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“ Boy , ” said the fat gentleman in the high chair , “ you know that you’re an orphan , I suppose ? ” “ What’s that , sir ? ” asked poor Oliver . “ The boy is a fool , I thought he was , ” said the gentleman in the white waistcoat . “ You know you’ve got no father or mother , and that you were brought up by the parish , don’t you ? ” said the first gentleman . “ Well , you have come here to be educated , and to learn a useful trade . You’ll begin to pull old ropes apart for the ships tomorrow morning at six o’clock . ” Oliver bowed low , as the beadle told him to do , and was then taken to a large room full of other boys . There , on a rough , hard bed , he cried himself to sleep . II . Please , Sir , I Want Some More The members of the board were very wise men . They had discovered that poor people liked the workhouse too much . It was warm , the food was free and nobody had to work very hard there . So they made new rules . The poor would get three small bowls of thin gruel a day , an onion twice a week and half a roll on Sundays . Husbands and wives were separated , and the workhouse became a place where nobody wanted to stay . The room where the boys ate was a large stone hall with a big pot at one end . At mealtimes the master of the workhouse stood by the pot in an apron and gave each boy one small bowl of gruel . The boys cleaned their bowls with their spoons until they shone . Then they sat and stared at the pot with hungry eyes , sucking their fingers in case a drop of gruel had fallen on them . Oliver Twist and his companions suffered this slow hunger for three months . At last they became so wild with hunger that one tall boy , who was not used to such small meals , told the others something terrible . Unless he had another bowl of gruel every day , he said , he was afraid that he might one night eat the boy who slept next to him . He had a hungry , wild look in his eye , and the others believed him . The boys held a meeting and drew lots to decide who should go up to the master after supper that evening and ask for more . The lot fell on Oliver . That evening the gruel was served and disappeared very quickly . The boys whispered to each other and made signs to Oliver , and the boy next to him pushed him with his elbow . Oliver was only a child , and he was desperate with hunger . He stood up , walked to the master with his bowl and spoon in his hands and spoke , a little afraid of his own courage . “ Please , sir , I want some more . ” The master was a fat , healthy man , but his face turned very pale . He stared at the small boy for some seconds in silence , and then he held on to the pot to support himself . The women who helped him could not move with surprise , and the boys could not move with fear .
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