远大前程(牛津书虫中英文双版本)

简介

总是希望和周围的朋友攀比，这是人类的一大弱点。如果他们有钱，我们也希望有钱。如果他们很穷，那么我们也不在乎同样受穷。我们不会因为自己的愚蠢而羞愧，我们只会因为比周围的朋友更蠢才感到羞愧。这就是“人比人”的问题。

其实这里还有“往前看”的问题。我们无所谓错过什么，假如从未期待拥有。我们也不会因为贫穷而失望，既然我们不曾指望富有。

匹普又穷又没受过什么教育，但好在他的朋友们也都一样。对他们来说，这并没有什么；这就是生活的本来面目。然而，一旦匹普得知他有“远大前程”，他开始不再安分了。

他羞于与自己的伙伴们为伍，他甚至还自惭形秽。他的“前程”显然有摧毁他的生活的“危险”。

查尔斯·狄更斯（1812—1870）是英国最伟大的小说家之一。尽管出生清贫（他父亲因负债而入狱），他却在有生之年获得盛名而且富有。

人物介绍

Pip 匹普又名Handel汉德尔；教名菲利普

Abel Magwitch，a convict阿伯尔·马格韦契，一名罪犯

Mrs Joe Gargery，Joe's wife and Pip's sister乔·葛吉瑞夫人，乔的妻子，匹普的姐姐

Joe Gargery，the village blacksmith乔·葛吉瑞，乡村铁匠

Compeyson，a convict 康培生，一名罪犯

Mr Pumblechook，Joe's uncle潘波趣先生，乔的舅舅

Mr Wopsle，church clerk伍甫赛先生，教堂里的办事员

Biddy，Mr Wopsle's young cousin毕蒂，伍甫赛先生的表妹

Miss Havisham 郝薇香小姐

Estella，adopted by Miss Havisham艾丝黛拉，被郝薇香小姐收养

Herbert Pocket 赫伯特·朴凯特

Matthew Pocket，Herbert's father马修·朴凯特，赫伯特的父亲

Orlick奥立克

Mr Jaggers，a London lawyer贾格斯先生，一名伦敦律师

Mr Wemmick，Mr Jaggers’clerk文米克先生，贾格斯先生的雇员

Bentley Drummle本特利·朱穆尔

Startop史达多蒲

Miss Skiffins，engaged to Wemmick斯基芬小姐，已与文米克先生有婚约

The aged parent，or the Aged，Wemmick's father年老的父亲，或老年人，文米克的父亲

1 Pip meets a stranger

My first name was Philip，but when I was a small child I could only manage to say Pip．So Pip was what every-body called me．I lived in a small village in Essex with my sister，who was over twenty years older than me，and married to Joe Gargery，the village blacksmith．My parents had died when I was a baby，so I could not remember them at all，but quite often I used to visit the churchyard，abut a mile from the village，to look at their names on their gravestones．

My first memory is of sitting on a gravestone in that church-yard one cold，grey，December afternoon，looking out at the dark，flat，wild marshes pided by the black line of the River Thames，and listening to the rushing sound of the sea in the distance．

‘Don't say a word！’cried a terrible voice，as a man jumped up from among the graves and caught hold of me．‘If you shout I'll cut your throat！’He was a big man，dressed all in grey，with an iron chain on his leg．His clothes were wet and torn．He looked exhausted，and hungry，and very fierce．I had never been so frightened in my whole life．

‘Oh！Don't cut my throat，sir！’I begged in terror．

‘Tell me your name，boy！Quick！’he said，still holding me．‘And show me where you live！’

‘My name's Pip，sir．And I live in the village over there．’

He picked me up and turned me upside-down．Nothing fell out of my pocket except a piece of old bread．He ate it in two bites，like a dog，and put me back on the gravestone．

‘So where are your father and mother？’he asked．

‘There，sir，’I answered，pointing to their graves．

‘What！’he cried，and was about to run，when he saw where I was pointing．‘Oh！’he said．‘I see．They're dead．Well，who do you live with，if I let you live，which I haven't decided yet？’

‘With my sister，sir，wife of Joe Gargery，the blacksmith．’

Blacksmith，you say？And he looked down at his leg．Then he held me by both arms and stared fiercely down into my eyes．

‘Now look here．You bring me a file．You know what that is？And you bring me some food．If you don't，or if you tell anyone about me，I'll cut your heart out．’‘I promise I'll do it，sir，’I answered．I was badly fright ened and my whole body was trembling .

