...blouse he
carried some coarse dark bread; he ate of this between whiles, and
sat munching and drinking near Madame Defarge’s counter. A
third man got up and went out.

Defarge refreshed himself with a draught of wine―but, he took
less than was given to the stranger, as being himself a man to
whom it was no rarity―and stood waiting until the countryman
had made his breakfast. He looked at no one present, and no one
now looked at him; not even Madame Defarge, who had taken up
her knitting, and was at work.

“Have you finished your repast, friend?” he asked, in due
season.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Come, then! You shall see the apartment that I told you you
could occupy. It will suit you to a marvel.”

Out of the wine-shop into the street, out of the street into a
courtyard, out of the courtyard up a steep staircase, out of the
staircase into a garret―formerly the garret where a white-haired
man sat on a low bench, stooping forward and very busy, making
shoes.

Charles Dickens ElecBook Classics


A Tale of Two Cities

No white-haired man was there now; but, the three men were
there who had gone out of the wine-shop singly. And between
them and the white-haired man afar off, was the one small link,
that they had once looked in at him through the chinks in the wall.

Defarge closed the door carefully, and spoke in a subdued
voice:

“Jacques One, Jacques Two, Jacques Three! This is the witness
encountered by appointment, by me, Jacques Four. He will tell
you all. Speak, Jacques Five!”

The mender of roads, blue cap in , wiped his swarthy
forehead with it, and said, “Where shall I commence, monsieur?”

“Commence,” was Monsieur Defarge’s not unreasonable reply,
“at the commencement.”

“I saw him then, messieurs,” began the mender of roads, “a
year ago this running summer, underneath the carriage of the
Marquis, hanging by the chain. Be hold the manner of it. I leaving
my work on the road, the sun going to bed, the carriage of the
Marquis slowly ascending the hill, he hanged by the chain―like
this.”

Again the mender of roads went through the whole
performance; in which he ought to have been perfect by that time,
seeing that it had been the infallible resource and indispensable
entertainment of his village during a whole year.

Jacques One struck in, and asked if he had ever seen the man
before?

“Never,” answered the mender of roads, recovering his
perpendicular.

Jacques Three demanded how he afterwards recognised him
then?

Charles Dickens ElecBook Classics


A Tale of Two Cities

“By his tall figure,” said the mender of roads, softly, and with
his finger at his nose. “When Monsieur the Marquis demands that
evening, ‘Say, what is he like?’ I make response, ‘Tall as a
spectre.’”

“You should have said, short as a dwarf,” returned Jacques
Two.

“But what did I know? The deed was not then accomplished,
neither did he confide in me. Observe! Under those circumstances
even, I do not offer my testimony. Monsieur the Marquis indicates
me with his finger, standing near our little fountain, and says, ‘To
me! Bring that rascal!’ My faith, messieurs, I offer nothing.”

“He is right there, Jacques,” murmured Defarge, to him who
had interrupted. “Go on!”

“Good!” said the mender of roads with an air of mystery. “The
tall man is lost, and he is sought―how many months? Nine, ten,
eleven?”

“No matter, the number,” said Defarge. “He is well hidden, but
at last he is unluckily found. Go on!”

“I am again at work upon the hillside, and the sun is again
about to go to bed. I am collecting my tools to descend to my
cottage down in the village below, where it is already dark, when I
raise my eyes, and see coming over the hill six soldiers. In the
midst of them is a tall man with his arms bound―tied to his
sides―like this!”

With the aid of his indispensable cap, he represented a man
with his elbows bound fast at his hips, with cords that were
knotted behind him.

“I stand aside, messieurs, by my heap of stones, to see the
soldiers and their prisoner pass (for it is a solitary road, that,

Charles Dickens ElecBook Classics


A Tale of Two Cities

where any spectacle is well worth looking at), and at first, as they
approach, I see no more than that they are six soldiers with a tall
man bound, and that they are almost black to my sight―except on
the side of the sun going to bed, where they have a red edge,
messieurs. Also, I see that their long shadows are on the hollow
ridge on the opposite side of the road, and are on the hill above it,
and are like the shadows of giants. Also, I see that they are covered
with dust, and that the dust moves with them as they come, tramp,
tramp! But when they advance quite near to me, I recognise the
tall man, and he recognises me. Ah, but he would be well content
to precipitate himself over the hillside once again, as on the
evening when...增加高科技商务部新数据显示，6月份贸易顺差145亿美元，1至6月贸易顺差614.4亿美元，同比增长了54.9%，再创历史新高齿轮油泵wcb-75 不锈钢高压齿轮泵 不锈钢保温齿轮泵 吴这将使经济面临两难考验齿轮油泵wcb-75 不锈钢高压齿轮泵 不锈钢保温齿轮泵 吴过大的贸易顺差不进一步增加了人民币的压力，而且增加了与美国、欧元区的贸易摩擦。报告显示，上半年我国出口遭遇的贸易摩擦42起，涉及金额5.8亿美元。无论是案件数量，还是涉案金额均高于去年同期。报告认为，这种现象的根本原因是产业转移所形成的“美欧消费、亚洲加工”的贸易格局，因此顺差过大的局面在短期内不可能根本转变，但是短期内可以改善，改善的方法包括：通过逐步放慢对发达劳动密集型产品出口增速，增加技术水平高、关键设备的，调整和优化进出口贸易结构，加快贸易增长方式转变。问题2：人民币压力不减●对策：继续汇率市场化改革，适当限制资本流入汇改已经一周年，人民币汇率在一年来上涨3.5%。尽管统计局新闻发言人郑京平曾表示，“行政性、性地使人民币或贬值，或是出其不意地调整，是发生了。”不过报告称，押注人民币的热钱在今年年初卷土重来，规模已经从2月份的4.5亿美元5月份的125亿美元，每月呈逐渐上涨态势。报告给出的“药方”是：继续推动我国汇率市场化改革进程，建立有效的市场化汇率机制；适当限制资本流入，减少外汇供应。同时，加强有关方面的制度建立和监管力度，实施“走出去”战略，鼓励、支持有实力的企业到境外投资。问题3：油价居高不下●对策：尽快建立战略石油储备制度“石油日供应量为370万桶，缺口330万桶，石油对外依存度高。”报告显示，2005年我国因油价上涨多支付136亿美元，相当于我国GDP总量的0.9%。居高不下的石油价格对经济发展为不利。“应建立防范石油的长效机制。”报告建议，国内尽快建立战略石油储备制度，对外实施我国能源多元化战略，扩大石油供应渠道。同时，制定节能的政策措施，降源消耗，能源利用率。
我国经济出现五大新的积变化
“从上半年的情况看，国民经济和社会发展总体形势较好，运行中出现了一些新的积变化。”发展和改革委员会秘书长、新闻发言人韩永文２５日在上半年工交经济运行发布