《简·爱》（英文版）Part 5 Chapter 77

2024-04-23 23:02:0004:09 71

声音简介

Now the brilliantness still goes on.
Jane Eyre，by English writer，Charlotte Brontte
Part 5 A Woman at Moor Houser
Chapter 77 Mr Rivers’ Sacrifice
I had twenty village girls to teach， some of them with such a strong country accent that l could hardly communicate with them. Only three could read， and none could write， so at the end of my first day I felt quite depressed at the thought of the hard work ahead of me. But I reminded myself that I was fortunate to have any sort of job， and that l could certainly get used to teaching these girls，who，although they were very poor，might be as good and as intelligent as children from the greatest families in England.
Ever since I run away from Thornfield，Mr Rochester had remained in my thoughts， and now ，as I stood at my cottage door that first evening， looking at the quiet fields， I allowed myself to imagine again the life l could have had with him in his little white house in the south of France. He would have loved me， oh yes，he would have loved me very much for a while. “He did love me.” I thought，“Nobody will ever love me like that again.” But then I told myself that I would only have been his mistress， in a foreign country ，and for a short time until he grew tired of me. I should be much happier here as a schoolteacher， free and honest ，in the healthy heart of England. But strangely enough ，St John Rivers found me crying as he approached the the cottage. Flowning at the sight of the tears on my cheeks， he asked me，“Do you regret accepting this job ，then？”
“Oh no，”I replied quickly，“I'm sure I’ll get used to it soon. And 丨’m really very grateful to have a home，and work to do. After all I had nothing a few weeks ago.”
“But you feel lonely， perhaps？he asked， still puzzled.
“I haven’ t had time to feel lonely yet.”
“Well， I advise you to work hard，and not to look back into your past. If something which we know is wrong tempts us， then we must make every effort to avoid it ，by putting our energy to better use. A year ago l too was very miserable， because I was bored by the routine life of a country vicar， and I was tempted to change my profession. But suddenly there was light in my darkness， and God called me to be a missionary. No professor could be greater than that！Since that moment of truth， I have been perfectly happy， making my preparations for leaving England and going abroad in the service of God. Happy， that is， except for one little human weakness， which I have sworn to overcome.”
His eyes shone as he spoke of his great purpose in life. And I was listening， fascinated ，so neither of us heard the light footsteps approaching the cottage along the grassy path.
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77 李维斯先生的代价
我给村里的20个女孩上课，有些女孩儿乡下口音很重，我几乎无法和他们交流。只有三人会读书，没有人会写字，所以第一天下来，想到摆在我面前的艰苦工作，我感到非常沮丧。但是我提醒自己能找到任何一份工作，对我来说都是幸运的，我一定能习惯教这些孩子，他们尽管很穷，但可能和来自英格兰大家族的孩子一样好，一样聪明。
自从离开桑菲后，罗切斯特先生一直留在我的脑海里。现在，我在这第一个夜晚站在小屋门口，望着静静的田野，任由自己想象着在法国南部的小白屋里我们会过怎样一种生活。他会爱我，哦，是的，他会一时非常爱我。“他的确爱过我，”我想，“再不会有谁像他那样爱我。” 但是我又告诫自己，我只能成为他在异国的情妇，时间不会长，直到他厌倦我了。在这里做教师，生活在英格兰健康的腹地，我会更快活，自由和实在。可奇怪的是当圣约翰来到小屋时，他却发现我在哭泣，他看着我脸颊上的泪痕，皱着眉头问：“那么你后悔了吗？”
“噢，不，” 我赶紧说，“我相信我很快会适应的，而且有了家，有了工作，我真的非常感激，无论如何，几星期前我还是一无所有呢！”
“也许你感到孤独？”他仍然不解的问。
“我还没有时间去感受孤独。”
“那么我建议你努力工作，不要去回首往事，如果我们明知是错误的东西在引诱我们，我们就必须尽一切努力避免它，把精力放在更有意义的方面。一年前我也非常痛苦，因为乡村牧师的单调生活让我感到厌倦。我起了换个工作的念头。然而，黑暗中突然出现了光明，上帝召唤我去做一名传教士。没有什么职业比这更伟大了！从那个真理显现的时刻起，我就一直非常快乐，准备着离开英格兰，到国外去为上帝效力，这就是快乐，除此之外，我还有一个人性的小弱点需要克服。”
他讲述自己的远大人生目标时，眼睛都亮了，我听着，非常激动，因此我们谁也没有听到沿着长满小草的路走向小屋的脚步声。
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