‘You see，’he continued，smiling unpleasantly，‘I travel with a young man，a friend of mine，who roasts boys’hearts and eats them．He'll find you，wherever you are，and he'll have your heart．So bring the file and the food to that wooden shelter over there，early tomorrow morning，if you want to keep your heart，that is Remember，you promised！’

I watched him turn and walk with difficulty across the marshes，the chain hanging clumsily around his leg．Then I ran home as fast as I could．

My sister，Mrs Joe Gargery，was very proud of the fact that she had brought me up‘by hand’．Nobody explained to me what this meant，and because she had a hard and heavy hand，which she used freely on her husband as well as me，I supposed

that Joe and I were both brought up by hand．She was not a beautiful woman，being tall and thin，with black hair and eyes and a very red face．She clearly felt that Joe and I caused her a lot of trouble，and she frequently complained about it．Joe，on the other hand，was a gentle，kind man with fair hair and weak blue eyes，who quietly accepted her scolding．

Because Joe and I were in the same position of being scolded by Mrs Joe，we were good friends，and Joe protected me from her anger whenever he could．So when I ran breathless into the kitchen，he gave me a friendly warning．‘She's out look-ing for you，Pip！And she's got the stick with her！’This stick had been used so often for beating me that it was now quite smooth．

Just then Mrs Joe rushed in．

‘Where have you been，you young monkey？'she shouted．I jumped behind Joe to avoid being hit with the stick．

‘Only to the churchyard，’I whispered，starting to cry．

‘Churchyard！If I hadn't brought you up，you'd be in the churchyard with our parents．You'll send me to the church-yard one day！Now let me get your supper ready，both of you！’

For the rest of the evening，I thought of nothing but the stranger on the marshes．Sometimes，as the wind blew round the house，I imagined I heard his voice outside，and I thought with horror of the young man who ate boys’hearts．Just before I went to bed，we heard the sound of a big gun on the marshes．‘Was that a gun，Joe？’I asked．

‘Ah！'said Joe．‘Another convict's escaped．One got away last night．They always fire the gun when one escapes．’

‘Who fires the gun？’I asked．Joe shook his head to warn me．

‘Too many questions，’frowned my sister．‘If you must know it's the men in the prison-ships who fire the gun．’

‘I wonder who is put into prison-ships，and why？’I asked，in a general way，quietly desperate to know the answer．

This was too much for Mrs Joe．‘Listen，my boy，I didn't bring you up by hand to annoy people to death！There are ships on the river which are used as prisons．People who steal and murder are put in the prison-ships，and they stay there for years sometimes．And they always begin their life of crime by asking too many questions！Now，go to bed！’

I could not sleep at all that night．I was in terror of the young man who wanted my heart，I was in terror of the man with the iron chain，I was in terror of my sister，who would soon discover I had stolen her food．As soon as there was a lit-tle light in the sky outside my window，I got up and went qui-etly down to the kitchen．I stole some bread，cheese and a big meat pie，hoping that，as there was a lot of food ready for Christmas，nobody would notice what was missing．I did not dare take the whole brandy bottle，so I poured some into a smaller bottle to take away with me．Then I filled up the brandy bottle with what I thought was water from a big brown bottle．I took a file from Joe's box of tools，and ran out on to the dark marshes．The mist was so thick that I could not see anything．Al-though I knew my way to the shelter very well，I almost got lost this time．I was near it when I saw a man sitting on the ground，half asleep．I went up and touched his shoulder．He jumped up，and it was the wrong man！He was dressed in grey，too，and had an iron chain on his leg．He ran away into the mist．

