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牛津书虫系列 雾都孤儿 Chapter14

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14 The end of the mystery
The next day Oliver travelled with Mr Brown low ,Dr Losberne,Mrs May lie and Rose back to his birthplace.He had been told a little of his history,and knew that the re would be more explanations at the end of this journey.He was anxious and uncertain,wondering what he would hear.
But towards the end of the journey,he began to recognize familiar places,and in great excitement pointed the m out to Rose.The re was the path he had taken when he had run away.The re,across the fields,was the ‘baby farm’.The n,as They drove into the town,he saw the house of Mr So wer berry the undertaker,and the workhouse that had been his prison.
They stopped at the biggest hotel in the town,and went in to their rooms.During dinner Mr Brown low stayed in a separate room,and the older members of the group went in and out with serious faces.Mrs May lie came back with her eyes red from crying.All this made Rose and Oliver,who had not been told any new secrets,very nervous and uncomfortable.
At nine o’clock Dr Losberne and Mr Brown low brought Monks into the room.Oliver was very surprised;this was the same man he had bumped into once outside a pub,and seen another time with Fagin,looking in at him through the window of the country cottage.Oliver was told that Monks was his half-brother,and the boy stared at him in shock and amazement.Monks looked back at him with hatred.
‘We have the whole story here in the se papers,’said Mr Brown low ,putting the m on the table. ‘All we need now is for you to sign the m,Monks.And to tell Oliver what happened.’
Monks started hesitantly. ‘My father had arrived in Italy to collect the money he had inherited,when suddenly he fell ill.When he died,we found two papers in his desk.One was a letter to his girl;the other was a will.’
‘What was the letter?’asked Mr Brown low .
‘It was written when he was ill,telling the girl how ashamed he was that she was pregnant.He asked her not to remember him as a bad man but as someone who had made a mistake.He reminded her of the day he’d given her the locket and ring.’
Oliver’s tears fell fast as he listened to the story of his father.
‘And what about the will?’asked Mr Brown low .
Monks was silent.
‘The will,’continued Mr Brown low ,speaking for him, ‘was in the same spirit as the letter.He talked of the misery of his marriage to his wife,and the evil character of you,Monks,his only son,who had been brought up by your mother to hate him.He left you and your mother an annual income of $800.The rest of his property he left to his girl Agnes and to their child,if it were born alive,and if it showed itself to be of a good,kind character.The money would only go to you,Monks,as the older son,if The younger turned out to be as evil as you.’
‘My mother,’said Monks, ‘burnt this will,and never sent the letter.The girl Agnes left her home in secret,so that her pregnancy would not bring shame on her family.I swore to my mother,when she was dying,that if I ever found my half-brother,I would do him all the harm I could.He would feel my hatred like a whip on his back.I paid Fagin to trap Oliver into a life of crime.But the n he escaped,and that stupid,interfering girl Nancy talked to you.If I’d had the chance,I would have finished what I’d begun.’Monks stared at Oliver,and his lips moved in a silent curse.
‘And the locket and ring?’asked Mr Brown low .
‘I bought the m from Mr and Mrs Bumble,who had stolen the m from the nurse,who had stolen the m from Agnes,the dead girl.I’ve already told you how I threw the m into the river.
Mr Brown low turned to Rose. ‘I have one more thing to explain,’he said to the girl.
‘I don’t know if I have the strength to hear it now,’she murmured, ‘having heard so much already.’
Mr Brown low put his hand under her arm. ‘You have a great deal of courage,dear child,’he said kindly.He turned to Monks. ‘Do you know this young lady,sir?’
‘Yes.’
‘I don’t know you,’said Rose faintly.
‘The father of poor Agnes had two daughters,’said Mr Brown low . ‘What happened to the other one,who was only a young child at the time?’
‘When Agnes disappeared,’replied Monks, ‘her father changed his name and moved to a lonely place in Wales,where no one would know about the family shame.He died very soon afterwards,and this young daughter was taken in by some poor people.My mother hated Agnes and everybody connected with her.She hunted for this young sister,and made sure that her life would be unhappy.She told the poor people who had taken her in that the girl was illegitimate,and that she came from a bad family with an evil reputation.So the child led a life of miserable poverty-until Mrs May lie saw her by chance,pitied her,and took her home.’
