Orakel Classics
A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, prepared as a public-domain Orakel edition with 48 chapter-aware companion links.
Chapters
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Book the First--Recalled to Life
Book the First--Recalled to Life from A Tale of Two Cities. This section is available as a chapter-aware Orakel companion.
Open2CHAPTER I.: The Period
CHAPTER I.: The Period from A Tale of Two Cities. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other
Open3CHAPTER II.: The Mail
CHAPTER II.: The Mail from A Tale of Two Cities. It was the Dover road that lay, on a Friday night late in November, before the first of the persons with whom this history has business. The Dover road lay, as to him, beyond the Dover mail, as it lumbered up Shooter’s Hill. He walked up hill in the mire by the side of the mail, as the rest of the passengers did; not because they had the least relish for walking exercise, under the circumstances, but because the
Open4CHAPTER III.: The Night Shadows
CHAPTER III.: The Night Shadows from A Tale of Two Cities. A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. A solemn consideration, when I enter a great city by night, that every one of those darkly clustered houses encloses its own secret; that every room in every one of them encloses its own secret; that every beating heart in the hundreds of thousands of breasts there, is, in some of its
Open5CHAPTER IV.: The Preparation
CHAPTER IV.: The Preparation from A Tale of Two Cities. When the mail got successfully to Dover, in the course of the forenoon, the head drawer at the Royal George Hotel opened the coach-door as his custom was. He did it with some flourish of ceremony, for a mail journey from London in winter was an achievement to congratulate an adventurous traveller
Open6CHAPTER V.: The Wine-shop
CHAPTER V.: The Wine-shop from A Tale of Two Cities. A large cask of wine had been dropped and broken, in the street. The accident had happened in getting it out of a cart; the cask had tumbled out with a run, the hoops had burst, and it lay on the stones just outside the door of the wine-shop, shattered like a
Open7CHAPTER VI.: The Shoemaker
CHAPTER VI.: The Shoemaker from A Tale of Two Cities. “Good day!” said Monsieur Defarge, looking down at the white head that bent low over the
Open8Book the Second--the Golden Thread
Book the Second--the Golden Thread from A Tale of Two Cities. This section is available as a chapter-aware Orakel companion.
Open9CHAPTER I.: Five Years Later
CHAPTER I.: Five Years Later from A Tale of Two Cities. Tellson’s Bank by Temple Bar was an old-fashioned place, even in the year one thousand seven hundred and eighty. It was very small, very dark, very ugly, very incommodious. It was an old-fashioned place, moreover, in the moral attribute that the partners in the House were proud of its smallness, proud of its darkness, proud of its ugliness, proud of its incommodiousness. They were even boastful of its eminence in
Open10CHAPTER II.: A Sight
CHAPTER II.: A Sight from A Tale of Two Cities. “You know the Old Bailey well, no doubt?” said one of the oldest of clerks to Jerry the
Open11CHAPTER III.: A Disappointment
CHAPTER III.: A Disappointment from A Tale of Two Cities. Mr. Attorney-General had to inform the jury, that the prisoner before them, though young in years, was old in the treasonable practices which claimed the forfeit of his life. That this correspondence with the public enemy was not a correspondence of to-day, or of yesterday, or even of last year, or of the year before. That, it was certain the prisoner had, for longer than that, been in the habit of passing and
Open12CHAPTER IV.: Congratulatory
CHAPTER IV.: Congratulatory from A Tale of Two Cities. From the dimly-lighted passages of the court, the last sediment of the human stew that had been boiling there all day, was straining off, when Doctor Manette, Lucie Manette, his daughter, Mr. Lorry, the solicitor for the defence, and its counsel, Mr. Stryver, stood gathered round Mr. Charles Darnay--just released--congratulating him on his escape from
Open13CHAPTER V.: The Jackal
CHAPTER V.: The Jackal from A Tale of Two Cities. Those were drinking days, and most men drank hard. So very great is the improvement Time has brought about in such habits, that a moderate statement of the quantity of wine and punch which one man would swallow in the course of a night, without any detriment to his reputation as a perfect gentleman, would seem, in these days, a ridiculous exaggeration. The learned profession of the law was certainly not behind any
