|
CHAPTER IV
What vain weather-cocks we are! I, who had determined to hold myself independent of all social intercourse, and thanked my stars that, at length, I had lighted on a spot where it was next to impracticable—I, weak wretch, after maintaining till dusk a struggle with low spirits and solitude, was finally compelled to strike my colours; and under pretence of gaining information concerning the necessities of my establishment, I desired Mrs. Dean, when she brought in supper, to sit down while I ate it; hoping sincerely she would prove a regular gossip, and either rouse me to animation or lull me to sleep by her talk.
“You have lived here a considerable time,” I commenced; “did you not say sixteen years?”
“Eighteen, sir: I came when the mistress was married, to wait on her; after she died, the master retained me for his housekeeper.”
“Indeed.”
There ensued a pause. She was not a gossip, I feared; unless about her own affairs, and those could hardly interest me. However, having studied for an interval, with a fist on either knee, and a cloud of meditation over her ruddy countenance, she ejaculated—“Ah, times are greatly changed since then!”
“Yes,” I remarked, “you’ve seen a good many alterations, I suppose?”
“I have: and troubles too,” she said.
“Oh, I’ll turn the talk on my landlord’s family!” I thought to myself. “A good subject to start! And that pretty girl-widow, I should like to know her history: whether she be a native of the country, or, as is more probable, an exotic that the surly indigenae will not recognise for kin.” With this intention I asked Mrs. Dean why Heathcliff let Thrushcross Grange, and preferred living in a situation and residence so much inferior. “Is he not rich enough to keep the estate in good order?” I inquired.
“Rich, sir!” she returned. “He has nobody knows what money, and every year it increases. Yes, yes, he’s rich enough to live in a finer house than this: but he’s very near—close-handed; and, if he had meant to flit to Thrushcross Grange, as soon as he heard of a good tenant he could not have borne to miss the chance of getting a few hundreds more. It is strange people should be so greedy, when they are alone in the world!”
“He had a son, it seems?”
“Yes, he had one—he is dead.”
“And that young lady, Mrs. Heathcliff, is his widow?”
“Yes.”
“Where did she come from originally?”
“Why, sir, she is my late master’s daughter: Catherine Linton was her maiden name. I nursed her, poor thing! I did wish Mr. Heathcliff would remove here, and then we might have been together again.”
“What! Catherine Linton?” I exclaimed, astonished. But a minute’s reflection convinced me it was not my ghostly Catherine. “Then,” I continued, “my predecessor’s name was Linton?”
“It was.”
“And who is that Earnshaw: Hareton Earnshaw, who lives with Mr. Heathcliff? Are they relations?”
“No; he is the late Mrs. Linton’s nephew.”
“The young lady’s cousin, then?”
“Yes; and her husband was her cousin also: one on the mother’s, the other on the father’s side: Heathcliff married Mr. Linton’s sister.”
“I see the house at Wuthering Heights has ‘Earnshaw’ carved over the front door. Are they an old family?”
“Very old, sir; and Hareton is the last of them, as our Miss Cathy is of us—I mean, of the Lintons. Have you been to Wuthering Heights? I beg pardon for asking; but I should like to hear how she is!”
“Mrs. Heathcliff? she looked very well, and very handsome; yet, I think, not very happy.”
“Oh dear, I don’t wonder! And how did you like the master?”
“A rough fellow, rather, Mrs. Dean. Is not that his character?”
“Rough as a saw-edge, and hard as whinstone! The less you meddle with him the better.”
“He must have had some ups and downs in life to make him such a churl. Do you know anything of his history?”
“It’s a cuckoo’s, sir—I know all about it: except where he was born, and who were his parents, and how he got his money at first. And Hareton has been cast out like an unfledged dunnock! The unfortunate lad is the only one in all this parish that does not guess how he has been cheated.”
“Well, Mrs. Dean, it will be a charitable deed to tell me something of my neighbours: I feel I shall not rest if I go to bed; so be good enough to sit and chat an hour.”
“Oh, certainly, sir! I’ll just fetch a little sewing, and then I’ll sit as long as you please. But you’ve caught cold: I saw you shivering, and you must have some gruel to drive it out.”
The worthy woman bustled off, and I crouched nearer the fire; my head felt hot, and the rest of me chill: moreover, I was excited, almost to a pitch of foolishness, through my nerves and brain. This caused me to feel, not uncomfortable, but rather fearful (as I am still) of serious effects from the incidents of to-day and yesterday. She returned presently, bringing a smoking basin and a basket of work; and, having placed the former on the hob, drew in her seat, evidently pleased to find me so companionable.
