# ■ 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 you cry again，you fool？'

‘Because I'll never cry for you again，'I said，which was a very false promise，because I was crying inside at the time，and only I know how much I cried for her later．

On our way upstairs we met a gentleman coming down in the dark．He was a large，heavy man，with a very dark skin，sharp eyes，and a huge head，almost bald on the top．His hands smelt strongly of perfumed soap．I didn't know then how important he would ha later on in my life. ‘Who's this？’he asked Estella，stopping to look at me. ‘A local boy. Miss Havisham sent for him，'she replied． ‘Well，in my experience most boys are bad，'he said to me.‘Behave yourself！'He bit the side of his large finger as he frowned at me，and then continued downstairs.

This time Miss Havisham was in another room，which I had not seen before．All the furniture was covered in dust．In the candle－light I could see a long table，in the middle of which was a large yellow shape，with hundreds of insects feeding off it．

‘This，'said Miss Havisham，pointing to the table，‘is where they will put me when I'm dead． I'll lie on the table，and my relations can come and look at me．' She put a bony hand on my shoulder，but I didn't want her to touch me．I was afraid she would die there and then．‘And that，'she added，pointing to the yellow shape，‘that was my wedding cake．Mine！'she looked all round the room angrily．‘Come！'she said suddenly．‘Help me walk round the room．And call Estella！’

I held her arm to support her as she walked．We were still going slowly and painfully round the room when Estella brought in the relations who had been waiting downstairs．They stood watching us at the door．I thought they blamed me for Miss Havisham's cold manner towards them．

‘Dear Miss Havisham！'said one of the ladies lovingly．‘How well you look！’

‘I do not，’replied Miss Havisham sharply．‘I am yellow skin and bone．'

‘How could Miss Havisham look well，after all her suffer－ing？'said a second lady quickly．‘ Impossible！What a silly idea！’

‘ And how are you？’Miss Havisham asked this lady．As we were close to her then，I would have stopped，but Miss Havisham insisted on walking past.It seemed rather rude．

‘Not well at all，'said this lady sadly.‘I don't want to talk too much about my feelings，but－well－I often lie awake at night thinking of you，dear Miss Havisham！'

‘Well，don't！'said Miss Havisham crossly as we hurried past the little group again.

‘I'm afraid I can't stop myself．I often wish I were less sensitive and loving. But that's my character and I have to live with it！'And she started crying softly．‘Look at Matthew now！'she added，through her tears.‘Matthew never comes to see dear Miss Havisham.But I-’

When she heard Matthew's name，Miss Havisham stopped walking and stood looking at the speaker，who suddenly became silent. ‘Matthew will come in the end，'said Miss Havisham firmly，‘when I die and am laid on that table. You will stand around and look at me，you here，you there，you next to her，you two there Now you know where to stand．And now go！'

The ladies and gentlemen went slowly out of the room，some protesting quietly that they had not seen enough of their dear relation. When they had all gone，Miss Havisham said to me，

‘This is my birthday，Pip．I don't allow anyone to speak of it．My relations always come on this day once a year．This day，long before you were born，was my wedding day.Pehaps I shall die on this day too．And when they lay me in my wedding dress on that table，I'll have my revenge on him！’

In the heavy air of that dark，dusty room，she was a ghostly figure in her yellow－white dress．There was a long silence．

As usual I left the house and walked towards the gate， but this time something strange happened．In the garden I met a pale young gentleman with fair hair．

‘Hello！’he said．‘Come and fight！This way！’

I was so surprised that I followed him without a word．

‘Wait a minute，’he said，turning round quickly．‘I must give you a reason for fighting．There it is！’And he pulled my hair，then pushed his head hard into my stomach．I was ready to fight him after this，but he danced abut so much that I couldn't get close to bim．

‘Follow the laws of the game！’he said，eagerly preparing himself for our fight．He seemed to know so much about fighting that I was very surprised when I knocked him down with my first hit，and then again with my second．He always got up immediately and seemed very glad to be fighting in the correct manner．I admired him greatly for his bravery and his cheerfulness．Finally he had to agree I had won，and we said goodbye． When I reached the gate，I found Estella waiting for me．She seemed very pleased about something．I wondered if she had been watching our fight．Before I went out，she said，

