# ■ 8 After the robbery

The night was bitterly cold. A sharp wind whipped the fallen snow up into the air and blew it into every hole and corner. It was a night for the homeless to lie down and die; and for luckier people to sit close to their fires and thank God They were at home.

In the workhouse where Oliver was born, Mrs Corney -the widow in charge- was making tea by her fire. When she heard a knock at her door, she frowned and called out sharply, 'Come in. ' The frown, however, was quickly changed to a sweet smile when she saw Mr Bumble enter.

Hard weather, Mr Bumble, 'said the widow.

Yes, indeed, ma'am, ' replied the beadle. 'We've had to give out to the poor people in this town great quantities of bread and cheese today, and They' re still complaining. Why, one man even came back and demanded some free fire-wood!

What does he want that for? People are never satisfied. Give the m one thing today, and tomorrow They'll ask for something else! '

Mrs Corney agreed that it was very shocking. They discussed some workhouse business togethe r, and the n Mr

Bumble looked hopefully at the teapot. Mrs Corney offered him some tea. Instantly, Mr Bumble sat down by the fire and gave the widow such a warm smile that her face turned a delicate pink. She passed Mr Bumble the tea－cup, and as he took it, he managed to give her hand a little stroke. 'You're a kind－hearted woman, Mrs Corney, 'said the beadle.

Oh, Mr Bumble! 'said the widow, smiling shyly. For a while the re was a friendly silence between the m, the n Mr Bumble moved his chair closer to the widow's. Mrs Corney, of course, did not notice this, but when the beadle's arm began to slide around her waist, she felt she must make a small protest.

Encouraged by this response, Mr Bumble immediately gave her a kiss, but at this interesting moment the re was a sudden knock at the door. Mr Bumble jumped to his feet and went to the other end of the room.

Please, Mrs Corney, ' said a voice outside. 'Old Sally is going fast. '

Well, what can I do to help her? 'asked Mrs Corney angrily.

Nothing, ma'am, replied the old woman outside. But she says she has something to tell you, which you must hear. She won't die quietly till you come. '

Complaining loudly, Mrs Corney asked Mr Bumble to wait until she came back. The n she followed the old woman up the stairs.

Old Sally lay in bed in a freezing cold room. The fire was so small and mean that it gave no warmth at all.

Mrs Corney bent over the bed, and the dying woman opened her eyes. 'Come closer, 'she murmured. 'Let me whisper in your ear. ' She held onto Mrs Corney's arm and pulled her down towards her 'In this same room I once helped a pretty young woman who came in with cut and bleeding feet, who gave birth to a boy and the n died. '

Well? ' asked Mrs Corney impatiently.

I robbed her. She was hardly dead before I stole it! '

Stole what? '

It! The only thing she had. It was gold. It could have saved her life! '

Gold? Who was this mother? Tell me! '

She told me to look after it when she died. ' The old woman's mind was getting confused. 'She trusted me, poor girl, and I stole it. '

Quick, tell me or it may be too late! ' said Mrs Corney greedily. ' What was it, and what was the boy's name? '

The old woman could hardly speak．'Oliver. The gold I stole was—'

Yes, yes! What? '

The old woman fell back onto the bed, dead.

Mrs Corney hurried back to her room, where Mr Bumble was still admiring her furniture and counting her silver tea-spoons. They sat down again by the fire, and soon Mr Bumble's arm returned to its previous position round Mrs Corney's waist. It was not long before he asked her to marry him, and the widow happily accepted him. While They drank to celebrate the arrangement, Mrs Corney told Mr Bumble about old Sally's death, and the unknown gold object which she had stolen from the dead body of The young woman.

After many expressions of undying love, Mr Bumble finally left the room and returned home, with bright visions of his future.

While the se events were happening in the workhouse, the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates were playing cards in Fagin's house. The Dodger, as usual, was winning easily; somehow, he always seemed to know exactly what cards the other players had in their hand s. Suddenly the re was a faint ring on the bell downstairs, and Toby came in-the man who had gone with Bill Sikes and Oliver to rob the house in Chertsey. Fagin jumped to his feet.

Where are They? ' he screamed. 'Sikes and the boy! Where are They hiding? '

We failed, ' said the robber.

