牛津書蟲系列 遠(yuǎn)大前程 Chapter 3

3 An opportunity for Pip

3 給匹普的一次機(jī)會(huì)

I always knew I would be apprenticed to Joe as soon as I was old enough，and so I used to spend most of the day helping him in the forge.However，I also attended the village evening school，which was organized by an ancient relation of Mr Wopsle’s.Her teaching mostly consisted of falling asleep while we children fought each other，but Mr Wopsle’s young cousin，Biddy，tried to keep us under control and teach us to read，write and count.Mr Wopsle‘examined’us every three months.In fact he did not ask us any questions at all，but read aloud from Shakespeare，waving his arms dramatically and enjoying the sound of his own voice.

我總是想，一到學(xué)徒的年齡，我就做喬的徒弟。因此，我常常在鍛爐前，白天花費(fèi)大部分時(shí)間幫助喬干活。但是，我也參加村辦夜校，這所學(xué)校是由伍甫賽先生的一位遠(yuǎn)房親戚創(chuàng)辦的。她的教學(xué)主要是由睡覺(jué)、孩子們相互打鬧而組成。但是，伍甫賽先生的表妹，畢蒂，設(shè)法把我們控制住，教我們讀、寫和算術(shù)。伍甫賽先生每三個(gè)月就“考”我們一次。事實(shí)上，他什么問(wèn)題也不問(wèn)我們，只是揮動(dòng)著雙臂，用他那特有的激動(dòng)人心、興高采烈的聲調(diào)，大聲朗讀莎士比亞的作品。

One night，about a year after the escaped convicts had been caught，I was sitting by the kitchen fire，writing a letter to Joe.I didn’t need to，because he was sitting right next to me，but I wanted to practise my writing.After an hour or two of hard work，I passed this letter to him.

一天晚上，這大約是兩個(gè)逃犯被捕的一年以后，我正在廚房火爐旁坐著，給喬寫封信，我并不需要這樣做，因?yàn)樗途o靠在我旁邊坐著。但是，我是想鍛煉我的寫作。經(jīng)過(guò)一兩小時(shí)的努力后，我把這封信遞給他：

‘Pip，old boy!’cried Joe，opening his kind blue eyes very wide.‘What a lot you’ve learnt!Here’s a J and an O，that’s for Joe，isn’t it，Pip?’

“親愛(ài)的喬，我希望你很好，馬上我就能把我所學(xué)的東西教給你，多么可愛(ài)的喬，愛(ài)你的匹普”“匹普，好小子!”喬喊著，睜大他那仁慈的藍(lán)眼睛，“你學(xué)了這么多了!這兒是一個(gè)J和O，這是喬字，對(duì)嗎，匹普?”

I wondered whether I would have to teach Joe from the beginning，so I asked，‘How do you write Gargery，Joe?’

我不知道是否必須從頭教喬，所以，我問(wèn)道，“你寫出葛吉瑞。喬，怎么樣?”

‘I don’t write it at all，’said Joe.‘But，you know，I am fond of reading.Give me a good book or newspaper，a good fire and I ask no more.Well!When you come to a J and an O，how interesting reading is!’

“我一點(diǎn)也不會(huì)寫，”喬說(shuō)，“但是，你知道，我愛(ài)好讀，給我一本好書或者報(bào)紙，一盆爐火，不要更多。喂!當(dāng)你寫出一個(gè)J和O，讀它多么有趣呀!”

‘ Didn’t you ever go to school，Joe，when you were young?’

“喬，你小時(shí)候未曾上過(guò)學(xué)?”

‘No，Pip.You see，my father drank a lot，and when he drank，he used to hit my mother，and me too，sometimes.So she and I ran away from him several times.And she used to say，“Now，Joe，you can go to school.”But my father had such a good heart that he didn’t want to be without us.So he always came to find us，and took us home，and hit us.So you see，Pip，I never learnt much.’

“沒(méi)有，匹普，你知道，我爸爸酗酒，當(dāng)他酗酒時(shí)，常打我媽媽，有時(shí)候也打我。因此，她和我?guī)状翁与x他，她過(guò)去對(duì)我說(shuō)，‘唉，喬，你能上學(xué)了。’可是，我爸爸有如此的好心，他不能沒(méi)有我們。因此，他總是來(lái)找我們，并把我們帶回家，繼續(xù)揍我們。這樣你就明白了，匹普，我一點(diǎn)也沒(méi)學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)。”

‘Poor Joe!’

