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ses and accompanying the coffins to funerals。
One day Mr Bumble came to tell the m about a woman who had died in an extremely poor part of the town， and Sowerberry and O liver went to collect the body．They went down dirty narrow streets where the houses on either side were tall and large，but very old．Some of the houses were almost falling down， and had to be supported by huge blocks of wood。 The area was so poor that even the dead rats in the street looked as though They had died of hunger．
They found the right house，and climbed the dark stairs to a miserable little room．Some children watched the m from the shadows as They entered．Something lay beneath a blanket on the floor in one corner．A man and an old woman stood near the body．O liver was afraid to look at the m． With their thin faces and sharp teeth， They looked like the rats he had seen outside．
As Sowerberry began to measure the body for a coffin， the man knelt on the floor and cried out， ‘She starved to death，I tell you！That’s why she died！’He fell to the floor，and all the children behind him started to cry．Sowerberry and O liver，their work done，left as fast as They could．
They returned the next day with the coffin and four men from the workhouse who were to carry it．The man and the old woman followed the coffin to the church，and waited silently by the grave for the priest to arrive．When at last he came， he hurried through the burial prayers， and as quickly as possible（it was only a job，after all） the coffin was put into the ground。 At this point the husband， who had not moved once during his wife’s burial… not even during the long wait for the priest…suddenly fainted to the ground and had to have cold water thrown over him．
‘So how did you like it，O liver？’asked Sowerberry later，as they walked home。
‘Not very much， sir，’O liver answered truthfully．
‘You’ll get used to it，my boy。’
O liver wondered how long that would take，and remained silent all the way back to the shop，thinking about everything that he had seen and heard。
3 O liver goes to London
O liver was now officially an undertaker’s assistant．It was a good，sickly time of year，and coffins were selling well。 O liver gained a lot of experience in a short time，and was interested to see how brave some people were after a death in the family。 During funerals for some rich people， for example，he saw that the people who had cried the loudest in church usually recovered the fastest afterwards．He noticed how in other wealthy families the wife or the husband often seemed quite cheerful and calm despite the recent death…just as if nothing had happened．O liver was very surprised to see all this， and greatly admired the m for controlling their sadness so well。
He was treated badly by most of the people around him．Noah was jealous because O liver went out to burials while he was left back in the shop，so he treated him even worse than before．Charlotte treated him badly because Noah did。 And Mrs Sowerberry was his enemy because Mr Sowerberry was supposed to be his friend。
One day something happened which might seem unimportant，but which had a great effect on O liver’s future。 Noah was in a particularly bad mood one dinner…time，and so he tried to make O liver cry by hitting him，pulling his hair，and calling him horrible names。 This was all unsuccessful， so he tried personal insults．
‘Workhouse， how’s your mother？’ he asked．
‘She’s dead，’replied O liver，his face going red with emotion．
Noah hoped that O liver was going to cry， so he continued．
‘What did she die of， Workhouse？’
‘Of a broken heart， I was told．’And a tear rolled down O liver’s cheek。
‘Why are you crying，Workhouse？’
O liver remained silent，and Noah grew braver． ‘You know，I feel very sorry for you，Workhouse，but the truth is your mother was a wicked woman．’
O liver seemed suddenly to wake up。 ‘What did you say？’
‘She was so bad it was lucky she died， or she would have ended up in prison，or hung。’
His face bright red with anger，O liver jumped up， seized Noah’s throat， and shook the older boy so violently that his teeth nearly fell out。 The n he hit him with all his strength and knocked him to the ground．
‘He’ll murder me！’screamed Noah． ‘Charlotte！ Help！O liver’s gone mad—’
Charlotte and Mrs Sowerberry ran in and screamed in horror．They took hold of O liver and began to heat him． The n Noah got up and started to kick him from behind．When They were all tired， They forced O liver， who was still fighting and shouting， into the cellar and locked it．
Mrs Sowerberry sat down， breathing heavily． ‘He’s like a wild animal！’she said． ‘We could all have been murdered in our beds！’
‘I hope Mr Sowerberry doesn’t take any more of the se dreadful creatures from the workhouse，’said Charlotte． ‘Poor Noah was nearly killed！’Mrs Sowerberry looked at Noah sympathetically。
Noah， who was twice O liver’s size， pretended to rub tears from his eyes．
‘What shall we do？’ cried Mrs Sowerberry． ‘He’ll kick that door down in ten minutes。’ They could hear O liver banging and kicking at the cellar door． ‘Noah…run and get Mr Bumble．’
So Noah ran through the streets as quickly as he could to fetch the beadle． When he reached the workhouse， he waited for a minute to make sure his face was suitably tearful and frightened。
As soon as Mr Bumble came out，Noah cried， ‘Mr Bumble！Mr Bumble！ It’s O liver Twist，sir．He’s become violent．He tried to murder me， sir！ And Charlotte， and Mrs Sowerberry as well。’
Mr Bumble was shocked and angry． ‘Did he？I’ll come up the re immediately and beat him with my stick．’
When he arrived at the shop，O liver was still kicking wildly at the cellar door。
‘Let me out！’he shouted from the cellar，when he heard Mr Bumble’s voice． ‘I’m not afraid of you！’
Mr Bumble stopped for a moment，amazed and even rather frightened by this change in O liver． The n he said to Mrs Sowerberry， ‘It’s the meat that’s caused this， you know。’
‘What？’
‘Meat， madam。 You’ve fed him too well here。 Back in the workhouse this would never have happened。’
‘I knew I was too generous to him，’said Mrs Sowerberry，raising her eyes to the ceiling．
At that moment Mr Sowerberry returned and，hearing what had happened（according to the ladies）， he beat O liver so hard that even Mr Bumble and Mrs Sowerberry were satisfied． Mr Sowerberry was not a cruel man，but he had no choice。 He knew that if he didn’t punish O liver， his wife would never forgive him．
That night， alone in the room with the coffins，O liver cried bitter， lonely tears． He did not sleep， and very early in the morning， before anyone was awake， he quietly unlocked the shop door and left the house． He ran up the street and through the town as far as the main road，where he saw a sign that told him it was just seventy miles from the re to London。 The name London gave the boy an idea．That huge place！ Nobody， not even Mr Bumble， could ever find him the re！He had hea