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'it is akin to falsehood; and all liars will have their portion in the 
lake burning with fire and brimstone; she shall; however; be 
watched; Mrs。 Reed。 I will speak to Miss Temple and the teachers。' 
   'I should wish her to be brought up in a manner suiting her 
prospects;' continued my benefactress; 'to be made useful; to be 
kept humble: as for the vacations; she will; with your permission; 
spend them always at Lowood。' 
   'Your decisions are perfectly judicious; madam;' returned Mr。 
Brocklehurst。 'Humility is a Christian grace; and one peculiarly 
appropriate to the pupils of Lowood; I; therefore; direct that 
especial care shall be bestowed on its cultivation amongst them。 I 
have studied how best to mortify in them the worldly sentiment of 
pride; and; only the other day; I had a pleasing proof of my 
success。 My second daughter; Augusta; went with her mama to visit 
the school; and on her return she exclaimed: 〃Oh; dear papa; how quiet 
and plain all the girls at Lowood look; with their hair combed 
behind their ears; and their long pinafores; and those little 
holland pockets outside their frocks… they are almost like poor 
people's children! and;〃 said she; 〃they looked at my dress and 
mama's; as if they had never seen a silk gown before。〃' 
   'This is the state of things I quite approve;' returned Mrs。 
Reed; 'had I sought all England over; I could scarcely have found a 
system more exactly fitting a child like Jane Eyre。 Consistency; my 
dear Mr。 Brocklehurst; I advocate consistency in all things。' 
   'Consistency; madam; is the first of Christian duties; and it has 
been observed in every arrangement connected with the establishment of 
Lowood: plain fare; simple attire; unsophisticated accommodations; 
hardy and active habits; such is the order of the day in the house and 
its inhabitants。' 
   'Quite right; sir。 I may then depend upon this child being received 
as a pupil at Lowood; and there being trained in conformity to her 
position and prospects?' 
   'Madam; you may: she shall be placed in that nursery of chosen 
plants; and I trust she will show herself grateful for the inestimable 
privilege of her election。' 
   'I will send her; then; as soon as possible; Mr。 Brocklehurst; for; 
I assure you; I feel anxious to be relieved of a responsibility that 
was becoming too irksome。' 
   'No doubt; no doubt; madam; and now I wish you good morning。 I 
shall return to Brocklehurst Hall in the course of a week or two: my 
good friend; the Archdeacon; will not permit me to leave him sooner。 I 
shall send Miss Temple notice that she is to expect a new girl; so 
that there will be no difficulty about receiving her。 Good…bye。' 
   'Good…bye; Mr。 Brocklehurst; remember me to Mrs。 and Miss 
Brocklehurst; and to Augusta and Theodore; and Master Broughton 
Brocklehurst。' 
   'I will; madam。 Little girl; here is a book entitled the Child's 
Guide; read it with prayer; especially that part containing 〃An 
addicted to falsehood and deceit。〃' 
   With these words Mr。 Brocklehurst put into my hand a thin 
pamphlet sewn in a cover; and having rung for his carriage; he 
departed。 
   Mrs。 Reed and I were left alone: some minutes passed in silence; 
she was sewing; I was watching her。 Mrs。 Reed might be at that time 
some six or seven and thirty; she was a woman of robust frame; 
square…shouldered and strong…limbed; not tall; and; though stout; 
not obese: she had a somewhat large face; the under jaw being much 
developed and very solid; her brow was low; her chin large and 
prominent; mouth and nose sufficiently regular; under her light 
eyebrows glimmered an eye devoid of ruth; her skin was dark and 
opaque; her hair nearly flaxen; her constitution was sound as a 
bell… illness never came near her; she was an exact; clever manager; 
her household and tenantry were thoroughly under her control; her 
children only at times defied her authority and laughed it to scorn; 
she dressed well; and had a presence and port calculated to set off 
handsome attire。 
   Sitting on a low stool; a few yards from her arm…chair; I 
examined her figure; I perused her features。 In my hand I held the 
tract containing the sudden death of the Liar; to which narrative my 
attention had been pointed as to an appropriate warning。 What had just 
passed; what Mrs。 Reed had said concerning me to Mr。 Brocklehurst; the 
whole tenor of their conversation; was recent; raw; and stinging in my 
mind; I had felt every word as acutely as I had heard it plainly; 
and a passion of resentment fomented now within me。 
