Chapter 2
第二章
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.
昨天下午又冷又有霧。我想就在書房爐邊消磨一下午，不想踩著雜草汙泥到呼嘯山莊了。但是，吃過午飯（注意——我在十二點與一點鐘之間吃午飯，而可以當作這所房子的附屬物的管家婆，一位慈祥的太太卻不能，或者並不願理解我請求在五點鐘開飯的用意），在我懷著這個懶惰的想法上了樓，邁進屋子的時候，看見一個女僕跪在地上，身邊是掃帚和煤鬥。她正在用一堆堆煤渣封火，搞起一片瀰漫的灰塵。這景象立刻把我趕回頭了。我拿了帽子，走了四里路，到達了希刺克厲夫的花園口口，剛好躲過了一場今年初降的鵝毛大雪。
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.
在那荒涼的山頂上，土地由於結了一層黑冰而凍得堅硬，冷空氣使我四肢發抖。我弄不開門鏈，就跳進去，順著兩邊種著蔓延的醋栗樹叢的石路跑去。我白白地敲了半天門，一直敲到我的手指骨都痛了，狗也狂吠起來。
`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.
“倒黴的人家！”我心裡直叫，“只為你這樣無禮待客，就該一輩子跟人群隔離。我至少還不會在白天把門閂住。我才不管呢——我要進去！”如此決定了。我就抓住門閂，使勁搖它。苦臉的約瑟夫從穀倉的一個圓窗裡探出頭來。
`Whet are ye for?' he shouted. `T' maister's dahn i' t' fowld. Go rahnd by th' end ut' laith, if yah went tuh spake tull him.'
“你幹嗎？”他大叫。“主人在牛欄裡，你要是找他說話，就從這條路口繞過去。”
`Is there nobody inside to open the door?' I hallooed, responsively.
“屋裡沒人開門嗎？”我也叫起來。
`They's nobbut t' missis; and shoo'll nut oppen't an ye mak yer flaysome dins till neeght.'
“除了太太沒有別人。你就是鬧騰到夜裡，她也不會開。”
`Why? Cannot you tell her who I am, eh, Joseph?'
“為什麼？你就不能告訴她我是誰嗎，呃，約瑟夫？”
`Nor-ne me! Aw'll hae noa hend wi't,' muttered the head, vanishing.
“別找我！我才不管這些閒事呢，”這個腦袋咕嚕著，又不見了。
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.
雪開始下大了。我握住門柄又試一回。這時一個沒穿外衣的年輕人，扛著一根草耙，在後面院子裡出現了。他招呼我跟著他走，穿過了一個洗衣房和一片鋪平的地，那兒有煤棚、抽水機和鴿籠，我們終於到了我上次被接待過的那間溫暖的、熱鬧的大屋子。煤、炭和木材混合在一起燃起的熊熊爐火，使這屋子放著光彩。在準備擺上豐盛晚餐的桌旁，我很高興地看到了那位“太太”，以前我從未料想到會有這麼一個人存在的。我鞠躬等候，以為她會叫我坐下。她望望我，往她的椅背一靠，不動，也不出聲。
`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.'
“天氣真壞！”我說，“希刺克厲夫太太，恐怕大門因為您的僕人偷懶而大吃苦頭，我費了好大勁才使他們聽見我敲門！”
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.
她死不開口。我瞪眼——她也瞪眼。反正她總是以一種冷冷的、漠不關心的神氣盯住我，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，”那年輕人粗聲粗氣地說，“他就要來了。”
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.
我服從了；輕輕咳了一下，叫喚那惡狗朱諾。臨到第二次會面，它總算賞臉，搖起尾巴尖，表示認我是熟人了。
`A beautiful animal!' I commenced again. `Do you intend parting with the little ones, madam?'
“好漂亮的狗！”我又開始說話。“您是不是打算不要這些小的呢，夫人？”
`They are not mine,' said the amiable hostess, more repellingly than Heathcliff himself could have replied.
“那些不是我的，”這可愛可親的女主人說，比希刺克厲夫本人所能回答的腔調還要更冷淡些。
`Ah, your favourites are among these?' I continued, turning to an obscure cushion full of something like cats.
“啊，您所心愛的是在這一堆裡啦！”我轉身指著一個看不清楚的靠墊上那一堆像貓似的東西，接著說下去。
`A strange choice of favourites!' she observed scornfully.
“誰會愛這些東西那才怪呢！”她輕蔑地說。
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.
