Chapter 1

The Workhouse

England

Oliver Twist is nine years old. He has got blond hair and big sad blue eyes. He is
sad because he hasn't got a mum and he hasn't got a dad. Oliver is an orphan. He
lives in a workhouse in a town near London and he hasn't got any friends. The
workhouse is a bad place to live because it is very cold and dark.
There are a lot of orphans in the workhouse and they don't receive a lot of food.
All the orphans are sad and hungry. They have porridge every day for breakfast,
lunch and dinner. They don't like porridge but one day they are very hungry so they
want Oliver to ask for mor porridge.
'We are hungry Oliver,' they say. 'You must ask for more porridge.'
Oliver is afraid but he is very hungry too. He takes his porridge bowl and walks
slowly to the front of the dining hall.
Oliver doesn't want to ask for more porridge but the other children push him
forward.
The hall is silent as Oliver walks to the front. He goes to the big table where the
master of the workhouse is having his dinner and quietly asks him for some more
porridge.
'Please, sir, can I have some more?' asks Oliver.
The master is very angry. He stops eating his chicken and potatoes and stands up.
'More?' he shouts. 'No, you cannot!'
The master thinks that Oliver is a bad boy and he calls for Mr Bumble. Mr Bumble is
a very important man. He is very angry and agrees with the master. 'Oliver Twist,
you are a bad boy,' he says. He throws Oliver in a cold, dark room and locks the
door.
Poor Oliver stays in the cold, dark room for many days. He is so cold that he
can't sleep and he is very hungry. The master doesn't give him porridge for
breakfast, lunch and dinner. In fact, sometimes he doesn't give Oliver any
porridge. Oliver is very tired and thin and he is very lonely because he hasn't got
anyone to talk to.
Oliver cries every day. After one week, Mr Bumble goes to the workhouse. He goes
to the cold, dark room and unlocks the door. Oliver is sitting in the corner of the
room. He is very white.
'Get up!' Shouts Mr Bumble. Oliver stands up and runs to the door. 'Your must
leave the workhouse,' says Mr Bumble.
Mr Bumble wants Oliver leave he workhouse immediately so he speaks to Mr
Sowerberry. 'Mr Sowerberry,' says Mr Bumble, 'Here is five pounds. I want you to
take Oliver Twist to live with you. He can work in your shop.'
Mr Sowerberry agrees, but not because he is a kind man. He wants Oliver to work
very hard in his shop. 'Come with me, Oliver,' he says. 'I have got a lot of work
for you to do.'
Poor Oliver. He doesn't want to live with Mr.
Sowerberry but he must leave the workhouse. He hasn't got any clothes or toys to
take with him to Mr Sowerberry's house.
It is grey and rainy when he leaves the workhouser and the other orphans don't
say goodbye to him.
Mr Sowerberry lives with his wife, Mrs Sowerberry. Mrs Sowerberry is fat and ugly
and she has got a horrible, mean face. She doesn't like Oliver. She is making a big
dinner when he arrives. She is cooking beef and carrots but she doesn't make any
dinner for Oliver. 'There is no dinner for you,' says Mrs Sowerberry. 'You are a
bad boy so you can eat with the dog.'
Mrs Sowerberry's dog is a big black dog. It eats all the food and so there is
nothing por Oliver. Oliver is hungry and tired. He wants to go to sleep but Mrs
Sowerberry doesn't give him a bed. 'We haven't got a bed for you,' says Mrs
Sowerberry. 'You must sleep on the floor.' Oliver goes to sleep on the cold, hard
floor. He is very sad.
The next day, Oliver meets Noah in the kitchen. Noah works in Mr Sowerberry's
shop.
He is a big boy and he has got a horrible, mean face too. He doesn't like Oliver
and he says horrible things about Oliver's mother.
'Your mother didn't love you,' he says to Oliver. Oliver didn't know his mother
but he is sure she loved him. Oliver is angry.
'My mother did love me,' he shouts.
'No, she didn't,' shouts Noah.
'Stop it! Be quiet,' shouts Oliver but Noah continues to say horrible things.
Oliver becomes angrier and angrier. Suddenly, he hits Noah on the head and then
Noah hits him on the nose. The two boys start to fight and they make a lot of
noise.
Mrs Sowerberry hears the noise. She runs into the kitchen and sees Oliver and
Noah fighting on the floor. 'Stop fighting immediately!' she shouts.
Oliver and Noah stand up. Mrs Sowerberry doesn't like Oliver but she likes Noah.
'Come here, Noah,' she says. 'Are you okay?' Noah runs to Mrs Sowerberry. He tells
her that he has got a headache because Oliver hit him on the head a lot of times.
'I don't know why Oliver hit me so many times. My head hurts,' says Noah. Mrs
Sowerberry is furious.
Oliver tells Mrs Sowerberry that Noah said horrible things about his mother but
she doesn't listen to him. She throws him in a cold, dark room. She closes the door
but she forgets to lock it.
Oliver stays in the room for many hours. It is very late and the house is silent.
Mr and Mrs Sowerberry are asleep. Oliver doesn't know what to do. He didn't like
the workhouse and he doesn't like Mr and Mrs Sowerberry and Noah. Then, he has an
idea.
He decides to run away. He slowly opens the door to the room and quietly wolks to
the kitchen. Then, he opens the kitchen window and jumps out into the street, but
he doesn't know where to go. He can see the church and the baker's and the
butcher's in the town center. Then, he sees a big road. He runs down the road, away
from the town and Mr Sowerberry's shop and the workhouse.

