THE CANTY HOME

The house which Tom’s father lived in was up a foul little pocket called

Offal Court, out of Pudding Lane. It was small, decayed, and rickety,

but it was packed full of wretchedly poor families. Canty’s tribe

occupied a room on the third floor. The mother and father had a sort of

bedstead in the corner; but Tom, his grandmother, and his two sisters,

Bet and Nan, were not restricted—they had all the floor to themselves,

and might sleep where they chose. There were the remains of a blanket or

two, and some bundles of ancient and dirty straw, but these could not

rightly be called beds, for they were not organized; they were kicked

into a general pile mornings, and selections made from the mass at

night, for service.

Moments with Mark Twain · 第 109 / 161 题