1 Despised by All Pitied by None On a date long forgotten in a poor town in England a boy was born in a workhouse There was almost no story to tell For the fi rst minutes of Oliver’s life were almost his last His breaths came slowly until he fi nally sneezed and let out a long wail This let the poor workers know that they had another mouth to feed As Oliver gave proof of the power of his lungs a pale face lifted from the pillow Let me see my child before I die The surgeon had been sitting by the fi re You must not talk about dying yet he said Bless her dear heart said a nurse She deposited Oliver in the woman’s arms 4
The mother pressed her pasty lips to Oliver’s forehead passed her hands over his face then fell back onto the pillow and died It’s all over said the surgeon You needn’t send for me if the baby cries Just feed it gruel He paused and looked at the woman Where did she come from She was quite pretty The nurse scooped the baby into her arms She was brought here last night She was found lying in the street Her soles were worn through Her feet bloodied Where she was walking to nobody knows The nurse wrapped the baby in a blanket She put him down to rest She knew he’d be despised by all and pitied by none Just like all the people of the workhouses were When Oliver was about ten months old he was sent to another workhouse This workhouse was run by a woman named Mrs Mann Mrs Mann was in charge of twenty-fi ve children Do not be fooled into thinking Mrs Mann loved or even liked children She took them 5
in because she was paid to do so Part of her payment was to feed and clothe the children Being a greedy woman she kept all the money for herself Oliver and the others got used to going to bed with empty bellies Word would come to Mrs Mann when an inspection was to take place It was only at these times the children were bathed spruced up and given a full meal When Oliver Twist was nine the head of the workhouse Mr Bumble paid a surprise visit to Mrs Mann Oliver Twist is nine today said Mr Bumble We never did fi gure out who his father or mother were Mrs Mann raised her hands in astonishment How does he have any name at all I named him said Mr Bumble We name the children in alphabetical order The child before him was Swubble Then a T was due So I named him Twist Oliver is too old to stay 6
here It’s time he moved back to the house he was born into I’ve come to take him I’ll fetch him myself said Mrs Mann After a quick cleaning of his outer layer Oliver was brought before Mr Bumble Make a bow to the man Oliver Mrs Mann said Oliver quickly bowed his head Will you come with me Oliver asked Mr Bumble Before he answered Oliver saw Mrs Mann shaking her fi st as a warning to the young boy Oliver was used to her threats Will she be going with me he asked I’m afraid not said Mr Bumble Although Oliver was not sad to be leaving Mrs Mann he quickly pretended to be sad at the sight of her shaking fi st Mrs Mann shoved him off with a thousand embraces and a piece of bread and butter She couldn’t have Oliver appearing too hungry when he arrived at the workhouse 7
