Wuthering Heights

Chapter 6

I sympathized with him for a while, but then the children got measles and I had to come and nurse them, and immediately took on the responsibility of being a woman.That's when my opinion changed.Heathcliff was very sick.When he was in the worst condition, he asked me to keep him by his pillow.I think he thinks that I treat him well, but he doesn't know that I have to serve him as a last resort.But in any case, I must say that a nurse has never looked after such a quiet child as he.The difference between him and those two children forced me to be less partial.Cathy and her brother kept me dazed, but he was as uncomplaining as a lamb; though his avoidance of trouble was not due to meekness but to stoicism.

He survived, and the doctor affirmed that it was thanks to me, and praised me for my good care.I was flattered by his praise, and softened to whom I had been praised, and Hindley lost his last ally.But I still couldn't turn my mind to Heathcliff, and I often wondered what my lord saw in this gloomy boy that fascinated him so much.In my memory, he has never expressed his gratitude to him for his doting.He was not being insolent to his benefactor, he was simply insensitive; though he was perfectly aware of his weight in the master's heart, and knew that the family would be compelled to obey his wish if he had only to speak.

For example, I remember that Mr. Earnshaw once bought a pair of ponies at the parish fair, and gave them to each of the boys.Heathcliff chose the prettiest one.But soon it fell and was crippled, and when he found it, he said to Hindley:

"You must change horses with me, I don't like mine. If you don't, I'll tell your father how you beat me three times this week, and show him my arm, it's bruised to the shoulder. "

Hindley stuck out his tongue and slapped him again.

"You'd better change it right away," he said insistently, running out of the stable and into the porch. "I've got to change it, and if I tell you you beat me like that, you'll have to take it back harder."

"Go away, dog!" cried Hindley, threatening him with a potato and hay weight.

"Throw it away," he yelled, standing still, "I'll tell him how you brag about throwing me out of the house as soon as he dies, and see if he throws you out right away."

Hindley threw the weight, and it hit him on the chest, and he fell, but immediately stumbled to his feet, breathless and pale.If I hadn't stopped him, he would really have gone to the master, and he would just have to let his scars appeal on his behalf, and tell whose atrocity it was, and he would avenge himself quickly.

"Take my pony, Gypsy, huh!" said little Earnshaw. "I pray for it to break your neck. Take it away, to hell, you beggar robber! Lie to me about everything that belongs to my father, and let him see your face. Son of Satan. —take it! I wish he would kick your brains out!"

Heathcliff went over and unhooked the horse, and led the horse into his stall.As he brushed past, Hindley knocked him under the horse's legs with a blow, thus ending his curse.He didn't stop to see if he got what he wanted, and ran away in a hurry.

I watched with astonishment as the boy struggled with unusual coolness, went on about his business, changed the saddle and all, and then sat down on a bale of hay to ease himself over the heavy load before entering the house. Vertigo caused by hitting.

I had no trouble getting him to obey me, blaming the pony for the scars on his body.He didn't care what stories he made up because he got what he wanted.To be honest, it is rare for him to complain about such turmoil, so that I really think he is not the kind of person who must take revenge.I'm totally deluded, so listen to me.

As the years passed, Mr Earnshaw began to weaken.He had been active and healthy, but suddenly his strength left him.When he imprisoned himself in the corner of the fireplace, his temper became particularly violent.He was troubled for no reason; the suspicion of his precarious power drove him almost mad.

This is especially the case when someone wants to bully or suppress his favorite.He took great pains to be jealous, lest someone speak ill of him.He seems to have formed such an opinion in his mind that because he likes Heathcliff, everyone hates him and wants to plot against him.

It's not doing the kid any good.Because those of us who have a better heart don't want to make the master angry, so we follow his eccentricity.But being so accommodating in this way just added fuel to the child's arrogance and bad temper.However, this is not enough.Two or three times Hindley, notwithstanding his father's presence, showed a look of contempt, which caused the old man to fly into such a rage that he seized his stick and tried to beat him, but failed, and trembled with rage.

Finally, our curate suggested that the young man should be sent to a college.We had a curate in those days who lived by teaching the Linton and Earnshaw children, and farming a little himself.Mr Earnshaw agreed to the curate's suggestion.Although the heart is very heavy, because he said:

"Hendley is nothing, no matter where he wanders, he will be of no avail."

I sincerely hope that we have peace from now on.When I think of my master being proud of good deeds and causing trouble for myself, I feel uncomfortable.I thought he was old and sick.Pepsi's dissatisfaction stems from the strife in the family, and he himself hopes that this is the case.But to put it bluntly, you know, sir, the bad things are buried in his sun-set skeleton.

