《远大前程》 第1章 匹普与一位陌生人相遇(5)

Just then Mrs Joe rushed in．
　　‘Where have you been，you young monkey？'she shouted．I jumped behind Joe to avoid being hit with the stick．
　　‘Only to the churchyard，’I whispered，starting to cry．
　　‘Churchyard！If I hadn't brought you up，you'd be in the churchyard with our parents．You'll send me to the church-yard one day！Now let me get your supper ready，both of you！’
　　For the rest of the evening，I thought of nothing but the stranger on the marshes．Sometimes，as the wind blew round the house，I imagined I heard his voice outside，and I thought with horror of the young man who ate boys’ hearts．
　　Just before I went to bed，we heard the sound of a big gun on the marshes．‘Was that a gun，Joe？’I asked．
　　‘Ah！'said Joe．‘Another convict's escaped．One got away last night．They always fire the gun when one escapes．’
　　‘Who fires the gun？’I asked．Joe shook his head to warn me．
‘Too many questions，’frowned my sister．‘If you must know it's the men in the prison-ships who fire the gun．
正在这时，乔夫人闯了进来。
　　“到哪里去了，你这个小淘气鬼？”她大叫着，我跳着躲到乔的背后，以避开她棍子的毒打。
　　“只去了教堂墓地，”我小声嘟囔着，接着哭了起来。
　　“教堂墓地！如果不是我照顾你，你早就和我们的父母被埋在教堂墓地里了。有一天你会把我送到坟墓去！现在，我给你们准备晚餐，你们俩！”
　　晚上休息时，我其它的事情都不想，只考虑沼泽地里那个陌生人。有时，当风在房屋周围掠过时，我想自己听到外面他的声音，还想起吞吃小孩子心脏的那个可怕的年轻人。
　　我刚要睡觉，我们听到从沼泽地传来的一阵枪声。“乔，那枪声是干什么的？”我问道。
　　“噢！”乔说，“又有一个囚犯逃走了，昨晚上有一个囚犯逃跑了。当有囚犯逃跑时，他们总是要开火”。
　　“向谁开的枪？”我问道，乔摇摇头警告我。
　　“问得太多了，”我的姐姐皱着眉头说，“你要是知道关在船上监狱的那些人，就明白向谁开枪了。”