Charles Dickens: "de todos os lugares ruinosos e desolados que meu tio...

"de todos os lugares ruinosos e desolados que meu tio já havia viu, este foi o mais. Parecia que já havia sido uma grande casa de entretenimento; Mas o telhado caiu, em muitos lugares, e as escadas eram íngremes, acidentadas e quebradas. Havia um enorme lareiro na sala em que andaram, e a chaminé estava enegrecida com fumaça; Mas nenhum blaze quente iluminou agora. O pó de penas branca de madeira queimada ainda era espalhado sobre a lareira, mas o fogão estava frio, e tudo era escuro e sombrio."

--- Charles Dickens

Versão em inglês

Of all the ruinous and desolate places my uncle had ever beheld, this was the most so. It looked as if it had once been a large house of entertainment; but the roof had fallen in, in many places, and the stairs were steep, rugged, and broken. There was a huge fire-place in the room into which they walked, and the chimney was blackened with smoke; but no warm blaze lighted it up now. The white feathery dust of burnt wood was still strewed over the hearth, but the stove was cold, and all was dark and gloomy.