‘It's the young man！’I thought，feeling a pain in my heart．

When I arrived at the shelter，I found the right man．He looked so cold and hungry that I felt sorry for him．Trembling violently he swallowed the brandy and ate the food like a hunt-ed animal，looking around him all the time for danger．‘You're sure you didn't tell anyone？Or bring anyone？’

‘No，sir．I'm glad you're enjoying the food，sir．’

‘Thank you，my boy．You've been good to a poor man．’

‘But I'm afraid there won't be any left for him．’

‘Him？Who's that？’My friend stopped in the middle of eating．

‘The young man who travels with you．’

‘Oh，him！’he replied，smiling．‘He doesn't want any food．’

‘I thought he looked rather hungry，’I answered．

He stared at me in great surprise．‘Looked？When？’

‘Just now，over there．I found him half asleep and I thought it was you．He was dressed like you，and—’I was anxious to express this politely‘-he had the same reason for wanting to borrow a file．’

‘Then I did hear them fire the gun last night！You know，boy，when you're on the marsh alone at night，you imagine all kinds of things，voices calling，guns firing，soldiers marching！But show me where this man went．I'll find him and I'll fin-ish with him！I'll smash his face！Give me the file first．’

I was afraid of him now that he was angry again．

‘I'm sorry，I must go home now，’I said．He did not seem to hear，so I left him bending over his leg and filing away at his iron chain like a madman．Halfway home I stopped in the mist to listen，and I could still hear the sound of the file．

1 匹普与一位陌生人相遇

我的教名叫菲利普，但是在我小时候，我仅会说匹普。因此，匹普就成了大家叫我的名字。我与姐姐住在埃森克斯的一个小村庄，姐姐比我大20多岁，她与村里的铁匠乔·葛吉瑞结了婚。当我还是一个婴儿时，父母就离开了人间，所以我记不得他们的一切情况，但是，我常常去离村庄大约1英里的教堂墓地，瞻仰墓碑上他们的名字。

我的最初记忆是在十二月份一个寒冷的、天色阴沉的下午，正坐在那个教堂墓地的一块墓石上。看到的是被那黑色泰晤士河分割成的一片黑压压的沼泽荒地，听到的是从远处大海刮来的嗖嗖呼啸声。

“别出声！”一个凶恶的声音大喊起来，这时，从墓地里窜出一个人来，一把抓住我，“安静点，不然我割断你的喉咙！”他身材高大，穿着一身灰色衣服，腿上拴着一副脚镣。他的衣服湿淋淋的并且破烂不堪，看上去筋疲力尽、饥寒交迫、十分凶残的样子，在我一生中从没有见过如此可怕的人。

“噢！先生，不要杀我！”我害怕地乞求着。

“小子，告诉我你叫什么名字！快点！”他仍然抓着我说，‘’指给我`看你住在哪儿！”

“先生，我叫匹普，我住在那边的村庄里。”

他抓起我，又把我按倒在地。我的口袋里除了一块剩面包则一无所有，他狼吞虎咽地吃下两口，又把我放回墓石上。

“那么，你的爸爸妈妈在哪儿？”他问道。

“先生，在那儿，”我指着那里的坟墓回答。

当他看到我所指的地方时，“什么！”他叫起来拔腿就跑。“噢！”他说，“我明白了，他们已经死了。嘿，你跟谁一起生活？但是，我是否让你活着还没决定。”

“和我姐姐在一起，先生，铁匠乔·葛吉瑞的妻子。”

“你说，铁匠？”他低下头看看自己的腿，然后抱住我，用凶狠的眼光盯着我的双眼。

“你看这儿，给我带把锉子来，你知道什么是锉吗？再给我弄点吃的，如果你办不到，或者把我的情况告诉别人，我会挖出你的心脏来。”

