1 The red room

Jane Cyre

简Cyre

Chapter 1 The red room "Where's Jane? I know... hidden behind the curtain, like a little rat!" Flinging back the curtain, my cousin John revealed me, clinging to the window seat. "There she is," he crowed to his sisters, Eliza and Georgiana. "Come out... NOW!" And he grabbed my book, my beloved History of Birds. I loved imagining myself into its tales of faraway lands, they seemed so lonely, yet mysterious... I quickly obeyed John, dreading his violent temper. "This is MY book, not yours," sneered John, as I stood in front of him, trembling. "You have NOTHING, orphan!" He hurled the book at my head.

“简在哪儿？” 我知道…躲在窗帘后面，像只小老鼠！”我的堂兄约翰拉开窗帘，紧靠在窗边的座位上，露出了我。 “她来了，”他大声对妹妹伊丽莎和乔治亚娜说。 “出来…现在!”他抓起我的书，我最爱的《鸟类史》。 我喜欢把自己想象成遥远国度的故事，它们看起来那么孤独，却又那么神秘…… 我很快服从了约翰的命令，因为我害怕他暴躁的脾气。 “这是我的书，不是你的，”我站在约翰面前，浑身发抖，他冷笑着说。 “你什么都没有，孤儿！”他把书朝我的头扔去。

I ducked- but not quickly enough. Blood trickled down my neck, and a sharp pain turned my terror to anger. I flew at him, crying, "You're like the cruel Roman emperors!" I don't know what my hands did; I was ten and he a heavy, flabby fourteen-year- old, but he bellowed like a baby. My Aunt Reed, hearing the commotion, ordered her servants to come. "Take her to the red room and lock her in there." I fought like a wildcat all the way, until they threw me inside and shut the door.

我躲开了——但不够快。 血顺着我的脖子流下来，一阵剧痛把我的恐惧变成了愤怒。 我朝他扑过去，喊道：“你就像残忍的罗马皇帝！”我不知道我的手做了什么；我那时十岁，他十四岁，胖嘟嘟的，但他却像个婴儿一样咆哮。 里德舅妈听到了骚动，便命令仆人们过来。 “把她带到红房间，锁在里面。” 我一直像只野猫一样反抗，直到他们把我扔进去关上了门。

The red room was never slept in. It was here that my uncle had died and lain in state until he was borne away in his coffin. Here was a vast bed with massive pillars; on the floor, a red carpet; the windows dark with blinds drawn down. This chilly chamber never even saw a fire. Despairingly, I tried the door... Locked. With nothing else to do, I sat on a stool and thought about my life. Why did they hate me so?

那间红屋子从来没人住过。 我叔叔就是在这里去世的，他一直躺在这里，直到被装进棺材抬走。 这里有一张巨大的床，上面有几根粗壮的柱子；地板上铺着红地毯；窗帘拉下，窗户暗了下来。 这冰冷的房间连火都没生过。 我绝望地试了试门…… 锁着的。无事可做，我坐在凳子上思考我的人生。 他们为什么这么恨我？

My cousins were spoiled, selfish bullies, yet they were adored. I could never please them or Aunt Reed. 'Naughty, sullen, ugly,' they called me, and I...? I could not love them. In that house, I was an outsider. "Not fair! Not fair!" raged my heart. Hours passed. I tried to face the darkness boldly- until I saw a moving light. I think now it was the gleam from some distant lantern, but in my gloomy prison, I thought it a vision from another world, my Uncle Reed's ghost. A rushing noise filled my ears. I screamed. Aunt Reed opened the door, her gown rustling stormily. "Oh Aunt, please..." I clung to her hands, "punish me another way. I can't bear this." "Silence, Jane!" Thrusting me back, she locked the door once more. As the key turned, I sank into unconsciousness. The memory- the agony- of that night has never left me.

我的表兄妹都是被宠坏的自私的恶霸，然而他们却很受人崇拜。 我永远无法使他们或里德舅妈满意。 “淘气、阴沉、丑陋，”他们叫我，而我……？ 我不能爱他们。在那所房子里，我是个局外人。 “不公平!不公平！”我怒不可遏。 几个小时过去了。我试图勇敢地面对黑暗——直到我看到了一道移动的光。 现在我想那是远处某个灯笼的微光，但在我阴暗的监狱里，我以为那是来自另一个世界的幻象，是里德舅舅的鬼魂。 一阵急促的声音充满了我的耳朵。 我尖叫起来。里德舅妈开了门，她的长袍像暴风雨一样沙沙作响。 “噢，姨妈，求你了……”我紧紧抓住她的手，“换一种方式惩罚我。” 我受不了了。”“沉默,简!”她把我推回去，又锁上了门。 钥匙一转动，我就失去了知觉。 那天晚上的记忆——痛苦——从未离开过我。