Chapter 2

A New Family

Oliver runs down the road for a long time but after two hours, he stops to sleep
under un enormous tree in a field. Oliver sleeps for a long time and when he wakes
up, the sun is shining and he can see the big road in front of him. It is a very
long road and there are no houses. Oliver doesn't know where to go.
Then, next to the tree, he sees a sign for London. 'London', thinks Oliver, 'What
a great city!' Oliver decides to go to the city of London and so he stars to walk
down the road again but he is very tired. He hasn't got any food or water. 'I'm
thirsty,' says Oliver 'and my stomach is empty.'
He doesn't feel well and he sits down on the road, opposite the London sign.
Oliver is thinking about what to do when suddenly, somebody says 'Hello. What are
you doing here, sitting on the road?' Oliver looks up and sees a small boy wearing
a black hat and a long, purple coat.
The boy is smiling. 'Hello,' says Oliver, 'I'm thinking. I don't know where to go
and I'm very hungry an thirsty.'
'Stop thinking and come with me,' says the boy. 'My name's Jack but all my
friends call me Dodger.' Oliver tells Dodger his name and says that he wants to go
to London.
Dodger has got a lot of friends in London. He lives with his friends an he says
that Oliver can live with them. Oliver is very happy and together they walk to the
city.
Dodger takes Oliver to a big, old house. It is a very dirty and smelly street.
They open the green front door and walk up a lot of stairs. There is a room at the
top of the stairs and there are a lot of boys in the room.
All the boys are laughing and shouting and standing in the middle of them is an
old man with long red hair and a long red beard. The old man turs to look at Oliver
when he walks into the room and he smiles.
'Welcome, my dear,' he says. 'My name is Fagin and these are my boys. We are your
new family.'
All of the boys are playing whit coloured handkerchiefs. Oliver plays with them
and he is very good. He can take the handkerchief out of Fagin's pocket without the
old man seeing him.
Oliver and the other boys play the handkerchief game a lot.
Fagin has a lot of beautiful handkerchiefs in many different colours. He has got
red, yellow, blue, green, orange and pink handkerchiefs and he keeps them in a
special box. He has also got a lot of watches and jewellery in his special box.
One day, Oliver sees Fagin put all the things in his box and then hide it under
his bed. Fagin is very angry when he sees Oliver watching him. 'Oliver!' shouts
Fagin. 'You must not tell anyone what is in my special box.' Oliver agrees not to
tell anyone but he thinks that it is very stange that a rich man like Fagin lives
in a big, old house in a dirty and smelly street.
The next day, Fagin sends Oliver to the market with Dodger and another boy called
Charley. Oliver is happy to leave the house. He doesn't like staying at home with
Fagin when the other boys go out. The three boys walk around the market and look at
all the food. There are people selling fruit, vegetables, fish and meat. The boys
are hungry but they haven't got any money to buy anything.
They leave the market square and go to the shops. There is a big bookshop with a
lot of books outside. There is a rich gentleman looking at the books. He has got a
handkerchief in his pocket. Dodger points at the man. 'Look at the man,' he says to
Charley and Oliver. 'He has got a beautiful yellow handkerchief.' Dodger walks near
the rich gentleman and quickly and quietly takes his handkerchief from his pocket.
Dodger is very happy but a moment later, the man cannot find his handkerchief and
shouts 'Stop, thief!' Dodger and Charley run away but Oliver doesn't know what to
do.
The man points at Oliver and shouts 'There he is! He is the thief.'
Oliver starts to run but it is too late. A policeman arrives and he takes Oliver
to the police station. Oliver is very scared because the policeman wants to put him
in prison but the other man arrives. 'This boy is not the thief,' he says to the
rich gentleman. 'I work in the bookshop and I saw a different boy take your
handkerchief.'
The rich gentleman, who is called Mr Brownlow, looks at Oliver. 'In fact,' he
thinks, 'This boy does not have the face of a thief. I think he is a good boy'. Mr
Brownlow is very sorry and asks Oliver his name.
'My name is Oliver Twist,' says Oliver.
'And where are your parents, Oliver?' asks Mr Brownlow kindly. Oliver tells Mr
Brownlow that he doesn't have a mum or a dad.
Mr Brownlow thinks that this is terrible and he decides to ask Oliver to live
with him and his housekeeper Mrs Bedwin.
'Do you want to come and live in my house with me and Mrs Bedwin?' Mr Brownlow
asks Oliver.
'Yes, please, sir,' says Oliver. 'Thank you.'
They get into Mr Brownlow's carriage and they go to his house in the centre of
London.
Mr Brownlow lives in a big house in a very nice street. Mrs Bedwin opens the
front door and then takes Oliver immediately to the kitchen. She is a very kind
lady and she makes him a big dinner. Oliver eats chicken soup and bread, meat and
potatoes and a big piece of cake but after dinner, he falls asleep.
Mrs Bedwin and Mr Brownlow take Oliver upstairs to his bedroom. It is a beautiful
bedroom with a big bed. Oliver sleeps all night and all the next day. When he wakes
up he goes into the living room. There is a big painting on the wall. The painting
is of a young woman with long blonde hair and big blue eyes. Oliver looks at the
painting for a very long time.

