wool, and cotton, and the like--such heavy merchandise as stifles sound and stops the throat of echo--had an air of palpable deadness about them which, added to their silence and desertion, made them very grim. Return to Original English Version

revere /rɪˈvɪr/ — venerar. Their principal topic of discourse was naturally Mr Pecksniff and his family; of whom, and of the great obligations they had heaped upon him, Tom Pinch, with the tears standing in his eyes, drew such a picture as would have inclined any one of common feeling almost to revere them; and of which Mr Pecksniff had not the slightest foresight or preconceived idea, or he certainly (being very humble) would not have sent Tom Pinch to bring the pupil home. Return to Original English Version

reverence rɛvɜrʌns — reverência. His children heard with becoming reverence these moral precepts from the lips of their father, and signified their acquiescence in the same, by smiles. Return to Original English Version

revolves /rɪˈvɑːlvz/ — gira; gravita em torno de. 'It is not often,' he said, 'Martin, that my daughters and I desert our quiet home to pursue the giddy round of pleasures that revolves abroad. Return to Original English Version

rheumatism /ˈruːmətɪzəm/ — reumatismo. I should have died of the rheumatism!' Return to Original English Version

rickety /ˈrɪkəti/ — bamba; que balança. And, at the top of the staircase, was an old, disjointed, rickety, ill-favoured skylight, patched and mended in all kinds of ways, which looked distrustfully down at everything that passed below, and covered Todgers's up as if it were a sort of human cucumber-frame, and only people of a peculiar growth were reared there. Return to Original English Version

rime raɪm — geada. The sheep-bells rang as clearly in the vigorous air, as if they felt its wholesome influence like living creatures; the trees, in lieu of leaves or blossoms, shed upon the ground a frosty rime that sparkled as it fell, and might have been the dust of diamonds. Return to Original English Version

rippling /ˈrɪpəlɪŋ/ — ondulante; que corre em ondinhas. The crust of ice on the else rippling brook was so transparent, and so thin in texture, that the lively water might of its own free will have stopped--in Tom's glad mind it had--to look upon the lovely morning. Return to Original English Version

rounding /ˈraʊndɪŋ/ — contornando; dobrando. It may be observed in connection with his calling his daughter a 'warbler,' that she was not at all vocal, but that Mr Pecksniff was in the frequent habit of using any word that occurred to him as having a good sound, and rounding a sentence well without much care for its meaning. Return to Original English Version

routed /ˈraʊtɪd/ — derrotado; posto em debandada. When the common enemy is routed, you will all set up for yourselves again; every lady and gentleman who has a part in the game, will go in on their own account and bowl away, to the best of their ability, at the testator's wicket, and nobody will be in a worse position than before. Return to Original English Version

roved /roʊvd/ — vagueou; errou de um lado a outro. The wandering attention of the mistress of the Blue Dragon roved to these things but twice or thrice, and then for but an instant at a time. Return to Original English Version

roving /ˈroʊvɪŋ/ — vagueando; correndo de um lado a outro. They no longer demand a beautiful virgin for breakfast every morning, with as much regularity as any tame single gentleman expects his hot roll, but rest content with the society of idle bachelors and roving married men; and they are now remarkable rather for holding aloof from the softer sex and discouraging their visits (especially on Saturday nights), than for rudely insisting on their company without any reference to their inclinations, as they are known to have done in days of yore. Return to Original English Version

roystering /ˈrɔɪstərɪŋ/ — farreando; fazendo folia. Martin Chuzzlewit beheld these roystering preparations with infinite contempt, and stirring the fire into a blaze (to the great destruction of Mr Pecksniff's coals), sat moodily down before it, in the most comfortable chair he could find. Return to Original English Version

ruddiness ˈrʌdinəs — vermelhidão. The vane upon the tapering spire of the old church glistened from its lofty station in sympathy with the general gladness; and from the ivy-shaded windows such gleams of light shone back upon the glowing sky, that it seemed as if the quiet buildings were the hoarding-place of twenty summers, and all their ruddiness and warmth were stored within. Return to Original English Version

ruddy /ˈrʌdi/ — avermelhado; rubro. On the motionless branches of some trees, autumn berries hung like clusters of coral beads, as in those fabled orchards where the fruits were jewels; others stripped of all their garniture, stood, each the centre of its little heap of bright red leaves, watching their slow decay; others again, still wearing theirs, had them all crunched and crackled up, as though they had been burnt; about the stems of some were piled, in ruddy mounds, the apples they had borne that year; while others (hardy evergreens this class) showed somewhat stern and gloomy in their vigour, as charged by nature with the admonition that it is not to her more sensitive and joyous favourites she grants the longest term of life. Return to Original English Version

ruffled /ˈrʌfəld/ — com babados; franzido. 'But bless my soul, Mark,' said Mr Pinch, who in the progress of his observation just then made the discovery that the bosom of his companion's shirt was as much exposed as if it was Midsummer, and was ruffled by every breath of air, 'why don't you wear a waistcoat?' Return to Original English Version

ruminate ˈrumɪˌneɪt — refletir. Mr Pecksniff toyed abstractedly with his eye-glass, and kept his eyes shut, that he might ruminate the better. Return to Original English Version

ruminated /ˈruːmɪneɪtɪd/ — ruminou; matutou. 'Who is with him now,' ruminated Mr Pecksniff, warming his back (as he had warmed his hands) as if it were a widow's back, or an orphan's back, or an enemy's back, or a back that any less excellent man would have suffered to be cold. Return to Original English Version

ruminations ˌrumɪˈneɪʃənz — reflexões. Tom Pinch seemed a little disposed to be melancholy for half a minute or so, but he found comfort very soon, and pursued his ruminations thus: Return to Original English Version

rumoured /ˈruːmərd/ — boato de que (grafia britânica). It has been rumoured, and it is needless to say the rumour originated in the same base quarters, that a certain male Chuzzlewit, whose birth must be admitted to be involved in some obscurity, was of very mean and low descent. Return to Original English Version

rumpled ˈrəmpəld — amarrotado. Of course you know,' he added, after a moment's pause, as he drew his chair towards the fire again, 'I should not hesitate to avail myself of your services if you could help me at all; but mercy on us!'--Here he rumpled his hair impatiently with his hand, and looked at Tom as if he took it rather ill that he was not somebody else--'you might as well be a toasting-fork or a frying-pan, Pinch, for any help you can render me.' Return to Original English Version

rustic /ˈrʌstɪk/ — rústico; campestre. In some of these dingy resting-places which bore much the same analogy to green churchyards, as the pots of earth for mignonette and wall-flower in the windows overlooking them did to rustic gardens, there were trees; tall trees; still putting forth their leaves in each succeeding year, with such a languishing remembrance of their kind (so one might fancy, looking on their sickly boughs) as birds in cages have of theirs. Return to Original English Version

sallied /ˈsælid/ — saiu em marcha; investiu. Then they took up the box between them, and sallied out to meet the mail. Return to Original English Version

sallow /ˈsæloʊ/ — amarelado; macilento. But he stopped to read the playbill at the theatre and surveyed the doorway with a kind of awe, which was not diminished when a sallow gentleman with long dark hair came out, and told a boy to run home to his lodgings and bring down his broadsword. Return to Original English Version

sanctuaries ˈsæŋkʧuˌɛriz — santuários. In the first of these sanctuaries a fire was speedily kindled by the youthful porter, who, whistling at his work in the absence of Mrs Todgers (not to mention his sketching figures on his corduroys with burnt firewood), and being afterwards taken by that lady in the fact, was dismissed with a box on his ears. Return to Original English Version

sanded /ˈsændɪd/ — lixado. All the farmers being by this time jogging homewards, there was nobody in the sanded parlour of the tavern where he had left the horse; so he had his little table drawn out close before the fire, and fell to work upon a well-cooked steak and smoking hot potatoes, with a strong appreciation of their excellence, and a very keen sense of enjoyment. Return to Original English Version

sanguine /ˈsæŋɡwɪn/ — otimista; confiante. Mr Tigg, planting his legs as wide apart as he could be reasonably expected by the most sanguine man to keep them, shook his head at Mr Pecksniff and smiled. Return to Original English Version

sanitary /ˈsænɪtɛri/ — sanitário. In all my writings, I hope I have taken every available opportunity of showing the want of sanitary improvements in the neglected dwellings of the poor. Return to Original English Version

satanic /səˈtænɪk/ — satânico; diabólico. But he wore a moustache--a shaggy moustache too; nothing in the meek and merciful way, but quite in the fierce and scornful style; the regular Satanic sort of thing--and he wore, besides, a vast quantity of unbrushed hair. Return to Original English Version

scanty /ˈskænti/ — escasso; exíguo; sumário. The wet grass sparkled in the light; the scanty patches of verdure in the hedges--where a few green twigs yet stood together bravely, resisting to the last the tyranny of nipping winds and early frosts--took heart and brightened up; the stream which had been dull and sullen all day long, broke out into a cheerful smile; the birds began to chirp and twitter on the naked boughs, as though the hopeful creatures half believed that winter had gone by, and spring had come already. Return to Original English Version

scatter /ˈskætər/ — espalhar; esparramar. It was small tyranny for a respectable wind to go wreaking its vengeance on such poor creatures as the fallen leaves, but this wind happening to come up with a great heap of them just after venting its humour on the insulted Dragon, did so disperse and scatter them that they fled away, pell-mell, some here, some there, rolling over each other, whirling round and round upon their thin edges, taking frantic flights into the air, and playing all manner of extraordinary gambols in the extremity of their distress. Return to Original English Version

scenting /ˈsɛntɪŋ/ — farejando; pressentindo. For the Spottletoes had actually gone straight to the Dragon, where they were at that moment housed and mounting guard, and where their appearance had occasioned such a vast sensation that Mrs Lupin, scenting their errand before they had been under her roof half an hour, carried the news herself with all possible secrecy straight to Mr Pecksniff's house; indeed it was her great caution in doing so which occasioned her to miss that gentleman, who entered at the front door of the Dragon just as she emerged from the back one. Return to Original English Version

scepticism /ˈskeptɪsɪzəm/ — ceticismo (grafia britânica). If it came within the scope of reasonable probability that further proofs were required, they might be heaped upon each other until they formed an Alps of testimony, beneath which the boldest scepticism should be crushed and beaten flat. Return to Original English Version

scholastic /skʌlˈæstɪk/ — escolar; acadêmico. It seems but yesterday that Thomas was a boy fresh from a scholastic course. Return to Original English Version

scion /ˈsaɪən/ — rebento; descendente de linhagem. There was unquestionably a Chuzzlewit in the Gunpowder Plot, if indeed the arch-traitor, Fawkes himself, were not a scion of this remarkable stock; as he might easily have been, supposing another Chuzzlewit to have emigrated to Spain in the previous generation, and there intermarried with a Spanish lady, by whom he had issue, one olive-complexioned son. Return to Original English Version

scorching /ˈskɔːrtʃɪŋ/ — escaldante; abrasador. For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs. Return to Original English Version

scraps /skræps/ — restos; sobras. When he had communicated to Mr Pecksniff these pithy scraps of intelligence, he said, 'That if it was all the same to him, he would turn him over to father, and have a chat with the gals;' and in furtherance of this polite scheme, he vacated his seat adjoining that gentleman, and established himself in the opposite corner, next to the fair Miss Mercy. Return to Original English Version

screeching /ˈskriːtʃɪŋ/ — guinchando; estridente. 'Come, wake up, father, or you'll be having the nightmare, and screeching out, I know.--Do you ever have the nightmare, cousin?' he asked his neighbour, with characteristic gallantry, as he dropped his voice again. Return to Original English Version

screwing /skru/ — apertando com parafuso. 'Oh!' cried Tom, screwing up his mouth, and nodding. Return to Original English Version

scribbled /ˈskrɪbəl/ — rabiscou. I have scribbled myself, but have not yet published. Return to Original English Version

scrupulously /ˈskruːpjələsli/ — escrupulosamente. Her attire was that of a lady, but extremely plain; and in her manner, even when she sat as still as she did then, there was an indefinable something which appeared to be in kindred with her scrupulously unpretending dress. Return to Original English Version

seraphic səˈræfɪk — seráfico. Those of Thomas Pinch were all of holidays, church organs, and seraphic Pecksniffs. Return to Original English Version

serene səˈriːn — sereno. You looked over a very low fence of white cravat (whereof no man had ever beheld the tie for he fastened it behind), and there it lay, a valley between two jutting heights of collar, serene and whiskerless before you. Return to Original English Version

serenity /səˈrenəti/ — serenidade. At first, the great serenity and peace through which they travelled, disposed them both to silence; but in a very short time the punch within them and the healthful air without, made them loquacious, and they talked incessantly. Return to Original English Version

servility /sɜːrˈvɪləti/ — servilismo. Treachery, deceit, and low design; hatred of competitors, real or fancied, for my favour; meanness, falsehood, baseness, and servility; or,' and here he looked closely in his cousin's eyes, 'or an assumption of honest independence, almost worse than all; these are the beauties which my wealth has brought to light. Return to Original English Version

settest /ˈsɛtɪst/ — pousas/colocas. Who could repress a smile--of love for thee, Tom Pinch, and not in jest at thy expense, for thou art poor enough already, Heaven knows--to think that such a holiday as lies before thee should awaken that quick flow and hurry of the spirits, in which thou settest down again, almost untasted, on the kitchen window-sill, that great white mug (put by, by thy own hands, last night, that breakfast might not hold thee late), and layest yonder crust upon the seat beside thee, to be eaten on the road, when thou art calmer in thy high rejoicing! Return to Original English Version

sevenfold ˈsɛvənfoʊld — sêtuplo. Sparkling eyes and snowy breasts came hurriedly to many an upper casement as he clattered by, and gave him back his greeting: not stinted either, but sevenfold, good measure. Return to Original English Version

shabbiness /ˈʃæbinəs/ — desleixo. Nobody but Mr Tigg, who, notwithstanding his extreme shabbiness, was still understood to be in some sort a lady's man, in right of his upper lip and his frogs, indicated a doubt of the justifiable nature of these measures; and he only ogled the three Miss Chuzzlewits with the least admixture of banter in his admiration, as though he would observe, 'You are positively down upon her to too great an extent, my sweet creatures, upon my soul you are!' Return to Original English Version

