Wuthering Heights

Chapter 7

"Cathy and I escaped from the laundry room and wanted to have a nice stroll, and we saw the lights of the Grange dimly, and thought why not go and see how Sunday night went on at the Lintons' , do the children stand trembling in the corner, and their parents sit and eat and drink, sing and laugh, and burn their eyes in front of the fireplace. Do you think they are like this? If they are not reading the Bible, Being tortured by his servants, if the answer is wrong, then you have to memorize a long list of names in the Bible?"

"I'm afraid not," I replied, "they're all good boys, and you don't have to ask them to get punished for doing bad things like you do."

"Don't lecture me, Nelly," said he. "Nonsense! We raced down from the heights of the Heights to his park. Catherine lost the race entirely, for she was barefoot. Ming You gotta find her shoes in the mud. We got in through a broken fence, groped along the path, and stood on a flower bed under the parlor window. That's where the light came from. They didn't pull it down. The shutters, the curtains were only ajar. We stood on that flower bed, we lay down on the windowsill, and we could look in. We saw—oh, what a beauty—what a beautiful place, with a deep red carpet, deep red The chairs and tables were covered with cloth covers. The white ceiling was trimmed with gold, and a cluster of glass pendants hung like a rain from silver chains in the center of the room, flickering in the dim light of delicate candles. It's all Edgar and his sister's world without the old Dontons. Aren't they happy? We'd think we were in heaven! Now, guess what your good boys are doing? Isabella, I think she was 11 years old, a year younger than Cathy, and she lay at the other end of the room screaming like so many witches were driving red-hot needles into her body. Edgar stood by the fireplace silently. Weeping quietly. In the middle of the table sat a little dog, wagging its paws and barking. From the curses they exchanged, we knew they pretty much tore the thing in half. These two idiots! That's them Fun! Arguing over who should hold the warm pile of fur, both of them cried because they both fought over it and then didn't want it anymore. We laughed right then and there about the darling Come on, we really despise them! When did you see me snatching what Catherine wanted? And when it was just the two of us, weeping and yelling for fun and rolling all over the floor with a whole Room? If I had a thousand lives, I wouldn't trade my situation here for Edgar Linton's days at Thrushcross Grange - even if I were given the right to throw Joseph from the top of the highest roof Go down and smear Hindley's blood all over the wall in front of the house, and I won't change it!"

"Shh, shhh!" I interrupted him. "You haven't told me, Heathcliff, how Catherine was abandoned?"

"I told you we laughed," he replied. "Lynton and the others heard us, and at the same time they rushed to the door like an arrow. There was no sound at first, and then they cried out: 'Oh, mother! Mother! Oh, father! Oh, mother, come on! Oh, father, oh !' They howled like this for a while. We made some terrible noises, which frightened them even more. Then we let go of the window-sill, because someone was pulling the latch, and we thought we had better get away. I pulled I took Cathy's hand and told her to run, but she fell down all at once.

"'Run, Heathcliff, run!' she whispered. 'They let the bulldog out, and he has me!'

"The devil bit her heel, Nelly, and I heard his hideous snort. She didn't cry--no! She wouldn't have groaned if she had been picked up by the horns of the mad cow. But I yelled. I yelled enough curses to kill any devil in Christ's kingdom. I picked up a stone, thrust it between its jaws, and drove it down the throat with all my strength. At last, there was a The servant beast came out with a lantern and shouted:

"'Bite, Fox, bite!'

"But when he saw the fox's prey, he changed his tone. The dog was pulled away, its big purple tongue hanging half a foot from its mouth, and bloody slobber dripping from its drooping lips.

"The servant picked up Cathy, and she passed out, not from fright, but from pain, I'm sure. He carried her in. I followed, cursing under my breath that I would take revenge.

"'What's caught, Robert?' said Linton at the door.

"'The fox has caught a little girl, sir,' he answered, 'here's a boy,' he added, and caught me, 'he seems to be an expert! , send them in the window, to open the door for them, so they can kill us easily. Shut up, you foul-mouthed thief, you! You deserve to be hanged for such a good thing. Mr. Linton, sir, don't Put the gun away.'

"'No, no, Robert,' said the old fool, 'the rascals know that yesterday was my rent-collecting day, and they've made up their minds to plot against me. Come, I'll entertain them. Come, John , fasten the chain. Get the fox some water, Jenny. Dare to come to the judge's house, and pick the Sabbath! Is there an end to their lawlessness? Oh, my dear Mary, look here! Don't be afraid, Just a little boy, with evil written all over his face. Hang him before his true nature is shown in his looks as well as in his deeds. Wouldn't it be a good thing for the country?"

"He pulled me under the chandelier. Mrs. Linton put her glasses on the bridge of her nose and raised her hands in fright. The two timid children also crawled closer, and Isabella murmured:

"Damn thing. Put him in the basement, Dad. He's exactly like the fortune-teller's son who stole my pheasant. Isn't it, Ed Fangkou?"