‘And do you see this young sister now?’asked Mr Brown low .
‘Yes.Standing by your side.’
Rose could hardly speak. ‘So…Oliver is my nephew?’
‘I can never call you aunt,’cried Oliver. ‘You’ll always be my own dear sister!’
They ran into each other’s arms,both of the m crying in their happiness.A father,sister and mother had been lost and gained,and it was too much for one evening.They stood for a long time in silence,and the others left the m alone.
The court was full of faces;from every corner,all eyes were on one man-Fagin.In front of him,behind,above,below -he seemed surrounded by staring eyes.Not one of the faces showed any sympathy towards him;all were determined that he should hang.At last,the re was a cry of ‘Silence!’,and everyone looked towards the door.The jury returned,and passed close to Fagin.He could tell nothing from their faces;They could have been made of stone.The n the re was complete stillness-not a whisper,not a breath…Guilty.The whole court rang with a great shout,echoing through all the rooms as the crowd ran out of the building to tell all the people waiting outside.The news was that he would die on Monday.
Fagin thought of nothing but death that night.He began to remember all the people he had ever known who had been hung.He could hardly count the m.They might have sat in the same prison cell as he was sitting in now.He thought about death by hanging-the rope,the cloth bag over the head,the sudden change from strong men to bundles of clothe s,hanging at the end of a rope.
As his last night came,despair seized Fagin’s evil soul.He could not sit still,and hurried up and down his small cell,gasping with terror,his eyes flashing with hate and anger.The n he lay trembling on his stone bed and listened to the clock striking the hours.Where would he be when those hours came round again?
In the middle of that Sunday night,Mr Brown low and Oliver were allowed to enter the prison.Several strong doors were unlocked,and eventually They entered Fagin’s cell.The old robber was sitting on the bed,whispering to himself,his face more like a trapped animal’s than a human’s.
‘You have some papers,Fagin,’said Mr Brown low quietly, ‘which were given to you by Monks to look after.’
‘It’s a lie!’replied Fagin,not looking at him. ‘I haven’t got any.’
‘For the love of God,’said Mr Brown low ,very seriously, ‘don’t lie to us now,on the night before your death.You know that Sikes is dead and Monks has confessed.Where are the papers?’
‘I’ll tell you,Oliver,’said Fagin. ‘Come here.’He whispered to him. ‘They’re in a bag up the chimney in the front room at the top of the house.But I want to talk to you,my dear.’
‘Yes,’said Oliver. ‘Will you pray with me?’
‘Outside,outside,’said Fagin,pushing the boy in front of him towards the door. ‘Say I’ve gone to sleep-They’ll believe you.You can take me out with you when you go.’The old man’s eyes shone with a mad light.
‘It’s no good,’said Mr Brown low ,taking Oliver’s hand . ‘He’s gone too far,and we can never reach him now.’
The cell door opened,and as the visitors left,Fagin started struggling and fighting with his guards,screaming so loudly that the prison walls rang with the sound.
They left the prison building in the grey light of dawn.Outside in the street,huge crowds were already gathering,joking and laughing,and pushing to get the best places near the great black platform,where the rope hung ready for its morning’s work.
Less than three months later,Rose married Harry May lie.For her sake,Harry had abandoned his political ambitions,and had become a simple man of the church.The re was no longer any mystery about Rose’s birth,but even if the re had been,Harry would not have cared.They lived next to the church in a peaceful village.Mrs May lie went to live with the m,and spent the rest of her days in quiet contentment.
Mr Brown low adopted Oliver as his son.They moved to a house in the same quiet village,and were just as happy.Dr Losberne discovered suddenly that the air in Chertsey did not suit him.In less than three months he,too,had moved-to a cottage just outside the village,where he took up gardening and fishing with great energy and enthusiasm.