“可憐的喬!”

‘But remember，Pip，my father had a good heart.’

“但是記住，匹普，我爸爸有一副好心腸。”

I wondered about that，but said nothing.

這話讓我驚奇，但是沒(méi)說(shuō)什么。

‘He let me become a blacksmith，which was his job too，only he never worked at it.I earned the money for the family，until he died.And listen to this，Pip，I wanted to put this on his gravestone：

“他讓我當(dāng)了一名鐵匠，鐵匠也是他的工作，只是他從來(lái)不干這活。直到他死，都是我為家里掙錢。聽(tīng)著這一點(diǎn)，匹普，在他的墓碑上我要這樣寫：

Whatever the fault he had from the start，

無(wú)論怎樣的過(guò)失，他是創(chuàng)家立業(yè)的。

Remember，reader，he had a good heart.’

記住，讀者，他有一顆好心。”

‘ Did you invent that yourself，Joe?’I asked，surprised .

“喬，你自己想出來(lái)的嗎?”我驚訝地問(wèn)道。

‘I did，’said Joe proudly.‘It came to me in a moment.From my own head.But，Pip，sad to say，there wasn’t enough money for the gravestone.My poor mother needed it.In bad health，she was.She died soon after.Found peace at last.’Joe’s blue eyes were watery.‘I was lonely then，and I met your sister.Now，Pip，’Joe looked firmly at me，because he knew I was not going to agree with him，‘your sister is a fine woman!’

“就是我，”喬自豪地說(shuō)，“從我自己頭腦里不加思索地出來(lái)了。但是，匹普，悲哀地說(shuō)，我沒(méi)有足夠的錢去立這塊墓碑。我可憐的媽媽需要錢，她身體不好。不久，她就離開(kāi)了人間，最后找到了安寧。”喬的藍(lán)眼睛濕潤(rùn)了。“我從此孤獨(dú)一人。后來(lái)，我認(rèn)識(shí)了你姐姐，匹普，”喬緊緊地盯著我。因?yàn)樗牢也粫?huì)贊成他的，“你姐姐是個(gè)好女人!”

I could think of nothing better to say than‘I’m glad you think so，Joe.’

我想不出比這更好的語(yǔ)言“我很高興你這樣想，喬。”

‘ So am I，’said Joe.‘I’m glad I think so.Very kind of her，bringing you up by hand.Such a tiny baby you were!So when I offered to marry your sister，I said，“And bring the poor little child to live with us.There’s room for him at the forge!”’

“彼此，彼此，”喬說(shuō)，“我很高興這樣想，她太仁慈了，親手把你帶大，你是這么小小的嬰兒!當(dāng)時(shí)，我向你姐提出結(jié)婚，我說(shuō)，‘帶著這個(gè)可憐的小孩子和我們一起生活吧，在鍛工車間里有間屋子給他!’”

I put my arms round Joe’s neck and cried into his shirt.

我摟著喬的脖子，啼哭著，淚水濕透他的襯衫。

‘Don’t cry，old boy!’he said.‘Always the best of friends，you and me!’ As I dried my tears，he continued，‘So here we are，Pip!Now if you teach me a bit(and I warn you now that I’m very stupid)Mrs Joe must never know.And why?Because she likes to be-in charge-you know-giving the orders.’

“不要哭，老伙計(jì)!”他說(shuō)，“你和我永遠(yuǎn)是最好的朋友!”當(dāng)我擦干眼淚，他繼續(xù)說(shuō)，“我們就在這兒，匹普!現(xiàn)在你如果教我一點(diǎn)兒(我提醒你，我很笨)，決不能讓喬夫人知道。為什么呢?因?yàn)樗矚g——下命令——你知道——就是發(fā)號(hào)施令。”

‘Joe，’I asked，‘why don’t you ever rebel?’

“喬，”我問(wèn)道，“你為什么不反抗呢?”

