英语听力：远大前程 11 Pip attends a burial

　　11 Pip attends a burial 1

　　One evening a black－edged envelope was delivered to me at Herbert's rooms． The letter inside informed me that Mrs J．Gargery had died the previous Monday，and that the burial would be next Monday， at 3 p．m．This news came as a shock to me．It was the first time that someone close to me had died， and I could not imagine life without my sister，even if I had never loved her， or even thought about her recently．

　　I arrived at the forge 2 early on Monday afternoon． Joe was sitting in the front room， wrapped 3 in a black cloak 4．

　　‘Dear Joe，how are you？’I asked．

　　‘Pip，dear old boy， you knew her when she was a fine woman…’and he could say no more．

　　Biddy， in her neat little black dress， was busy serving food．Old friends from the village were talking quietly among them-selves， and I noticed the awful Pumblechook trying to catch my eye， as he drank brandy 5 and swallowed large pieces of cake．

　　‘May I，my dear sir？ May I？’he asked， his mouth full，and shook my hand enthusiastically．

　　My sister's dead body was carried slowly out of the house and through the village， followed by all of us．We could see the marshes 6， and the sails of ships on the river．And there，in the churchyard，next to my unknown parents，my poor sister was laid quietly in the earth，while the birds sang and the clouds danced in the sky．

　　Biddy，Joe and I felt better when all the guests had gone，and we had a quiet supper together．I decided 7 to spend the night at the forge，which pleased Joe very much．I was pleased with myself for offering 8 to do so．

　　I waited until I found Biddy alone．Then I said，‘I suppose you won't be able to stay here now，will you，Biddy？’

　　‘No，Mr Pip．I'll stay in the village，but I'll still look after Mr Gargery as much as I can．’

　　‘How are you going to live，Biddy？If you want any money— ’

　　‘I'm going to be the village schoolteacher，'she said quickly，her cheeks pink．‘I can earn my own money．’

　　‘Tell me，Biddy，how did my sister die？’ ‘She had been worse than usual，when one evening she said，very clearly，“Joe．” And so I ran to the forge to fetch him．And she put her arms round his neck and laid her head on his shoulder，quite happy．Once she said“sorry”，and once “Pip”．She never lifted her head up again，and an hour later she died．’

　　Biddy cried，and I cried too． ‘What happened to Orlick，Biddy？’ ‘He's still in the village．He doesn't work for Miss Havisham any more．You know，he－he follows me sometimes．’

　　‘You must tell me if he bothers you，Biddy．I'll be here more often now．I'm not going to leave poor Joe alone．’

　　Biddy said nothing． ‘Come，Biddy，what do you mean by this silence？’

　　‘Are you quite sure，then，that you will come to see him？’ ‘Oh Biddy！’I said sadly．‘This really is a bad side to your character！ Don't say any more！’And that evening I thought how unkind，how unjust，Biddy was to me．

　　Next morning I looked in at the forge before leaving，and said goodbye to Joe，who was already hard at work． ‘I shall be back to see you soon，Joe！’

　　‘Never too soon，sir，'said Joe，‘and never too often，Pip！’

　　As I walked away，I think I knew that I would not go back．Biddy was right．

　　In London，I did some serious thinking．I could see that my character had not improved since I had heard about my expectations．I was spending far too much money．What was worse，I was a bad influence on Herbert，who was also spend－ing too much．I would have offered to pay his bills，but he was too proud to listen to such a suggestion．I had hoped that on my twenty－first birthday I would discover more about my future，but Mr Jaggers explained that he could not give me any more information，except that from now on I would have five hundred pounds a year to spend as I liked．I suddenly thought of a way I could help Herbert．

　　When l asked Wemmick if he could advise me on how to help a friend start up in business，his post-box mouth opened wide．

　　‘Choose one of the six London bridges，’he said，‘and throw your money over it．That's better than investing 10 money for a friend．That's my official opinion，of course．’

　　‘Ah，so you would give me a different opinion at Walworth？’

　　‘You'll be welcome there，Mr Pip，on private business．’

　　Next Sunday I visited Wemmick and his aged 11 parent at the Castle．This time there was a lady called Miss Skiffins，clearly a regular visitor，who made the tea，and sat next to Wemmick on the sofa．When he and I were alone，Wemmick listened carefully to my request，and after thinking hard，found an answer．

　　With his help I arranged 12 to invest 9 some money in a shipping 13 company called Clarrikers．Finally I signed an agreement with them，in which they promised to offer Herbert a job，and later to make him a partner．At last I felt that my expectations had done some good to someone．

