讀點好英文:Wuthering Heights 呼嘯山莊

Wuthering Heights 呼嘯山莊

[英]艾米莉·勃朗特（Emily Bronte）

在英格蘭北部荒涼的山區(qū)里，有座呼嘯山莊。主人恩肖收養(yǎng)了一個孤兒，取名希斯克利夫。在后來的相處中，他愛上了主人的女兒凱瑟琳，但身份的懸殊使他們不能在一起。希斯克利夫帶著仇恨離家。等他衣錦返鄉(xiāng)時，凱瑟琳已經(jīng)成為畫眉山莊的女主人。但她最終悔恨離世，留下了女嬰凱蒂。報復心很強的希斯克利夫在孩子身上繼續(xù)著他瘋狂的報復，但他對凱瑟琳的愛化解了他心頭的恨，在飽嘗人間的辛酸后他憤然離世。

They lifted their eyes together, to encounter Mr. Heathcliff:perhaps you have never remarked that their eyes are precisely similar, and they are those of Catherine Earnshaw.The present Catherine has no other likeness to her, except a breadth of forehead, and a certain arch of the nostril that makes her appear rather haughty, whether she will or not.With Hareton the resemblance is carried farther:it is singular at all times, then it was particularly striking;because his senses were alert, and his mental faculties wakened to unwonted activity.I suppose this resemblance disarmed Mr.Heathcliff:he walked to the hearth in evident agitation;but it quickly subsided as he looked at the young man:or, I should say, altered its character;for it was there yet.He took the book from his hand, and glanced at the open page, then returned it without any observation;merely signing Catherine away:her companion lingered very little behind her, and I was about to depart also, but he bid me sit still.

“It is a poor conclusion, is it not?”he observed, having brooded awhile on the scene he had just witnessed:“An absurd termination to my violent exertions?I get levers and mattocks to demolish the two houses, and train myself to be capable of working like Hercules, and when everything is ready and in my power, I find the will to lift a slate off either roof has vanishe d!My old enemies have not beaten me;now would be the precise time to revenge myself on their representatives:I could do it;and none could hinder me. But where is the use?I don't care for striking:I can't take the trouble to raise my han d!That sounds as if I had been labouring the whole time only to exhibit a fine trait of magnanimity.It is far from being the case:I have lost the faculty of enjoying their destruction, and I am too idle to destroy for nothing.”

“Nelly, there is a strange change approaching;I'm in its shadow at present. I take so little interest in my daily life that I hardly remember to eat and drink.Those two who have left the room are the only objects which retain a distinct material appearance to me;and that appearance causes me pain, amounting to agony.About her I won't speak;and I don't desire to think;but I earnestly wish she were invisible:her presence invokes only maddening sensations.He moves me differently:and yet if I could do it without seeming insane, I'd never see him agai n!You'll perhaps think me rather inclined to become so,”he added, making an effort to smile,“if I try to describe the thousand forms of past associations and ideas he awakens or embodies.But you’ll not talk of what I tell you;and my mind is so eternally secluded in itself, it is tempting at last to turn it out to another.”

“Five minutes ago Hareton seemed a personification of my youth, not a human being;I felt to him in such a variety of ways, that it would have been impossible to have accosted him rationally. In the first place, his startling likeness to Catherine connected him fearfully with her.That, however, which you may suppose the most potent to arrest my imagination, is actually the least:for what is not connected with her to me?And what does not recall her?I cannot look down to this floor, but her features are shaped in the flag s!In every cloud, in every tree—filling the air at night, and caught by glimpses in every object by day—I am surrounded with her imag e!The most ordinary faces of men and women—my own features-mock me with a resemblance.The entire world is a dreadful collection of memoranda that she did exist, and that I have lost he r!Well, Hareton's aspect was the ghost of my immortal love;of my wild endeavours to hold my right;my degradation, my pride, my happiness, and my anguish.”

“But it is frenzy to repeat these thoughts to you:only it will let you know why, with a reluctance to be always alone, his society is no benefit;rather an aggravation of the constant torment I suffer:and it partly contributes to render me regardless how he and his cousin go on together. I can give them no attention any more.”

“But what do you mean by a change, Mr. Heathcliff?”I said, alarmed at his manner:though he was neither in danger of losing his senses, nor dying, according to my judgment:he was quite strong and healthy;and, as to his reason, from childhood he had a delight in dwelling on dark things, and entertaining odd fancies.He might have had a monomania on the subject of his departed idol;but on every other point his wits were as sound as mine.

“I shall not know that till it comes,”he said;“I'm only half conscious of it now.”

“You have no feeling of illness, have you?”I asked.

“No, Nelly, I have not,”he answered.

“Then you are not afraid of death?”I pursued.

