牛津書蟲系列 遠(yuǎn)大前程 Chapter 5

5 Pip’s sister is attacked

5 匹普的姐姐被襲擊

I n a single year everything had changed.Before I went to Miss Havisham ’s and met Estella，I had always wanted to be apprenticed to Joe，and I had always been happy at home，in spite of my sister’ s scolding.Now I was ashamed of my home and my work.I was very miserable.Because of Joe，however，I stayed at the forge and did my best to work hard .I’m glad that I never told him how unhappy I was then. I tried to follow his example and become an honest，happy，hardworking man.But all the time I thought of Estella.My worst fear was that one day she would come to the forge and see me working as a common blacksmith，with black face and hands.She would certainly turn away in disgust.

在僅有的一年中，每一件事情都發(fā)生了變化。我去郝薇香小姐家，遇見艾絲黛拉之前，我總是想做喬的徒弟，不管我姐姐的訓(xùn)斥，在家里總是很愉快。現(xiàn)在，我對我的家和工作感到苦惱，我很悲傷。然而，為了喬，我呆在鐵匠鋪并拼命地工作。使我欣慰的是沒有把這些煩惱告訴他，我盡可能地以他為榜樣，成為一個誠實的、幸福的實干家。但是，我每時每刻忘不了艾絲黛拉，我最怕的是有一天她會來到鐵匠鋪，看一個黑臉黑手粗俗的鐵匠在干活，她自然會厭惡地當(dāng)場離去。

In the evenings I studied as hard as I could，educating my-self for Estella.Whatever I learnt，I shared with Joe，not，I’m afraid，so that he would be more educated，but so that I would be less ashamed of him in front of Estella.One Sunday Joe and I went out on the marshes，as usual，to study together.I don’t think he ever remembered anything from one week to the next，but he smoked his pipe comfortably，looking as intelli-gent as he could . I had a question I had been intending to ask him.

晚上，我拼命地學(xué)習(xí)，為艾絲黛拉而自修。無論怎樣，我學(xué)到的要與喬分享。不，我是擔(dān)心，以便他受到更多的教育，好讓我在艾絲黛拉面前少為他丟丑。一個星期天，喬和我出門到了沼澤地，照常一起學(xué)習(xí)。我相信他不會把這周學(xué)到的東西記到下一周。不過，他舒適地吸著煙斗，看上去倒挺自信，我有一個問題打算問他。

‘Joe,do you think I should visit Miss Havisham again?’

“喬，你想我應(yīng)該再去拜訪郝薇香小姐了吧?”

‘Well，Pip，’said Joe，‘will she think you expect her to give you something? She told me she wouldn’t give you any-thing else.’

“喂，匹普，”喬說，“她會認(rèn)為你又期望她給你東西嗎?她告訴過我，她不會再給你任何東西。”

‘But，Joe， I’ve been apprenticed nearly a year now，and I’ve never thanked her!’

“可是，喬，現(xiàn)在我當(dāng)徒弟快一年了，我還從沒有感謝她!”

‘That’s true，Pip，’said Joe slowly.

“這的確是，匹普，”喬慢慢地說。

‘Could you give me a half day’s holiday tomorrow，Joe? I would like to visit Miss Est-Havisham.’

“明天你能給我半天假嗎，喬?我想去看望艾絲黛拉——郝薇香小姐。”

‘Her name isn’t Estavisham，as far as I know，Pip，’said Joe very seriously.

“就我所知，她的名字不是艾絲黛薇香，匹普。”喬十分嚴(yán)肅地說。

‘I know，Joe!Please，Joe!’

“我知道，喬!求你啦，喬!”

‘All right，Pip，but if she isn’t happy to see you， better not go again .’

“好，好，匹普，不過，如果她見到你不高興，最好別再去。”

Joe had another blacksmith working for him at the forge.His name was Orlick，and he had no friends or family in the village.He was a big，strong，lazy man，who moved about in a strangely unhurried way，his shoulders bent and his eyes on the ground .For some reason he never liked me，even when I was a child， and when I became Joe’s apprentice，he seemed to hate me.When he heard about my half-day holiday，he threw down his hammer angrily .

在鐵匠鋪里，喬還有另一名鐵匠幫他干活，他的名字叫奧立克，他在村里既沒有家也沒有朋友。他個頭很大、很強壯，是一個懶惰的家伙，他走起路來躬著腰、瞅著地，吊兒郎當(dāng)?shù)臉幼?。不知什么原因，他從來不喜歡我，甚至我還是一個小孩子時，他就當(dāng)了喬的徒弟，那時他好像就恨我。當(dāng)聽說我要請半天假時，他生氣地扔下手頭的錘子。

‘Come now，master!’he said to Joe. ‘ If young Pip ’s having a holiday，give me one too!’

