牛津書蟲系列 遠大前程 Chapter 9

9 A visit from Joe

9 喬的來訪

‘My dear Pip，Mr Gargery asks me to tell you he will be in Lon-don soon，and could visit you at 9 o’clock on Tuesday morning，at Mr Herbert Pocket’s rooms， if that is all right with you.He and I talk about you every night， and wonder what you are saying and doing.

“我親愛的匹普：葛吉瑞先生讓我告訴你，他馬上到倫敦，如果你方便的話，將在星期二早晨9點鐘在赫伯特·樸凱特的房間里拜訪你，我和他每天晚上都談論你，想知道你說的和干的事情。

Best wishes，Biddy.

最美好的祝愿。畢蒂。

P.S.I hope you will not refuse to see him， even though you are a gentleman now. He is such a good man.’

又及：即使你現在是一位紳士了，我希望你不會拒絕見他，他真是一個好人。”

I received this letter on Monday， and realized that Joe would arrive the next day. I am sorry to confess that I did not look forward to seeing him at all.If I could have kept him away by paying money， I certainly would have paid money.I knew that his clothes， his manners and uneducated way of speaking would make me ashamed of him. Luckily Herbert would not laugh at him.

我星期一收到了這封信，知道第二天喬將到來。很抱歉我得承認，我一點也不想見他。如果我能給點兒錢把他打發(fā)走，我一定付錢。我知道他的穿戴、舉止和沒教養(yǎng)的說話方式，會讓我羞恥。幸運的是，赫伯特不會嘲笑他。

At nine o’clock the next morning I heard Joe’s clumsy boots on the stairs， and at last he entered Herbert’s rooms.

第二天早晨9點鐘，我聽到喬的那雙笨拙的靴子上樓聲，最后，他進了赫伯特的房間。

‘Pip， how are you， Pip?’ He shook both my hands together， his good honest face shining with happiness.

“匹普，你好嗎?匹普?”他搖晃著我的兩只手，他那友好誠實的臉上流露出愉快的表情。

‘I’m glad to see you， Joe.Give me your hat.’

“我見到你很高興，喬，把帽子給我。”

But Joe insisted on holding it carefully in front of him.He was wearing his best suit， which did not fit him at all.

但是，喬堅持小心翼翼地在他面前拿著帽子。穿了一套他最好的衣服，對他一點也不合身。

‘Well!What a gentleman you are now， Pip!’

“喂!你現在是一名紳士，匹普!”

‘And you look wonderfully well， Joe.’

“你的氣色好極了，喬。”

‘Yes， thank God.And your poor sister is no worse. And Biddy is as hard-working as ever. But Wopsle isn’t our church clerk any longer! He’s become an actor!Acting in one of your London theatres， he is!’Joe’s eyes rolled around the room，noticing the expensive furniture I had bught recently.

“是的，感謝上帝。你可憐的姐姐也不錯，畢蒂像以前一樣努力地干活。不過，伍甫賽不像以前是我們的教堂職員啦!他成了一名演員!他正扮演你們倫敦戲院的一個角色!”喬的眼睛掃視著屋子周圍，發(fā)現了最近我買的那件昂貴的家具。

‘Do sit down to breakfast， Mr Gargery，’said Herbert politely.Joe looked round desperately for a place to put his hat，and finally laid it lovingly on a shelf. Breakfast was a painful experience for me.Joe waved his fork in the air so much， and dropped so much more than he ate， that I was glad when Her-bert left to go to work.I was not sensitive enough to realize that it was all my fault， and that if I hadn’t considered him common， he wouldn’t have been so clumsy.

“坐下吃早餐吧，葛吉瑞先生，”赫伯特禮貌地說。喬絕望地四周尋找一個放帽子的地方。最后，他戀戀不舍地把帽子放在一個架子上。對我來說，早餐是一個痛苦的經歷，喬頻繁地在空中揮舞著他的叉子，吃的還沒有掉得多，當赫伯特離開去工作時，我很高興，我不那么敏感了，認識到都是我的過錯，如果我不認為他粗俗，他就不會如此笨拙的。

‘As we are now alone， sir——’began Joe.

“現在只剩下我們兩個了，先生——”他開始說。

‘Joe，’ I said crossly，‘how can you call me sir?’

“喬，”我不高興地說，“你怎么能叫我先生呢?”

He looked at me quietly for a moment.‘Wouldn’t have come， you see，’he said slowly and carefully.‘wouldn’t have had the pleasure of breakfast with you gentlemen. But I had to come.Got a message for you， Pip.Miss Havisham says Es-tella’s come home and would be glad to see you.’