‘Here！you can kiss me if you like．’

I kissed her cheek．It was true I wanted to kiss her very much，but I felt that kiss was almost like a coin thrown to a poor common boy，and not worth anything．

I didn't see the pale young gentleman there again．I continued my visits to Miss Havisham for almost a year．She took great pleasure in watching my growing admiration for Estella，and my unhappiness when Estella laughed at me．

‘Go on，my love，she used to whisper in Estella's ear，‘break men's hearts and have no mercy！I want my revenge！'

Meanwhile my sister and that fool Pumblechook never stopped discussing Miss Havisham and her considerable wealth．They were sure I could expect a large present from her，either before or after her death．But one day Miss Havisham decided it was time to apprentice me to Joe，and told me to bring him to her house．My sister was very angry because she was not invited as well．

Dear old Joe simply could not believe his eyes when he and I entered Miss Havisham s room the next day．The darkness，the candles，the dust，the ancient furniture，the old lady in her bride's dress－it was almost too much for Joe's limited intelligence．That may be why he refused to speak to Miss Havisham directly，but spoke only to me during the conversation．I was ashamed of him，especially as I could see Estella laughing at me over Miss Havisham's shoulder．

‘So，’began Miss Havisham，‘you，Joe Gargery，black－smith，are ready to take Pip as an apprentice？'

‘You know，Pip，’replied Joe，‘how we've both been looking forward to working together．Haven't we，Pip？'

‘You don't expect any payment when he becomes your ap－prentice？'she continued．

‘Now，Pip，'said Joe，rather offended，‘that question doesn't need an answer. Between you and me. Does it，Pip？’

Miss Havisham looked kindly at Joe. I think she understood more of his character than Estella did．She picked up a little bag from the table．‘Pip has earned something here．There are twenty-five pounds in this bag.Give it to your master， Pip．'

The strange situation seemed to have made Joe go mad.Even now，he insisted on speaking to me．

This is very generous of you，Pip．Very generous．Now，old boy，we must try to do our duty to each other Mustn't we，Pip？’

‘Goodbye，Pip！'said Miss Havisham．‘Take them out，Estella！’

‘Shall I come again？I asked．

‘No，Gargery is your master now. Gargery！Remember，I'm giving you this money because he has been a good boy．Don't expect anything more！’

Somehow I managed to get Joe out of the house，and in the daylight he gradually became normal again．In fact I think his intelligence was improved by the interview，because as we walked home he invented a surprisingly clever plan．

‘Well，'cried my sister，as we arrived，‘so you've finished visiting your fine ladies，have you？ I'm surprised you bother to come home at all！’

‘Miss Havisham asked me to send，'said Joe，as if trying to remember the exact words，‘her-best wishes，was it，Pip？to Mrs J．Gargery…'

‘Best wishes，'I agreed．

‘And apologized for not being well enough，what was it，Pip？’

‘To have the pleasure，'I said．

‘To have the pleasure of a lady 's company，’he nodded，giving the impression of a man glad to pass on a message ocr－rectly.

‘Well！'said my sister，pleased．‘She could have sent that message earlier，but better late than never．And what did she give the boy？’

‘Nothing，'said Joe firmly，stopping Mrs Joe from speaking by raising his hand．‘What she gave，she gave to his sister，Mrs J．Gargery．That' s what she said．Didn't she，Pip？’

‘And how much did she give？asked my sister，laughing．She was actually laughing！

‘What would you say to ten pounds？’ asked Joe．

‘Not bad，'said my sister．

‘It's more than that．What would you say to twenty pounds？’ ‘That's good！'said my sister， ‘Well，here you are，it s twenty-five pounds！'said Joe de－lightedly，handing the bag to my sister．

■ 4 一份從陌生人那裡來的禮品

我不顧死活地想被艾絲黛拉所接受。我認識到，只參加陳舊的伍甫賽夫人的夜校，不可能成為有良好教養的人。因此，我要求伍甫賽先生的表妹畢蒂，把她所有的知識都教給我，她盡全力幫助我。但是，我知道要達到艾絲黛拉的水平，需要花費很長的時間。

