Wuthering Heights

Chapter 18

Joseph was leaning over the fire, staring at a large cauldron on top of the fire, and a wooden bowl of oatmeal sitting on a high-backed chair in front of him.The contents of the pot began to boil, and he turned and reached into the wooden bowl.I guessed that this might be our supper being prepared, and now that I was hungry I resolved to eat it.So I screamed, "I'll cook the porridge!" I moved the wooden bowl out of the way of the cereal, and took off my hat and riding clothes. "Mr Earnshaw told me to wait on myself," I went on, "and I'll come right away. I don't want to be a wife among you, and I don't want to starve."

"Good God!" he grunted, sitting down and smoothing his ribbed socks from knee to ankle. "Looks like I've got a new errand—I've just gotten used to two masters, and a mistress rides on top of me. It's like time flies by. I never thought I'd leave my lair one day, but I doubt it's in sight!"

I ignored his complaints.I got to work quickly, sighing and remembering the old days full of joy.I had to quickly drive this memory away.The memory of past pleasures pains me, and the more elusive and frequent the phantoms of the past, the faster my spoon stirs and the faster the handfuls of oatmeal fall into the water.

Joseph watched my cooking style and his anger grew.

"Look!" he exclaimed. "Hareton, you don't have any porridge tonight. It's full of lumps, as big as my fist. Look, look again! If I were you, I'd throw the whole bowl in there Look, the bowl is empty, now you're done. Touch, touch. It's a great mercy that the pot doesn't drop!"

I admit, when it comes to pouring the porridge into the box, it's a total mess.Four pots were given, and a gallon of fresh milk from the dairy.Hareton snatched the milk and drank it, dripping from his parted lips.

I warned him that I hoped he would drink his share from a cup, and that I would never be able to taste the milk so spoiled.The cynical old man was actually furious at this particularity.He told me over and over again, "This child is good in every way", as good as me, "and every bit is healthy", and I don't understand why I can be so conceited.Meanwhile, the little rascal continued to drink, glaring at me defiantly and drooling into the milk jug.

"I'm going to the other room for dinner," I said. "Don't you have a place called the living room?"

"The parlour!" he sneered back at me. "The parlour! No, we don't have a parlour. If you don't like our company, go to the master. If you don't like the master, we've got us."

"So I'm going upstairs," I replied. "Give me a bedroom."

I put my porridge bowl on a tea tray, and went to get some more milk myself.

The guy grunted for a while, got up, and led me up the stairs.We climbed to the attic floor.Every now and then he opened a door and scanned the rooms we passed.

"Here's a room," he said at last, slamming open a crooked door on its hinges. "It's good to have some porridge in here. There's a pile of cornstalks in the corner, and it's clean over there. If you don't want to stain your pretty silk clothes, spread your handkerchief on it."

"What, boy!" I yelled, glaring at him. "This is not a place to sleep. I want to see my bedroom."

"Bedroom!" he responded in a mocking tone. "You've seen all the bedrooms—that's mine."

He pointed to the second attic, the only difference from the first was that the walls were more empty, and there was a big low bed with no curtains on it, with a dark blue quilt on one end.

"Why do I want yours?" I asked him back. "I suppose Mr. Heathcliff doesn't live at the top of the house, does he?"

"Oh, where are you going to Master Heathcliff's room?" he cried, as if he had discovered a new world. "Would you have said no? Then let me tell you, don't bother, that's the room you don't see. He always keeps it locked, and no one ever leaves it except himself. I went in."

"What a nice house you have, Joseph," I could not help saying, "and how kind the people live in it. I feel that since I linked my destiny with his, all the madness in the world It's all condensed into mine! But it's no use talking now, there's another room. Come on, for God's sake, and let me settle down there!"

He didn't answer my plea, but stubbornly moved down the wooden ladder step by step, and stood in front of a room.Look at his stagnant attitude and the fine furniture in the room.I guess it's the best room ever.

There was a rug on the floor, a nice rug.But the pattern was obscured by dust.The fireplace was pasted with paper-cuts, which had already fallen off.A handsome oak bed, hung with tiers of scarlet hangings, costly in material and quite new in style.But it's clear they've been used rudely.The festoon curtain was twisted out of the hook.The iron rods that supported the curtain were bowed at one side, dragging the tent to the floor.The chairs were also damaged, many badly.Deep dents.It makes the siding on the wall beyond recognition.

I mustered up my courage, and was waiting to enter the door and settle down first, when suddenly my foolish guide announced:
"This is my master's bedroom."

My dinner was cold by this time, I had no appetite, and my patience was exhausted.I insisted that I be given a place to shelter right away, as well as bedding.

"Go to that ghost." The pious elder said. "God bless us! The Lord has us! What hell are you going to? You disgusting wretch! You've seen everything but Hareton's little bedroom. There's nothing else in this house." The hole can be drilled!"