“喂，師傅!”他對喬說，“如果給小匹普放假的話，你也必須給我放假!”

‘Well，’nodded Joe after thinking for a moment，‘I will.’

“好，”喬想了一會兒點點頭說，“我同意。”

Just then my sister，who had secretly been listening outside the forge，called to Joe through one of the windows，‘You fool!You think you’ re a rich man，giving a holiday to a lazy man like that Orlick!I wish I were his master!I’d soon show him!’ ‘You want to be everybody’s master!’ Orlick told her angrily.‘And what’s more， you’re a wicked, ugly，old woman!’

正在那時，我姐姐在鐵匠鋪外面隱藏著，所說的話她都聽到了。她從一個窗戶口對喬喊道，“你這個傻瓜!你認(rèn)為你是富翁，給像奧立克這樣的懶蛋放假!我希望我是他的師傅!我會馬上給他個眼色瞧瞧!”“你想當(dāng)所有人的師傅!”奧立克憤怒地告訴她，“還有，你是一個惡劣的、丑陋的老女人!”

‘What did you say?’ cried my sister，beginning to scream.‘Oh!Oh!What did you call me? Hold me，someone!’Little by little she was deliberately making herself angry.Joe and I had seen this happen many times before.

“你說什么?”我姐姐喊著，開始尖叫起來，“哎喲!哎喲!你罵我什么?有人掐我!”她漸漸地使自己故作忿怒起來。這種現(xiàn)象，喬和我以前見過許多次。

‘Hold you!’said Orlick in disgust.‘If you were my wife，I’d hold you tight round the neck until you couldn’t breathe!’

“掐你!”奧立克厭惡地說，“如果你是我老婆，我會緊緊地掐住你的脖子直到你咽氣!”

‘Oh!’screamed my sister.‘Me，a married woman!Being spoken to like this!In my own house!And my husband standing nearby!Oh!Oh!’And like a mad woman she pulled her hair loose，and rushed at the forge door，which I had，luckily，locked.

“哎喲!”我姐姐尖叫著，“我一個結(jié)了婚的女人!遭到這般污辱!在我自己家里!我的丈夫就站在旁邊!哎喲!哎喲!”像一個發(fā)了瘋的女人，她抓亂頭發(fā)，往鐵匠鋪門上撞，幸運的是我阻止了她。

Poor Joe had no choice. He had to challenge Orlick to fight.But Joe was the strongest man in the village，and very soon Orlick，like the pale young gentleman，was lying on the ground .Then Joe unlocked the door and picked up my sister, who had dropped unconscious to the ground，but only after watching the fight through the window. She stayed in the kitchen for the rest of the day，and Joe and Orlick shared a glass of beer peacefully together in the forge.

可憐的喬別無選擇，他不得不向奧立克做出打的挑戰(zhàn)。不過，喬在村里是最強壯的人，馬上，奧立克就像那個白面少年紳士一樣，被打倒在地。然后，喬沒有關(guān)門，抱起我姐姐，她已經(jīng)跌倒在地上失去了知覺，不過，這只是她通過窗戶看到了這場打斗以后發(fā)生的事情。這一天，她呆在廚房里休息，而喬和奧立克在鐵匠鋪里一起和好地分享一瓶啤酒。

That afternoon when I arrived at Miss Havisham’s house，it wasn’t Estella who opened the gate，but a cousin of the old lady’s.Miss Havisham looked just the same as before.

那天下午，我到達郝薇香小姐家時，開大門的不是艾絲黛拉，而是那個老夫人的表妹。郝薇香小姐看上去仍和以前一樣。

‘Well?’she said，‘I hope you don’t expect me to give you anything.’ ‘No，indeed，Miss Havisham.I only want you to know that I’m very grateful to you for helping me become Joe’s apprentice. ‘Good.Come and see me again，on your birthday.Ah!’she cried suddenly，‘you’re looking for Estella，aren’t you?Answer!’ ‘Ye-yes，’I admitted.‘I hope Miss Estella is well?’

“哦?”她說，“我希望你不是來要東西的。”“不是，確實不是，郝薇香小姐，我只想讓你知道，我十分感激你幫助我當(dāng)了喬的徒弟。”“很好，過來我再看看你，在你的生日，啊!”她突然喊起來，“你是來看艾絲黛拉的，是嗎?回答我!”“是——是的，”我承認(rèn)地說，“我希望艾絲黛拉身體很好?”

‘ She’s abroad, receiving a lady’s education.She’s more beautiful than ever，and admired by all who see her .Do you feel you’ve lost her?’ She gave such an unpleasant laugh with these last words that I didn’t know what to say，and as I left the house I felt even more miserable.