shading /ˈʃeɪdɪŋ/ — sombreando; protegendo do sol. And it would seem to have been more suggestive in its aspect than street doors usually are; for he continued to lie there, rather a lengthy and unreasonable time, without so much as wondering whether he was hurt or no; neither, when Miss Pecksniff inquired through the key-hole in a shrill voice, which might have belonged to a wind in its teens, 'Who's there' did he make any reply; nor, when Miss Pecksniff opened the door again, and shading the candle with her hand, peered out, and looked provokingly round him, and about him, and over him, and everywhere but at him, did he offer any remark, or indicate in any manner the least hint of a desire to be picked up. Return to Original English Version

shambling /ˈʃæmbəlɪŋ/ — arrastando os pés. 'Mr and Mrs Spottletoe,' said Chevy Slyme, Esquire, speaking aloud for the first time, and speaking very sulkily; shambling with his legs the while. Return to Original English Version

sharer /ˈʃɛərər/ — companheiro. And this,' he added, having by this time reached another large chamber on the same story, with four little beds in it, 'this is your room, of which Mr Pinch here is the quiet sharer. Return to Original English Version

shielded /ˈʃiːldɪd/ — protegeu. But it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good; and the wisdom of the saying was verified in this instance; for the cold air came from Mr Pinch's side of the carriage, and by interposing a perfect wall of box and man between it and the new pupil, he shielded that young gentleman effectually; which was a great comfort. Return to Original English Version

shillingsworth /ˈʃɪlɪŋzwɜːrθ/ — o valor de um xelim (de bebida). When they could eat no more, Mr Pecksniff and Mr Jonas subscribed for two sixpenny-worths of hot brandy-and-water, which the latter gentleman considered a more politic order than one shillingsworth; there being a chance of their getting more spirit out of the innkeeper under this arrangement than if it were all in one glass. Return to Original English Version

shiver /ˈʃɪvər/ — arrepio; calafrio. He gradually became so much interested, that he quite forgot to replenish the fire; and was only reminded of his neglect by Martin Chuzzlewit starting up after the lapse of an hour or so, and crying with a shiver. Return to Original English Version

shortness /ˈʃɔːrtnəs/ — brevidade; escassez. It must not be inferred from this position of humility, that the youngest Miss Pecksniff was so young as to be, as one may say, forced to sit upon a stool, by reason of the shortness of her legs. Return to Original English Version

shrieking ʃrikɪŋ — gritando agudamente. And she was right, for when he drew within hail of the gate, forth rushed the tollman's children, shrieking in tiny chorus, 'Mr Pinch!' to Tom's intense delight. Return to Original English Version

shrug /ʃrʌɡ/ — encolher de ombros; dar de ombros. Mr Pecksniff replied, by a shrug of his shoulders and an apparent turning round of his eyes in their sockets before he opened them, that he was still reduced to the necessity of entertaining that desire. Return to Original English Version

shrunk /ʃrʌŋk/ — encolhido; encolheu; recuou. He was far from handsome certainly; and was drest in a snuff-coloured suit, of an uncouth make at the best, which, being shrunk with long wear, was twisted and tortured into all kinds of odd shapes; but notwithstanding his attire, and his clumsy figure, which a great stoop in his shoulders, and a ludicrous habit he had of thrusting his head forward, by no means redeemed, one would not have been disposed (unless Mr Pecksniff said so) to consider him a bad fellow by any means. Return to Original English Version

shuts ʃʌts — fecha. Thus in the quiet hours of the night, one house shuts in as many incoherent and incongruous fancies as a madman's head. Return to Original English Version

sidelong /ˈsaɪdlɔːŋ/ — de esguelha; de soslaio. Mr Pinch was so perfectly overwhelmed by these remarks that he could do nothing but occasionally exchange a word or two on some indifferent subject, and cast sidelong glances at the bright face of his odd friend (who seemed quite unconscious of his observation), until they reached a certain corner of the road, close upon the outskirts of the city, when Mark said he would jump down there, if he pleased. Return to Original English Version

signifies /ˈsɪɡnɪfaɪz/ — significa; denota; importa. 'What signifies that word, Pecksniff? Return to Original English Version

silvered /ˈsɪlvərd/ — prateado. The whole landscape was silvered by its light and by the hoar-frost; and everything looked exquisitely beautiful. Return to Original English Version

singly /ˈsɪŋɡli/ — um a um; isoladamente. Of all the bullyings and denunciations that were ever heaped on one unlucky head, none can ever have exceeded in energy and heartiness those with which he was complimented by each of his remaining relatives, singly, upon bidding him farewell. Return to Original English Version

sirâ /sɜːr/ — senhor (forma corrompida de 'sir'). 'What do you mean, sirâ what Spottletoes?' asked Pecksniff, stopping abruptly on his way to the door. Return to Original English Version

sitter's /ˈsɪtɜr/ — modelo. 'I won't drive, thank you, Mr Pinch,' said Martin, getting into the sitter's place. Return to Original English Version

sixes /sɪks/ — grupos de seis. In the meantime Mr Pecksniff, having received from a sharp angle in the bottom step but one, that sort of knock on the head which lights up, for the patient's entertainment, an imaginary general illumination of very bright short-sixes, lay placidly staring at his own street door. Return to Original English Version

sixpenny /ˈsɪkspəni/ — de seis pence. When they could eat no more, Mr Pecksniff and Mr Jonas subscribed for two sixpenny-worths of hot brandy-and-water, which the latter gentleman considered a more politic order than one shillingsworth; there being a chance of their getting more spirit out of the innkeeper under this arrangement than if it were all in one glass. Return to Original English Version

sketching /skɛtʃ/ — esboçar. In the first of these sanctuaries a fire was speedily kindled by the youthful porter, who, whistling at his work in the absence of Mrs Todgers (not to mention his sketching figures on his corduroys with burnt firewood), and being afterwards taken by that lady in the fact, was dismissed with a box on his ears. Return to Original English Version

sketchy /ˈsketʃi/ — incompleto. Then there was a young gentleman, grandnephew of Mr Martin Chuzzlewit, very dark and very hairy, and apparently born for no particular purpose but to save looking-glasses the trouble of reflecting more than just the first idea and sketchy notion of a face, which had never been carried out. Return to Original English Version

skirmishing /ˈskɜrmɪʃɪŋ/ — escaramuça. Meantime the family forces were perpetually encountering each other in divers parts of the neighbourhood; and, as no one branch of the Chuzzlewit tree had ever been known to agree with another within the memory of man, there was such a skirmishing, and flouting, and snapping off of heads, in the metaphorical sense of that expression; such a bandying of words and calling of names; such an upturning of noses and wrinkling of brows; such a formal interment of good feelings and violent resurrection of ancient grievances; as had never been known in those quiet parts since the earliest record of their civilized existence. Return to Original English Version

slackened /ˈslækʌnd/ — afrouxou. 'A pretty church!' said Martin, observing that his companion slackened the slack pace of the horse, as they approached. Return to Original English Version

slanderers /slˈændɝərz/ — caluniadores. In what respect, having these points of character, he might be fairly likened to his master, that good man's slanderers only can explain. Return to Original English Version

slaughtering /slˈɔtɝɪŋ/ — massacre. There was not the least objection, doubtless, to the young man's slaughtering and appropriating to his own use any calf, fat or lean, that he might happen to find upon the premises; but as no such animal chanced at that time to be grazing on Mr Pecksniff's estate, this request must be considered rather as a polite compliment that a substantial hospitality. Return to Original English Version

slaughterous /ˈslɔːtərəs/ — sanguinário, mortífero. Consequently, it is a source of inexpressible comfort and happiness to find, that in various periods of our history, the Chuzzlewits were actively connected with divers slaughterous conspiracies and bloody frays. Return to Original English Version

sleek /slˈik/ — liso e brilhante. So did his person, which was sleek though free from corpulency. Return to Original English Version

slighter /ˈslaɪtər/ — mais leve; mais franzino. An evening wind uprose too, and the slighter branches cracked and rattled as they moved, in skeleton dances, to its moaning music. Return to Original English Version

slinking /ˈslɪŋkɪŋ/ — escapulindo; saindo de fininho. He was very dirty and very jaunty; very bold and very mean; very swaggering and very slinking; very much like a man who might have been something better, and unspeakably like a man who deserved to be something worse. Return to Original English Version

slumbered /ˈslʌmbərd/ — dormitou. Even the old stuffed fox upon the top of the wardrobe was devoid of any spark of vigilance, for his glass eye had fallen out, and he slumbered as he stood. Return to Original English Version

smacked /smˈækt/ — tapa. The perfect and entire satisfaction of Tom; his surpassing appreciation of the husky sandwiches, which crumbled in his mouth like saw-dust; the unspeakable relish with which he swallowed the thin wine by drops, and smacked his lips, as though it were so rich and generous that to lose an atom of its fruity flavour were a sin; the look with which he paused sometimes, with his glass in his hand, proposing silent toasts to himself; and the anxious shade that came upon his contented face when, after wandering round the room, exulting in its uninvaded snugness, his glance encountered the dull brow of his companion; no cynic in the world, though in his hatred of its men a very griffin, could have withstood these things in Thomas Pinch. Return to Original English Version

smelt /smˈɛlt/ — cheirar. It happened then, and lastly, that Mr Pecksniff found himself immediately collared by something which smelt like several damp umbrellas, a barrel of beer, a cask of warm brandy-and-water, and a small parlour-full of stale tobacco smoke, mixed; and was straightway led downstairs into the bar from which he had lately come, where he found himself standing opposite to, and in the grasp of, a perfectly strange gentleman of still stranger appearance who, with his disengaged hand, rubbed his own head very hard, and looked at him, Pecksniff, with an evil countenance. Return to Original English Version

smiting /ˈsmaɪtɪŋ/ — ato de golpear. 'Oh, Mammon, Mammon!' cried Mr Pecksniff, smiting his forehead. Return to Original English Version

smock /smɑːk/ — guarda-pó. Then there were young farmers and old farmers with smock-frocks, brown great-coats, drab great-coats, red worsted comforters, leather-leggings, wonderful shaped hats, hunting-whips, and rough sticks, standing about in groups, or talking noisily together on the tavern steps, or paying and receiving huge amounts of greasy wealth, with the assistance of such bulky pocket-books that when they were in their pockets it was apoplexy to get them out, and when they were out it was spasms to get them in again. Return to Original English Version

smote /smoʊt/ — golpeou; feriu. How did you twinkle, as if fluttering with sympathy, when Mercy, reminded of the bonnet in her hair, hid her fair face and turned her head aside; the while her gentle sister plucked it out, and smote her with a sister's soft reproof, upon her buxom shoulder! Return to Original English Version

sneaking /ˈsniːkɪŋ/ — furtivo; sorrateiro; secreto. Here Mr Chevy Slyme, whose great abilities seemed one and all to point towards the sneaking quarter of the moral compass, nudged his friend stealthily with his elbow, and whispered in his ear. Return to Original English Version

sneering /ˈsnɪrɪŋ/ — escarnecedor; zombeteiro; desdenhoso. But here again the sneering detractors who weave such miserable figments from their malicious brains, are stricken dumb by evidence. Return to Original English Version

snugness /ˈsnʌɡnəs/ — aconchego. The perfect and entire satisfaction of Tom; his surpassing appreciation of the husky sandwiches, which crumbled in his mouth like saw-dust; the unspeakable relish with which he swallowed the thin wine by drops, and smacked his lips, as though it were so rich and generous that to lose an atom of its fruity flavour were a sin; the look with which he paused sometimes, with his glass in his hand, proposing silent toasts to himself; and the anxious shade that came upon his contented face when, after wandering round the room, exulting in its uninvaded snugness, his glance encountered the dull brow of his companion; no cynic in the world, though in his hatred of its men a very griffin, could have withstood these things in Thomas Pinch. Return to Original English Version

sobered /ˈsoʊbərd/ — ficou sério; ficou sóbrio. His nether garments were of a bluish grey--violent in its colours once, but sobered now by age and dinginess--and were so stretched and strained in a tough conflict between his braces and his straps, that they appeared every moment in danger of flying asunder at the knees. Return to Original English Version

soberly /ˈsoʊbərli/ — sobriamente. Also there were farmers' wives in beaver bonnets and red cloaks, riding shaggy horses purged of all earthly passions, who went soberly into all manner of places without desiring to know why, and who, if required, would have stood stock still in a china shop, with a complete dinner-service at each hoof. Return to Original English Version

sodden /ˈsɑːdən/ — encharcados; empapados. But he did not; for with the apt closing words above recited, Mr Slyme; of too haughty a stomach to work, to beg, to borrow, or to steal; yet mean enough to be worked or borrowed, begged or stolen for, by any catspaw that would serve his turn; too insolent to lick the hand that fed him in his need, yet cur enough to bite and tear it in the dark; with these apt closing words Mr Slyme fell forward with his head upon the table, and so declined into a sodden sleep. Return to Original English Version

solemnity /səˈlɛmnəti/ — solenidade. So saying, Mr Pecksniff waved his right hand with much solemnity, and once more inserting it in his waistcoat, departed. Return to Original English Version

solicit /səˈlɪsɪt/ — solicitar. I make this comment, and solicit the reader's attention to it in his or her consideration of this tale, because nothing is more common in real life than a want of profitable reflection on the causes of many vices and crimes that awaken the general horror. Return to Original English Version

solicitors /səˈlɪsətərz/ — advogados. Having seen him eat unto his heart's content he issued forth again, to wander round the town and regale himself with the shop windows; previously taking a long stare at the bank, and wondering in what direction underground the caverns might be where they kept the money; and turning to look back at one or two young men who passed him, whom he knew to be articled to solicitors in the town; and who had a sort of fearful interest in his eyes, as jolly dogs who knew a thing or two, and kept it up tremendously. Return to Original English Version

