《呼啸山庄》重译04B

Before I came to live here, she commenced—waiting no farther invitation to her story—I was almost always at Wuthering Heights; because my mother had nursed Mr. Hindley Earnshaw, that was Hareton’s father, and I got used to playing with the children: I ran errands too, and helped to make hay, and hung about the farm ready for anything that anybody would set me to. One fine summer morning—it was the beginning of harvest, I remember—Mr. Earnshaw, the old master, came downstairs, dressed for a journey; and, after he had told Joseph what was to be done during the day, he turned to Hindley, and Cathy, and me—for I sat eating my porridge with them—and he said, speaking to his son, “Now, my bonny man, I’m going to Liverpool to-day, what shall I bring you? You may choose what you like: only let it be little, for I shall walk there and back: sixty miles each way, that is a long spell!” Hindley named a fiddle, and then he asked Miss Cathy; she was hardly six years old, but she could ride any horse in the stable, and she chose a whip. He did not forget me; for he had a kind heart, though he was rather severe sometimes. He promised to bring me a pocketful of apples and pears, and then he kissed his children, said good-bye, and set off. It seemed a long while to us all—the three days of his absence—and often did little Cathy ask when he would be home. Mrs. Earnshaw expected him by supper-time on the third evening, and she put the meal off hour after hour; there were no signs of his coming, however, and at last the children got tired of running down to the gate to look. Then it grew dark; she would have had them to bed, but they begged sadly to be allowed to stay up; and, just about eleven o’clock, the door-latch was raised quietly, and in stepped the master. He threw himself into a chair, laughing and groaning, and bid them all stand off, for he was nearly killed—he would not have such another walk for the three kingdoms. “And at the end of it to be flighted to death!” he said, opening his great-coat, which he held bundled up in his arms. “See here, wife! I was never so beaten with anything in my life: but you must e’en take it as a gift of God; though it’s as dark almost as if it came from the devil.” We crowded round, and over Miss Cathy’s head I had a peep at a dirty, ragged, black-haired child; big enough both to walk and talk: indeed, its face looked older than Catherine’s; yet when it was set on its feet, it only stared round, and repeated over and over again some gibberish that nobody could understand. I was frightened, and Mrs. Earnshaw was ready to fling it out of doors: she did fly up, asking how he could fashion to bring that gipsy brat into the house, when they had their own bairns to feed and fend for? What he meant to do with it, and whether he were mad? The master tried to explain the matter; but he was really half dead with fatigue, and all that I could make out, amongst her scolding, was a tale of his seeing it starving, and houseless, and as good as dumb, in the streets of Liverpool, where he picked it up and inquired for its owner. Not a soul knew to whom it belonged, he said; and his money and time being both limited, he thought it better to take it home with him at once, than run into vain expenses there: because he was determined he would not leave it as he found it. Well, the conclusion was, that my mistress grumbled herself calm; and Mr. Earnshaw told me to wash it, and give it clean things, and let it sleep with the children. Hindley and Cathy contented themselves with looking and listening till peace was restored: then, both began searching their father’s pockets for the presents he had promised them. The former was a boy of fourteen, but when he drew out what had been a fiddle, crushed to morsels in the great-coat, he blubbered aloud; and Cathy, when she learned the master had lost her whip in attending on the stranger, showed her humour by grinning and spitting at the stupid little thing; earning for her pains a sound blow from her father, to teach her cleaner manners. They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room; and I had no more sense, so I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it might be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice, it crept to Mr. Earnshaw’s door, and there he found it on quitting his chamber. Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I was obliged to confess, and in recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house. This was Heathcliff’s first introduction to the family. On coming back a few days afterwards (for I did not consider my banishment perpetual), I found they had christened him “Heathcliff”: it was the name of a son who died in childhood, and it has served him ever since, both for Christian and surname. Miss Cathy and he were now very thick; but Hindley hated him: and to say the truth I did the same; and we plagued and went on with him shamefully: for I wasn’t reasonable enough to feel my injustice, and the mistress never put in a word on his behalf when she saw him wronged. He seemed a sullen, patient child; hardened, perhaps, to ill-treatment: he would stand Hindley’s blows without winking or shedding a tear, and my pinches moved him only to draw in a breath and open his eyes, as if he had hurt himself by accident, and nobody was to blame. This endurance made old Earnshaw furious, when he discovered his son persecuting the poor fatherless child, as he called him. He took to Heathcliff strangely, believing all he said (for that matter, he said precious little, and generally the truth), and petting him up far above Cathy, who was too mischievous and wayward for a favourite.