‘Well，’said Joe，‘ to start with，your sister’s clever.And I’m not.And another thing，and this is serious，old boy，when I think of my poor mother’s hard life，I’m afraid of not behaving right to a woman.So I’d much rather seem a bit weak with Mrs Joe than shout at her，or hurt her，or hit her.I’m just sorry she scolds you as well，Pip，and hits you with the stick.I wish I could take all the scolding myself.But there it is，Pip.’

“唉，”喬說(shuō)，“首先，你姐姐聰明，而我不行。另一方面，這一點(diǎn)是重要的，老伙計(jì)，每當(dāng)想起我可憐的媽媽苦難的生活，我害怕對(duì)女人采取不良的行為。因?yàn)椋冶仨殞?duì)喬太太軟弱一點(diǎn)兒，不能高聲呼喊她、傷害她和打她。我很抱歉，她也責(zé)罵你，匹普，用棍子打你，我希望全部的責(zé)罵由我一人承擔(dān)?？墒牵滑F(xiàn)實(shí)，匹普。”

Just then we heard the sound of a horse on the road.Mrs Joe and Uncle Pumblechook were returning from market.The carriage arrived，and in a rush of cold air，they were in the kitchen.

正在這時(shí)，我們聽(tīng)到路上的馬蹄聲，喬夫人和潘波趣舅舅趕集回來(lái)了。馬車一到，沖進(jìn)一股冷風(fēng)，他們進(jìn)了廚房。

‘Now，’said Mrs Joe，excitedly throwing off her cloak，‘if this boy isn’t grateful tonight，he never will be!’

“嘿，”喬夫人說(shuō)，激動(dòng)地脫掉她的斗篷，“如果這孩子今晚不感恩的話，那他就是一個(gè)忘恩負(fù)義的家伙!”

‘She’s offering the boy a great opportunity，’agreed Pumblechook.Trying to look grateful，I looked at Joe，making the word‘She?’with my lips.He clearly did not know either.

“她給這孩子提供了一個(gè)很好的機(jī)會(huì)，”潘波趣應(yīng)和著說(shuō)。我盡力表現(xiàn)出一副感恩的樣子看著喬，隨口吐出個(gè)字“她?”，他也不明白什么意思。

‘You were speaking of a she?’he said Politely to them.

“你們正在談?wù)撍?”他有禮貌地對(duì)他們說(shuō)。

‘She is a she，I suppose，’Mrs Joe replied crossly.‘Unless you call Miss Havisham a he.And even you wouldn’t do that.’

“我想像的，她就是她唄，”喬夫人不高興地回答，“你總不能把郝薇香小姐叫他吧，即使你也不會(huì)這樣叫吧。”

‘The rich Miss Havisham who lives all alone in the big house in town?’asked Joe.

“在鎮(zhèn)上，獨(dú)住一幢大宅里腰纏萬(wàn)貫的郝薇香小姐嗎?”喬問(wèn)道。

‘There aren’t any other Miss Havishams that I know of!She wants a boy to go and play there.She asked Uncle Pumblechook if he knew of anyone.And Uncle Pumblechook，thinking of us as he always does，suggested this boy.And what’s more，Uncle Pumblechook，realizing that this boy’s fortune may be made by going to Miss Havisham’s，has of-fered to take him into town tonight in his carriage，and let him sleep in his own house，and deliver him tomorrow to Miss Havisham’s.And just look!’she cried，catching hold of me.‘Look at the dirt on this by!’

“我所知道的沒(méi)有第二個(gè)郝薇香小姐!她想要一個(gè)孩子到她那兒去玩玩。她問(wèn)起潘波趣舅舅是否有認(rèn)識(shí)的小孩子，潘波趣舅舅總是先想到我們，提到了這個(gè)孩子。還有，潘波趣舅舅認(rèn)識(shí)到郝薇香小姐可以給這個(gè)孩子帶來(lái)好運(yùn)。所以，今天晚上，用他的馬車帶他到鎮(zhèn)上，讓他睡在潘波趣舅舅家里，明天把他送到郝薇香小姐家里。瞧!”她抓著我喊了起來(lái)，“看看這個(gè)臟孩子!”

I was washed from top to toe in Mrs Joe’s usual violent manner，and handed over，in my tightest Sunday clothes，to Mr Pumblechook.In the carriage taking me into town，I cried a little.I had never been away from Joe before，and I had no idea what was going to happen to me at Miss Havisham’s.

