7 A Letter from Home

CHAPTER 7 A Letter from Home Dear Pip, Joe asked me to write this letter. He's coming into London. He'll call for you at Barnard's Inn on Tuesday morning at 9 o'clock. Your poor sister is the same as before. We talk about you every night. Hope you're doing well. Yours truly, Biddy The letter came on Monday, which meant Joe would be arriving tomorrow. I had mixed feelings about Joe's visit. My life was so different now, I didn't know if he would fit into it. I wanted to send a note telling him not to come. Tuesday came, and it rained. As I heard Joe's

第七章家信亲爱的匹普，乔让我写这封信。 他要来伦敦了。他会在星期二上午9点到巴纳德旅馆来接您。 你可怜的妹妹和以前一样。 我们每晚都在谈论你。 希望你一切都好。这封信是星期一来的，这意味着乔明天就到。 我对乔的来访百感交集。 我的生活完全不同了，我不知道他是否能适应。 我想给他写个便条，叫他不要来。 星期二到了，下起了雨。 就像我听到乔的

boots clomping up the stairs, I wanted to hide. Instead I answered the knock at the door. Joe shouted, "Hello, Pip! You've grown!" His good, honest face glowed as he heartily shook my hand. "Good to see you, Joe," I said. "Please, give me your hat." "Oh, it's fine where it fell." The hat sat on the floor between us. I told Joe he looked well. He said, "Your sister's the same. Biddy, too. But Wopsle has left the church to become an actor!" "An actor?"' I said. Joe handed me a crumpled program. "Did you see the play?" I asked. "Indeed, I did," he answered. As Joe described the play, I tried to pull both him and his hat inside. Herbert called out when he saw Joe in the hallway, "So nice to meet you! Won't you join us at the table?"

靴子咚咚地爬上楼梯，我想躲起来。 相反，我去应门。 乔喊道：“你好，匹普！你成长!”他真诚地和我握手时，脸上露出了和善、诚实的神情。 “很高兴见到你，乔，”我说。 “请把你的帽子给我。” “哦，它掉在哪儿就在哪儿。” 帽子落在我们中间的地板上。 我告诉乔他气色不错。 他说：“你妹妹也一样。 唠叨的。可是伍甫赛离开教堂去当演员了！”“一个演员吗?”我说。 乔递给我一份皱巴巴的节目单。 “你看了那出戏吗？”我问。 他回答说：“确实是这样。” 当乔描述这出戏时，我试图把他和他的帽子都拉进去。 赫伯特在走廊里看到乔时喊道：“见到你真高兴！你不和我们一起吃饭吗？”

Herbert asked, "Coffee or tea, Mr. Gargery?" Joe set his hat on the mantel. "Whichever you'd like," Joe answered quietly. "Coffee, then," Herbert said. Joe said, "Fine choice. But don't you find coffee hurts your stomach?" "We'll have tea instead." Herbert poured and we sat down to breakfast. Joe's hat fell off the mantel. He stood up, put it in the very same spot, and it tumbled down again. Herbert asked, "When did you come into town, Mr. Gargery?"

赫伯特问：“咖啡还是茶，葛吉瑞先生？”乔把帽子放在壁炉架上。 “随便你，”乔平静地回答。 “那就喝咖啡吧。”赫伯特说。 乔说：“选得好。但是你不觉得咖啡会伤胃吗？”“我们还是喝茶吧。” 赫伯特倒了酒，我们坐下来吃早饭。 乔的帽子从壁炉架上掉了下来。 他站起来，把它放在原来的地方，它又摔倒了。 赫伯特问：“你什么时候进城的，葛吉瑞先生？”

"Were it yesterday afternoon?" Joe coughed into his hand as if the London air had already made him ill. "Yes, yes it were—" His hat fell from the mantel for the third time and he had to rescue it once more. Joe's behavior was beginning to embarrass me. I was relieved when Herbert set off for the day. Joe turned to me. "Now that it's just the two of us, sir, I've got something to—" "Joe," I snapped, "there's no need to call me sir. What is it? Why have you come?" Joe told a long, rambling story about the Three Jolly Bargemen before getting to the point. "You see, Pip, she wants to see you." "Who?" "Miss Havisham." "Why didn't you tell me that right away? You know how important Miss Havisham is to me!" I said sharply. "Now, wait a minute, let me remember... Something about the girl being pleased if she could see you?"

