05-02-大卫·科波菲尔 [60]
■ 10 Death and discovery
Traddles and I had both received rather strange letters from Mr Micawber， in which he asked us to come to Canterbury， with my aunt． At this meeting， he said， he would show to all of us the proof of Uriah Heep's wickedness．Dora was too ill to come with us， so Traddles， my aunt， Mr Dick and I travelled to Canterbury by coach， spent the night in a hotel there，and arrived punctually at the Wickfields’house the next morning． Mr Micawber met us at the door and showed us into Uriah Heep's office． Uriah himself seemed rather surprised to see us， but pretended to welcome us as old friends． Mr Micawber brought Agnes into the room too， and then stood firmly by the door．
‘Don't wait， Micawber，’ said Uriah to his assistant．
But Mr Micawber did not move．He stared coldly at his employer.
‘ Did you hear what I said， Micawber？’ said Uriah angrily，his little eyes becoming redder while his long face went very pale．
‘ Yes！’ replied Micawber．‘ But I don't choose to leave．Listen to me， Heep！ I don't care if I lose my job！I don't wish to work any longer for the wickedest man in England！’
Uriah fell back， shocked． Looking slowly round at us， with a dark， evil expression on his face， he said，‘ I see！You've all arranged this between you！ But I know who to blame for this！It's you，Copperfield！ You're jealous of my new position ，aren't you？But I know things about all of you which I can use against you—for example，I know about your father's business mistakes， Miss Agnes， and I know about your past in the warehouse，Copperfield！So be careful，I warn you all！’
‘Mr Micawber，’ I said calmly，‘please tell us what you were going to say about this man！’
Just then Traddles， who had disappeared a few minutes before，reappeared with Mrs Heep．Uriah had not noticed Traddles before．‘ Who are you？’ he demanded angrily．
‘ I am a lawyer and a friend of Mr Wickfield， sir，’ said Traddles， in a businesslike way．‘ And he's asked me to carry out all his business arrangements from now on．’This came as a surprise to me as well as to Uriah．
‘The old fool has been drinking too much again！’ said Uriah，looking uglier than ever．‘ You can't believe anything he says！And you've bribed my assistant，I suppose，to speak against me！’
‘ It's you who have been dishonest，’ said Traddles firmly，‘as we shall hear from Mr Micawber．’And we all looked expectantly towards that large， important-looking gentleman．He was clearly delighted to have such an interested audience，and cleared his throat several times before starting to speak．As he spoke， his voice became louder and louder with excitement， until he was almost shouting．
‘ Ladies and gentlemen，’he began，‘ when very poor and desperate for work， I came to Canterbury as assistant to this evil man Heep．I am sorry to say I was soon involved in all his wicked plans．I may be poor， but I can't accept his lies， his cheating， his bribes and all the rest of it． And so I've brought you here today， ladies and gentlemen， to hear me accuse Heep publicly！ One， he has confused and lied to his partner so often that poor Mr Wickfield now thinks he has himself been dishonest．Two， he has sometimes copied Mr Wickfield's signature on to false documents and cheques． Three， for years he has been stealing large amounts of money from Mr Wickfield and the firm！’
‘ You can never prove it！’ cried Uriah wildly．
‘ I have taken copies of all the necessary documents，’said Mr Micawber confidently，‘ while working as your clerk． And just to make sure， I've given them to Mr Traddles to keep safely．’
‘ Uriah，my dear boy，’cried his mother，sobbing bitterly，‘ tell them how humble you are！Say you didn't mean to hurt anyone！ Say you're sorry，and
Traddles and I had both received rather strange letters from Mr Micawber， in which he asked us to come to Canterbury， with my aunt． At this meeting， he said， he would show to all of us the proof of Uriah Heep's wickedness．Dora was too ill to come with us， so Traddles， my aunt， Mr Dick and I travelled to Canterbury by coach， spent the night in a hotel there，and arrived punctually at the Wickfields’house the next morning． Mr Micawber met us at the door and showed us into Uriah Heep's office． Uriah himself seemed rather surprised to see us， but pretended to welcome us as old friends． Mr Micawber brought Agnes into the room too， and then stood firmly by the door．
‘Don't wait， Micawber，’ said Uriah to his assistant．
But Mr Micawber did not move．He stared coldly at his employer.
‘ Did you hear what I said， Micawber？’ said Uriah angrily，his little eyes becoming redder while his long face went very pale．
‘ Yes！’ replied Micawber．‘ But I don't choose to leave．Listen to me， Heep！ I don't care if I lose my job！I don't wish to work any longer for the wickedest man in England！’
Uriah fell back， shocked． Looking slowly round at us， with a dark， evil expression on his face， he said，‘ I see！You've all arranged this between you！ But I know who to blame for this！It's you，Copperfield！ You're jealous of my new position ，aren't you？But I know things about all of you which I can use against you—for example，I know about your father's business mistakes， Miss Agnes， and I know about your past in the warehouse，Copperfield！So be careful，I warn you all！’
‘Mr Micawber，’ I said calmly，‘please tell us what you were going to say about this man！’
Just then Traddles， who had disappeared a few minutes before，reappeared with Mrs Heep．Uriah had not noticed Traddles before．‘ Who are you？’ he demanded angrily．
‘ I am a lawyer and a friend of Mr Wickfield， sir，’ said Traddles， in a businesslike way．‘ And he's asked me to carry out all his business arrangements from now on．’This came as a surprise to me as well as to Uriah．
‘The old fool has been drinking too much again！’ said Uriah，looking uglier than ever．‘ You can't believe anything he says！And you've bribed my assistant，I suppose，to speak against me！’
‘ It's you who have been dishonest，’ said Traddles firmly，‘as we shall hear from Mr Micawber．’And we all looked expectantly towards that large， important-looking gentleman．He was clearly delighted to have such an interested audience，and cleared his throat several times before starting to speak．As he spoke， his voice became louder and louder with excitement， until he was almost shouting．
‘ Ladies and gentlemen，’he began，‘ when very poor and desperate for work， I came to Canterbury as assistant to this evil man Heep．I am sorry to say I was soon involved in all his wicked plans．I may be poor， but I can't accept his lies， his cheating， his bribes and all the rest of it． And so I've brought you here today， ladies and gentlemen， to hear me accuse Heep publicly！ One， he has confused and lied to his partner so often that poor Mr Wickfield now thinks he has himself been dishonest．Two， he has sometimes copied Mr Wickfield's signature on to false documents and cheques． Three， for years he has been stealing large amounts of money from Mr Wickfield and the firm！’
‘ You can never prove it！’ cried Uriah wildly．
‘ I have taken copies of all the necessary documents，’said Mr Micawber confidently，‘ while working as your clerk． And just to make sure， I've given them to Mr Traddles to keep safely．’
‘ Uriah，my dear boy，’cried his mother，sobbing bitterly，‘ tell them how humble you are！Say you didn't mean to hurt anyone！ Say you're sorry，and