内容摘要 &"Think so?&" said the undertaker in a tone which half admitted and halfdisputed the probability of the event. &"The prices allowed by the boardare very small, Mr. Bumble.&"&"So are the coffins,&" replied the beadle: with precisely as near anapproach to a laugh as a great official ought to indulge in.Mr. Sowerberry was much tickled at this: as of course he ought to be;and laughed a long time without cessation. &"Well, well, Mr. Bumble,&" hesaid at length, &"there s no denying that, since the new system of feedinghas come in, the coffins are something narrower and more shallow thanthey used to be; but we must have some profit, Mr. Bumble.Well-seasoned timber is an expensive article, sir; and all the iron handlescome, by canal, from Birmingham.&"&"Well, well,&" said Mr. Bumble, &"every trade has its drawbacks. A fairprofit is, of course, allowable.&"&"Of course, of course,&" replied the undertaker; &"and if I don t get aprofit upon this or that particular article, why, I make it up in thelong-run, you see - he! he! he!&" &"Just so,&" said Mr. Bumble. &"Though I must say,&" continued the undertaker, resuming the currentof observations which the beadle had interrupted: &"though I must say, Mr.Bumble, that I have to contend against one very great disadvantage:which is, that all the stout people go off the quickest. The people whohave been better off, and have paid rates for many years, are the first tosink when they come into the house; and let me tell you, Mr. Bumble,that three or four inches over one s calculation makes a great hole inone s profits; especially when one has a family to provide for, sir.&" As Mr. Sowerberry said this, with the becoming indignation of anill-used man, and as Mr. Bumble felt that it rather tended to convey areflection on the honour of the parish, the latter gentleman thought itadvisable to change the subject. Oliver Twist being uppermost in hismind, he made him his theme. ……
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