Open14CHAPTER VI.: Hundreds of People
CHAPTER VI.: Hundreds of People from A Tale of Two Cities. The quiet lodgings of Doctor Manette were in a quiet street-corner not far from Soho-square. On the afternoon of a certain fine Sunday when the waves of four months had rolled over the trial for treason, and carried it, as to the public interest and memory, far out to sea, Mr. Jarvis Lorry walked along the sunny streets from Clerkenwell where he lived, on his way to dine with the Doctor. After several relapses into
Open15CHAPTER VII.: Monseigneur in Town
CHAPTER VII.: Monseigneur in Town from A Tale of Two Cities. Monseigneur, one of the great lords in power at the Court, held his fortnightly reception in his grand hotel in Paris. Monseigneur was in his inner room, his sanctuary of sanctuaries, the Holiest of Holiests to the crowd of worshippers in the suite of rooms without. Monseigneur was about to take his chocolate. Monseigneur could swallow a great many things with ease, and was by some few sullen minds supposed to be
Open16CHAPTER VIII.: Monseigneur in the Country
CHAPTER VIII.: Monseigneur in the Country from A Tale of Two Cities. A beautiful landscape, with the corn bright in it, but not abundant. Patches of poor rye where corn should have been, patches of poor peas and beans, patches of most coarse vegetable substitutes for wheat. On inanimate nature, as on the men and women who cultivated it, a prevalent tendency towards an appearance of vegetating unwillingly--a dejected disposition to give up, and wither
Open17CHAPTER IX.: The Gorgon’s Head
CHAPTER IX.: The Gorgon’s Head from A Tale of Two Cities. It was a heavy mass of building, that chateau of Monsieur the Marquis, with a large stone courtyard before it, and two stone sweeps of staircase meeting in a stone terrace before the principal door. A stony business altogether, with heavy stone balustrades, and stone urns, and stone flowers, and stone faces of men, and stone heads of lions, in all directions. As if the Gorgon’s head had surveyed it, when it was
Open18CHAPTER X.: Two Promises
CHAPTER X.: Two Promises from A Tale of Two Cities. More months, to the number of twelve, had come and gone, and Mr. Charles Darnay was established in England as a higher teacher of the French language who was conversant with French literature. In this age, he would have been a Professor; in that age, he was a Tutor. He read with young men who could find any leisure and interest for the study of a living tongue spoken all over the world, and he cultivated a taste for
Open19CHAPTER XI.: A Companion Picture
CHAPTER XI.: A Companion Picture from A Tale of Two Cities. “Sydney,” said Mr. Stryver, on that self-same night, or morning, to his jackal; “mix another bowl of punch; I have something to say to
Open20CHAPTER XII.: The Fellow of Delicacy
CHAPTER XII.: The Fellow of Delicacy from A Tale of Two Cities. Mr. Stryver having made up his mind to that magnanimous bestowal of good fortune on the Doctor’s daughter, resolved to make her happiness known to her before he left town for the Long Vacation. After some mental debating of the point, he came to the conclusion that it would be as well to get all the preliminaries done with, and they could then arrange at their leisure whether he should give her his hand a week or
Open21CHAPTER XIII.: The Fellow of No Delicacy
CHAPTER XIII.: The Fellow of No Delicacy from A Tale of Two Cities. If Sydney Carton ever shone anywhere, he certainly never shone in the house of Doctor Manette. He had been there often, during a whole year, and had always been the same moody and morose lounger there. When he cared to talk, he talked well; but, the cloud of caring for nothing, which overshadowed him with such a fatal darkness, was very rarely pierced by the light within
Open22CHAPTER XIV.: The Honest Tradesman
CHAPTER XIV.: The Honest Tradesman from A Tale of Two Cities. To the eyes of Mr. Jeremiah Cruncher, sitting on his stool in Fleet-street with his grisly urchin beside him, a vast number and variety of objects in movement were every day presented. Who could sit upon anything in Fleet-street during the busy hours of the day, and not be dazed and deafened by two immense processions, one ever tending westward with the sun, the other ever tending eastward from the sun, both ever
Open23CHAPTER XV.: Knitting