倒黴，原來那是堆死兔子。我又輕咳一聲，向火爐湊近些，又把今晚天氣不好的話評論一通。
`You should not have come out,' she said, rising and reaching from the chimney-piece two of the painted canisters.
“你本來就不該出來。”她說，站起來去拿壁爐臺上的兩個彩色茶葉罐。
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, they 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 anyone attempted to assist him in counting his gold.
她原先坐在光線被遮住的地方，現在我把她的全身和麵貌都看得清清楚楚。她苗條，顯然還沒有過青春期。挺好看的體態，還有一張我生平從未有幸見過的絕妙的小臉蛋。五官纖麗，非常漂亮。淡黃色的捲髮，或者不如說是金黃色的，鬆鬆地垂在她那細嫩的頸上。至於眼睛，要是眼神能顯得和悅些，就要使人無法抗拒了。對我這容易動情的心說來倒是常事，因為它們所表現的只是在輕蔑與近似絕望之間的一種情緒，而在那張臉上看見那樣的眼神是特別不自然的。她簡直夠不到茶葉罐。我動了一動，想幫她一下。她猛地扭轉身向我，像守財奴看見別人打算幫他數他的金子一樣。
`I don't want your help,' she snapped; `I can get them for myself.'
“我不要你幫忙，”她怒氣衝衝地說，“我自己拿得到。”
`I beg your pardon!' I hastened to reply.
“對不起！”我連忙回答。
`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.
“是請你來吃茶的嗎？”她問，把一條圍裙系在她那乾淨的黑衣服上，就這樣站著，拿一匙茶葉正要往茶壺裡倒。
`I shall be glad to have a cup,' I answered.
“我很想喝杯茶。”我回答。
`Were you asked?' she repeated.
“是請你來的嗎？”她又問。
`No,' I said, half smiling. `You are the proper person to ask me.'
“沒有，”我說，勉強笑一笑。“您正好請我喝茶。”
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.
她把茶葉丟回去，連匙帶茶葉，一起收起來，使性地又坐在椅子上。她的前額蹙起，紅紅的下嘴唇撅起，像一個小孩要哭似的。
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.
同時，那年輕人已經穿上了一件相當破舊的上衣，站在爐火前面，用眼角瞅著我，簡直好像我們之間有什麼未了的死仇似的。我開始懷疑他到底是不是一個僕人了。他的衣著和言語都顯得沒有教養，完全沒有在希刺克厲夫先生和他太太身上所能看到的那種優越感。他那厚厚的棕色捲髮亂七八糟，他的鬍子像頭熊似的佈滿面頰，而他的手就像普通工人的手那樣變成褐色；可是，他的態度很隨便，幾乎有點傲慢，而且一點沒有家僕伺候女主人那謹慎殷勤的樣子。既然缺乏關於他的地位的明白證據，我認為最好還是不去注意他那古怪的舉止。五分鐘以後，希刺克厲夫進來了，多少算是把我從那不舒服的境況中解救出來了。
`You see, sir, I am come, according to promise!' I exclaimed, assuming the cheerful; `and I fear I shall be weatherbound for half an hour, if you can afford me shelter during that space.'
“您瞧，先生，說話算數，我是來啦！”我叫道，裝著高興的樣子，“我擔心要給這天氣困住半個鐘頭呢，您能不能讓我在這會兒避一下。”
`Half an hour?' he said, shaking the white flakes from his clothes; `I wonder you should select the thick of a snowstorm 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.'
“半個鐘頭？”他說，抖落他衣服上的雪片，“我奇怪你為什麼要挑這麼個大雪天出來逛蕩。你知道你是在冒著迷路和掉在沼澤地裡的危險嗎？熟悉這些荒野的人，往往還會在這樣的晚上迷路的。而且我可以告訴你，目前天氣是不會轉好的。”
`Perhaps I can get a guide among your lads, and he might stay at the Grange till morning--could you spare me one?'
“或許我可以在您的僕人中間找一位帶路人吧，他可以在田莊住到明天早上——您能給我一位嗎？”
`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！”
`Are you going to mak th' tea?' demanded he of the shabby coat, shifting his ferocious gaze from me to the young lady.
“你是不是該準備茶啦？”穿著破衣服的人問，他那惡狠狠的眼光從我身上轉到那年輕的太太那邊。
`Is he to have any?' she asked, appealing to Heathcliff.
“請他喝嗎？”她問希刺克厲夫。
`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.