　　11 匹普出席一个葬礼

　　一天晚上，在赫伯特的屋里，一封贴着黑边的信件递给了我。这封信给我带来了乔·葛吉瑞夫人上星期一去世的消息，订于在下星期一下午3点钟安葬。这个消息来得突然，让我十分震惊。对我来讲，这是第一次亲近的人死了，我不能想像生活里没有了我姐姐，即使我从来也没爱过她，甚至最近也没想起她。

　　星期一下午，我早早地到达了铁匠铺，乔卷着黑色的斗篷，正在屋子前面坐着。

　　“亲爱的乔，你好吗？”我问道。

　　“匹普，亲爱的老伙计，你知道她，当她是一个很好的女人时……”他不能再说下去了。

　　毕蒂，穿着她那整洁的小黑衣服，正忙着准备饭菜。村里来的老朋友，他们之间正在心平气和地交谈着。我注意到当可怕的潘波趣喝着白兰地、吞食着大块的蛋糕时，他企图捕捉我的眼神。

　　“可以吗？我亲爱的先生？可以吗？”他不停地问，热切地摇着我的手。

　　我姐姐的尸体被缓慢地抬出屋子，通过村庄，我们紧随其后。我们能看到沼泽地和河里航行的船只。在教堂墓地，紧挨着我一无所知的父母，我那可怜的姐姐安静地躺在泥土里，这时天空上乌云翻滚，乌鸦尖叫。

　　当客人们都走了，我和乔、毕蒂心情稍好一些，我们一起吃了顿安静的晚餐。我决定在铁匠铺过夜，这使乔十分高兴，我对自己提出这样做也感到高兴。

　　我一直等到毕蒂一个人在的时候，这时我说：“我猜你不会再在这里住下去了，不是吗？毕蒂。”

　　“不，匹普先生，我会住在这个村庄的，而且继续尽全力照顾葛吉瑞先生。”

　　“你打算怎样生活，毕蒂？如果你需要钱的话——”

　　“我打算做一名村办教师，”她的脸颊红润起来，很快地说，“我能自己挣钱。”

　　“告诉我，毕蒂，我姐姐是怎么死的？”

　　“她的情况比平时反常，一天晚上，她特别清楚地说，‘乔’。因此，我跑到铁匠铺叫他。她搂着他的脖子，头扎在他怀里，看上去很快乐。一次，她说‘对不起’，一次说‘匹普’，她再也没有抬起头，半小时后她离开了人间。”

　　毕蒂哭泣我也哭泣着。

　　“奥立克怎么样，毕蒂？”

　　“他仍然在村里，他再没有为郝薇香小姐干活。你知道，他——他有时还尾随着我。”

　　“你一定告诉他，如果他再骚扰你，毕蒂，我会随时在这里的，我不打算离开可怜孤独的乔。”

　　毕蒂没有言语。

　　“嘿，毕蒂，你沉默不语，什么意思？”

　　“那么，你能保证常来看他吗？”

　　“噢，毕蒂！”我伤心地说，“这正是你性格不好的一面，不要再说了！”那天晚上，我想毕蒂对我是多么不友好，多么不公道。

　　第二天早晨，走之前，我向铁匠铺里张望，向已经在拚命干活的乔告别。

　　“我会很快回来看你，乔！”

　　“用不着很快的，先生，”乔说，“用不着经常的，匹普！”

　　当我离开时，我想我知道我不会回来的，毕蒂的看法完全正确。

　　在伦敦，我做了认真的考虑。自从我听到有关我的前程，知道我的品行没有改善，我在大把大把地花钞票，这种做法是很坏的，我对赫伯特产生了不好的影响，他也是大把地花钱。我会为他支付账单的，但是，他听到这个建议很得意。我希望在我21岁生日能够发现更多的财富，可是贾格斯先生解释说从现在除了我一年会有500英镑的花消外，他不能给我更多的信息。我突然想出一个能帮助赫伯特的办法。

　　当我问文米克在如何帮助一位朋友生意开张问题上他能否为我提出建议时，他的邮箱嘴张得很大。

　　“在六座伦敦桥中选其中的一个，”他说，“把你的钱扔在桥上，这样比为朋友投资更好，当然那是我正式的意见。”

　　“噢，那么说在沃尔鄂斯你还会给我其它的建议？”

　　“在那儿你会受到欢迎的，匹普先生，私人买卖。”

　　第二个星期天，我在那座城堡拜访了文米克和他年迈的父亲。这一次，有位女士叫斯基芬小姐，很显然是一位常客，斯基芬小姐泡好茶，挨着文米克坐在沙发上。当只有我和他时，文米克仔细地听着我的请求，苦心焦思后，找到了一个答案。

　　出于他的帮助，我安排在一家船业公司叫克拉雷克斯投一部分资。最终，我和他们签订了合同，在合同上，他们承诺提供给赫伯特一份工作，以后让他成为股东。最后，我感到用我的前程为他人做了一些有益的事情。