《远大前程》第3章 给匹普的一次机会(1)

3 An opportunity for Pip
　　I always knew I would be apprenticed to Joe as soon as I was old enough，and so I used to spend most of the day helping him in the forge．However，I also attended the village evening school，which was organized by an ancient relation of Mr Wopsle's．Her teaching mostly consisted of falling asleep while we children fought each other，but Mr Wopsle's young cousin，Biddy，tried to keep us under control and teach us to read，write and count．Mr Wopsle‘examined’us every three months．In fact he did not ask us any questions at all，but read aloud from Shakespeare，waving his arms dramatically and enjoying the sound of his own voice．
One night，about a year after the escaped convicts had been caught，I was sitting by the kitchen fire，writing a letter to Joe．I didn't need to，because he was sitting right next to me，but I wanted to practise my writing．After an hour or two of hard work，I passed this letter to him．
My dear joe, I hope you are well . soon I can teach you what I have learned .what fun joe . love pip .
3 给匹普的一次机会
　　我总是想，一到学徒的年龄，我就做乔的徒弟。因此，我常常在锻炉前，白天花费大部分时间帮助乔干活。但是，我也参加村办夜校，这所学校是由伍甫赛先生的一位远房亲戚创办的。她的教学主要是由睡觉、孩子们相互打闹而组成。但是，伍甫赛先生的表妹，毕蒂，设法把我们控制住，教我们读、写和算术。伍甫赛先生每三个月就“考”我们一次。事实上，他什么问题也不问我们，只是挥动着双臂，用他那特有的激动人心、兴高采烈的声调，大声朗读莎士比亚的作品。
　　一天晚上，这大约是两个逃犯被捕的一年以后，我正在厨房火炉旁坐着，给乔写封信，我并不需要这样做，因为他就紧靠在我旁边坐着。但是，我是想锻炼我的写作。经过一两小时的努力后，我把这封信递给他：
　　“亲爱的乔，我希望你很好，马上我就能把我所学的东西教给你，多么可爱的乔，爱你的匹普”