Mr Brown low suggested that half the remaining money from the will should be given to Monks and the other half to Oliver,although by law it should all have gone to Oliver alone.Oliver was glad to accept the suggestion.Monks went off with his money to the other side of the world,where he spent it quickly and was soon in prison for another act of fraud.In prison he became ill and died.The remaining members of Fagin’s gang died in similar ways in other distant countries,all except Charley Bates,who turned his back on his past life of crime and lived honestly,as a farmer.
Noah Claypole was given a free pardon for telling the police about Fagin.He soon became employed as an informer for the police,spying on people and telling the police about anyone who had broken the law.Mr and Mrs Bumble lost their jobs and became poorer and poorer,eventually living in poverty in the same workhouse that They had once managed.
In that quiet country village,Theyears passed peacefully.Mr Brown low filled the mind of his adopted son with knowledge,and as he watched the boy grow up,he was reminded more and more of his old friend,Oliver’s father.The two orphans,Rose and Oliver,led lives that were truly happy.The hardships that They had once suffered had left no bitterness in their gentle souls,and all their lives They showed the mercy and kindness to others that God himself shows to all things that breathe .
14 揭开秘密
第二天,奥利弗与布朗洛先生、罗斯伯恩医生、梅利夫人以及罗斯一起回到他的出生地。在途中,他已得知了有关他过去的一些事情,知道在旅行结束时会听到更多的解释。他焦急不安,心中无主,揣摩着他还将会听到些什么事情。
路快走完了,他逐渐地认出了那些熟悉的地方,十分激动地把这些地方指给罗斯看。那儿是他当初逃离时走过的小道。田野的另一端是育婴堂。他们驾车进镇子时,他看到了棺材店老板索尔贝里先生的房子,以及他曾在其中过着囚徒生活的济贫院。
他们在镇上最大的一座旅馆前停了下来,进了各自的房间。晚餐时,布朗洛先生待在一个单独的房间里,其他年长的人进出这房间时都板着严肃的面孔。梅利夫人出来时两眼哭得通红。罗斯和奥利弗对这一切感到非常紧张和不安,因为他们未曾被告知任何新的秘密情况。
9点钟时,罗斯伯恩医生和布朗洛先生把蒙克斯带了进来。奥利弗感到很惊讶,这正是同奥利弗在酒馆外撞个满怀的那个人,也正是曾经和费金一起透过村舍的窗户窥视奥利弗的那个人。大家告诉奥利弗,蒙克斯是他的异母哥哥。奥利弗用讶异和震惊的目光看着蒙克斯,蒙克斯也回看着他,眼里充满了仇恨。
