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CHAPTER II
Yesterday afternoon set in misty and cold. I had half a mind to spend it by my study fire, instead of wading through heath and mud to Wuthering Heights.
On coming up from dinner, however, (N.B.—I dine between twelve and one o’clock; the housekeeper, a matronly lady, taken as a fixture along with the house, could not, or would not, comprehend my request that I might be served at five)—on mounting the stairs with this lazy intention, and stepping into the room, I saw a servant-girl on her knees surrounded by brushes and coal-scuttles, and raising an infernal dust as she extinguished the flames with heaps of cinders. This spectacle drove me back immediately; I took my hat, and, after a four-miles’ walk, arrived at Heathcliff’s garden-gate just in time to escape the first feathery flakes of a snow shower.
On that bleak hill top the earth was hard with a black frost, and the air made me shiver through every limb. Being unable to remove the chain, I jumped over, and, running up the flagged causeway bordered with straggling gooseberry-bushes, knocked vainly for admittance, till my knuckles tingled and the dogs howled.
“Wretched inmates!” I ejaculated, mentally, “you deserve perpetual isolation from your species for your churlish inhospitality. At least, I would not keep my doors barred in the day-time. I don’t care—I will get in!” So resolved, I grasped the latch and shook it vehemently. Vinegar-faced Joseph projected his head from a round window of the barn.
“What are ye for?” he shouted. “T’ maister’s down i’ t’ fowld. Go round by th’ end o’ t’ laith, if ye went to spake to him.”
“Is there nobody inside to open the door?” I hallooed, responsively.
“There’s nobbut t’ missis; and shoo’ll not oppen ’t an ye mak’ yer flaysome dins till neeght.”
“Why? Cannot you tell her whom I am, eh, Joseph?”
“Nor-ne me! I’ll hae no hend wi’t,” muttered the head, vanishing.
The snow began to drive thickly. I seized the handle to essay another trial; when a young man without coat, and shouldering a pitchfork, appeared in the yard behind. He hailed me to follow him, and, after marching through a wash-house, and a paved area containing a coal-shed, pump, and pigeon-cot, we at length arrived in the huge, warm, cheerful apartment where I was formerly received. It glowed delightfully in the radiance of an immense fire, compounded of coal, peat, and wood; and near the table, laid for a plentiful evening meal, I was pleased to observe the “missis,” an individual whose existence I had never previously suspected. I bowed and waited, thinking she would bid me take a seat. She looked at me, leaning back in her chair, and remained motionless and mute.
“Rough weather!” I remarked. “I’m afraid, Mrs. Heathcliff, the door must bear the consequence of your servants’ leisure attendance: I had hard work to make them hear me.”
She never opened her mouth. I stared—she stared also: at any rate, she kept her eyes on me in a cool, regardless manner, exceedingly embarrassing and disagreeable.
“Sit down,” said the young man, gruffly. “He’ll be in soon.”
I obeyed; and hemmed, and called the villain Juno, who deigned, at this second interview, to move the extreme tip of her tail, in token of owning my acquaintance.
“A beautiful animal!” I commenced again. “Do you intend parting with the little ones, madam?”
“They are not mine,” said the amiable hostess, more repellingly than Heathcliff himself could have replied.
“Ah, your favourites are among these?” I continued, turning to an obscure cushion full of something like cats.
“A strange choice of favourites!” she observed scornfully.
Unluckily, it was a heap of dead rabbits. I hemmed once more, and drew closer to the hearth, repeating my comment on the wildness of the evening.
“You should not have come out,” she said, rising and reaching from the chimney-piece two of the painted canisters.
