牛津書蟲系列 勃朗特一家的故事 05 Looking for work

5 找工作

I do not remember everything they did.

我已記不清他們做過的每一件事情了。

Charlotte and Anne worked as governesses for some months，teaching rich children in big houses， and Branwell got a job like that too，for a while.But they didn't like their work.At home my children were full of talk and laughter，but away from home they were shy，quiet，unhappy.

夏洛蒂和安妮做過幾個(gè)月的家庭教師，在高大的房子里教有錢人家的孩子們。布蘭韋爾也暫時(shí)找了個(gè)類似的工作，但他們都不喜歡這種工作。在家里我的孩子們談笑風(fēng)生，可離開家后他們就變得害羞、沉默、很不開心。

They wrote a lot of letters in their search for work—some-times to famous people.Branwell wanted to be a writer，so he wrote to writers;but not many of them wrote back.He began to look pale and sad in those days，and he was often in the vil-lage pub，drinking and talking to the people there.Then he got a job selling tickets on the railways，and left home.

他們?yōu)檎夜ぷ鲗懥嗽S多信，有時(shí)是寫給大人物的。布蘭韋爾想當(dāng)作家，他就給作家寫信，卻很少有人回信。那些日子他變得傷心疲倦，經(jīng)常在鄉(xiāng)村酒吧和人喝酒、閑聊。后來他找到一份在火車站賣票的工作，就離開了家。

The girls had an idea.I remember the day when they told me about it.Charlotte and Anne were at home on holiday，and we were all in the sitting-room after dinner one evening. Anne was playing the piano，and singing quietly to herself.She was the prettiest of the three girls，I suppose.She had long wavy brown hair，and a gentle，kind face Emily sat on the floor be-side her，stroking the ears of her dog，Keeper.Charlotte sat op- posite me on the sofa，like a little child with a serious，thought- ful face.She was the smallest;her feet were no bigger than my hands.

女兒們另有想法。我還記得她們跟我談話的那天。夏洛蒂和安妮回家休假，晚飯后我們都坐在客廳里，安妮彈著鋼琴，一邊彈一邊還輕輕地唱著歌。我覺得她是3個(gè)女兒中最美的，有一頭鬈曲的褐色長發(fā)，還有著一張溫柔善良的臉。愛米麗坐在她旁邊的地板上，撫摸著她那只叫“管家”的狗的耳朵。夏洛蒂坐在我對面的沙發(fā)上，看上去像個(gè)孩子，卻又帶著深思熟慮的表情。她個(gè)子最小，腳還沒有我的手大。

She looked at me carefully.'Papa，'she said.'We want to start a school.'

她端詳著我，說：“爸爸，我們想開辦一所學(xué)校。”

'Really，my dear? Where?'

“真的，親愛的?在哪兒?”

'Here.'

“就在這兒。”

'But Charlotte，my dear，we have no room.This house is full already.'

“可是夏洛蒂，親愛的，我們沒有地方啊!這棟房子已經(jīng)很滿了呀!”

'Oh，but we could change the house，papa.We could build a schoolroom.'

“哦，但我們可以，爸爸。我們可以蓋一間大教室。”

'Well，yes，I suppose so，'I said.'But—why do you want to do this?Isn't it better to work as governesses，in some big fine house?'

“嗯，是啊，我覺得行。”我說，“不過為什么你想干這個(gè)呢?在別人家的大房子里做家庭教師不是更好嗎?”

'Oh no，papa!'All three girls spoke at once.Anne had stopped playing，and Emily looked very angry and frightening.I could see they had thought hard about this.

“噢，不，爸爸!”3個(gè)女兒一起對我說。安妮停下來，不彈琴了，愛米麗看上去很生氣，樣子非常嚇人。我看得出她們已經(jīng)好好想過了。

Charlotte said：'The life of a governess is terrible，papa!A governess has no time of her own，no friends，no one to talk to，and if she gets angry with the children，they just run to their mother.I couldn't possibly be a governess all my life!'

夏洛蒂說：“當(dāng)女家庭教師的生活太可怕了，爸爸!一個(gè)家庭教師沒有屬于自己的時(shí)間，沒有朋友，沒有說話的人。如果對孩子發(fā)脾氣，他們就會(huì)立刻跑到自己母親那里去。我不可能一輩子都干這個(gè)!”

'It's true，papa，'Anne said.'It's an awful life.We're so lonely away from each other.Why can't we have a school，and all live here?Then we can take care of you and Aunt Branwell when you get old.'

