A tale of two cities, the attorneys stryver (left) and carton (right) are working on a case and a quantity of punch in dickens's a tale of two cities, book 2, chap. V. Dickens reveals the modus operandi of the successful legal partnership of the "lion" (the extrovert stryver) and the "jackal" (the alcoholic carton) in book the second, "the golden thread," ch. 5, "the jackal. " the passage illustrated is likely this:
the lion then composed himself on his back on a sofa on one side of the drinking-table, while the jackal sat at his own paper-bestrewn table proper, on the other side of it, with the bottles and glasses ready to his hand. Both resported to the drinking-table without stint, but each in a different way; the lion for the most part reclining with his hands in his waistband, looking at the fire, or occassionally flirting with some lighter document; the jackal, with knitted brows and intent face, so deep in his task, that his eyes did not even follow the hand he stretched out for his glass — which often groped about, for a minute or more, before it found the glass for his lips. Two or three times the matter in hand became so knotty, that the jackal found it imperative on him to get up, and steep his towels anew. Date: 1870.
Loading...