solicitude /səˈlɪsɪtuːd/ — solicitude; desvelo; preocupação. But the young lady evincing no surprise, curiosity, or alarm, whispered her, with many thanks for her solicitude and company, that she would remain there some time longer; and that she begged her not to share her watch, as she was well used to being alone, and would pass the time in reading. Return to Original English Version

sombre /ˈsɑːmbər/ — sombrio. In a sombre corner on the first landing, stood a gruff old giant of a clock, with a preposterous coronet of three brass balls on his head; whom few had ever seen--none ever looked in the face--and who seemed to continue his heavy tick for no other reason than to warn heedless people from running into him accidentally. Return to Original English Version

sooth /suːθ/ — verdadeiro; verídico. In good sooth they were big enough, and perhaps, as the saying is, ugly enough, to be the most correct of all mechanical performers; in Mr Pinch's eyes, however they were smaller than Geneva ware; and when he saw one very bloated watch announced as a repeater, gifted with the uncommon power of striking every quarter of an hour inside the pocket of its happy owner, he almost wished that he were rich enough to buy it. Return to Original English Version

soothed /suːðd/ — acalmado; aliviado. Even when I have had the anguish of discovering that I have nourished in my breast on ostrich, and not a human pupil--even in that hour of agony, they have soothed me.' Return to Original English Version

soothingly /ˈsuːðɪŋli/ — em tom conciliador; para acalmar. Now there was nothing that one may call decidedly original in this remark, nor can it be exactly said to have contained any wise precept theretofore unknown to mankind, or to have opened any hidden source of consolation; but Mr Pecksniff's manner was so bland, and he nodded his head so soothingly, and showed in everything such an affable sense of his own excellence, that anybody would have been, as Mrs Lupin was, comforted by the mere voice and presence of such a man; and, though he had merely said 'a verb must agree with its nominative case in number and person, my good friend,' or 'eight times eight are sixty-four, my worthy soul,' must have felt deeply grateful to him for his humanity and wisdom. Return to Original English Version

souled /soʊld/ — de alma (grande, nobre). Mercy! oh, what a charming name for such a pure-souled Being as the youngest Miss Pecksniff! Return to Original English Version

sounder /ˈsaʊndər/ — mais sólido; mais sensato. Here, paralysed old watchmen guarded the bodies of the dead at night, year after year, until at last they joined that solemn brotherhood; and, saving that they slept below the ground a sounder sleep than even they had ever known above it, and were shut up in another kind of box, their condition can hardly be said to have undergone any material change when they, in turn, were watched themselves. Return to Original English Version

sowing /ˈsoʊɪŋ/ — semeadura; plantio. What lawsuits grow out of the graves of rich men, every day; sowing perjury, hatred, and lies among near kindred, where there should be nothing but love! Return to Original English Version

spacious /ˈspeɪʃəs/ — amplo; de grande espaço. A young gentleman's premium being paid, and the young gentleman come to Mr Pecksniff's house, Mr Pecksniff borrowed his case of mathematical instruments (if silver-mounted or otherwise valuable); entreated him, from that moment, to consider himself one of the family; complimented him highly on his parents or guardians, as the case might be; and turned him loose in a spacious room on the two-pair front; where, in the company of certain drawing-boards, parallel rulers, very stiff-legged compasses, and two, or perhaps three, other young gentlemen, he improved himself, for three or five years, according to his articles, in making elevations of Salisbury Cathedral from every possible point of sight; and in constructing in the air a vast quantity of Castles, Houses of Parliament, and other Public Buildings. Return to Original English Version

spectre /ˈspektər/ — espectro; fantasma; assombração. It is a spectre walking before me through the world, and making every social pleasure hideous.' Return to Original English Version

speculated /ˈspɛkjəleɪtɪd/ — especulou. HE never speculated and traded on her pride in you, and her having educated you, and on her desire that you at least should live to be a gentleman. Return to Original English Version

speculating /ˈspekjuleɪtɪŋ/ — especulando; conjecturando. Mr Pecksniff also became thoughtful at those moments, not to say dejected; but as he knew the vintage, it is very likely he may have been speculating on the probable condition of Mr Pinch upon the morrow, and discussing within himself the best remedies for colic. Return to Original English Version

speedily /ˈspiːdəli/ — rapidamente; prontamente. Mr Pinch was not so dismayed by this terrible threat, but that he had voice enough to call to Mark to come in, and upstairs; a summons which he so speedily obeyed, that almost as soon as Tom and Mr Tigg had drawn in their heads and closed the window again, he, the denounced, appeared before them. Return to Original English Version

spellbound /ˈspelbaʊnd/ — enfeitiçado; fascinado. As to this idle company, there they stood, spellbound by the place, and, casting now and then a glance upon the darkness in their rear, settled their lazy elbows more at ease upon the sill, and leaned a little further in: no more disposed to tear themselves away than if they had been born to cluster round the blazing hearth like so many crickets. Return to Original English Version

spick /spɪk/ — impecável; novinho em folha. And in the window were the spick-and-span new works from London, with the title-pages, and sometimes even the first page of the first chapter, laid wide open; tempting unwary men to begin to read the book, and then, in the impossibility of turning over, to rush blindly in, and buy it! Return to Original English Version

spinster /ˈspɪnstər/ — solteirona. Beside her sat her spinster daughters, three in number, and of gentlemanly deportment, who had so mortified themselves with tight stays, that their tempers were reduced to something less than their waists, and sharp lacing was expressed in their very noses. Return to Original English Version

spontaneously /spɑːnˈteɪniəsli/ — espontaneamente. Mr Tigg was quite lost in admiration of this noble trait in his friend's character; as he made known to Mr Pinch in a neat little ballet of action, spontaneously invented for the purpose. Return to Original English Version

spouted /ˈspaʊtɪd/ — jorrou. He rather looked as if any quantity of butter might have been made out of him, by churning the milk of human kindness, as it spouted upwards from his heart. Return to Original English Version

sprats /spræts/ — sardinhas. His mirth having subsided, Mr Jonas gave him to understand that himself and parent were in fact travelling to their home in the metropolis; and that, since the memorable day of the great family gathering, they had been tarrying in that part of the country, watching the sale of certain eligible investments, which they had had in their copartnership eye when they came down; for it was their custom, Mr Jonas said, whenever such a thing was practicable, to kill two birds with one stone, and never to throw away sprats, but as bait for whales. Return to Original English Version

sprightliness /ˈspraɪtlɪnəs/ — vivacidade. 'And when I saw him on the stairs this morning, Pa,' said Mercy with her usual sprightliness, 'he looked, oh goodness, SUCH a monster! with his face all manner of colours, and his eyes as dull as if they had been boiled, and his head aching dreadfully, I am sure from the look of it, and his clothes smelling, oh it's impossible to say how strong, oh'--here the young lady shuddered--'of smoke and punch.' Return to Original English Version

sprightly /ˈspraɪtli/ — vivo; desembaraçado. With a cheerfulness of conscience, prompting almost a sprightly demeanour, he then resumed: Return to Original English Version

spruce /spruːs/ — aprumado; bem arranjado. 'And how spruce you are, too!' said Mr Pinch, surveying him with great pleasure. Return to Original English Version

sprung /sprʌŋ/ — abriu; surgiu; foi imposto de repente. John Westlock returned his parting words with no less heartiness of manner, and sprung up to his seat upon the roof. Return to Original English Version

spurts /spɜːrts/ — jorros; arrancadas. This diversion, by distracting the attention of the combatants, put an end to the strife, which, after breaking out afresh some twice or thrice in certain inconsiderable spurts and dashes, died away in silence. Return to Original English Version

sputtering /ˈspʌtərɪŋ/ — crepitando. For many years, then, he had swung and creaked, and flapped himself about, before the two windows of the best bedroom of that house of entertainment to which he lent his name; but never in all his swinging, creaking, and flapping, had there been such a stir within its dingy precincts, as on the evening next after that upon which the incidents, detailed in the last chapter occurred; when there was such a hurrying up and down stairs of feet, such a glancing of lights, such a whispering of voices, such a smoking and sputtering of wood newly lighted in a damp chimney, such an airing of linen, such a scorching smell of hot warming-pans, such a domestic bustle and to-do, in short, as never dragon, griffin, unicorn, or other animal of that species presided over, since they first began to interest themselves in household affairs. Return to Original English Version

stature /ˈstætʃər/ — estatura; envergadura moral. She was short in stature; and her figure was slight, as became her years; but all the charms of youth and maidenhood set it off, and clustered on her gentle brow. Return to Original English Version

stealthily /ˈstelθɪli/ — furtivamente; às escondidas. Here Mr Chevy Slyme, whose great abilities seemed one and all to point towards the sneaking quarter of the moral compass, nudged his friend stealthily with his elbow, and whispered in his ear. Return to Original English Version

stifle /ˈstaɪfəl/ — sufocar; abafar; reprimir. 'They won't hurt us, sir, I dare say.' And having given him this answer with great demureness she was so overcome by her own humour, that she was fain to stifle her merriment in her sister's shawl. Return to Original English Version

stifles /ˈstaɪfəlz/ — sufoca; impede de falar. Among the narrow thoroughfares at hand, there lingered, here and there, an ancient doorway of carved oak, from which, of old, the sounds of revelry and feasting often came; but now these mansions, only used for storehouses, were dark and dull, and, being filled with wool, and cotton, and the like--such heavy merchandise as stifles sound and stops the throat of echo--had an air of palpable deadness about them which, added to their silence and desertion, made them very grim. Return to Original English Version

stimulants /ˈstɪmjələnts/ — estimulantes. With such stimulants to merriment did he beguile the time, and do the honours of the table; while Mr Pinch, perhaps to assure himself that what he saw and heard was holiday reality, and not a charming dream, ate of everything, and in particular disposed of the slim sandwiches to a surprising extent. Return to Original English Version

stimulated /ˈstɪmjuleɪtɪd/ — estimulou; estimulado. 'At all events, if I was a cannibal,' said Mr George Chuzzlewit, greatly stimulated by this retort, 'I think it would occur to me that a lady who had outlived three husbands, and suffered so very little from their loss, must be most uncommonly tough.' Return to Original English Version

stinted /ˈstɪntɪd/ — economizado. I have taken, as she knows, a solemn oath never to leave her sixpence when I die, but while I live I make her an annual allowance; not extravagant in its amount and yet not stinted. Return to Original English Version

stoop /stuːp/ — alpendre; curvar-se. He was far from handsome certainly; and was drest in a snuff-coloured suit, of an uncouth make at the best, which, being shrunk with long wear, was twisted and tortured into all kinds of odd shapes; but notwithstanding his attire, and his clumsy figure, which a great stoop in his shoulders, and a ludicrous habit he had of thrusting his head forward, by no means redeemed, one would not have been disposed (unless Mr Pecksniff said so) to consider him a bad fellow by any means. Return to Original English Version

straggling /ˈstræɡəlɪŋ/ — desgarradas; espalhadas em desordem. He raised his head up in the bed, and, fixing on her two dark eyes whose brightness was exaggerated by the paleness of his hollow cheeks, as they in turn, together with his straggling locks of long grey hair, were rendered whiter by the tight black velvet skullcap which he wore, he searched her face intently. Return to Original English Version

straightway /ˈstreɪtweɪ/ — imediatamente; no mesmo instante. But now, in sheer wonder and amazement at these mysteries, she withdrew at once, and repairing straightway to her own little parlour below stairs, sat down in her easy-chair with unnatural composure. Return to Original English Version

strayed /streɪd/ — vagou; desviou-se. In like manner, there were gloomy courtyards in these parts, into which few but belated wayfarers ever strayed, and where vast bags and packs of goods, upward or downward bound, were for ever dangling between heaven and earth from lofty cranes There were more trucks near Todgers's than you would suppose whole city could ever need; not active trucks, but a vagabond race, for ever lounging in the narrow lanes before their masters' doors and stopping up the pass; so that when a stray hackney-coach or lumbering waggon came that way, they were the cause of such an uproar as enlivened the whole neighbourhood, and made the bells in the next churchtower vibrate again. Return to Original English Version

streamed /striːmd/ — jorrou; fluiu; esvoaçou. And now the morning grew so fair, and all things were so wide awake and gay, that the sun seeming to say--Tom had no doubt he said--'I can't stand it any longer; I must have a look,' streamed out in radiant majesty. Return to Original English Version

strewn /struːn/ — juncado; coberto de. The fallen leaves, with which the ground was strewn, gave forth a pleasant fragrance, and subduing all harsh sounds of distant feet and wheels created a repose in gentle unison with the light scattering of seed hither and thither by the distant husbandman, and with the noiseless passage of the plough as it turned up the rich brown earth, and wrought a graceful pattern in the stubbled fields. Return to Original English Version

strife /straɪf/ — contenda; discórdia. I have so corrupted and changed the nature of all those who have ever attended on me, by breeding avaricious plots and hopes within them; I have engendered such domestic strife and discord, by tarrying even with members of my own family; I have been such a lighted torch in peaceful homes, kindling up all the inflammable gases and vapours in their moral atmosphere, which, but for me, might have proved harmless to the end, that I have, I may say, fled from all who knew me, and taking refuge in secret places have lived, of late, the life of one who is hunted. Return to Original English Version

strolled /stroʊld/ — passeou. She strolled that way for some days, and always stayed to listen. Return to Original English Version

strove /stroʊv/ — lutava; esforçava-se. His head distilled such oil upon his whiskers, that they were rich and clogged with unctuous drops; his face was violently inflamed, his limbs trembled; and he gasped and strove for breath. Return to Original English Version

stubbled /ˈstʌbəld/ — coberto de restolho. The fallen leaves, with which the ground was strewn, gave forth a pleasant fragrance, and subduing all harsh sounds of distant feet and wheels created a repose in gentle unison with the light scattering of seed hither and thither by the distant husbandman, and with the noiseless passage of the plough as it turned up the rich brown earth, and wrought a graceful pattern in the stubbled fields. Return to Original English Version

stupendous /stuːˈpɛndəs/ — estupendo; extraordinário. Beside him, too, there stood a jug of most stupendous Wiltshire beer; and the effect of the whole was so transcendent, that he was obliged every now and then to lay down his knife and fork, rub his hands, and think about it. Return to Original English Version