一天晚上，我想去鎮上的小酒店接喬。有時，我姐姐允許他在這兒抽菸鬥和喝點啤酒。伍甫賽先生和喬正在同一個陌生人坐著，這個人我以前從沒見過。他的一隻眼半閉著，戴著一頂大帽子幾乎把他的頭都蓋住。當我到來時，他突然感興趣地看著，並用一種奇特的方式，磨蹭著腿。他剛為他們三人要了熱朗姆酒。

“這裡周圍是一個孤獨的農村嗎？先生們。”他說。

“是的，”喬說，“過了沼澤地就是河。”

“人們總是要天黑才到沼澤地裡嗎？”

“不是，”喬回答說，“有時除了逃犯，他們很難去發現。我和伍甫賽先生，還有這兒的小匹普出去尋找過一次，是嗎？匹普。”

“是的，喬。”

陌生人用他的好眼睛看著我。

“他的名字叫什麼？匹普？你的兒子，是嗎？”

“這個孩子是鐵匠妻子的弟弟，”伍甫賽先生用他那正式的教堂職員腔調解釋說。

當酒上來時，那個陌生人要的東西除了我沒有人看見。攪拌著他的熱朗姆酒和水，不是用勺子，而是用一把銼。攪拌好後，他把銼放進口袋。我一看到這把銼，就知道是我從喬那兒偷的那一把；就知道這個人瞭解我那個囚犯，我用恐慌的目光盯著他。

直到喬站起來，拉著我的手要離開，他們才終止友好的談話。

“等一會兒，”陌生人說，“我想給這孩子點東西，”並從他的口袋裡拿出一枚用舊報紙裹著的硬幣遞給我，“這是你的！”他告訴我，並使了個意味深長的眼神。

“謝謝你，先生，”我說，仍然盯著他。我和喬一起往家走，喬一路上張著嘴，以便我姐姐不會在他呼吸時發現朗姆酒味。

當我到達家裡時，我發現那個陌生人給我的相當兩鎊鈔票的硬幣。我姐姐認為，那一定是搞錯了，用盒子保存起來，萬一他回來要。可是，我知道它們來自我那個囚犯，這使我感覺到有犯罪的朋友比以前更低賤。

第二次我拜訪郝薇香小姐的家，我被領進另一間屋子等候。有幾個太太和先生在那兒，都是她的親戚。當艾絲黛拉第一次喊我的時候，他們都轉過身，用一種厭惡的目光看著我。

當艾絲黛拉帶我沿著那個黑過道走時，她突然停住腳步，她的臉緊靠近我的臉。

“看著我，孩子！我漂亮嗎？”

“是的，我認為你很漂亮。”

“我對你不友好嗎？”

“比上次好一些。”

她拼命地揙我一個耳光。

“喂，你這個粗俗的小孩子，你現在覺得我怎麼樣？”

“我不告訴你。”

“你為什麼不再哭鼻子呢？你這個傻瓜。”

“因為，我永遠不會再為你哭鼻子，”我說，但是，這話是自欺欺人的。因為，這次在內心裡還是哭了，只有我知道，我不記恨她。

在我們上樓的路上，遇見一位先生正在摸黑下樓。他是個身材魁梧的傢伙，皮膚很黑、小眼睛、大腦袋，幾乎是禿了頂，他的雙手有一股撲鼻的香肥皂味。我並不知道他在我以後的生活中起多大作用。

“這是誰呀？”他停止腳步，望著我問艾絲黛拉。

“一個當地的孩子，郝薇香小姐讓他來的。”他回答說。

“噢，以我的瞭解看，大部分孩子都很壞，”他對我說。“要規矩點！”他向我皺著眉頭，用粗大的手指彈我一下。然後，繼續下樓。

這一次，郝薇香小姐是在一間我以前沒有見過的房間裡，所有的陳設佈滿塵土，在影影綽綽的燭光下，我能看見一張長桌，桌子中間有一大塊黃色的圓東西，上面有成千上萬只蟲子在叮食。