他平靜地看了我一會兒，“不打算來的，你明白，”他慢吞吞地、認真地說，“和你們紳士不會吃一頓愉快的早餐，但是，我必須來，讓你得到一個信息，匹普。郝薇香小姐說，艾絲黛拉回來了，她很樂意見見你。”

I felt the blood rush to my face as I heard her name.

當我聽到她的名字時，頓時面紅耳赤。

‘And now I’ve given my message，’said Joe，standing up and picking up his hat.‘Pip，I wish you even more success.’

“現在我已經轉達了我的信息，”喬說，站起來拾起他的帽子，“匹普，我祝你更加成功。”

‘But you aren’t leaving already， Joe?’I protested.

“你要走嗎?喬。”我不同意地說。

‘Yes， I am，’he said firmly. Our eyes met， and all the ‘sir’ melted out of his honest heart as he gave me his hand.‘Pip，dear old boy，life is full of so many goodbyes.I’m a blacksmith， and you’re a gentleman. We must live apart.I’m not proud，it’s just that I want to be in the right place.I’m wrong in these clothes， and I’m wrong in London，but I’m fine at the forge， or in the kitchen， or on the marshes. You won’t find so much wrong with me if you come to see Joe，the blacksmith， at the old forge，doing the old work.I know I’m stupid， but I think I’ve understood this at last. And so God bless you， Pip， dear old boy， God bless you!’

“是的，我這就走，”他緊接著說。我們相對而視，當他向我伸出手時，所有的“先生”都被他那誠實的心觸化掉，“匹普，親愛的老伙計，沒有不散的宴席。我是一個鐵匠，而你是一位紳士，我們必須分開生活，我不妄自尊大，那是我要去的合適地方，我穿這身衣服覺得不舒服，在倫敦不自在，而我在鐵匠鋪、廚房、沼澤地自在得多。如果你回來看喬，那個鐵匠，在破舊的鐵匠鋪干老本行，你不會發(fā)現我會有那么多不舒服的。我知道我愚蠢，不過，我想最后我會明白這些的。從此，愿上帝保佑你，匹普，親愛的老伙計，愿上帝保佑你!”

His words， spoken simply and from the heart，touched me deeply. By the time I had managed to control my tears， and looked round for him， he had gone.

他的話，說得簡明扼要，發(fā)自內心，他深情地摸摸我。等我設法控制住我的眼淚，轉首找他的時候，他已經走了。

I decided to visit Miss Havisham as soon as possible. Next day， when I arrived to take my seat on the coach to our town，I discovered I was sitting in front of two convicts， who were being taken to the prison-ships by their guard.The prisoners wore handcuffs， and iron chains on their legs. With horror I suddenly recognized one of them-it was the man in our village pub who had given me the two pound notes! and strangely enough， during the journey I heard the prisoners talking about it.

我決定盡可能快地去拜訪郝薇香小姐。第二天，當我找到了馬車找坐位去鎮(zhèn)上時，發(fā)現我正坐在兩名罪犯前面，衛(wèi)兵把他們帶到船上監(jiān)獄，罪犯帶著手銬和腳鐐。突然，我恐慌地認識他們其中的一個，是在我們小酒店給我兩英鎊鈔票的那個人!太奇怪了，在路途行走期間，我聽到罪犯們在談論這件事。

‘So Magwitch asked you to give the boy two pounds?Trusted you to do it?’

“因此，馬格韋契讓你給那個孩子兩英鎊錢嗎?要托你去辦這件事?”

‘That’s right.And I did what he asked.The boy had helped him， you see. Fed him， and kept his secret.’

“對，我是按他的要求干的，那個孩子救過他，供養(yǎng)過他，為他保密。”

‘What happened to Magwitch in the end?’

“最終馬格韋契發(fā)生什么事情?”

‘They sent him to Australia for life， because he tried to es-cape from the prison-ship.’

“他們把他終生發(fā)配到澳大利亞，因為他企圖越獄。”

I knew I looked so different that he would not recognize me， but I was afraid all the same. All the horror of my child-hood experience with the escaped convict had come back to me， just when I thought it was safe to forget it.

我知道，我看上去比以前大不相同，致使他不會認出我來。可是，我照樣害怕，我童年時代和那個逃犯經歷的所有恐怖又回到我面前。此刻我想，忘記它是最安全的。

But once we had arrived，and I was on my way to Miss Havisham’s house，I thought only of my bright future.She had adopted Estella，she had more or less adopted me. She perhaps wanted me to inherit the dark old house and to marry Estella. But even though I was in love， I didn’t hide from myself the fact that I would be unhappy with Estella. I loved her because I couldn’t stop myself loving her.

