Description of Key Entities present in the text:
#1 - Oliver: The main character, a newborn child whose mother dies shortly after his birth.
#2 - A young woman: Oliver's mother, who dies shortly after giving birth to him.
#3 - The surgeon: A medical professional who attends to Oliver's birth and his mother's death.
#4 - The nurse: A woman who takes care of Oliver and his mother at the workhouse.
#5 - The workhouse: The place where Oliver is born and where his mother dies.

Coreference:
CHAPTER I TREATS OF THE PLACE WHERE OLIVER#1 TWIST WAS BORN AND OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES ATTENDING HIS#1 BIRTH Among other public buildings in a certain town , which for many reasons it will be prudent to refrain from mentioning , and to which I will assign no fictitious name , there is one anciently common to most towns , great or small : to wit , a workhouse#5 ; and in this workhouse#5 was born ; on a day and date which I need not trouble myself to repeat , inasmuch as it can be of no possible consequence to the reader , in this stage of the business at all events ; the item of mortality whose name is prefixed to the head of this chapter . For a long time after it#1 was ushered into this world of sorrow and trouble , by the parish surgeon#3 , it#1 remained a matter of considerable doubt whether the child#1 would survive to bear any name at all ; in which case it#1 is somewhat more than probable that these memoirs would never have appeared ; or , if they had , that being comprised within a couple of pages , they would have possessed the inestimable merit of being the most concise and faithful specimen of biography , extant in the literature of any age or country . Although I am not disposed to maintain that the being born in a workhouse#5 , is in itself the most fortunate and enviable circumstance that can possibly befall a human being , I do mean to say that in this particular instance , it#1 was the best thing for Oliver#1 Twist that could by possibility have occurred . The fact is , that there was considerable difficulty in inducing Oliver#1 to take upon himself#1 the office of respiration , -- a troublesome practice , but one which custom has rendered necessary to our easy existence ; and for some time he#1 lay gasping on a little flock mattress , rather unequally poised between this world and the next : the balance being decidedly in favour of the latter . Now , if , during this brief period , Oliver#1 had been surrounded by careful grandmothers , anxious aunts , experienced nurses#4 , and doctors of profound wisdom , he#1 would most inevitably and indubitably have been killed in no time . There being nobody by , however , but a pauper old woman , who was rendered rather misty by an unwonted allowance of beer ; and a parish surgeon#3 who did such matters by contract ; Oliver#1 and Nature fought out the point between them . The result was , that , after a few struggles , Oliver#1 breathed , sneezed , and proceeded to advertise to the inmates of the workhouse#5 the fact of a new burden having been imposed upon the parish , by setting up as loud a cry as could reasonably have been expected from a male infant who had not been possessed of that very useful appendage , a voice , for a much longer space of time than three minutes and a quarter . As Oliver#1 gave this first proof of the free and proper action of his#1 lungs , the patchwork coverlet which was carelessly flung over the iron bedstead , rustled ; the pale face of a young woman#2 was raised feebly from the pillow ; and a faint voice imperfectly articulated the words , ' Let me see the child#1 , and die . ' The surgeon#3 had been sitting with his#3 face turned towards the fire : giving the palms of his#3 hands a warm and a rub alternately . As the young woman#2 spoke , he#3 rose , and advancing to the bed 's head , said , with more kindness than might have been expected of him#3 : ' Oh , you#2 must not talk about dying yet . ' ' Lor bless her#2 dear heart , no ! ' interposed the nurse#4 , hastily depositing in her#4 pocket a green glass bottle , the contents of which she#4 had been tasting in a corner with evident satisfaction . ' Lor bless her#2 dear heart , when she#2 has lived as long as I#4 have , sir , and had thirteen children of her#4 own , and all on 'em dead except two , and them in the wurkus with me#4 , she#2 'll know better than to take on in that way , bless her#2 dear heart ! Think what it is to be a mother , there 's a dear young lamb do . ' Apparently this consolatory perspective of a mother 's prospects failed in producing its due effect . The patient shook her#2 head , and stretched out her#2 hand towards the child#1 . The surgeon#3 deposited it#1 in her#2 arms . She#2 imprinted her#2 cold white lips passionately on its#1 forehead ; passed her#2 hands over her#2 face ; gazed wildly round ; shuddered ; fell back -- and died . They chafed her#2 breast , hands , and temples ; but the blood had stopped forever . They talked of hope and comfort . They had been strangers too long . ' It 's all over , Mrs. Thingummy ! ' said the surgeon#3 at last . ' Ah , poor dear , so it is ! ' said the nurse#4 , picking up the cork of the green bottle , which had fallen out on the pillow , as she#4 stooped to take up the child#1 . ' Poor dear ! ' ' You need n't mind sending up to me#3 , if the child#1 cries , nurse#4 , ' said the surgeon#3 , putting on his#3 gloves with great deliberation . ' It#1 's very likely it#1 _ will _ be troublesome . Give it#1 a little gruel if it#1 is . ' He#3 put on his#3 hat , and , pausing by the bed-side on his#3 way to