布朗洛先生把一些文件放在桌子上说:“所有的事情都写在这里!我们只要你在上面签字,蒙克斯,还要你亲口告诉奥利弗所发生的一切。”
蒙克斯犹犹豫豫地开始道:“我父亲到意大利去取他继承的钱财,却突然病倒了。他死后,我们在他的桌子里发现了两份文件,一份是给那个女孩的信,另一份是一份遗嘱。”
“什么信?”布朗洛先生问。
“这封信是他在患病时写的,他在信中告诉那个女孩,他对她怀孕这件事感到多么羞愧。他请求她不要把他当作坏人来记忆,他只是一个犯了错误的人。他还提醒她记住他送给她戒指以及小金盒的那一天。”
奥利弗一面听着他父亲的事,一面不停地流着眼泪。
“遗嘱后来怎样说?”布朗洛先生问道。
蒙克斯没有回答。
“那份遗嘱,”布朗洛先生接着说,“和信中所说的意思是一样的。他在里面讲到了他同他妻子的痛苦婚姻以及他唯一的儿子蒙克斯——也就是你——的邪恶性格,你母亲抚养你成人时一直教你憎恨你父亲。他留给你和你的母亲每年800英镑的收入。其余的财产都留给了那个少女阿格尼丝以及他们的孩子,如果这个孩子能活下来,并且成长为一个善良的好孩子的话。如果这个孩子变得像你一样邪恶,那么你蒙克斯作为长子,有权拥有所有这些钱。”
蒙克斯说:“我母亲烧了这份遗嘱,也没有把信发出去。那个少女阿格尼丝偷偷地离开了家,因为她不愿让怀孕这件事使她的家庭蒙上耻辱。我母亲死时,我向她发誓,如果我遇上我那异母兄弟的话,我会竭尽全力地伤害他的。他会感到我的憎恨就像鞭子抽打在他的背上。我付给费金钱,是让他设圈套给奥利弗钻,使他过上犯罪的生活。但他逃脱了,而那个愚蠢的好管闲事的南希把一切都告诉了你们。如果我机缘好的话,我本来是能够完成已经开始做的事的。”蒙克斯盯着奥利弗,嘴唇蠕动,不出声地暗暗诅咒着。
“那么戒指和那个盒子呢?”布朗洛先生问。
“那个老看护从死去的姑娘阿格尼丝那里偷走了它们,班布尔太太又从看护那里偷了来,我最终从班布尔夫妇那里花钱买下了它们。我已告诉过你们,我是如何把它们扔进河里的。”
布朗洛先生转向罗斯,对她说:“我还有一件事要解释。”
“我真不知是否还有力气听下去,”她嘟哝道,“今天已听得太多了!”
布朗洛先生把手扶在罗斯的胳膊下,和善地对她说:“亲爱的孩子,你是很坚强的。”他回头向蒙克斯问道:“先生,你认识这位小姐吗?”
“认识。”
“我不认识你。”罗斯用微弱的声音说道。
布朗洛先生说:“可怜的阿格尼丝的父亲有两个女儿,他另外的一个女儿呢?当时还是个小孩的那个?”
蒙克斯回答道:“阿格尼丝失踪后,她父亲改了姓名,并把家搬到了威尔士的一个偏僻的地方,在那里没人会知道他家庭的耻辱。没多久他便去世了,他的小女儿因此就被一些穷人领养了。我母亲痛恨阿格尼丝以及所有和她有关的人,她四处寻找她的妹妹,并千方百计让她受折磨。她跟领养这个小女孩的穷人说这女孩是个私生子,说女孩出生在一个名声败坏的罪恶的家庭。于是,这个小女孩一直过着穷苦悲惨的生活——直到梅利夫人偶然见到她,可怜她,并把她带回家。”
“你现在看见这位妹妹了吗?”布朗洛先生问道。
“是的,就是站在你身旁的那位小姐。”
罗斯几乎说不出话来。“那么说……奥利弗是我的外甥?”
这时奥利弗喊道:“我永远不叫你姨妈,你永远是我的亲爱的亲姐姐!”
他们拥抱在一起,高兴地流着泪。父亲,母亲,姐妹,失去之后又重新得到,这一晚发生的事情太多了。他们长时间地站在那里沉默不语,其他人都不去打扰他们。
法庭上坐满了人,每一个角落里的每一双眼睛都注视着一个人——费金。在他前后左右,上上下下,似乎有无数双瞪大的眼睛包围着他。没有一个人流露出同情。他们都认为对他应处以绞刑。终于,大家听到一声大喊:“肃静!”随后所有人都看着门口。陪审团回来了,从费金身旁走过。他无法从他们脸上看出自己的命运;他们的脸孔像石头一样没有表情。大厅里一片静寂——没有窃窃私语,没有呼吸声……“有罪!”整个法庭响起了呐喊声,喊声在各个房间回荡着,因为人们都奔出楼去,把消息告诉等在门外的人们:费金将在星期一被处死。
那天晚上,费金唯一想到的就是死。他开始回忆所有那些他认识的被处以绞刑的人。他根本数不清了。他们当初也许就是被关在眼下他坐着的这间囚室里。他想到了被绞死的情景——绳子,套在头上的布袋子,一个强壮的人忽然变为一团衣服,悬挂在绳子的一端。
当最后一个夜晚来临时,绝望吞噬着费金那罪恶的心灵。他坐立不安,在他的小牢房里上窜下跳,惊恐地喘着粗气,眼睛里闪烁着愤怒和憎恨的光。然后,他哆哆嗦嗦地躺在石头床上,听着报时的钟声。当这些时刻再次到来时,他会在哪里呢?