What happened? '

They fired and hit the boy. We ran away with Oliver between us, and They chased us with dogs. '

And the boy? What about the boy? 'gasped Fagin.

His head was hanging down, and he was cold. We needed to go faster so we left him in a field, alive or dead That's all I know about him. '

Fagin did not wait to hear any more. He gave an angry scream, ran out of the house and hurried through the streets until he reached Bill Sikes' house． As he climbed the stairs, he thought, 'Well, Nancy, if the re' s anything going on here, I'll find out about it-however clever you are. '

Nancy was alone upstairs in her room, her head on the table.

She's been drinking again, 'thought Fagin. As he closed the door, she woke up. He told her what had happened during the robbery; she said nothing and her head returned to the table. 'And where do you think the boy is now, my dear? 'Fagin asked her, trying hard to see her face. 'Poor little child! Left alone like that．'

Nancy looked up. 'I hope the child's dead. The n he'd be happier than any of us. '

What! 'said Fagin, in amazement.

It's better like that. The sight of the boy turns me against myself, and all of you. '

You're drunk. Fagin suddenly lost his temper. 'The boy's worth a fortune to me-and now a drunken gang has lost him. And if Sikes doesn't return that boy to me, dead or alive, I'll tell the police about him and I'll get Sikes hanged. Just remember that! '

When Fagin left her, Nancy was already back in a drunken sleep, her head lying on the table once more. Fagin went out into the blackness of the night and walked home. He had reached the corner of his street and was searching in his pocket for his key, when a dark figure came out of the shadows and crossed the road towards him.

I've been waiting here for two hours, Fagin. ' said the stranger. 'Where have you been? '

On your business, my dear, ' said Fagin, glancing at him uneasily.

We'd better talk inside. '

The door closed behind the m and They crept quietly up to the top floor in order not to wake the sleeping boys downstairs. They sat in a dark room, the only light coming from a candle burning in the passage outside.

The stranger's name was Monks, and he was in an evil mood.

He listened to Fagin for a while, frowning heavily. 'It was badly planned, he said angrily. 'Couldn't you have made the boy into an ordinary thief, and the n got him arrested and sent out of the country for the rest of his life? '

But he isn't like the other boys here, ' Fagin said. 'I had nothing to frighten him with. Anyway, I've already helped you. After he was caught by the police, stealing from the book shop, I got Nancy to get him back. And the n she felt sorry for him. '

Kill her! ' Monks said impatiently.

We can't afford to do that kind of thing, ' said Fagin.

But I can turn the boy into an ordinary thief now. And the n Nancy will harden her heart against him. I know how women are. But if he's already dead—'

That's not my fault! ' said Monks quickly. 'I always said to you- do anything you want to him, but don't kill him. I wouldn't have been able to forget it, if you had. '

Suddenly he jumped to his feet, staring at the wall opposite the door. 'What's that? 'he whispered, terrified.

What? Where? ' cried Fagin.

The shadow! I saw the shadow of a woman pass along that wall! '

White－faced, They both ran from the room into the passage. The candle threw long shadows down the stairs, but the re was no one the re. They listened. Only silence filled the house.

It was your imagination, ' said Fagin, softly.

I swear I saw it! replied Monks. They searched all the upstairs rooms. They were empty, and as quiet as death. Monks grew calmer, and eventually left the house at one o'clock in the morning.

The chase down at Chertsey the previous night had not lasted long. The re was a lot of noise of men shouting and dogs barking, as the servants from the house pursued the robbers across the fields. But Sikes and Toby wasted no time. They dropped Oliver's unconscious body in a field, and disappeared into the fog and the darkness in different directions. The three pursuers lost enthusiasm for the chase and agreed among themselves that it was much too dangerous to continue. They returned to the house, keeping close together and trying to look brave.

Morning came, but Oliver still lay in the field as if dead. It began to rain heavily, and after a while Oliver opened his eyes. His left arm was covered in blood and hurting badly. He felt so weak he could hardly stand, but he knew that if he stayed where he was, he would die. Gasping with pain, he forced himself to his feet and with slow, shaky steps, began to walk. He had no idea where he was going, and moved forward mechanically, as though in a dream.

After a while his feet found a road, and he looked round and saw a house in the distance. He decided he would rather die near human beings than in a cold field, so he turned his steps towards the house. As he came nearer, he realized that the house was familiar and he felt faint with terror. But where else could he go? With a last effort, he crawled up the path and knocked on the door, the n fell exhausted on the step.