subduing /səbˈduːɪŋ/ — subjugando; dominando. The fallen leaves, with which the ground was strewn, gave forth a pleasant fragrance, and subduing all harsh sounds of distant feet and wheels created a repose in gentle unison with the light scattering of seed hither and thither by the distant husbandman, and with the noiseless passage of the plough as it turned up the rich brown earth, and wrought a graceful pattern in the stubbled fields. Return to Original English Version

sublimest /səˈblaɪmɪst/ — o mais sublime. 'Pray do not be hasty, Mr Chuzzlewit,' said Pecksniff, in a tone that was at once in the sublimest degree compassionate and dispassionate; for he had by this time recovered from his surprise, and was in full possession of his virtuous self. Return to Original English Version

subsist /səbˈsɪst/ — sobreviver. I may feel in my own breast, that Mr Chuzzlewit does not regard--me, for instance; say me--with exactly that amount of Christian love which should subsist between us. Return to Original English Version

substituted /ˈsʌbstɪtuːtɪd/ — substituiu; posto no lugar de. Even such a thing as this,' said Mr Pecksniff, laying the fore-finger of his left hand upon the brown paper patch on the top of his head, 'slight casual baldness though it be, reminds us that we are but'--he was going to say 'worms,' but recollecting that worms were not remarkable for heads of hair, he substituted 'flesh and blood.' Return to Original English Version

sufferance /ˈsʌfərəns/ — tolerância tácita. The young fellow made his acknowledgments and accepted the offer; stepping into the carriage directly, and seating himself on the very edge of the seat with his body half out of it, to express his being there on sufferance, and by the politeness of Mr Pinch. Return to Original English Version

suggestive /səɡˈdʒestɪv/ — sugestivo; que faz pensar em. And it would seem to have been more suggestive in its aspect than street doors usually are; for he continued to lie there, rather a lengthy and unreasonable time, without so much as wondering whether he was hurt or no; neither, when Miss Pecksniff inquired through the key-hole in a shrill voice, which might have belonged to a wind in its teens, 'Who's there' did he make any reply; nor, when Miss Pecksniff opened the door again, and shading the candle with her hand, peered out, and looked provokingly round him, and about him, and over him, and everywhere but at him, did he offer any remark, or indicate in any manner the least hint of a desire to be picked up. Return to Original English Version

sullen /ˈsʌlən/ — sombrio e mal-humorado. The wet grass sparkled in the light; the scanty patches of verdure in the hedges--where a few green twigs yet stood together bravely, resisting to the last the tyranny of nipping winds and early frosts--took heart and brightened up; the stream which had been dull and sullen all day long, broke out into a cheerful smile; the birds began to chirp and twitter on the naked boughs, as though the hopeful creatures half believed that winter had gone by, and spring had come already. Return to Original English Version

sunbeams /ˈsʌnbiːmz/ — raios de sol. Still athwart their darker boughs, the sunbeams struck out paths of deeper gold; and the red light, mantling in among their swarthy branches, used them as foils to set its brightness off, and aid the lustre of the dying day. Return to Original English Version

superintendence /ˌsuːpərɪnˈtendəns/ — superintendência. Mr Pecksniff insisted on accompanying his young friend upstairs for personal superintendence of his comforts; and taking him by the arm, conducted him once more to his bedroom, followed by Mr Pinch, who bore the light. Return to Original English Version

supernaturally /ˌsuːpərˈnætʃərəli/ — sobrenaturalmente. Then there was the widow of a deceased brother of Mr Martin Chuzzlewit, who being almost supernaturally disagreeable, and having a dreary face and a bony figure and a masculine voice, was, in right of these qualities, what is commonly called a strong-minded woman; and who, if she could, would have established her claim to the title, and have shown herself, mentally speaking, a perfect Samson, by shutting up her brother-in-law in a private madhouse, until he proved his complete sanity by loving her very much. Return to Original English Version

superstitions /ˌsuːpərˈstɪʃənz/ — superstições. In short, gents both,' said Mr Tigg with a passionate flourish of his hands and head, 'when a man like Slyme is detained for such a thing as a bill, I reject the superstitions of ages, and believe nothing. Return to Original English Version

supposing /səˈpoʊzɪŋ/ — supondo. There was unquestionably a Chuzzlewit in the Gunpowder Plot, if indeed the arch-traitor, Fawkes himself, were not a scion of this remarkable stock; as he might easily have been, supposing another Chuzzlewit to have emigrated to Spain in the previous generation, and there intermarried with a Spanish lady, by whom he had issue, one olive-complexioned son. Return to Original English Version

surfeited /ˈsɜrfɪtɪd/ — fartou; saturou. So constantly was he a guest at that nobleman's table, indeed; and so unceasingly were His Grace's hospitality and companionship forced, as it were, upon him; that we find him uneasy, and full of constraint and reluctance; writing his friends to the effect that if they fail to do so and so by bearer, he will have no choice but to dine again with Duke Humphrey; and expressing himself in a very marked and extraordinary manner as one surfeited of High Life and Gracious Company. Return to Original English Version

surliest /ˈsɜːrliɪst/ — mais carrancudo; mais mal-humorado. If Diogenes coming to life again could have rolled himself, tub and all, into Mr Pecksniff's parlour and could have seen Tom Pinch as he sat on Mercy Pecksniff's stool with his plate and glass before him he could not have faced it out, though in his surliest mood, but must have smiled good-temperedly. Return to Original English Version

surly /ˈsɜːrli/ — rabugentos; mal-encarados. And what an impotent swaggerer it was too, for all its noise; for if it had any influence on that hoarse companion, it was but to make him roar his cheerful song the louder, and by consequence to make the fire burn the brighter, and the sparks to dance more gayly yet; at length, they whizzed so madly round and round, that it was too much for such a surly wind to bear; so off it flew with a howl giving the old sign before the ale-house door such a cuff as it went, that the Blue Dragon was more rampant than usual ever afterwards, and indeed, before Christmas, reared clean out of its crazy frame. Return to Original English Version

surpassing /sərˈpæsɪŋ/ — superando; incomparável. The perfect and entire satisfaction of Tom; his surpassing appreciation of the husky sandwiches, which crumbled in his mouth like saw-dust; the unspeakable relish with which he swallowed the thin wine by drops, and smacked his lips, as though it were so rich and generous that to lose an atom of its fruity flavour were a sin; the look with which he paused sometimes, with his glass in his hand, proposing silent toasts to himself; and the anxious shade that came upon his contented face when, after wandering round the room, exulting in its uninvaded snugness, his glance encountered the dull brow of his companion; no cynic in the world, though in his hatred of its men a very griffin, could have withstood these things in Thomas Pinch. Return to Original English Version

surveying /sərˈveɪɪŋ/ — topografia; agrimensura. 'Oh, Chiv, Chiv!' added Mr Tigg, surveying his adopted brother with an air of profound contemplation after dismissing this piece of pantomime. Return to Original English Version

swaggerer /ˈswæɡərər/ — fanfarrão, bazofeiro. And what an impotent swaggerer it was too, for all its noise; for if it had any influence on that hoarse companion, it was but to make him roar his cheerful song the louder, and by consequence to make the fire burn the brighter, and the sparks to dance more gayly yet; at length, they whizzed so madly round and round, that it was too much for such a surly wind to bear; so off it flew with a howl giving the old sign before the ale-house door such a cuff as it went, that the Blue Dragon was more rampant than usual ever afterwards, and indeed, before Christmas, reared clean out of its crazy frame. Return to Original English Version

swaggerers /ˈswæɡərərz/ — fanfarrões, bazofeiros. Wretched and forlorn as he looked, Mr Slyme had once been in his way, the choicest of swaggerers; putting forth his pretensions boldly, as a man of infinite taste and most undoubted promise. Return to Original English Version

swaggering /ˈswæɡərɪŋ/ — fanfarrão; arrogante. He was very dirty and very jaunty; very bold and very mean; very swaggering and very slinking; very much like a man who might have been something better, and unspeakably like a man who deserved to be something worse. Return to Original English Version

swarthy /ˈswɔːrði/ — moreno; de pele escura. Still athwart their darker boughs, the sunbeams struck out paths of deeper gold; and the red light, mantling in among their swarthy branches, used them as foils to set its brightness off, and aid the lustre of the dying day. Return to Original English Version

swelled /swɛld/ — inchou; encheu-se. And now so abject and so pitiful was he--at once so maudlin, insolent, beggarly, and proud--that even his friend and parasite, standing erect beside him, swelled into a Man by contrast. Return to Original English Version

swells /swelz/ — incha; cresce; vagalhões. I have a heart that swells in my bosom. Return to Original English Version

sympathized /ˈsɪmpəθaɪzd/ — demonstrou solidariedade; compreendeu. It was not so much, he said, for the temporary relief of this assistance that he prized it, as for its vindication of the high principle that Nature's Nobs felt with Nature's Nobs, and that true greatness of soul sympathized with true greatness of soul, all the world over. Return to Original English Version

sympathizing /ˈsɪmpəθaɪzɪŋ/ — solidarizando-se; compadecendo-se. What a pleasant sight was that the contrast they presented; to see each loved and loving one sympathizing with, and devoted to, and leaning on, and yet correcting and counter-checking, and, as it were, antidoting, the other! Return to Original English Version

tacit /ˈtæsɪt/ — tácito. I'd lay a handsome wager now,' said the old man, 'if I laid wagers, which I don't and never did, that you keep up appearances by a tacit understanding, even before your own daughters here. Return to Original English Version

taciturn /ˈtæsɪtɜːrn/ — taciturno. Tom made frequent reference to it also; partly from a nervous sympathy with its taciturn companion; and partly because the new pupil was to inquire for him at half after six, and the hands were getting on towards that hour. Return to Original English Version

tampered /ˈtæmpərd/ — mexeu indevidamente. 'Chiv,' said Mr Tigg aloud, in the high tone of one who was not to be tampered with. Return to Original English Version

taper /ˈteɪpər/ — vela fina. As they retired from the bed, he drew forth the writing which had occupied him so long, and holding it in the flame of the taper burnt it to ashes. Return to Original English Version

tapering /ˈteɪpərɪŋ/ — afilando; que estreita na ponta. The vane upon the tapering spire of the old church glistened from its lofty station in sympathy with the general gladness; and from the ivy-shaded windows such gleams of light shone back upon the glowing sky, that it seemed as if the quiet buildings were the hoarding-place of twenty summers, and all their ruddiness and warmth were stored within. Return to Original English Version

Original Text: Rare Words (7/7)

tarrying /ˈtæriɪŋ/ — demorando-se. I have so corrupted and changed the nature of all those who have ever attended on me, by breeding avaricious plots and hopes within them; I have engendered such domestic strife and discord, by tarrying even with members of my own family; I have been such a lighted torch in peaceful homes, kindling up all the inflammable gases and vapours in their moral atmosphere, which, but for me, might have proved harmless to the end, that I have, I may say, fled from all who knew me, and taking refuge in secret places have lived, of late, the life of one who is hunted. Return to Original English Version

tartly /ˈtɑːrtli/ — acidamente; com azedume. 'All the better!' repeated his companion tartly: 'All the worse, you mean to say.' Return to Original English Version

tattooed /tæˈtuːd/ — tatuado. Mr Pecksniff and Old Anthony kept tumbling against each other and waking up much terrified, or crushed their heads in opposite corners of the coach and strangely tattooed the surface of their faces--Heaven knows how--in their sleep. Return to Original English Version

taunt /tɔːnt/ — provocação; zombaria. I had already forgiven you, even before you ceased to reproach and taunt me. Return to Original English Version

teaboard /ˈtiːˌbɔːrd/ — bandeja de chá. In the meantime the youngest Miss Pecksniff brought from the kitchen a smoking dish of ham and eggs, and, setting the same before her father, took up her station on a low stool at his feet; thereby bringing her eyes on a level with the teaboard. Return to Original English Version

teeming /ˈtiːmɪŋ/ — fervilhante; repleto de vida. The mist, too shy and gentle for such lusty company, fled off, quite scared, before it; and as it swept away, the hills and mounds and distant pasture lands, teeming with placid sheep and noisy crows, came out as bright as though they were unrolled bran new for the occasion. Return to Original English Version

temperedly /ˈtɛmpərdli/ — com bom humor / afavelmente. If Diogenes coming to life again could have rolled himself, tub and all, into Mr Pecksniff's parlour and could have seen Tom Pinch as he sat on Mercy Pecksniff's stool with his plate and glass before him he could not have faced it out, though in his surliest mood, but must have smiled good-temperedly. Return to Original English Version

tenaciously /təˈneɪʃəsli/ — tenazmente. Cautious emigrants from Scotland or the North of England had been known to reach it safely, by impressing a charity-boy, town-bred, and bringing him along with them; or by clinging tenaciously to the postman; but these were rare exceptions, and only went to prove the rule that Todgers's was in a labyrinth, whereof the mystery was known but to a chosen few. Return to Original English Version

tending /ˈtɛndɪŋ/ — cuidando; tratando de. Presently, the youngest Miss Pecksniff ran out again to pick up his hat, his brown paper parcel, his umbrella, his gloves, and other small articles; and that done, and the door closed, both young ladies applied themselves to tending Mr Pecksniff's wounds in the back parlour. Return to Original English Version

testamentary /ˌtɛstəˈmɛntəri/ — testamentário; relativo a testamento. Then there was Mrs Spottletoe, who being much too slim for her years, and of a poetical constitution, was accustomed to inform her more intimate friends that the said whiskers were 'the lodestar of her existence;' and who could now, by reason of her strong affection for her uncle Chuzzlewit, and the shock it gave her to be suspected of testamentary designs upon him, do nothing but cry--except moan. Return to Original English Version

testator /tɛˈsteɪtər/ — testador (quem faz testamento). Mr Pecksniff, you're the cousin of the testator upstairs and we're the nephew--I say we, meaning Chiv. Return to Original English Version