喬夫人以常用的粗暴手法給我從頭到腳洗了洗澡，給我穿上最好的衣服，把我交給潘波趣先生。我小聲哭著，上了馬車到了鎮(zhèn)上。以前我從來(lái)沒(méi)有離開(kāi)喬，對(duì)我來(lái)講，在郝薇香小姐家將會(huì)發(fā)生什么，我不敢想。

Mr Pumblechook seemed to agree with my sister that I should be punished as much as possible，even when eating，and so for breakfast next morning he gave me a large piece of bread with very little butter，and a cup of warm water with very little milk，and insisted on checking my learning.

潘波趣先生似乎贊成我姐姐想盡一切辦法要懲罰的做法，甚至在吃飯時(shí)也不放過(guò)。所以，第二天吃早飯，他給我一大塊面包，夾了一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)黃油，一杯溫水加很少一點(diǎn)牛奶，并堅(jiān)持檢查我的學(xué)習(xí)。

‘What’s seven and thirteen，boy?’He continued testing me all through breakfast.‘And nine?And eleven?’

“7加13得幾，孩子?”整個(gè)早餐中，他不斷地考我，“加9?加 11?”

So I was glad to arrive at Miss Havisham’s house at about ten o’clock.It was a large house，made of old stone，and with iron bars on the windows.We rang the bell，and waited at the gate.Even then Mr Pumblechook said，‘And fourteen?’but I pretended not to hear him.Then a young lady came to open the gate，and let me in.Mr Pumblechook was following me when she stopped him.

大約10點(diǎn)時(shí)分，到達(dá)郝薇香小姐家，我很高興。那是一座寬大的住宅，用舊石所砌，窗戶架有鐵欄桿。我們按了門鈴后，在門口耐心等候，潘波趣先生連這時(shí)也不放過(guò)，說(shuō)：“加14?”不過(guò)，我假裝沒(méi)聽(tīng)見(jiàn)他說(shuō)的什么。接著，一位年輕的小姐過(guò)來(lái)打開(kāi)了門，讓我進(jìn)去。潘波趣先生想跟著我進(jìn)來(lái)，卻被她阻止了。

‘Do you wish to see Miss Havisham?’she asked.

“你想見(jiàn)郝薇香小姐嗎?”她問(wèn)道。

‘If Miss Havisham wishes to see me，’answered Mr Pumblechook，a little confused.

“如果郝薇香小姐想見(jiàn)我，”潘波趣先生有點(diǎn)慌亂地說(shuō)。

‘Ah!’said the girl，‘but you see，she doesn’t.’

“噢!”那女孩說(shuō)，“可是，你明白，她不想見(jiàn)你。”

Mr Pumblechook dared not protest but he whispered angrily to me before he turned away，‘Boy!Behave well here and re-member those who brought you up by hand!’I thought he would come back and call through the gate，‘And sixteen?’but he did not.

潘波趣先生不敢堅(jiān)持主張，但是，他在返回之前，惡狠狠地小聲對(duì)我講：“孩子!在這兒要規(guī)矩點(diǎn)，記住是誰(shuí)親手把你養(yǎng)大!”我想他會(huì)回來(lái)，通過(guò)門縫喊，“加16?”但是，他沒(méi)有這樣做。

The young lady took me through the untidy garden to the house.Although she called me ‘boy，’she was the same age as me，but she seemed much older than me.She was beautiful，and as proud as a queen.We went through many dark passages until we reached a door，where she left me，taking her candle with her.

那個(gè)年輕的小姐領(lǐng)著我穿過(guò)一座不整潔的花園來(lái)到這所房子。盡管她叫我“孩子，”她的年紀(jì)和我一樣大，可是，看上去她比我還大點(diǎn)。她長(zhǎng)得很漂亮，卻像王后一樣傲慢。我們穿過(guò)了幾條漆黑的過(guò)道，才來(lái)到了一個(gè)房間門口，在這兒她帶蠟燭離開(kāi)了我。

I knocked at the door and was told to enter.I found myself in a large room，where the curtains were closed to allow no daylight in，and the candles were lit.In the centre of the room，sitting at a table，was the strangest lady I have ever seen，or shall ever see.She was wearing a wedding dress made of rich material.She had a bride’s flowers in her hair，but her hair was white.There were suitcases full of dresses and Jewels around her，ready for a journey.She only had one white shoe on.‘Then I realized that over the years the white wedding dress had become yellow，and the flowers in her hair had died，and the bride inside the dress had grown old.Everything in the room was ancient and dying.The only brightness in the room was in her dark old eyes，that stared at me.

