Wuthering Heights

Chapter 9

He told the same story to his wife, and she seemed to believe him.But one night, she was leaning on his shoulder, talking about how she thought she could get up tomorrow, when a sudden cough seized her, very slightly, and he held her in his arms, and she stretched out her arms Grabbing his neck, his face changed, she was dead.

As the girl expected, Hareton handed over the whole child to me.Mr. Earnshaw was content to see him healthy and safe, and not to hear his cries.This is the child.As for himself, he was getting more and more desperate.His grief was that of crying.He neither wept nor prayed.Cursing and hating, he cursed God and man, and plunged headlong into a wild and unruly life.

The servants were fed up with his tyranny and wickedness, and Joseph and I were the only ones left.I just couldn't bear to leave the baby in my care, and, you know, I was his nurse, and it was easier to put up with his behavior than a stranger's.

Joseph was still bullying the tenants and hirelings, for there was much evil for him to condemn, and that was his occupation.

The young master's bad habits and bad friends set a good example for Catherine and Heathcliff.What he did to the latter was enough to turn a saint into a demon.To tell you the truth, it was as if the child had been possessed by a demon during that period of time.He took pleasure in watching Hindley's depravity, becoming more and more brutal day by day.

I can't even explain half of how hell this family is.The curate stopped visiting, too, and in the end no decent people approached us at all.The only exception was Edgar Linton's visit to Miss Cathy. At 15, she was the queen of the country.She is exceptional.She has really become a defiant, arrogant and self-willed little thing!I admit that I haven't liked her since childhood.In order to get rid of her arrogance, I have pissed her off a lot.But she has never met me outside.She is surprisingly nostalgic for old love.Even Heathcliff has the same place in her heart as before.Little Linton, in spite of all his advantages, found it difficult to make an equally deep impression on her.

He was my later master, and his portrait is above the fireplace.It used to hang on one side, and his wife's portrait on the other.But her picture has been taken, or you can see what she looks like.Can you see clearly?
Mrs. Dean held up the candle, and I saw a face with soft features, very similar to the young lady at Wuthering Heights, but the expression was more melancholy and kinder.This is a lovely portrait.The light-colored long hair is slightly curled up on the forehead, the eyes are big and solemn, and the figure is almost too elegant.With such a character, I should not wonder why Catherine should forget her old friend.I wonder what he, if he were a heart-body match, would think of my thoughts on Catherine Earnshaw.

"Nice portrait," I said to the butler. "Like him?"

"Sure," she replied, "but he's even better when he's in the mood. That's his usual look. He's just dull."

Catherine had been in constant contact with the Lintons since she had been at the Lintons for five weeks.Since she was not in the mood to be rude when she was with them, and since she was always treated with such good manners, she also realized that it would be embarrassing to be rude. Conquered old gentlemen and old ladies.She wins the love of Isabella, and with it the heart and soul of her brother.This harvest pleased her at first, for she was ambitious.As a result, she developed a dual personality, but she didn't really plan to deceive anyone in her bones.

Wherever she heard people call Heathcliff "a complete rascal" and "worse than a brute", she was careful not to behave like him.But at home, she didn't bother to come and perform the etiquette that can only be laughed at, and since she couldn't get praise, she didn't want to restrain her wild nature.

It was rare for Mr. Edgar to have the courage to pay a public visit to Wuthering Heights.He was afraid of Earnshaw's reputation, afraid of running into him.But he was always received with the best of courtesy from us.The young master knew why he came, and he avoided offending him.If he can't be polite, just walk away.I felt even more that his visit displeased Catherine.She was neither affected nor coquettish, and obviously did not want her two friends to meet at all, because when Heathcliff showed Linton's contempt in person, she could not go along with it as she could when he was behind his back; When Linton expressed his distaste for Heathcliff, she dared not be indifferent to his feelings, as if she despised her companion and had nothing to do with her.

Many times I have laughed at her difficulties and unspeakable troubles. It was her ridicule that she deliberately hid from me, but it was in vain.This sounds too hard-hearted, but she is so proud that no one can ever sympathize with her suffering unless she restrains herself and becomes more modest.

In the end, she finally confessed her thoughts to me one by one. Who else can she ask for advice here?

Mr. Hindley was out one afternoon, and Heathcliff thought of taking this opportunity to give himself a day's rest.At that time, I think he was 16 years old, with no ugly facial features and no intellectual defects. Although he tried his best to make people feel disgusted with him from the inside out, this effort did not leave a mark on his current appearance. under the trace.

