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I imagined, for a moment, that this piece of eloquence was addressed to me; and, sufficiently enraged, stepped towards the aged rascal with an intention of kicking him out of the door. Mrs. Heathcliff, however, checked me by her answer. “You scandalous old hypocrite!” she replied. “Are you not afraid of being carried away bodily, whenever you mention the devil’s name? I warn you to refrain from provoking me, or I’ll ask your abduction as a special favour! Stop! look here, Joseph,” she continued, taking a long, dark book from a shelf; “I’ll show you how far I’ve progressed in the Black Art: I shall soon be competent to make a clear house of it. The red cow didn’t die by chance; and your rheumatism can hardly be reckoned among providential visitations!” “Oh, wicked, wicked!” gasped the elder; “may the Lord deliver us from evil!” “No, reprobate! you are a castaway—be off, or I’ll hurt you seriously! I’ll have you all modelled in wax and clay! and the first who passes the limits I fix shall—I’ll not say what he shall be done to—but, you’ll see! Go, I’m looking at you!” The little witch put a mock malignity into her beautiful eyes, and Joseph, trembling with sincere horror, hurried out, praying, and ejaculating “wicked” as he went. I thought her conduct must be prompted by a species of dreary fun; and, now that we were alone, I endeavoured to interest her in my distress. “Mrs. Heathcliff,” I said earnestly, “you must excuse me for troubling you. I presume, because, with that face, I’m sure you cannot help being good-hearted. Do point out some landmarks by which I may know my way home: I have no more idea how to get there than you would have how to get to London!” “Take the road you came,” she answered, ensconcing herself in a chair, with a candle, and the long book open before her. “It is brief advice, but as sound as I can give.” “Then, if you hear of me being discovered dead in a bog or a pit full of snow, your conscience won’t whisper that it is partly your fault?” “How so? I cannot escort you. They wouldn’t let me go to the end of the garden wall.” “You! I should be sorry to ask you to cross the threshold, for my convenience, on such a night,” I cried. “I want you to tell me my way, not to show it: or else to persuade Mr. Heathcliff to give me a guide.” “Who? There is himself, Earnshaw, Zillah, Joseph and I. Which would you have?” “Are there no boys at the farm?” “No; those are all.” “Then, it follows that I am compelled to stay.” “That you may settle with your host. I have nothing to do with it.” “I hope it will be a lesson to you to make no more rash journeys on these hills,” cried Heathcliff’s stern voice from the kitchen entrance. “As to staying here, I don’t keep accommodations for visitors: you must share a bed with Hareton or Joseph, if you do.” “I can sleep on a chair in this room,” I replied. “No, no! A stranger is a stranger, be he rich or poor: it will not