But anyway, we could have lived in peace because of two people: Miss Cathy and Joseph.The servant, I dare say, you've seen him, over there.He was, and probably still is, the most obnoxious and self-righteous Pharisee who flips through a Bible just to keep the good for himself and throw the curse at his neighbors.His rhetoric, coupled with his pious preaching, managed to make an excellent impression on Mr. Earnshaw.The weaker the master was, the more he held him in his hands.

He tortured the master mercilessly, talking about the fate of the soul, and how to discipline the children severely.He encouraged the lord to think of Hindley as a prodigal son, and every night grumbled a long story, telling bad things about Heathcliff and Catherine: always heaping the heaviest fault on Catherine, so as to flatter Ern Shaw's weakness.

Indeed, she had some queer temper, such as I have never seen in a child.She annoys us more than fifty times a day.From the time she got up and went downstairs until she went to bed, we didn't have a minute to be sure that she wouldn't play tricks.Her spirit is always high like a tide, her tongue is always moving: singing, laughing, entangled with anyone who does not agree with her.She was a wild, very wicked little girl.But she had the prettiest eyes, the sweetest smile, and the lightest step in the whole parish.And, after all, I believe she is not bad; for when she does make you cry, she seldom does not cry with you, so that you have to be quiet and turn to her to comfort her.

She likes Heathcliff so much.The worst punishment we could think of for her was to separate the two of them.But she is often scolded because of him more than us.

In the game, her favorite role is that of the little lady, using her hands unscrupulously and giving orders to her companions.She did the same with me, and I didn't want to be asked for her work, so I made her understand that.

Mr. Earnshaw, however, did not understand the children's jokes.He was always strict and rigid with the children.For Catherine's part, she had no idea why her sick father was becoming more obstinate and impatient than he had been in the prime of his life.

His surly scolding instead aroused her mischievous interest to deliberately annoy him.Whenever we blamed her with one voice, she put on an air of indifference and responded to us with eloquent words, that was the happiest time for her.She made up Joseph's pious curses into absurd jokes, and teased me, and she chose to do things her father hated, showing off her father's arrogance that she believed to be true, but she pretended to be arrogant. Can move Heathcliff; and how the boy obeys her orders, and only perfunctoryly obeys his old gentleman's orders when he obeys his own mind.

She made such a fuss all day long, and sometimes at night she made up for it by being coquettish.

"No, Cathy," the old man would say, "I can't love you, you're worse than your brother. Go, say your prayers, boy, and ask God to forgive you. I'm afraid your mother and I must both regret it raised you!"

It made her cry, but it was at the beginning.Later, now that she was repeatedly reprimanded by her father, she strengthened.If I teach her to admit her mistakes and apologize, and ask her father for forgiveness, she will laugh at me instead.

But the hour, the hour of putting an end to Mr. Earnshaw's earthly cares, came at last.One October evening he retired quietly in his chair by the fire.The wind howled around the house and roared in the chimneys, sounding like a storm coming, but it wasn't cold.We were all there, and I sat a little away from the fire, busy knitting, while Joseph read his Bible at the table, for the servants then usually come into the main room when they finish their day's work.Miss Cathy was sick, and sick and quiet.She nestled against her father's knee, and Heathcliff lay on the floor with his head on her knee.

I remember that the master was stroking her beautiful hair before taking a nap. He was rarely happy when he saw her quiet and quiet. He said:
"Why can't you always be a good boy, Cathy?"

She just looked up at him, giggling, and replied, "Why can't you always be a good man, Father?"

But when she saw him, she got annoyed again, so she kissed his hand and said that she would sing to him to hypnotize him.She began to sing very low, very low, until his fingers slipped from between hers and his head sank on his chest.Then I told her to keep silent and not move, lest she wake up the old man.We were all as silent as little mice for a good half hour, and the silence would have gone on, but Joseph finished his chapter, got up, and said he must wake the master and put him to bed for evening prayers.He walked up to him, called his name, and touched his shoulder.But he didn't move, so he took a candle and shone it on him.

When he put down the candle, I sensed something was wrong, and I took one of the children by the hand, and let them go upstairs quietly, without making any noise.Just pray to yourself tonight, he has something to do.

"I'm going to say good night to Father first," said Catherine, and her arms were round his neck before we could stop him.

The poor thing knew then that she was bereaved.She screamed:

"Oh, he's dead, Heathcliff! He's dead!"

The two cried out heartbroken.

I joined in and wept together, loudly and bitterly.But Joseph asked what it meant to bark like that at a saint in heaven.

He told me to put on my coat, and run to Gimmerton for the doctor and priest.I can't figure out what is the use of inviting these two people at the moment, but I went against the wind and rain anyway, and brought back one, a doctor.Another said to come tomorrow morning.

