有声名著之简爱Jene Eyer Chapter22

　　CHAPTER¹ TWENTY-TWO I Am No longer Poor
After St. John left me, it began to snow. It snowed all night and the next day. In the evening, I was sitting by the fire and had just begun to read when I heard a knock at the door. St. John came inside the house, covered in snow. “Is something wrong?” I asked. “No one should be outside in this terrible weather.”
“There’s nothing wrong,” he answered calmly. “ I just came to talk to you. Besides, I’d like to hear the rest of your story.” He sat sown². I had no idea what he meant. I wondered if this was connected³ to his strange actions with the piece of paper on my table. But he looked normal, and we talked of ordinary⁴ things for a while. However, he always seemed to be thinking⁵ of something else.
Finally he said, ”Jane, when I arrived I said I wanted to hear the rest of your story. But perhaps it’s better if I tell you a story. I think you have heard it before. Twenty years ago, a poor churchman and a rich man’s daughter loved one another. She married⁶ him, and her family never spoke⁷ to her again. Sadly⁸, less than two years later they were both dead. I have seen their graves⁹. Their baby daughter was taken to live with her aunt, a Mrs. Reed¹⁰ of Gateshead. I don’t know jf the child was happy living with Mrs. Reed, but she stayed at Gateshead for almost ten years, until she went to lowood School. You went to Lowood School yourself. In fact, it seems her life was just like yours,” he said, looking at me closely¹¹. “This girl became a teacher at Lowood, as you did, and then became a governess in the house of a man named Mr. Rochester.”
“St. John!” I cried. I could not stay quiet.
“I can imagine how you feel,” he said, holding up his hand. “But wait until I’m done with the story. I don’t know anything about this Mr. Rochester, but I do know that he wanted to marry this young girl. But during the wedding¹², she learned¹³ that he already had a wife! And, his wife was mad. After this, the girl disappeared¹⁴. Many people have tried to find her, but no one knows where she is. But she must be found! A lawyer named Briggs needs to talk to her, about something very important.”
“Just tell her one thing,” I said desperately¹⁵. “What about Mr. Rochester? Where is he? What is he doing? Is he well?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you ask me the girl’s name, and why people are looking for her?”
“Did Mr. Briggs write to Mr. Rochester?” I asked.
“He did, but Rochester didn’t write back. Instead a woman named Mrs. Fairfax answered his letter.”
I felt cold and miserable¹⁶. Probably Mr. Rochester had left England to live an exciting life in Europe. He would look for a new woman to love.
“You won’t ask the girl’s name, so I’ll tell you,” said St. John. “I have it right here.” He took out a little piece of paper and showed it to me. The paper came from my drawing¹⁷ book, and said “JANE EYRE” in my own writing. I had written my real name on Miss Oliver’s drawing, without thinking!
“You see, Mr. Briggs spoke of a Jane Eyre, but I only knew a Jane Elliott.” Said St. John, “Are you Jane Eyre?”
“Well--- yes,” I cried. “But doesn’t Mr. Briggs know anything at all about Mr. Rochester?”
“Briggs isn’t interested in Mr. Rochester. He’s interested in you. Don’t you want to know why?”
“Well, what did he want?” I asked, almost rudely.
“He wanted to tell you that your uncle, John Eyre of Maderia, is dead. He has left you all his money, and you are now rich. That is all.” I sat down in a chair, my legs shaking. Rich! One moment I was poor, the next moment I was wealthy¹⁸. I could not believe it. I was very sorry that my uncle was dead, because he was the only family I had left. However, I would never have to worry about money again! I was independent¹⁹ for life!
“Wouldn’t you like to know how much money you have, Jane Eyre?” said St. John. “It’s only a little bit--- just twenty thousand pounds. I think.”
“Twenty thousand pounds!” I thought I would faint²⁰ from surprise. I had never heard St. John laugh before, but when he saw my face, he could not help it. “Perhaps… perhaps you’ve made a mistake.” I cried nervously²¹.
“No, there’s no mistake,” he said, smiling. “Now I must go. Good night.” He was about to leave when I said suddenly, “Wait! Stop! Why did Mr. Briggs write to you, if he wanted to find me?”
“Oh, I’m a church man,” he laughed. “I have ways of discovering interesting things1”
“Oh, St. John, I know that isn’t the reason. Tell me the truth!” I said. “Well, I’d rather not tell you just now, but I suppose you’ll find out sooner or later. So I’ll tell you a little something about myself. Did you know that my full name is St. John Eyre Rivers?”
“No, I didn’t! But then what…” And I stopped, as I had begun to make a connection²². Could it be true? But St. John continued to talk.
“You weren’t told very much about your family, were you, Jane?” I shook my head. “My mother’s last name was Eyre,” he said. “She had two brothers. One was a church man, who married a Miss Jane Reed of Gateshead. The other brother was John Eyre of Madeira. Mr. Briggs, Mr. Eyre’s lawyer, wrote us a letter. The letter said that our uncle had died, but he had left all his money to his brother’s daughter. Then Mr. Briggs wrote again later, saying that no one could find this girl. But I’ve found her!” he went towards the door, ready to leave.
“Wait--- I have to think!” I said. “So this means²³ that you, Diana and Mary are my cousins!”
“That’s right,” he said. All my life I had been alone. Now I had found family to love and be proud of, for the rest of my life! These people, who had saved my life, were my cousins. This knowledge made me happier than any money ever could.
“Oh, St. John, I’m glad--- I’m so glad!” I cried, laughing.
St. john smiled. “You looked so worried and serious when I told you about the money. And now you’re happy about something ordinary!”
“No, you don’t understand. This means everything to me! You see. You already have some family. But I had no one, and now I suddenly have three wonderful cousins!” I walked quickly around the room. My head was full of wonderful ideas. I could now help the Rivers family by sharing the money with them! There were the four of us cousins. If we shared my money equally²⁴, there would be five thousand pounds for each of us. That was plenty of money. It was a fair answer to money problems, and we would all be happy. If they did not want to , Diana and Mary would never have to work again. We would all be able to spend more time together at Moor²⁵ House.
Of course, when I told my cousins what I wanted to do, they did not agree at first. But they knew that I was serious about sharing the money, so finally they agreed to each take five thousand pounds. Mr. Briggs the lawyer gave the money to each of us.

