9 Pip Becomes a Gentleman

CHAPTER 9 Pip Becomes a Gentleman New clothes, fancy furniture, expensive dinners— Herbert and I lived well in London. Bills piled up unpaid. Allowances were quickly spent. We weren't bothered by our debts—we didn't even think about them. We were young and enjoyed our freedom. Like a true gentleman, I was well dressed, educated, and had no need to work. On the day before my twenty-first birthday, a note arrived from Mr. Jaggers. Our meeting was scheduled for five o'clock the next afternoon. Wemmick quietly wished me a happy birthday when I arrived, and then winked. "Mr. Pip!" Mr. Jaggers called. "How do you feel

第9章皮普成为绅士新衣服，高档家具，昂贵的晚餐——赫伯特和我在伦敦过得很好。 未付的账单堆积如山。津贴很快就花光了。 我们不为债务所困扰——我们甚至不去想它们。 我们年轻，享受自由。 像一个真正的绅士一样，我穿着考究，受过良好的教育，不需要工作。 在我21岁生日的前一天，贾格斯先生送来了一张便条。 我们的会议安排在第二天下午五点。 当我到达时，文米克悄悄地祝我生日快乐，然后眨了眨眼睛。 “皮普先生!”贾格斯先生打来电话。 “你感觉怎么样？

now that you've come of age? Ready to start behaving?" I hung my head with shame. Mr. Jaggers knew how foolish I had been with my allowance. "Yes, sir," I said. "You've been spending far too much money. You need to smarten up." He paused for a moment. "Do you understand?" "I understand. Now that I'm of age will my benefactor be revealed?" I asked. "Not yet," he said, "but here is your birthday present." "It's a check for five hundred pounds!" "This is all the money you will receive each year —enough with the careless spending." Mr. Jaggers looked me straight in the eye. "Do you remember the first time we met? I told you it could be a very long time until you knew the truth. We agreed—no questions." I nodded. Mr. Jaggers said, "When the person chooses to be known, you won't need me any longer. That's all I'm going to say about it."

现在你已经成年了？ 准备好开始表现了吗？”我羞愧地低下了头。 贾格斯先生知道我拿零用钱是多么愚蠢。 “是的，先生，”我说。“你花的钱太多了。 你得聪明点。”他停了一会儿。 “你明白吗？”“我明白了。 现在我已经成年了，我的恩人会暴露吗？”我问。 “还没有，”他说，“不过这是你的生日礼物。” “这是一张500英镑的支票！”“这是你每年能收到的全部钱——你再乱花钱也够了。” 贾格斯先生直视着我的眼睛。 “你还记得我们第一次见面吗？” 我说过你可能要等很长时间才能知道真相。 我们同意了——没有问题。” 我点了点头。贾格斯说，“当这个人选择让别人知道他的时候，你就不再需要我了。 这就是我要说的。”

On Sunday I decided to go and visit Wemmick at his castle. I wanted to see if he could help me solve Herbert's and my money problems. The drawbridge was up, so I rang the bell. The elder Mr. Wemmick let me in. I was surprised he could hear the bell since he could hear little else. "My son's gone for a walk with Miss Skiffins," he shouted. Miss Skiffins was Wemmick's lady friend. "He should be back soon." The pair of us sat outside. Soon Wemmick came into sight and he waved from across the moat. "Tally ho!" the aged parent yelled as he lowered the drawbridge. Miss Skiffins smiled, and Wemmick helped her across. She was young and sweet, even if she wore a dress that was a little too orange with gloves that were a little too green. Wemmick gave her a loving look. "Pip," he said, "nice to see you! Shall we take a walk? Miss Skiffins will sit with dear aged parent." As we walked, Wemmick showed me how different the castle grounds were now that it was winter. We were deep along the garden path when

星期天我决定去拜访文米克的城堡。 我想看看他能否帮我解决赫伯特和我的钱的问题。 吊桥升起来了，所以我按了铃。 老文米克先生让我进去的。 我很惊讶他能听到铃声，因为他几乎听不到其他声音。 “我儿子和斯基芬小姐出去散步了。”他喊道。 斯基芬斯小姐是文米克的女朋友。 “他应该很快就会回来。”我们俩坐在外面。 不久，文米克出现了，他在护城河对面挥手。 “太好了！”年迈的父母一边放下吊桥一边喊道。 斯基芬小姐笑了，文米克扶她过去。 她年轻又可爱，尽管她穿的裙子有点太橙了，手套有点太绿了。 文米克深情地看了她一眼。 “匹普，”他说，“很高兴见到你！我们去散步好吗？ 斯基芬小姐将和亲爱的年迈的父母坐在一起。” 我们走着走着，文米克向我展示了现在是冬天，城堡的地面有多么不同。 我们沿着花园小径走得很深的时候

he finally said, "Now tell me what's bothering you?" I said I didn't think it was fair that my future was so secure when Herbert would need to work hard to pay off his debts. "Can I set aside some of my inheritance for him? Is there a way you can help me?" I asked. Wemmick scratched his head. "Mighty good of you to want to help Herbert. But I'm afraid there's nothing I can do." "But you're a clerk!" "I'm a law clerk," he said. "But Miss Skiffins's brother is an accountant. Maybe we can talk to him about creating a job for Herbert. You said he was interested in shipping?" "Oh, yes, we spoke of it the first day we met." "I'll bet Mr. Skiffins knows a business that would let you create a job for Herbert." "I'd be willing to pay. I just don't want Herbert to know." A few days passed before I got a note from Wemmick. The business had been taken care of.