testator's /tɛˈsteɪtərz/ — do testador. When the common enemy is routed, you will all set up for yourselves again; every lady and gentleman who has a part in the game, will go in on their own account and bowl away, to the best of their ability, at the testator's wicket, and nobody will be in a worse position than before. Return to Original English Version

thankee /ˈθæŋkiː/ — obrigado; agradeço. 'Thankee, Mr Pinch. Return to Original English Version

thankfulness /ˈθæŋkfəlnəs/ — gratidão. And this I will do and cause to be done, not in mere love and thankfulness, but because I regard it as an act of plain justice and honour." Return to Original English Version

thence /ðɛns/ — dali; a partir de lá. In this horse, and the hooded vehicle, whatever its proper name might be, to which he was usually harnessed--it was more like a gig with a tumour than anything else--all Mr Pinch's thoughts and wishes centred, one bright frosty morning; for with this gallant equipage he was about to drive to Salisbury alone, there to meet with the new pupil, and thence to bring him home in triumph. Return to Original English Version

there'd /ðerd/ — haveria; teria havido. Well, there'd be some credit in being jolly, with a inflammation of the lungs.' Return to Original English Version

therein /ðɛrˈɪn/ — nisso; nessa matéria. First of all there were the jewellers' shops, with all the treasures of the earth displayed therein, and such large silver watches hanging up in every pane of glass, that if they were anything but first-rate goers it certainly was not because the works could decently complain of want of room. Return to Original English Version

theretofore /ˌðeətəˈfɔːr/ — até então; anteriormente. Now there was nothing that one may call decidedly original in this remark, nor can it be exactly said to have contained any wise precept theretofore unknown to mankind, or to have opened any hidden source of consolation; but Mr Pecksniff's manner was so bland, and he nodded his head so soothingly, and showed in everything such an affable sense of his own excellence, that anybody would have been, as Mrs Lupin was, comforted by the mere voice and presence of such a man; and, though he had merely said 'a verb must agree with its nominative case in number and person, my good friend,' or 'eight times eight are sixty-four, my worthy soul,' must have felt deeply grateful to him for his humanity and wisdom. Return to Original English Version

thereupon /ˌðɛrəˈpɑːn/ — então; logo em seguida. Thereupon she embraced them once more, observing that she could not decide which was most like their poor mother (which was highly probable, seeing that she had never beheld that lady), but that she rather thought the youngest was; and then she said that as the gentlemen would be down directly, and the ladies were fatigued with travelling, would they step into her room at once? Return to Original English Version

therewith /ðɛrˈwɪð/ — com isso; ao mesmo tempo. 'Oh, certainly,' replied Tom, 'if you really wish it.' So he accompanied Mr Tigg to the retreat in question; on arriving at which place that gentleman took from his hat what seemed to be the fossil remains of an antediluvian pocket-handkerchief, and wiped his eyes therewith. Return to Original English Version

thoroughfares /ˈθɜːroʊferz/ — vias públicas; ruas principais. To one of his quiet habits this little delusion was greatly assisted by the circumstance of its being market-day, and the thoroughfares about the market-place being filled with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, waggons, garden-stuff, meat, tripe, pies, poultry and huckster's wares of every opposite description and possible variety of character. Return to Original English Version

thoughted /ˈθɔːtɪd/ — de pensamentos; inclinado a pensar. If you were on good terms, I should consider you a most confoundedly unnatural pair; but standing towards each other as you do, I took upon you as a couple of devilish deep-thoughted fellows, who may be reasoned with to any extent.' Return to Original English Version

thoughtfulness /ˈθɔːtfəlnəs/ — consideração. With these impressive words, Mr Pecksniff passed over to the bedside, where, after patting the counterpane once or twice in a very solemn manner, as if by that means he gained a clear insight into the patient's disorder, he took his seat in a large arm-chair, and in an attitude of some thoughtfulness and much comfort, waited for his waking. Return to Original English Version

threadbare /ˈθrɛdbɛr/ — puído; gasto pelo uso. 'Stop' cried the gentleman, stretching forth his right arm, which was so tightly wedged into his threadbare sleeve that it looked like a cloth sausage. Return to Original English Version

tidings /ˈtaɪdɪŋz/ — notícias; novas. In compliment to which discovery, the brook stood still no longer, but ran briskly off to bear the tidings to the water-mill, three miles away. Return to Original English Version

timbers /ˈtɪmbərz/ — vigas de madeira. Nor was this enough for its malicious fury; for not content with driving them abroad, it charged small parties of them and hunted them into the wheel wright's saw-pit, and below the planks and timbers in the yard, and, scattering the sawdust in the air, it looked for them underneath, and when it did meet with any, whew! how it drove them on and followed at their heels! Return to Original English Version

timidity /təˈmɪdəti/ — timidez. Here, the eldest daughter of the strong-minded woman rose a little way from her seat, and trembling violently from head to foot, more as it seemed with passion than timidity, expressed a general hope that some people WOULD appear in their own characters, if it were only for such a proceeding having the attraction of novelty to recommend it; and that when they (meaning the some people before mentioned) talked about their relations, they would be careful to observe who was present in company at the time; otherwise it might come round to those relations' ears, in a way they little expected; and as to red noses (she observed) she had yet to learn that a red nose was any disgrace, inasmuch as people neither made nor coloured their own noses, but had that feature provided for them without being first consulted; though even upon that branch of the subject she had great doubts whether certain noses were redder than other noses, or indeed half as red as some. Return to Original English Version

tinged /tɪndʒd/ — tingido; marcado por. Even those tokens of the season which emphatically whispered of the coming winter, graced the landscape, and, for the moment, tinged its livelier features with no oppressive air of sadness. Return to Original English Version

tingles /ˈtɪŋɡəlz/ — formiga. What better time for driving, riding, walking, moving through the air by any means, than a fresh, frosty morning, when hope runs cheerily through the veins with the brisk blood, and tingles in the frame from head to foot! Return to Original English Version

toils /tɔɪlz/ — labuta; redes de caça; trabalha duro. Mr Pecksniff's professional engagements, indeed, were almost, if not entirely, confined to the reception of pupils; for the collection of rents, with which pursuit he occasionally varied and relieved his graver toils, can hardly be said to be a strictly architectural employment. Return to Original English Version

tolerably /ˈtɑːlərəbli/ — razoavelmente; passavelmente. My engagement with the young lady I have been telling you about is likely to be a tolerably long one; for neither her prospects nor mine are very bright; and of course I shall not think of marrying until I am well able to do so. Return to Original English Version

toothsome /ˈtuːθsəm/ — saboroso; apetitoso. He had less interest now in the chemists' shops, with their great glowing bottles (with smaller repositories of brightness in their very stoppers); and in their agreeable compromises between medicine and perfumery, in the shape of toothsome lozenges and virgin honey. Return to Original English Version

toyed /tɔɪd/ — mexeu distraidamente; considerou sem seriedade. Mr Pecksniff toyed abstractedly with his eye-glass, and kept his eyes shut, that he might ruminate the better. Return to Original English Version

tranquil /ˈtræŋkwɪl/ — tranquilo. 'Tut, tut,' said Mr Pecksniff, pushing his latest-born away and running his fingers through his hair, as he resumed his tranquil face. Return to Original English Version

transcendent /trænˈsendənt/ — transcendente; sublime. Beside him, too, there stood a jug of most stupendous Wiltshire beer; and the effect of the whole was so transcendent, that he was obliged every now and then to lay down his knife and fork, rub his hands, and think about it. Return to Original English Version

transitory /ˈtrænsətɔːri/ — transitório. Every pleasure is transitory. Return to Original English Version

treading /ˈtredɪŋ/ — pisando; caminhando sobre. Brother against brother, child against parent, friends treading on the faces of friends, this is the social company by whom my way has been attended. Return to Original English Version

tremendously /trɪˈmɛndəsli/ — tremendamente; muitíssimo. Having seen him eat unto his heart's content he issued forth again, to wander round the town and regale himself with the shop windows; previously taking a long stare at the bank, and wondering in what direction underground the caverns might be where they kept the money; and turning to look back at one or two young men who passed him, whom he knew to be articled to solicitors in the town; and who had a sort of fearful interest in his eyes, as jolly dogs who knew a thing or two, and kept it up tremendously. Return to Original English Version

trenching /ˈtrɛntʃɪŋ/ — invadindo; interferindo. Secondly, and yet without trenching on the Blumenbach theory as to the descendants of Adam having a vast number of qualities which belong more particularly to swine than to any other class of animals in the creation, that some men certainly are remarkable for taking uncommon good care of themselves. Return to Original English Version

trifles /ˈtraɪfəlz/ — ninharias; coisas sem importância. 'Such trifles as girls love are here. Return to Original English Version

trifling /ˈtraɪflɪŋ/ — insignificante; fútil; ninharia. Being by this time weary of such trifling performances, the boisterous rover hurried away rejoicing, roaring over moor and meadow, hill and flat, until it got out to sea, where it met with other winds similarly disposed, and made a night of it. Return to Original English Version

triumphant /traɪˈʌmfənt/ — triunfante. The just interpretation which they bear, and the conclusion to which they lead, are triumphant and irresistible. Return to Original English Version

triumphed /ˈtraɪəmft/ — triunfou. In other hands, I have known money do good; in other hands I have known it triumphed in, and boasted of with reason, as the master-key to all the brazen gates that close upon the paths to worldly honour, fortune, and enjoyment. Return to Original English Version

trod /trɒd/ — pisou; caminhou. A kind of resigned distraction came over the stranger as he trod those devious mazes, and, giving himself up for lost, went in and out and round about and quietly turned back again when he came to a dead wall or was stopped by an iron railing, and felt that the means of escape might possibly present themselves in their own good time, but that to anticipate them was hopeless. Return to Original English Version

trotters /ˈtrɑːtərz/ — patas de porco. When at his slowest rate of travelling he would sometimes lift up his legs so high, and display such mighty action, that it was difficult to believe he was doing less than fourteen miles an hour; and he was for ever so perfectly satisfied with his own speed, and so little disconcerted by opportunities of comparing himself with the fastest trotters, that the illusion was the more difficult of resistance. Return to Original English Version

trudged /trʌdʒd/ — caminhou com esforço. The withering leaves no longer quiet, hurried to and fro in search of shelter from its chill pursuit; the labourer unyoked his horses, and with head bent down, trudged briskly home beside them; and from the cottage windows lights began to glance and wink upon the darkening fields. Return to Original English Version

tumbling /ˈtʌmblɪŋ/ — caindo; rolando. Mr Pecksniff and Old Anthony kept tumbling against each other and waking up much terrified, or crushed their heads in opposite corners of the coach and strangely tattooed the surface of their faces--Heaven knows how--in their sleep. Return to Original English Version

tumour /ˈtuːmər/ — tumor. In this horse, and the hooded vehicle, whatever its proper name might be, to which he was usually harnessed--it was more like a gig with a tumour than anything else--all Mr Pinch's thoughts and wishes centred, one bright frosty morning; for with this gallant equipage he was about to drive to Salisbury alone, there to meet with the new pupil, and thence to bring him home in triumph. Return to Original English Version

tumulus /ˈtuːmjələs/ — túmulo em montículo. As a goodly tumulus is already collected, and decently battened up above the Family grave, the present chapter is content to leave it as it is: merely adding, by way of a final spadeful, that many Chuzzlewits, both male and female, are proved to demonstration, on the faith of letters written by their own mothers, to have had chiselled noses, undeniable chins, forms that might have served the sculptor for a model, exquisitely-turned limbs and polished foreheads of so transparent a texture that the blue veins might be seen branching off in various directions, like so many roads on an ethereal map. Return to Original English Version

twain /tweɪn/ — trem. Then there were Anthony Chuzzlewit, and his son Jonas; the face of the old man so sharpened by the wariness and cunning of his life, that it seemed to cut him a passage through the crowded room, as he edged away behind the remotest chairs; while the son had so well profited by the precept and example of the father, that he looked a year or two the elder of the twain, as they stood winking their red eyes, side by side, and whispering to each other softly. Return to Original English Version

tweak /twiːk/ — puxãozinho; beliscão; puxar de leve. It was morning; and the beautiful Aurora, of whom so much hath been written, said, and sung, did, with her rosy fingers, nip and tweak Miss Pecksniff's nose. Return to Original English Version

twinkling /ˈtwɪŋklɪŋ/ — um piscar de olhos; um instante. But the oddest feat they achieved was, to take advantage of the sudden opening of Mr Pecksniff's front-door, to dash wildly into his passage; whither the wind following close upon them, and finding the back-door open, incontinently blew out the lighted candle held by Miss Pecksniff, and slammed the front-door against Mr Pecksniff who was at that moment entering, with such violence, that in the twinkling of an eye he lay on his back at the bottom of the steps. Return to Original English Version

umbrage /ˈʌmbrɪdʒ/ — ofensa; ressentimento. But Mr Pecksniff, without taking umbrage at his bearing put a card in his hand, and bade him take that upstairs, and show them in the meanwhile into a room where there was a fire. Return to Original English Version

unacquainted /ˌʌnəˈkweɪntɪd/ — que não conhece; não familiarizado. And it being quite impossible that any difference of opinion can take place among women without every woman who is within hearing taking active part in it, the strong-minded lady and her two daughters, and Mrs Spottletoe, and the deaf cousin (who was not at all disqualified from joining in the dispute by reason of being perfectly unacquainted with its merits), one and all plunged into the quarrel directly. Return to Original English Version

unattended /ˌʌnəˈtendɪd/ — sem assistência. An old gentleman and a young lady, travelling, unattended, in a rusty old chariot with post-horses; coming nobody knew whence and going nobody knew whither; had turned out of the high road, and driven unexpectedly to the Blue Dragon; and here was the old gentleman, who had taken this step by reason of his sudden illness in the carriage, suffering the most horrible cramps and spasms, yet protesting and vowing in the very midst of his pain, that he wouldn't have a doctor sent for, and wouldn't take any remedies but those which the young lady administered from a small medicine-chest, and wouldn't, in a word, do anything but terrify the landlady out of her five wits, and obstinately refuse compliance with every suggestion that was made to him. Return to Original English Version