我来这儿居住之前——她开始说道，等不及我的邀请，她就讲开了故事——我差不多这辈子都没有离开过呼啸山庄。因为我母亲把亨得利•俄韶先生一手从小带大，也就是海瑞腾的父亲，过去我和孩子们在一起玩惯了——我也跑跑腿，帮着晒干草，在庄园里晃来荡去，谁叫我做点什么我都会去做。一个晴朗的夏日早晨——我记得那是庄稼收获季刚开始——老东家俄韶先生下楼来，穿着要出远门的衣服。他给周思福安排完一天要干的活计之后，转过身来看着亨得利、阚思和我——因为我正在跟他们一块儿喝粥——他对儿子说：“喂，宝贝儿子，我今天要去趟利物浦。你要我给你带个什么东西回来？喜欢什么你就挑什么——只是要挑个小东西，因为我要走着去走着回——单趟二百里，挺长一段路呢！”亨得利点名说要一把小提琴，然后老爷就问阚思小姐。当时她还不到六岁，可是马号里的任何一匹马她都敢骑，她选了一根鞭子。老爷没忘记我，因为他心地善良，虽然有时候他有点严。他答应给我带回一口袋苹果和梨，然后亲亲孩子们，说了声再见，就动身走了。 他出门走了三天，我们大伙都觉得时间好长啊，小阚思常常问起她爸爸什么时候回来。第三天晚上，俄韶太太想着他会在晚饭时回来，她把晚饭往后推了一个钟头又一个钟头。可是仍不见他回来的迹象。最后，孩子们等不耐烦了，都懒得再跑到大门口张望了。接着天黑了，俄韶太太本该要他们上床睡觉，可是他们苦苦哀求，让他们一直熬下去。差不多晚上十一点钟时，门闩被轻轻抬了起来，主人走了进来。他一头栽倒在椅子上，一边笑着一边喘着粗气，叫大家都站得远一些，因为他都快累死了——就是给他英伦三岛，他也不会再去走一趟了。 “走到最后，就跟要了命似的！”他说着打开他的大衣，他把这件大衣裹成一个包袱抱在怀里。“瞧这儿，太太！这辈子还没有什么东西把我搞得这么狼狈过，可是你一定得把他当成是上帝赐给的礼物来接受，虽然他黑得好像是从魔鬼那儿来的。” 我们围拢过来，我从阚思小姐的头上看过去，瞥见一个肮里肮脏、穿着破烂、一头黑发的孩子。年龄已经不小了，该能走路会说话了。的确，他的脸看上去比阚思睿年龄还显得大些。可是，让他站到地上时，他只会呆呆地四下张望，叽哩咕噜地重复一些没人能懂的话。我很害怕，俄韶太太打算把他扔出门外。她可真跳起来了，质问他哪根筋抽上了，把个吉普赛野孩子带到家来，自己的孩子已够他们喂他们养了。他到底打算要干什么，他是不是疯了？老爷极力想做解释，可是他真地累得半死。在俄韶太太的责骂声中，我只能分辨出来是这么回事——在利物浦的大街上，老爷看见这孩子快要饿死了，无家可归，像个哑巴。于是他抱起这孩子，四处询问这孩子的父母。他说，没一个人知道这是谁家的孩子。老爷身上带的钱不够，在利物浦的时间也有限，想想还不如马上带他回家，总比在那儿白白浪费钱和时间好些。因为他已经决定既然捡到这孩子就不能丢下不管。那么，结果是我的女主人骂够了，人也安静了下来。老爷吩咐我给这孩子洗个澡，换上干净衣服，让他跟孩子们一块睡。 亨得利和阚思在一旁心甘情愿地看着听着，直到一切恢复平静，两个人就开始搜他们父亲的口袋，找他答应给他们的礼物。亨得利是男孩子，当时十四岁，当他从大衣里拉出那只小提琴，发现已经被挤成一堆碎片了，他就放声大哭。至于阚思，她听说主人只顾照料这个陌生孩子而把给她的鞭子弄丢了，就呲牙咧嘴向这个小笨蛋啐了一口，以发泄她的不满。然而，她这种放肆行为却赢来他父亲一记响亮的耳光，教训她以后要多懂点礼节。兄妹俩绝对不和他同睡一张床，甚至和他俩睡在一个屋都不行。我也不比他俩理智多少，因此就把他放在楼梯口上，希望他明天会走掉。或许是凑巧，或许是他听见了老爷的声音，他爬到老爷的房门口，而老爷一出房门就看到了他。当然老爷追问他怎么到那儿去的，我只好照实回答。就因为我胆小懦弱、不近人情，我遭到报应，被主人撵出家门。 这就是黑思克里夫刚到这家的情形。没过几天我回来了（因为我觉得我被撵出门只是暂时的），发现他们已经给他取了名，叫“黑思克里夫”。那原是主人之前夭折了的另一个儿子的名字，从此这就算是他的名，也算是他的姓。阚思小姐和他感情深厚，可是亨得利恨他。说实话，我也恨他，于是我们就折磨他，继续毫无顾忌地欺负他，因为我还没有意识到我的不厚道，而女主人看见他受委屈时也从未替他说过一句公道话。 他看上去是个郁郁寡欢、逆来顺受的孩子，也许是由于受尽虐待而变得冷酷麻木。他能忍受亨得利的拳头，眼睛都不眨一下，眼泪也不掉一颗。我掐他，他也只是吸一口气，睁大双眼，好像是他不小心自己弄伤了自己，谁也不能怪罪似的。当老俄韶先生发现他的儿子这样虐待他这个所谓的可怜没爹孩子时，这种逆来顺受使老俄韶火冒三丈。令人费解的是，他特别喜欢黑思克里夫，相信他所说的一切（关于说话这件事，黑思克里夫真地是金口难开，通常说的都是实话），而爱他远胜过爱阚思，阚思太淘气、反复无常，算不上最受宠的孩子。