First, by then the benefits he had received from his early education had worn off.Years of constant toil, leaving early and returning late, had suffocated every thirst for knowledge and every love of learning that he had ever had.The sense of superiority that was injected into his heart by old Mr. Linton's doting in his childhood has long since disappeared.He struggled for a long time to keep pace with Catherine in reading, but in the end he was deeply saddened but silently dismissed this idea, and he completely broke the idea.When he found himself with no choice but to fall below his original level, no one could persuade him to take a step in the forward direction.Then, in response to the spiritual decline, his appearance also changed. He developed a sluggish gait, a vicious demeanor, and his naturally withdrawn temperament became more and more lonely and melancholy, almost demented. .He evidently took a dark pleasure in contriving to make his few acquaintances loathe him instead of respecting him.

Catherine remained with him during his breaks in labor.But he had given up expressing his affection for her with words.He avoided her childish intimacy with breathless suspicion, as if determined not to be grateful for the mass of affection that had been abused on him.On the day mentioned above, Heathcliff entered the "house" and announced that he was going to have a holiday for himself. I was helping Miss Cathy to dress at this time. The whole house was hers, and by some means she informed Mr. Edgar that her brother was away and was going to receive him.

"What's the matter this afternoon, Cathy?" asked Heathcliff. "Where are you going?"

"No, it's raining," she replied.

"Then why are you wearing a silk robe?" he said. "Nobody's coming, I suppose?"

"How do I know," stammered the lady, "but you must be in the field now, Heathcliff. It's been an hour since lunch, and I thought you were gone."

"Hindley's ghost doesn't always go away to give us some relief," said the boy. "I don't work today, I want to be with you."

"Oh, but Joseph will tell," she said round the corner, "you'd better go!"

"Joseph's loading lime at the end of Peniston Rock, and he'll have to play it till dark, and he'll never know."

With that said, he lingered to the edge of the fireplace and sat down.Catherine frowned and thought for a moment, then realized that it was necessary to pave the way for the uninvited guest.

"Isabella and Linton said they were coming this afternoon," she said, after a minute's silence, "and since it's raining, I don't think they'll come. But they might, and if they come Now, you may be reprimanded for misbehavior again."

"Let Ellen say you've got an appointment, Cathy," he insisted, "and don't throw me away for your poor silly friends! Sometimes I want to blame them—but I say No--."

"They what?" Catherine stared at him annoyed. "Oh, Nelly!" she added furiously, wrenching her head out of my grasp, "you've got my hair all curled up! Well, leave me alone. What are you going to complain about?" , Heathcliff?"

"Nothing, just look at the calendar on the wall," he continued, pointing to a framed piece of paper hanging near the window:
"You spent the night when you made the cross with Linton and the others, and you spent the night when you made the cross with me. Did you see that? I marked it every day."

"Yeah, that's silly, as if I'd noticed!" said Catherine angrily. "What's the meaning of that?"

"That means I'm careful," said Heathcliff.

"Should I just sit with you forever?" Catherine accused, growing impatient. "What good have I got? What did you say? You're either a mute or a babe for what you've said or done to please me!"

"You never said before that I talked too little, and didn't like my company, Cathy!" cried Heathcliff angrily.

"I don't know anything, and if I don't say anything, it means I have no company." She murmured.

His partner rose to his feet, but had no time to express his emotion any further.As the hoofbeats of the horses were clearly audible on the stone-paved road, Little Linton knocked lightly on the door, and entered the room, his face glowing with flattery at the unexpected call.As one of her friends went in and the other went out, there was no doubt that Catherine saw the difference between her two friends: a barren coal field with rolling hills, and a beautiful and fertile valley.His voice and greeting were as different as his appearance.He speaks slowly and sweetly, and his pronunciation is similar to yours.People here don't speak bluntly, so they should be softer.

"I'm not too early, am I?" he said, glancing at me.I've started wiping the dishes and clearing the drawers at the other end of the cabinet.

"Not early," Catherine answered. "What are you doing there, Nelly?"

"Do my business, miss," I replied.Mr. Hindley has ordered me to be present as a third party whenever Linton visits himself.

She came up behind me and said to me angrily: "Take your duster and walk. When the guests are in the room, the servant is not happy to clean the room with guests!"

"It's a good chance that my master is gone," I replied aloud. "He hates me for clearing these things before him. I believe Mr. Edgar will forgive me."

"I hate it most when you pack up in front of me," cried the young lady imperiously, not giving her guest a chance to speak.After a little quarrel with Heathcliff, she has not recovered her composure.

"I'm sorry, Miss Catherine," was my answer.I still keep doing my job.

Thinking that Linton couldn't see her, she snatched the rag from my hand, pinched my arm sinisterly, and wrung it vigorously for a while.

I just said I don't love her anymore and I like to humiliate her vanity from time to time, besides, she's really screwing this one up, I'm squatting so I'm jumping up and yelling stand up:

"Oh, miss, that's a nasty trick! You have no right to pinch me, and I don't want to suffer any more."