Her position before was sheltered from the light; now, I had a distinct view of her whole figure and countenance. She was slender, and apparently scarcely past girlhood: an admirable form, and the most exquisite little face that I have ever had the pleasure of beholding; small features, very fair; flaxen ringlets, or rather golden, hanging loose on her delicate neck; and eyes, had they been agreeable in expression, that would have been irresistible: fortunately for my susceptible heart, the only sentiment they evinced hovered between scorn and a kind of desperation, singularly unnatural to be detected there. The canisters were almost out of her reach; I made a motion to aid her; she turned upon me as a miser might turn if any one attempted to assist him in counting his gold.
“I don’t want your help,” she snapped; “I can get them for myself.”
“I beg your pardon!” I hastened to reply.
“Were you asked to tea?” she demanded, tying an apron over her neat black frock, and standing with a spoonful of the leaf poised over the pot.
“I shall be glad to have a cup,” I answered.
“Were you asked?” she repeated.
“No,” I said, half smiling. “You are the proper person to ask me.”
She flung the tea back, spoon and all, and resumed her chair in a pet; her forehead corrugated, and her red under-lip pushed out, like a child’s ready to cry.
Meanwhile, the young man had slung on to his person a decidedly shabby upper garment, and, erecting himself before the blaze, looked down on me from the corner of his eyes, for all the world as if there were some mortal feud unavenged between us. I began to doubt whether he were a servant or not: his dress and speech were both rude, entirely devoid of the superiority observable in Mr. and Mrs. Heathcliff; his thick brown curls were rough and uncultivated, his whiskers encroached bearishly over his cheeks, and his hands were embrowned like those of a common labourer: still his bearing was free, almost haughty, and he showed none of a domestic’s assiduity in attending on the lady of the house. In the absence of clear proofs of his condition, I deemed it best to abstain from noticing his curious conduct; and, five minutes afterwards, the entrance of Heathcliff relieved me, in some measure, from my uncomfortable state.
“You see, sir, I am come, according to promise!” I exclaimed, assuming the cheerful; “and I fear I shall be weather-bound for half an hour, if you can afford me shelter during that space.”
“Half an hour?” he said, shaking the white flakes from his clothes; “I wonder you should select the thick of a snow-storm to ramble about in. Do you know that you run a risk of being lost in the marshes? People familiar with these moors often miss their road on such evenings; and I can tell you there is no chance of a change at present.”
“Perhaps I can get a guide among your lads, and he might stay at the Grange till morning—could you spare me one?”
“No, I could not.”
“Oh, indeed! Well, then, I must trust to my own sagacity.”
“Umph!”
“Are you going to mak’ the tea?” demanded he of the shabby coat, shifting his ferocious gaze from me to the young lady.
“Is he to have any?” she asked, appealing to Heathcliff.
“Get it ready, will you?” was the answer, uttered so savagely that I started. The tone in which the words were said revealed a genuine bad nature. I no longer felt inclined to call Heathcliff a capital fellow. When the preparations were finished, he invited me with—“Now, sir, bring forward your chair.” And we all, including the rustic youth, drew round the table: an austere silence prevailing while we discussed our meal.