"While they were examining me, Cathy awoke. She heard the last words, and laughed. Edgar Linton gave her a suspicious stare, then came to his senses and recognized her. They were in church Seen us, you know, though we seldom see each other elsewhere.

"'That's Miss Earnshaw!' he whispered to his mother. 'Look how the fox has bitten her--her feet are bleeding!'

"'Miss Earnshaw? What nonsense!' cried the lady. 'Miss Earnshaw is running about the country with a gipsy boy! But, my dear, the child is showing respect, and sure enough, she might Lame forever!'

"'Her damned brother is so neglectful!' cried Mr. Linton, turning from me to Catherine, 'and I heard Sheld say, '(Mr. Grow up. But who is he? Where did she get this companion? Oh! I see, he's the monster my late neighbor brought back from his trip to Liverpool - a rotten sailor's little boy, and no America or the outcast of the Spaniards.'

"'A bad boy, whatever you may say,' said the old lady, 'is not fit to be in a respectable house! Have you noticed his language, Linton? If my boy hears it, it will be all right!'

"I cursed like hell again. Don't be mad, Nelly. So Robert was ordered to pull me away. I wouldn't go without Cathy, and he dragged me out into the garden, stuck a lantern in my hand, and told me Mr Earnshaw must have been informed of my behaviour, and then he told me to go at once, and re-bolted the gate.

"The curtain was still hanging in one corner, and I stood out of the window again and looked in. For as long as Catherine wishes to come home, I am determined to smash these great panes into pieces, unless they let her out.

"She sat quietly on the sofa. Mrs. Linton helped her off the gray milkmaid's coat we'd borrowed for the excursion. She shook her head, I suppose, to persuade her. She A young lady, they treated her differently than I did. Then a maid brought a basin of hot water and washed her feet. Mr. Linton mixed a glass of Niggas. Isabella After dumping a basinful of pastries in her lap, Edgar stood afar off, dumbfounded. Afterwards, they dried and combed her beautiful hair and brought her a pair of amazingly large Slippers, wheeled her to the fire. I left her and let her have a good time there, and she gave her food to the puppy and the fox, and pinched his nose while she ate. She kindled a spark of life in the dull blue eyes of the Lintons, which was a faint reflection of her own radiant face. I saw them frozen with living admiration. She had something with them Worlds apart, isn't she like everyone in the world, Nellie?"

"It's more trouble than you think," I replied, covering him and blowing out the candle. "You're hopeless, Heathcliff. Mr. Hindley will definitely use the most brutal means, and you'll see if he can."

Sure enough, it was more accurate than I expected.This unfortunate adventure made Earnshaw furious.Then the next day, Mr. Linton, to remedy the accident, called on us himself, and gave the young master such a speech on his housekeeping, that he was really moved to come and reflect.

Heathcliff was not whipped, but he was told that if he spoke a word to Miss Catherine again, he would be thrown out of the house.Mrs. Earnshaw took over the task of keeping her sister-in-law in order, and when she got home, she would use cunning instead of coercion.She will find it futile to use high-handed tactics.

Cathy stayed at Thrushcross Grange for five weeks until Christmas.By this time her ankle was completely healed, and her manners were much more refined.During this time, my wife often visited her and began to implement her transformation plan, using beautiful clothes and high hats to enhance her self-esteem, and she really accepted it.So instead of a hatless little savage jumping into the house and rushing up to hug us so breathlessly, we see a handsome man alighting from a handsome little black horse, with curly brown hair rising from a crown. A beaver fur hat with feathers hung down, and he wore a long cloth riding suit, so that he had to lift the skirt with both hands to walk in leisurely.

Hindley helped her off the horse and shouted happily:
"Ha, Cathy, you're a beauty! I almost didn't recognize you: you look like a gentleman now. Isabella Linton's no match for her, is there, Francis?"

"Isabella has no natural beauty of hers," replied his wife, "but she must remember that she cannot go home and be wild again. Ellen, help Miss Catherine undress -- hold still, You'll loose your curls, my dear—let me undo your hat."

I took off her riding clothes for her, and my eyes suddenly lit up. Under the silk robe with a large checkered pattern, there were white trousers and shiny leather shoes.When the dogs came up to welcome her, her eyes gleamed with joy, but she dared not touch them, lest they should fall on her shiny new dress.

She kissed me softly, I was covered in flour, I was making a Christmas cake, and it would kill me to hug me.Then she looked around for Heathcliff.Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw watched their meeting anxiously, thinking that in a way they would be able to see how sure they were of breaking up the pair of friends.

Heathcliff was really hard to find at first.If before Catherine left home he had done as he pleased and had no one to bother him, he was ten times worse after that.

No one paid attention to him at all, only I showed mercy, called him a dirty boy for a week, and told him to wash it up.A child of his age is seldom born to like soap and water.So, forget about his clothes, they've been rolling in mud and dust for three months, or his thick, uncombed hair, and his dirty, discolored face and hands.Seeing such a delicate, beautiful, graceful girl walking into the room.Instead of his own disheveled counterpart, he had reason to hide behind that high-backed bench, as he expected.

