有声名著之简爱Jene Eyer Chapter10

　　CHAPTER TEN A Conversation with Grace¹ Poole
In the morning I wanted to see Mr. Rochester but I could not find him. At first. I thought he had told his servants that the fire was an accident. When I passed his bedroom, I saw Grace Poole sitting in a chair and cleaning something. She did not look like someone who could kill another person. But I decided² to talk to her.
“Good morning, Grace,” I said, coming into the room. “Tell me, what happened last night? Why was there a fire? All the servants are talking about it.”
“Good morning, Miss Eyre,” she said. “Well, Master Edward was reading in bed and fell asleep. The candle must have fallen over. The candle put the sheets on fire, but he was able to put the fire out quickly with some water.”
“How strange!” I said quietly. “Didn’t anybody wake up, and hear what was happening?” when I said this, Grace seemed to look at me more carefully. I noticed a strange look on her face, like fear.
“Well, Mrs. Fairfax and you have rooms near Master Ehward’s. Mrs. Fairfax is a heavy sleeper³, like most old people, and she didn’t hear anything. But you’re young, Miss Eyre. Did you hear a noise?”
“Yes,” I said. “I’m sure I heard a strange laugh.”
Grace did not look upset by my words. Instead she went on cleaning the room calmly.
“I don’t think Master Edward would have laughed, when his life was in danger, Miss Eyre. You must have been dreaming,” she said.
“No, I wasn’t dreaming, Grace. And I know what Mr. Edward’s laugh sounds like. It was someone else,” I said very firmly.
“Did you open the door? Did you see anyone in the hall?” she said. She looked angry and frightened, like a trapped⁴ animal. Suddenly I realized that if Grace thought that I knew what she had done, she might try to hurt me.
“No. I didn’t open my door. I locked it, “ I answered, “and I will lock it every night from now on.”
“That ‘s very wise, Miss Eyre. There might be a criminal⁵ around, you never know!”
I was amazed⁶ by her calmness, and I could not understand why Mr. Rochester had not taken her to the police, or made her leave the house. Why had he asked me to keep the fire a secret? Mr. Rochester was strong and proud. Why did he not punish a servant for trying to hurt him? Perhaps Grace Poole knew a terrible secret from his past, and had promised to tell everyone if he tried to hurt her. Was he is love with her?
“No,” I thought, “that is impossible. He could never love anyone as plain and strange as she is. But then, I’m not beautiful either, and sometimes I think he loves me. The things he said to me last night! The look on his face!” and my cheeks were red as I thought of those moments.
Now I was even more impatient⁷ to see Mr. Rochester, but he did not appear. When I was having tea with Mrs. Fairfax that afternoon, she said, “it’s a good day for the master’s journey.”
“Journey!” I cried. “where did he go?”
“He left after breakfast, to visit a family in a big house about sixteen miles away. This family has asked any people to stay there for a party that will last for a week. The ladies at these parties always like Mr. Rochester very much, so he may not come back for awhile.” “who are the ladies that will be at this party?” I asked.
“There are three sisters, who are very pretty young ladies, and their friends, Blanche and Mary Ingram. But Blanche is the most beautiful of them all. I saw her once when she came to a Christmas party at Thornfield, six or seven years ago.”
“What does she look like?”
“She was eighteen then, a lovely girl, with beautiful white and pink shin, long curling⁸ black hair, and large eyes which shone like black jewels! She looked like a queen. All the men loved her, because of her beauty and her lovely voice. Mr. Rochester has a good voice also, did you know? When she and Mr. Rochester sang together, it is wonderful to listen to.”
“I didn’t know he could sing.” I said. I felt very strange inside as I listened to Mrs. Fairfax speak.
“Oh yes, it’s true. Blanche can also play the piano. The Master Edward said she played extremely⁹ well.”
“And this beautiful lady isn’t married yet?”
“No, because I don’t think the Ingram family has much money.”
“But don’t you think some rich gentleman hasn’t fallen in love with her? Mr. Rochester, for example… he has money, doesn’t he?”
“Oh yes, he has money. But you see, Mr. Rochester is almost forty, and she’s only twenty-five.”
“Well, women marry men older than they are every day. And forty isn’t old at all,” I said. Suddenly Adele ran into the room, so we talked of other things. That night in my room I said some hard words to myself.
“Jane Eyre,” I said to myself, “you are a fool! Why would a fine, wealthy gentleman like Mr. Rochester love you, a poor, plain governess? Just look at yourself in the mirror!” I decided that I would draw an honest picture of myself. Then I would draw one of Blanche Ingram, painting the most beautiful young woman I could imagine. Then, whenever I thought about Mr. Rochester, I could look at the two pictures and see the great difference between us. In this way, I would destroy my foolish dreams. Certainly Mr. Rochester would want to marry a woman like Blanche Ingram.

1 grace   

n.优雅，雅致，魅力，恩惠，慈悲

参考例句：

• She is a beautiful girl with the grace and poise.她是一位仪态优雅的佳丽。
• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 sleeper   

n.睡眠者，卧车，卧铺

参考例句：

• I usually go up to London on the sleeper. 我一般都乘卧车去伦敦。
• But first he explained that he was a very heavy sleeper. 但首先他解释说自己睡觉很沉。

4 trapped   

adj. 捕获的，被困的，截留的 动词trap的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• Two passengers are still trapped in the wreck. 有两名乘客仍被困在失事的车辆里。
• The thief was trapped by the police in an old house. 小偷被警察困在一所旧房子里。

5 criminal   

n.罪犯，犯人，刑事；adj.犯了罪的，罪的，有罪的

参考例句：

• He is a habitual criminal.他是一个惯犯。
• We captured the criminal.我们捕获了那个犯人。

6 amazed   

adj.吃惊的，惊奇的v.使大为吃惊，使惊奇( amaze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Just the size of the place amazed her. 仅仅地方之大就使她十分惊奇。
• I was amazed at her knowledge of French literature. 她的法国文学知识之丰富使我大为惊奇。

7 impatient   

adj.不耐烦的，急躁的；热切的，急切的

参考例句：

• He was so impatient that I could hardly hold him back.他是那样急躁，我简直拉不住他。
• With an impatient gesture he thrust the food away from him.他不耐烦地把吃的东西猛地推开。

8 curling   

n. 苏格兰的冰上掷石游戏, 头发的卷曲, 卷缩 动词curl的现在分词

参考例句：

• Curling hair styles are all the cry this year. 今年烫发的发型很流行。
• I love curling up in an armchair with a good book. 我爱在扶手椅上蜷作一团看我喜欢的书。

9 extremely   

adv.极其，非常，极度

参考例句：

• The film is extremely good,I just cannot miss it.这部电影太精彩了，我非看不可。
• The old man was extremely difficult to get along with.这个老人极难相与。