I let Joseph explain what happened, and rushed into the children's room.The door of the room was ajar, and I saw that they were still awake, although it was past midnight.But they calmed down a bit, and I didn't need to comfort them.The two little things were comforting each other with beautiful thoughts that never occurred to me. No priest in the world has ever pictured such a beautiful paradise as their innocent words show.As I sobbed and listened, I couldn't help but wish we'd all get there safely.

Mr. Hindley is back for the funeral.Moreover, there was one thing that surprised us, and the neighbors were talking about it—he brought back a wife.

What she did, where she was born, she never told us.Perhaps, she has neither money nor family status to show off, otherwise it is hard to imagine that he would hide this marriage from his father.

She wasn't the type to make a mess of the whole family for her own sake.Once inside, everything she saw, everything that happened around her, seemed to please her, with the exception of the preparations for the burial and the visit of the hanger.

Judging by her behavior at the moment, I think she is a bit silly.She rushed into her room, and bade me go in with her, though at this moment I should dress the children in mourning.She sat there trembling, clasped her hands, and asked over and over again:
"Are they gone?"

Then, with hysterical emotion, she described how frightened she was to see black.She was terrified, trembling, and finally wept.I asked her what's the matter?She replied that she didn't know, but she felt afraid of death!

I felt that she was as far from death as myself.She was thin, but young, with a fair complexion, and her eyes shone like jewels.Of course, I did notice that going up the stairs made her panting, and any unexpected noise made her tremble, and sometimes she coughed badly.But I had no idea what these symptoms were foreshadowing, and I had no urge to sympathize with her.As a rule, we don't make friends with strangers, Mr. Lockwood, unless they get involved with us first.

After three years, little Earnshaw has changed a lot.He has lost weight, lost his color, and his clothes, words and deeds are all different from what they used to be.On the first day he came back, he told Joseph and me to live in the back kitchen from now on, leaving the "house" for his use.No, he had intended to tidy up a spare room, carpet it, and paper it, and make it a little parlour; but his wife, seeing the white stone floor, the glowing fireplace, the soldering-plates and faience, The kennel, and where they usually sat, had so much room to move about, so delighted in the fact that there was no need to make another arrangement for her comfort, and dismissed the idea.

It also pleased her to have found a sister among the new acquaintances.She gawked at Catherine, kissed her, ran about after her, and gave her many presents; but that was the first thing.Her intimacy is quick?Xiao retreated.As her temper became erratic, Hindley became more violent and domineering.A mere opening of her mouth to express her dislike for Heathcliff was enough to revive all his old hatred for the boy.He cast him out of their circle, sent him among the servants, deprived him of the right to be taught by the curate, insisted that he should instead work out of doors, and forced him to work as a coolie like any other boy in the village.

He didn't mind his fall in status at first, because Cathy taught him what she had learned and stayed with him in the fields when he was working or playing.The two vowed that the eldest son would be as rough and unruly as a barbarian.The young master didn't care about their behavior, so they ignored him at all.He didn't even let them go to church on Sunday, but Joseph and the curate, seeing their absence, blamed him for not being so relaxed.This reminded him to order Heathcliff to be whipped and Catherine to be starved.

But one of their greatest joys is to go to the wilderness early in the morning to play wild, and stay there all day, and the punishment afterwards is just a laughingstock.The curate could make up as many chapters as he liked, and Catherine could eat to his heart, and Joseph could whip Heathcliff till his arm ached; but as long as they got together, at least they could devise some naughty plan of revenge. At that time, I forgot everything.Time and time again I cried secretly, seeing the two of them getting more and more unrestrained day by day, I didn't dare to say a word, for fear of losing what I still had in this pair of little things that no one loved. Influence.

They happened to be thrown out of the parlour, one Sunday evening, for making a noise, or some such crime; and when I called them to supper, they were nowhere to be found.

We searched the house, the yard and the stables, but there was no sign of it.In the end, Hindley was so angry that he ordered us to lock all the doors one by one, and swore that no one would let them in that night.

The whole family was asleep, and I was really anxious, how could I lie down, so I opened the window and stuck my head out to listen, even though it was raining.I was determined to let them in if they came back, regardless of the ban.

After a while, I heard footsteps approaching on the road, and the dim light of a lantern swayed through the gate.

I grabbed a shawl and put it over my head, and ran out to prevent them from knocking on the door, and waking Mr. Earnshaw.Only Heathcliff was there, and I was startled to see him alone.

"Where's Miss Catherine?" I cried hastily. "Is there anything wrong, I suppose?"

"At Thrushcross Grange," he answered, "I should have been there too, but they didn't have the courtesy to ask me to stay."

"Well, you'll see later!" said I. "You won't be at ease until you've been called up to find out your innocence. What the hell happened to take you to Thrushcross Grange?"

"Let me get my wet clothes off, and I'll explain to you, Nelly," he replied.

I told him to be careful not to wake up the young master.He was undressing while I waited to blow out the candles.He went on to say—

(End of this chapter)