“我保证会做到的，先生。”我回答说。我非常害怕，整个身体在颤抖。

“你明白，”他不高兴地冷笑着继续说，“同我一起来的还有一个年轻人，是我的朋友，他烤过小孩的心脏并把它们吃掉。不管你在哪儿，他都会找到你并吃掉你的心脏。所以，明天一大早，把带来的锉和食物送到那边的木制遮蔽体前。如果你要活命的话，那么，记住你的诺言！”

我注视着他转过身去，脚镣悬挂在笨拙的腿上。踉踉跄跄地穿过沼泽地，这时我拼命地往家跑。

我的姐姐，乔·葛吉瑞夫人。事实上，她以“亲手”把我带大感到很自豪，没有人给我解释这意味着什么。因为，她有十分厉害、粗糙有力的手，随便用在她的丈夫及我的身上，我想像乔和我都是这样被“亲手抚养”的。她不是一个漂亮的女人，长得瘦高条，黑色的头发和眼睛，一副赤红的面孔。她确实觉得乔和我给她添了不少麻烦，常常为这些发牢骚。相反，乔是一个和蔼、心地善良的人。长有金色的头发和浅蓝色的眼睛，老老实实地听从她的训斥。

因为我和乔都处于被乔夫人责骂的地位，我们俩是好朋友，乔随时都在保护

我免遭她的怒斥。所以，当我上气不接下气地跑进厨房时，他给了我一个友好的忠告：“她正在外面找你，匹普！她还拿了条棍子！”这条棍子过去常用来敲打我，它现在是非常光滑了。

正在这时，乔夫人闯了进来。

“到哪里去了，你这个小淘气鬼？”她大叫着，我跳着躲到乔的背后，以避开她棍子的毒打。

“只去了教堂墓地，”我小声嘟囔着，接着哭了起来。

“教堂墓地！如果不是我照顾你，你早就和我们的父母被埋在教堂墓地里了。有一天你会把我送到坟墓去！现在，我给你们准备晚餐，你们俩！”

晚上休息时，我其它的事情都不想，只考虑沼泽地里那个陌生人。有时，当风在房屋周围掠过时，我想自己听到外面他的声音，还想起吞吃小孩子心脏的那个可怕的年轻人。

我刚要睡觉，我们听到从沼泽地传来的一阵枪声。“乔，那枪声是干什么的？”我问道。

“噢！”乔说，“又有一个囚犯逃走了，昨晚上有一个囚犯逃跑了。当有囚犯逃跑时，他们总是要开火”。

“向谁开的枪？”我问道，乔摇摇头警告我。

“问得太多了，”我的姐姐皱着眉头说，“你要是知道关在船上监狱的那些人，就明白向谁开枪了。”

“我想知道谁被关在船上监狱里，为什么他们被关在那里？”我追问道，通常，我非常想知道这类问题的答案。

对于乔夫人来说，这是问得太多了，“听着，我的孩子，我不让你跌入绝望和死亡的深渊！在那条河里有一些船专门用其当监狱，小偷和杀人犯被关在那些船上监狱里，有时他们在那里要呆上很多年。而且，他们通常在他们犯罪开始的时候总是会提出许多为什么！喂，睡觉去！”

那天晚上，我彻夜未眠，在想要吃我心脏的那个凶恶的年轻人，在想带着脚镣的那个凶狠的人，在想我那可怕的姐姐，马上就会发现我偷了她的食物。外面的天空透过窗户刚出现朦朦的亮，我就起了床，悄悄地下了楼进了厨房。我偷了一些面包、黄油和一大块肉饼。因为，为过圣诞节准备了许多吃的，希望没有人

会发现少了东西。我没敢拿整瓶的白兰地酒，而是倒了一些盛在小瓶里带上了。然后，我用自己认为是盛水的大褐色瓶子里的水把白兰地瓶子倒满。我从乔的工具盒里拿了一把锉，随之跑出了家门，直奔黑压压的沼泽地。