“準備好，行嗎？”這就是回答，他說得這麼蠻橫，竟把我嚇了一跳。這句話的腔調露出他真正的壞性子。我再也不想稱希刺克厲夫為一個絕妙的人了。茶預備好了之後，他就這樣請我，“現在，先生，把你的椅子挪過來。”於是我們全體，包括那粗野的年輕人在內，都拉過椅子來圍桌而坐。在我們品嚐食物時，四下裡一片嚴峻的沉默。
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 everyday countenance.
我想，如果是我引起了這塊烏雲，那我就該負責努力驅散它。他們不能每天都這麼陰沉緘默地坐著吧。無論他們有多壞的脾氣，也不可能每天臉上都帶著怒容吧。
`It is strange,' I began, in the interval of swallowing one cup of tea and receiving another--`it is strange how custom can mould our tastes and ideas: many could not imagine the existence of happiness in a life of such complete exile from the world as you spend, Mr Heathcliff; yet I'll venture to say, that, surrounded by your family, and with your amiable lady as the presiding genius over your home and heart--'
“奇怪的是，”我在喝完一杯茶，接過第二杯的當兒開始說，“奇怪的是習慣如何形成我們的趣味和思想，很多人就不能想象，像您，希刺克厲夫先生，所過的這麼一種與世完全隔絕的生活裡也會有幸福存在。可是我敢說，有您一家人圍著您，還有您可愛的夫人作為您的家庭與您的心靈上的主宰——”
`My amiable lady!' he interrupted, with an almost diabolical sneer on his face. `Where is she--my amiable lady?'
“我可愛的夫人！”他插嘴，臉上帶著幾乎是惡魔似的譏笑。“她在哪兒——我可愛的夫人？”
`Mrs Heathcliff, your wife, I mean.'
“我的意思是說希刺克厲夫夫人，您的太太。”
`Well, yes--Oh, you would intimate that her spirit has taken the post of ministering angel, and guards the fortunes of Wuthering Heights even when her body is gone. Is that it?'
“哦，是啦——啊！你是說甚至在她的肉體死去了以後，她的靈魂還站在家神的崗位上，而且守護著呼嘯山莊的產業。是不是這樣？”
Perceiving myself in a blunder, I attempted to correct it. I might have seen there was too great a disparity between the ages of the parties to make it likely that they were man and wife. One was about forty: a period of mental vigour at which men seldom cherish the delusion of being married for love by girls: that dream is reserved for the solace of our declining years. The other did not look seventeen.
我察覺我搞錯了，便企圖改正它。我本來該看出雙方的年齡相差太大，不像是夫妻。一個大概四十了，正是精力健壯的時期，男人在這時期很少會懷著女孩子們是由於愛情而嫁給他的妄想。那種夢是留給我們到老年聊以自慰的。另一個人呢，望上去卻還不到十七歲。
Then it flashed upon me--`The clown at my elbow, who is drinking his tea out of a basin and eating his bread with unwashed hands, may be her husband: Heathcliff, junior, of course. Here is the consequence of being buried alive: she has thrown herself away upon that boor from sheer ignorance that better individuals existed! A sad pity--I must beware how I cause her to regret her choice.' The last reflection may seem conceited; it was not. My neighbour struck me as bordering on repulsive; I knew, through experience, that I was tolerably attractive.
於是一個念頭在我心上一閃，“在我胳臂肘旁邊的那個傻瓜，用盆喝茶，用沒洗過的手拿麵包吃，也許就是她的丈夫：希刺克厲夫少爺，當然是羅。這就是合理的後果：只因為她全然不知道天下還有更好的人，她就嫁給了那個鄉下佬！憾事——我必須當心，我可別引起她悔恨她的選擇。”最後的念頭彷彿有點自負，其實倒也不是。我旁邊的人在我看來近乎令人生厭。根據經驗，我知道我多少還有點吸引力。
`Mrs Heathcliff is my daughter-in-law,' said Heathcliff, corroborating my surmise. He turned, as he spoke, a peculiar look in her direction: a look of hatred; unless he has a most perverse set of facial muscles that will not, like those of other people, interpret the language of his soul.
“希刺克厲夫太太是我的兒媳婦，”希刺克厲夫說，證實了我的猜測。他說著，掉過頭以一種特別的眼光向她望著：一種憎恨的眼光，除非是他臉上的肌肉生得極反常，不會像別人一樣地表現出他心靈的語言。
`Ah, certainly--I see now: you are the favoured possessor of the beneficent fairy,' I remarked, turning to my neighbour.