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第二章
昨天後晌開始，漫天霧氣迷蒙，到處冷冷清清。我半心半意想要坐在書房壁爐的旁邊，消磨整個下午，沒打算踩著泥濘道路，穿過荒原去往呼嘯山莊。
但是吃罷正餐（這裏需要說明一下——我中午十二點到下午一點之間用餐；這裏的管家是位婦人，體型有些發福，她就像是這座房子的一個固定物件，在我租房子時也被我租下了。我請求她可以把正餐安排在下午五點，但是這位女管家好像不能明白，或者說她根本就不想明白我的這個請求），我意誌懶散，爬上樓梯，踱入房中，看到一位女仆雙膝跪倒在地，周圍有幾把掃灰笤帚和幾隻煤鬥，隻見她正用一堆煤渣準備封火，結果搞得煤灰四處飛揚，令人作嘔。看到這個場景，我一下子從房間退了出來。我戴上帽子，徒步走了十來裏路，來到黑思克裏夫的花園門口，正好及時躲過了今年的首場鵝毛大雪。
荒涼的山頭地麵上，結了一層黑霜而顯得格外堅硬，空氣冷得令我四肢發抖。我打不開門上鏈條，隻好翻過籬笆牆，跑到石板路上，路兩旁隨意散亂地生長著一些醋栗灌木，我白白敲了半天門，一直敲到手指關節感到陣陣刺痛，這時狗開始狂叫了。
“裏麵這幫家夥真是可惡！”我心裏不禁大叫道，“像這種無禮待客的樣子，你們活該永遠與世隔絕。至少白天我還不至於把門上閂。管不了那麽多了——今兒個我非要進去不可！”我決心已下，抓住門把手使勁搖晃。這時隻見穀倉的一個圓形窗戶探出了周思福的腦袋，他的那張老臉一看就令人生厭。
“喔哪耶？”他嚷道。“東家走羊圈去啦。要是您想和他說話，從這噠轉過去。”
“屋裏頭就沒個人給我開一下門嗎？”我回應著，向他吼道。
“太太獨耶在屋，其他人都不在屋；你就是在這噠吼叫到半夜，她也不會給你開門。”
“為啥呀？周思福，你看就不會給她說我是哪耶嗎，唵？”
“你不要問我！我管不了你這號事。”那顆腦袋嘟囔完旋即就不見了。
雪開始下得越來越厚了。我抓住門把手想要再試一下；這時一位小夥子出現在院子後麵，他沒穿外套，肩上扛著把草叉。他招呼我跟他走，我倆穿過洗衣房，接著走過一塊磚鋪地，這裏有煤棚、抽水機和鴿子籠，最後我們來到了先前接待我的那間屋子，這裏占地麵積較大，既溫暖又令人感到心情愉快。壁爐中煤塊、泥炭和木柴混合在一起燃燒，整個屋子在熊熊爐火的照耀下熠熠生輝，格外令人感到愉悅，桌子上已經擺好餐具，隨時準備端上豐盛的晚餐，我很高興在桌子旁邊見到了一位“太太”，之前我從來沒想到還有這麽個人兒存在。我鞠躬等候，心想她應該會讓我找個座位坐下。她看了看我，身子往椅背上一靠，仍然保持紋絲不動，一聲不吭。
“這個鬼天氣！”我說。“黑思克裏夫太太，您家仆人真會偷懶，我恐怕這回可得要怪罪您家的大門了，我使勁敲了它老半天他們才聽到。”
她一直不開口，一句話也不說。我盯著她看——她也盯著我看——她盯我的眼神冷若冰霜、漠不關心，令人感覺極其尷尬窘迫、局促不安。
“坐下吧，”那個小夥子粗聲粗氣地說。“他一會兒就回來了。”
我聽從了他，並輕咳了一聲，然後叫那條惡狗朱諾。這是第二次見麵，朱諾還算給麵子，屈尊搖了搖尾巴尖，算是和我認識。
“這狗真漂亮！”我開口道。“太太，您打算把那些小狗送人嗎？”
“這些狗不是我的，”女主人說道，她看著慈眉善目，說起話來卻比黑思克裏夫還要讓人難招架。
“啊，那您最喜歡的在這一堆裏？”我繼續說，把頭轉到一塊肮肮髒髒的墊子，上麵像是有幾隻貓。
“我要是喜歡這些那才叫怪呢！”她冷冷地答道。