大雾弥漫，伸手不见五指。虽然我对去遮蔽体的路了如指掌，但这次几乎是迷了路。我接近遮蔽体时，看见一个人坐在地上，几乎睡着了。我走过去，拍拍他的肩膀，他一跃而起。他不是我遇见的那个人！他也穿着灰布衣服，腿上也戴着一副脚镣。他逃跑到浓雾之中。

“就是那个年轻人！”我想，心里很害怕。

当我到达那个遮蔽体时，找到了第一个囚犯。他看上去饥寒交迫，我为他感到很内疚。他好像恶狼一样，抖抖嗦嗦地往嘴里填着食物，喝着白兰地。

“你保证你没告诉任何人？没有带任何人来吧？”

“没有，先生，你吃得这么有滋味，我真高兴，先生。”

“谢谢你，我的孩子。你给一个穷苦人办了一件好事。”

“我很害怕，没有留点吃的给他。”

“他？谁呀？”我的朋友停下吃了半截的东西问道。

“就是和你一起来的那个小伙子。”

“噢，他吗！”他讥笑着说，“他是不吃东西的。”

“我看他的样子很饿，”我回答说。

他十分惊讶的盯着我，“看样子？什么时候？”

“刚才，在那边儿。我发现他正在打瞌睡，开始我还认为是你呢。他穿的衣服和您一样，还有……”我犹豫了一下，用这种文雅的表达方式，“……他有一个同样的理由，要借一把锉。”

“而且，我昨晚听到了他们的枪声！你知道，孩子，当你在晚上独自一人在沼泽地里，你想想，所有形形色色的东西，尖叫声，枪击声，士兵们向前挺进！指给我这个人去的路，我会找到他，结束他的性命！打烂他的脸！先给我锉。”

他再一次发怒，我现在很怕他。

“对不起，我现在该回家了，”我说，他似乎没听到，他头冲着膝盖，像一个疯子一样，正往下锉脚镣。因此，我趁机溜走，回家的半路上我在浓雾中停住了脚步，听听声音，我仍然能听到锉脚镣的声音。

2 Catching a convict

All that morning I was frightened that my sister would discover that I had stolen from her，but luckily she was so busy cleaning the house，and roasting the chickens for our Christmas lunch that she did not notice that I had been out，or that any food was missing．At half-past one our two guests arrived．Mr Wopsle had a large nose and a shining，bald forehead，and was the church clerk．Mr Pumblechook，who had a shop in the nearest town，was a fat，middle-aged man witn a mouth like a fish，and staring eyes．He was really Joe's uncle but it was Mrs Joe who called him uncle．Every Christmas Day he arrived with two bottles of wine，handing them proudly to my sister．

‘Oh Uncle Pumblechook！This is kind！'she always replied．

‘It's no more than you deserve，’was the answer every time．

Sitting at table with these guests I would have felt uncomfortable even if I hadn't robbed my sister．Not only was Pumblechook's elbow in my eye，but I wasn't allowed to speak，and they gave me the worst pieces of meat．Even the chickens must have been ashamed of those parts of their bodies when they were alive．And worse than that，the adults never left me in peace．

‘Before we eat，let us thank God for the food in front of us，'said Mr Wopsle，in the deep voice he used in church．

‘Do you hear that？’whispered my sister to me．‘Be grateful！’

‘Especially，'said Mr Pumblechook firmly，‘be grateful，boy，to those who brought you up by hand．’

‘Why are the young never grateful？’wondered Mr Wopsle sadly．

‘Their characters are naturally bad，’answered Mr Pumblechook，and all three

looked unpleasantly at me．

When there were guests，Joe's position was even lower than usual（if that was possible），but he always tried to help me if he could．Sometimes he comforted me by giving me extra gravy．He did that now．

‘Just imagine，boy，'said Mr Pumblechook，‘if your sister hadn't brought you up—’

‘You listen to this，'said my sister to me crossly．

‘If，as I say，she hadn't spent her life looking after you，where would you be now？’