I, terribly annoyed, slammed the tea tray and its contents onto the floor.Then I sat on the landing, covered my face with my hands, and burst into tears.

"Hey! Hey!" cried Joseph. "Well done, Miss Cathy! Well done, Miss Cathy! But the master must have slipped and fallen on these broken dishes, and we'll see what happens. We'll hear what's going on. You Madman with nothing to do! You ought to be thin from now until Christmas. Dare to throw a tantrum and throw God's precious gift under your feet! But if you can last long enough, I'll give you up. You think Heathcliff Husband put up with such good manners? I wish he ran into you with such tricks. I wish he ran into you."

So he swears and goes back to his lair downstairs, taking the candle with him.I remain in the dark.

After this foolish act, I thought for a moment and had to admit that I needed to blow my pride away, swallowed my anger, and braced myself to clean up the mess.

Immediately there came an unexpected helper, the choker, which I now recognized as the son of my old orphan, who spent his youth at Thrushcross Grange, and was given to Hindley by my father gentlemen.I think it recognizes me, it stretched out its nose to touch the tip of my nose to say hello, then hurriedly licked up the porridge, while I groped step by step.Pick up the broken pieces.Use my handkerchief to dry up spilled milk on the railing.

Our labors were drawing to a close when I heard Earnshaw's steps in the passage.My assistant clamped his tail tightly and stuck it to the wall.I sneaked into the nearest porch.The dog tried desperately to avoid him, but in vain, I guessed it from the sound of hurrying down the stairs, and a long pitiful howl.My luck is fine.He walked over to his bedroom and slammed the door behind him.

Followed by Joseph and Hareton.He sent him to bed.I took refuge in Hareton's room.When the old man saw me, he said:

"There's room over there for you and your pride, and I think it's in the 'house.' It's empty there, and you can have it all to yourself, and God's always on the sidelines with a villain like you!"

I'm glad I took advantage of this instruction.As soon as I sank into a chair by the fire, I dozed off and fell asleep.

I slept soundly and sweetly, though it was a short sleep.Mr. Heathcliff woke me up.He just came in, in his lovely way.Ask me what I'm doing there.

I told him the reason why I stayed up late - he put the key to our room in his pocket.

The word "our" sent him into a rage.He swears and swears that it is not and never will be my room.And he wants to—but I don't want to repeat his words, or describe his usual behaviour.He is deliberately planning to arouse my hatred endlessly!Sometimes I really don't understand him, and my wonder overwhelms my horror.But, let me tell you, the fear that a tiger or a poisonous snake gives me can't compare with his fear.He told me about Catherine's illness, blaming my brother for the cause.Swear that I should be Edgar's double, tortured by him till he can hold him.

I really hate him, I am unfortunate, I am a fool!Be careful not to confide in the matter to anyone at the Grange.I look forward to you every day - don't let me down!
Isabella
As soon as this letter was read, I went to my master, and told him that his sister, at Wuthering Heights, had sent me a letter expressing her concern for Mrs Linton's condition, and her great desire to see him.I said I wished very much that he would send me to her as soon as possible, to convey a little of his forgiveness.

"Forgive!" said Linton. "She has nothing for me to forgive, Ellen. You can go to Wuthering Heights this afternoon if you like, and say I'm not angry, but I do regret losing her, especially as I never thought she would be happy. But it's out of the question for me to see her. We're separated forever. If she really feels indebted to me, let her persuade the scoundrel she married to get out of here."

"Won't you write her a note, sir?" I begged him.

"No." He replied. "Unnecessarily. My correspondence with Heathcliff's family should be as rare as his correspondence with mine. It can't exist at all!"

Mr. Edgar's indifference made me extremely depressed.All the way from the Grange I was thinking about how to put a little tenderness into my words when I repeated them, and how he wouldn't even write a few lines to comfort Isabella, Put it more tactfully.

I dare say she's been looking forward to me since morning.As soon as I came up the stone walk in the garden, I saw her looking out of the pane.I nodded at her.But she shrank back, as if afraid of being seen.

I walked in without knocking.This formerly happy house had never presented such a desolate and dilapidated scene!I must admit that if I were in that young lady's position, I would at least sweep the hearth with a duster and dust the table.But she had become infected with the all-pervasive depression that surrounded her.Her pretty face was pale and tousled; her hair was uncurled, either in tufts hanging straight down, or curled carelessly upon her head.Maybe she hasn't washed and washed since last night.

Hindley wasn't there.Mr. Heathcliff sat at the table, turning over some pages in his wallet.But as soon as I showed up, he stood up and asked me how I was in a very nice way and gave me a chair.

He's the only one there who looks good, and I don't think he's ever looked better.Circumstances have changed their status so much that it is clear to a stranger at first sight that he is born a well-bred gentleman, while his wife is a complete slob!
She eagerly came up to welcome me, holding out a hand for the expected letter.

