CHAPTER 4
...
‘What would Uncle Reed say to you, if he were alive? 'was my scarcely [1] voluntary [2] demand. I say scarcely voluntary, for it seemed as if my tongue pronounced words without my will consenting [3] to their utterance [4] ; something spoke out of me over which I had no control.
‘What? 'said Mrs. Reed under her breath: her usually cold, composed gray eye became troubled with a look of fear; she took her hand from my arm, and gazed at me as if she really did not know whether I were child or fiend [5] . I was now in for it.
‘My Uncle Reed is in heaven, and can see all you go and think;and so can papa and mamma; they know how you shut me up all day long, and how you wish me dead.’
Mrs. Reed soon rallied [6] her spirits: she shook me most soundly, she boxed both my ears, and then left me without a word. Bessie supplied the hiatus [7] by a homily of an hour's length, in which she proved beyond a doubt that I was the most wicked and abandoned child ever reared [8] under a roof. I half believed her, for I felt, indeed, only bad feelings surging [9] in my breast.
...
Mrs. Reed
occupied
her usual seat by the fireside; she made a signal to me to approach; I did so, and she introduced me to the stony stranger with the words—
‘This is the little girl respecting whom I applied to you.’
He, for it was a man, turned his head slowly towards where I stood, and having examined me with the two
inquisitive
-
looking
gray eyes which
twinkled
under a pair of bushy brows, said
solemnly
, and in a
bass
voice—
‘Her size is small; what is her age? ’
‘Ten years.’
‘So much? 'was the doubtful answer; and he
prolonged
his
scrutiny
for some minutes. Presently he addressed me—
‘Your name, little girl? ’
‘Jane Eyre, sir.’
In uttering these words I looked up: he seemed to me a tall gentleman, but then I was very little; his features were large, and they and all the lines of his frame were equally harsh and
prim
.
‘Well, Jane Eyre, and are you a good child? ’
Impossible to reply to this in the affirmative: my little world held a contrary opinion: I was silent. Mrs. Reed answered for me by an expressive shake of the head, adding soon, ‘Perhaps the less said on that subject the better, Mr. Brocklehurst.’
‘Sorry indeed to hear it! She and I must have some talk'; and bending from the
perpendicular
, he
installed
his person in the arm-chair, opposite Mrs. Reed's.‘Come here, 'he said.
I stepped across the
rug
: he placed me square and straight before him. What a face he had, now that it was almost on a level with mine! what a great nose! and what a mouth! and what large,
prominent
teeth!
‘No sight so sad as that of a naughty child, 'he began,‘especially a naughty little girl. Do you know where the wicked go after death? ’
‘They go to hell, 'was my ready and
orthodox
answer.
‘And what is hell? Can you tell me that? ’
‘A pit full of fire.’
‘And should you like to fall into that pit, and to be burning there for ever? ’
‘No, sir.’
‘What must you do to avoid it? ’
I
deliberated
a moment: my answer, when it did come, was
objectionable
:‘I must keep in good health, and not die.’
‘How can you keep in good health? Children younger than you die daily. I buried a little child of five years old only a day or two since—a good little child, whose soul is now in heaven. It is to be feared the same could not be said of you, were you to be called
thence
.’
Not being in a condition to remove his doubt, I only cast my eyes down on the two large feet planted on the rug, and sighed, wishing myself far enough away.
‘I hope that sigh is from the heart, and that you
repent
of ever having been the occasion of discomfort to your excellent
benefactress
.’
‘Benefactress! benefactress! 'said I inwardly: ‘they all call Mrs.Reed my benefactress; if so, benefactress is a disagreeable thing.’
‘Do you say your prayers night and morning? 'continued my
interrogator
.
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Do you read Bible? ’
‘Sometimes.’
...
‘Mr. Brocklehurst, I believe I
intimated
in the letter which I wrote to you three weeks ago, that this little girl has not quite the character and
disposition
I could wish: should you admit her into Lowood School, I should be glad if the
superintendent
and teachers were requested to keep a strict eye on her, and, above all, to guard against her worst fault, a tendency to
deceit
. I mention this in your hearing, Jane, that you may not attempt to impose on Mr. Brocklehurst.’
...
Speak I must: I had been
trodden
on
severely
, and must turn:but how? What strength had I to
dart
retaliation
at my
antagonist
? I gathered my energies and
launched
them in this blunt sentence—
‘I am not deceitful: if I were, I should say I loved you; but I declare I do not love you: I dislike you the worst of anybody in the world except John Reed: and this book about the Liar, you may give to your girl, Georgians, for it is she who tells lies, and not I.’
...
‘I am glad you are no relation of mine. I will never call you aunt again as long as I live. I will never come to see you when I am grown up; and if any one asks me how I liked you, and how you treated me, I will say the very thought of you makes me sick, and that you treated me with miserable cruelty.’
‘How dare you affirm that, Jane Eyre? ’
‘How dare I, Mrs. Reed? How dare I? Because it is the truth. You think I have no feelings, and that I can do without one bit of love or kindness; but I cannot live so: and you have no pity. I shall remember how you thrust me back—roughly and violently thrust me back—into the red-room, and locked me up there, to my dying day, though I was in
agony
, though I cried out, while
suffocating
with
distress
,“Have
mercy
! Have mercy, Aunt Reed! ”And that punishment you made me suffer because your wicked boy struck me—knocked me down for nothing. I will tell anybody who asks me questions this exact tale. People think you a good woman, but you are bad, hard-hearted. You are deceitful! ’
Ere
I had finished this reply, my soul began to expand, to
exult
, with the strangest sense of freedom, of
triumph
, I ever felt. It seemed as if an invisible bond had burst, and that I had struggled out into unhoped-for liberty. Not without cause was this sentiment: Mrs. Reed looked frightened: her work had slipped from her knee; she was lifting up her hands, rocking herself
to and fro
, and even
twisting
her face as if she would cry.
...
[1] scarcely / ˈskeəslɪ/ ad． 几乎不，简直没有
[2] voluntary / ˈvɒləntərɪ/ a． 自愿的，志愿的
[3] consent/kən ˈsent/ v． 同意
[4] utterance / ˈʌtərəns/ n． 说话，发表
[5] fiend/fiːnd/ n． 魔鬼，邪神
[6] rally/ ˈrælɪ/ v． 恢复精神
[7] hiatus /haɪ ˈeɪtəs/ n． 空隙，裂缝
[8] rear/rɪə/ v． 养育
[9] surge/sɜːdʒ/ v． 汹涌，澎湃