Joe offered me more gravy．

‘He was a lot of trouble to you，madam，’Mr Wopsle said sympathetically to my sister．

‘Trouble？'she cried．‘Trouble？’And then she started on a list of all my illnesses，accidents and crimes，while everybody except Joe looked at me with disgust．Joe added more gravy to the meat swimming on my plate，and I wanted to pull Mr Wopsle's nose．

In the end Mrs Joe stopped for breath，and said to Mr Pumblechook，‘Have a little brandy，uncle．There is a bottle al-ready open．’

It had happened at last！Now she would discover I had stolen some brandy，and put water in the bottle．Mr Pumblechook held his glass up to the light，smiled importantly at it and drank it．When，immediately afterwards，he jumped up and began to rush round the room in a strange wild dance，we all stared at him in great surprise．Was he mad？I wondered if I had murdered him，but if so，how？At last he threw himself gasping into a chair，crying ‘Medicine！’Then I understood．Instead of filling up the brandy bottle with water，I had put Mrs Joe's strongest and most unpleasant medicine in by mistake．That was what the big brown bottle contained．‘But how could my medicine get into a brandy bottle？’asked my sister．Fortunately she had no time to find the answer，as Mr Pumblechook was calling for a hot rum to remove the taste of the medicine．‘And now，'she said，when

the fat man was calmer，‘you must all try Uncle Pumblechook's pre-sent to us！A really delicious meat pie！’

‘That's right，Mrs Joe！'said Mr Pumblechook，looking more cheerful now．‘Bring in the pie！’

‘You shall have some，Pip，'said Joe kindly．

I knew what would happen next．I could not sit there any longer．I jumped down from the table，and ran out of the room．

But at the front door I ran straight into a group of soldiers．Mrs Joe was saying as she came out of the kitchen，‘The pie-has-gone！’but stopped when she saw the soldiers．

‘Excuse me，ladies and gentlemen，'said the officer in charge．‘I'm here in the King's name，and I want the black-smith．’

‘And why do you want him？'said my sister crossly．

‘Madam，’replied the officer Politely，‘speaking for myself，I'd like the pleasure of meeting his fine wife．Speaking for the King，I'd like him to repair these handcuffs．’

‘Ah，very good，very good！’said Mr Pumblechook，clap-ping．

The soldiers waited in the kitchen while Joe lit the forge fire and started work．I began to feel better now that everyone had forgotten the missing pie．‘How far are we from the marshes？’asked the officer．

‘About a mile，’replied Mrs Joe．

‘That's good．We'll catch them before it's dark．’

‘Convicts，officer？’asked Mr Wopsle．

‘Yes，two escaped convicts out on the marshes．Has anyone here seen them？’The others all shook their heads．Nobody asked me．When the handcuffs were ready，Joe suggested we should go with the soldiers，and as Mrs Joe was curious to know what happened，she agreed．So Joe，Mr wopsle and I walked behind the men through the village and out on to the marshes．

‘I hope we don't find those poor men，Joe，’I whispered．

‘I hope not either，Pip，’he whispered back．It was cold，with an east wind blowing from the sea，and it was getting dark．

Suddenly we all stopped．We heard shouts in the distance．

‘This way！Run！’the officer ordered，and we all rushed in that direction．The shouts became clearer．‘Murder！’‘Escaped convict！’‘Help！’At last we discovered two men fighting each other．One was my convict，and the other was the man who had run away when I had seen him near the shelter．Somehow the soldiers held the men apart and put the hand-cuffs on them．

‘Here he is，I'm holding him for you！'shouted my convict．

‘Officer，he tried to murder me！’cried the other man．His face was bleeding and he was clearly very frightened．

‘Murder him！No，'said the first，‘that would be too easy．I want him to suffer more，back on the prison-ship．He's lying，as he did at our trial！You can't trust Compeyson！’

Just then he noticed me for the first time．I shook my head at him，to show that I had not wanted the soldiers to find him．He stared at me，but I did not know if he understood or not．

