牛津書蟲系列 勃朗特一家的故事 05 Looking for work

5 找工作

I do not remember everything they did.

我已記不清他們做過的每一件事情了。

Charlotte and Anne worked as governesses for some months，teaching rich children in big houses， and Branwell got a job like that too，for a while.But they didn't like their work.At home my children were full of talk and laughter，but away from home they were shy，quiet，unhappy.

夏洛蒂和安妮做過幾個月的家庭教師，在高大的房子里教有錢人家的孩子們。布蘭韋爾也暫時找了個類似的工作，但他們都不喜歡這種工作。在家里我的孩子們談笑風(fēng)生，可離開家后他們就變得害羞、沉默、很不開心。

They wrote a lot of letters in their search for work—some-times to famous people.Branwell wanted to be a writer，so he wrote to writers;but not many of them wrote back.He began to look pale and sad in those days，and he was often in the vil-lage pub，drinking and talking to the people there.Then he got a job selling tickets on the railways，and left home.

他們?yōu)檎夜ぷ鲗懥嗽S多信，有時是寫給大人物的。布蘭韋爾想當(dāng)作家，他就給作家寫信，卻很少有人回信。那些日子他變得傷心疲倦，經(jīng)常在鄉(xiāng)村酒吧和人喝酒、閑聊。后來他找到一份在火車站賣票的工作，就離開了家。

The girls had an idea.I remember the day when they told me about it.Charlotte and Anne were at home on holiday，and we were all in the sitting-room after dinner one evening. Anne was playing the piano，and singing quietly to herself.She was the prettiest of the three girls，I suppose.She had long wavy brown hair，and a gentle，kind face Emily sat on the floor be-side her，stroking the ears of her dog，Keeper.Charlotte sat op- posite me on the sofa，like a little child with a serious，thought- ful face.She was the smallest;her feet were no bigger than my hands.

女兒們另有想法。我還記得她們跟我談話的那天。夏洛蒂和安妮回家休假，晚飯后我們都坐在客廳里，安妮彈著鋼琴，一邊彈一邊還輕輕地唱著歌。我覺得她是3個女兒中最美的，有一頭鬈曲的褐色長發(fā)，還有著一張溫柔善良的臉。愛米麗坐在她旁邊的地板上，撫摸著她那只叫“管家”的狗的耳朵。夏洛蒂坐在我對面的沙發(fā)上，看上去像個孩子，卻又帶著深思熟慮的表情。她個子最小，腳還沒有我的手大。

She looked at me carefully.'Papa，'she said.'We want to start a school.'

她端詳著我，說：“爸爸，我們想開辦一所學(xué)校。”

'Really，my dear? Where?'

“真的，親愛的?在哪兒?”

'Here.'

“就在這兒。”

'But Charlotte，my dear，we have no room.This house is full already.'

“可是夏洛蒂，親愛的，我們沒有地方啊!這棟房子已經(jīng)很滿了呀!”

'Oh，but we could change the house，papa.We could build a schoolroom.'

“哦，但我們可以，爸爸。我們可以蓋一間大教室。”

'Well，yes，I suppose so，'I said.'But—why do you want to do this?Isn't it better to work as governesses，in some big fine house?'

“嗯，是啊，我覺得行。”我說，“不過為什么你想干這個呢?在別人家的大房子里做家庭教師不是更好嗎?”

'Oh no，papa!'All three girls spoke at once.Anne had stopped playing，and Emily looked very angry and frightening.I could see they had thought hard about this.

“噢，不，爸爸!”3個女兒一起對我說。安妮停下來，不彈琴了，愛米麗看上去很生氣，樣子非常嚇人。我看得出她們已經(jīng)好好想過了。

Charlotte said：'The life of a governess is terrible，papa!A governess has no time of her own，no friends，no one to talk to，and if she gets angry with the children，they just run to their mother.I couldn't possibly be a governess all my life!'

夏洛蒂說：“當(dāng)女家庭教師的生活太可怕了，爸爸!一個家庭教師沒有屬于自己的時間，沒有朋友，沒有說話的人。如果對孩子發(fā)脾氣，他們就會立刻跑到自己母親那里去。我不可能一輩子都干這個!”

'It's true，papa，'Anne said.'It's an awful life.We're so lonely away from each other.Why can't we have a school，and all live here?Then we can take care of you and Aunt Branwell when you get old.'

