牛津書蟲系列 簡愛 chapter 14

14 Trouble at Gateshead

14 蓋茨赫德出了麻煩

hen I was a child at Gateshead，Bessie the nursemaid used to say that to dream of children was a sure sign of trouble to come.For a whole week now I had dreamed of a small child every night，and perhaps Bessie was right，as a message came from Gateshead.

小時(shí)候我還在蓋茨赫德時(shí)，女仆貝茜就曾對我說夢到孩子一定是禍?zhǔn)碌念A(yù)兆。整整一個(gè)星期以來，我每晚都夢到一個(gè)小孩兒。也許貝茜是對的，蓋茨赫德讓人捎信來了。

It appeared that my cousin John Reed，who had spent and wasted all his money and some of his mother’s，and been in debt or in prison Most of his life，had killed himself a week before And then Mrs Reed，whose health had been badly affected by worrying about her son，had suddenly fallen ill when she heard of his death Although she could hardly speak，she had recently managed to express a wish to see me And so my cousins Eliza and Georgiana had sent their coachman，Robert，to bring me back to Gateshead

似乎是我的表哥約翰·里德?lián)]霍了他自己的全部錢財(cái)以及他母親的一部分錢，大部分時(shí)間都是負(fù)債累累或蹲監(jiān)獄。一星期前他自殺了。里德太太因?yàn)樘鎯鹤訐?dān)心，身體受到嚴(yán)重影響，聽到他的死訊，突然一病不起。盡管她幾乎難以講話，最近還是設(shè)法表示希望見見我。于是我的表姐妹伊麗莎和喬治娜派了車夫羅伯特接我回蓋茨赫德。

I felt I could not refuse to see my aunt，perhaps for the last time，So I went to ask Mr Rochester’s permisson to leave Thornfield for a while I found him talking to Miss Ingram，who looked at me in disgust when I interrupted their conversation.

我感到自己無法拒絕去看望舅媽，也許這是最后一面了。于是我到羅切斯特先生那兒，請他準(zhǔn)許我離開特恩費(fèi)得一段時(shí)間。我見到他正跟英格姆小姐講話，我打斷他們的談話時(shí)，她正厭惡地看著我。

’Well，Jane，what is it?’he asked，when we had left the room full of guests and gone into the library.

“噢，簡，什么事?”我們離開滿是客人的房間而來到書房時(shí)，他問道。

’Please，sir，I would like permission to visit my aunt，who is ill，for a week or two.

“先生，請您允許我去看望我的舅媽，她已經(jīng)病了一兩個(gè)星期了。”

’Your aunt!You told me you had no relations!’

“你的舅媽!你告訴我你沒有親戚的!”

’I have none who，love me，sir.She’s Mrs Reed，my uncle’s wife.Her son has died recently.I really can’t neglect her now that she is dying.

“先生，我沒有喜歡我的親戚。她是里德太太，我舅舅的妻子。她兒子最近死了。她快不行了，我真的不能不理她。”

’What nonsense，Jane，rushing off to visit an old lady who has never loved you!But I see you’ve decided to go.Where does she live and how long will you stay?’

“簡，真是胡說，跑去看一個(gè)從未喜歡過你的老太太!不過我看你已決心要走了。她住在哪兒?你去多久?”

’She lives at Gateshead，sir，a hundred miles away.I’ll stay as short a time as can.

“先生，她住在100英里以外的蓋茨赫德。我盡量待的時(shí)間短些。”

’Promise me only to stay a week.

“答應(yīng)我只待一星期。”

I can’t promise，sir，I might have to stay longer.

“先生，我不能答應(yīng)，可能必須逗留得長些。”

’And you certainly can’t travel a hundred miles alone!’

“你不能只身旅行100英里啊!”

’They’ve sent the coachman for me，sir.I’ll leave tomorrow.’

“先生.他們派來了車夫。我明天動身。”

Mr Rochester thought for a while.

羅切斯特先生想了想。

’Well，you’ll need some money.I haven’t paid you any salary yet.How much have you in the world，Jane?’ he asked，smiling.

“好吧，你需要些錢，我還沒有付給你工資。簡，你全部家當(dāng)有多少?”他笑著問。

I showed him my tiny purse.He took it and laughed as he counted the few coins.Then he took out his wallet.

我把小錢包拿給他看。他接過去，一邊數(shù)里面的幾個(gè)硬幣一邊笑，然后他掏出自己的錢夾。

’Here is ￡50，’he said，offering me a note.