The prisoners were taken to the riverside，where a boat was waiting to take them on to the prison-ship．Just as he was about to leave，my convict said，‘Officer，after my escape，I stole some food，from the blacksmith's house．Bread，cheese，brandy and a meat pie．I'm sorry I ate your pie，blacksmith．’

‘I'm glad you did，’replied Joe kindly．‘We don't know why you're a convict，but we wouldn't want you to die of hunger．’

The man rubbed his eyes with the back of his dirty hand．We watched the small boat carry him out to the middle of the river，where the great black prison-ship stood high out of the water，held by its rusty chains．He disappeared into the ship，and I thought that was the last I had seen of him．

2 抓住一名罪犯

一上午，我一直害怕姐姐会发现我偷了她的东西，但是，幸运的是她只顾忙于打扫房间，为我们的圣诞节午饭准备烤鸡，并没有注意我出过门，也没发现少了任何吃的东西。1点半钟，我们的两位客人到了。伍甫赛先生的鼻子很大，秃顶的额头闪闪发光，他是教堂里的办事员。潘波趣先生，他在最近的镇上有一个商店，是一个长得体胖腰圆的中年人，有一副像鱼的嘴脸，贼溜溜的眼睛，他是乔的亲舅舅，可是乔夫人却喊他舅舅。每年圣诞节，他都带两瓶葡萄酒来送给我姐姐，以显示他的阔气。

“噢，潘波趣舅舅您真是个好心人！”她总是这样说。

“这是一点小意思，”每一次都是这种回答。

和这些客人们围桌而坐，即使我没偷姐姐的东西，我的心情也不好受，不但潘波趣和我近在咫尺，而且不允许我说话，他们给我的是最不好的一块肉，甚至给的鸡块也是它们活着的时候身体最害臊的那部分。比这更坏的是大人们总是打搅我。

“我们进餐之前，让我们感谢上帝赐给我们面前的食物”，伍甫赛先生以他在教堂常用的低沉语调说。

“你听见了吗？”姐姐耳语对我说，“感谢！”

“特别是，”潘波趣先生坚定地说，“孩子，要感谢那些把你亲手带大的人。”

“为什么这个小家伙从来没有感激之情呀？”惊奇的伍甫赛先生不解地问。

“他们的品行就是天生的坏，”潘波趣先生回答说，三个人不愉快地看着我。

当有客人的时候，乔的地位甚至比平时还要低，但是，他总是尽最大努力设法帮助我。有时，他用给我额外添的点肉汁来安慰我。现在，他就是这样做的。

“正走神呢，孩子，”潘波趣先生说，“如果不是你姐姐亲手把你带大……”。

“你听着，”我姐姐不高兴地对我说。

“如果像我说的，不是她花费很大的精力照顾你，你现在还不知在哪儿呢？”

乔又给我加了一些肉汤。

“他给你添了不少麻烦，夫人，”伍甫赛先生对我姐姐同情地说。

“麻烦？”她喊了起来，“麻烦？”接着她开始罗列了一堆我的生病、意外及干的坏事，除了乔，其他人都用反感的目光瞅着我。乔又添了些肉汤，使那块肉在我盘子里漂浮着，我真想揪伍甫赛先生的鼻子。

最后，乔夫人停住了，喘了口气，接着对潘波趣先生说，“舅舅，喝点白兰地吧，有一瓶已经打开了。”

祸事降临了！现在，她会发现我偷了一些白兰地，而把水倒进瓶子里。潘波趣先生举起杯子在光线中端详，并露出了笑脸，仰起脑袋一饮而尽。接着，他突然感到很难受，蹿了起来，着魔似地开始围着屋子乱舞乱撞，我们大家很惊奇地盯着他。他疯了吗？我纳闷是我杀了他。果真如此，怎么办？最后，他气喘吁吁地一屁股靠倒在椅子上。接着喊，“药！”这时，我明白了，是我搞错了，把乔夫人配制的，味道极苦的药当成水倒进了白兰地酒瓶里。那是盛在褐色大瓶子里的。