“啊，當然——我現在看出來啦：您才是這慈善的天仙的有福氣的佔有者哩。”我轉過頭來對我旁邊那個人說。
This was worse than before: the youth grew crimson, and clenched his fist, with every appearance of a meditated assault. But he seemed to recollect himself presently, and smothered the storm in a brutal curse, muttered on my behalf: which, however, I took care not to notice.
比剛才更糟：這年輕人臉上通紅，握緊拳頭，簡直想要擺出動武的架勢。可是他彷彿馬上又鎮定了，只衝著我咕嚕了一句粗野的罵人的話，壓下了這場風波，這句話，我假裝沒注意。
`Unhappy in your conjectures, sir,' observed my host; `we neither of us have the privilege of owning your good fairy; her mate is dead. I said she was my daughter-in-law, therefore, she must have married my son.'
“不幸你猜得不對，先生！”我的主人說，“我們兩個都沒那種福分佔有你的好天仙，她的男人死啦。我說過她是我的兒媳婦，因此，她當然是嫁給我的兒子的了。”
`And this young man is--'
“這位年輕人是——”
`Not my son, assuredly.'
“當然不是我的兒子！”
Heathcliff smiled again, as if it were rather too bold a jest to attribute the paternity of that bear to him.
希刺克厲夫又微笑了，好像把那個粗人算作他的兒子，簡直是把玩笑開得太莽撞了。
`My name is Hareton Earnshaw,' growled the other; `and I'd counsel you to respect it!'
“我的姓名是哈里頓·恩蕭，”另一個人吼著，“而且我勸你尊敬它！”
`I've shown no disrespect,' was my reply, laughing internally at the dignity with which he announced himself.
“我沒有表示不尊敬呀。”這是我的回答，心裡暗笑他報出自己的姓名時的莊嚴神氣。
He fixed his eye on me longer than I cared to return the stare, for fear I might be tempted either to box his ears or render my hilarity audible. I began to feel unmistakably out of place in that pleasant family circle. The dismal spiritual atmosphere overcame, and more than neutralized, the glowing physical comforts round me; and I resolved to be cautious how I ventured under those rafters a third time.
他死盯著我，盯得我都不願意再回瞪他了，唯恐我會耐不住給他個耳光或是笑出聲來。我開始感到在這個愉快的一家人中間，我的確是礙事。那種精神上的陰鬱氣氛不止是抵銷，而且是壓倒了我四周明亮的物質上的舒適。我決心在第三次敢於再來到這屋裡時可要小心謹慎。
The business of eating being concluded, and no one uttering a word of sociable conversation, I approached a window to examine the weather. A sorrowful sight I saw: dark night coming down prematurely, and sky and hills mingled in one bitter whirl of wind and suffocating snow.
吃喝完畢，誰也沒說句應酬話，我就走到一扇窗子跟前去看看天氣。我見到一片悲慘的景象：黑夜提前降臨，天空和群山混雜在一團寒冽的旋風和使人窒息的大雪中。
`I don't think it possible for me to get home now without a guide,' I could not help exclaiming. `The roads will be buried already; and, if they were bare, I could scarcely distinguish a foot in advance.
“現在沒有帶路人，我恐怕不可能回家了，”我不禁叫起來“道路已經埋上了，就是還露出來的話，我也看不。清往哪兒邁步啦。”
`Hareton, drive those dozen sheep into the barn porch. They'll be covered if left in the fold all night: and put a plank before them,' said Heathcliff.
“哈里頓，把那十幾只羊趕到穀倉的走廊上去，要是整夜留在羊圈就得給它們蓋點東西，前面也要擋塊木板。”希刺克厲夫說。
`How must I do?' I continued, with rising irritation.
“我該怎麼辦呢？”我又說，更焦急了。
There was no reply to my question; and on looking round I saw only Joseph bringing in a pail of porridge for the dogs, and Mrs Heathcliff leaning over the fire, diverting herself with burning a bundle of matches which had fallen from the chimney-piece as she restored the tea canister to its place. The former, when he had deposited his burden, took a critical survey of the room, and in cracked tones, grated out:
沒有人搭理我。我回頭望望，只見約瑟夫給狗送進一桶粥，希刺克厲夫太太俯身向著火，燒著火柴玩；這堆火柴是她剛才把茶葉罐放回爐臺時碰下來的。約瑟夫放下了他的粥桶之後，找碴似地把這屋子瀏覽一通，扯著沙啞的喉嚨喊起來：
`Aw woonder hagh yah can faishion tuh stand thear i' idleness un war, when all on 'em's goan aght! Bud yah're a nowt, and it's noa use talking --yah'll niver mend uh yer ill ways, bud goa raight tuh t' divil, like yer mother afore ye!'
