登陆注册
5251800000042

第42章 MASTER HUMPHREY, FROM HIS CLOCK-SIDE IN THE CHIMNE

changers who sit within the Temple; and falling, after a few turns up and down, into the quiet train of thought which such a place awakens, paced the echoing stones like some old monk whose present world lay all within its walls. As I looked afar up into the lofty dome, I could not help wondering what were his reflections whose genius reared that mighty pile, when, the last small wedge of timber fixed, the last nail driven into its home for many centuries, the clang of hammers, and the hum of busy voices gone, and the Great Silence whole years of noise had helped to make, reigning undisturbed around, he mused, as I did now, upon his work, and lost himself amid its vast extent. I could not quite determine whether the contemplation of it would impress him with a sense of greatness or of insignificance; but when I remembered how long a time it had taken to erect, in how short a space it might be traversed even to its remotest parts, for how brief a term he, or any of those who cared to bear his name, would live to see it, or know of its existence, I imagined him far more melancholy than proud, and looking with regret upon his labour done. With these thoughts in my mind, I began to ascend, almost unconsciously, the flight of steps leading to the several wonders of the building, and found myself before a barrier where another money-taker sat, who demanded which among them I would choose to see. There were the stone gallery, he said, and the whispering gallery, the geometrical staircase, the room of models, the clock - the clock being quite in my way, I stopped him there, and chose that sight from all the rest.

I groped my way into the Turret which it occupies, and saw before me, in a kind of loft, what seemed to be a great, old oaken press with folding doors. These being thrown back by the attendant (who was sleeping when I came upon him, and looked a drowsy fellow, as though his close companionship with Time had made him quite indifferent to it), disclosed a complicated crowd of wheels and chains in iron and brass, - great, sturdy, rattling engines, -

suggestive of breaking a finger put in here or there, and grinding the bone to powder, - and these were the Clock! Its very pulse, if I may use the word, was like no other clock. It did not mark the flight of every moment with a gentle second stroke, as though it would check old Time, and have him stay his pace in pity, but measured it with one sledge-hammer beat, as if its business were to crush the seconds as they came trooping on, and remorselessly to clear a path before the Day of Judgment.

I sat down opposite to it, and hearing its regular and never-

changing voice, that one deep constant note, uppermost amongst all the noise and clatter in the streets below, - marking that, let that tumult rise or fall, go on or stop, - let it be night or noon, to-morrow or to-day, this year or next, - it still performed its functions with the same dull constancy, and regulated the progress of the life around, the fancy came upon me that this was London's Heart, - and that when it should cease to beat, the City would be no more.

It is night. Calm and unmoved amidst the scenes that darkness favours, the great heart of London throbs in its Giant breast.

Wealth and beggary, vice and virtue, guilt and innocence, repletion and the direst hunger, all treading on each other and crowding together, are gathered round it. Draw but a little circle above the clustering housetops, and you shall have within its space everything, with its opposite extreme and contradiction, close beside. Where yonder feeble light is shining, a man is but this moment dead. The taper at a few yards' distance is seen by eyes that have this instant opened on the world. There are two houses separated by but an inch or two of wall. In one, there are quiet minds at rest; in the other, a waking conscience that one might think would trouble the very air. In that close corner where the roofs shrink down and cower together as if to hide their secrets from the handsome street hard by, there are such dark crimes, such miseries and horrors, as could be hardly told in whispers. In the handsome street, there are folks asleep who have dwelt there all their lives, and have no more knowledge of these things than if they had never been, or were transacted at the remotest limits of the world, - who, if they were hinted at, would shake their heads, look wise, and frown, and say they were impossible, and out of Nature, - as if all great towns were not. Does not this Heart of London, that nothing moves, nor stops, nor quickens, - that goes on the same let what will be done, does it not express the City's character well?

The day begins to break, and soon there is the hum and noise of life. Those who have spent the night on doorsteps and cold stones crawl off to beg; they who have slept in beds come forth to their occupation, too, and business is astir. The fog of sleep rolls slowly off, and London shines awake. The streets are filled with carriages and people gaily clad. The jails are full, too, to the throat, nor have the workhouses or hospitals much room to spare.

The courts of law are crowded. Taverns have their regular frequenters by this time, and every mart of traffic has its throng.

Each of these places is a world, and has its own inhabitants; each is distinct from, and almost unconscious of the existence of any other. There are some few people well to do, who remember to have heard it said, that numbers of men and women - thousands, they think it was - get up in London every day, unknowing where to lay their heads at night; and that there are quarters of the town where misery and famine always are. They don't believe it quite, - there may be some truth in it, but it is exaggerated, of course. So, each of these thousand worlds goes on, intent upon itself, until night comes again, - first with its lights and pleasures, and its cheerful streets; then with its guilt and darkness.