“這是50英鎊。”他說著遞給我一張鈔票。

’But.you only owe me ￡15，sir!’I cried.

“可你只欠我15英鎊啊，先生!”我叫道。

’On second thoughts，give me that back. If you had￡50，perhaps you would stay away for three months.Here is ￡ 10.Is that enough?’

“我再想想，把錢還給我吧。如果你有50鎊，可能會在外面待上三個(gè)月。這是10鎊，夠嗎?”

’Now you owe me￡5，sir，’I pointed out.

“現(xiàn)在你欠我5鎊，先生。”我指出。

’You’ll have to come back for it then，’he said，laughing.

“那么你就得回來討債了。”他笑著說。

’There’s something else，sir.You’ve told me you’rs going to marry soon. In that case，Adèle should go to boarding school.’

“先生，還有別的事。你曾告訴我你快要結(jié)婚了。如果是這樣，阿黛拉應(yīng)該去上寄宿學(xué)校。”

’To get her out of my lovely bride’s way?A very sensible suggestion.But what about you?’

“讓她別在可愛的新娘面前礙手礙腳?很有道理。但是你呢?”

’I must find another job somewhere.I’ll advertise.’

“我必須在別處找事做，我會登廣告。”

’Don’t you dare!’he growled.’Promise me，Jane，not to look for another job.I’ll take care of that.’

“你敢!”他吼道，“簡，答應(yīng)我，不要找別的工作，由我來處理。”

’I’ll promise，sir，if you promise that Adèle and I will be out of your house before your bride enters it.’

“先生，我答應(yīng)，條件是新娘進(jìn)門前，阿黛拉和我必須離開你家。”

’Very well!And now we must say goodbye.’

“很好!那現(xiàn)在我們得說再見了。”

’Goodbye，Mr Rochester.’

“再見，羅切斯特先生。”

I set out early the next morning and travelled all day.As I approached Gateshead Hall，I realized it was nine years since I had left it. In that time I had made some friends， gained much self-confidence，and finally lost my hatred of the Reeds.

第二天我一早就出發(fā)了，奔波了一整天。蓋茨赫德府漸漸近了，我意識到從我離開這里，九年已經(jīng)過去了。這期間，我交了些朋友，增長了不少自信，最后也不再恨里德一家了。

I was delighted to see my old friend Bessie again.She had married Robert the coachman，and was very busy with her three young children.The house itself had not changed at all，hut my cousins certainly had. Eliza was now very tall and thin, with a rather sour face，dressed in very plain clothes，and with a cross hanging round her neck Georgiana，on the other hand，was still pretty hut very fat，and wore extremely fashionable clothes.They did not seem pleased to see me，in fact they more or less ignored me，but I hardly noticed their rudeness.I told the housekeeper that I would be staying for several days，and then went straight to my aunt’s room.

我很高興又見到老朋友貝茜。她嫁給了車夫羅伯特，要照顧她的三個(gè)小孩，所以很忙。房子本身一點(diǎn)兒沒變，但我的表兄妹顯然是變了。伊麗莎現(xiàn)在又高又瘦，面帶苦相，穿著非常簡樸，脖子上掛著個(gè)十字架。而喬治娜依然漂亮，但很胖，穿著非常時(shí)髦的衣服。她們見到我似乎并不高興，實(shí)際上多少有點(diǎn)兒不理睬我，而我?guī)缀鯖]注意到她們的失禮。我告訴管家我只住幾天，然后徑直來到舅媽的屋里。

I remembered it well from my childhood.I had often been called there to be punished.Bending over her bed I kissed her.

兒時(shí)的生活讓我清楚地記得這屋子。我常常被叫進(jìn)來受罰。我俯下身去吻了她。

’How are you，dear aunt?’I asked.I had sworn never to call her aunt again，but I did not regret breaking that promise to myself.I held her hand.

“親愛的舅媽，你好嗎?”我問。我曾發(fā)誓不再叫她舅媽，但是打破了誓言我并不后悔。我拉住她的手。

’Are you Jane Eyre?’she asked.Her face，although deathly pale，was as stern as ever，and she removed her hand from mine.’That child was more trouble to me than anyone would believe!I was glad to send her to Lowood.And John!Poor John!He needs so much money!Where can I get more money from?What will happen? She seemed very confused and excited，so I left her to sleep.

