1 Christmas Eve

CLASSIC STARTS Great Expectations Retold from the Charles Dickens orginal

经典开始远大前程改编自查尔斯·狄更斯的原著

CHAPTER 1 Christmas Eve I was born Philip Pirrip. As a little boy, I found it hard to say my name. So I became Pip, and I've been called that ever since. My mother, father, and five brothers all died when I was very young. On a day like today, when I'm sitting by their tombstones, I imagine my mother with freckles and my father with curly black hair. Being an orphan would have been worse had I not lived with my sister, Mrs. Joe Gargery. She was twenty years older than me and married to a blacksmith. Our house was next to the forge, where Joe kept a great fire going to work with his metal at any time of day.

第一章平安夜，我出生了，名叫菲利普·皮瑞普。 作为一个小男孩，我发现很难说出自己的名字。 所以我成了皮普，从那以后我就一直这么叫。 我的母亲、父亲和五个兄弟都在我很小的时候就去世了。 在像今天这样的日子里，当我坐在他们的墓碑旁时，我想象着我的母亲长着雀斑，我的父亲长着黑色的卷发。 如果我没有和姐姐乔·葛吉瑞太太住在一起，我的孤儿生活可能会更糟。 她比我大二十岁，嫁给了一个铁匠。 我们的房子紧挨着铁匠铺，乔在那里生着一大堆火，一天中的任何时候都在用他的金属工作。

It was Christmas Eve. A cold breeze rushed over the marsh, and the sea crashed in the distance. My teeth chattered. My body shivered. I missed my parents. Alone by their graves in the churchyard, the sounds of the wind and water scared me. I sat down and started to cry. "Be quiet!" a man shouted. "Stay still or you'll be sorry." I looked up to find a scary-looking man. He wore rough gray pants and an old rag for a hat. A giant prison cuff was wrapped around his leg. Wet, muddy, and limping, he glared at me. "P-p-please don't hurt me," I begged. "What's your name? Quickly!" "Pip." "Point to where you live!" I had just lifted my arm when suddenly the world was upside down! The man had me by the heels and shook me hard. A piece of bread dropped to the ground from my pocket. Moments later the church was right-side up again. "Where are your parents?" He licked his lips.

那是平安夜。一阵冷风吹过沼泽，远处的海面哗哗地翻腾。 我的牙齿在打战。我的身体颤抖着。 我想念我的父母。孤零零地站在教堂墓地里他们的坟墓旁，风声和水声把我吓坏了。 我坐下来哭了起来。 “安静！”一个男人喊道。 “别动，不然你会后悔的。” 我抬头一看，发现一个长相可怕的人。 他穿着粗糙的灰色裤子，用一块旧破布当帽子。 一个巨大的监狱手铐缠在他的腿上。 他又湿又泥泞，一瘸一拐地瞪着我。 “求求你，求求你，别伤害我，”我恳求道。 “你叫什么名字？”快!”“皮普”。 “指一指你住的地方！”我刚抬起胳膊，世界就突然颠倒了！那人抓住我的脚跟，使劲摇晃我。 一块面包从我口袋里掉到了地上。 片刻之后，教堂又恢复了原样。 “你的父母呢？”他舔了舔嘴唇。

"There and there." I tipped my head to either side as I held tight to a tombstone. "Who do you live with if your parents are buried here?" He stepped forward, grabbed me by the shoulders, and tilted me backward. "My sister, sir, and her husband, the blacksmith, Joe Gargery." A glint came into his eye. "The next question is whether or not I'm going to hurt you." His fingers gripped my arms tightly. "You know what a file is, right?" I nodded. "And you know what food is, right?" I nodded again. "You're going to get me a file, and you're going to get me some food. You'll bring them both to me at the old shipyard tomorrow morning— or else." He released me from his grip. "You'll remember every bit of this conversation, right?" "Y-yes, sir." "Good," he said as he walked away. "Now get going."