同类推荐
  • 太上说牛癀妙经

    太上说牛癀妙经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 善女人传

    善女人传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说福力太子因缘经

    佛说福力太子因缘经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 大乘理趣六波罗蜜多经

    大乘理趣六波罗蜜多经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 道德真经集解

    道德真经集解

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 青囊秘诀

    青囊秘诀

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 社交媒体与新消费时代

    社交媒体与新消费时代

    本书以社交媒体与新消费时代为主题,内容为麦肯锡全球各分支机构的董事和合伙人关于这项主题的研究集成,文章包括中国社交媒体铸就消费新时代、制胜中国社交网络市场、破解社交媒体营销谜团、社交网络危机管理法则、"会面"2020中国消费者、2011城市可持续发展指数报告、振兴中国电动汽车产业。
  • 马云:我的世界永不言败

    马云:我的世界永不言败

    本书全面讲述马云从出生至今五十年间的奋斗历程,展现一个商业传奇人物的精彩故事。首批披露马云创业前默默跋涉的艰难岁月、鲜为人知的家庭生活,他的喜好、性格,甚至直面其心境。马云的一生充满曲折与励志色彩,又极富传奇,50年间,跌宕沉浮,起起落落,一直贯穿其间的是他永不言败的坚韧理念。从两次高考失利到进入大学校园,从四处求职无门到终于当上老师,从创业初始无人相助到公司逐步走上正轨,从力排众议创建中国黄页到经营阿里巴巴帝国,从淘宝危机到赴美上市……
  • 红血女王(全集)

    红血女王(全集)

    全美狂销140万册!席卷37国个国家和地区,首部曲荣膺《纽约时报》畅销排行榜桂冠!,稳居《纽约时报》《明镜周刊》畅销榜前三!荣获美国豆瓣Goodreads年度最佳处女作奖!入围Goodreads年度zui佳青少年奇幻和科幻小说奖!环球影业同名电影紧张筹备中,《分歧者》系列制片&《绝命毒师》编剧超强阵容联袂打造,备受瞩目!自古以来,血液的颜色决定了人的贵贱!
  • 上阳子金丹大要仙派

    上阳子金丹大要仙派

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 拒嫁豪门:训服亿万大亨

    拒嫁豪门:训服亿万大亨

    她不过是三围标准了点,脸蛋漂亮了点,竟然被帅总裁相中,塞进车里拉回别墅……还,还逼她做他未来宝宝的妈咪?该死的老天爷,又给她上演人间悲剧,让她不得不签了这卖身契……
  • 我没疯,我只是与众不同

    我没疯,我只是与众不同

    这真是一个疯狂的世界,有那么多看似“不正常”的人在手舞足蹈,精神病人的世界也许我们不懂,但实际上,没有谁生下来就愿意自己“有病”,生活的背景、家庭的教育模式以及遗传的因素,都可以左右一个人人格的形成,如果我们深入探索一下,看到了他们那些反常行为背后的心理机制,本书选取了24个不同的类型故事进行讲述和深入的剖析,我们可以从中看到那些不被关注的,缩在阴影里的一群人的生活和心理。事实上,精神病患者的世界,远比我们想象的要丰富多彩,充满单纯的美好。
  • 已然悠然的随意之作

    已然悠然的随意之作

    神雕警告,这本书最漂亮、颜值最高的人是男主得不到的人!!
  • 梦醒海参崴

    梦醒海参崴

    狂风卷起“大烟泡”,横飞的雪花刀片一样割在脸上,钻心地疼。俄罗斯滨海山城海参崴,灯火辉煌,夜景宜人。曼丽下了国际大客车。寒风卷着雪花迎面飞来,打在曼丽的脸上,她睁不开眼睛。“杨尘!杨尘!”她闭着眼睛喊,想通过声音让接她的人找到她。从中国边境口岸绥芬河乘出境国际大客直达海参崴,如果不赶上风雪天,六个小时已富富有余,而今天大客车在路上跑了八九个小时。大学毕业五年了,曼丽至今仍没找到合适的工作。
  • 王爷您要保持淡定

    王爷您要保持淡定

    她,井清然,是个女人,还是个穿了的女人,还是个一穿就傍上皇二代当上王爷后院第一把交椅王妃的女人。此女最大的心愿便是:找个好夫家,在他那里混吃等死!什么是混吃等死啊?重活一世嘛,睡睡觉,打打盹,再换个好姿势……继续,嗯,目测天色尚早,还能睡到明天中午!