“可是，我的药怎么能进到白兰地酒瓶里呢？”我姐姐问。幸好她顾不上去找答案。因为潘波趣先生叫喊着要些热松子酒，以除掉药的味道。“喂喂，”她说。这时，这个肥胖的家伙惊魂渐定，“你们大家必须尝尝潘波趣舅舅给我们送的礼物！味道鲜美的肉饼！”

“很好，乔夫人，”潘波趣先生说，看样子现在稍高兴了点，“拿肉饼！”

“你也会有一份肉饼，匹普，”乔和蔼地说。

我料到下一步会发生什么事情，我不能在这儿继续坐下去了，我从椅子上跳下来，拔腿跑出了屋外。

但是，在前门口，我直奔入一队士兵里。当乔夫人从厨房里出来时，嘴里正在叨咕，“肉饼——不翼而飞！”可是，当她看到士兵们时，闭上了嘴。

“对不起，女士们、先生们，”那个负责的军官说，“我在这里以国王的名义，要找铁匠。”

“你们找他干吗？”我姐姐不高兴地问。

“夫人，”军官客气地说，“就我自己而言，我乐意见到他美丽的妻子，要是就国王而言，我乐意他修理加固这些手铐。”

“噢，很好，很好！”潘波趣先生拍着手说。

士兵们在厨房等候，而乔生上炉火，开始干活。我渐渐地不害怕了，大家都把丢肉饼的事抛到脑后去了。

“我们从这里到沼泽地有多远？”军官问。

“大约1英里，”乔夫人回答。

“那不太远，我们将在天黑前抓到他们。”

“逃犯，军官？”伍甫赛先生问。

“是的，有两个逃犯还躲在沼泽地里，有谁见过他们的踪迹吗？”

其他的人都摇摇头，幸亏没有人问我。当手铐准备就绪，乔提议我们跟着这些官兵一起去，乔夫人好奇地想知道发生了什么事情，所以她同意了。因此，乔、伍甫赛先生和我走在队伍的后面，穿过村庄向沼泽地开进。

“我希望我们找不到那些可怜的人，乔，”我小声说道。

“我也希望那样，匹普，”他小声回敬了我一句。从大海刮来东风，天气很冷，夜幕降临了。

突然，我们大家停止了前进，我们听到远方的嚎叫声。

“这个方向！追！”军官命令道。我们迅速向喊声方向奔去。嚎叫声越来越近，“谋杀！”“逃犯！”“救命呀！”最后我们发现了两个人在互相厮打着。一个是我帮助的那个囚犯，另一个是我在遮蔽体见过的那个逃窜的小伙子。不晓得什么缘故，士兵们把两人分开，并一一戴上手铐。

“他在这儿，是我为你们抓住的！”我的那个囚犯喊着。

“军官，他企图杀害我！”另一个囚犯哭喊着，他的脸上流着血，很明显，他非常惊恐。

“想杀害他！不，”第一个逃犯说，“杀他太容易了，我要让他多受受折磨，送回船上监狱。他在说谎，因为他在试探我们！你们不要相信康培生！”

这时，他第一次发现了我，我向他摇了摇头，表示并不是我让士兵们找到了他的。他盯着我，我不知道他是否明白我的意思。

逃犯们被带到河边，那儿有一只小船正等着把他们送到船上监狱。正在他离开的时候，我的那个囚犯说：“军官，我逃跑后，我从铁匠家里偷了些吃的，面包、黄油、白兰地和一块肉饼，我很抱歉，我吃了你的肉饼，铁匠。”

“你这样做我很高兴，”乔很客气地说，“我们并不知道为什么你是一名罪犯，可我们总不能让你饿死。”

这个罪犯用他的脏手背揉擦着眼睛，我们望着那只小船，把他带进河中央。在那里，依靠着生锈的铁锚链固定在突出水面的那艘大黑牢船上。他被押进船里，消失得无影无踪。我心想，这是我见他最后一面了。

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