I met your sister, said Joe, she was living here alone. Now, Pip,Joe looked firmly at me; your sister is very nice and clever.
I am glad you think so, Joe.
Yes, returned Joe. Thats it. Youre right, old chap! When I met your sister, she was bringing you. Very kind of her too, all the folks said, and I said, along with all the folks. When your sister was willing and ready to come to the forge, I said to her, And bring the poor little child. God bless the poor little child, I said to your sister, theres room for him at the forge!
I hugged Joe round the neck. He dropped the poker to hug me and said,
We are the best friends; arent we, Pip? Dont cry, old chap!
When this little interruption was over, Joe resumed:
Well, you see; here we are! Your sister a master-mind.[16] A master-mind. However, here comes the mare!
Mrs. Joe and Uncle Pumblechook were soon near. Then we were soon all in the kitchen.
Now, said Mrs. Joe, with haste and excitement, if this boy isnt grateful this night, he never will be! Miss Havisham wants this boy to go and play in her house. And of course hell go.
I heard of Miss Havisham everybody heard of her as an immensely rich and grim lady. She lived in a large and dismal house and led a life of seclusion[17].
But how did she know Pip? said Joe, astounded.
Who said she knew him? cried my sister. She just asked Uncle Pumblechook if he knew of a boy to go and play there. Uncle Pumblechook thinks that that is the boys fortune. So he offered to take him into town tonight in his own chaise-cart, and to take him with his own hands to Miss Havishams tomorrow morning.
I was then delivered over to Mr. Pumblechook. He said:
Boy, be forever grateful!
Good-bye, Joe!
God bless you, Pip, old chap!
I never parted from him before. I did not understand why I was going to play at Miss Havishams, and what to play at.
Chapter 7
Mr. Pumblechook and I breakfasted at eight oclock in the parlor behind the shop. I didnt like Mr. Pumblechook. He said, pompously,
Seven times nine, boy?[18]
I was very hungry, but the math lesson lasted all through the breakfast.
Seven? And four? And eight? And six? And two? And ten? And so on.
For such reasons, I was very glad when ten oclock came and we started for Miss Havishams. Miss Havishams house was of old brick, and dismal, and had many iron bars. While we waited at the gate, Mr. Pumblechook said, And fourteen? but I did not answer.
A window was raised, and a clear voice demanded,
What name?
My conductor replied,
Pumblechook.
The voice returned, Quite right, and the window was shut again. Then a young lady came across the courtyard, with keys in her hand.
This, said Mr. Pumblechook, is Pip.
This is Pip, is it? returned the young lady, who was very pretty and seemed very proud; come in, Pip.
Mr. Pumblechook was coming in also, when she stopped him.
Oh! she said. Did you wish to see Miss Havisham?
If Miss Havisham wished to see me, returned Mr. Pumblechook, discomfited.
Ah! said the girl; but you see she didnt.
Mr. Pumblechook did not protest. My young conductress locked the gate, and we went across the courtyard. It was paved and clean, but grass was growing in every crevice. The cold wind seemed to blow colder there than outside the gate.
Now, boy, you are at the Manor House, said the girl.
Is that the name of this house, miss?
One of its names, boy.
She called me boy very often, but she was of about my own age. Anyway, she seemed much older than I, of course.
We went into the house by a side door. The great front entrance had two chains across it outside. The passages were all dark. At last we came to the door of a room, and the girl said, Go in.
I answered, more in shyness than politeness, After you, miss.
To this she returned:
Dont be ridiculous, boy; I am not going in.
She scornfully walked away, and took the candle with her.
This was very uncomfortable, and I was afraid. However, I knocked and entered. I found myself[19] in a large room. It was well lighted with wax candles. No glimpse of daylight. It was a dressing-room, but in it was a draped table with a gilded looking-glass.
In an arm-chair, sat a very strange lady. She was dressed in rich materials satins, and lace, and silks all of white. Her shoes were white. And she had a long white veil dependent from her hair. She had bridal flowers in her hair, but her hair was white. Some bright jewels sparkled on her neck and on her hands, and some other jewels lay on the table.
Who is it? said the lady.
Pip, maam.
Come nearer; let me look at you. Come close.
A clock in the room stopped at twenty minutes to nine.
Look at me, said Miss Havisham. You are not afraid of me?