“她出國啦，接受上層教育，她比以前更漂亮了，見過她的人都贊不絕口。你感到失去她了嗎?”她帶著譏笑說最后一句話，讓我不知該說什么好。離開這座房子時，我感到特別的悲傷失望。

On my way through town I met Mr Wopsle，and together we started the long walk home to the village. It was a dark，wet，misty night，and we could only just see someone ahead of us.

在經(jīng)過鎮(zhèn)上的路上，我遇到伍甫賽先生，我們一起長途跋涉往村莊走去。那是一個天色漆黑、潮濕霧大的夜晚，我們剛剛能看到前面有一個人。

‘Hello!’we called.‘Is that Orlick?’

“喂!”我們喊道，“那是奧立克嗎?”

‘Yes!’he answered.‘I’ll walk home with you.Been in town all afternoon，I have.Did you hear the big gun firing，from the prison-ships?Must be some prisoners who’ ve escaped.’That made me think of my convict.We didn’t talk any more，but walked along in silence.We heard the gun firing several times.

“是!”他回答，“我跟你們一起回家，我一下午都在鎮(zhèn)上，你們聽到從船上監(jiān)獄傳來激烈的槍聲嗎?想必是有些犯人越獄了。”這使我想起我那個囚犯，我們再也沒有說話，而是靜悄悄地走著，我們聽到了幾次槍擊聲。

It was late by the time we got to the village，and we were surprised to see lights on at the pub，and people running in and out . Mr Wopsle went in to discover what was happening，and after a few minutes rushed out，calling，‘Something wrong up at the forge，Pip!Run!They say perhaps it was an escaped convict who got into the house while Joe was out.Someone’s been attacked!’

我們到了村里，時間已經(jīng)晚了，我們吃驚地看到小酒店里有燈光亮著，里面的人往外跑。伍甫賽先生走了進去，看看發(fā)生了什么事情，他轉(zhuǎn)眼跑了出來，喊了起來，“鐵匠鋪出事了，匹普!快跑!他們說不準(zhǔn)，可能是喬不在家時，逃犯闖進你們家，有人被擊傷了!”

We didn’t stop running until we reached the forge.In Mrs Joe’s kitchen there was a doctor，and Joe，and a group of Women . And on the floor in the middle of them all was my sister，lying unconscious.She would never scold us again.

我們馬不停蹄地跑到鐵匠鋪。在喬夫人的廚房里有一位醫(yī)生、喬和一群婦女，他們的中間是我姐姐——不省人事地躺在地板上，她永遠(yuǎn)不會再訓(xùn)斥我們了。

Joe had been at the pub that evening，and when he arrived home just before ten，he found her on the floor.Nothing had been stolen .She had been hit violently on the back of the head with a heavy weapon.On the floor beside her was a convict’s iron chain.It did not belong to the prisoners who had escaped that day.

那天傍晚，喬是在小酒店里，他10點之前剛到家，就發(fā)現(xiàn)她躺在地板上，東西沒有被偷，她的后腦勺兒被重器嚴(yán)重?fù)魝?。她的旁邊，在地板上是一個罪犯的鐵鏈，這個鐵鏈不是那天那個逃犯的。

The police spent the next week investigating the attack，but did not arrest anybody. I felt sure the iron chain belonged to my convict，but I did not think he had attacked my sister. The attacker could have been either Orlick，or the stranger who had shown me the file . But several witnesses had seen Or-lick in town all evening.My only reason for suspecting him was his quarrel with my sister，but she had quarrelled with everyone in the village ten thousand times.And if the stranger had come to ask for his two pounds back，my sister would gladly have given it to him.So I could not imagine who her attacker was.

警察用了一周的時間調(diào)查這起暴力事件?？墒?，沒有逮住任何人。我確信鐵鏈?zhǔn)菍儆谖夷莻€囚犯的，但是，我認(rèn)為不是他襲擊了我姐姐。那個襲擊者可能是奧立克或者是讓我看到那把挫的陌生人。我懷疑他僅有的原因是他和我姐姐吵過架，可是，她和村上的每一個人吵了千萬次架。如果是那個陌生人來索要回他的兩鎊錢，我姐姐會愉快地給他。因此，我推斷不出是誰襲擊了她。

She lay ill in bed for a long time.She could not speak or understand much，and her character was greatly changed.She had become quiet，patient，and grateful for all our care.She used to write a word or draw a picture when she wanted some-thing，and we tried to discover what she meant.She needed someone to take care of her all the time，and luckily old Mrs Wopsle had just died，so Biddy came to live with us. She understood my sister perfectly and looked after us all very well.