It was now mid－morning. Inside the house the men servants were still describing the night's adventures to the cook and the servant girl, who gasped with appreciative horror at every exciting moment. They were all enjoying themselves very much- when the re came a knock at the door. Pale with fright, They all stared at each other. Nobody was keen to answer the knock, so eventually They all went, including the dogs. Very cautiously, They opened the door, and saw nothing more alarming than poor Oliver, curled up in a sad little heap on the step.

The n one of the men gave a shout, seized the boy by a leg and pulled him into the hall. 'Here he is! ' he cried excitedly. 'Here's the thief! I shot him last night! '

A young lady appeared at the top of the stairs. 'What's going on here? Quiet, please! Is this poor boy very hurt? '

Very, 'said the servant, proudly.

The n one of you go to town as fast as you can and fetch a policeman and Dr Losberne. The rest of you, help to carry the boy upstairs and put him to bed. Treat him kindly, I beg you. '

8 盜竊案之後

那是個極其寒冷的夜晚。凜冽的寒風將落在地面上的雪卷向空中，又吹進每一個洞穴和角落。這是個讓流浪街頭無家可歸的人躺下來死亡的夜晚。而那些能偎坐在火爐旁的人則感謝上帝讓他們有家可待，他們是更幸運的人。

在奧利弗出生的濟貧院裡，科尼太太——一個負責管事的寡婦——在爐火旁煮著茶，忽聽有人敲門。她皺起了眉頭並大聲喊著：“進來。”她看見走進來的人是班布爾先生，緊皺的眉頭頓時變成了甜甜的微笑。

“這鬼天氣，班布爾先生。”寡婦說。

“一點不假，太太。”執事應著，“我們今天不得不把大量的麵包和奶酪發放給鎮子上的窮人，可他們仍在抱怨。哼，竟然有一個人回來，要一些免費的木柴！他要這個幹什麼？人們從來沒有滿足的時候，今天給了這個，明天他們還會要那個！”

科尼太太點著頭，說這是叫人很吃驚的。他們一起商量了一些濟貧院的事，然後班布爾先生滿懷希望地看著茶壺。科尼太太請他喝茶，立刻，班布爾先生在靠近爐火的地方坐了下來，並熱情地向她笑了一笑。這使她的臉微微發紅，嬌豔無比。她把茶杯遞給班布爾先生時，他接過茶杯，順勢撫摸了一下她的手。“你真是個好心的女人，科尼太太。”執事說。

“噢，班布爾先生！”這寡婦含著害羞的微笑說。他們友好地默默相對了一會兒，班布爾先生將他的椅子挪了挪，更靠近科尼太太了。她當然沒注意到這一行動。但是，在執事輕輕地將胳膊摟在了她的腰上時，她覺得她必須稍加抗議了。

這一反應使班布爾先生膽子更大了，他馬上親了她一下，但就在這有趣的一剎那，響起了一陣敲門聲。班布爾先生立即跳起身來，走到了屋子的另一頭。

“科尼太太，快，”門外有人喊著，“老薩莉快要死了。”

“那麼，我能幫她什麼忙呢？”科尼太太生氣地說。

“什麼忙也幫不了，太太。”外面的老婦說，“可她說，她有話要跟你說，你非得聽不可，在你去之前她是不會安安靜靜死去的。”

科尼太太大聲地抱怨著，請班布爾先生在她回來之前先別離開。隨後，她跟著老婦上樓去了。

老薩莉躺在一張床上，屋子冷得像個冰窖。爐裡的火又小又弱，沒有一點熱氣。

科尼太太站在床邊俯下身。床上垂死的女人睜開眼睛。“靠近點。”她小聲說。“讓我悄悄對著你的耳朵說。”她緊緊拉住科尼太太的胳膊，使她俯身靠近自己。“就在這間屋子裡，我曾幫助過一個漂亮的年輕女人。她進來時，兩隻腳傷痕累累，血跡斑斑，她在這兒生下了一個男孩就死了。”

“後來呢？”科尼太太急切地追問道。

“我偷了她的東西。是在她還沒有最後斷氣的時候偷的！”

“偷了什麼東西？”