“你是簡·愛嗎?”她問。她臉色盡管已是死灰色，卻仍像過去一樣嚴(yán)厲。她把手抽了回去。“那孩子給我?guī)淼穆闊?，比誰想的都要多!我很高興把她送到洛伍德去了。約翰!可憐的約翰!他需要那么多錢!我到哪兒去多弄錢呢?會出什么事?”她好像又糊涂又激動，于是我起身讓她睡了。

Her illness got worse in the next few days.I spent some time every day looking after her，and the rest of the time with my cousins，listening to their plans for the future.Eliza was planning to joln a religious community after her mother’s death，but Georgiana was hoping to stay in London with relations，to see the new fashions and go to all the parties.It was quite clear they had no real feeling for their mother，and were almost looking forward to her death.

以后幾天里，她病情惡化了。我每天都花些時(shí)間照顧她，剩下的時(shí)間就和表姐妹在一起，聽她們講述未來的計(jì)劃。伊麗莎打算在母親去世后參加一個(gè)宗教團(tuán)體，而喬治娜則希望到倫敦和親戚住在一起，去觀賞時(shí)裝，參加各種晚會。顯然她們和母親沒有什么感情，幾乎是在盼著她死。

One dark，stormy night I visited the dying woman.She lay there asleep in her room，neglected by her daughters and servants.As I looked out of the window into the black emptiness，I wondered about the great mystery of death，and thought of Helen Burns，who was so sure her spirit would go to heaven.Would my aunt’s spirit go there too?

一個(gè)風(fēng)雨交加的夜晚，我又去看望垂死的女人。她正睡在屋里，女兒和仆人們都不理會她。我望著窗外無盡的黑夜，思量著死亡的神秘。我想到了海倫·伯恩斯，她是那么肯定自己會進(jìn)天堂。我舅媽的靈魂也會進(jìn)天堂嗎?

’Who are you?’I heard the sick woman Murmuring.’I wanted to see Jane Eyre.I must tell her something.

“你是誰?”我聽到病人低語道，“我要見簡·愛，我必須告訴她一件事。”

’I am Jane Eyre，aunt，’I told her gently.

“舅媽，我就是簡·愛。”我輕柔地對她說。

’I know I’m very ill，’she said weakly.’Before I die I must confess what I’ve done wrong.First，I broke my promise to my husband about you，and second She broke off.’After all，perhaps I don’t need to tell her，’she said to herself and then，’No，it’s no good，I know I’m dying.I must tell her，and quickly!Jane eyre，take the letter from the top drawer of my desk，and read it.’I did so.It said：

“我知道我病得很重。”她虛弱地說。“我死前必須坦白我做的錯事。第一，我違背了為你向我丈夫許下的諾言。第二……”她止住了。“也許我沒有必要告訴她。”她自言自語道。然后她又說：“不，這不好，我知道我要死了。我必須告訴她，而且要快!簡·愛，從我書桌最上面的抽屜里拿一封信，念念。”我照辦了。信上說：

’Why did I never hear of this’?I asked，amazed.

“我怎么從來沒聽說過?”我吃驚地問。

’I hated you so much that I wrote，back to Him，telling him you had died of typhus fever at Lowood That was my revenge on you，for causing me so much trouble!’she cried angrily.

“我很恨你，就寫信告訴他你在洛伍德得猩紅熱死了。這就是我對你給我惹這么多麻煩的報(bào)復(fù)!”她恨恨地說。

’Dear aunt，’I said，’don’t think about that any more I was omly a child，it’s not surprising I was a nuisance.’

“親愛的舅媽，”我說，“別再想這些了。我那時(shí)還只是個(gè)孩子，難免讓人煩。”

’You were always so angry and violent，such a wicked child!’

“你總是那么生氣，那么兇，真是個(gè)壞孩子!”

’Not as wicked as you think.I would have loved you if you’d let me.Forget it all and kiss me now，aunt.’But it was too late for her to break the habit of dislike，and she turned away from me. Poor woman!She died soon afterwards，keeping her hatred of me alive in her heart，and no one at Gateshead cried for her.

“沒有你想像的那么壞。如果你當(dāng)時(shí)允許的話，我會愛你的。舅媽，忘了這一切吧，請吻我一下。”然而現(xiàn)在讓她放棄厭惡的習(xí)慣已為時(shí)太晚，她扭過頭去不理我?？蓱z的女人!她不久就死了，心中仍留著對我的仇恨。蓋茨赫德沒有一個(gè)人為她落淚。