"Isn't Heathcliff here?" she asked, taking off her gloves, revealing the white, glistening fingers which she had acquired by being indoors and doing nothing.

"Heathcliff, you can come here," cried Hindley, admiring his discomfiture, and contentedly waiting to see him obliged to appear as a formidable little villain. "You may come here and say welcome to Miss Catherine, as the other servants do."

Cathy, catching a glimpse of her friend hiding there, sprinted to hug him.She kissed him seven or eight times on the cheek in a second, then she stopped, stepped back, burst into laughter, and cried:

"Ah, look how angry and energetic you are! And how funny and funny! But that's because I'm used to seeing Edgar and Isabella Linton. Well, Heathcliff, you put Did I forget?"

She had a reason to ask this question, because shame and pride had cast two clouds on his face, and he didn't move a muscle.

"Shake hands, Heathcliff," said Earnshaw condescendingly; "an occasional shake is permissible."

"I don't," replied the kid, finding out that he still had a tongue, "I'm not going to be a laughing stock. I can't stand it!"

If Cathy hadn't grabbed him again, he would really have rushed out of the group.

"I didn't mean to laugh at you," she said, "I couldn't help it. At least shake hands with me, Heathcliff! What's your vexation? But you look a little strange. If you wash your face , Comb your hair, that's all. But you're so dirty!"

She looked intently at the black fingers in her own hand, and at her clothes, worrying whether the contact with his fingers would make her more attractive.

"You don't have to touch me!" he replied.He followed her gaze and withdrew his hand abruptly. "I can be as dirty as I like, I like to be dirty, I just want to be dirty!"

As he said this, he rushed out of the room. The young master and his wife were naturally overjoyed, but Catherine was really flustered.She couldn't figure out how her words could provoke him to lose his temper so much.

As my wife's handmaiden, having waited on this new visitor, putting the cakes in the oven, and lighting a roaring fire in the "house" and kitchen, and decorating the Christmas Eve atmosphere, I just wanted to sit down and be alone. For one, I sang a few Christmas carols for fun, no matter what Joseph insisted he thought I had chosen some merry tunes, which were obviously the closest neighbors of the songs.

He went to pray alone in his bedroom, while Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw were showing Miss the various pretty trinkets which they had bought her for the little Lintons in return for their hospitality. .

They invited the Lintons to come to Wuthering Heights tomorrow, and the invitation was accepted, on one condition: that Mrs. Linton would demand that her darlings be carefully guarded and kept away from that "cursing naughty boy".

So I sat there alone, smelling the rich aroma of heated spices, admiring the gleaming cooker, the polished clock adorned with holly leaves, the silver cups lined up on the tea tray, ready The sugar and spiced ale was generously accepted at dinner, and I especially admired the immaculate cleanliness I had achieved with special care, the scoured and scoured floor.

In my mind I approved of every utensil, and then I remembered how old Earnshaw always came in when everything was cleared up, and called me a ghost girl, and slipped a shilling into my hand for a Christmas present.From there I recalled his fondness for Heathcliff, and his apprehension that he was dead and the child left unattended touched me, and naturally reminded me of the poor child's present condition.As I sang, I just wanted to cry.But I soon came to my senses and realized that trying to correct some of his mistakes would be more beneficial than weeping for him.I got up and went out to the yard to find him.

He didn't go far, and I found him in the stable, stroking the shiny coat of a new pony, feeding the other animals as usual.

"Come on, Heathcliff!" said I. "It's so nice in the kitchen, Joseph's upstairs, come on, and let me dress you nicely before Miss Cathy comes out, and then you can sit together, The stove is all yours, and you can talk till you go to bed."

He went on with his work, never turning his head toward me.

"Come on, are you coming?" I went on. "I've left a little cake for each of you, and it's almost ready. You'll have half an hour to get dressed."

I waited 5 minutes, got no answer and walked away.Catherine dined with her brother and sister-in-law, and Joseph and I ate poorly at the same table, and we reprimanded each other without giving in.And Heathcliff's pastry and cheese are left on the table all night, waiting for the fairy to visit.He fumbled and worked until nine o'clock.Then without saying a word, he walked into the bedroom with a gloomy face.

Cathy was staying late, with orders all over the world to entertain her new friends.She went back to the kitchen one day and wanted to have a word with her brother.But when he left, she only asked him what was the matter, and then went back.

He got up early the next morning, and because it was a holiday, took out his rage on the moor.He didn't reappear until the family was going to church.Fasting and contemplation seemed to cheer him up a little, and he lingered with me for a moment, and suddenly summoned up his courage, and cried out:
"Nellie, dress me up, I'm going to learn!"

"Just in time, Heathcliff," said I, "you've made Catherine sad. She regrets coming home, I dare say! As if you were jealous of her, for all the people around her didn't come." care about you."

He could not understand the statement of being jealous of Catherine, but he understood clearly the statement of hurting Catherine.

"Did she say she was sad?" he asked, his face serious.

"I told her you weren't here again this morning, and she cried."

"Well, I cried last night, too," he replied, "I have more reason to cry than she does."

(End of this chapter)