“那個東西！她身上僅有的一件東西。是金子的。這東西本可以救她的命！”

“金子的？這女人是誰？快告訴我！”

“她說，她死後讓我收藏好這東西。”這老婦的腦子開始糊塗了，說話顛三倒四。“這可憐的姑娘，她相信我，可我卻拿了她的東西。”

“快說，要不然來不及了！”科尼太太貪婪地說。“那是個什麼東西，生下的男孩叫什麼名字？”

這老婦說話已經非常困難了。“奧利弗。我拿的金子是……”

“嗯，嗯，什麼？”

這老婦向後一仰，倒在床上死了。

科尼太太連忙返回了自己的房間，班布爾先生仍在這兒用羨慕的眼光欣賞著她屋裡的傢什，數著喝茶用的銀勺。他們倆又重新坐在了火爐旁，班布爾的一隻胳膊又回到原處，摟住了科尼太太的腰。沒多久，班布爾先生就開始向那寡婦求婚，她高興地答應了。他們舉杯祝賀這一安排，這時，科尼太太將老薩莉的死和她從死去的年輕女人身上偷了不知名的金貨的事一起告訴了班布爾先生。

說了許多永不變心的殷勤話之後，班布爾先生懷著關於自己將來的美好夢想離開了這間屋子，回到了自己的家。

在這些事發生於濟貧院裡時，插翅神偷和查理·貝茨正在費金的家裡打著牌。和往常一樣，神偷輕鬆地贏了對家。不知怎麼回事，好像他每次都確切地知道對家手裡有什麼牌似的。突然，樓下傳來一陣輕輕的門鈴聲，走進來的是託比——是和比爾·賽克斯、奧利弗一起去切特賽那所房子盜竊的那個人。費金跳了起來。

“他們呢？”他尖叫著，“賽克斯和那個孩子！他們躲在哪兒？”

“我們沒得手，”竊賊說。

“出了什麼差錯？”

“他們開槍打傷了那孩子，我們倆架著奧利弗拼命逃了出來。他們帶著狗追我們。”

“那孩子怎麼樣了？他現在在哪兒？”費金喘著氣問。

“他耷拉著頭，渾身發冷，因為我們得趕緊逃離那兒，所以不得不將他丟下，不管是死是活。關於這孩子我只知道這些。”

費金沒有等著再聽下去。他憤怒地尖叫著，衝出了屋子，匆匆地穿過幾條街道，一直跑到比爾·賽克斯的家。他邊上樓邊琢磨著：“好啊，南希，如果這裡面有什麼花招，我會搞清楚的——無論你有多聰明，也瞞不過我。”

南希一個人待在樓上她的房間裡，頭歪在桌子上。

“她又喝醉了。”費金想。在他關門時，她醒來了。他把盜竊失敗的事跟她說了，她沒吱聲，頭又歪在了桌子上。“親愛的，你覺得這孩子現在會在哪兒？”費金問道，力圖從她臉上看出點什麼。“可憐的孩子！就這樣被丟下不管了。”

南希朝他翻了一眼。“我倒希望這孩子已經死了，死了反倒比我們任何人都痛快。”

“什麼？”費金驚叫著。

“那樣更好些。我一看見這孩子就痛恨我自己，也痛恨你們所有人。”

“你又喝醉了。”費金突然生起氣來。“這孩子對於我是無價之寶——現在你們這幫酒鬼把他丟了。如果賽克斯不把這孩子還給我，不管是死是活，我會去警察局告他的，我會把他送上絞刑架的。記著！”

費金說完走開時，南希又醉醺醺地回到了夢鄉，她的頭再一次倒在了桌子上。費金出了門，在茫茫黑夜之中往家裡走去。他走到家門口的拐角處，把手伸進衣袋裡摸索著找鑰匙，這時，從黑暗處出來一個人影，過了馬路朝他走來。

“費金，我在這兒整整等了你兩個小時，你跑到哪兒去了？”這個陌生人說。

“為你辦事去了，親愛的。”費金說著，不安地瞥了他一眼。

“我們最好進去說話。”

門在他們身後緊緊地關上了。他們輕輕地上了頂樓，生怕吵醒睡在樓下的孩子們。他們坐在黑屋子裡，只有一絲燭光從通道里透進來。

這個陌生人叫蒙克斯，他現在情緒很壞。

他緊皺眉頭聽著費金說了一會兒，然後氣憤地說：“你們的計劃糟透了，你難道就不能把他訓練成普通的小賊，然後讓警察局抓了去流放到國外去終此一生嗎？”