the door , added , ' She#2 was a good-looking girl , too ; where did she#2 come from ? ' ' She#2 was brought here last night , ' replied the old woman , ' by the overseer 's order . She#2 was found lying in the street . She#2 had walked some distance , for her#2 shoes were worn to pieces ; but where she#2 came from , or where she#2 was going to , nobody knows . ' The surgeon#3 leaned over the body , and raised the left hand . ' The old story , ' he#3 said , shaking his#3 head : ' no wedding-ring , I see . Ah ! Good-night ! ' The medical gentleman walked away to dinner ; and the nurse#4 , having once more applied herself#4 to the green bottle , sat down on a low chair before the fire , and proceeded to dress the infant#1 . What an excellent example of the power of dress , young Oliver#1 Twist was ! Wrapped in the blanket which had hitherto formed his#1 only covering , he#1 might have been the child#1 of a nobleman or a beggar ; it#1 would have been hard for the haughtiest stranger to have assigned him#1 his#1 proper station in society . But now that he#1 was enveloped in the old calico robes which had grown yellow in the same service , he#1 was badged and ticketed , and fell into his#1 place at once -- a parish child#1 -- the orphan of a workhouse#5 -- the humble , half-starved drudge -- to be cuffed and buffeted through the world -- despised by all , and pitied by none . Oliver#1 cried lustily . If he#1 could have known that he#1 was an orphan , left to the tender mercies of church-wardens and overseers , perhaps he#1 would have cried the louder . CHAPTER II TREATS OF OLIVER#1 TWIST 'S GROWTH , EDUCATION , AND BOARD For the next eight or ten months , Oliver#1 was the victim of a systematic course of treachery and deception . He#1 was brought up by hand . The hungry and destitute situation of the infant#1 orphan was duly reported by the workhouse#5 authorities to the parish authorities . The parish authorities inquired with dignity of the workhouse#5 authorities , whether there was no female then domiciled in ' the house#5 ' who was in a situation to impart to Oliver#1 Twist , the consolation and nourishment of which he#1 stood in need . The workhouse#5 authorities replied with humility , that there was not . Upon this , the parish authorities magnanimously and humanely resolved , that Oliver#1 should be ' farmed , ' or , in other words , that he#1 should be dispatched to a branch-workhouse some three miles off , where twenty or thirty other juvenile offenders against the poor-laws , rolled about the floor all day , without the inconvenience of too much food or too much clothing , under the parental superintendence of an elderly female , who received the culprits at and for the consideration of sevenpence-halfpenny per small head per week . Sevenpence-halfpenny 's worth per week is a good round diet for a child#1 ; a great deal may be got for sevenpence-halfpenny , quite enough to overload its#1 stomach , and make it#1 uncomfortable . The elderly female was a woman of wisdom and experience ; she knew what was good for children#1 ; and she had a very accurate perception of what was good for herself#4 . So , she#4 appropriated the greater part of the weekly stipend to her#4 own use , and consigned the rising parochial generation to even a shorter allowance than was originally provided for them#1 . Thereby finding in the lowest depth a deeper still ; and proving herself#4 a very great experimental philosopher . Everybody knows the story of another experimental philosopher who had a great theory about a horse being able to live without eating , and who demonstrated it so well , that he had got his own horse down to a straw a day , and would unquestionably have rendered him a very spirited and rampacious animal on nothing at all , if he had not died , four-and-twenty hours before he was to have had his first comfortable bait of air . Unfortunately for , the experimental philosophy of the female#4 to whose protecting care Oliver#1 Twist was delivered over , a similar result usually attended the operation of _ her#4 _ system ; for at the very moment when the child#1 had contrived to exist upon the smallest possible portion of the weakest possible food , it#1 did perversely happen in eight and a half cases out of ten , either that it#1 sickened from want and cold , or fell into the fire from neglect , or got half-smothered by accident ; in any one of which cases , the miserable little being#1 was usually summoned into another world , and there gathered to the fathers it#1 had never known in this . Occasionally , when there was some more than usually interesting inquest upon a parish child#1 who had been overlooked in turning up a bedstead , or inadvertently scalded to death when there happened to be a washing -- though the latter accident was very scarce , anything approaching to a washing being of rare occurrence in the farm -- the jury would take it into their heads to ask troublesome questions , or the parishioners would rebelliously affix their signatures to a remonstrance . But these impertinences were speedily checked by the evidence of the surgeon#3 , and the testimony of the beadle ; the former of whom had always opened the body and found nothing inside ( which was very probable indeed ) , and the latter of whom invariably swore whatever the parish wanted ; which was very self-devotional . Besides , the board made periodical pilgrimages to the farm , and always sent the beadle the day before , to say they were going . The children#1 were neat and clean to behold , when _ they#1 _ went ; and what more would the people have !