"I didn't touch you, you liar!" she cried, her fingers trembling to repeat the motion, her ears flushed with anger.She has never been able to hide her emotions, and her face flushes when she gets angry.

"So, what is this?" I countered, pointing to a purple mark to refute her.

She stamped her foot, hesitated for a moment, and then, unable to resist the urge of the naughty spirit in her anymore, reached out and slapped me so hard that my eyes filled with tears.

"Catherine, my love! Catherine!" broke in Linton, horrified to see his idol commit the double fault of deceit and violence.

"Get out of this room, Ellen!" she said again, trembling all over.

Little Hareton, who I had followed from place to place, sat on the floor next to me now, and seeing my tears, burst into sobs, and whimpered at "bad aunt Cathy."This turned her anger on the unfortunate fellow again, and she seized him by the shoulders, and shook the poor child until he turned purple.Without thinking, Edgar grabbed her hands to free the child.In an instant, a hand broke free, and the dumbfounded young man found that it was slapped on his face. With that posture, he couldn't be mistaken for a joke.

Startled, he took a step back.I picked up Hareton and led him into the kitchen, leaving the middle door open, because I was curious to see how they settled their differences.

The insulted guest came to the place where he had put his hat, his face pale and his lower lip trembling with fear.

"That's right!" I said to myself, "Accept the lesson and walk! I'll let you see her true nature, that's how God sees."

"Where are you going?" asked Catherine, walking towards the door.

He stepped aside, trying to walk over.

"You can't go!" she yelled forcefully.

"I have to go!" he said in a low voice.

"No," she insisted, grasping the bolt, "not now, Edgar Linton. Sit down, and you cannot leave me in such a temper. I shall be restless all night, and I will not be fretful about you! "

"Can I stay if you hit me?" Linton asked.

Catherine said nothing.

"You made me afraid of you and ashamed of you," he continued, "and I won't do it again!"

Her eyes began to sparkle and her eyelids began to blink.

"You're lying on purpose!" he said.

"I didn't!" she cried, regaining her power of speech, "I didn't mean anything. Well, go, go if you want--go! I'm going to cry now, I'm going to cry Half dead!"

She knelt down on the edge of a chair and wept earnestly.Edgar's determination persisted all the way to the yard, where he hesitated.I decided to give him a little encouragement.

"Miss' caprice is dreadful, sir," I cried aloud. "As bad as any spoiled child. You'd better get on your horse and go home, or she's going to make a fuss just to make us worry!"

The soft-boned glanced at Ding anxiously through the window.He was as determined to leave as a cat is determined to leave a half-gnawd mouse, or a half-eaten bird.

Ah, I think, he is hopeless—he is dead, fly to his fate!

The result was like this: he turned around suddenly, rushed back into the "house" in three steps and two steps, and closed the door behind him.When I went in after a while and told them that Hindley had come home drunk and was going to use the old house for his grave (as he was drunk), I saw that the quarrel was nothing more than A closer bond is fostered, and the outer walls of young people's shyness have been pierced, and they simply abandon the pretense of friendship and become plain lovers.

The news of Mr. Hindley's return hurried Linton to his horse, and Catherine to her bedroom.I hid Hareton somewhere, and took the cartridges out of the young master's shotgun, which I liked to play with when he was bewildered and drunk. will not die.I suddenly figured out a good way to take out the bullet, so that if he messed up enough to shoot, he would be less troublesome.

He came into the room, uttering many vicious curses at the top of his voice.He saw me hiding his son in a cupboard.Hareton was frightened out of his wits at the sight of his papa, for he either loved him like a beast, or ravaged him like a madman.In the first case he was likely to be squeezed to death and kissed to death, in the latter case he might be thrown into the stove or thrown against the wall.The poor little thing never moves, no matter where I hide him.

"Ha, I finally found it!" Hendry roared, grabbed the flesh on the back of my neck, and dragged me back like a dog. "By heaven and hell, you swear you're going to kill this kid! Now I know why I can't find him. But help me, Satan, I'm going to make you swallow this cleaver alive, Nelly Don’t laugh, I just threw Kenneth’s head down in the black horse swamp, two of them are the same thing. I’m going to kill some of you, I won’t rest in peace if I don’t kill you!”

"But I don't like a cleaver, Mr. Hindley," I answered. "It just cut a smoked herring. I'd rather be shot, if it pleases you."

"To hell with you!" he said. "To hell with you all. There's no law in England against anyone cleaning up the house, but mine is a mess! Open your mouth."

He held the knife in his hand and stuck the point between my teeth.But as far as I am concerned, I have never been very afraid of his absurdity.I spat and told him it didn't taste good and I wouldn't swallow it anyway.

(End of this chapter)