《远大前程》第3章 给匹普的一次机会(2)

　‘Pip，old boy！’cried Joe，opening his kind blue eyes very wide．‘What a lot you've learnt！Here's a J and an O，that's for Joe，isn't it，Pip？’
　　I wondered whether I would have to teach Joe from the beginning，so I asked，‘How do you write Gargery，Joe？’
　　‘I don't write it at all，'said Joe．‘But，you know，I am fond of reading．Give me a good book or newspaper，a good fire and I ask no more．Well！When you come to a J and an O，how interesting reading is！’
　　‘ Didn't you ever go to school，Joe，when you were young？’
　　‘No，Pip．You see，my father drank a lot，and when he drank，he used to hit my mother，and me too，sometimes．So she and I ran away from him several times．And she used to say，“Now，Joe，you can go to school．”But my father had such a good heart that he didn't want to be without us．So he always came to find us，and took us home，and hit us．So you see，Pip，I never learnt much．’
　　‘Poor Joe！’
　　‘But remember，Pip，my father had a good heart．’
　　I wondered about that，but said nothing．
‘He let me become a blacksmith，which was his job too，only he never worked at it．I earned the money for the family，until he died．And listen to this，Pip，I wanted to put this on his gravestone：
　“匹普，好小子！”乔喊着，睁大他那仁慈的蓝眼睛，“你学了这么多了！这儿是一个J和O，这是乔字，对吗，匹普？”
　　我不知道是否必须从头教乔，所以，我问道，“你写出葛吉瑞。乔，怎么样？”
　　“我一点也不会写，”乔说，“但是，你知道，我爱好读，给我一本好书或者报纸，一盆炉火，不要更多。喂！当你写出一个J和O，读它多么有趣呀！”
　　“乔，你小时候未曾上过学？”
　　“没有，匹普，你知道，我爸爸酗酒，当他酗酒时，常打我妈妈，有时候也打我。因此，她和我几次逃离他，她过去对我说，‘唉，乔，你能上学了。’可是，我爸爸有如此的好心，他不能没有我们。因此，他总是来找我们，并把我们带回家，继续揍我们。这样你就明白了，匹普，我一点也没学习过。”
　　“可怜的乔！”
　　“但是记住，匹普，我爸爸有一副好心肠。”
　　这话让我惊奇，但是没说什么。
　　“他让我当了一名铁匠，铁匠也是他的工作，只是他从来不干这活。直到他死，都是我为家里挣钱。听着这一点，匹普，在他的墓碑上我要这样写：