文档介绍：THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS
THE PEOPLE OF THE
ABYSS
by Jack London
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THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS
The chief priests and rulers cry:-
"O Lord and Master, not ours the guilt, We build but as our fathers
built; Behold thine images how they stand Sovereign and sole through all
our land.
"Our task is hard--with sword and flame, To hold thine earth forever
the same, And with sharp crooks of steel to keep, Still as thou leftest them,
thy sheep."
Then Christ sought out an artisan, A low-browed, stunted, haggard
man, And a motherless girl whose fingers thin Crushed from her faintly
want and sin.
These set he in the midst of them, And as they drew back their garment
hem For fear of defilement, "Lo, here," said he, "The images ye have
made of me."
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.
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THE PEOPLE OF THE ABYSS
PREFACE
The experiences related in this volume fell to me in the summer of
1902. I went down into the under-world of London with an attitude of
mind which I may best liken to that of the explorer. I was open to be
convinced by the evidence of my eyes, rather than by the teachings of
those who had not seen, or by the words of those who had seen and gone
before. Further, I took with me certain simple criteria with which to
measure the life of the under-world. That which made for more life, for
physical and spiritual health, was good; that which made for less life,
which hurt, and dwarfed, and distorted life, was bad.
It will be readily apparent to the reader that I saw much that was bad.
Yet it must not be forgotten that the time of which I write was considered
"good times" in England. The starvation and lack of shelter I
encountered constituted a chronic condition of misery which is never
wiped out, even in the periods of greatest prosperity.
Following the summer in question came a hard winter. Great
numbers of the unemployed formed into processions, as many as a dozen
at a time, and daily marched through the streets of London crying for
bread