我敲了敲門，里面叫我進(jìn)去。我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己在一個(gè)大房間里，這里的窗簾關(guān)得緊緊的，不讓一縷日光透進(jìn)來(lái)，但點(diǎn)著很多蠟燭。在屋子的中央，桌子旁坐著的是一位我從沒(méi)有見(jiàn)過(guò)而且將不會(huì)再見(jiàn)到的，特別奇怪的夫人。她穿著一身由高級(jí)材料做的結(jié)婚禮服，頭上戴著新娘花朵，但她已是滿頭銀發(fā)了。她周圍有些衣箱及珠寶，像似準(zhǔn)備旅行。她只穿著一只白鞋，這時(shí)我才辨認(rèn)出來(lái)，這么多年來(lái)白色的結(jié)婚禮服已經(jīng)變黃了，頭上戴的花朵已經(jīng)干癟了，新娘已經(jīng)老了。屋里的一切都顯得既古老又死氣沉沉的。在屋子里僅有一光點(diǎn)是她那雙黑色的老眼，瞪著我。

‘Who are you?’said the lady at the table.

“你是誰(shuí)?”夫人在桌子旁問(wèn)。

‘Pip，madam.Mr Pumblechook’s boy.Come-to play.’

“匹普，夫人，潘波趣先生的孩子，來(lái)這兒玩的。”

‘Come close.Let me look at you.’As I stood in front of *her，I noticed that her watch and a clock in the room had both stopped at twenty minutes to nine.

“過(guò)來(lái)，靠近點(diǎn)兒，讓我瞧瞧你。”當(dāng)我站在她的面前時(shí)，我發(fā)現(xiàn)她的手表和屋子里的鐘表都停止在8點(diǎn)40分。

‘You aren’t afraid of a woman who has never seen the sun since you were born?’asked Miss Havisham.

“你害怕一個(gè)自你出世以來(lái)就沒(méi)有見(jiàn)過(guò)陽(yáng)光的女人嗎?”郝薇香小姐問(wèn)道。

I am sorry to say I told a huge lie by saying，‘No.’

“不怕。”很抱歉我說(shuō)的不是實(shí)話。

‘Do you know what ths is?’she asked，putting her hand on her left side.

“你知道這是什么地方嗎?”她的手放在左邊胸口問(wèn)道。

‘Yes，madam.’It made me think of my convict’s travel-ling companion.‘Your heart，madam，’I added.

“知道，夫人。”這使我想起我的那個(gè)囚犯的同伙，“您的心臟，夫人，”我補(bǔ)充說(shuō)。

‘My heart!Broken!’she cried almost proudly，with a strange smile.Then she said，‘I am tired.I want to see some-thing different.Play.’

“我的心臟!心碎啦!”她似乎很得意，譏笑著喊叫。然后，她說(shuō)：“我累了，想看點(diǎn)新花樣，玩。”

No order could be more difficult to obey in that house and that room.I was desperate enough to consider rushing round the table pretending to be Pumblechook’s carriage，but I could not make myself do it，and just stood there helplessly.

在這座住宅和這間房屋里，沒(méi)有比服從這命令更困難的事情，我挖空心思去琢磨，扮演潘波趣的馬車沖著桌子轉(zhuǎn)?？墒牵易约翰荒茏鲞@個(gè)游戲，我正沒(méi)有辦法地站在那兒。

‘I’m very sorry，madam，’I said，‘my sister will be very angry with me if you complain，but I can’t play just now.Everything is so strange，and new，and sad…’I stopped，afraid to say more.Miss Havisham looked down at her dress，and then at her face in the mirror on the table.

“很抱歉，夫人。”我說(shuō)，“如果您向我姐姐告狀，她會(huì)對(duì)我發(fā)怒的。但是，現(xiàn)在我不能玩。初來(lái)乍到的，這里的一切很陌生，很新鮮，也太凄涼了……”。我住口了，害怕說(shuō)得太多。郝薇香小姐對(duì)著桌子上的鏡子俯視她的衣服，然后，照了照自己的臉。

‘So strange to him，so well-known to me，’she whispered.‘So new to him，so old to me.And so sad to us both!Call Es-tella!’