CHAPTER XV.: Knitting from A Tale of Two Cities. There had been earlier drinking than usual in the wine-shop of Monsieur Defarge. As early as six o’clock in the morning, sallow faces peeping through its barred windows had descried other faces within, bending over measures of wine. Monsieur Defarge sold a very thin wine at the best of times, but it would seem to have been an unusually thin wine that he sold at this time. A sour wine, moreover, or a souring, for its
Open24CHAPTER XVI.: Still Knitting
CHAPTER XVI.: Still Knitting from A Tale of Two Cities. Madame Defarge and monsieur her husband returned amicably to the bosom of Saint Antoine, while a speck in a blue cap toiled through the darkness, and through the dust, and down the weary miles of avenue by the wayside, slowly tending towards that point of the compass where the chateau of Monsieur the Marquis, now in his grave, listened to the whispering trees. Such ample leisure had the stone faces, now, for
Open25CHAPTER XVII.: One Night
CHAPTER XVII.: One Night from A Tale of Two Cities. Never did the sun go down with a brighter glory on the quiet corner in Soho, than one memorable evening when the Doctor and his daughter sat under the plane-tree together. Never did the moon rise with a milder radiance over great London, than on that night when it found them still seated under the tree, and shone upon their faces through its
Open26CHAPTER XVIII.: Nine Days
CHAPTER XVIII.: Nine Days from A Tale of Two Cities. The marriage-day was shining brightly, and they were ready outside the closed door of the Doctor’s room, where he was speaking with Charles Darnay. They were ready to go to church; the beautiful bride, Mr. Lorry, and Miss Pross--to whom the event, through a gradual process of reconcilement to the inevitable, would have been one of absolute bliss, but for the yet lingering consideration that her brother Solomon
Open27CHAPTER XIX.: An Opinion
CHAPTER XIX.: An Opinion from A Tale of Two Cities. Worn out by anxious watching, Mr. Lorry fell asleep at his post. On the tenth morning of his suspense, he was startled by the shining of the sun into the room where a heavy slumber had overtaken him when it was dark
Open28CHAPTER XX.: A Plea
CHAPTER XX.: A Plea from A Tale of Two Cities. When the newly-married pair came home, the first person who appeared, to offer his congratulations, was Sydney Carton. They had not been at home many hours, when he presented himself. He was not improved in habits, or in looks, or in manner; but there was a certain rugged air of fidelity about him, which was new to the observation of Charles
Open29CHAPTER XXI.: Echoing Footsteps
CHAPTER XXI.: Echoing Footsteps from A Tale of Two Cities. A wonderful corner for echoes, it has been remarked, that corner where the Doctor lived. Ever busily winding the golden thread which bound her husband, and her father, and herself, and her old directress and companion, in a life of quiet bliss, Lucie sat in the still house in the tranquilly resounding corner, listening to the echoing footsteps of
Open30CHAPTER XXII.: The Sea Still Rises
CHAPTER XXII.: The Sea Still Rises from A Tale of Two Cities. Haggard Saint Antoine had had only one exultant week, in which to soften his modicum of hard and bitter bread to such extent as he could, with the relish of fraternal embraces and congratulations, when Madame Defarge sat at her counter, as usual, presiding over the customers. Madame Defarge wore no rose in her head, for the great brotherhood of Spies had become, even in one short week, extremely chary of trusting
Open31CHAPTER XXIII.: Fire Rises
CHAPTER XXIII.: Fire Rises from A Tale of Two Cities. There was a change on the village where the fountain fell, and where the mender of roads went forth daily to hammer out of the stones on the highway such morsels of bread as might serve for patches to hold his poor ignorant soul and his poor reduced body together. The prison on the crag was not so dominant as of yore; there were soldiers to guard it, but not many; there were officers to guard the soldiers, but not
Open32CHAPTER XXIV.: Drawn to the Loadstone Rock
CHAPTER XXIV.: Drawn to the Loadstone Rock from A Tale of Two Cities. In such risings of fire and risings of sea--the firm earth shaken by the rushes of an angry ocean which had now no ebb, but was always on the flow, higher and higher, to the terror and wonder of the beholders on the shore--three years of tempest were consumed. Three more birthdays of little Lucie had been woven by the golden thread into the peaceful tissue of the life of her
Open33Book the Third--the Track of a Storm
Book the Third--the Track of a Storm from A Tale of Two Cities. This section is available as a chapter-aware Orakel companion.