最后他说：“现在告诉我你在烦恼什么？”我说，当赫伯特需要努力工作来偿还债务时，我的未来却如此有保障，这是不公平的。 我可以从我的产业中分些给他吗？ 你有什么办法可以帮我吗？”我问。 文米克挠了挠头。 “你愿意帮助赫伯特，真是太好了。 但恐怕我无能为力。” “可你是个职员啊！”“我是一名法律助理，”他说。 “但是斯基芬小姐的哥哥是会计。 也许我们可以跟他谈谈给赫伯特找个工作。 你说他对航运感兴趣？”“哦，是的，我们第一天见面就谈过这件事。” “我敢打赌斯基芬斯先生知道一个生意，可以让你为赫伯特创造一个工作机会。” “我愿意付钱。我只是不想让赫伯特知道。” 几天过去了，我才收到文米克的信。 这件事已经处理好了。

One of Mr. Skiffins's clients was a fairly new shipping merchant and didn't have enough money to run his business. He would take my hundred pounds a year and hire Herbert to help. One day, he said, he might even make Herbert a partner. When the letter came about the new job, Herbert was so excited. He thought maybe Mr. Jaggers had set it up—he never knew I was involved. If only all of our money problems could be solved so easily. Estella and I saw a lot of each other while she was only ten miles away in Richmond. We spent many summer afternoons picnicking, and I heard all about her life in high society. While walking one afternoon, she said, "Miss Havisham has called me home tomorrow. She insists that you take me." I told her I'd hire a coach to take us. Estella was so important to me that I was happy to do anything she asked. After all, there had to be a reason why Miss Havisham had made me promise to be her friend. I decided she must want me to marry Estella. She had never said anything about it, of

斯基芬斯的一个客户是一个相当新的航运商人，没有足够的钱来经营他的生意。 他会拿走我每年的一百英镑，然后雇赫伯特帮忙。 他说，有一天，他甚至可能让赫伯特成为他的合伙人。 当收到关于新工作的信时，赫伯特非常兴奋。 他认为也许是贾格斯先生设的圈套——他从来不知道我也牵涉其中。 要是我们所有的钱问题都能这么容易解决就好了。 艾丝黛拉住在十英里外的里士满时，我和她经常见面。 我们花了很多个夏天的下午去野餐，我听到了她在上流社会的生活。 一天下午散步时，她说：“郝薇香小姐明天叫我回家。 她坚持要你带我去。” 我告诉她我会雇辆车带我们去。 艾丝黛拉对我来说太重要了，她让我做什么我都愿意做。 毕竟，郝薇香小姐让我答应做她的朋友一定是有原因的。 我断定她一定是想让我娶艾丝黛拉。 她从来没有说过这件事

course. But why else would she help me to become a gentleman? The coach dropped us off in front of Manor House the next day. The same dimly lit hallway led us to the same dreary room. Once we were seated inside, Miss Havisham couldn't stop talking about Estella's charm and her beauty. I thought, Why is she talking like this? I already know everything about Estella, good and bad. Miss Havisham's eyes glowed as she talked about the glamorous parties Estella attended, about the important people she met. The quiet way Estella sat on the arm of Miss Havisham's chair made me finally realize something. She was using Estella! The old worn wedding dress, the tattered flowers —Miss Havisham's happiness was lost the day she didn't get married. She had trained Estella to hurt people the way she had been hurt. And now she was sending her out among high society. It was mean, but I knew it was true. I could tell just from how they looked at each other. Everything Miss Havisham did was to mold Estella to be cold and

课程。但她为什么要帮助我成为一个绅士呢？ 第二天，马车让我们在马纳庄园前下车。 同样昏暗的走廊把我们带到同样沉闷的房间。 我们一坐进去，郝薇香小姐就不停地谈论艾丝黛拉的迷人和美丽。 我想，她为什么要这样说话？ 我已经知道艾丝黛拉的一切，好与坏。 郝薇香小姐谈到艾丝黛拉参加的那些迷人的聚会，谈到她遇到的重要人物时，她的眼睛闪闪发光。 艾丝黛拉安静地坐在郝薇香小姐的椅子扶手上，这使我终于意识到一些事情。 她在利用艾丝黛拉！破旧的结婚礼服，破烂的鲜花——郝薇香小姐的幸福在她没有结婚的那天就消失了。 她训练艾丝黛拉用伤害她的方式去伤害别人。 现在她要把她送到上流社会去。 这很刻薄，但我知道这是真的。 从他们看对方的眼神我就能看出来。 郝薇香小姐所做的一切都是为了把艾丝黛拉塑造成一个冷漠和