第48章 简·爱
简父母早亡，自小寄居在舅舅里德家里，舅母在
舅舅病逝后，对简百般虐待，还把她关在恐怖的红屋
子里，但是简却坚决反抗，于是被送到了条件更为恶
劣的劳渥德学校。后来她受聘到桑菲尔德庄园当家庭
教师，期间她和男主人罗切斯特摩擦出了爱的火花。
简强烈的自尊心迫使她毅然决然地离开了已婚的罗切
斯特。继承遗产后的简回到了罗切斯特的身边，而此
刻的他在经历了一场大火后眼瞎肢残。后来他们如愿
以偿地生活在一起。
[ 英] 夏洛蒂·勃朗特（ Charlotte Bronte）
“Never，”said he，as he ground his teeth，“never was
anything at once so frail and so indomitable. A mere reed she
feels in my hand!”(And he shook me with the force of his hold. “) I
could bend her with my finger and thumb: and what good would
it do if I bent，if I uptore，if I crushed her? Consider that eye:
consider the resolute，wild，free thing looking out of it，defying
me，with more than courage — with a stern triumph. Whatever
I do with its cage，I cannot get at it — the savage，beautiful
creature! If I tear，if I rend the slight prison，my outrage will only
let the captive loose. Conqueror I might be of the house ；but
the inmate would escape to heaven before I could call myself
possessor of its clay dwelling-place. And it is you，spirit — with
will and energy，and virtue and purity — that I want: not alone your
brittle frame. Of yourself you could come with soft flight and
nestle against my heart，if you would: seized against your will，
you will elude the grasp like an essence — you will vanish ere I
inhale your fragrance. Oh! come，Jane，come!”
As he said this，he released me from his clutch，and only
looked at me. The look was far worse to resist than the frantic
strain: only an idiot，however，would have succumbed now. I had
dared and baffled his fury ；I must elude his sorrow: I retired to
the door.
“You are going，Jane?”
“I am going，sir.”
“You are leaving me?”
“Yes.”
“You will not come? You will not be my comforter，my
rescuer? My deep love，my wild woe，my frantic prayer，are all
nothing to you?”
What unutterable pathos was in his voice! How hard it was
to reiterate firmly，“I am going.”
“Jane!”
“Mr. Rochester!”
“Withdraw，then — I consent ；but remember，you leave me
here in anguish. Go up to your own room ；think over all I have
said，and，Jane，cast a glance on my sufferings — think of me.”
He turned away ；he threw himself on his face on the sofa.
“Oh，Jane! my hope — my love — my life!”broke in anguish from
his lips. Then came a deep，strong sob.
I had already gained the door ；but，reader，I walked
back — walked back as determinedly as I had retreated. I knelt down
by him ；I turned his face from the cushion to me ；I kissed his
cheek ；I smoothed his hair with my hand.
“God bless you，my dear master!”I said，“God keep you
from harm and wrong — direct you，solace you — reward you well
for your past kindness to me.”
“Little Jane’s love would have been my best reward，”he
answered ；“without it，my heart is broken. But Jane will give me
her love: yes — nobly，generously.”
Up the blood rushed to his face ；forth flashed the fire from
his eyes ；erect he sprang ；he held his arms out ；but I evaded
the embrace，and at once quitted the room.
“Farewell!”was the cry of my heart as I left him. Despair
added，“Farewell for ever!”
“从来没有，”他咬牙切齿地说，“从来没有什么东西像这样
既纤弱又不屈不挠的。在我看来她只不过像根芦苇！（他边说边
用抓住我的手使劲摇我） 我可以轻而易举地把这它弄弯，但我
即使是把它弄弯了，拨起来，捏碎了，又有什么用呢？看看那
对眼睛，看看那里面流露出来的坚决、大胆、什么也不顾的神
气，不仅带着勇气，还带着坚定的胜利感对我公然蔑视。这野
性难驯的美丽的东西，不管我怎么做，都无法靠拢这个笼子！
即使我拆掉、捣毁那纤脆的牢笼，我的暴行也只会放走囚徒。
我也许可以征服那房子，但我还来不及称自己是这泥屋的主人，
里边的居住者就会飞上天去。而我要的正是你，你的精神——
富有意志、能量、德行和纯洁——而不仅仅是你那脆弱的身躯。
如果你愿意，你会悄然朝我飞来，偎依在我的怀中。倘若不顾你
的意愿硬把你抓住，你就像香气似的从我手中消失——在我还没
有闻到你的芬芳时，就消失的无影无踪了。哦，来吧！简，来吧！”
他一边这么说着，一边松开他那紧握的手，只是那样地看
着我。这眼神远比发疯时的紧扯更让人难受。然而，现在只有
白痴才会屈服。我已面对他的怒火，并把它挫败了。我得避开
他的忧愁。我朝门口退去。
“你要走了，简？”
“我要走了，先生。”
“你要离开我了？”
“是的。”
“你不愿意来了？你不愿做我的安慰者，我的拯救者了？——
面对我这深沉的爱，剧烈的痛苦，疯狂的祈求，你都无动于衷
吗？”
他的声音中带有一种难以言说的悲哀！而要毅然决然重复
说出“我走了”，这句话是多么困难啊！
“简！”
“罗切斯特先生！”
“那么，去吧——我同意——但是记着，你把我一个人撇在
痛苦之中。到楼上你的房间再好好想想我说过的话，简，看一
看我所承受的痛苦吧——想想我吧。”
他转过身去，一头扎进了沙发里，“哦，简！我的希望——
我的爱——我的生命啊！”他痛苦地脱口而出。随后便听到了
他那深沉而强烈的哭泣声。
我那时已经走到了门口，可我的读者呀，我又走了回去——
就像我刚刚走出时那样坚决。我跪在他身旁，把他的脸从沙发
垫里捧起来，并转向我；我吻了吻他的脸颊，理了理他的头发。
“上帝保佑你，我亲爱的主人！”我说，“上帝会保佑你不
受伤害，不做错事——他会指引你，安慰你——会好好报答你
过去对我的恩情。”
“可简的爱情才是对我最好的酬谢，”他答道，“没有了它，
我的心就碎了，不过简一定会把她的爱给我的，会的——会高尚、
慷慨地给我的！”
血色一下子泛在他的脸上，眼睛里射出了火一般的光芒。
他猛地跳了起来，站直了身子，张开了双臂。但我躲开了他的
拥抱，立即跑出了房间。
“别了！”就在我离开他时，我的心在狂喊。绝望又使我
加了一句：“永别了！”
作者介绍
夏洛蒂·勃朗特（1816-1855）， 英国十九世纪著名的女作家。
《简·爱》是一部具有自传色彩的作品。她的作品包括《简·爱》、《雪莉》、
《维莱特》等。
单词注解
resolute [5rezElju:t] adj. 坚决的，坚定的；果敢的；
outrage [5autreidV] n. 恶行，暴行
nestle [5nesl] v. 依偎，贴靠
elude [i5lu:d] v. 逃避，躲避；使困惑
frantic [5frAntik] adj. 狂暴的，狂乱的
reward [ri5wC:d] n. 报答；报偿；奖赏；
embrace [im5breis] v. 拥抱，包含
名句大搜索
你不愿意来了？你不愿做我的安慰者，我的拯救者了？
他的声音中带有一种难以言说的悲哀！而要毅然决然重复说出“我走了”，
这句话是多么困难啊！
“别了，”就在我离开他时，我的心在狂喊。绝望又使我加了一句话“永
别了。”
实战提升