“Afraid?N o!”he replied.“I have neither a fear, nor a presentiment, nor a hope of death. Why should I?With my hard constitution and temperate mode of living, and unperilous occupations, I ought to, and probably shall, remain above ground till there is scarcely a black hair on my head.And yet I cannot continue in this conditio n!I have to remind myself to breathe—almost to remind my heart to bea t!And it is like bending back a stiff spring:it is by compulsion that I do the slightest act not prompted by one thought;and by compulsion that I notice anything alive or dead, which is not associated with one universal idea.I have a single wish, and my whole being and faculties are yearning to attain it.They have yearned towards it so long, and so unwaveringly, that I'm convinced it will be reached—and soon—because it has devoured my existence:I am swallowed up in the anticipation of its fulfilment.My confessions have not relieved me;but they may account for some otherwise unaccountable phases of humour which I show.O, Go d!It is a long fight;I wish it were ove r!”

He began to pace the room, muttering terrible things to himself, till I was inclined to believe, as he said Joseph did, that conscience had turned his heart to an earthly hell. I wondered greatly how it would end.Though he seldom before had revealed this state of mind, even by looks, it was his habitual mood, I had no doubt:he asserted it himself;but not a soul, from his general bearing, would have conjectured the fact.You did not when you saw him, Mr.Lockwood:and at the period of which I speak, he was just the same as then;only fonder of continued solitude, and perhaps still moke laconic in company.

他們倆同時抬起眼睛，看到了希斯克利夫先生。你也許從來沒有注意過他們的眼睛竟這么相像，都是凱瑟琳·恩肖那樣的眼睛?，F(xiàn)在的小凱瑟琳除了寬額和翹鼻子外，再沒有別的地方像她了，而這個拱形線條不管她內(nèi)心怎樣總使她顯得頗為高傲。而哈里頓，就更像他姑姑了，平常已經(jīng)像得出奇，這時候更像了。因為他的感覺很銳敏，思維也異?；钴S。我想這種相貌的相似使希斯克利夫先生心軟了。他走到爐邊看起來很激動，但是當他望著這對年輕人時，那激動很快就平靜下來了，或者，我應(yīng)該說，是改變了性質(zhì)，因為那份激動并未消除。他從哈里頓手中拿過那本書，瞅了瞅翻開的那一頁，然后把書還給他，一句話也沒說，只是揮手讓凱瑟琳走開。她的同伴在她走后不久，也就離開了；當我正要走開時，他卻要我坐著別動。

“這是一個很糟糕的結(jié)局，不是嗎？”他對他剛剛目睹的情況思索了片刻后說，“我那狂暴的努力的可笑下場？我準備好了杠桿鐵鋤要摧毀這兩座房子，把自己鍛煉成了大力士，當一切就緒，都在我掌握之中時，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)連掀掉那兩個屋頂上片瓦的勁頭都沒有了！我往日的仇人沒有把我打垮，現(xiàn)在正好是在她們的后代身上報仇的時機，我能做到這一點，沒有人能阻擋我?？捎惺裁从媚?？我不想打人了。我連拳頭都不想舉了！好像我苦干了一輩子為的就是到頭來表現(xiàn)這點寬宏大量的好風格似的，其實并非如此。我已經(jīng)喪失了欣賞這種毀滅的能力，我懶得去毫無目的地毀滅什么東西了。

“耐莉，有一種奇怪的變化要發(fā)生了；我眼下正在它的陰影之下。我對日常生活毫無興趣，甚至都不記得吃喝。剛剛離開這間屋子的那兩個人，對我來說，是唯一還保留著清晰具體形象的東西；那形象使我痛苦，極度痛苦。關(guān)于她，我就不想說些什么了；我想都不愿意想；但我真心希望不再見她。她在我面前令人發(fā)狂。他給我的感覺就完全不同了；但是我也寧愿永遠不再見他，如果我能做到這一點，而不顯得是神經(jīng)錯亂了的話。”他又強作笑顏說，“如果我試著跟你描述一下他在我心頭喚起的、或是他所體現(xiàn)的那千百種聯(lián)想和思緒，也許你會認為我很可能神經(jīng)錯亂了。不過，你不要把我告訴你的說出去。我的想法總是深藏在自己心里，一直這樣隱蔽著，不過，到頭來還是忍不住要向一個人傾訴。

“五分鐘前，哈里頓似乎是我青春的化身，而不是一個人。我對他有各種不同的感覺，以至于我不能理性地對待他。首先，他和凱瑟琳那么相像，這就把他和她緊緊聯(lián)系在一起了?；蛟S你會認為這是最能引起我想象的東西，可實際上這是最微不足道的，因為對我來說，有什么東西不是跟她聯(lián)系在一起的呢？有什么東西不使我想起她來呢？我每次望著地面，她的形貌就出現(xiàn)在地板上！每一朵云，每一棵樹——晚上充滿在空氣里，白天在每一件東西上，我眼光所到之處，全是她的影子！普通的男女，連我自己的相貌——都好像她，都在捉弄我。整個世界就是一個驚人的縮影，證實她確實存在過，而我卻失去了她！唉，哈里頓的模樣就是我永恒的愛的幽靈；是我為維護自己的權(quán)利所做的狂熱努力的幽靈，是我的貶損、我的驕傲、我的幸福和我痛苦的幽靈。

