《远大前程》第3章 给匹普的一次机会(1)（在线收听）

Chapter 3 An opportunity for Pip

第3章 给匹普的一次机会

I always knew I would be apprenticed to Joe as soon as I was old enough，and so I used to spend most of the day helping him in the forge．

我总是想，一到学徒的年龄，我就做乔的徒弟。因此，我常常在锻炉前，白天花费大部分时间帮助乔干活。

However，I also attended the village evening school，which was organized by an ancient relation of Mr Wopsle's．

但是，我也参加村办夜校，这所学校是由伍甫赛先生的一位远房亲戚创办的。

Her teaching mostly consisted of falling asleep while we children fought each other，

她的教学主要是由睡觉、孩子们相互打闹而组成。

but Mr Wopsle's young cousin，Biddy，tried to keep us under control and teach us to read，write and count．

但是，伍甫赛先生的表妹，毕蒂，设法把我们控制住，教我们读、写和算术。

Mr Wopsleexaminedus every three months．

伍甫赛先生每三个月就考我们一次。

In fact he did not ask us any questions at all，but read aloud from Shakespeare，waving his arms dramatically and enjoying the sound of his own voice．

事实上，他什么问题也不问我们，只是挥动着双臂，用他那特有的激动人心、兴高采烈的声调，大声朗读莎士比亚的作品。

One night，about a year after the escaped convicts had been caught，I was sitting by the kitchen fire，writing a letter to Joe．

一天晚上，这大约是两个逃犯被捕的一年以后，我正在厨房火炉旁坐着，给乔写封信，

I didn't need to，because he was sitting right next to me，but I wanted to practise my writing．

我并不需要这样做，因为他就紧靠在我旁边坐着。

After an hour or two of hard work，I passed this letter to him．

但是，我是想锻炼我的写作。经过一两小时的努力后，我把这封信递给他：

Pip，old boy！cried Joe，opening his kind blue eyes very wide．

亲爱的乔，我希望你很好，马上我就能把我所学的东西教给你，

What a lot you've learnt！Here's a J and an O，that's for Joe，isn't it，Pip？

多么可爱的乔，爱你的匹普匹普，好小子！乔喊着，睁大他那仁慈的蓝眼睛，你学了这么多了！这儿是一个J和O，这是乔字，对吗，匹普？