No.
Do you know what I touch here? she laid her hands, one upon the other, on her left side.
Yes, maam.
What do I touch?
Your heart.
Broken!
She uttered the word with strong emphasis, and with a weird smile.
I am tired, said Miss Havisham. I want diversion. Play. I sometimes have sick fancies. There, there! with an impatient movement of the fingers of her right hand; play, play, play!
I was looking at Miss Havisham.
Are you sullen and obstinate?
No, maam, I am very sorry for you, and very sorry I cant play just now. Its so new here, and so strange, and so fine and melancholy
Before she spoke again, she turned her eyes from me, and looked at the dress she wore, and at the dressing-table, and finally at herself in the looking-glass.
So new to him, she muttered, so old to me; so strange to him, so familiar to me; so melancholy to both of us! Call Estella.
As she was still looking at the reflection of herself, I thought she was still talking to herself.
Call Estella, she repeated. You can do that. Call Estella. At the door.
I called Estella. Soon her light came along the dark passage like a star. Miss Havisham beckoned her to come close, and took up a jewel from the table.
Your own, one day, my dear, and you will use it well. Let me see you play cards with this boy.
With this boy? Why, he is a common laboring boy[20]!
Miss Havisham answered,
Well? You can break his heart.
What do you play, boy? asked Estella, with the greatest disdain.
Nothing but beggar my neighbor[21], miss.
Beggar him[22], said Miss Havisham to Estella.
So we sat down to cards. The lady was corpse-like, as we played.
What coarse hands he has, this boy! said Estella with disdain. And what thick boots!
Her contempt for me was very strong. She won the game, and I dealt. I misdealt, and she called me a stupid, clumsy laboring-boy.
You say nothing of her, remarked Miss Havisham to me. She says many hard things of you, but you say nothing of her. What do you think of her?
I dont like to say, I stammered.
Tell me in my ear, said Miss Havisham.
I think she is very proud, I replied, in a whisper.
Anything else?
I think she is very pretty.
Anything else?
I think she is very insulting.
Anything else?
I want to go home.
And never see her again, though she is so pretty?
I am not sure. But I want to go home now.
You will go soon, said Miss Havisham, aloud. Play.
I played the game to an end with Estella, and she beggared me. She threw the cards down on the table.
When shall I have you here again? said Miss Havisham. Let me think. Come again after six days. You hear?
Yes, maam.
Estella, take him down. Let him have something to eat. Go, Pip.
I followed the candle down. Estella opened the side entrance.
Wait here, you boy, said Estella.
She disappeared and closed the door.
She came back, with some bread and meat and a little mug of beer. She put the mug down on the stones of the yard, and gave me the bread and meat. She did not look at me. I was so humiliated, hurt, spurned, offended, angry. Tears started to my eyes. The girl looked at me with a quick delight, then she left me.
I looked about me for a place to hide my face in and cried. As I cried, I kicked the wall.
Then I noticed Estella. She laughed contemptuously, pushed me out, and locked the gate upon me. I went straight to Mr. Pumblechooks. Then I walked to our forge. I remembered that I was a common laboring-boy; that my hands were coarse; that my boots were thick.
Chapter 8
When I reached home, my sister was very curious to know all about Miss Havishams. She asked many questions. Then old Pumblechook came over at tea-time.
Well, boy, Uncle Pumblechook began, as soon as he was seated in the chair of honor[23] by the fire. How did you get on up town?[24]
I answered, Pretty well, sir, and my sister shook her fist at me.
Pretty well? Mr. Pumblechook repeated. Pretty well is no answer. Tell us what you mean by pretty well, boy?
I mean pretty well, I answered.
My sister was ready to hit me. I had no defence, for Joe was busy in the forge. Mr. Pumblechook interposed,
No! Dont lose your temper. Leave this lad to me, maam; leave this lad to me.
Then Mr. Pumblechook turned me towards him and said,
Boy! Tell me about Miss Havisham.
She is very tall and dark, I told him.
Good! said Mr. Pumblechook conceitedly. Now, boy! What was she doing, when you went in today?
She was sitting, I answered, in a black velvet coach.
Mr. Pumblechook and Mrs. Joe stared at one another and both repeated,
In a black velvet coach?
Yes, said I. And Miss Estella thats her niece, I think brought her some cake and wine.