“對(duì)他來(lái)說(shuō)，如此陌生，對(duì)我來(lái)講習(xí)以為常，”她自言自語(yǔ)道，“對(duì)他新鮮，對(duì)我陳舊，而對(duì)我們倆是太凄涼了!叫艾絲黛拉!”

When Estella finally came，with her candle，along the dark passage，Miss Havisham picked up a jewel from her table and put it in Estella’s hair.‘Very pretty，my dear.It will be yours one day.Now let me see you play cards with this boy.’

最終，艾絲黛拉拿著蠟燭沿著漆黑的過(guò)道來(lái)了，郝薇香小姐從桌子上拿起一塊寶石放在艾絲黛拉頭上。“天哪，真漂亮，它將歸你一天，讓我看看你和這孩子玩牌。”

‘With this boy!But he’s a common working boy!’

“和這個(gè)孩子!他是一個(gè)普通人家的孩子。”

I thought I heard Miss Havisham whisper，‘Well!You can break his heart!’She sat，like a dead body ready for the grave，watching us play cards in the candle-light.I almost wondered if she was afraid that daylight would turn her into dust.

我想我聽(tīng)到郝薇香小姐小聲說(shuō)：“喂!你能夠打碎他的心!”她坐下，像一具要入墓的尸體，在燭光下看著我們玩牌。我?guī)缀踉谙?，如果她懼怕?yáng)光，就把她送進(jìn)塵埃里。

‘What coarse hands this boy has!And what thick boots!’cried Estella in disgust，before we had finished our first game.I was suddenly aware that what she said was true.

“這個(gè)孩子的雙手多么粗糙!靴子多么的笨重!”我們打完第一局之前，艾絲黛拉厭惡地喊著。我忽然意識(shí)到，她是對(duì)的。

‘What do you think of her?’ Whispered Miss Havisham to me.

“你認(rèn)為她怎么樣?”郝薇香小姐耳語(yǔ)對(duì)我說(shuō)。

‘I think she’s very proud，’I whispered back.

“我認(rèn)為她很傲慢，”我小聲回敬了一句。

‘Anything else?’

“還有呢?”

‘I think she’s very pretty.’

“我認(rèn)為她很美。”

‘Anything else?’

“還有呢?”

‘I think she’s very rude.And-and I’d like to go home.’

“我認(rèn)為她不友好，還有——還有我想回家了。”

‘And never see her again，although she’s so pretty?’

“不想再見(jiàn)到她了，盡管她很漂亮?”

‘I don’t know.I’d-I’d like to go home now.’

“我不知道?，F(xiàn)在，我想回家了。”

Miss Havisham smiled.‘You can go home.Come again in six days’time.Estella，give him some food.GO，Pip.’

郝薇香小姐笑著說(shuō)：“你會(huì)很快回家的，6天以后再來(lái)。艾絲黛拉，給他些吃的。去吧，匹普。”

And so I found myself back in the overgrown garden in the bright daylight.Estella put some bread and meat down on the ground for me，like a dog.I was so offended by her behaviour towards me that tears came to my eyes.As soon as she saw this，She gave a delighted laugh，and pushed me out of the gate.I walked the four miles home to the forge，thinking about all I had seen.As I looked sadly at my hands and boots，I remembered that I was only a common working boy，and wished I could be different.

我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己在強(qiáng)烈的陽(yáng)光下回到了那個(gè)長(zhǎng)滿藤蔓的花園里。艾絲黛拉給我拿了些面包和肉食，放在地上，像喂狗一樣。我被她的行為觸怒了，我的眼淚奪眶而出。一看到這一切，她得意地一笑，就把我推出了門外。我走了4英里的路回到鐵匠鋪，想起我所看到的一切。當(dāng)我傷心地看著我的雙手和靴子，我記住了，我只是一個(gè)普通家庭的孩子，我希望我能改變這一切。

My sister was curious to know all the details of my visit，and kept asking me question after question.Somehow I felt I could not，or did not want to，explain about Miss Havisham and her strange house.I knew my sister would not understand.And the worst of it was，that old fool Pumblechook arrived at tea-time，to ask more questions.Just looking at his fishy staring eyes and open mouth made me want to keep silent.

