《远大前程》 第1章 匹普与一位陌生人相遇(1)

1 Pip meets a stranger
　　My first name was Philip，but when I was a small child I could only manage to say Pip．So Pip was what every-body called me．I lived in a small village in Essex with my sister，who was over twenty years older than me，and married to Joe Gargery，the village blacksmith．My parents had died when I was a baby，so I could not remember them at all，but quite often I used to visit the churchyard，abut a mile from the village，to look at their names on their gravestones．
　　My first memory is of sitting on a gravestone in that church-yard one cold，grey，December afternoon，looking out at the dark，flat，wild marshes divided by the black line of the River Thames，and listening to the rushing sound of the sea in the distance．
‘Don't say a word！’cried a terrible voice，as a man jumped up from among the graves and caught hold of me．‘If you shout I'll cut your throat！’He was a big man，dressed all in grey，with an iron chain on his leg．His clothes were wet and torn．He looked exhausted，and hungry，and very fierce．I had never been so frightened in my whole life．
1 匹普与一位陌生人相遇
　　我的教名叫菲利普，但是在我小时候，我仅会说匹普。因此，匹普就成了大家叫我的名字。我与姐姐住在埃森克斯的一个小村庄，姐姐比我大20多岁，她与村里的铁匠乔•葛吉瑞结了婚。当我还是一个婴儿时，父母就离开了人间，所以我记不得他们的一切情况，但是，我常常去离村庄大约1英里的教堂墓地，瞻仰墓碑上他们的名字。
　　我的最初记忆是在十二月份一个寒冷的、天色阴沉的下午，正坐在那个教堂墓地的一块墓石上。看到的是被那黑色泰晤士河分割成的一片黑压压的沼泽荒地，听到的是从远处大海刮来的嗖嗖呼啸声。
　　“别出声！”一个凶恶的声音大喊起来，这时，从墓地里窜出一个人来，一把抓住我，“安静点，不然我割断你的喉咙！”他身材高大，穿着一身灰色衣服，腿上拴着一副脚镣。他的衣服湿淋淋的并且破烂不堪，看上去筋疲力尽、饥寒交迫、十分凶残的样子，在我一生中从没有见过如此可怕的人。