05-01-远大前程 [1]
of my pocket except a piece of old bread．He ate it in two bites，like a dog，and put me back on the gravestone．
‘So where are your father and mother？’he asked．
‘There，sir，’I answered，pointing to their graves．
‘What！’he cried，and was about to run，when he saw where I was pointing．‘Oh！’he said．‘ I see．They're dead．Well，who do you live with，if I let you live，which I haven't decided yet？’
‘With my sister，sir，wife of Joe Gargery，the blacksmith．’
Blacksmith，you say？And he looked down at his leg．Then he held me by both arms and stared fiercely down into my eyes．
‘Now look here．You bring me a file．You know what that is？And you bring me some food．If you don't，or if you tell anyone about me，I'll cut your heart out．’
‘I promise I'll do it，sir，’I answered．I was badly fright ened and my whole body was trembling .
‘You see，’he continued，smiling unpleasantly，‘I travel with a young man，a friend of mine，who roasts boys’hearts and eats them．He'll find you，wherever you are，and he'll have your heart．So bring the file and the food to that wooden shelter over there，early tomorrow morning，if you want to keep your heart，that is Remember，you promised！’
I watched him turn and walk with difficulty across the marshes，the chain hanging clumsily around his leg．Then I ran home as fast as I could．
My sister，Mrs Joe Gargery，was very proud of the fact that she had brought me up‘by hand’．Nobody explained to me what this meant，and because she had a hard and heavy hand，which she used freely on her husband as well as me，I supposed that Joe and I were both brought up by hand．She was not a beautiful woman，being tall and thin，with black hair and eyes and a very red face．She clearly felt that Joe and I caused her a lot of trouble，and she frequently complained about it．Joe，on the other hand，was a gentle，kind man with fair hair and weak blue eyes，who quietly accepted her scolding．
Because Joe and I were in the same position of being scolded by Mrs Joe，we were good friends，and Joe protected me from her anger whenever he could．So when I ran breathless into the kitchen，he gave me a friendly warning．‘She's out look-ing for you，Pip！And she's got the stick with her！’This stick had been used so often for beating me that it was now quite smooth．
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．’
‘I wonder who is put into prison-ships，and why？’I asked，in a general way，quietly desperate to know the answer．
This was too much for Mrs Joe．‘Listen，my boy，I didn't bring you up by hand to annoy people to death！There are ships on the river which are used as prisons．People who steal and murder are put in the prison-ships，and they stay there for years sometimes．And they always begin their life
‘So where are your father and mother？’he asked．
‘There，sir，’I answered，pointing to their graves．
‘What！’he cried，and was about to run，when he saw where I was pointing．‘Oh！’he said．‘ I see．They're dead．Well，who do you live with，if I let you live，which I haven't decided yet？’
‘With my sister，sir，wife of Joe Gargery，the blacksmith．’
Blacksmith，you say？And he looked down at his leg．Then he held me by both arms and stared fiercely down into my eyes．
‘Now look here．You bring me a file．You know what that is？And you bring me some food．If you don't，or if you tell anyone about me，I'll cut your heart out．’
‘I promise I'll do it，sir，’I answered．I was badly fright ened and my whole body was trembling .
‘You see，’he continued，smiling unpleasantly，‘I travel with a young man，a friend of mine，who roasts boys’hearts and eats them．He'll find you，wherever you are，and he'll have your heart．So bring the file and the food to that wooden shelter over there，early tomorrow morning，if you want to keep your heart，that is Remember，you promised！’
I watched him turn and walk with difficulty across the marshes，the chain hanging clumsily around his leg．Then I ran home as fast as I could．
My sister，Mrs Joe Gargery，was very proud of the fact that she had brought me up‘by hand’．Nobody explained to me what this meant，and because she had a hard and heavy hand，which she used freely on her husband as well as me，I supposed that Joe and I were both brought up by hand．She was not a beautiful woman，being tall and thin，with black hair and eyes and a very red face．She clearly felt that Joe and I caused her a lot of trouble，and she frequently complained about it．Joe，on the other hand，was a gentle，kind man with fair hair and weak blue eyes，who quietly accepted her scolding．
Because Joe and I were in the same position of being scolded by Mrs Joe，we were good friends，and Joe protected me from her anger whenever he could．So when I ran breathless into the kitchen，he gave me a friendly warning．‘She's out look-ing for you，Pip！And she's got the stick with her！’This stick had been used so often for beating me that it was now quite smooth．
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．’
‘I wonder who is put into prison-ships，and why？’I asked，in a general way，quietly desperate to know the answer．
This was too much for Mrs Joe．‘Listen，my boy，I didn't bring you up by hand to annoy people to death！There are ships on the river which are used as prisons．People who steal and murder are put in the prison-ships，and they stay there for years sometimes．And they always begin their life