Table des matières
Charles Dickens
Chapter 8 Monseigneur in the Country
Chapter 11 A Companion Picture
Chapter 12 The Fellow of Delicacy
Chapter 13 The Fellow of No Delicacy
Chapter 14 The Honest Tradesman
Chapter 22 The Sea still Rises
Chapter 24 Drawn to the Loadstone Rock
Chapter 10 The Substance of the Shadow
Chapter 15 The Footsteps Die Out For Ever
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens
Published: 1859 Categorie(s): Fiction, Historical
Chapter 1 The Period
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 way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
There was a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face, on the throne of England; there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face, on the throne of France. In both countries it was clearer than crystal to the lords of the State preserves of loaves and fishes, that things in general were settled for ever.
It was the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five. Spiritual revelations were conceded to England at that favoured period, as at this. Mrs. Southcott had recently attained her five-and-twentieth blessed birthday, of whom a prophetic private in the Life Guards had heralded the sublime appearance by announcing that arrangements were made for the swallowing up of London and Westminster. Even the Cock-lane ghost had been laid only a round dozen of