“不過，我這豈不是發(fā)瘋了。把這些想法說給你聽，也只是讓你知道為什么我并不想單獨一個人，而他的陪伴對我來說卻沒有任何好處，反而加深了對我的折磨，這也是我對他和他表妹在一起的情況不再加以考慮的部分原因，我不再注意他們了?！?/p>

“你說的變化是什么意思，希斯克利夫先生？”我說。我對他的態(tài)度感到驚慌，雖然根據(jù)我的看法，他既不會發(fā)瘋，也不會死，他很健康、結(jié)實，至于他的神志，他從小就喜歡注意陰暗的東西，抱著古怪的幻想。他在對待他失去偶像這件事上也許有一些偏執(zhí)，但在其他事情上，他跟我一樣，腦子是很清醒的。

“我要等，事到臨頭了才會知道，”他說，“我現(xiàn)在只是朦朦朧朧地意識到了它?！?/p>

“你沒有生病的感覺吧，有嗎？”我問道。

“沒，耐莉，我沒有?！彼卮鸬馈?/p>

“那么你不怕死嗎？”我追問道。

“怕？不！”他答道，“我對死既不怕，也沒有預感，也不存希望，為什么呢？我體質(zhì)結(jié)實，生活有節(jié)制，又不干危險活兒，我應(yīng)該，也許一定會，長命百歲。可是，我不能繼續(xù)這樣下去了！我得提醒自己要呼吸——幾乎得提醒我的心臟要跳動！凡不是由那唯一的思想推動我去干的事，哪怕是舉手之勞，都是像扳彎一根硬邦邦的彈簧一樣硬逼著自己去干的，凡不是與那無處不在的想法相聯(lián)系的東西，不論是死的、活的，都是我硬逼著自己去注意的。我只有一個愿望，我的全部生命、全部力量都渴望去達到它。它們對它長期以來這么堅定不移地孜孜以求。我相信會達到它的——而且為期不遠了——因為它已經(jīng)耗盡了我的生命，我期待它的實現(xiàn)，而在期待中我已經(jīng)被吞沒了。我向你道出了我的心事，但并未感到輕松。不過，這也許可以解釋我表現(xiàn)出來的某些心情，否則那是無法解釋的。啊，上帝呀！這真是一場長期的斗爭，但愿它快點結(jié)束吧！”

他開始在屋里踱來踱去，嘴里還念叨著一些可怕的東西，到后來我完全相信約瑟夫說的那句話了：他的天良把他的內(nèi)心世界鬧騰成了一座人間地獄。我真不知道會是個什么結(jié)局。雖然他極少透露過他的這種思想情況，在外表上根本看不出，我卻毫不懷疑這是他經(jīng)常的心境。這話是他自己說的，但從他的平時的行為舉止來看，沒有一個人能猜到這一實情。你看到他的時候，洛烏德先生，就沒有想到吧。就在這一段時間里，他還是跟往常一樣，只是更喜歡一個人待著，有人在一起時，他說的話也比以前更少了。

What makes life dreary is the want of motive.

——George Eliot

沒有了目的，生活便郁悶無光。

——艾略特

實戰(zhàn)提升

作者介紹

艾米莉·勃朗特（1818—1848），這位女作家在世界上僅僅度過了30年便默默無聞地離開了人間。艾米莉性格內(nèi)向，嫻靜文雅，從童年時代起就酷愛寫詩?！逗魢[山莊》是她唯一的一部小說。她們?nèi)忝玫娜啃≌f——夏洛蒂的《簡·愛》、艾米莉的《呼嘯山莊》和小妹妹安妮的《艾格尼斯·格雷》是同一年問世的。除《呼嘯山莊》外，艾米莉還創(chuàng)作了193首詩，被認為是英國一位天才的女作家。三人并稱勃朗特三姐妹，在19世紀文壇上煥發(fā)異彩。

單詞注解

encounter[in5kauntE]v.遭遇；遇到

absurd[Eb5sE:d]adj.不合理的，荒謬的；可笑的

distinct[di5stiNkt]adj.明顯的，清楚的

eternally[i5tE:nEli]adv.永恒地；常常；不絕地

endeavour[in5devE]v.努力，力圖；n.盡力；竭力

reluctance[ri5lQktEns]n.不情愿；勉強

conscious[5kCnFEs]adj.神志清醒的，有知覺的

conjecture[kEn5dVektFE]n.推測，猜測

名句大搜索

不過，你不要把我告訴你的說出去。我的想法總是深藏在自己心里，一直這樣隱蔽著，不過，到頭來還是忍不住要向一個人傾訴。

五分鐘前，哈里頓似乎是我青春的化身，而不是一個人。

不過，這也許可以解釋我表現(xiàn)出來的某些心情，否則那是無法解釋的。啊，上帝呀！這真是一場長期的斗爭，但愿它快點結(jié)束吧！