牛津書蟲系列 勃朗特一家的故事 03 The little books

3 小書

I had four children now— Charlotte，Branwell，Emily and Anne.I did not send them to school again for many years.God's ways are hard to understand，I thought.Perhaps God was not pleased with me;perhaps He wanted Maria and Elizabeth for Himself.I decided to keep the others at home.Aunt Branwell could teach them，and I could help when I had time.

現(xiàn)在我只剩下了4個孩子——夏洛蒂、布蘭韋爾，愛米麗和安妮。有好幾年我沒把他們送到學校去。我覺得上帝的做法不容易為人所理解。也許上帝對我不高興，也許他自己想要瑪麗亞和伊麗莎白。我決定把其他幾個孩子留在家里，布蘭韋爾姨媽能教他們，我有空的時候也能幫把手。

They were clever children，quick at learning.They loved to write and draw and paint，and they talked all day long.And，thank God，they were not ill.In the afternoons，my servant，Tabby，took them for long walks on the moors behind the house.They walked for miles on the hilltops in the strong clean wind，alone with the birds and the sheep.I think it was good for them.They grew stronger，and there was a bright light in their eyes.

他們都是很聰明的孩子，學得很快。他們喜歡寫字、畫畫和涂涂畫畫，一天到晚地都在交談。感謝上帝，他們沒再生玻下午，我們的用人泰比會帶他們到屋后的荒野散步。在清涼勁風中，他們在山頂上走好幾英里，和那些鳥兒、羊兒們呆在一起。這對他們很有好處。他們長得結實些了，眼眸中熠熠閃光。

I was not the only sad father in Haworth.Many，many chil-dren died，and I had to bury them all.The water in Haworth was bad，so many children died from illness.And many more died from accidents;I saw a hundred children die from fire.In my house，I was always very careful.I had no curtains，no car-pets，because I was afraid of fire.My children never wore cot-ton clothes，because they burn so easily.

在霍沃斯，我并不是唯一一個傷心的父親，許多孩子都死了，都是由我來埋葬的?；粑炙沟乃茉愀?，很多孩子因此生病死去。還有更多的孩子死于意外。我見過上百個孩子被火燒死。在自己家里我總是非常小心。我不掛窗簾，不鋪地毯，因為我害怕火災。我的孩子從不穿棉布衣服，那太容易著火了。

One day in 1826 I brought a box of toy soldiers home from Leeds.Next morning the children began to play games with them.

1826年的一天我從商店買回一盒玩具兵，第二天一早孩子們就開始玩起士兵的游戲。

'This one is mine!'Charlotte said.'He's the Duke of Wellington!'

“這個是我的!”夏洛蒂說，“他是惠靈頓公爵。”

'And this is mine!'said Branwell.'He's Napoleon Bonaparte!'

“這個是我的!”布蘭韋爾說，“他是拿破侖·波拿巴。”

The children liked the wooden soldiers and began to tell a story about them.It was a very exciting story，I remember.They read it to me and Aunt Branwell and Tabby，our servant.The next day they invented another story，and then another.And then for several days the children were very quiet，and I wondered what they were doing.

孩子們喜歡這些木頭士兵，編起了他們的故事。我記得那是個令人興奮的故事。他們把故事念給我、布蘭韋爾姨媽和用人泰比聽。第二天他們又編出了新的故事，然后又是另一個。后來的幾天孩子們變得很安靜。我很奇怪，不知道他們究竟在干什么。

I went upstairs，and opened their bedroom door.Inside，they were all busily writing or drawing on small pieces of paper.The wooden soldiers were in the middle of the room in front of them.

我上了樓，推開他們臥室的門。屋內他們正忙著在紙上又寫又畫。木頭士兵就擺在他們面前屋子的中央。

'What are you doing?'I asked.

“你們在干什么?”我問道。

Emily looked up.'Oh，father，please go away，'she said.

愛米麗抬起頭說：“哦，爸爸，請走開!我們正在寫要保密的書。”

'We're writing our secret books.' I suppose I looked sad.'What? Can't I see them?'I asked.

我想我看起來有點難過。“怎么，我不能看看嗎?”我問。

They all thought for a minute.Then Charlotte said，very se-riously：'You can see some of them，of course，papa.But they aren't easy to read，because it's very small writing. We'll show them to you when we are ready.'

他們想了一會兒。然后夏洛蒂非常嚴肅地說：“當然，爸爸，你可以看一部分。但它們不太好讀，字太小了。等我們寫完了就給你看。”

These toy soldiers opened a new world for my children.They showed me some of their stories，but there were hundreds that tney kept secret.They all began writing so young—Charlotte，the oldest，was only ten，and Emily was eight.I don't think they ever stopped.Mr Nicholls has all Charlotte's little books now，in a cupboard in his room.Some of them are no more than five or six centimetres high.They are beautifully made，and full of small pictures and tiny writing.There is one on my desk now，but I can't read it，my eyes are too bad.