我姐姐好奇地想知道我出訪的細(xì)節(jié)，一個(gè)問(wèn)題接著一個(gè)問(wèn)題地問(wèn)我。不曉得什么緣故，我感到不可能，確實(shí)不能解釋郝薇香小姐和她那奇怪的住宅，我知道我姐姐不會(huì)明白的。更糟糕的是老傻瓜潘波趣在喝茶的時(shí)間倒會(huì)來(lái)問(wèn)更多的問(wèn)題。看著他瞪著那魚眼，張著嘴巴，這使我保持了沉默。

‘Leave this boy to me，madam，’he told Mrs Joe.‘I’ll make him concentrate.Now，boy，what’s forty-three and seventy-two?’

“把這孩子交給我，夫人，”他告訴喬夫人，“我會(huì)讓他聚精會(huì)神。喂，孩子，43加72等于幾?”

‘I don’t know，’I said.I didn’t care，either.

“不知道，”我說(shuō)，我什么也不在乎。

‘Is it eighty-five，for example?’he joked.

“舉個(gè)例子，是85嗎?”他開(kāi)玩笑說(shuō)。

‘Yes!’I answered，although I knew it wasn’t.My sister hit me hard on the head.

“是!”我回答，盡管我知道不是那個(gè)數(shù)。我姐姐狠狠地打了我的頭。

‘Boy!’he continued.‘Describe Miss Havisham.’

“孩子!”他繼續(xù)說(shuō)，“描述一下郝薇香小姐。”

‘Very tall and dark，’I said，lying.

“又黑又高”，我撒謊地說(shuō)。

‘Is she，uncle?’asked my sister eagerly.

“她是這樣的嗎，舅舅!”我姐姐關(guān)切地問(wèn)道。

‘Oh yes，’answered Mr Pumblechook.So I knew immediately that he had never seen her.‘This is the way to get information from this boy，’he added quietly to Mrs Joe.

“噢，是的。”潘波趣先生回答。因此，我馬上明白了，他從來(lái)沒(méi)有見(jiàn)過(guò)她。“這是從這個(gè)孩子那里得到消息的方法”，他對(duì)喬夫人溫和地補(bǔ)充說(shuō)。

‘How well you make him obey you，uncle!’said Mrs Joe.

“怎樣讓他更好地順從你，舅舅!”喬夫人說(shuō)。

‘ Now，boy!What was she doing when you arrived?’

“喂，孩子!當(dāng)你到達(dá)時(shí)她正在干什么?”

‘She was sitting in a black carriage，’I replied.

“她正坐在一個(gè)黑馬車上，”我回答說(shuō)。

Mr Pumblechook and Mrs Joe stared at each other.‘In a black carriage?’they repeated.

潘波趣先生和喬夫人互相瞅了瞅，“在黑馬車上?”他們重復(fù)著說(shuō)。

‘Yes，’I said，becoming more confident.‘And Miss Estella，her niece，I think，handed in gold plates with cake and wine through the windows.

“是的，”我變得更自信地說(shuō)，“我想還有她的侄女艾絲黛拉小姐，通過(guò)窗戶遞進(jìn)來(lái)盛有蛋糕和葡萄酒的金盤子。”

‘Was anybody else there?’asked Mr Pumblechook.

“那里還有其它人嗎?”潘波趣先生問(wèn)。

‘Four dogs，huge ones.They ate meat out of a silver basket.’

“有4只巨大的狗，它們從銀籠子里探出頭吃肉。”

‘Where was this carriage，boy?’

“這個(gè)馬車在哪兒?孩子。”

‘In her room.But there weren’t any horses.’

“在她的房間。但是，沒(méi)有馬。”

‘Can this be possible，uncle?’asked Mrs Joe.

“這可能嗎?舅舅。”喬夫人問(wèn)道。

‘She’s a strange woman，madam.It’s quite possible.What did you play at，boy?’

“她是個(gè)怪女人，夫人，那是很可能的。你玩什么啦，孩子?”

We played with flags，’I answered.What lies I was telling!‘Estella waved a blue one，and I had a red one，and Miss Havisham waved one with little gold stars on，out of the carriage window.’