她傷得臥床不起很長時間，她不能說話，理解力下降，她的性格產(chǎn)生了巨大變化。她變得安靜、有耐性了，并對我們大家的照料很感激。要什么東西時，她用筆寫下來或畫一張圖來，我們設(shè)法搞清她的意思。她隨時需要有人來侍候，幸虧老伍甫賽夫人剛?cè)ナ?。所以，畢蒂和我們住在一起，她完全理解我姐姐，也能很好地照料我們大家?/p>

One day my sister drew a T，and seemed to want it very much.I brought her toast，and tea，but Biddy knew immediately.

一天，我姐姐畫了一個T，好象特別想要它，我拿給她烤面包和茶，可是畢蒂馬上明白了。

‘It’s not a T，it’s Orlick’s hammer!’she cried.‘She’s forgotten his name but she wants to see Orlick!’

“那不是一個T，它是奧立克的錘子!”她喊起來，“她忘記了他的名子，但是，她要見奧立克!”

I must say l expected to see my sister accuse Orlick of at-tacking her，but instead she seemed very pleased to see him. She often used to ask for him after that，and nobody knew why.

我必須說，我期望見到我姐姐控訴襲擊她的奧立克?？墒牵娴膮s是她見到他很高興，從那以后，她常常請求他，沒有人知道為什么。

One Sunday I asked Biddy to come for a walk on the marshes.

一個星期天，我要求畢蒂到沼澤地去散步。

‘Biddy，’I said seriously，‘promise to keep this a secret.I’m going to tell you something.I want to be a gentleman.’

“畢蒂，”我認(rèn)真的說，“答應(yīng)為這件事保密，我打算告訴你一些事情，我要做個有教養(yǎng)的人。”

‘Don’t you think you’re happier as you are?’she replied.

“你認(rèn)為你現(xiàn)在這樣不快活嗎?”她反問說。

I had often wondered this myself，but I didn’t want to hear it from her. ‘It’s a pity，I know，’I said.‘It would have been much better if I could have been happy working at the forge.Perhaps you and I would have spent more time together.I would have been good enough for you，wouldn’t I，Biddy?’

我對這一點習(xí)以為常，但不想從她那里聽到。“我知道那是一種同情的話，”我說，“如果我已經(jīng)能在鐵匠鋪里快活地工作，那是再好不過的?；蛟S你和我在一起能消磨更多的時間，為你我將會更完美，是嗎?畢蒂。”

‘Oh yes，’she said sadly.‘But I don’t ask for very much.’

“噢，是的，”她傷心地說，“但是，我不要求太多。”

‘The point is，’I continued crossly，‘if nobody had told me I was coarse and common，I wouldn’t have thought abut it!’

“你指的是，”我不高興地接著說，“如果沒人對我講過我粗俗和下等的話，我不會這樣想的!”

Biddy looked at me，interested.‘That wasn’t a true or polite thing to say. Who said it?’

畢蒂看看我，感興趣地說，“那不對，說這話的人太沒禮貌了，這話是誰說的?”

‘It was the beautiful young lady at Miss Havisham’s，and I admire her greatly，and I want to be a gentleman for her!’The words rushed out before I could stop them.

“是郝薇香小姐府上一位年輕美麗的小姐，我很羨慕她，我要做個有教養(yǎng)的人，就是為了她!”我一口氣說完。

Biddy said gently，‘She may not be worth the trouble，Pip.’

畢蒂溫和地說：“不值得為她煩惱，匹普。”

‘That may be true，but I can’t stop myself admiring her.’

“那倒是，不過，我總羨慕她。”

Biddy was the most sensible of girls，and did not try to persuade me any more.As we walked home，I felt rested and comforted.

畢蒂是一個最通情達理的姑娘，她并不是想讓我傷心。當(dāng)我們走到家時，我感到既輕松又痛快。

‘Pip，what a fool you are!’I said to myself.I realized how much happier I would always be with Biddy than with Estella.

“匹普，你真傻!”我自言自語道，我體會到，永遠(yuǎn)和畢蒂在一起比和艾絲黛拉在一起要幸福得多。

‘Biddy，I wish I could make myself fall in love with you!’I said suddenly.‘You don’t mind my speaking so openly，as you’re such an old friend?’

“畢蒂，我希望我能愛上你!”我突然說道，“你是如此知心的朋友，我這樣公開地說你不介意吧?”

‘No，of course not.But you never will fall in love with me，you see，’she answered，a little sadly .

“不，當(dāng)然不會。但是，你永遠(yuǎn)不會愛上我，你明白，”她有點傷心地回答。

I wondered if I should continue working with Joe in a plain，honest way of life，and perhaps marry Biddy. Or dare I hope that Miss Havisham would make my fortune and marry me to Estella?

我不知道是否將繼續(xù)以樸素誠實的生活方式和喬一起工作，也許和畢蒂結(jié)婚，還是希望郝薇香小姐操縱我的命運，并讓我和艾絲黛拉結(jié)婚。