Chapter 1 The Workhouse

/useruploads/ctx/a/91145190/r/s/23272040/audioejemplo.mp3?idcurso=1587390 England

Oliver Twist is nine years old. He has got blond hair and big sad blue eyes. He is sad because he hasn’t got a mum and he hasn’t got a dad. Oliver is an orphan. He lives in a workhouse in a town near London and he hasn’t got any friends. The workhouse is a bad place to live because it is very cold and dark.

There are a lot of orphans in the workhouse and they don’t receive a lot of food. All the orphans are sad and hungry. They have porridge every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They don’t like porridge but one day they are very hungry so they want Oliver to ask for more porridge.

‘We are hungry, Oliver,’ they say. ‘You must ask for more porridge.’

Oliver is afraid but he is very hungry too. He takes his porridge bowl and walks slowly to the front of the dining hall.

Oliver doesn’t want to ask for more porridge but the other children push him forward.

The hall is silent as Oliver walks to the front. He goes to the big table where the master of the workhouse is having his dinner and quietly asks him for some more porridge.

‘Please, sir, can I have some more?’ asks Oliver.

The master is very angry. He stops eating his chicken and potatoes and stands up. ‘More?’ he shouts. ‘No, you cannot!’

The master thinks that Oliver is a bad boy and he calls for Mr Bumble. Mr Bumble is a very important man. He is very angry and agrees with the master. ‘Oliver Twist, you are a bad boy,’ he says. He throws Oliver in a cold, dark room and locks the door.

Poor Oliver stays in the cold, dark room for many days. He is so cold that he can’t sleep and he is very hungry. The master doesn’t give him porridge for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In fact, sometimes he doesn’t give Oliver any porridge. Oliver is very tired and thin and he is very lonely because he hasn’t got anyone to talk to.

Oliver cries every day. After one week, Mr Bumble goes to the workhouse. He goes to the cold, dark room and unlocks the door. Oliver is sitting in the corner of the room. He is very white.

‘Get up!’ shouts Mr Bumble. Oliver stands up and runs to the door. ‘You must leave the workhouse,’ says Mr Bumble.

Mr Bumble wants Oliver to leave the workhouse immediately so he speaks to Mr Sowerberry. ‘Mr Sowerberry,’ says Mr Bumble, ‘Here is fi ve pounds.

I want you to take Oliver Twist to live with you. He can work in your shop.’

Mr Sowerberry agrees, but not because he is a kind man. He wants Oliver to work very hard in his shop. ‘Come with me, Oliver,’ he says. ‘I have got a lot of work for you to do.’

Poor Oliver. He doesn’t want to live with Mr Sowerberry but he must leave the workhouse. He hasn’t got any clothes or toys to take with him to Mr Sowerberry’s house.

It is grey and rainy when he leaves the workhouse and the other orphans don’t say goodbye to him.

Mr Sowerberry lives with his wife, Mrs Sowerberry. Mrs Sowerberry is fat and ugly and she has got a horrible, mean face. She doesn’t like Oliver. She is making a big dinner when he arrives. She is cooking beef and carrots but she doesn’t make any dinner for Oliver.‘There is no dinner for you,’ says Mrs Sowerberry. ‘You are a bad boy so you can eat with the dog.’

Mrs Sowerberry’s dog is a big black dog. It eats all the food and so there is nothing for Oliver. Oliver is hungry and tired. He wants to go to sleep but Mrs Sowerberry doesn’t give him a bed.‘We haven’t got a bed for you,’ says Mrs Sowerberry. ‘You must sleep on the fl oor.’ Oliver goes to sleep on the cold, hard fl oor. He is very sad.

The next day, Oliver meets Noah in the kitchen. Noah works in Mr Sowerberry’s shop.

He is a big boy and he has got a horrible, mean face too. He doesn’t like Oliver and he says horrible things about Oliver’s mother.

‘Your mother didn’t love you,’ he says to Oliver. Oliver didn’t know his mother but he is sure* she loved him. Oliver is angry.

‘My mother did love me,’ he shouts.

‘No, she didn’t,’ shouts Noah.

‘Stop it! Be quiet,’ shouts Oliver but Noah continues to say horrible things.

Oliver becomes angrier* and angrier. Suddenly, he hits Noah on the head and then Noah hits him on the nose. The two boys start to fight* and they make a lot of noise.

Mrs Sowerberry hears the noise. She runs into the kitchen and sees Oliver and Noah fighting on the fl oor. ‘Stop fighting immediately!’ she shouts.

Oliver and Noah stand up. Mrs Sowerberry doesn’t like Oliver but she likes Noah. ‘Come here, Noah,’ she says. ‘Are you okay?’ Noah runs to Mrs Sowerberry. He tells her that he has got a headache because Oliver hit him on the head a lot of times. ‘I don’t know why Oliver hit me so many times. My head hurts,’ says Noah. Mrs Sowerberry is furious.

Oliver tells Mrs Sowerberry that Noah said horrible things about his mother but she doesn’t listen to him. She throws him in a cold, dark room. She closes the door but she forgets to lock it.

Oliver stays in the room for many hours. It is very late and the house is silent. Mr and Mrs Sowerberry are asleep. Oliver doesn’t know what to do. He didn’t like the workhouse and he doesn’t like Mr and Mrs Sowerberry and Noah. Then, he has an idea.

He decides to run away*. He slowly opens the door to the room and quietly walks to the kitchen. Then, he opens the kitchen window and jumps out into the street, but he doesn’t know where to go. He can see the church and the baker’s and the butcher’s in the town centre. Then, he sees a big road. He runs down the road, away from the town and Mr Sowerberry’s shop and the workhouse.

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Chapter 1

The Workhouse