вторник, 18 декабря 2018 г.
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вторник, 27 ноября 2018 г.
понедельник, 26 ноября 2018 г.
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Jane Eyre
Part One – A child at Gateshead
The red room
We could not go for a walk that afternoon.
There was such a freezing cold wind, and such heavy rain, that we all stayed
indoors. I was glad of it. I never liked long walks, especially in winter. I
used to hate coming home when it was almost dark, with ice-cold fingers and
toes, feeling miserable because Bessie, the nursemaid, was always criticizing
me. All the time I knew I was different from my cousins, Eliza, John and
Georgiana Reed.
They
were taller and stronger than me, and they were loved.
These
three usually spent their time crying and quarrelling, but today they were
sitting quietly around their mother in the sitting-room. I wanted to join the
family circle, but Mrs. Reed, my aunt, refused. Bessie had complained about me.
'No,
I'm sorry, Jane. Until I hear from Bessie, or see for myself, that you are
really trying to behave better, you cannot be treated as a good, happy child,
like my children.'
'What
does Bessie say I have done?' I asked.
'Jane,
it is not polite to question me in that way. If you cannot speak pleasantly, be
quiet.'
Suddenly
the door of the room opened. John Reed ran in.
'Where
are you, rat?' he shouted. He did not see me behind the curtain. 'Eliza!
Georgy! Jane isn't here! Tell Mamma she's run out into the rain – what a bad
animal she is!'
'How
lucky I drew the curtain,' I thought. He would never have found me, because he
was not very intelligent. But Eliza guessed at once where I was.
'She's
in the window-seat, John,' she called from the sitting-room. So I came out
immediately, as I did not want him to pull me out.
'What
do you want?' I asked him.
'Say,
"What do you want, Master Reed",'
he answered, sitting in an armchair. 'I want you to come here.'
John Reed was fourteen and I was only ten. He
was large and rather fat. He usually ate too much at meals, which made him ill.
He should have been at boarding school, but his mother, who loved him very
much, had brought him home for a month or two, because she thought his health
was weak. John did not love his mother or his sisters, and he hated me. He
bullied and punished me, not two or three times a week, not once or twice a
day, but all the time. My whole body trembled when he came near. Sometimes he
hit me, sometimes he just threatened me, and I lived in terrible fear of him. I
had no idea how to stop him. The servants did not want to offend their young
master, and Mrs. Reed could see no his fault
in her dear boy. So I obeyed
John's order and came up to his armchair, thinking how very ugly his face was.
Perhaps he understood what I was thinking, because he hit me hard on the face.
'That
is for your rudeness to Mamma just now,' he said, 'and for your wickedness in
hiding, and for looking at me like that, you rat!'
I
was so used to his bullying that I never thought of hitting him back.
'What
were you doing behind that curtain?' he asked.
'I
was reading,' I answered.
'Show
me the book.' I gave it to him.
'You
have no right to take our books,' he continued. 'You have no money and your
father left you none. You must ask for money in the streets, not live here in
comfort with a gentleman's family. Anyway, all these books are mine, and so is
the whole house, or will be in a few years' time. I'll teach you not to borrow
my books again.' He lifted the heavy book and threw it hard at me. It hit me
and I fell, injuring my head on the door. I was in great pain, and suddenly for
the first time in my life, I forgot my fear of John Reed.
'You
wicked, cruel boy!' I cried. 'You are a bully! You are as bad as a murderer!'
'What!
What!' he cried. 'Did she say that to me? Did you hear, Eliza and Georgiana?
I'll tell Mamma, but first...'
He
hurried to attack me, but now he was fighting with a desperate girl. I really
saw him as a wicked murderer. I felt the blood running down my face, and the
pain gave me strength. I fought back as hard as I could, and he shouted for
help. His sisters ran for Mrs. Reed, who called her maid, Miss Abbott, and
Bessie. They pulled us apart and I heard them say,
'What
a wicked girl! She attacked Master John!'