“我真奇怪別人都出去了，你怎麼能就閒在那兒站著！可你就是沒出息，說也沒用——你一輩子也改不了，就等死後見魔鬼，跟你媽一樣！”
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.
我一時還以為這一番滔滔不絕是對我而發的。我大為憤怒，便向著這老流氓走去，打算把他踢出門外。但是，希刺克厲夫夫人的回答止住了我。
`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!'
“你這胡扯八道的假正經的老東西！”她回答，“你提到魔鬼的名字時，你就不怕給活捉嗎？我警告你不要惹我，不然我就要特別請它把你勾去。站住！瞧瞧這兒，約瑟夫，”她接著說，並從書架上拿出一本大黑書，“我要給你看看我學魔術已經進步了多少，不久我就可以完全精通。那條紅牛不是偶然死掉的，而你的風溼病還不能算作天賜的懲罰！”
`Oh, wicked, wicked!' gasped the elder; `may the Lord deliver us from evil!'
“啊，惡毒，惡毒！”老頭喘息著，“求主拯救我們脫離邪惡吧！”
`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!'
“不，混蛋！你是個上帝拋棄的人——滾開，不然我要狠狠地傷害你啦！我要把你們全用蠟和泥捏成模型；誰先越過我定的界限，我就要——我不說他要倒什麼樣的黴——可是，瞧著吧！去，我可在瞅著你呢。”
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.
這個小女巫那雙美麗的眼睛裡添上一種嘲弄的惡毒神氣。約瑟夫真的嚇得直抖，趕緊跑出去，一邊跑一邊禱告，還嚷著“惡毒！”我想她的行為一定是由於無聊鬧著玩玩的。現在只有我們倆了，我想對她訴訴苦。
`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!'
“希刺克厲夫太太，”我懇切地說，“您一定得原諒我麻煩您。我敢於這樣是因為，您既有這麼一張臉，我敢說您一定也心好。請指出幾個路標，我也好知道回家的路。我一點也不知道該怎麼走，就跟您不知道怎麼去倫敦一樣！”
`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.'
“順你來的路走回去好啦，”她回答，仍然安坐在椅子上，面前一支蠟燭，還有那本攤開的大書。“很簡單的辦法，可也是我所能提的頂穩當的辦法。”
`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?'
“那麼，要是您以後聽說我給人發現已經死在泥沼或雪坑裡，您的良心就不會低聲說您也有部分的過錯嗎？”
`How so? I cannot escort you. They wouldn't let me go to the end of the garden wall.'
“怎麼會呢？我又不能送你走。他們不許我走到花園牆那頭的。”
`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, net to show it; or else to persuade Mr Heathcliff to give me a guide.'
“您送我！在這樣一個晚上，為了我的方便就是請您邁出這個門檻，那我也於心不忍啊！”我叫道，“我要您告訴我怎麼走，不是領我走。要不然就勸勸希刺克厲夫先生給我派一位帶路人吧。”
`Who? There is himself, Earnshaw, Zillah, Joseph, and I. Which would you have?'
“派誰呢？只有他自己，恩蕭，齊拉，約瑟夫，我。你要哪一個呢？”
`Are there no boys at the farm?'
“莊上沒有男孩子嗎？”
`No, those are all.'
“沒有，就這些人。”
`Then, it follows that I am compelled to stay.'
“那就是說我不得不住在這兒啦！”
`That you may settle with your host. I have nothing to do with it.'
“那你可以跟你的主人商量。我不管。”
`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.'
“我希望這是對你的一個教訓，以後別再在這山間瞎逛蕩。”從廚房門口傳來希刺克厲夫的嚴厲的喊聲：“至於住在這兒，我可沒有招待客人的設備。你要住，就跟哈里頓或者約瑟夫睡一張床吧！”
`I can sleep on a chair in this room,' I replied.
“我可以睡在這間屋子裡的一把椅子上。”我回答。
`No, no! A stranger is a stranger, be he rich or poor: it will not suit me to permit anyone the range of the place while I am off guard!' said the unmannerly wretch.