“這，”郝蔽香小姐指著那張桌子說，“是我的葬身之地，我將躺在桌子上，親戚們能來看看我。”她把瘦瘦的手放在我肩上。但是，我不讓她來碰我。我害怕她隨時會死去的。“那個，”她指著那個黃色的圓形東西補充說，“是我的結婚蛋糕，我的！”她忿怒地滿屋環視了一下，“過來！”她突然說，“扶著我在屋裡轉轉，叫艾絲黛拉！”

我扶著她的手臂支撐著她走走。當艾絲黛拉帶著那些在樓下等候的親戚到來時，我們仍然在慢慢地、艱難地圍著屋子兜圈圈。他們站在門口看著我們，我覺得這些來客把郝薇香小姐對他們的不禮貌行為推到我身上。

“親愛的郝薇香小姐！”其中一位太太討好地說，“你看上去多麼健康呀！”

“我不好，”郝薇香小姐吹毛求疵地回答，“臉色蠟黃皮包骨頭”。

“郝薇香小姐身體怎麼能好呢，畢竟她患了場大病？”第二個太太趕緊說，“那不可能，多麼愚蠢的想法！”

“你怎麼樣？”郝薇香小姐問這位太太。當我們靠近她時，我已經停止了腳步。可是，郝薇香小姐堅持走下去，看上去相當粗暴。

“身體一點也不好，”這位太太傷心地說，“我不想講太多的感受。但是——唉——我常常醒著躺在床上整夜地想你，親愛的郝薇香小姐！”

“嗯，不可能！”當我們已快速通過一群人時，郝薇香小姐不高興地說。

“我害怕不能控制自己，我常希望自己少一點感情少一點愛，可是，那是我的秉性改不了，我必須那樣生活！”她低聲地喊著，“看看馬修！”她流著淚接著說，“馬修從不來探望親愛的郝薇香小姐。可我--”

郝薇香小姐一聽到馬修的名子，便停住了腳步，站在那裡望著說話的人，說話的人突然變沉默了。

“馬修最終會來的，”郝薇香小姐堅定地說，“當我死了躺在那張桌子上，你們會圍站在這看著我的。你在這兒，你在那兒，你下一個就是她，你倆在那兒。現在你們就知道在這兒站著，都滾。”

這些太太和先生們小心翼翼地出了房間，一些暗中抗議者，還沒有見過他們親愛的親戚發這麼大的火。當他們都走了，郝薇香小姐對我說，“這是我的生日，匹普，我不允許任何人來祝賀，我的親戚每年總是這一天來這裡一次。這一天，也就是你生下來的不久，是我結婚的日子，或許我也會在這一天死去，當他們把穿著結婚禮服的我放在那張桌子上時，我將向他們報一箭之仇！”

在那陰暗、佈滿灰塵的房間、沉悶的空氣裡，她穿著褪了色的衣服，活像一個幽靈的化身。沉默了很長一段時間。

我照例離開了這所房屋向大門口走去。但是，這一次有一件奇怪的事情發生了。在花園裡，遇見了一位留著漂亮髮式的白麵少年紳士。

“喂！”他說，“過來打一架！下決心吧！”

我很吃驚，以致我無話可說地跟著他。

“等一會兒，”他迅速地轉過身來說，“我必須給你一個打架的理由，就這個！”他揪著我的頭髮，用頭狠狠地撞我肚子。接著，我準備揍他，但是，他蹦跳地躲著以致我接近不了他。

“注意比賽的規則！”他說，渴望準備自己打4局，當我第一拳接著再來第二拳把他打倒在地時，他好像知道打如此多的局會使我感到很驚訝。他總是立即爬起來，似乎對這種合適的手法擊打很高興，我很欽佩他的勇敢和爽快。最後，他不得不同意是我取勝，於是我們互相告別。