I shook my head.She didn't understand my cue, but followed me to the pantry.I went there to drop my hat.She begged me in a low voice to give her what I had brought.

Heathcliff guessed the meaning of her gesture, and said:

"If you brought Isabella anything, you did, Nelly, so give it to her. You don't have to keep secrets, there are no secrets between us."

"Oh, I didn't bring anything," I replied, thinking it best to tell the truth right away. "My master told me to tell his sister not to expect letters, nor to see him to see her. He asked me to convey his love, ma'am, his wish for your happiness, and his forgiveness for the sorrow you have caused .But he thinks that from now on, his family should cut off communication with this family, because it is useless to maintain communication."

Mrs. Heathcliff's lips quivered slightly, and she returned to her seat at the window.Her husband, standing next to me by the fire, began to inquire about Catherine.

I told him as much as I thought fit about her condition, and his endless questions forced me to tell most of the facts which pertained to her ailment.

I blame her for her own fault, and she is to blame.I hope in the end that he follows Mr. Linton's example and avoids future entanglements with his family, for better or for worse.

"Mrs Linton is recovering," I said, "she's never going to get back to what she used to be, but her life's saved, and if you really miss her, don't bother her any more. No, you've got to go away entirely." This place. Lest I regret it, I can tell you that Katherine Linton is now as different from your old friend Katherine Earnshaw as that young lady was from me! Her appearance is so changed , the heart became even more powerful. The person who is inevitable and has to be her partner, in order to maintain his relationship from now on, can only rely on recalling her past times, relying on humanity and responsibility!"

"It is quite probable," said Heathcliff, trying to look calm, "that your master has nothing but humanity and duty to sustain him. But you think I should have put Catherine Is it humane and responsible to throw him? Before you leave this house, I must ask you to promise that I will meet her once—yes or refuse, I must see her. What do you say?"

"I say, Mr. Heathcliff," I answered, "that you must not, you never must, ask me to make a match. You and my master will be killed once more!"

"With your help, it can be avoided," he went on. "If such things are dangerous, if he adds a little more trouble to her life because of him, then I have a reason to go to extremes! I hope Tell me seriously, if Catherine loses him, will it be very painful? It is because I am afraid of her pain that I dare not do it. Here you can see the difference between our emotions, he wants to be in my position, and I am in his status, even if I hated him for being incompatible with power, I would never raise a hand against him. Be disbelieving if you wanted to! As long as she longed for his company, I would never put him Drive from her. But as soon as her longing ceases, I'll take out his heart and drink his blood! But before that—if you don't believe me, you don't know me—before this, I'd rather be cut to death with a knife than touch a single hair of his!"

"But," I interjected, "you have the audacity to destroy all hope of her complete recovery, and now, when she has almost forgotten you, insert you again into her memory, and draw her back into trouble and distress." Amidst the uproar."

"You think she's almost forgotten me?" he said. "Oh, Nelly! You know she doesn't! You know as well as I do that for every time she thinks of Linton she thinks of me a thousand times! In the saddest times of my life I have had such Thought, I had it in my mind when I came back to the country last summer, but it was only when she said it to me herself that I was able to reaffirm the dreadful thought. By that time, Linton was nothing, and Hindley Nothing, and all the dreams I've had since I was a child, and nothing. My future can be summed up in two words—death and hell. Losing her—life is hell.

"But I was so stupid. For a moment, I actually thought that she valued Linton's affection more than mine. Linton used his thin body to fall in love with all his strength for 80 years, and it was not enough for me to fall in love for one day. Catherine's His heart is as deep as mine. To say that he monopolizes all her emotions is like the sea being easily put into that manger. Bah! He is closer to her than her dog and horse. There's nothing in him to love the way I do, how can she love in him what he doesn't have?"

"Catherine and Edgar loved each other and never let anyone else die," cried Isabella suddenly, "no one has the right to talk like that, and I can't keep silent when someone speaks ill of my brother!" "

"Your brother and you are very dear to each other, aren't you?" sneered Heathcliff. "He's curiously glad you're wandering about in the world."

"He didn't know I was suffering," she replied. "I didn't tell him that."

"Then you told him something else, you wrote, didn't you?"

"Tell him I'm married, I wrote it, and you saw the note."

"Nothing else?"

"Gone."

"My young lady is much haggard since the change of circumstances," I said. "Obviously, someone's love for her must be unreal. I can guess whose love. But, maybe, I shouldn't say it."

"I should suppose it was her own love," said Heathcliff. "She's turned into a real slob! It's amazing how early she doesn't bother to please me. You wouldn't believe it, but the morning after our wedding she went home crying. But Well, her slovenliness just matches this house, and I will be more careful not to let her run around outside to embarrass me."

(End of this chapter)