在那个星期天的半夜里,布朗洛先生和奥利弗被允许进入牢房。几扇沉重的大门开了锁,最终他们进入了费金的牢房。这个老强盗正坐在床上,喃喃自语,他的脸不像人脸,更像一个落网的动物的脸。
“费金,蒙克斯曾给你几份文件让你保管。”布朗洛先生平静地说。
“那是谎话,我一份都没有!”费金回答说,眼睛不看着布朗洛先生。
此时,布朗洛先生非常严肃地说:“看在上帝的份上,在你死前的夜晚,不要对我们再撒谎了。你知道赛克斯已经死了,蒙克斯已坦白说出了一切。那些文件在什么地方?”
“奥利弗,我告诉你,”费金说,“你过来。”他在奥利弗耳边低声说:“它们在我房子最上层前屋烟囱里的一个袋子里。可是,亲爱的,我想和你说几句话。”
“好吧,”奥利弗说道,“你愿和我一起祈祷吗?”
“到外面去,到外面去,”费金说着,把奥利弗挡在自己前面推向门口。“跟他们说我睡着了——他们会相信你的。你们走时,可以把我带出去。”老头子的眼睛疯狂地亮了起来。
布朗洛先生拉着奥利弗的手说:“没有用了。他已经疯了,现在我们再也不能说服他了。”
牢门打开了,当来访者离开的时候,费金开始挣扎,和看守打斗起来,他大声尖叫,使牢房的墙壁都产生了回响。
在青灰色的晨光中,他们离开了监狱。外面的大街上已聚集了拥挤的人群,他们时而说着玩笑话,时而放声大笑,挤来挤去,都想找到离黑色平台最近的地方。在那儿,绞索已经挂起来,为当天早上的工作准备好了。
不到三个月后,罗斯和哈里·梅利结了婚。为了她,哈里已放弃了他的政治抱负,做了教堂里一个普通的工作人员。有关罗斯的出生不再存在任何秘密,但即使有,哈里也不会在意的。他们住在教堂旁边的一个平静的村庄里,梅利夫人搬去和他们一起生活,在平静满足中安度晚年。
布朗洛先生把奥利弗收为养子。他们搬进了同一个安静的村庄里的一所房子,同样过着幸福的生活。罗斯伯恩医生突然发现切特赛的空气并不适合他,不到三个月后,他也搬了家——搬到了村子外的一个小农舍里,在那里他开始从事园艺和钓鱼,精力充沛,兴趣盎然。
布朗洛先生建议遗嘱中剩下的钱一半归蒙克斯,另一半归奥利弗,尽管按法律规定,奥利弗应独自拥有全部财产。奥利弗非常高兴地接受了这一建议。蒙克斯拿走了他的钱后去了世界的另一边,他很快就把钱花光了,不久就因另一起诈骗行为入狱。在狱中,他生病死去。费金那一伙中剩下的人在其他一些遥远的国度以相似的方式先后死去,只有查理·贝茨除外,他痛改前非,做了一名老老实实的农民。
由于诺厄·克莱普尔向警察揭发了费金的罪行,他得到了宽耍他不久就被警察局雇用为眼线,暗中监视别人,并向警察局举报那些犯法的人。班布尔夫妇二人失去了工作,越来越穷,最终生活在他们曾经管理过的济贫院里,过着贫困的生活。
在那个安静的村落里,年复一年,人们过着平静的生活。布朗洛先生教给他的养子许多知识。他看着这个男孩逐渐长大,愈发想起他的老朋友——奥利弗的父亲。两个孤儿,罗斯和奥利弗,过着真正幸福的生活。他们曾遭受过的艰难困苦并没有给他们善良的心灵留下创伤,在他们的一生中,他们对其他人表现出的同情与善良就像上帝对一切生灵所表现的一样。
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