《远大前程》第3章 给匹普的一次机会(2)（在线收听）

I wondered whether I would have to teach Joe from the beginning，so I asked，How do you write Gargery，Joe？

我不知道是否必须从头教乔，所以，我问道，你写出葛吉瑞。乔，怎么样？

I don't write it at all，said Joe．But，you know，I am fond of reading．

我一点也不会写，乔说，但是，你知道，我爱好读，

Give me a good book or newspaper，a good fire and I ask no more．

给我一本好书或者报纸，一盆炉火，不要更多。

Well！When you come to a J and an O，how interesting reading is！

喂！当你写出一个J和O，读它多么有趣呀！

Didn't you ever go to school，Joe，when you were young？

乔，你小时候未曾上过学？

No，Pip．You see，my father drank a lot，and when he drank，he used to hit my mother，and me too，sometimes．

没有，匹普，你知道，我爸爸酗酒，当他酗酒时，常打我妈妈，有时候也打我。

So she and I ran away from him several times．And she used to say，Now，Joe，you can go to school．

因此，她和我几次逃离他，她过去对我说，唉，乔，你能上学了。

But my father had such a good heart that he didn't want to be without us．

可是，我爸爸有如此的好心，他不能没有我们。

So he always came to find us，and took us home，and hit us．

因此，他总是来找我们，并把我们带回家，继续揍我们。

So you see，Pip，I never learnt much．

这样你就明白了，匹普，我一点也没学习过。

Poor Joe！

可怜的乔！

But remember，Pip，my father had a good heart．

但是记住，匹普，我爸爸有一副好心肠。

I wondered about that，but said nothing．

这话让我惊奇，但是没说什么。

He let me become a blacksmith，which was his job too，only he never worked at it．I earned the money for the family，until he died．

他让我当了一名铁匠，铁匠也是他的工作，只是他从来不干这活。

And listen to this，Pip，I wanted to put this on his gravestone：

直到他死，都是我为家里挣钱。听着这一点，匹普，在他的墓碑上我要这样写：

Whatever the fault he had from the start，

无论怎样的过失，他是创家立业的。