7 Currer, Ellis,and Acton Bell
7 柯勒、埃利斯和阿克顿·贝尔
At about this time,in 1845,I was almost blind.
大约是在1845年,我几乎全瞎了。
I had a new curate to do my work-Arthur Nicholls,a young man of twenty-eight.
我请了一个新的副牧师替我工作,他就是亚瑟·尼可斯,一个28岁的年轻人。
He came from Northern Ireland like myself.
和我一样他来自北爱尔兰。
He was a good,hard worker.
他人很好,工作也勤奋。
I spoke in the church on Sundays,but Arthur Nicholls did the rest of my work.
我只在星期天讲道,其余的活儿都是亚瑟·尼可斯干。
Branwell became worse and worse.
布兰韦尔越来越糟了,
Mr Robinson died in 1846,but Mrs Robinson didn't marry Branwell-oh no!
罗宾逊先生死于1846年,可罗宾逊太太并没有嫁给他。--噢,没有!
She was a cold wicked woman.
她是个冷血的、邪恶的女人,
She sent my son Branwell away,and later married a rich old man.
她把我儿子打发掉,自己后来嫁给了一个老富翁。
And so Branwell spent more and more time drinking,and taking laudanum,and walking alone on the moors.
这样布兰韦尔花越来越多的时间喝酒和鸦片酊,或者一个人在荒野上踱步。
When you are blind, you listen to things very carefully.
当人眼睛瞎后,听东西就会格外仔细。
I used to sit alone in my room and listen to the sounds of the wind outside the house.
我常常一个人坐在自己的房间里,听着屋外风的声音。
The wind talks and whispers and sings -it has many voices.
风儿说着、低语着、唱着--它有很多种声调。
I listened to the sounds of the clock on the stairs,and the wood in the fire,and the footsteps and voices of the girls walking round the house.
我也听着楼梯上大钟的嘀哒嘀哒的响声,炉火中木柴的噼叭声以及女儿们在房子里的踱步声。
They talked a lot to each other,and sometimes I could hear what they said,even when they were in another room.
她们经常谈论许多事,有时我还能听见她们谈话的内容,即使她们是在另一个房间。
Anne had had a poem published in a magazine,and one day I heard a conversation between Charlotte and Emily.
安妮有一首诗在杂志上发表了。一天我听到了夏洛蒂和爱米丽之间的谈话,
Charlotte had found something that Emily had written, and was talking to her about it.
夏洛蒂读到了爱米丽写的东西,正和她谈论着。
'But they're wonderful,Emily,'Charlotte said.
"可它们很棒啊,爱米丽。"夏洛蒂说,
'They're much better than mine or Anne's.
"它们比我和安妮的强多了。"
'They're not for people to read,'Emily said.
"那不是写给外人看的,"爱米丽说,
'They're part of the Gondal story.Nobody would understand them,except me and Anne.
"它们是哥恩达尔故事的一部分,除了我和安妮,没有谁能懂。"
I realized that they were talking about some poems of Emily's.
我听出来她们在谈论爱米丽的诗。
I knew that Emily and Anne wrote a lot about the country of Gondal,but I didn't know much about it.
我知道她和安妮写了很多关于哥恩达尔的故事。但我了解的不多。
Emily kept all her papers locked in her desk.
爱米丽把她所有的诗稿都锁在自己的书桌里。
Charlotte was arguing with her.'Emily,listen to me! These are fine poems.
夏洛蒂和她争论道:"爱米丽,听我的!这些都是好诗
I think we should put some of them in a book,together with mine and Anne's,and try to publish it.
,我觉得我们应该把它同我和安妮的诗一起编成一本书,试着出版。
People should read them!No!'Emily shouted.
人们应该读到它们!""不!"爱米丽喊道。
Then her dog Keeper began to bark,and I didn't hear any more.
她的"管家"也跟着叫了起来,我就听不清后面的谈话了。
But I think they talked about this again several times.
但我想她们就这个话题又谈了好几次。
I often heard voices arguing,and usually they never argued about their writing.
我经常听到争论的声音,一般来说,她们从不会为写作而争论的。
I wanted to tell them not to do it.
我想劝她们不要出书。
I had published several small books myself,but I always lost money.
我曾出过几本自己的书,但总是赔钱。
I had to pay the publisher to print the books,and not many people bought them.
我得付钱给出版商印书,而并没有多少人买这些书。
It's an easy way to lose money.
这真是一桩太容易亏本的事。
But I was too ill,so I said nothing.
但我病得很厉害,就什么也没说。
I learnt,many years later,that they paid over 30 pounds to have a book of poems printed,and that it sold two copies.
很多年以后,我了解到她们付了30英镑印这本诗集,只卖了两本。
I am not surprised that they didn't tell me about it; we had very little money in our house.
她们瞒着我,我倒不觉得奇怪;家里的钱太少了。