05-01-远大前程 [16]
普，”乔点上烟斗说，“说谎总是错误的，你不能通过说谎来改变普通人家的身份，那样做是没有出路的。你所有的时间都在学习，匹普！看看你昨天晚上给我写的那封信！即使是国王开始也要从头做起，不是吗？这倒提醒我，郝薇香小姐家有旗子吗？没有？实在可怜。看这儿，匹普，这是一个真正的朋友对你说的话，记住我的劝告，不再说谎，才能活得自在，死得痛快。”
我被乔诚实的话语鼓励着去睡觉了。但是，自己静不下心，一直在想，艾丝黛拉认为乔的靴子太笨重，他的双手太粗糙和我们的普通世家。那是我难忘的一天。
■ 4 A present from a stranger
I desperately wanted to be accepted by Estella．I realized I could never become well-educated just by attending old Mrs Wopsle's evening school，so I asked Mr Wopsle's cousin Biddy to teach me everything she knew．She helped me as much as she could，but I knew it would take a long time to reach Estella's level．
One evening I went to fetch Joe from the village pub, where my sister sometimes allowed him to smoke his pipe and have a beer．Mr Wopsle and Joe were sitting with a stranger，a man I'd never seen before．One of his eyes was half closed,and he wore a big hat which covered most of his head．He suddenly looked interested when I arrived，and rubbed his leg in a rather strange way．He had just ordered hot rum for the three of them．
‘It' s lonely country round here，gentlemen，’he said．‘Yes，'said Joe，‘just marshes down to the river．’
Do people ever spend the night on the marshes？’
‘No，’‘replied Joe，‘except an escaped prisoner sometimes．Difficult to find，they are．Went out to look for one once，me，and Mr Wopsle，and young Pip here．Didn't we，Pip？’
‘Yes，Joe.’
The stranger looked at me with his good eye．
‘What's his name？Pip？Your son，is he？’
‘The boy is the blacksmith's wife's brother，’explained Mr Wopsle in his official church clerk's voice．
When the drinks arrived，the stranger did something that he wanted nobody to see except me. He mixed his hot rum and water，not with a spoon，but with a file，which he put back in his pocket when he had finished．As soon as I saw the file，I knew it was the one I had stolen from Joe，and I knew that this man knew my convict. I stared at him in horror.
The men continued their conversation in a friendly way until Joe stood up to leave，and took my hand．
‘Wait a moment，'I said the stranger．‘I'd like to give the boy something，'and wrapping a coin in some old paper from his pocket，handed it to me. ‘That' s yours！he told me，giving me a look full of meaning .
‘Thank you，sir，'I said，still staring at him．Together Joe and I walked home，Joe with his mouth open all the way so that my sister would not notice the smell of rum on his breath .
But when we arrived home，we found the stranger had giv-en me two Pound notes as well as the coin．My sister thought it must have been a mistake，and kept the pound notes in case he came back for them．But I knew they came from my con－vict，and I felt that having criminal friends made me more common than ever.
The next time I went to Miss Havisham's，I was shown in－to a different room to wait. Several ladies and gentlemen，relations of hers，were there. They all turned and looked at me in disgust when I was the first to be called by Estella．
As Estella was leading me along the dark passages，she stopped suddenly and put her face close to mine．
‘Look at me，boy！Am I pretty？'
‘Yes，I think you're very pretty．'
‘Am I rude to you？'
‘Not as much as last time．'
She hit my face as hard as she could.
‘Now，you coarse little boy，what do you think of me？’
‘I won't tell you．’
‘Why don't
我被乔诚实的话语鼓励着去睡觉了。但是，自己静不下心，一直在想，艾丝黛拉认为乔的靴子太笨重，他的双手太粗糙和我们的普通世家。那是我难忘的一天。
■ 4 A present from a stranger
I desperately wanted to be accepted by Estella．I realized I could never become well-educated just by attending old Mrs Wopsle's evening school，so I asked Mr Wopsle's cousin Biddy to teach me everything she knew．She helped me as much as she could，but I knew it would take a long time to reach Estella's level．
One evening I went to fetch Joe from the village pub, where my sister sometimes allowed him to smoke his pipe and have a beer．Mr Wopsle and Joe were sitting with a stranger，a man I'd never seen before．One of his eyes was half closed,and he wore a big hat which covered most of his head．He suddenly looked interested when I arrived，and rubbed his leg in a rather strange way．He had just ordered hot rum for the three of them．
‘It' s lonely country round here，gentlemen，’he said．‘Yes，'said Joe，‘just marshes down to the river．’
Do people ever spend the night on the marshes？’
‘No，’‘replied Joe，‘except an escaped prisoner sometimes．Difficult to find，they are．Went out to look for one once，me，and Mr Wopsle，and young Pip here．Didn't we，Pip？’
‘Yes，Joe.’
The stranger looked at me with his good eye．
‘What's his name？Pip？Your son，is he？’
‘The boy is the blacksmith's wife's brother，’explained Mr Wopsle in his official church clerk's voice．
When the drinks arrived，the stranger did something that he wanted nobody to see except me. He mixed his hot rum and water，not with a spoon，but with a file，which he put back in his pocket when he had finished．As soon as I saw the file，I knew it was the one I had stolen from Joe，and I knew that this man knew my convict. I stared at him in horror.
The men continued their conversation in a friendly way until Joe stood up to leave，and took my hand．
‘Wait a moment，'I said the stranger．‘I'd like to give the boy something，'and wrapping a coin in some old paper from his pocket，handed it to me. ‘That' s yours！he told me，giving me a look full of meaning .
‘Thank you，sir，'I said，still staring at him．Together Joe and I walked home，Joe with his mouth open all the way so that my sister would not notice the smell of rum on his breath .
But when we arrived home，we found the stranger had giv-en me two Pound notes as well as the coin．My sister thought it must have been a mistake，and kept the pound notes in case he came back for them．But I knew they came from my con－vict，and I felt that having criminal friends made me more common than ever.
The next time I went to Miss Havisham's，I was shown in－to a different room to wait. Several ladies and gentlemen，relations of hers，were there. They all turned and looked at me in disgust when I was the first to be called by Estella．
As Estella was leading me along the dark passages，she stopped suddenly and put her face close to mine．
‘Look at me，boy！Am I pretty？'
‘Yes，I think you're very pretty．'
‘Am I rude to you？'
‘Not as much as last time．'
She hit my face as hard as she could.
‘Now，you coarse little boy，what do you think of me？’
‘I won't tell you．’
‘Why don't