“不行，不行！生人總是生人，不論他是窮是富。我不習慣允許任何人進入我防不到的地方！”這沒有禮貌的壞蛋說。
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.
受了這個侮辱，我的忍耐到頭了。我十分憤慨地罵了一聲，在他的身邊擦過，衝到院子裡，匆忙中正撞著恩蕭。那時是這麼漆黑，以至我竟找不到出口；我正在亂轉，又聽見他們之間有教養的舉止的另一例證：起初那年輕人好像對我還友好。
`I'll go with him as far as the park,' he said.
“我陪他走到公園那兒去吧，”他說。
`You'll go with him to hell!' exclaimed his master, or whatever relation he bore. `And who is to look after the horses, eh?'
“你陪他下地獄好了！”他的主人或是他的什麼親屬叫道。“那麼誰看馬呢，呃？”
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.
“一個人的性命總比一晚上沒有人照應馬重要些。總得有個人去的。”希刺克厲夫夫人輕輕地說，比我所想的和善多了。
`Not at your command!' retorted Hareton. `If you set store on him, you'd better be quiet.'
“不要你命令我！”哈里頓反攻了。“你要是重視他，頂好別吭聲。”
`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.
“那麼我希望他的鬼魂纏住你，我也希望希刺克厲夫先生再也找不到一個房客，直等田莊全毀掉！”她尖刻地回答。
`Hearken, hearken, shoo's cursing on 'em!' muttered Joseph, towards whom I had been steering.
“聽吧，聽吧，她在咒他們啦！”約瑟夫咕嚕著，我正向他走去。
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.
他坐在說話聽得見的近處，藉著一盞提燈的光在擠牛奶，我就毫無禮貌地把提燈搶過來，大喊著我明天把它送回來，便奔向最近的一個邊門。
`Maister, maister, he's stealing t' lantern!' shouted the ancient, pursuing my retreat. `Hey, Gnasher! Hey, dog! Hey, Wolf, holld him, holld him!'
“主人，主人，他把提燈偷跑啦！”這老頭一面大喊，一面追我。“喂，咬人的！喂，狗！喂，狼！逮住他，逮住他！”
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 master 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.
一開小門，兩個一身毛的妖怪便撲到我的喉頭上，把我弄倒了，把燈也弄滅了。同時希刺克厲夫與哈里頓一起放聲大笑，這大大地激怒著我，也使我感到羞辱。幸而，這些畜生倒好像只想伸伸爪子，打呵欠，搖尾巴，並不想把我活活吞下去。但是它們也不容我再起來，我就不得不躺著等它們的惡毒的主人高興在什麼時候來解救我。我帽子也丟了，氣得直抖。我命令這些土匪放我出去——再多留我一分鐘，就要讓他們遭殃——我說了好多不連貫的、恐嚇的、要報復的話，措詞之惡毒，頗有李爾王①之風。①李爾王——“Kinglear”莎士比亞的名劇之一，劇名即以主人公李爾王為名。
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 young scoundrel.
我這劇烈的激動使我流了大量的鼻血，可是希刺克厲夫還在笑，我也還在罵，要不是旁邊有個人比我有理性些，比我的款待者仁慈些，我真不知道怎麼下臺。這人是齊拉，健壯的管家婆。她終於挺身而出探問這場戰鬥的真相。她以為他們當中必是有人對我下了毒手。她不敢攻擊她的主人，就向那年輕的惡棍開火了。
`Well, Mr Earnshaw,' she cried, `I wonder what you'll have agait next! Are we going to murder folk on our very doorstones? 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.'
“好啊，恩蕭先生，”她叫道，“我不知道你下次還要幹出什麼好事！我們是要在我們家門口謀害人嗎？我瞧在這家裡我可再也住不下去啦——瞧瞧這可憐的小子，他都要噎死啦！喂，喂！你可不能這樣走。進來，我給你治治。好啦，別動。”
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.
她說著這些話，就猛然把一桶冰冷的水順著我的脖子上一倒，又把我拉進廚房裡。希刺克厲夫先生跟在後面，他的偶爾的歡樂很快地消散，又恢復他的習慣的陰鬱了。
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.
我難過極了，而且頭昏腦脹，因此不得不在他的家裡借宿一宵。他叫齊拉給我一杯白蘭地，隨後就進屋去了。她呢，對我不幸的遭遇安慰一番，而且遵主人之命，給了我一杯白蘭地，看見我略略恢復了一些，便引我去睡了。
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