suit me to permit any one the range of the place while I am off guard!” said the unmannerly wretch. With this insult my patience was at an end. I uttered an expression of disgust, and pushed past him into the yard, running against Earnshaw in my haste. It was so dark that I could not see the means of exit; and, as I wandered round, I heard another specimen of their civil behaviour amongst each other. At first the young man appeared about to befriend me. “I’ll go with him as far as the park,” he said. “You’ll go with him to hell!” exclaimed his master, or whatever relation he bore. “And who is to look after the horses, eh?” “A man’s life is of more consequence than one evening’s neglect of the horses: somebody must go,” murmured Mrs. Heathcliff, more kindly than I expected. “Not at your command!” retorted Hareton. “If you set store on him, you’d better be quiet.” “Then I hope his ghost will haunt you; and I hope Mr. Heathcliff will never get another tenant till the Grange is a ruin,” she answered, sharply. “Hearken, hearken, shoo’s cursing on ’em!” muttered Joseph, towards whom I had been steering. He sat within earshot, milking the cows by the light of a lantern, which I seized unceremoniously, and, calling out that I would send it back on the morrow, rushed to the nearest postern. “Maister, maister, he’s staling t’ lanthern!” shouted the ancient, pursuing my retreat. “Hey, Gnasher! Hey, dog! Hey Wolf, holld him, holld him!” On opening the little door, two hairy monsters flew at my throat, bearing me down, and extinguishing the light; while a mingled guffaw from Heathcliff and Hareton put the copestone on my rage and humiliation. Fortunately, the beasts seemed more bent on stretching their paws, and yawning, and flourishing their tails, than devouring me alive; but they would suffer no resurrection, and I was forced to lie till their malignant masters pleased to deliver me: then, hatless and trembling with wrath, I ordered the miscreants to let me out—on their peril to keep me one minute longer—with several incoherent threats of retaliation that, in their indefinite depth of virulency, smacked of King Lear. The vehemence of my agitation brought on a copious bleeding at the nose, and still Heathcliff laughed, and still I scolded. I don’t know what would have concluded the scene, had there not been one person at hand rather more rational than myself, and more benevolent than my entertainer. This was Zillah, the stout housewife; who at length issued forth to inquire into the nature of the uproar. She thought that some of them had been laying violent hands on me; and, not daring to attack her master, she turned her vocal artillery against the younger scoundrel. “Well, Mr. Earnshaw,” she cried, “I wonder what you’ll have agait next? Are we going to murder folk on our very door-stones? I see this house will never do for me—look at t’ poor lad, he’s fair choking! Wisht, wisht; you mun’n’t go on so. Come in, and I’ll cure that: there now, hold ye still.” With these words she suddenly splashed a pint of icy water down my neck, and pulled me into the kitchen. Mr. Heathcliff followed, his accidental merriment expiring quickly in his habitual moroseness. I was sick exceedingly, and dizzy, and faint; and thus compelled perforce to accept lodgings under his roof. He told Zillah to give me a glass of brandy, and then passed on to the inner room; while she condoled with me on my sorry predicament, and having obeyed his orders, whereby I was somewhat revived, ushered me to bed. |
我一時還以為這番滔滔不絕的謾罵是對著我說的；我怒火中燒，於是邁開腿朝這個老混蛋走去，準備把他一腳踹出門去。但是黑思克裏夫太太的回答把我製止住了。 “我把你這個說三道四、假眉三道、老不死的東西！”她答道。“你每回提到鬼，你就不怕鬼把你拖走？你給我聽好了，要是你再敢惹我，看我專門把鬼召來一趟，把你綁起來拖走！站住！看我這兒，周思福，”她繼續說著，從書架上取下一本大黑書，“今天就讓你見識見識我的魔法已經煉到幾成了——要不了多久我就完全掌握了這本書裏所有的魔法。那頭紅奶牛並非偶然死掉；還有你那風濕病也不能算是天緣巧合！” “啊，反啦，反啦！”老頭喘著粗氣說道。“請上帝把咱們從罪惡中解救出來吧！” “不，我把你個爛貨！我把你個天打雷劈的爛貨，滾開，不然看我怎麽狠狠地收拾你！我要用蠟和泥按照你們的模樣捏成一個個小人！誰要是敢第一個越過我製定的界限誰就會——我現在不說他會倒什麽黴——但現在你給我聽好了！你還不快滾，我現在正瞅著你呢！” 這個小女巫漂亮的眼睛裏露出一副嘲弄的惡毒神態，周思福這回真地被嚇得渾身發抖，趕忙跑出去，一邊跑，一邊禱告，嘴裏嚷著“反啦”。我想她的這個舉動一定是瞎鬧著玩而引起的，現在就剩下我們倆了，於是我就盡力讓她關心一下我目前所處的困境。 “黑思克裏夫太太，”我懇切地說道，“請原諒我的冒昧打擾。我想就憑您的容貌，我敢斷定您一定心慈手軟。請務必給我指幾個路標，以便我能找到回去的路——我真不知道該如何能走到住處，就好比您不知道如何走到倫敦一樣！” “順著你來時的路走，”她答道，仍舊安坐在椅子上，麵前點著一支蠟燭，還有那本攤開的大書。“辦法很簡單，可這也是我能給你的好辦法。” “那麽，要是以後我被人發現死在某塊沼澤地裏，或被雪埋在某個坑裏，您聽說後就不會捫心自問，在這個事情的處理上，部分原因是您的過錯嗎？” “這怎麽會呢？我又不能陪你一起走。他們都不讓我走到花園牆根。” “您陪我走！這大晚上的，為了讓我方便，請您邁出門檻，我都不大好意思開這個口，”我叫道。“我想請您告訴我怎麽走，而不是請您親自領我走——要不就得勸勸黑思克裏夫給我安排個向導。” “那讓誰去？這裏隻有他自己、俄韶、琦臘、周思福和我。你想讓誰去？” “莊上就沒個夥計嗎？” “沒有，就這幾個人。” “這麽說，今晚我隻好被迫呆在這兒了。” “那你得和主人商量解決，我管不了你這事。” “我希望這次對你是個教訓，以後少再在這山裏瞎逛蕩。”廚房門口傳來黑思克裏夫嚴厲的聲音：“至於要在這兒住嘛，我可沒有招待客人的設施。你非要住的話，要麽和海瑞騰，要麽和周思福擠一張床！” “我可以在這屋子找張椅子睡。”我答道。 “那可不行，不行！無論貴賤，外人總歸是外人——我不習慣讓任何人呆在我提防不到的地方！”這家夥說道，這話說得也太沒禮貌了。 受到如此這般的羞辱，我實在是按捺不住自己的性子。我罵了一句髒話，從他身旁衝到院子裏，匆忙之中和俄韶撞了個滿懷。這時屋外一片漆黑，我竟然連院門都沒找到；我正在四處亂轉，又聽見他們之間的另一番談話，談話內容說明他們還算有教養。起初那個小夥子看起來對我還算友好。 “我可以陪他走出這片園子，”他說道。 “你那是陪他一起下地獄！”小夥子的主人（或者是他另外什麽親戚）嚷道，“你要是走了，誰來照管馬，呃？” “人命總比一晚上沒人照管馬要緊些吧——總得有個人去啊，”黑思克裏夫太太小聲說道，語氣比我預想得和善多了。 “用不著你來差遣我！”海瑞騰頂嘴道。“你要是放心不下他，最好別吭氣。” “那麽我希望他要是變成了鬼，他的魂纏著你，我還希望等畫眉田莊變成了廢墟，黑思克裏夫先生都找不到第二個房客！”她刻薄地回應道。 “聽聽，聽聽，她在咒他們啦！”周思福嘴裏嘟囔著，這時我正向他走去。 周思福在所坐的位置，能聽得到我們剛才的談話。他借著一盞馬燈的光，正給牛擠奶。我上前毫不客氣把馬燈奪過來，大喊著對他說，第二天我會把馬燈送回來，便衝向最近的一個角門。 “東家，東家，他把馬燈偷走啦！”老頭一邊在我後麵追，一邊大喊到。“喂，楠猞（原文Gnasher，意思是“會咬人的東西”）！喂，狗崽！喂，狼崽！截住他，截住他！” 小門一開，兩個渾身都是毛的怪物便撲到我的咽喉，把我撲倒在地，馬燈也被弄滅了。同時我聽到黑思克裏夫和海瑞騰放聲大笑，他倆的笑聲混合在一起，給我此時心頭的憤怒和羞辱重重地添了一筆。多虧這這倆畜生好像隻想伸伸爪子，打打嗬欠，搖搖尾巴，並不想把我活活給吞了。但是它們也不容許我再爬起來，我隻好躺著等它們惡毒的主人高興的時候再來解救我——這時我的帽子也給弄丟了，氣得我渾身發抖。我嗬斥這兩個惡徒把我放開——這樣把我再壓著一分鍾，我就讓它們不得好活——我語無倫次、連恐帶嚇說了好多要報複的話，措詞無比惡毒，頗有李爾王的風度。 由於過度不安，我的鼻子流了好多血，可是黑思克裏夫還在笑，我也還在罵。要不是旁邊有個人比我更理智，比我的房東更寬厚，我真不知道該如何收場。這人就是女管家——琦臘，她身材健壯。她挺身而出，詢問這場喧鬧的緣由。她以為他們當中必是有人對我下了狠手。她不敢衝撞她的主人，就轉過臉來聲討那個壞小子。 “好啊，俄韶先生，”她嚷道，“不知道你下一回還能幹出什麽好事？你這是要在我們自己家門口殺人嗎？我看我可再也不能在這屋子裏住下去啦——瞧瞧這可憐的小子，他都要被噎死啦！噓，噓！你快別再罵下去了。進來，我給你治治。好啦，別動。” 她一邊說著話，猛然把一大杯冰水順著我的脖梗子上一倒，接著把我拉進廚房。黑思克裏夫跟在我們身後，他臉上偶爾短暫的歡樂之色很快消失了，又恢複了平時慣有的陰鬱神情。 我難受至極，頭昏腦脹，幾欲暈倒；因此被迫在他的屋簷下借住一宿。他叫琦臘給我倒杯白蘭地酒，隨後就進裏屋了。對我遭此不幸，琦臘安慰了我一番，並遵照主人的吩咐，讓我喝了杯白蘭地酒，看見我體力漸漸有所恢複，便帶我去了睡覺的地方。 |