Mrs.
Reed said calmly, 'Take her away to the red room and lock her in there.' And so
I was carried upstairs.
As
soon as we arrived in the red room, I became quiet again, and the two servants
both started criticizing me.
'Really, Miss Eyre,'
said Miss Abbott, 'how could you hit him? He's your young master!'
'How can he be my master?
I am not a servant!' I cried.
'No, Miss Eyre, you
are less than a servant, because you do not work,' replied Miss Abbott. They
both looked at me as if they strongly disapproved of me.
'You should remember,
miss,' said Bessie, 'that your aunt pays for your food and clothes, and you
should be grateful. You have no other relations or friends.'
All my short life I
had been told this, and I had no answer to it. I stayed silent, listening to
these painful words.
'And if you are angry
and rude, Mrs. Reed may send you away,' added Bessie.
'Anyway,' said Miss
Abbott, 'God will punish you, Jane Eyre, for your wicked heart. Pray to God,
and say you're sorry.' They left the room, locking the door carefully behind
them.
The red room was a
cold, silent room, hardly ever used, although it was one of the largest
bedrooms in the house. Nine years ago my uncle, Mr. Reed, had died in this
room, and since then nobody had wanted to sleep in it.
Now that I was alone I
thought bitterly of the people I lived with. John Reed, his sisters, his
mother, the servants - they all criticized me, hated me, punished me. Why could
I never please them?
Eliza was selfish, but
was respected. Georgiana had a bad temper, but she was popular with everybody
because she was beautiful. John was rude, cruel and violent, but nobody
punished him. I tried to make no mistakes, but they called me naughty every
moment of the day. Now that I had turned against John to protect myself,
everybody blamed me.
And so I spent that
whole long afternoon in the red room asking myself why I had to suffer and why
life was so unfair. Perhaps I would run away, or die from hunger.
A strange idea came to me. I felt sure that if
Mr. Reed had lived he would have treated me kindly, and now, as I looked round
at the dark furniture and the walls in shadow, I began to fear that his ghost
might come back to punish his wife for not keeping her promise. He might rise
from the grave in the churchyard and appear in this room! I was so frightened
by this thought that I couldn’t breathe. Suddenly in the darkness I saw a light
moving on the ceiling. It may have been from a lamp outside, but in my nervous
state I did not think of that. I felt sure it must be a ghost, a visitor from
another world. My head was hot, my heart beat fast. Was that the sound of wings
in my ears? Was that something moving near me? Screaming wildly, I ran to the
door and shook it.
Miss Abbott and Bessie
came running to open it.
'Miss Eyre, are you
ill?' asked Bessie.
'Take me out of here!'
I screamed.
'Why? What's the
matter?' she asked.
'I saw a light, and I
thought it was a ghost,' I cried, holding tightly on to Bessie's hand.
'She's not even hurt,'
said Miss Abbott angrily. 'She screamed just to bring us here. I know all her
little tricks.'
'What is all this?'
demanded an angry voice. Mrs. Reed appeared at the door of the room.
'Abbott and Bessie, I
think I told you to leave Jane Eyre in this room till I came.'
'She screamed so
loudly, ma'am,' said Bessie softly.
'Let go of her hands,
Bessie,' was Mrs. Reed's only answer. 'Jane Eyre, you need not think you
can succeed in getting out of the room
like this. Your naughty tricks will not work with me. You will stay here an
hour longer as a punishment for trying to tell a lie.'
'Oh aunt, please
forgive me! I can't bear it! I shall die if you keep me here...' I screamed and
kicked as she held me.
'Silence! Control
yourself!' She pushed me, back into the red room and locked me in. There I was
in the darkness again, with the silence and the ghosts. I must have fainted. I
cannot remember anything more.
четверг, 6 сентября 2018 г.
четверг, 30 августа 2018 г.
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