Chapter 3

The Big House

Oliver is very happy at Mr Brownlow's but Fagin is not happy. In fact, Fagin is
furious. He wants Oliver at his house. He calls for Bill Sikes.
Bill is a nasty, horrible man who works with Fagin. He has got a dog called
Bullseye. 'Bill, you must find Oliver immediately,' says Fagin. Fagin doesn't want
Oliver to tell the police about the handkerchiefs and his special box. Fagin and
Bill do not want to go to prison.
Bill and his girlfriend Nancy go into the city centre to search for Oliver. They
don't find Oliver the first time so they go again, and again and again. Then, one
day, they see him.
Oliver is wearing very nice clothes and he has got some books anf five pounds in
his hand.
In fact, Oliver is going to the bookshop for Mr Brownlow. Bill and Nancy
immediately run to him.
'Oliver!' shouts Nancy, 'My little brother, Oliver'.
'I'm not your brother,' says Oliver.
'Come on,' says Bill, 'Come home with us.'
'No!' shouts Oliver. 'I'm not your brother. I live with Mr Brownlow.'
Nancy and Bill don't listen to Oliver and they take his arm and pull hin down the
street.
'Help!' shouts Oliver but nobody helps him. Everyone thinks that Bill and Nancy
are his brother and sister.
Bill and Nancy take Oliver back to Fagin's. Fagin is very happy but Mr Brownlow
is very sad. He doesn't know where Oliver is and thinks that he took the five
pounds to run away.
After a few weeks, Fagin goes to visit Bill. He wants him to steal money and
jewellery from a big house where rich people live. He must go to the house at night
and enter through a small window, but Bill is too big. He has an idea. 'Oliver is
smaller then me,' says Bill, 'He must come with me.'
Bill sends Nancy to Fagin's to get Oliver. Nancy loves Bill but she is very kind.
She wants to help Oliver.
'You must be a good boy,' she tells Oliver. 'Bill is very dangerous man. I want
to help you but you must wait.'
Oliver is scared. Bill has got a pistol and he takes Oliver out into the dark,
cold night with his friend Toby. They walk for a long time and then they stop in
front a big house.
Bill tells Oliver that he must enter the house through the small window and then
open the front door for him and Toby. Oliver knows that they want to steal things
from the house and he doesn't want to go in, but Bill points the pistol at his
head.
Oliver enters the house and he wants to shout to the people who live there but he
doesn't have time. One of the servants hears Oliver in the house and he shoots him
with a pistol. Oliver's arm hurts and there is a lot of blood. 'Come here!' shouts
Bill
Oliver is scared and runs back to the window. Bill and Toby pull him out of the
window and they start to run away but Oliver is losing a lot of blood and he can't
run. Bill and Toby don't want to go to the prison so they leave Oliver in the road.
He stays there all night. In the morning, his arm hurts a lot and he doesn't know
what to do. He starts to walk down the road and when he sees a house, he knocks on
the door.
Two servants answer the door. 'Look,' says one of the servants. 'It is the thief
from last night.' Oliver doesn't say anything. He is very sick and falls to the