“可是他跟這兒其他孩子不一樣，”費金說，“我已經沒什麼可以用來嚇唬他的了。反正，我已經幫過你了。他上次在書店偷東西被警察抓了去，是我讓南希把他找回來的，可後來南希也覺得對不起他。”

“殺了她！”蒙克斯不耐煩地說。

“那麼幹我們經受不起。”費金說，“不過，我現在能使這孩子成為一個普通的盜賊，南希也會對他慢慢心狠起來的，我懂女人的心。但要是他已經死了……”

“那不是我的過錯！”蒙克斯趕緊說。“我一直跟你說——你怎麼著都行，就是別弄死他。如果你真殺了他，我是不會忘了這件事的。”

他猛地站了起來，緊盯對著門的一堵牆看著。“那是什麼？”他驚恐地小聲說。

“什麼？在哪兒？”費金叫道。

“影子！我看見一個女人的影子從這牆上一閃而過！”

他們倆臉色發白，一起從屋裡來到了通道。蠟燭的火苗在樓梯上投下了一條長長的黑影，可那裡沒有一個人。他們傾聽著，屋裡仍是一片寂靜。

“是你的幻覺。”費金輕聲地說。

“我發誓我看見了！”蒙克斯說。他們查看了樓上每一個房間，結果都是空的，像死一樣寂靜。蒙克斯稍微鎮靜了一點，凌晨一點鐘他離開了這所房子。

前一天夜裡切特賽的追捕並沒有持續多長時間。這幢房子的僕人跑過了田野，追趕著盜賊，喊叫的人聲中夾雜著一陣陣狗叫聲。但賽克斯和託比毫不浪費時間，他們將失去知覺的奧利弗扔在了野地裡，便沿著不同的方向消失在霧茫茫的黑夜之中了。三個僕人追趕了一陣便失去了熱情。他們認為再追下去將會很危險，便返回房子，儘量待在一起，裝出很勇敢的樣子。

天亮了，奧利弗仍像死了一樣躺在荒郊野地裡。天下起了大雨，一會兒，奧利弗睜開了眼睛。他的左胳膊上全是血，而且痛得厲害。他虛弱得幾乎站不起來，但他明白，如果就待在這裡，他會死去的。由於疼痛，他倒吸著涼氣，強迫自己站了起來，邁著緩慢的步子，搖搖晃晃地朝前走去。他不知道自己是在走向哪裡，只是機械地向前移動著腳步，好像在夢境中一樣。

過了一段時間，他到了小路上，四處張望著，發現不遠處有所房子。他下定決心，就是死也要死在有人的地方，決不能死在這冰冷荒涼的野地裡。於是他轉過身，朝這房子走去。來到近處時，他竟發覺這房子很面熟，他恐懼得一陣眩暈。可他離開這兒還能去哪兒呢？他使盡了最後一點餘力，爬過小徑，拉響了門鈴，便筋疲力盡地癱倒在臺階上。

現在已是大上午的了。這房子裡的男僕們仍在向廚娘和一位女傭描述著昨夜的冒險經歷。廚娘和女傭倒抽著冷氣，對當時的每一個驚險的場面表現出讚賞和恐懼。他們正說得樂不可支——這時門鈴響了。他們互相看著，臉色嚇得發白。沒人想去開門，最後他們一起走向門口，連幾條狗都去了。他們小心翼翼地打開門，只見可憐的奧利弗蜷縮成一團倒在門口的臺階上，此外沒有更可怕的事。

其中的一個男人大喊了一聲，抓住奧利弗的一條腿就把他拖進了大廳。“就是他！”那人興奮地大叫著，“他就是那個賊！昨天晚上是我開槍打中他的！”

這時，樓梯口出現了一個年輕的女人。“出了什麼事？請安靜點！這個可憐的孩子傷得很重嗎？”

“不輕，”男僕得意地說。

“那麼，你們趕快去一個人到鎮子上找警察來，並把羅斯伯恩醫生請來，其他的人幫著把這孩子抬到樓上，放在床上。好好照看他，我求求你們了。”