* * * * *
|
第4章
我們真地都是些徒有其表、隨風搖擺的風向標！我本來下定決心拒絕一切社交活動，謝天謝地，我最終落腳在一個近乎不切實際的地點——我，一個可憐的軟蛋，情緒消沉、孤獨寂寞，內心一直掙紮著到黃昏，最後還是被迫舉起白旗表示投降。丁太太把晚飯送來時，我假裝向她打聽有關我住所的生活所需，吃飯時讓她坐下來陪著我，誠懇希望她是個正兒八經愛嚼舌根的碎嘴子，這樣她的話不是令我興奮活潑，就是催我早些入眠。
“你在這兒住很久了吧，”我開始說，“你不是說有十六年了嗎？”
“十八年啦，先生。太太結婚時，我過來伺候她。她去世後，主人就把我留下來當他的管家了。”
“原來是這樣。”
接著是一陣靜默。我想她不是個碎嘴子，除非談到她自己的事，而那些事又提不起我的興致。但是，她沉思了一會，把一隻拳頭放在膝上，她那紅紅的臉上罩著一層沉思的陰雲，突然失聲歎道：
“啊，從那時起，世事變得太厲害啦！”
“是的，”我說，“我想你一定經曆過許多變化吧？”
“我都經曆過，還有不少煩惱呢。”她說。
“啊，我要把談話內容轉到我房東家裏來了！”我自忖著。“這倒是個很好的話頭！還有那個漂亮的小寡婦，我很想了解她的過去。不管她是不是本地人，或者她更可能是個外路人，本地人都太傲慢，不認她這門親。”這樣想著，我問丁太太，為什麽黑思克裏夫出租畫眉田莊，寧可住在一個位置與住房條件都相對差很多的地方。“他難道還不夠有錢把房產好好整修一下嗎？”我問。
“有錢，先生！”她回答，“誰也不知道他有多少錢，而且錢數每年還在不斷增加。是啊，他有足夠的錢住一所比這更好的房子。可是他有點——手頭緊。而且，假使他有意搬到畫眉田莊的話，他一聽見有個好房客，他就絕不會放棄這個多掙幾百的機會。有的人孤孤單單地活在這世上，可還要這麽貪財，真叫人想不通！”
“好像他有過兒子吧？”
“是的，有過一個兒子——他死啦。”
“那位年輕的太太，黑思克裏夫太太，是他的遺孀吧？”
“是的。”
“她原先從哪兒來？”
“哪，先生，她是我那已過世主人的女兒——闞思睿•林騰是她做姑娘時的名字，林騰是娘家姓。是我一手把她帶大的，可憐的小冤家！我真希望黑思克裏夫先生搬到這兒來，那樣我們娘倆又可以在一起了。”
“你說啥？闞思睿•林騰！”我大為吃驚地叫道，可是隻經過片刻回想，我就相信那不是我那鬼魂般的闞思睿了。“那麽，”我接著說，“我之前的房東是姓林騰嗎？”
“是的。”
“那，俄韶——海瑞騰•俄韶，就是和黑思克裏夫先生同住的俄韶又是誰？他們是親戚嗎？”
“不，他是已過世林騰太太的侄子。”
“那麽，他是那年輕太太的表哥？”
“是的，她的丈夫也就是她的表弟——一個是母親的內侄，一個是父親的外甥；黑思克裏夫娶了林騰的妹妹。”
“我看見呼嘯山莊房子正門上刻著‘俄韶’這個字。他們是個古老的世家吧？”
“很古老，先生，他們家族就剩下海瑞騰最後一個了，就像我們的闞思小姐也是我們家族最後一個——我意思是說林騰家族的最後一個。你已到過呼嘯山莊了吧？我冒昧地問一句，我很想聽聽她現在怎麽樣了！”
“黑思克裏夫太太嗎？她看上去很好，人長得很漂亮。可是，我想，她不太快樂。”
“哎呀，那我倒不奇怪！你看那位主人怎麽樣？”
“簡直是個粗糙的家夥，丁太太。他就是那樣性格嗎？”
“像鋸齒一樣粗糙，像岩石一樣堅硬！你越少跟他來往，對你就越有好處。”
“他這輩子生活上肯定經曆過不少起起伏伏，才使他變得這樣粗鄙吧。你了解他過去的一些事情嗎？”
“他的一生好比布穀鳥（注：布穀鳥不築巢，把蛋下到喜鵲窩裏，蛋孵出後，小布穀鳥會把喜鵲的蛋推出喜鵲窩，讓喜鵲媽媽喂養），先生——除了他的出生地、親生父母以及他當初如何發了財這些我不知道，其他有關他的事情我全知道。海瑞騰就像個羽毛還沒長齊全的籬雀兒給扔了出去！在整個教區裏這可憐的孩子，隻有他自己想象不到是怎麽被騙的呢。”
“啊，丁太太，請告訴我一些有關我的這些鄰裏們的故事吧，你這等於在做一樁好事。我覺得要是現在上床去睡，我也睡不踏實，所以你就做回好人，坐下和我聊個把鍾頭吧。”
“啊，沒問題，先生！我先取些針線活，然後你高興要我坐多久，我就坐多久。可是你感冒啦——我看你渾身直打哆嗦，你得喝點粥把寒氣趕出來。”這位令人欽佩的太太匆忙走開了，我蜷縮到離爐火更近的地方。我的頭感覺很燙，渾身發冷——而且我的神經和大腦受到刺激，幾乎有些犯傻。這讓我覺得並非不舒服，而是更感覺到害怕（直到現在還害怕），擔心今天和昨天所發生的事情會帶給我什麽嚴重後果。沒過一會兒她就回來了，帶來一個冒著熱氣的盆，還有一個針線笸籮。她把盆放在爐台上，拉過椅子，顯然很高興發現，我這個人還算好相處。
|
https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/wuthering-heights-thanked-my-stars.159277/
“我，曾決意要遠離所有的社交，也曾慶幸自己終於發現了一個幾乎不可能搞社交的地方——我，這個窩囊廢，堅持著與消沉和寂寞抗爭到了黃昏，最後還是不得不降旗投降；...”
我本來下定決心拒絕一切社交活動，謝天謝地，我最終落腳在這樣一個地點，而讓我在此地拒絕一切社交活動則顯得近乎不切實際——我，一個可憐的軟蛋，情緒消沉、孤獨寂寞，內心一直掙紮著到黃昏，最後還是被迫舉起白旗表示投降。