“那儿，那儿。”我把头歪向两边，紧紧抓住一块墓碑。 “如果你父母葬在这里，你和谁住在一起？”他走上前来，抓住我的肩膀，把我往后推。 “我妹妹，先生，还有她的丈夫，铁匠乔·葛吉瑞。” 他眼中闪过一丝光芒。 “下一个问题是，我是否会伤害你。” 他的手指紧紧抓住我的胳膊。 “你知道文件是什么吧？”我点了点头。 “你知道什么是食物，对吧？”我又点了点头。 “你给我拿个文件，给我拿点吃的。 明天早上你把它们都带到老船坞给我——不然的话。” 他把我从他手里放了出来。 “你会记得这次谈话的每一个细节，对吧？”“先生,等号左边。” “很好，”他说着走开了。 “现在走吧。”

Too afraid to move, I watched as he limped toward the church wall. Just before he crawled over, he looked back. One glance from him sent me running home as fast as I could. Joe was sitting alone in the kitchen when I returned, his blacksmith shop closed for the night. He said, as sweet and as calm as ever, "Your sister's out looking for you. She's been and gone a dozen times and worked up a temper." My sister burst into the room then, screaming, "Where have you been, you rascal?" I said, "The churchyard." "I walked by there twice and I didn't see you!" She didn't wait for an answer. "You might as well have stayed there for all the time I've wasted looking for you! Sit in the corner while I make dinner." My stomach growled with hunger, but I didn't dare eat the slice of bread she gave me for dinner. I had to save food for the man. When my sister wasn't looking, I quickly put the bread down my pant leg. When Joe saw it was gone, he made a face. My sister said, "What on earth is the matter

我太害怕了，不敢动，看着他一瘸一拐地朝教堂的墙走去。 就在他爬过去之前，他回头看了看。 他瞥了我一眼，我就以最快的速度跑回家。 我回来的时候，乔一个人坐在厨房里，他的铁匠铺已经打烊了。 他说，一如既往的甜蜜和平静，“你妹妹出去找你了。 她来了又走了十几次，脾气都大了。” 我妹妹冲进房间，尖叫道：“你去哪儿了，你这个流氓？”我说：“教堂墓地。” “我从那儿走过两次，都没看见你！”她没等回答。 “我找你浪费了那么多时间，你还不如一直待在那儿！”坐在角落里，我做饭。” 我的肚子饿得咕咕叫，但我不敢吃她给我当晚餐的那片面包。 我得给他留点吃的。 趁妹妹不注意，我赶紧把面包放在裤腿上。 乔看到它不见了，做了个鬼脸。 我姐姐说：“这到底是怎么回事

now? Why do you look so funny?" "You can't have chewed that bread, Pip," Joe said. "Have you been eating too fast again?" She pulled me up by the ear. "Sure as I have two feet your stomach will ache. You're taking some medicine." A spoon was forced into my mouth. I swallowed the foul mixture. My tummy hurt instantly. She said, "With that down you, it's time to stir the Christmas pudding. Come over here." "May I take my coat upstairs first, Mrs. Joe?" I asked. "If you must," my sister said. "But hurry." A cold wind crept up behind me as I slipped upstairs to my attic bedroom. Its howling sound reminded me of the stranger's voice. I tried to put his threats out of my mind as I hid the bread. I didn't waste any time getting back downstairs. Picking up the big copper spoon, I stirred the pudding. After about an hour I joined my sister and Joe in the living room. "Warm up by the fire," she ordered, "and then

现在?你怎么看起来这么滑稽？”“你不可能嚼了那个面包，匹普，”乔说。 “你又吃得太快了吗？”她拽着我的耳朵把我拉了起来。 “当然，我有两只脚，你的肚子会痛的。 你在吃药。” 一把勺子被强行塞进我嘴里。 我吞下了那恶臭的混合物。 我的肚子立刻疼起来。她说：“做完这些，是时候搅拌圣诞布丁了。 到这儿来。”“我可以先把外套拿上楼吗，乔太太？”我问。 “如果你一定要的话，”我姐姐说。 “但是快点。”我溜上楼去阁楼的卧室时，一阵冷风从我身后刮了上来。 它的嚎叫声使我想起了那个陌生人的声音。 我把面包藏起来，尽量不去想他的威胁。 我没有浪费任何时间回到楼下。 我拿起大铜勺，搅拌布丁。 大约一个小时后，我和妹妹和乔一起来到客厅。 “在火旁烤火，”她命令道，“然后