當我到了大門口，發現艾絲黛拉正在等著我，她好像對發生的事情感到很高興，我不曉得她是否已經看到了我們的打鬥。我出門之前，她說：

“喂！如果你喜歡可以吻我”。

我吻了她的面頰，真的，我想不停地吻她。可是，我感到吻幾乎像一枚硬幣拋向一個可憐粗俗的孩子，一文不值。

我再也沒有見過那個白臉少年紳士。幾乎是過了一年，我繼續去拜訪郝蔽香小姐，看到我的成長，讚美艾絲黛拉她很高興。當艾絲黛拉嘲笑我時，我不高興。

“繼續，寶貝，”她在艾絲黛拉耳邊用習慣的耳語說，“打碎男人的心，決不仁慈手軟！我要報仇雪恨！”

其間，我姐姐和傻瓜潘彼趣從來沒有停止過討論郝蔽香小姐和她可觀的財富。他們確信我能期望從她那兒，或死前或死後得到大量的贈品。可是，一天郝獲香小姐決定是我做喬的徒弟的時候了，還告訴我把他帶到她家來。我姐姐很憤怒，因為也沒有邀請她。

第二天，當我和他進入郝證香小姐的房間時，親愛的老喬卻不敢相信自己的眼睛，黑暗、蠟燭、塵土、陳舊的傢俱、穿著新娘衣著的老夫人——喬的有限智力幾乎應接不暇。那可能是他為什麼拒絕與郝薇香小姐直接說話，而在整個談話中，他只衝著我講話。尤其是當我越過郝花香小姐的肩膀看到艾絲黛拉在嘲笑我的時候，我真為他感到羞恥。

“哦！”郝薇香小姐開始說，“你，喬·葛吉瑞，鐵匠，準備收匹普當徒弟？”

“你知道，匹普，”喬回答說，“我們倆多麼盼望能在一起幹活，是吧？匹普。”

“他當你的徒弟，你不想收費嗎？”她接著說。

“喂，匹普”，喬特別傷感的說，“這個問題不需要回答，你我之間還談錢的事兒嗎？匹普？”

郝薇香小姐友好地看著喬，我想她比艾絲黛拉更瞭解他的性格。她從桌子上拿起一個小袋子，“匹普在這裡掙的工錢，這個袋子裡有25英鎊，匹普，把錢給你的師傅。”

這突如其來的情形似乎讓喬發瘋。甚至現在他還堅持對我說。

“你們十分大方，匹普，慷慨大方。喂，老夥計，我們必須努力盡職，是吧，匹普？”

“再見，匹普！”郝薇香小姐說，“帶他們出去吧，艾絲黛拉！”

“我還能來嗎？”我問道。

“不用了，現在葛吉瑞是你的師傅了。葛吉瑞！記住，我給你這筆錢是因為他在這裡是個好孩子，別期望再要更多的錢！”

我想辦法讓喬出了這間房屋。在明媚的陽光下，他慢慢地又恢復了正常。事實上，我認為通過這次拜訪，他的智商得到了提高，因為當我們走到家的時候，他想出了一個驚奇的聰明的計劃。

“喂，”我們到家，我姐姐叫喊著，“你們已經結束了對你們的好小姐們的拜訪，不是嗎？你們都纏著回家我很驚奇！”

“郝薇香小姐讓我捎給她，”喬說著好像努力地去記住這句準確的話，“她最好的祝福，不是嗎？匹普。對喬·葛吉瑞夫人說……。”

“最美好的祝福，”我順從著說。

“並對做的不是太完美表示道歉，那是什麼？匹普。”

“敬請，”我說。

“敬請一位夫人出席，”他點點頭，通過一句合適的祝詞，給了一個男人高興的印象。

“喂！”我姐姐高興地說，“她可以早一點送這個祝福，不過，晚送總比不送好。她給這個孩子什麼了？”

“什麼也沒給，”喬馬上說，他舉起手阻止喬夫人說話。“她給了什麼，她給他姐姐的，喬·葛吉瑞夫人，那是她說的，是嗎？匹普。”

“她給了多少？”我姐姐大笑起來問道，她確確實實在大笑！

“你說給了10鎊怎麼樣？”喬問道。

“不錯，”我姐姐說。

“那比這更多呢，你說給20鎊怎麼樣？”

“那太好了！”我姐姐說。

“喂，你聽好，這是25鎊！”喬高興地說，把錢袋遞給我姐姐。