真倒黴，原來那是一堆死兔子。我又輕咳了一聲，身子往爐台靠了靠，又開始說起晚上這糟糕的天氣。
“你就不該出門，”她說著站起來，伸手去夠煙囪旁的那兩個繪有彩色畫的茶葉罐。
她剛才坐的地方光線被擋住了；現在我把她的全身和相貌都看得一清二楚。她腰肢纖細，很明顯還沒完全長成大姑娘——她婀娜窈窕，人見人愛，那張小臉蛋精妙絕倫，在此之前我從未有過這樣的眼福；五官小巧玲瓏，煞是好看，亞麻色的卷發，倒不如說金黃色的卷發，蓬鬆地垂在她嬌嫩的脖頸上；還有那雙眸子，目光要是能夠和善一些，誰見了心裏又怎能放得下呢？我還算比較走運，就憑我一副容易動情的心腸，看得出那雙眼睛流露出的僅有神態，猶豫徘徊在不屑一顧和某種絕望無助之間，讓人覺察到匪夷所思的不近人情。她差一點就夠著那兩個茶葉罐了；我起來想幫她拿；她回過頭看著我，那樣子就像是守財奴生怕別人要幫著數她的金子似的。
“我不想要你幫忙，”她嗬斥道，“我自己夠得著。”
“我很抱歉！”我趕忙答道。
“你是赴約來喝茶的嗎？”她問道，一邊在她那件幹淨整潔的黑色連衣裙上係了條圍裙，她站在那裏，舀了一勺茶葉正準備往壺裏倒。
“能喝一杯那是再好不過了，”我答道。
“你是來赴約的嗎？”她又問了一句。
“不是，”我微笑著說，“您現在正好可以約我。”
她猛地把茶收起，包括勺子和其他東西，悶悶不樂地回到自己的座位；她眉頭緊鎖，紅紅的下唇撅著，像個準備要哭的孩子。
與此同時，那個小夥子往自己身上披了件衣服，一看就是那種破衣爛衫，他在爐火前站直身體，眼角向下就這麽看著我，真地就好像我倆之間有什麽尚未了結、不共戴天的世仇。我開始估摸他究竟是不是這家的仆人——他衣著簡陋，談吐粗魯，從他身上完全看不出黑思克裏夫夫婦倆的那種優越氣質；他一頭濃密的棕色卷發像團亂麻，而且也不梳理，胡須倔強地侵占了他的雙頰，雙手像是普通體力勞動者一樣呈赭褐色——然而他舉止隨便，幾乎是傲慢自大，至於如何服侍這個家的女主人，他一點都沒有表現出作為一個仆人應有的盡心盡責。既然缺乏明確證據說明他的來曆，我想現在最好不要管他的奇怪舉止。大概五分鍾後，黑思克裏夫的到來多少讓我從這令人不爽的場麵中解脫出來。
“您看，先生，按照約定，我還是來了！”我假裝興高采烈地高聲嚷道；“這天氣把我困在這裏，我擔心得等半個鍾頭，這會兒您能不能讓我在這兒避一避。”
“半個鍾頭？”他抖掉衣服上的雪花，說道：“我就想知道，你為啥偏偏挑這麽個大雪天出來到處亂逛。你知不知道要是你掉在沼澤地裏迷了路該有多危險嗎？即便熟悉這片曠野的人，在這樣的夜晚都經常會迷路；而且我可以告訴你，一時半會兒這天氣不會好轉。”
“或許您可以派個小夥子幫我帶路，他可以在畫眉田莊呆到明天早上——您能幫我安排一下嗎？”
“不，不可能。”
“哦，這樣啊！好吧，那我隻好任由自己了。”
“哼！”
“你該準備沏茶了吧？”那個穿著破外套的小夥子說道，黑思克裏夫眼中的凶光從我身上轉到了那位年輕太太身上。
“要請他嗎？”她問道，像是在向黑思克裏夫申請。
“你還不去準備，在等什麽呢？”這就是他的回答，話說得如此野蠻，竟把我嚇了一跳。這句話的腔調著實暴露出他的脾氣很壞。我再也不想把黑思克裏夫稱作一表人才了。茶水準備就緒，“來吧，先生，把椅子搬過來”，這就是他對我的邀約。於是我們幾個人一起，包括那個粗野的小夥子，圍坐在桌子一圈——我們用餐時，大家周圍籠罩著一片冷峻的沉默。
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