Open34CHAPTER I.: In Secret
CHAPTER I.: In Secret from A Tale of Two Cities. The traveller fared slowly on his way, who fared towards Paris from England in the autumn of the year one thousand seven hundred and ninety-two. More than enough of bad roads, bad equipages, and bad horses, he would have encountered to delay him, though the fallen and unfortunate King of France had been upon his throne in all his glory; but, the changed times were fraught with other obstacles than these. Every
Open35CHAPTER II.: The Grindstone
CHAPTER II.: The Grindstone from A Tale of Two Cities. Tellson’s Bank, established in the Saint Germain Quarter of Paris, was in a wing of a large house, approached by a courtyard and shut off from the street by a high wall and a strong gate. The house belonged to a great nobleman who had lived in it until he made a flight from the troubles, in his own cook’s dress, and got across the borders. A mere beast of the chase flying from hunters, he was still in his
Open36CHAPTER III.: The Shadow
CHAPTER III.: The Shadow from A Tale of Two Cities. One of the first considerations which arose in the business mind of Mr. Lorry when business hours came round, was this:--that he had no right to imperil Tellson’s by sheltering the wife of an emigrant prisoner under the Bank roof. His own possessions, safety, life, he would have hazarded for Lucie and her child, without a moment’s demur; but the great trust he held was not his own, and as to that business charge he
Open37CHAPTER IV.: Calm in Storm
CHAPTER IV.: Calm in Storm from A Tale of Two Cities. Doctor Manette did not return until the morning of the fourth day of his absence. So much of what had happened in that dreadful time as could be kept from the knowledge of Lucie was so well concealed from her, that not until long afterwards, when France and she were far apart, did she know that eleven hundred defenceless prisoners of both sexes and all ages had been killed by the populace; that four days and nights
Open38CHAPTER V.: The Wood-Sawyer
CHAPTER V.: The Wood-Sawyer from A Tale of Two Cities. One year and three months. During all that time Lucie was never sure, from hour to hour, but that the Guillotine would strike off her husband’s head next day. Every day, through the stony streets, the tumbrils now jolted heavily, filled with Condemned. Lovely girls; bright women, brown-haired, black-haired, and grey; youths; stalwart men and old; gentle born and peasant born; all red wine for La Guillotine, all
Open39CHAPTER VI.: Triumph
CHAPTER VI.: Triumph from A Tale of Two Cities. The dread tribunal of five Judges, Public Prosecutor, and determined Jury, sat every day. Their lists went forth every evening, and were read out by the gaolers of the various prisons to their prisoners. The standard gaoler-joke was, “Come out and listen to the Evening Paper, you inside
Open40CHAPTER VII.: A Knock at the Door
CHAPTER VII.: A Knock at the Door from A Tale of Two Cities. “I have saved him.” It was not another of the dreams in which he had often come back; he was really here. And yet his wife trembled, and a vague but heavy fear was upon
Open41CHAPTER VIII.: A Hand at Cards
CHAPTER VIII.: A Hand at Cards from A Tale of Two Cities. Happily unconscious of the new calamity at home, Miss Pross threaded her way along the narrow streets and crossed the river by the bridge of the Pont-Neuf, reckoning in her mind the number of indispensable purchases she had to make. Mr. Cruncher, with the basket, walked at her side. They both looked to the right and to the left into most of the shops they passed, had a wary eye for all gregarious assemblages of
