Well Written Wednesdays: I thought you knowed everything

"Father," said Young Jerry, as they walked along: taking care to keep at arm's length and to have the stool well between them: "what's a Resurrection-Man?"

Mr. Cruncher came to a stop on the pavement before he answered, "How should I know?"

"I thought you knowed everything, father," said the artless boy.

"Hem! Well," returned Mr. Cruncher, going on again, and lifting off his hat . . . "he's a tradesman."

"What's his goods, father?" asked the brisk Young Jerry.

"His goods," said Mr. Cruncher, after turning it over in his mind, "is a branch of Scientific goods."

"Persons' bodies, ain't it, father?" asked the lively boy.

"I believe it is something of that sort," said Mr. Cruncher.

"Oh, father I should so like to be a Resurrection-Man when I'm quite growed up!"

-from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

---

Parental manipulation 101: faux ignorance and flattery. Young Jerry, he's a sharp one.

(If you don't recall, he just discovered that his father is a resurrection-man and is now gleefully prodding at the paternal conscience.)