Was anybody else there? asked Mr. Pumblechook.
Four dogs, said I.
Large or small?
Immense, said I.
Mr. Pumblechook and Mrs. Joe stared at one another again, in utter amazement.
Can this be possible, uncle? asked Mrs. Joe. What can the boy mean?
Ill tell you, Mum, said Mr. Pumblechook. My opinion is, its a sedan-chair[25]. She passes her days in a sedan-chair. But the boy went there to play. What did you play at, boy?
We played with flags, I said.
Flags! echoed my sister.
Yes, said I. Estella waved a blue flag, and I waved a red one, and Miss Havisham waved one sprinkled all over with little gold stars, out at the coach-window. And then we all waved our swords and hurrahed.
Swords! repeated my sister. Where did you get swords from?
Out of a cupboard, said I. And I saw pistols in it and jam and pills. And there was no daylight in the room, but it was all lighted up with candles.
Thats true, Mum, said Mr. Pumblechook, with a grave nod. I think that Miss Havisham will do something for the boy. Maybe a handsome premium[26] for schooling.
Chapter 9
Of course there was a public-house[27] in the village, and of course Joe liked sometimes to smoke his pipe there. I received strict orders from my sister to call for him at the Three Jolly Bargemen[28], that evening, on my way from school, and bring him home. To the Three Jolly Bargemen, therefore, I directed my steps.
It was Saturday night. I merely wished the landlord good evening, and passed into the common room at the end of the passage, where there was a bright large kitchen fire. Joe was smoking his pipe in company with Mr. Wopsle and a stranger. Joe greeted me as usual with Halloa, Pip, old chap! The stranger turned his head and looked at me.
His head was all on one side, and one of his eyes was half shut up. He had a pipe in his mouth. He took it out and nodded. So, I nodded, and then he nodded again.
You were saying, said the strange man to Joe, that you were a blacksmith.
Yes. I said it, you know, said Joe.
Whatll you drink, Mr. -? You didnt mention your name, by the way.
Joe mentioned it now, and the strange man called him by it.
Whatll you drink, Mr. Gargery? I will pay.
Well, said Joe, to tell you the truth, I like to pay myself.
No, returned the stranger, its a Saturday night too. Come!
I dont want to spoil the company, said Joe. Rum.
Rum, repeated the stranger.
Rum, said Mr. Wopsle.
Three Rums! cried the stranger.
This gentleman, observed Joe, is our clerk at church.
Aha! said the stranger, quickly. The lonely church, right out on the marshes, with graves round it!
The stranger put his legs up on the settle. He wore a handkerchief tied over his head. I am not acquainted with this country, gentlemen, but it seems a solitary country towards the river. Do you find any gypsies, now, or tramps, or vagrants of any sort, out there?
Примечания
1
Keep still! Замолчи!
2
turned me upside down перевернул меня вверх ногами
3
Who do you live with? С кем ты живёшь?
4
she made Joe marry her она заставила Джо жениться на ней
5
fellow-sufferers товарищи по несчастью
6
old chap старина
7
where is the firing coming from? откуда доносятся выстрелы?
8
Lord bless the boy! Наказание с этим мальчишкой!
9
prison-ships плавучая тюрьма
10
they always begin by asking questions они всегда начинают с задавания вопросов
11
That you spoke of. Тот, о котором вы говорили.
12
Ill pull him down. Я выслежу его.
13
Hubble Хабл
14
to them which brought you up к тем, кто воспитал тебя
15
over there вон там
16
Your sister a master-mind. Твоя сестра ума палата.
17
led a life of seclusion вела затворническую жизнь
18
Seven times nine, boy? Сколько будет семью девять, мальчик?
19
I found myself я очутился
20
a common laboring boy самый обыкновенный деревенский мальчишка
21
Nothing but beggar my neighbor. Ни во что другое, как кроме в «дурачка».
22
Beggar him. Оставь его в дураках.
23
the chair of honor почётное место
24
How did you get on up town? Как ты провел время в городе?
25
sedan-chair портшез (легкое переносное кресло, в котором можно сидеть полулежа; паланкин)
26
handsome premium щедрая плата
27
public-house трактир, харчевня
28
Three Jolly Bargemen «Три Веселых матроса» (название трактира)