1 chapter   

n.章，篇，重要章节

参考例句：

• I will skip the next chapter.我将略过下一章。
• Go and open a wonderful new chapter.去开启美好的新篇章。

2 sown   

v.（在已播种有另一种作物的土地上）套种（晚栽作物）( undersow的过去式和过去分词 )；sow的过去分词

参考例句：

• We sowed our vegetable seed yesterday.Have you sown yours? 昨天我们播下了菜籽，你也播了吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Once you've sown, you just have to trust to luck. 播下种子后，让它听天由命长吧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 connected   

adj.连接的，有关系的，有联系的；连贯的；有血统[婚姻]关系的v.连接( connect的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The towns are connected by train and bus services. 这些城镇由火车和公共汽车连接起来。
• This leads to the inescapable conclusion that the two things are connected. 这就必然得出一个结论：这两件事互有关联。

4 ordinary   

adj.平常的，普通的；n.常事，常例，普通的人

参考例句：

• Her new house is certainly out of the ordinary.她的新居真是不同凡响。
• That is quite an ordinary event.那是极平常的一件事。

5 thinking   

n.思考，思想；adj.思考的，有理性的；vbl.想，思考

参考例句：

• All thinking men will protest against it.凡是有思想的人都会抗议这件事。
• Thinking is mainly performed with words and other symbols.思想主要是用言语和其他符号来表达的。

6 married   

adj.已婚的；与…结婚的

参考例句：

• I heard John got married.我听说约翰结婚了。
• They got married last autumn.他们在去年秋季结婚。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 sadly   

adv.悲痛地，悲惨地，悲伤地

参考例句：

• She looked at him sadly.她难过地看着他。
• Sadly the good times aren't returning any time soon.遗憾的是，好时光不会很快就回来。

9 graves   

n.（法国）格拉芙葡萄酒；坟墓( grave的名词复数 )；死亡；钝重音符；沉音符v.坟墓( grave的第三人称单数 )；死亡；钝重音符；沉音符

参考例句：

• He went to visit the graves of his forefathers. 他去拜谒他祖先的墓地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were eating themselves into their graves. 他们吃喝过度，在自找死路。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 reed   

n.芦苇，芦丛，簧舌，簧片

参考例句：

• The river banks were overgrown with reed.河岸长满了芦苇。
• They inhabit reed huts built on stilts above the water.他们住在建于水中木桩之上的芦苇草屋里。

11 closely   

adv.紧密地；严密地，密切地

参考例句：

• We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
• The two companies are closely tied up with each other.这两家公司之间有密切联系。

12 wedding   

n.婚礼，结婚，结婚仪式，结合

参考例句：

• I have to attend a wedding.我必须去参加婚礼。
• Their wedding was very quiet.他们的婚礼很平淡。

13 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

14 disappeared   

v.不见，消失( disappear的过去式和过去分词 )；不复存在；奭

参考例句：

• The plane disappeared behind a cloud. 飞机消失在云层里。
• He double-crossed the rest of the gang and disappeared with all the money. 他骗了其他同伙，携款潜逃了。

15 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

16 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

17 drawing   

n.图画，制图，素描术

参考例句：

• Drawing is my favorite lesson.画图画是我最喜欢的课程。
• The children learn singing,dancing,drawing,and the like in the kindergarten.孩子们在幼儿园里学习唱歌、跳舞、画图画等。

18 wealthy   

adj.富有的，丰裕的，充分的

参考例句：

• He grew up in a wealthy family.他在一个富有的家庭里长大。
• That young man was the son of a wealthy planter.那年轻人是一位富有的农场主的儿子。

19 independent   

adj.独立自主的；不须依赖的，不受约束的

参考例句：

• He is very far from being independent.他现在还远不能自立。
• We must fight for independent and free.我们必须为独立和自由而奋斗。

20 faint   

n.昏厥，昏倒；adj.微弱的，无力的，模糊的；vi.昏倒，变得微弱

参考例句：

• He felt faint at the sight of blood.他一见到血就发晕了。
• She threw me a faint smile.她对我微微一笑。

21 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

22 connection   

n.联接，连结，联系；亲戚关系

参考例句：

• How long will the connection of the telephone take?接通电话需要多长时间呢？
• She is a connection of mine.她是我的一个亲戚。

23 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

24 equally   

adv.平等地；公平地

参考例句：

• Divide the cake into quarters and share it equally.把蛋糕分成四份，大家平均享用。
• The blue sky belongs equally to us all.蓝天为人所共有。

25 moor   

n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊

参考例句：

• I decided to moor near some tourist boats.我决定在一些观光船附近停泊。
• There were hundreds of the old huts on the moor.沼地上有成百上千的古老的石屋。