“真的，爸爸。”安妮說，“那種生活很可怕。我們不得不分開，都那么孤單。為什么我們不能有所自己的學(xué)校，就住在這兒呢?這樣等您和布蘭韋爾姨媽老了我們就可以照顧你們了。”

I looked at Emily.Her eyes were shining;I could see that the idea was important to her too.

我看著愛米麗，她的眼睛熠熠發(fā)光，看得出這主意對她也很重要。

'But why will people send their children here?' I asked.'Haworth is not a big town，or a beautiful place.How will you find children to teach?'

“但是人們?yōu)槭裁匆押⒆铀偷竭@兒來呢?”我問，“霍沃斯既非大城市，又不是風(fēng)景區(qū)。你們怎么找到孩子來教呢?”

'We have thought of that too，papa，'Charlotte said.'We must learn more，and become better teachers.I have spoken to Aunt Branwell，and she will give us the money，if you agree.Emily and I want to go to Belgium，to learn French.If we can speak French well，then parents will send their children to us to learn that.'

“我們也已經(jīng)想到這一點(diǎn)了，爸爸。”夏洛蒂說，“我們必須多學(xué)一些，成為更好的教師。我和布蘭韋爾姨媽談過了，如果您同意，她會(huì)給我們錢的。愛米麗和我想去比利時(shí)學(xué)法語。如果我們能講流利的法語，那些父母就會(huì)把孩子送來學(xué)法語。”

'Emily will go?'I said.I looked at her.Emily had only been away from home twice，and each time she had been very un-happy.But now she looked excited.

“愛米麗會(huì)去嗎?”我說。一邊看著她。愛米麗只離開過家兩次，每次她都很不開心。但這回她看上去卻相當(dāng)興奮。

'Yes，papa，'she said.'I will go.Charlotte is right— we must do something.And this will help us to stay together.'

“是的，爸爸。”她說，“我要去。夏洛蒂是對的，我們必須做些事情，這還能使我們待在一起。”

'And Anne?'

“那安妮呢?”

'I will stay as a governess with the Robinson family，'Anne said sadly.'There's not enough money for us all to go，and ...the Robinsons are not so very bad.'

“我還在羅賓遜家里當(dāng)家庭教師，”安妮難過地說，“我們的錢不夠大家都去的，況且羅賓遜家的人也沒那么壞。”

It was always like that.Anne was a gentle girl;she did not fight as hard as the others.Perhaps her life was easier because of that.I don't know.

事情總是那樣。安妮是個(gè)溫柔的孩子，她不像別人那樣努力地去爭齲或許正是如此，她的生活倒更輕松些。我不知是否如此。

But I thought it was a wonderful idea.I wrote to Belgium，and found them places in a school in Brussels，which was owned by a Monsieur Héger.I agreed to take the girls there，and for a month I wrote down French words in a little pocket book，to help me on the journey.Then，one afternoon in 1824，we caught the train to London.

不過我還是認(rèn)為這是個(gè)好主意。我寫信去比利時(shí)，在布魯塞爾的一所學(xué)校為他們找到了去的地方。那所學(xué)校是埃熱先生的。我同意送她們?nèi)ツ莾?，在一個(gè)月內(nèi)我在小筆記本上記下了許多法語單詞，以備旅途之需。然后，1842年的一個(gè)下午，我們坐上了開往倫敦的火車。

I had not been to London for over twenty years，and my daughters had never been there.We stayed for three days，and then we took the night boat to Belgium，and arrived at a tall，fine school building in the centre of Brussels.

我已有二十多年沒去倫敦了，女兒們還從來沒去過。我們在倫敦住了三天，然后搭夜班船去比利時(shí)，最后到達(dá)布魯塞爾市中心的一座高大美觀的學(xué)校樓前。

Héger himself was a very polite，friendly man—very kind.He did not always understand my French，but he showed me round the school，and talked a lot，very fast.I smiled， and tried to answer.

埃熱本人是一個(gè)很有禮貌、很友好的人——非常和氣。他并不總能聽懂我的法語，但還是帶著我在學(xué)校轉(zhuǎn)了一圈，他講了許多話，速度快極了。我微笑著，努力有所應(yīng)答。

The two girls were very excited when I left them.As I came home on the boat，I thought：'This is a good thing，a fine thing，perhaps.My daughters will start a good school， and Ha-worth will become famous.I hope Branwell can make a success of his life，too.Then my wife Maria will be pleased with us all.'

當(dāng)我離開時(shí)兩個(gè)孩子非常興奮。坐在船上我心想：“這也許是件好事，一件妙事。我的女兒們將開辦一所好學(xué)校，霍沃斯也將因此而出名。我希望布蘭韋爾的生活成功，那樣我妻子瑪麗亞會(huì)為我們都感到高興的。”