“我們玩旗子，”我回答說(shuō)，我撒的彌天大謊! “艾絲黛拉揮舞著藍(lán)色的一面旗，我有紅色的一面旗，郝薇香小姐在馬車窗戶外面揮動(dòng)著一面旗，上面鑲著小金星。”

Fortunately they asked no more questions，and were still discussing the wonderful things I had seen，when Joe came in from the forge.When I saw his blue eyes open wide in surprise，I felt very sorry I had lied，and that evening，as soon as I found Joe alone for a moment，I confessed to him that I had lied about my visit to Miss Havisham.

幸運(yùn)的是他們?cè)贈(zèng)]有問(wèn)題，仍然在討論我所見(jiàn)到漂亮的東西，這時(shí)喬從鍛工車間進(jìn)來(lái)了。當(dāng)我看到他吃驚地瞪著藍(lán)色的大眼睛時(shí)，我對(duì)自己編造的謊言很內(nèi)疚。我一發(fā)現(xiàn)喬獨(dú)自呆一會(huì)兒時(shí)，就向他供認(rèn)了關(guān)于我去拜訪郝花香小姐所編造的謊話。

‘Is none of it true，Pip?’he asked，shocked.‘No black carriage ? But at least there were dogs， weren’t there，Pip?No?Not even one dog?’

“那全不是真的?匹普!”他搖著頭問(wèn)，“沒(méi)有黑的馬車?但是，至少有狗吧，對(duì)嗎?匹普，沒(méi)有?一條狗也沒(méi)有?”

‘No，Joe，I’m sorry.’

“沒(méi)有，喬，很抱歉。”

‘Pip，old boy!’His kind face looked very unhappy.‘If you tell lies，where do you think you’ll go when you die?’

“匹普，老伙計(jì)!”他慈祥的臉上看上去很不高興，“如果你說(shuō)謊，當(dāng)你死了，想想你會(huì)去哪兒?”

‘I know，Joe，it’s terrible.I don’t know what happened.Oh I wish I didn’t have such thick boots and such coarse hands!I’m so miserable，Joe.That beautiful young lady at Miss Havisham’s said I was common.And I know I am!Somehow that made me tell lies.’

“我知道，喬，那是可怕的，我不知道發(fā)生什么事情，我希望我沒(méi)有如此笨重的靴子和粗糙的雙手!我是如此悲慘，喬。在郝薇香小姐家那個(gè)漂亮的年輕小姐說(shuō)我是普通人家。我知道我是!莫名其妙地讓我說(shuō)謊。”

‘One thing to remember，Pip，’ said Joe，lighting his pipe slowly，‘is that lies are always wrong.You can’t stop being common by telling lies.That’s not the way to do it.And you’re learning all the time，Pip!Look at that letter you wrote me last night!Even the King had to start learning at the beginning, didn’t he?That reminds me，any flags at Miss Havisham’s?No?That’s a pity.Look here，Pip，this is a true friend speaking to you.Take my advice.No more lies，live well, and die happy.’

“有一件事情要記住，匹普，”喬點(diǎn)上煙斗說(shuō)，“說(shuō)謊總是錯(cuò)誤的，你不能通過(guò)說(shuō)謊來(lái)改變普通人家的身份，那樣做是沒(méi)有出路的。你所有的時(shí)間都在學(xué)習(xí)，匹普!看看你昨天晚上給我寫的那封信!即使是國(guó)王開(kāi)始也要從頭做起，不是嗎?這倒提醒我，郝薇香小姐家有旗子嗎?沒(méi)有?實(shí)在可憐?？催@兒，匹普，這是一個(gè)真正的朋友對(duì)你說(shuō)的話，記住我的勸告，不再說(shuō)謊，才能活得自在，死得痛快。”

Encouraged by Joe’s honest words I went to bed，but I couldn’t stop myself thinking that Estella would consider Joe’s boots too thick and his hands too coarse，and our whole family common.That was a day I shall never forget.

我被喬誠(chéng)實(shí)的話語(yǔ)鼓勵(lì)著去睡覺(jué)了。但是，自己靜不下心，一直在想，艾絲黛拉認(rèn)為喬的靴子太笨重，他的雙手太粗糙和我們的普通世家。那是我難忘的一天。