“是昨天下午吗？”乔对着手咳嗽了一声，仿佛伦敦的空气已经使他生病了。 “是的，是的——”他的帽子第三次从壁炉架上掉了下来，他不得不再一次把它捡起来。 乔的行为开始使我难堪。 赫伯特当天出发时，我松了一口气。 乔转向我。“既然只有我们两个人，先生，我有些事要——”“乔，”我厉声说，“没必要叫我先生。 这是什么？你为什么来？”乔在说正题之前，漫无目的地讲了一个关于三个快乐的船夫的故事。 “你看，匹普，她想见你。” “谁?”“郝薇香小姐。”“你为什么不马上告诉我呢？” 你知道郝薇香小姐对我有多重要！”我厉声说。 “现在，等一下，让我想想…… 说那个女孩见到你会很高兴？”

"Estella?" "Seems she's back from school and would be glad for your company. It was Biddy's idea for me to tell you in person." Breakfast was finished, and he thanked me for the meal. As he stood up to leave, he said "Some people are just blacksmiths, I suppose. I'm not fit for these clothes or this city. Doubt that I'll be back, but I hope you'll come see us at the forge." He touched my forehead and left. As soon as I realized that dear Joe would never come to see me again, I rushed out into the street to find him. He was already gone. I felt awful about the way I had treated him. I booked a coach to take me home the very next day so I could see Miss Havisham and Estella. I was ashamed of how poorly I had treated Joe. But still, I didn't want to go home. So I booked a room at the Blue Boar hotel and walked the long way around so I wouldn't have to pass the forge. Walking the cold, foggy streets, I thought, Miss Havisham has given me a wonderful new life in London. How will I ever repay her?

“埃斯特拉?”“她好像从学校回来了，很高兴有你作伴。 我当面告诉你是毕蒂的主意。” 早饭吃完了，他感谢我的招待。 当他站起来准备离开时，他说：“我想有些人就是铁匠。 我不适合这些衣服，也不适合这个城市。 恐怕我不会回来了，不过我希望你能到铁匠铺来看我们。” 他摸了摸我的额头就走了。 我一意识到亲爱的乔再也不会来看我了，就冲到街上去找他。 他已经走了。我对自己对待他的方式感到很内疚。 我订了一辆马车第二天就送我回家，这样我就可以去看郝薇香小姐和艾丝黛拉了。 我对乔的态度很不好，我为此感到羞愧。 但我还是不想回家。 所以我在蓝野猪酒店订了一个房间，绕了很长的一段路，这样我就不用经过铁匠铺了。 走在寒冷、雾蒙蒙的街道上，我想，郝薇香小姐给了我在伦敦一种美妙的新生活。 我该怎么报答她呢？

I decided right then and there that I'd be the one to rebuild Manor House. I'd tear down the cobwebs and be her hero. When I arrived at the gate, it gave me quite a shock to find Orlick standing there. "What are you doing?" I said. Orlick stared at me. "There are more changes in life than just yours, Pip," he replied. "How long has it been since you've left the forge?" I asked. "How long since you've left the forge? It's my job now to open the gate. You might as well come through," he said. Even after all this time, I knew Manor House couldn't have changed. But the dark staircase no longer made me frightened. I had been up and down it so many times. I knocked on Miss Havisham's door. She called, "Why, that's Pip's knock! Please come in!" She was in her chair next to the old table, wearing the same old dress. The white shoe that had never been worn sat atop the table beside her. When I greeted her in my new gentlemanly

我当时就决定，我要重建庄园。 我会撕掉蜘蛛网，成为她的英雄。 当我到达大门口时，我发现奥立克站在那里，吓了一跳。 “你在干什么？”我说。 奥立克盯着我。“生活中有很多变化，不仅仅是你的，匹普，”他回答。 “你离开铁匠铺有多久了？”我问。 “你离开铁匠铺多久了？” 现在我的工作是打开大门。 你还是挺过来吧，”他说。 即使过了这么久，我也知道庄园不会改变。 但是黑暗的楼梯不再使我害怕了。 我在这里上上下下了好多次。 我敲了敲郝薇香小姐的门。 她叫道：“咦，那是匹普的敲门声！请进！”她坐在那张旧桌子旁边的椅子上，穿着那件旧衣服。 那只从来没有穿过的白鞋放在她旁边的桌子上。 当我用我那绅士的新衣服迎接她