unblushingly /ʌnˈblʌʃɪŋli/ — sem se envergonhar. Touching which remark, let it be written down to their confusion, that the enemies of this worthy man unblushingly maintained that he always said of what was very bad, that it was very natural; and that he unconsciously betrayed his own nature in doing so. Return to Original English Version

unceasingly /ʌnˈsiːsɪŋli/ — sem cessar. So constantly was he a guest at that nobleman's table, indeed; and so unceasingly were His Grace's hospitality and companionship forced, as it were, upon him; that we find him uneasy, and full of constraint and reluctance; writing his friends to the effect that if they fail to do so and so by bearer, he will have no choice but to dine again with Duke Humphrey; and expressing himself in a very marked and extraordinary manner as one surfeited of High Life and Gracious Company. Return to Original English Version

uncharitableness /ʌnˈtʃærɪtəbəlnəs/ — falta de caridade. But it is a melancholy truth, and a deplorable instance of the uncharitableness of the world, that they made the comparison. Return to Original English Version

unchecked /ˌʌnˈtʃekt/ — sem freio. But on the morning after the Installation Banquet, she suffered him to wander to and fro among the eatables and drinkables, a perfectly free and unchecked man; so utterly to Mr Pinch's wonder and confusion, that like the wretched captive who recovered his liberty in his old age, he could make but little use of his enlargement, and fell into a strange kind of flutter for want of some kind hand to scrape his bread, and cut him off in the article of sugar with a lump, and pay him those other little attentions to which he was accustomed. Return to Original English Version

uncommonly /ʌnˈkɑːmənli/ — excepcionalmente; raramente. Notwithstanding their different natures, both Charity and Mercy concurred in opening their eyes uncommonly wide at this announcement, and in looking for the moment as blank as if their thoughts had actually had a direct bearing on the main chance. Return to Original English Version

uncomplaining /ʌnkəmˈpleɪnɪŋ/ — resignado. Instances were known of people who, being asked to dine at Todgers's, had travelled round and round for a weary time, with its very chimney-pots in view; and finding it, at last, impossible of attainment, had gone home again with a gentle melancholy on their spirits, tranquil and uncomplaining. Return to Original English Version

unconditionally /ˌənkənˈdɪʃənəli/ — incondicionalmente. That worthy man Mr Pecksniff having taken leave of his cousin in the solemn terms recited in the last chapter, withdrew to his own home, and remained there three whole days; not so much as going out for a walk beyond the boundaries of his own garden, lest he should be hastily summoned to the bedside of his penitent and remorseful relative, whom, in his ample benevolence, he had made up his mind to forgive unconditionally, and to love on any terms. Return to Original English Version

unconsciously /ˌənˈkɑnʃəsli/ — inconscientemente. Touching which remark, let it be written down to their confusion, that the enemies of this worthy man unblushingly maintained that he always said of what was very bad, that it was very natural; and that he unconsciously betrayed his own nature in doing so. Return to Original English Version

uncouth /ʌnˈkuːθ/ — rude; grosseiro. He was far from handsome certainly; and was drest in a snuff-coloured suit, of an uncouth make at the best, which, being shrunk with long wear, was twisted and tortured into all kinds of odd shapes; but notwithstanding his attire, and his clumsy figure, which a great stoop in his shoulders, and a ludicrous habit he had of thrusting his head forward, by no means redeemed, one would not have been disposed (unless Mr Pecksniff said so) to consider him a bad fellow by any means. Return to Original English Version

unctuous /ˈəŋʧwəs/ — untuoso. His head distilled such oil upon his whiskers, that they were rich and clogged with unctuous drops; his face was violently inflamed, his limbs trembled; and he gasped and strove for breath. Return to Original English Version

undeniable /ˌəndɪˈnaɪəbəl/ — inegável. As a goodly tumulus is already collected, and decently battened up above the Family grave, the present chapter is content to leave it as it is: merely adding, by way of a final spadeful, that many Chuzzlewits, both male and female, are proved to demonstration, on the faith of letters written by their own mothers, to have had chiselled noses, undeniable chins, forms that might have served the sculptor for a model, exquisitely-turned limbs and polished foreheads of so transparent a texture that the blue veins might be seen branching off in various directions, like so many roads on an ethereal map. Return to Original English Version

undermined /ˌʌndərˈmaɪnd/ — solapado; minado. In the throats and maws of dark no-thoroughfares near Todgers's, individual wine-merchants and wholesale dealers in grocery-ware had perfect little towns of their own; and, deep among the foundations of these buildings, the ground was undermined and burrowed out into stables, where cart-horses, troubled by rats, might be heard on a quiet Sunday rattling their halters, as disturbed spirits in tales of haunted houses are said to clank their chains. Return to Original English Version

undertone /ˈʌndərtoʊn/ — voz baixa; meia-voz. 'I told you he didn't,' said Pinch, in an undertone; 'I knew he didn't! Return to Original English Version

undertook /ˌʌndərˈtʊk/ — comprometeram-se; encarregaram-se. Martin readily undertook this task, and Mr Pecksniff forthwith proceeded to entrust him with the materials necessary for its execution; dwelling meanwhile on the magical effect of a few finishing touches from the hand of a master; which, indeed, as some people said (and these were the old enemies again!) was unquestionably very surprising, and almost miraculous; as there were cases on record in which the masterly introduction of an additional back window, or a kitchen door, or half-a-dozen steps, or even a water spout, had made the design of a pupil Mr Pecksniff's own work, and had brought substantial rewards into that gentleman's pocket. Return to Original English Version

undeserved /ˌʌndɪˈzɜːrvd/ — imerecido. 'This young'--in spite of himself he hesitated when "person" rose to his lips, and substituted another word: 'this young stranger, Mrs Lupin, will excuse me for replying briefly, that I reside in this village; it may be in an influential manner, however, undeserved; and that I have been summoned here by you. Return to Original English Version

undoubted /ʌnˈdaʊtɪd/ — indubitável; inquestionável. There was, within a few years, in the possession of a highly respectable and in every way credible and unimpeachable member of the Chuzzlewit Family (for his bitterest enemy never dared to hint at his being otherwise than a wealthy man), a dark lantern of undoubted antiquity; rendered still more interesting by being, in shape and pattern, extremely like such as are in use at the present day. Return to Original English Version

uneasiness /ʌnɪæsɪnɛss/ — inquietação. Whenever the stranger caught him looking at this clock, a kind of confusion came upon Tom as if he had been found out in something; and it was a perception of his uneasiness which caused the younger man to say, perhaps, with a smile: Return to Original English Version

unexceptionable /ʌnɪxcɛpʃənæblɛ/ — irrepreensível. The very first word he learnt to spell was 'gain,' and the second (when he got into two syllables), 'money.' But for two results, which were not clearly foreseen perhaps by his watchful parent in the beginning, his training may be said to have been unexceptionable. Return to Original English Version

unfavourable /ʌnˈfeɪvərəbəl/ — desfavorável; adverso. Although Mr Jonas conducted Charity to the hotel and sat himself beside her at the board, it was pretty clear that he had an eye to 'the other one' also, for he often glanced across at Mercy, and seemed to draw comparisons between the personal appearance of the two, which were not unfavourable to the superior plumpness of the younger sister. Return to Original English Version

unfrequented /ˌʌnfrɪˈkwentɪd/ — pouco frequentado; ermo. The scared leaves only flew the faster for all this, and a giddy chase it was; for they got into unfrequented places, where there was no outlet, and where their pursuer kept them eddying round and round at his pleasure; and they crept under the eaves of houses, and clung tightly to the sides of hay-ricks, like bats; and tore in at open chamber windows, and cowered close to hedges; and, in short, went anywhere for safety. Return to Original English Version

ungainly /ʌnˈɡeɪnli/ — desengonçado. An ungainly, awkward-looking man, extremely short-sighted, and prematurely bald, availed himself of this permission; and seeing that Mr Pecksniff sat with his back towards him, gazing at the fire, stood hesitating, with the door in his hand. Return to Original English Version

unhonoured /ʌnˈɑːnərd/ — sem honras; não homenageado. And I submit that their recoil upon that old man, in his unhonoured age, is not a mere piece of poetical justice, but is the extreme exposition of a direct truth. Return to Original English Version

unimpeachable /ˌʌnɪmˈpiːtʃəbəl/ — irrepreensível; acima de qualquer dúvida. There was, within a few years, in the possession of a highly respectable and in every way credible and unimpeachable member of the Chuzzlewit Family (for his bitterest enemy never dared to hint at his being otherwise than a wealthy man), a dark lantern of undoubted antiquity; rendered still more interesting by being, in shape and pattern, extremely like such as are in use at the present day. Return to Original English Version

unintelligible /ˌʌnɪnˈtelɪdʒəbəl/ — ininteligível. 'I assure you that he is quite unintelligible to me.' Return to Original English Version

uninvaded /ˌʌnɪnˈveɪdɪd/ — não invadido; intocado. The perfect and entire satisfaction of Tom; his surpassing appreciation of the husky sandwiches, which crumbled in his mouth like saw-dust; the unspeakable relish with which he swallowed the thin wine by drops, and smacked his lips, as though it were so rich and generous that to lose an atom of its fruity flavour were a sin; the look with which he paused sometimes, with his glass in his hand, proposing silent toasts to himself; and the anxious shade that came upon his contented face when, after wandering round the room, exulting in its uninvaded snugness, his glance encountered the dull brow of his companion; no cynic in the world, though in his hatred of its men a very griffin, could have withstood these things in Thomas Pinch. Return to Original English Version

unison /ˈjuːnɪsən/ — uníssono. The fallen leaves, with which the ground was strewn, gave forth a pleasant fragrance, and subduing all harsh sounds of distant feet and wheels created a repose in gentle unison with the light scattering of seed hither and thither by the distant husbandman, and with the noiseless passage of the plough as it turned up the rich brown earth, and wrought a graceful pattern in the stubbled fields. Return to Original English Version

uniting /juˈnaɪtɪŋ/ — unindo-se; juntando-se. 'He will avail himself of the eligible opportunity which now offers, for uniting the advantages of the best practical architectural education with the comforts of a home, and the constant association with some who (however humble their sphere, and limited their capacity) are not unmindful of their moral responsibilities.' Return to Original English Version

unmistakable /ˌʌnmɪˈsteɪkəbəl/ — inequívoco. Mr Tigg received this declaration with a grave request that Mr Pinch would have the goodness to make it again; and on Tom's repeating it in a still more emphatic and unmistakable manner, checked it off, sentence for sentence, by nodding his head solemnly at the end of each. Return to Original English Version

unmixed /ʌnˈmɪkst/ — puro; sem mistura. Martin lay for some time, with an expression on his face of silent wonder, not unmixed with rage; at length he muttered in a whisper: Return to Original English Version

unmusically /ʌnˈmjuːzɪkli/ — de forma desafinada; sem musicalidade. Mr Pinch was jogging along, full of pleasant thoughts and cheerful influences, when he saw, upon the path before him, going in the same direction with himself, a traveller on foot, who walked with a light quick step, and sang as he went--for certain in a very loud voice, but not unmusically. Return to Original English Version

unmuzzled /ʌnˈmʌz.əld/ — sem focinheira. As Hamlet says, Hercules may lay about him with his club in every possible direction, but he can't prevent the cats from making a most intolerable row on the roofs of the houses, or the dogs from being shot in the hot weather if they run about the streets unmuzzled. Return to Original English Version

unpretending /ˌʌnprɪˈtɛndɪŋ/ — modesto; sem pretensões. Her attire was that of a lady, but extremely plain; and in her manner, even when she sat as still as she did then, there was an indefinable something which appeared to be in kindred with her scrupulously unpretending dress. Return to Original English Version

unquestionably /ʌnˈkwestʃənəbli/ — indubitavelmente. There was unquestionably a Chuzzlewit in the Gunpowder Plot, if indeed the arch-traitor, Fawkes himself, were not a scion of this remarkable stock; as he might easily have been, supposing another Chuzzlewit to have emigrated to Spain in the previous generation, and there intermarried with a Spanish lady, by whom he had issue, one olive-complexioned son. Return to Original English Version

unruffled /ʌnˈrʌfəld/ — imperturbável; liso. If ever his unruffled smile proclaimed the words, 'I am a messenger of peace!' that was its mission now. Return to Original English Version

unscrewed /ʌnˈskruːd/ — desparafusou. It happened that Mr Pecksniff, coming softly upon the dark passage into which a spiral ray of light usually darted through the same keyhole, was astonished to find no such ray visible; and it happened that Mr Pecksniff, when he had felt his way to the chamber-door, stooping hurriedly down to ascertain by personal inspection whether the jealousy of the old man had caused this keyhole to be stopped on the inside, brought his head into such violent contact with another head that he could not help uttering in an audible voice the monosyllable 'Oh!' which was, as it were, sharply unscrewed and jerked out of him by very anguish. Return to Original English Version

unspeakable /ʌnˈspiːkəbəl/ — indizível; que não se pode dizer. 'But what can anyone expect from Mr Pinch!' cried Charity, with as strong and scornful an emphasis on the name as if it would have given her unspeakable pleasure to express it, in an acted charade, on the calf of that gentleman's leg. Return to Original English Version

unspeakably /ʌnˈspiːkəbli/ — indizivelmente. He was very dirty and very jaunty; very bold and very mean; very swaggering and very slinking; very much like a man who might have been something better, and unspeakably like a man who deserved to be something worse. Return to Original English Version

unsullied /ʌnˈsʌlid/ — imaculado; sem mácula. I give you my unsullied word of honour, that you very strongly remind me of that historical character. Return to Original English Version

unsurpassable /ˌʌnsərˈpæsəbəl/ — insuperável. Also, to record that wherever I have been, in the smallest places equally with the largest, I have been received with unsurpassable politeness, delicacy, sweet temper, hospitality, consideration, and with unsurpassable respect for the privacy daily enforced upon me by the nature of my avocation here and the state of my health. Return to Original English Version