這些玩具兵為我的孩子們打開了一個新的世界。他們給我看了一些故事，可還有上百個故事對我保著密。他們那么小就開始寫作了。最年長的夏洛蒂也才10歲，愛米麗8歲。自此以后他們就從未停止過寫作。尼可斯先生現(xiàn)在把夏洛蒂的全部小書收藏在他房間的一個柜櫥里。有幾本差不多五六公分厚。它們制作精美，里面盡是小畫和纖細的手寫筆跡。還有一本現(xiàn)在就在我的書桌上，可是我讀不了，我的眼神太差了。

Charlotte and Branwell wrote about a country called Angria，while Emily and Anne wrote about a land called Gondal.The paple in those countries fought battles and fell in love， and wrote letters and poems.My children wrote these poems and letters，and they wrote books about Angria and Gondal.They drew maps of the countries，wrote newspapers about them， and drew pictures of the towns and people in their stories.They in-vented a new world for themselves.

夏洛蒂和布蘭韋爾寫了一個叫安哥利亞的國家。愛米麗和安妮寫了一片叫哥恩達爾的土地。那些地區(qū)的人們打仗、戀愛，寫信和詩歌。孩子們不只寫這些詩和信，還描繪了安哥利亞和哥恩達爾這兩個國家。他們畫了地圖，編了它們的報紙，還畫了故事中的城堡及人。他們?yōu)樽约涸O計了一個新世界。

They wrote many of these stories when I was in bed.I used to read to the family，and pray with them in the evening， and then I usually went to bed at nine o'clock.One night，I re-member，I woke up and came down again at ten.There was a noise in my room—this room where I am writing now. I opened the door and saw Charlotte and Branwell with a candle，looking at a picture on my wall.

我睡覺的時候他們就寫很多這樣的故事。我習慣念書給大家聽，晚上和他們一起禱告，然后通常在9點鐘時上床睡覺。記得一天夜里，我醒來，10點鐘又下樓去。在我現(xiàn)在寫作的房間聽到了一點聲音。我開門看見夏洛蒂和布蘭韋爾舉著一枝蠟燭，正在看我墻上的一幅畫。

'What are you doing here?'I asked.

“你們在這兒干什么?”我問。

'We're looking at the picture， papa，'Branwell said.'It's the Duke of Zamorna and the Duke of Northangerland fighting in Glasstown.'

“我們在看畫呢，爸爸。”布蘭韋爾說道，“這是扎摩那公爵和北安哥蘭公爵的玻璃城之戰(zhàn)。”

I looked at the picture.It's here now behind me.It's a pic-ture of a story in the Bible，with a town，mountains，and hun-dreds of people in It.'What do you mean?'I asked.

我看著畫，它現(xiàn)在就在我身后。那是圣經里的一個故事，有城鎮(zhèn)、山巒和幾百個人。“你們是什么意思?”我問他們。

'It's one of our stories，papa，'Charlotte said.'We have to come in here to look at the picture.Then we invent what hap-pens.'

“這是我們的一個故事，爸爸。”夏洛蒂說，“我們得來這兒看看它，這樣才能把故事編出來。”

'Tell me，then，'I said.They both looked very excited;their faces were pink，and their eyes were bright in the candlelight.But they looked happy too.I put my candle on the table，and sat down here，where I am sitting now，to listen to their story.

“那么講給我聽聽。”我說。他們看上去很興奮，小臉紅撲撲的，眼睛在燭光下閃閃發(fā)亮?？礃幼铀麄兒荛_心。我把手中的蠟燭放到桌上，坐了下來——就是我現(xiàn)在坐的地方——聽他們講故事。

It was a wonderful story.Charlotte's wooden soldier，the Duke of Wellington，had had a son，Arthur，Duke of Zamorna.Branwell's toy soldier，Bonaparte，had become the strong， bad，good-looking Duke of Northangerland.The two Dukes were fighting a terrible battle in a city called Glasstown.There were soldiers who died bravely，and beautiful women who fell in love.I listened until two o'clock in the morning.There was much more，but I have forgotten it now.

那真是個奇妙的故事。夏洛蒂的木頭兵是惠靈頓公爵，他有個叫亞瑟的兒子，也就是扎摩那公爵。布蘭韋爾的木頭兵波拿巴成了一個強壯、邪惡而又英俊的北安哥蘭公爵。兩個公爵在一個叫玻璃城的地方進行了一場激烈的戰(zhàn)斗，士兵們英勇地死去，美麗的女人們墮入愛河。我一直聽到凌晨兩點。還有很多情節(jié)我現(xiàn)在已經忘記了。

But I remember the excitement in my children's faces.Sometimes I thought they could actually see these people，as they talked.

但我還記得孩子們臉上興奮的表情。有時我覺得，當他們講述時，他們真的都能看到那些人物。

Next day they said no more about it，and I did not ask.It was their own secret world，and they did not let me into it again.But I was pleased they had told me about it once.And sometimes they showed me drawings of places in Angria or Gondal.All my children could draw and paint beautifully.Charlotte used watercolours，and often spent hours painting small pictures.Branwell used oil-paints as well.

第二天他們不再提這件事了，我也沒有再問。那是他們自己的秘密世界，不讓我再進入。但我很高興他們畢竟還是給我講了一次。有時他們還給我看關于安哥利亞和哥恩達爾的畫。我的孩子們都畫得很棒。夏洛蒂經?；◣仔r用水彩來畫這些小畫布蘭韋爾也用油畫顏料畫畫。