終于我們到達目的地，我在去郝薇香小姐家的路上，只想我的輝煌前程，她收養(yǎng)了艾絲黛拉，也或多或少收養(yǎng)了我，或許她要我繼承那座黑暗的舊住宅，并讓我和艾絲黛拉結婚。當然，我愛上艾絲黛拉，我不隱瞞我自己的事實，和艾絲黛拉結婚我不會是幸福的。我愛她，因為我不能阻止自己愛她。

I was surprised to see Orlick opening the gate to me.

我大吃一驚。看到奧立克給我打開了大門。

‘So you aren’t working for Joe any longer?’I asked.

“你不是一直為喬干活嗎?”我問。

‘As you see， young master，’he said rudely.

“你明白，年輕的主人，”他粗魯地說。

I knew he could not be trusted， and I decided to tell Mr Jaggers that Orlick was not responsible enough to work for Miss Havisham. Mr Jaggers would probably send him away.

我知道，不能信任他，我決定告訴賈格斯先生，奧立克為郝薇香小姐干活不太可靠，賈格斯先生很可能會把他趕走。

When I entered Miss Havisham’s room， there was a well-dressed lady sitting with her. When she lifted her head and looked at me， I realized it was Estella. She had become so beautiful that I felt very distant from her. In spite of all my education， I still seemed to be the coarse， common boy she used to laugh at.

當我進到郝薇香小姐的房間，有一位穿著入時的女子和她坐在一起。當她抬起頭看著我的時候，我認出來了，正是艾絲黛拉。她變的如此漂亮，致使我感到同她的距離十分遙遠。盡管我受到全面的教育，我似乎還是她過去嘲笑的粗俗、平庸的孩子。

‘She’s changed very much，hasn’t she， Pip?’ asked Miss Havisham， laughing wickedly.I replied confusedly. I could see that Estella was still proud， and I knew that it was she who made me feel ashamed of home， and Joe，but I also knew that I could never stop loving her.

“她變化很大，是嗎?匹普。”郝薇香小姐惡意地笑著問，我拒絕回答。我能看出，艾絲黛拉仍然是傲慢，我知道是她讓我為我的家和喬感到羞愧。但是，我也知道，我永遠不能停止愛她。

She and I walked in the ancient garden， talking quietly about our childhood meetings.Now that we were adults， she seemed to accept me as a friend.I could not have been happier. I felt sure Miss Havisham had chosen us for each other. What a fool I was!

我和她在那個古老的花園里散步，平靜地談論著童年發(fā)生的事情?，F在我們都是成年人了，她好像接受我作為一個朋友。我高興不起來，我確信郝薇香小姐在捉弄我們，我是一個大傻瓜!

Suddenly she stopped and turned to me.‘Miss Havisham may want us to spend more time together in future. But in that case I must warn you that I have no heart.I can never fall in love.’

突然，她停住腳步轉向我，“郝薇香小姐可能讓我們在將來一起度過更多的時光。但是，在那種情況下，我必須警告你，我沒興趣，我永遠也不會墜入愛河。”

‘I can’t believe that，’ I replied. As she looked straight at me， I recognized something in her face. Had I seen that ex-pression recently，on another woman?

“我不能相信這些，”我回答說，當她直勾勾地看著我時，從她的臉上我認清了一些事情。最近我在其他女人臉上看到過那樣的表情嗎?

When we went back to the house，Miss Havisham spoke to me alone.‘Do you admire her， Pip?’ she asked eagerly.

當我們回到那座房子時，郝薇香小姐單獨對我說，“你喜歡她嗎?匹普。”她熱切地問。

‘Everbody who sees her must admire her.’

“人人見了都會喜歡她的。”

She pulled my head down to hers with her bony arm and whispered，‘Love her，love her，love her!If she likes you，love her! If she hurts you， love her! If she tears your heart to pieces，love her!’I could feel the muscles on her thin arm round my neck. She seemed so angry that she could have been talking about hate， or revenge， or death， rather than love.

她用那骨瘦如柴的手臂拽低我的頭，小聲對我說：“愛她，愛她，愛她!如果她喜歡你，愛她!如果她傷害你，愛她!如果她把你的心撕成碎片，愛她!”我能感覺到她那摟著我脖子的瘦臂肌肉。她好像提起恨、報復、死而不是愛十分忿怒。