untasted /ʌnˈteɪstɪd/ — intocado; sem ser provado. Who could repress a smile--of love for thee, Tom Pinch, and not in jest at thy expense, for thou art poor enough already, Heaven knows--to think that such a holiday as lies before thee should awaken that quick flow and hurry of the spirits, in which thou settest down again, almost untasted, on the kitchen window-sill, that great white mug (put by, by thy own hands, last night, that breakfast might not hold thee late), and layest yonder crust upon the seat beside thee, to be eaten on the road, when thou art calmer in thy high rejoicing! Return to Original English Version

unwary /ʌnˈweri/ — incauto. And in the window were the spick-and-span new works from London, with the title-pages, and sometimes even the first page of the first chapter, laid wide open; tempting unwary men to begin to read the book, and then, in the impossibility of turning over, to rush blindly in, and buy it! Return to Original English Version

unwholesome /ʌnˈhoʊlsəm/ — nocivo; insalubre. His sharp features being much pinched and nipped by long waiting in the cold, and his straggling red whiskers and frowzy hair being more than usually dishevelled from the same cause, he certainly looked rather unwholesome and uncomfortable than Shakspearian or Miltonic. Return to Original English Version

upraising /ʌpˈreɪzɪŋ/ — levantamento; erguimento. 'My loves!' said Mr Pecksniff, with the same serene upraising of his hand; 'My dears!' After a solemn pause he meekly bowed to Mr Pinch, as who should say, 'Proceed;' but Mr Pinch was so very much at a loss how to resume, and looked so helplessly at the two Miss Pecksniffs, that the conversation would most probably have terminated there, if a good-looking youth, newly arrived at man's estate, had not stepped forward from the doorway and taken up the thread of the discourse. Return to Original English Version

uproar /ˈʌprɔːr/ — alvoroço; algazarra; clamor. In like manner, there were gloomy courtyards in these parts, into which few but belated wayfarers ever strayed, and where vast bags and packs of goods, upward or downward bound, were for ever dangling between heaven and earth from lofty cranes There were more trucks near Todgers's than you would suppose whole city could ever need; not active trucks, but a vagabond race, for ever lounging in the narrow lanes before their masters' doors and stopping up the pass; so that when a stray hackney-coach or lumbering waggon came that way, they were the cause of such an uproar as enlivened the whole neighbourhood, and made the bells in the next churchtower vibrate again. Return to Original English Version

uprose /ʌpˈroʊz/ — ergueu-se; levantou-se; forma literária no passado. An evening wind uprose too, and the slighter branches cracked and rattled as they moved, in skeleton dances, to its moaning music. Return to Original English Version

upshot /ˈʌpʃɑːt/ — resultado; desfecho. Interview succeeded interview; words engendered words, as they always do; and the upshot of it was, that I was to renounce her, or be renounced by him. Return to Original English Version

upturning /ʌpˈtɜrnɪŋ/ — o levantar do rosto; viramento para cima. Meantime the family forces were perpetually encountering each other in divers parts of the neighbourhood; and, as no one branch of the Chuzzlewit tree had ever been known to agree with another within the memory of man, there was such a skirmishing, and flouting, and snapping off of heads, in the metaphorical sense of that expression; such a bandying of words and calling of names; such an upturning of noses and wrinkling of brows; such a formal interment of good feelings and violent resurrection of ancient grievances; as had never been known in those quiet parts since the earliest record of their civilized existence. Return to Original English Version

urbanity /ɜrˈbænɪti/ — urbanidade; cortesia; polidez. 'No,' said Mr Pecksniff, with his own peculiar urbanity, 'nor oysters. Return to Original English Version

ushered /ˈʌʃərd/ — conduziu; acompanhou até. The business in hand thus easily settled, Mr Pinch and Martin would have withdrawn immediately, but for the urgent entreaties of Mr Tigg that they would allow him the honour of presenting them to his friend Slyme, which were so very difficult of resistance that, yielding partly to these persuasions and partly to their own curiosity, they suffered themselves to be ushered into the presence of that distinguished gentleman. Return to Original English Version

uttering /ˈʌtərɪŋ/ — proferindo; emitindo. I beg,' cried Mr Pecksniff, raising his voice, as Pinch appeared about to speak, 'I beg that individual not to offer a remark; he will truly oblige me by not uttering one word, just now. Return to Original English Version

vacated /ˈveɪkeɪtɪd/ — desocupou. When he had communicated to Mr Pecksniff these pithy scraps of intelligence, he said, 'That if it was all the same to him, he would turn him over to father, and have a chat with the gals;' and in furtherance of this polite scheme, he vacated his seat adjoining that gentleman, and established himself in the opposite corner, next to the fair Miss Mercy. Return to Original English Version

vagabondism /ˈvæɡəbɒndɪzəm/ — vagabundagem. Indeed, it may be laid down as a general principle, that the more extended the ancestry, the greater the amount of violence and vagabondism; for in ancient days those two amusements, combining a wholesome excitement with a promising means of repairing shattered fortunes, were at once the ennobling pursuit and the healthful recreation of the Quality of this land. Return to Original English Version

vainglorious /ˌveɪnˈɡlɔriəs/ — vanglorioso; jactancioso. Nor was this a vainglorious boast, for it commanded at a perspective of two feet, a brown wall with a black cistern on the top. Return to Original English Version

valour /ˈvælər/ — valor; bravura; coragem. The two Miss Pecksniffs being a pretty good match for the three Miss Chuzzlewits, and all five young ladies having, in the figurative language of the day, a great amount of steam to dispose of, the altercation would no doubt have been a long one but for the high valour and prowess of the strong-minded woman, who, in right of her reputation for powers of sarcasm, did so belabour and pummel Mrs Spottletoe with taunting words that the poor lady, before the engagement was two minutes old, had no refuge but in tears. Return to Original English Version

vapour /ˈveɪpər/ — vapor (grafia britânica). From cottage chimneys, smoke went streaming up high, high, as if the earth had lost its grossness, being so fair, and must not be oppressed by heavy vapour. Return to Original English Version

vehement /ˈviːəmənt/ — veemente. Mr Pinch had listened to all this with looks of bewilderment, which seemed to be in part occasioned by the matter of his companion's speech, and in part by his rapid and vehement manner. Return to Original English Version

venting /ˈventɪŋ/ — dando vazão a; desabafando. It was small tyranny for a respectable wind to go wreaking its vengeance on such poor creatures as the fallen leaves, but this wind happening to come up with a great heap of them just after venting its humour on the insulted Dragon, did so disperse and scatter them that they fled away, pell-mell, some here, some there, rolling over each other, whirling round and round upon their thin edges, taking frantic flights into the air, and playing all manner of extraordinary gambols in the extremity of their distress. Return to Original English Version

verdure /ˈvɜːrdʒər/ — verdura; vegetação viçosa. The wet grass sparkled in the light; the scanty patches of verdure in the hedges--where a few green twigs yet stood together bravely, resisting to the last the tyranny of nipping winds and early frosts--took heart and brightened up; the stream which had been dull and sullen all day long, broke out into a cheerful smile; the birds began to chirp and twitter on the naked boughs, as though the hopeful creatures half believed that winter had gone by, and spring had come already. Return to Original English Version

verger /ˈvɜrdʒər/ — sacristão; zelador de igreja. The feeling that the sounds awakened, in the moment of their existence, seemed to include his whole life and being; and as the surrounding realities of stone and wood and glass grew dimmer in the darkness, these visions grew so much the brighter that Tom might have forgotten the new pupil and the expectant master, and have sat there pouring out his grateful heart till midnight, but for a very earthy old verger insisting on locking up the cathedral forthwith. Return to Original English Version

vesper /ˈvɛspər/ — vésperas; da tarde. Mr Pinch stood rooted to the spot on hearing this, and might have stood there until dark, but that the old cathedral bell began to ring for vesper service, on which he tore himself away. Return to Original English Version

vexation /vɛkˈseɪʃən/ — aborrecimento; irritação. 'This,' he said, in allusion to the party, not the wine, 'is a mingling that repays one for much disappointment and vexation. Return to Original English Version

viand /ˈvaɪənd/ — iguaria. There were two bottles of currant wine, white and red; a dish of sandwiches (very long and very slim); another of apples; another of captain's biscuits (which are always a moist and jovial sort of viand); a plate of oranges cut up small and gritty; with powdered sugar, and a highly geological home-made cake. Return to Original English Version

viands /ˈvaɪəndz/ — iguarias; víveres. By the time the cheese and celery came, Mr Pinch had taken a book out of his pocket, and could afford to trifle with the viands; now eating a little, now drinking a little, now reading a little, and now stopping to wonder what sort of a young man the new pupil would turn out to be. Return to Original English Version

vibrate /ˈvaɪbreɪt/ — vibrar; tremer rapidamente. In like manner, there were gloomy courtyards in these parts, into which few but belated wayfarers ever strayed, and where vast bags and packs of goods, upward or downward bound, were for ever dangling between heaven and earth from lofty cranes There were more trucks near Todgers's than you would suppose whole city could ever need; not active trucks, but a vagabond race, for ever lounging in the narrow lanes before their masters' doors and stopping up the pass; so that when a stray hackney-coach or lumbering waggon came that way, they were the cause of such an uproar as enlivened the whole neighbourhood, and made the bells in the next churchtower vibrate again. Return to Original English Version

vigilance /ˈvɪdʒələns/ — vigilância. Even the old stuffed fox upon the top of the wardrobe was devoid of any spark of vigilance, for his glass eye had fallen out, and he slumbered as he stood. Return to Original English Version

vignette /vɪnˈjɛt/ — vinheta (ilustração decorativa). Here too were the dainty frontispiece and trim vignette, pointing like handposts on the outskirts of great cities, to the rich stock of incident beyond; and store of books, with many a grave portrait and time-honoured name, whose matter he knew well, and would have given mines to have, in any form, upon the narrow shell beside his bed at Mr Pecksniff's. Return to Original English Version

vigour /ˈvɪɡər/ — vigor (grafia britânica). Thus, the vigour and perseverance with which I have for some months past been collecting materials for, and hammering away at, a new book on America has much astonished me; seeing that all that time my declaration has been perfectly well known to my publishers on both sides of the Atlantic, that no consideration on earth would induce me to write one. Return to Original English Version

vindicate /ˈvɪndɪkeɪt/ — justificar; defender a honra de. I would submit to you, whether we might not remove Mr Chuzzlewit's distrust of us, and vindicate our own disinterestedness by--' Return to Original English Version

vindication /ˌvɪndɪˈkeɪʃən/ — justificação; desagravo. It was not so much, he said, for the temporary relief of this assistance that he prized it, as for its vindication of the high principle that Nature's Nobs felt with Nature's Nobs, and that true greatness of soul sympathized with true greatness of soul, all the world over. Return to Original English Version

vivacity /vɪˈvæsəti/ — vivacidade. She was too fresh and guileless, and too full of child-like vivacity, was the youngest Miss Pecksniff, to wear combs in her hair, or to turn it up, or to frizzle it, or braid it. Return to Original English Version

vowing /ˈvaʊɪŋ/ — jurando; afirmando solenemente. An old gentleman and a young lady, travelling, unattended, in a rusty old chariot with post-horses; coming nobody knew whence and going nobody knew whither; had turned out of the high road, and driven unexpectedly to the Blue Dragon; and here was the old gentleman, who had taken this step by reason of his sudden illness in the carriage, suffering the most horrible cramps and spasms, yet protesting and vowing in the very midst of his pain, that he wouldn't have a doctor sent for, and wouldn't take any remedies but those which the young lady administered from a small medicine-chest, and wouldn't, in a word, do anything but terrify the landlady out of her five wits, and obstinately refuse compliance with every suggestion that was made to him. Return to Original English Version

wager /ˈweɪdʒər/ — aposta; apostar. I'd lay a handsome wager now,' said the old man, 'if I laid wagers, which I don't and never did, that you keep up appearances by a tacit understanding, even before your own daughters here. Return to Original English Version

wagers /ˈweɪdʒərz/ — apostas. I'd lay a handsome wager now,' said the old man, 'if I laid wagers, which I don't and never did, that you keep up appearances by a tacit understanding, even before your own daughters here. Return to Original English Version

waggish /ˈwæɡɪʃ/ — brincalhão; jocoso. They were both very busy on the afternoon succeeding the family's departure--Martin with the grammar-school, and Tom in balancing certain receipts of rents, and deducting Mr Pecksniff's commission from the same; in which abstruse employment he was much distracted by a habit his new friend had of whistling aloud while he was drawing--when they were not a little startled by the unexpected obtrusion into that sanctuary of genius, of a human head which, although a shaggy and somewhat alarming head in appearance, smiled affably upon them from the doorway, in a manner that was at once waggish, conciliatory, and expressive of approbation. Return to Original English Version

waggishness /ˈwæɡɪʃnəs/ — jocosidade; humor brincalhão. Glancing towards his daughters for the first time since he had begun these reflections, and seeing that they both smiled, Mr Pecksniff eyed them for an instant so jocosely (though still with a kind of saintly waggishness) that the younger one was moved to sit upon his knee forthwith, put her fair arms round his neck, and kiss him twenty times. Return to Original English Version

wainscoted /ˈweɪnskətɪd/ — revestido de madeira. The parlour was wainscoted, and communicated to strangers a magnetic and instinctive consciousness of rats and mice. Return to Original English Version

wakeful /ˈweɪkfəl/ — insone; desperto. There was no wakeful reflection of the fire there, as in your modern chambers, which upon the darkest nights have a watchful consciousness of French polish; the old Spanish mahogany winked at it now and then, as a dozing cat or dog might, nothing more. Return to Original English Version

wares /wɛrz/ — mercadorias; artigos à venda. To one of his quiet habits this little delusion was greatly assisted by the circumstance of its being market-day, and the thoroughfares about the market-place being filled with carts, horses, donkeys, baskets, waggons, garden-stuff, meat, tripe, pies, poultry and huckster's wares of every opposite description and possible variety of character. Return to Original English Version

wariness /ˈwerinəs/ — cautela; desconfiança. Then there were Anthony Chuzzlewit, and his son Jonas; the face of the old man so sharpened by the wariness and cunning of his life, that it seemed to cut him a passage through the crowded room, as he edged away behind the remotest chairs; while the son had so well profited by the precept and example of the father, that he looked a year or two the elder of the twain, as they stood winking their red eyes, side by side, and whispering to each other softly. Return to Original English Version