   Mrs。 Reed looked up from her work; her eye settled on mine; her 
fingers at the same time suspended their nimble movements。 
   'Go out of the room; return to the nursery;' was her mandate。 My 
look or something else must have struck her as offensive; for she 
spoke with extreme though suppressed irritation。 I got up; I went to 
the door; I came back again; I walked to the window; across the 
room; then close up to her。 
   Speak I must: I had been trodden on severely; and must turn: but 
how? What strength had I to dart retaliation at my antagonist? I 
gathered my energies and launched them in this blunt sentence… 
   'I am not deceitful: if I were; I should say I loved you; but I 
declare I do not love you: I dislike you the worst of anybody in the 
world except John Reed; and this book about the liar; you may give 
to your girl; Georgiana; for it is she who tells lies; and not I。' 
   Mrs。 Reed's hands still lay on her work inactive: her eye of ice 
continued to dwell freezingly on mine。 
   'What more have you to say?' she asked; rather in the tone in which 
a person might address an opponent of adult age than such as is 
ordinarily used to a child。 
   That eye of hers; that voice stirred every antipathy I had。 Shaking 
from head to foot; thrilled with ungovernable excitement; I continued… 
   'I am glad you are no relation of mine: I will never call you 
aunt again so long as I live。 I will never come to see you when I am 
grown up; and if any one asks me how I liked you; and how you 
treated me; I will say the very thought of you makes me sick; and that 
you treated me with miserable cruelty。' 
   'How dare you affirm that; Jane Eyre?' 
   'How dare I; Mrs。 Reed? How dare I? Because it is the truth。 You 
think I have no feelings; and that I can do without one bit of love or 
kindness; but I cannot live so: and you have no pity。 I shall remember 
how you thrust me back… roughly and violently thrust me back… into the 
red…room; and locked me up there; to my dying day; though I was in 
agony; though I cried out; while suffocating with distress; 〃Have 
mercy! Have mercy; Aunt Reed!〃 And that punishment you made me 
suffer because your wicked boy struck me… knocked me down for nothing。 
I will tell anybody who asks me questions; this exact tale。 People 
think you a good woman; but you are bad; hard…hearted。 You are 
deceitful!' 
   Ere I had finished this reply; my soul began to expand; to exult; 
with the strangest sense of freedom; of triumph; I ever felt。 It 
seemed as if an invisible bond had burst; and that I had struggled out 
into unhoped…for liberty。 Not without cause was this sentiment: Mrs。 
Reed looked frightened; her work had slipped from her knee; she was 
lifting up her hands; rocking herself to and fro; and even twisting 
her face as if she would cry。 
   'Jane; you are under a mistake: what is the matter with you? Why do 
you tremble so violently? Would you like to drink some water?' 
   'No; Mrs。 Reed。' 
   'Is there anything else you wish for; Jane? I assure you; I 
desire to be your friend。' 
   'Not you。 You told Mr。 Brocklehurst I had a bad character; a 
deceitful disposition; and I'll let everybody at Lowood know what 
you are; and what you have done。' 
   'Jane; you don't understand these things: children must be 
corrected for their faults。' 
   'Deceit is not my fault!' I cried out in a savage; high voice。 
   'But you are passionate; Jane; that you must allow: and now 
return to the nursery… there's a dear… and lie down a little。' 
   'I am not your dear; I cannot lie down: send me to school soon; 
Mrs。 Reed; for I hate to live here。' 
   'I will indeed send her to school soon;' murmured Mrs。 Reed sotto 
voce; and gathering up her work; she abruptly quitted the apartment。 
   I was left there alone… winner of the field。 It was the hardest 
battle I had fought; and the first victory I had gained: I stood 
awhile on the rug; where Mr。 Brocklehurst had stood; and I enjoyed 
my conqueror's solitude。 First; I smiled to myself and felt elate; but 
this fierce pleasure subsided in me as fast as did the accelerated 
throb of my pulses。 A child cannot quarrel with its elders; as I had 
done; cannot give its furious feelings uncontrolled play; as I had 
given mine; without experiencing afterwards the pang of remorse and 
the chill of reaction。 A ridge of lighted heath; alive; glancing; 
devouring; would have been a meet emblem of my mind when I accused and 
menaced Mrs。 Reed: the same ridge; black and blasted after the 
flames are dead; would have represented as meetly my subsequent 
condition;

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