Open42CHAPTER IX.: The Game Made
CHAPTER IX.: The Game Made from A Tale of Two Cities. While Sydney Carton and the Sheep of the prisons were in the adjoining dark room, speaking so low that not a sound was heard, Mr. Lorry looked at Jerry in considerable doubt and mistrust. That honest tradesman’s manner of receiving the look, did not inspire confidence; he changed the leg on which he rested, as often as if he had fifty of those limbs, and were trying them all; he examined his finger-nails with a very
Open43CHAPTER X.: The Substance of the Shadow
CHAPTER X.: The Substance of the Shadow from A Tale of Two Cities. “I, Alexandre Manette, unfortunate physician, native of Beauvais, and afterwards resident in Paris, write this melancholy paper in my doleful cell in the Bastille, during the last month of the year, 1767. I write it at stolen intervals, under every difficulty. I design to secrete it in the wall of the chimney, where I have slowly and laboriously made a place of concealment for it. Some pitying hand may find it
Open44CHAPTER XI.: Dusk
CHAPTER XI.: Dusk from A Tale of Two Cities. The wretched wife of the innocent man thus doomed to die, fell under the sentence, as if she had been mortally stricken. But, she uttered no sound; and so strong was the voice within her, representing that it was she of all the world who must uphold him in his misery and not augment it, that it quickly raised her, even from that
Open45CHAPTER XII.: Darkness
CHAPTER XII.: Darkness from A Tale of Two Cities. Sydney Carton paused in the street, not quite decided where to go. “At Tellson’s banking-house at nine,” he said, with a musing face. “Shall I do well, in the mean time, to show myself? I think so. It is best that these people should know there is such a man as I here; it is a sound precaution, and may be a necessary preparation. But care, care, care! Let me think it
Open46CHAPTER XIII.: Fifty-two
CHAPTER XIII.: Fifty-two from A Tale of Two Cities. In the black prison of the Conciergerie, the doomed of the day awaited their fate. They were in number as the weeks of the year. Fifty-two were to roll that afternoon on the life-tide of the city to the boundless everlasting sea. Before their cells were quit of them, new occupants were appointed; before their blood ran into the blood spilled yesterday, the blood that was to mingle with theirs to-morrow was already
Open47CHAPTER XIV.: The Knitting Done
CHAPTER XIV.: The Knitting Done from A Tale of Two Cities. In that same juncture of time when the Fifty-Two awaited their fate Madame Defarge held darkly ominous council with The Vengeance and Jacques Three of the Revolutionary Jury. Not in the wine-shop did Madame Defarge confer with these ministers, but in the shed of the wood-sawyer, erst a mender of roads. The sawyer himself did not participate in the conference, but abided at a little distance, like an outer satellite
Open48CHAPTER XV.: The Footsteps Die Out For Ever
CHAPTER XV.: The Footsteps Die Out For Ever from A Tale of Two Cities. Along the Paris streets, the death-carts rumble, hollow and harsh. Six tumbrils carry the day’s wine to La Guillotine. All the devouring and insatiate Monsters imagined since imagination could record itself, are fused in the one realisation, Guillotine. And yet there is not in France, with its rich variety of soil and climate, a blade, a leaf, a root, a sprig, a peppercorn, which will grow to maturity under
Open