waxing /ˈwæksɪŋ/ — crescente; encerando. But there he hung; rearing, in a state of monstrous imbecility, on his hind legs; waxing, with every month that passed, so much more dim and shapeless, that as you gazed at him on one side of the sign-board it seemed as if he must be gradually melting through it, and coming out upon the other. Return to Original English Version

wayfarers /ˈweɪferərz/ — viajantes a pé. In like manner, there were gloomy courtyards in these parts, into which few but belated wayfarers ever strayed, and where vast bags and packs of goods, upward or downward bound, were for ever dangling between heaven and earth from lofty cranes There were more trucks near Todgers's than you would suppose whole city could ever need; not active trucks, but a vagabond race, for ever lounging in the narrow lanes before their masters' doors and stopping up the pass; so that when a stray hackney-coach or lumbering waggon came that way, they were the cause of such an uproar as enlivened the whole neighbourhood, and made the bells in the next churchtower vibrate again. Return to Original English Version

waywardness /ˈweɪwərdnəs/ — rebeldia; teimosia; capricho. Her dark brown hair, disordered from the same cause, had fallen negligently from its bonds, and hung upon her neck; for which instance of its waywardness no male observer would have had the heart to blame it. Return to Original English Version

wedged /wedʒd/ — encaixado à força; entalado. 'Stop' cried the gentleman, stretching forth his right arm, which was so tightly wedged into his threadbare sleeve that it looked like a cloth sausage. Return to Original English Version

weighty /ˈweɪti/ — importante; grave; pesado. 'There must be weighty matters on his mind, though,' said the hostess, shaking her head, 'for he talks, sir, in the strangest way you ever heard. Return to Original English Version

wert /wɜːrt/ — eras (forma arcaica de were). Who, as thou drivest off, a happy, man, and noddest with a grateful lovingness to Pecksniff in his nightcap at his chamber-window, would not cry, 'Heaven speed thee, Tom, and send that thou wert going off for ever to some quiet home where thou mightst live at peace, and sorrow should not touch thee!' Return to Original English Version

wheeling /ˈwilɪŋ/ — voando em círculos; girando. 'Mr Pinch, Mr Pinch!' said Pecksniff, wheeling his chair about, and looking at him with an aspect of the deepest melancholy, 'I did not expect this from you. Return to Original English Version

wheelwrights /ˈwiːlraɪts/ — fabricantes de rodas. 'Hearty chaps them wheelwrights--hurrah! Return to Original English Version

whence /wɛns/ — de onde; donde. An old gentleman and a young lady, travelling, unattended, in a rusty old chariot with post-horses; coming nobody knew whence and going nobody knew whither; had turned out of the high road, and driven unexpectedly to the Blue Dragon; and here was the old gentleman, who had taken this step by reason of his sudden illness in the carriage, suffering the most horrible cramps and spasms, yet protesting and vowing in the very midst of his pain, that he wouldn't have a doctor sent for, and wouldn't take any remedies but those which the young lady administered from a small medicine-chest, and wouldn't, in a word, do anything but terrify the landlady out of her five wits, and obstinately refuse compliance with every suggestion that was made to him. Return to Original English Version

wherefore /ˈwɛrfɔːr/ — por isso; por essa razão (arcaico). I wish I may die, if this isn't the queerest state of existence that we find ourselves forced into without knowing why or wherefore, Mr Pecksniff! Return to Original English Version

wheresoever /ˌwersoʊˈevər/ — onde quer que. "So much of my voice has lately been heard in the land, that I might have been contented with troubling you no further from my present standing-point, were it not a duty with which I henceforth charge myself, not only here but on every suitable occasion, whatsoever and wheresoever, to express my high and grateful sense of my second reception in America, and to bear my honest testimony to the national generosity and magnanimity. Return to Original English Version

whereupon /ˌwɛrəˈpɑːn/ — após o que; e então. 'At half-past six,' said Tom in the very same breath; whereupon the other looked at him with some surprise. Return to Original English Version

whiff /wɪf/ — lufada; baforada de cheiro. That whiff of russia leather, too, and all those rows on rows of volumes neatly ranged within--what happiness did they suggest! Return to Original English Version

whine /waɪn/ — ganido; choramingo. With a whine, not unlike the cry of the animal he named, in its lowest state of humiliation, he raised his glass to his mouth again. Return to Original English Version

whirling /ˈwɜːrlɪŋ/ — girando; rodopiando. It was small tyranny for a respectable wind to go wreaking its vengeance on such poor creatures as the fallen leaves, but this wind happening to come up with a great heap of them just after venting its humour on the insulted Dragon, did so disperse and scatter them that they fled away, pell-mell, some here, some there, rolling over each other, whirling round and round upon their thin edges, taking frantic flights into the air, and playing all manner of extraordinary gambols in the extremity of their distress. Return to Original English Version

whiskerless /ˈwɪskəlɪs/ — sem suíças; sem barba. You looked over a very low fence of white cravat (whereof no man had ever beheld the tie for he fastened it behind), and there it lay, a valley between two jutting heights of collar, serene and whiskerless before you. Return to Original English Version

whit /wɪt/ — mínimo; pingo; tiquinho. At length he rose and divested himself of his shawl and great-coat, which (far different from Mr Pinch's) was a very warm and thick one; but he was not a whit more conversational out of his great-coat than in it, for he sat down again in the same place and attitude, and leaning back in his chair, began to bite his nails. Return to Original English Version

whomsoever /ˌhuːmsoʊˈevər/ — a quem quer que. Upon that, I took fire immediately, and told him that with his good leave I would dispose of myself in marriage, and would rather not be knocked down by him or any other auctioneer to any bidder whomsoever.' Return to Original English Version

wickedest /ˈwɪkɪdɪst/ — o mais malvado. And some of the wickedest among them even kissed their hands as Tom looked back. Return to Original English Version

widow's /ˈwɪdoʊz/ — da viúva. 'Who is with him now,' ruminated Mr Pecksniff, warming his back (as he had warmed his hands) as if it were a widow's back, or an orphan's back, or an enemy's back, or a back that any less excellent man would have suffered to be cold. Return to Original English Version

widowhood /ˈwɪdoʊhʊd/ — viuvez. This was a smart stab at a pension enjoyed by the strong-minded woman, during her second widowhood and before her last coverture. Return to Original English Version

winded /ˈwɪndɪd/ — em compostos: long-winded, prolixo; short-winded, de fôlego curto. These were, in general, ancient inhabitants of that region; born, and bred there from boyhood, who had long since become wheezy and asthmatical, and short of breath, except in the article of story-telling; in which respect they were still marvellously long-winded. Return to Original English Version

winter's /ˈwɪntərz/ — do inverno. Skittles, cricket, quoits, nine-pins, comic songs, choruses, company round the chimney corner every winter's evening. Return to Original English Version

wintry /ˈwɪntri/ — invernal; gélido. A faded, and an ancient dragon he was; and many a wintry storm of rain, snow, sleet, and hail, had changed his colour from a gaudy blue to a faint lack-lustre shade of grey. Return to Original English Version

wistfully /ˈwɪstfəli/ — com nostalgia; melancolicamente; com saudade. Now that he had come to a close, he drew a very long breath; and gazing wistfully in his face as if he were unable to settle in his own mind what expression it wore, and were desirous to draw from it as good a clue to his real meaning as it was possible to obtain in the dark, was about to answer, when the sound of the mail guard's horn came cheerily upon their ears, putting an immediate end to the conference; greatly as it seemed to the satisfaction of the younger man, who jumped up briskly, and gave his hand to his companion. Return to Original English Version

withdrawing /wɪðˈdrɔːɪŋ/ — retirando; perdendo o interesse. 'No, sir, certainly not,' returned the other, withdrawing his gaze from the horizon, and looking at his fellow-traveller. Return to Original English Version

withstood /wɪðˈstʊd/ — resistiu a; suportou. The perfect and entire satisfaction of Tom; his surpassing appreciation of the husky sandwiches, which crumbled in his mouth like saw-dust; the unspeakable relish with which he swallowed the thin wine by drops, and smacked his lips, as though it were so rich and generous that to lose an atom of its fruity flavour were a sin; the look with which he paused sometimes, with his glass in his hand, proposing silent toasts to himself; and the anxious shade that came upon his contented face when, after wandering round the room, exulting in its uninvaded snugness, his glance encountered the dull brow of his companion; no cynic in the world, though in his hatred of its men a very griffin, could have withstood these things in Thomas Pinch. Return to Original English Version

wooed /wuːd/ — cortejou; namorou; conquistou. And lest the sun should break this charm too eagerly, there moved between him and the ground, a mist like that which waits upon the moon on summer nights--the very same to Tom--and wooed him to dissolve it gently. Return to Original English Version

worrit /ˈwɜrɪt/ — preocupação; aborrecimento; tormento. Then you, even with your good humour, would be always on the fret and worrit, always uncomfortable in your own mind, always a-thinking as you was getting too old for my taste, always a-picturing me to yourself as being chained up to the Dragon door, and wanting to break away. Return to Original English Version

worsted /ˈwʊstɪd/ — lã penteada; fio de lã. Then there were young farmers and old farmers with smock-frocks, brown great-coats, drab great-coats, red worsted comforters, leather-leggings, wonderful shaped hats, hunting-whips, and rough sticks, standing about in groups, or talking noisily together on the tavern steps, or paying and receiving huge amounts of greasy wealth, with the assistance of such bulky pocket-books that when they were in their pockets it was apoplexy to get them out, and when they were out it was spasms to get them in again. Return to Original English Version

worths /wɜːðz/ — porções (no valor de). When they could eat no more, Mr Pecksniff and Mr Jonas subscribed for two sixpenny-worths of hot brandy-and-water, which the latter gentleman considered a more politic order than one shillingsworth; there being a chance of their getting more spirit out of the innkeeper under this arrangement than if it were all in one glass. Return to Original English Version

wrathfully /ˈræθfəli/ — iradamente; com raiva. From the strong-minded woman downwards everybody fell, that instant, upon Mr Spottletoe, who after vainly attempting to be heard in silence was fain to sit down again, folding his arms and shaking his head most wrathfully, and giving Mrs Spottletoe to understand in dumb show, that that scoundrel Pecksniff might go on for the present, but he would cut in presently, and annihilate him. Return to Original English Version

wreaking /ˈrikɪŋ/ — descarregando (a raiva); causando. It was small tyranny for a respectable wind to go wreaking its vengeance on such poor creatures as the fallen leaves, but this wind happening to come up with a great heap of them just after venting its humour on the insulted Dragon, did so disperse and scatter them that they fled away, pell-mell, some here, some there, rolling over each other, whirling round and round upon their thin edges, taking frantic flights into the air, and playing all manner of extraordinary gambols in the extremity of their distress. Return to Original English Version

wretched /ˈretʃɪd/ — miserável; desgraçado; péssimo. John, there is scarcely a sin in the world that is in my eyes such a crying one as ingratitude; and when he taxes me with that, and believes me to be guilty of it, he makes me miserable and wretched.' Return to Original English Version

wretchedest /ˈrɛtʃɪdɪst/ — o mais miserável; o mais infeliz. 'I swear,' cried Mr Slyme, giving the table an imbecile blow with his fist, and then feebly leaning his head upon his hand, while some drunken drops oozed from his eyes, 'that I am the wretchedest creature on record. Return to Original English Version

wright's /raɪts/ — de Wright. Nor was this enough for its malicious fury; for not content with driving them abroad, it charged small parties of them and hunted them into the wheel wright's saw-pit, and below the planks and timbers in the yard, and, scattering the sawdust in the air, it looked for them underneath, and when it did meet with any, whew! how it drove them on and followed at their heels! Return to Original English Version

wrinkling /ˈrɪŋklɪŋ/ — franzindo. Meantime the family forces were perpetually encountering each other in divers parts of the neighbourhood; and, as no one branch of the Chuzzlewit tree had ever been known to agree with another within the memory of man, there was such a skirmishing, and flouting, and snapping off of heads, in the metaphorical sense of that expression; such a bandying of words and calling of names; such an upturning of noses and wrinkling of brows; such a formal interment of good feelings and violent resurrection of ancient grievances; as had never been known in those quiet parts since the earliest record of their civilized existence. Return to Original English Version

writhing /ˈraɪðɪŋ/ — contorcendo-se; retorcendo-se. I plainly see to what foul uses all this money will be put at last,' he cried, almost writhing in the bed; 'after filling me with cares and miseries all my life, it will perpetuate discord and bad passions when I am dead. Return to Original English Version

wrought /rɔt/ — trabalhou; forjou; lavrado. This was carried by my fourth son on the fifth of November, when he was a Guy Fawkes.' These remarkable words wrought (as well they might) a strong impression on his mind, and he was in the habit of repeating them very often. Return to Original English Version

wrung /rʌŋ/ — torceu; espremeu. With my breast still wrung and grieved to its inmost core by the ingratitude of that person, I am proud and glad to say that I forgive him. Return to Original English Version

yielding /ˈjiːldɪŋ/ — cedendo; complacente; que produz. The business in hand thus easily settled, Mr Pinch and Martin would have withdrawn immediately, but for the urgent entreaties of Mr Tigg that they would allow him the honour of presenting them to his friend Slyme, which were so very difficult of resistance that, yielding partly to these persuasions and partly to their own curiosity, they suffered themselves to be ushered into the presence of that distinguished gentleman. Return to Original English Version

yore /jɔːr/ — outrora, em of yore, de antanho. They no longer demand a beautiful virgin for breakfast every morning, with as much regularity as any tame single gentleman expects his hot roll, but rest content with the society of idle bachelors and roving married men; and they are now remarkable rather for holding aloof from the softer sex and discouraging their visits (especially on Saturday nights), than for rudely insisting on their company without any reference to their inclinations, as they are known to have done in days of yore. Return to Original English Version

you's /juz/ — você é. 'The foot next you's the gouty one.' Return to Original English Version