“真的，爸爸。”安妮說，“那種生活很可怕。我們不得不分開，都那么孤單。為什么我們不能有所自己的學(xué)校，就住在這兒呢?這樣等您和布蘭韋爾姨媽老了我們就可以照顧你們了。”

I looked at Emily.Her eyes were shining;I could see that the idea was important to her too.

我看著愛米麗，她的眼睛熠熠發(fā)光，看得出這主意對她也很重要。

'But why will people send their children here?' I asked.'Haworth is not a big town，or a beautiful place.How will you find children to teach?'

“但是人們?yōu)槭裁匆押⒆铀偷竭@兒來呢?”我問，“霍沃斯既非大城市，又不是風(fēng)景區(qū)。你們怎么找到孩子來教呢?”

'We have thought of that too，papa，'Charlotte said.'We must learn more，and become better teachers.I have spoken to Aunt Branwell，and she will give us the money，if you agree.Emily and I want to go to Belgium，to learn French.If we can speak French well，then parents will send their children to us to learn that.'

“我們也已經(jīng)想到這一點了，爸爸。”夏洛蒂說，“我們必須多學(xué)一些，成為更好的教師。我和布蘭韋爾姨媽談過了，如果您同意，她會給我們錢的。愛米麗和我想去比利時學(xué)法語。如果我們能講流利的法語，那些父母就會把孩子送來學(xué)法語。”

'Emily will go?'I said.I looked at her.Emily had only been away from home twice，and each time she had been very un-happy.But now she looked excited.

“愛米麗會去嗎?”我說。一邊看著她。愛米麗只離開過家兩次，每次她都很不開心。但這回她看上去卻相當(dāng)興奮。

'Yes，papa，'she said.'I will go.Charlotte is right— we must do something.And this will help us to stay together.'

“是的，爸爸。”她說，“我要去。夏洛蒂是對的，我們必須做些事情，這還能使我們待在一起。”

'And Anne?'

“那安妮呢?”

'I will stay as a governess with the Robinson family，'Anne said sadly.'There's not enough money for us all to go，and ...the Robinsons are not so very bad.'

“我還在羅賓遜家里當(dāng)家庭教師，”安妮難過地說，“我們的錢不夠大家都去的，況且羅賓遜家的人也沒那么壞。”

It was always like that.Anne was a gentle girl;she did not fight as hard as the others.Perhaps her life was easier because of that.I don't know.

事情總是那樣。安妮是個溫柔的孩子，她不像別人那樣努力地去爭齲或許正是如此，她的生活倒更輕松些。我不知是否如此。

But I thought it was a wonderful idea.I wrote to Belgium，and found them places in a school in Brussels，which was owned by a Monsieur Héger.I agreed to take the girls there，and for a month I wrote down French words in a little pocket book，to help me on the journey.Then，one afternoon in 1824，we caught the train to London.

不過我還是認(rèn)為這是個好主意。我寫信去比利時，在布魯塞爾的一所學(xué)校為他們找到了去的地方。那所學(xué)校是埃熱先生的。我同意送她們?nèi)ツ莾?，在一個月內(nèi)我在小筆記本上記下了許多法語單詞，以備旅途之需。然后，1842年的一個下午，我們坐上了開往倫敦的火車。

I had not been to London for over twenty years，and my daughters had never been there.We stayed for three days，and then we took the night boat to Belgium，and arrived at a tall，fine school building in the centre of Brussels.

我已有二十多年沒去倫敦了，女兒們還從來沒去過。我們在倫敦住了三天，然后搭夜班船去比利時，最后到達(dá)布魯塞爾市中心的一座高大美觀的學(xué)校樓前。

Héger himself was a very polite，friendly man—very kind.He did not always understand my French，but he showed me round the school，and talked a lot，very fast.I smiled， and tried to answer.

埃熱本人是一個很有禮貌、很友好的人——非常和氣。他并不總能聽懂我的法語，但還是帶著我在學(xué)校轉(zhuǎn)了一圈，他講了許多話，速度快極了。我微笑著，努力有所應(yīng)答。

The two girls were very excited when I left them.As I came home on the boat，I thought：'This is a good thing，a fine thing，perhaps.My daughters will start a good school， and Ha-worth will become famous.I hope Branwell can make a success of his life，too.Then my wife Maria will be pleased with us all.'

當(dāng)我離開時兩個孩子非常興奮。坐在船上我心想：“這也許是件好事，一件妙事。我的女兒們將開辦一所好學(xué)校，霍沃斯也將因此而出名。我希望布蘭韋爾的生活成功，那樣我妻子瑪麗亞會為我們都感到高興的。”