ground.
 The servants take him into the house. The house belongs to Mrs Maylie and she
lives there with her niece, Rose. Rose is seventeen years old and very beautiful,
with kind blue eyes and a gentle smile. They tell the servants to put Oliver in a
bedroom and then to go and get the doctor. Mrs Maylie and Rose don't know that the
thief is a young boy.
When Doctor Losberne arrives, he goes upstairs to see Oliver. He spends a long
time with him and listens to his sad story.
Mrs Maylie and Rose wait in the living room. They are having a cup of tea when
Doctor Losberne comes back downstairs. He looks very sad. 'The thief upstairs is a
young by,' he tells them.
'He has got no family and a group of thieves took him away from a kind man called
Mr Brownlow.'
Mrs Maylie and Rose are very sorry to hear this story. They go and talk to Oliver
and he tells them about the workhouse, Fagin and Mr Brownlow.
They decide to ask Oliver to live with them. 'Would you like to live here with
us, Oliver?' asks Mrs Maylie.
Mrs Maylie and Rose have kind faces and Oliver likes them. 'Yes', he says. 'Thank
you.'
Oliver is happy to live in the big house but he is very sick and must stay in bed
for many days. He has got a very nice bedroom and lots of toys. Every day, Rose
goes to his room to read him a story.
'Which story would you like me to read today?' says Rose.
'The one about the prince and the dragon,' says Oliver.
He loves that story and he loves Rose, but he often thinks about Mr Brownlow and
Mrs Bedwin and then he is sad.
Finally, Oliver is better and gets up out of bed. He gets dressed, washes his
face, combs his hair and puts on his new clothes. Oliver has got new brown
trousers, a white shirt, a grey jumper and black boots. He is very handsome in his
new clothes.
After a few weeks, Mrs Maylie and Rose take Oliver to their house in the
countryside. It is a small cottage with a beautiful garden. There are a lot of
flower and trees in the garden and Oliver loves playing outside. He plays football
and hide and seek and one day Rose gives him a bicycle. 'Here you are, Oliver' she
says, 'This is a present four you.'
Oliver is very excited. He loves his bicycle and he rides it every day. Oliver
loves living in the countryside but one night when he is in bed, he sees a face at
the window. 'Oh no!' shouts Oliver. 'It's Fagin!'
The servants go and look outside but they can't see anyone. Oliver is very
scared. He is sur that it was Fagin.

Chapter 4

A Secret Brother

Fagin is very angry tht Oliver isn't living with him any more. He wants Oliver to
be a thief and work for him. He goes to visit a man called Monks.
Monks is tall and thin with a mean face. He is also very angry when Fagin tells
him that Oliver in not living with him. 'Oliver must to live with you, Figin,'
shouts Monks. 'He must be a thief.'
Monks decides to go and find Mr Bumble. He is sure that he has got some important
information about Oliver. He goes to the town where Olvier was born and in fact he
soon finds the man he is looking for. Mr Bumble is now married to the woman who was
at the workhouse when Oliver's mother went there.
Mr