05-01-远大前程 [11]
Estella's hair．‘Very pretty，my dear．It will be yours one day．Now let me see you play cards with this boy．’
‘With this boy！But he's a common working boy！’
I thought I heard Miss Havisham whisper，‘Well！You can break his heart！'she sat，like a dead body ready for the grave，watching us play cards in the candle-light．I almost wondered if she was afraid that daylight would turn her into dust．
‘What coarse hands this boy has！And what thick boots！’cried Estella in disgust，before we had finished our first game．I was suddenly aware that what she said was true．
‘What do you think of her？’ Whispered Miss Havisham to me．
‘I think she's very proud，’I whispered back．
‘Anything else？’
‘I think she's very pretty．’
‘Anything else？’
‘I think she's very rude．And-and I'd like to go home．’
‘And never see her again，although she's so pretty？’
‘I don't know．I'd-I'd like to go home now．’
Miss Havisham smiled．‘You can go home．Come again in six days'time．Estella，give him some food．GO，Pip．’
And so I found myself back in the overgrown garden in the bright daylight．Estella put some bread and meat down on the ground for me，like a dog．I was so offended by her behaviour towards me that tears came to my eyes．As soon as she saw this，She gave a delighted laugh，and pushed me out of the gate．I walked the four miles home to the forge，thinking about all I had seen．As I looked sadly at my hands and boots，I remembered that I was only a common working boy，and wished I could be different．
My sister was curious to know all the details of my visit，and kept asking me question after question．Somehow I felt I could not，or did not want to，explain about Miss Havisham and her strange house．I knew my sister would not understand．And the worst of it was，that old fool Pumblechook arrived at tea-time，to ask more questions．Just looking at his fishy staring eyes and open mouth made me want to keep silent．
‘Leave this boy to me，madam，’he told Mrs Joe．‘I'll make him concentrate．Now，boy，what's forty-three and seventy-two？’
‘I don't know，’I said．I didn't care，either．
‘Is it eighty-five，for example？’he joked．
‘Yes！’I answered，although I knew it wasn't．My sister hit me hard on the head．
‘Boy！’he continued．‘Describe Miss Havisham．’
‘Very tall and dark，’I said，lying．
‘Is she，uncle？’asked my sister eagerly．
‘Oh yes，’answered Mr Pumblechook．So I knew immediately that he had never seen her．‘This is the way to get information from this boy，’he added quietly to Mrs Joe．
‘How well you make him obey you，uncle！'said Mrs Joe．
‘ Now，boy！What was she doing when you arrived？’
‘She was sitting in a black carriage，’I replied．
Mr Pumblechook and Mrs Joe stared at each other．‘In a black carriage？’they repeated．
‘Yes，’I said，becoming more confident．‘And Miss Estella，her niece，I think，handed in gold plates with cake and wine through the windows．
‘Was anybody else there？’asked Mr Pumblechook．
‘Four dogs，huge ones．They ate meat out of a silver basket．’
‘Where was this carriage，boy？’
‘In her room．But there weren't any horses．’
‘Can this be possible，uncle？’asked Mrs Joe．
‘She's a strange woman，madam．It's quite possible．What did you play at，boy？’
We played with flags，’I answered．What lies I was telling！‘Estella waved a blue one，and I had a red one，and Miss Havisham waved one with little gold stars on，out of the carriage window．’
Fortunately they asked no more questions，and were still discussing the wonderful things I had seen，when Joe came in from the forge．
‘With this boy！But he's a common working boy！’
I thought I heard Miss Havisham whisper，‘Well！You can break his heart！'she sat，like a dead body ready for the grave，watching us play cards in the candle-light．I almost wondered if she was afraid that daylight would turn her into dust．
‘What coarse hands this boy has！And what thick boots！’cried Estella in disgust，before we had finished our first game．I was suddenly aware that what she said was true．
‘What do you think of her？’ Whispered Miss Havisham to me．
‘I think she's very proud，’I whispered back．
‘Anything else？’
‘I think she's very pretty．’
‘Anything else？’
‘I think she's very rude．And-and I'd like to go home．’
‘And never see her again，although she's so pretty？’
‘I don't know．I'd-I'd like to go home now．’
Miss Havisham smiled．‘You can go home．Come again in six days'time．Estella，give him some food．GO，Pip．’
And so I found myself back in the overgrown garden in the bright daylight．Estella put some bread and meat down on the ground for me，like a dog．I was so offended by her behaviour towards me that tears came to my eyes．As soon as she saw this，She gave a delighted laugh，and pushed me out of the gate．I walked the four miles home to the forge，thinking about all I had seen．As I looked sadly at my hands and boots，I remembered that I was only a common working boy，and wished I could be different．
My sister was curious to know all the details of my visit，and kept asking me question after question．Somehow I felt I could not，or did not want to，explain about Miss Havisham and her strange house．I knew my sister would not understand．And the worst of it was，that old fool Pumblechook arrived at tea-time，to ask more questions．Just looking at his fishy staring eyes and open mouth made me want to keep silent．
‘Leave this boy to me，madam，’he told Mrs Joe．‘I'll make him concentrate．Now，boy，what's forty-three and seventy-two？’
‘I don't know，’I said．I didn't care，either．
‘Is it eighty-five，for example？’he joked．
‘Yes！’I answered，although I knew it wasn't．My sister hit me hard on the head．
‘Boy！’he continued．‘Describe Miss Havisham．’
‘Very tall and dark，’I said，lying．
‘Is she，uncle？’asked my sister eagerly．
‘Oh yes，’answered Mr Pumblechook．So I knew immediately that he had never seen her．‘This is the way to get information from this boy，’he added quietly to Mrs Joe．
‘How well you make him obey you，uncle！'said Mrs Joe．
‘ Now，boy！What was she doing when you arrived？’
‘She was sitting in a black carriage，’I replied．
Mr Pumblechook and Mrs Joe stared at each other．‘In a black carriage？’they repeated．
‘Yes，’I said，becoming more confident．‘And Miss Estella，her niece，I think，handed in gold plates with cake and wine through the windows．
‘Was anybody else there？’asked Mr Pumblechook．
‘Four dogs，huge ones．They ate meat out of a silver basket．’
‘Where was this carriage，boy？’
‘In her room．But there weren't any horses．’
‘Can this be possible，uncle？’asked Mrs Joe．
‘She's a strange woman，madam．It's quite possible．What did you play at，boy？’
We played with flags，’I answered．What lies I was telling！‘Estella waved a blue one，and I had a red one，and Miss Havisham waved one with little gold stars on，out of the carriage window．’
Fortunately they asked no more questions，and were still discussing the wonderful things I had seen，when Joe came in from the forge．