05-03-呼啸山庄 [18]
that was said in the kitchen．
I was singing little Hareton to sleep when Catherine came in．
‘Are you alone，Ellen？'she whispered．‘Where's Heath cliff？’
‘He's out on the farm，’I answered．
She looked sad and worried，and I even saw a tear or two on her face．But I had not forgotten how she had lied，and behaved so badly to me as well as to Edgar Linton，so I did not feel sorry for her，or encourage her to talk．
‘Ellen，will you keep a secret for me？'she asked in the end，giving me her sweetest smile．‘I must tell you！I need your advice．Today Edgar Linton has asked me to marry him，and I gave him an answer．Now，before I tell you if it was yes or no，you tell me which I should have said．’
‘Really，Miss Catherine，how can I know？Perhaps you should have refused him．He must be a fool to ask you，after you were so rude and violent this afternoon．’
‘Well，I accepted him，Ellen！'she said crossly．‘But should I have done so？Should I？What do you think？’
‘First，do you love him？’I asked．
‘Of course I do，'she replied．
‘Why do you love him，Miss Catherine？’
‘Well，I do，that's enough．Well，because he's handsome，and a pleasant companion．’
‘Oh，that's bad，’I said，shaking my head．
‘And because he loves me．’
‘That's worse．’
‘Andhbecause he'll be rich，and I shall be the most important woman for miles around．’
‘Worst of all．But there are several other handsome，rich young men in the world．Why don't you marry one of them？’
‘I don't know any of them．I only know Edgar．’
‘Well，I don't know why you're unhappy，Miss Catherine．Your brother will be pleased，and Mr Edgar's parents will，too．You love Edgar，and Edgar loves you．What's the problem？’
‘here！And here！'replied Catherine，beating her head and her chest．‘In my heart and soul I know I'm wrong！Ellen，I can't live apart from Heathcliff！He is more myself than I am．Our souls are the same！I have nothing in common with Edgar．But I can't marry Heathcliff now！Hindley has made him become a poor，dull farm worker．He'll never know how I love him．’
I suddenly heard a movement outside the window，and saw Heathcliff stand up and walk away．I realized he had been listening until he heard Catherine say she could not marry him．Then he stayed to hear no more．
‘Quiet，Miss Q Catherine！’I said．‘Just imagine how hard it will be for Heathcliff when you marry Mr Edgar！He'll have no friends at all when you leave him．’
‘Leave him？Why should we be separated？'she asked angrily．‘Who will separate us？Nobody will dare！Edgar must learn to accept him as my friend．Didn't you ever think，Ellen，that if Heathcliff and I married，we would be very poor？But if I marry Edgar，I can help Heathcliff with my husband's money．’
‘That's the worst reason you've given so far for marrying Mr Edgar，’I replied，shocked.
‘It isn't！Heathcliff is more important to me than myself．My love for Edgar is like the leaves on the trees—I'm sure time will change it．But my love for Heathcliff is like the rocks in the ground—not beautiful，but necessary and unchanging．He's always，always in my heart—’
Just then Joseph entered the kitchen．I whispered to Catherine that I was sure Heathcliff had heard some of what she said．She jumped up，frightened，and rushed outside．But although we all looked everywhere for Heathcliff，there was no sign of him that night，or for many nights in the future．
At about midnight，while we were still waiting for him to come home，we noticed the wind was getting stronger．We could hear it whistling down the chimney，and howling all around the house．Suddenly there was a terrible crash of thunder，and the branch of a tree fell on to the roof．We
I was singing little Hareton to sleep when Catherine came in．
‘Are you alone，Ellen？'she whispered．‘Where's Heath cliff？’
‘He's out on the farm，’I answered．
She looked sad and worried，and I even saw a tear or two on her face．But I had not forgotten how she had lied，and behaved so badly to me as well as to Edgar Linton，so I did not feel sorry for her，or encourage her to talk．
‘Ellen，will you keep a secret for me？'she asked in the end，giving me her sweetest smile．‘I must tell you！I need your advice．Today Edgar Linton has asked me to marry him，and I gave him an answer．Now，before I tell you if it was yes or no，you tell me which I should have said．’
‘Really，Miss Catherine，how can I know？Perhaps you should have refused him．He must be a fool to ask you，after you were so rude and violent this afternoon．’
‘Well，I accepted him，Ellen！'she said crossly．‘But should I have done so？Should I？What do you think？’
‘First，do you love him？’I asked．
‘Of course I do，'she replied．
‘Why do you love him，Miss Catherine？’
‘Well，I do，that's enough．Well，because he's handsome，and a pleasant companion．’
‘Oh，that's bad，’I said，shaking my head．
‘And because he loves me．’
‘That's worse．’
‘Andhbecause he'll be rich，and I shall be the most important woman for miles around．’
‘Worst of all．But there are several other handsome，rich young men in the world．Why don't you marry one of them？’
‘I don't know any of them．I only know Edgar．’
‘Well，I don't know why you're unhappy，Miss Catherine．Your brother will be pleased，and Mr Edgar's parents will，too．You love Edgar，and Edgar loves you．What's the problem？’
‘here！And here！'replied Catherine，beating her head and her chest．‘In my heart and soul I know I'm wrong！Ellen，I can't live apart from Heathcliff！He is more myself than I am．Our souls are the same！I have nothing in common with Edgar．But I can't marry Heathcliff now！Hindley has made him become a poor，dull farm worker．He'll never know how I love him．’
I suddenly heard a movement outside the window，and saw Heathcliff stand up and walk away．I realized he had been listening until he heard Catherine say she could not marry him．Then he stayed to hear no more．
‘Quiet，Miss Q Catherine！’I said．‘Just imagine how hard it will be for Heathcliff when you marry Mr Edgar！He'll have no friends at all when you leave him．’
‘Leave him？Why should we be separated？'she asked angrily．‘Who will separate us？Nobody will dare！Edgar must learn to accept him as my friend．Didn't you ever think，Ellen，that if Heathcliff and I married，we would be very poor？But if I marry Edgar，I can help Heathcliff with my husband's money．’
‘That's the worst reason you've given so far for marrying Mr Edgar，’I replied，shocked.
‘It isn't！Heathcliff is more important to me than myself．My love for Edgar is like the leaves on the trees—I'm sure time will change it．But my love for Heathcliff is like the rocks in the ground—not beautiful，but necessary and unchanging．He's always，always in my heart—’
Just then Joseph entered the kitchen．I whispered to Catherine that I was sure Heathcliff had heard some of what she said．She jumped up，frightened，and rushed outside．But although we all looked everywhere for Heathcliff，there was no sign of him that night，or for many nights in the future．
At about midnight，while we were still waiting for him to come home，we noticed the wind was getting stronger．We could hear it whistling down the chimney，and howling all around the house．Suddenly there was a terrible crash of thunder，and the branch of a tree fell on to the roof．We