名著·呼啸山庄 - 第3节


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  “天气真坏!”我说,“希刺克厉夫太太,恐怕大门因为您的仆人偷懒而大吃苦头,我费了好大劲才使他们听见我敲门!”

   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.

  她死不开口。我瞪眼--她也瞪眼。反正她总是以一种冷冷的、漠不关心的神气盯住我,使人十分窘,而且不愉快。

   'Sit down,' said the young man, gruffly. 'He'll be in soon.'

  “坐下吧,”那年轻人粗声粗气地说,“他就要来了。”

   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.

  我服从了;轻轻咳了一下,叫唤那恶狗朱诺。临到第二次会面,它总算赏脸,摇起尾巴尖,表示认我是熟人了。

   'A beautiful animal!' I commenced again. 'Do you intend parting with the little ones, madam?'

  “好漂亮的狗!”我又开始说话。“您是不是打算不要这些小的呢,夫人?”

  “那些不是我的,”这可爱可亲的女主人说,比希刺克厉夫本人所能回答的腔调还要更冷淡些。

   'Ah, your favourites are among these?' I continued, turning to an obscure cushion full of something like cats.

  “啊,您所心爱的是在这一堆里啦!”我转身指着一个看不清楚的靠垫上那一堆像猫似的东西,接着说下去。

   'A strange choice of favourites!' she observed scornfully.

  “谁会爱这些东西那才怪呢!”她轻蔑地说。

   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.

  倒霉,原来那是堆死兔子。我又轻咳一声,向火炉凑近些,又把今晚天气不好的话评论一通。

   'You should not have come out,' she said, rising and reaching from the chimney-piece two of the painted canisters.

  “你本来就不该出来。”她说,站起来去拿壁炉台上的两个彩色茶叶罐。

  她原先坐在光线被遮住的地方,现在我把她的全身和面貌都看得清清楚楚。她苗条,显然还没有过青春期。挺好看的体态,还有一张我生平从未有幸见过的绝妙的小脸蛋。五官纤丽,非常漂亮。淡黄色的卷发,或者不如说是金黄色的,松松地垂在她那细嫩的颈上。至于眼睛,要是眼神能显得和悦些,就要使人无法抗拒了。对我这容易动情的心说来倒是常事,因为它们所表现的只是在轻蔑与近似绝望之间的一种情绪,而在那张脸上看见那样的眼神是特别不自然的。 她简直够不到茶叶罐。我动了一动,想帮她一下。她猛地扭转身向我,像守财奴看见别人打算帮他数他的金子一样。

   'I don't want your help,' she snapped; 'I can get them for myself.'

  “我不要你帮忙,”她怒气冲冲地说,“我自己拿得到。”

   'I beg your pardon!' I hastened to reply.

  “对不起!”我连忙回答。

   '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.

  “是请你来吃茶的吗?”她问,把一条围裙系在她那干净的黑衣服上,就这样站着,拿一匙茶叶正要往茶壶里倒。

   'I shall be glad to have a cup,' I answered.

  “我很想喝杯茶。”我回答。

  “是请你来的吗?”她又问。

   'No,' I said, half smiling. 'You are the proper person to ask me.'

  “没有,”我说,勉强笑一笑。“您正好请我喝茶。”

   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.

  她把茶叶丢回去,连匙带茶叶,一起收起来,使性地又坐在椅子上。她的前额蹙起,红红的下嘴唇撅起,像一个小孩要哭似的。

   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.

  同时,那年轻人已经穿上了一件相当破旧的上衣,站在炉火前面,用眼角瞅着我,简直好像我们之间有什么未了的死仇似的。我开始怀疑他到底是不是一个仆人了。他的衣着和言语都显得没有教养,完全没有在希刺克厉夫先生和他太太身上所能看到的那种优越感。他那厚厚的棕色卷发乱七八糟,他的胡子像头熊似的布满面颊,而他的手就像普通工人的手那样变成褐色;可是,他的态度很随便,几乎有点傲慢,而且一点没有家仆伺候女主人那谨慎殷勤的样子。既然缺乏关于他的地位的明白证据,我认为最好还是不去注意他那古怪的举止。五分钟以后,希刺克厉夫进来了,多少算是把我从那不舒服的境况中解救出来了。

   '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.'

  “您瞧,先生,说话算数,我是来啦!”我叫道,装着高兴的样子,“我担心要给这天气困住半个钟头呢,您能不能让我在这会儿避一下。”

  “半个钟头?”他说,抖落他衣服上的雪片,“我奇怪你为什么要挑这么个大雪天出来逛荡。你知道你是在冒着迷路和掉在沼泽地里的危险吗?熟悉这些荒野的人,往往还会在这样的晚上迷路的。而且我可以告诉你,目前天气是不会转好的。”

   'Perhaps I can get a guide among your lads, and he might stay at the Grange till morning - could you spare me one?'

  “或许我可以在您的仆人中间找一位带路人吧,他可以在田庄住到明天早上--您能给我一位吗?”

   'No, I could not.'

  “不,我不能。”

   'Oh, indeed! Well, then, I must trust to my own sagacity.'

  “啊呀!真的!那我只得靠我自己的本事啦。”

   'Umph!'

  “哼!”

  “你是不是该准备茶啦?”穿着破衣服的人问,他那恶狠狠的眼光从我身上转到那年轻的太太那边。

   'Is HE to have any?' she asked, appealing to Heathcliff.

  “请他喝吗?”她问希刺克厉夫。

   '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.

  “准备好,行吗?”这就是回答,他说得这么蛮横,竟把我吓了一跳。这句话的腔调露出他真正的坏性子。我再也不想称希刺克厉夫为一个绝妙的人了。茶预备好了之后,他就这样请我,“现在,先生,把你的椅子挪过来。”于是我们全体,包括那粗野的年轻人在内,都拉过椅子来围桌而坐。在我们品尝食物时,四下里一片严峻的沉默。

   I thought, if I had caused the cloud, it was my duty to make an effort to dispel it. They could not every day sit so grim and taciturn; and it was impossible, however ill-tempered they might be, that the universal scowl they wore was their every-day countenance.

  我想,如果是我引起了这块乌云,那我就该负责努力驱散它。他们不能每天都这么阴沉缄默地坐着吧。无论他们有多坏的脾气,也不可能每天脸上都带着怒容吧。

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名著·呼啸山庄 - 第3节