David Copperfield

Chapter 101 Prophecy Experiment (2)
Chapter 45 Prophecy Experiment (2)
"Mother!" Anne replied, "please don't waste your time with me. For I am appealing to my husband, and it doesn't matter if you are here!"

"Insignificant!" cried Mrs. Ma Kan, "I, this child must be obsessed with ghosts, please bring me a glass of cold water."

At that time, I was only paying attention to the doctor and his wife, so I ignored Mrs. Ma Kan's request, and others ignored her; so Mrs. Ma Kan had to fan herself again.

"Anne," said the Doctor, putting his arms around her tenderly, "my dear! If the passage of time has brought about any unavoidable changes in our conjugal life, it is not your fault. There is no question, It's all my fault, it's all my fault. My love and respect for you haven't changed at all, I just want to make you happy. I just love you with all my heart and respect with all my heart. Rise up, Anne, please !"

But she refused to get up. She looked at him for a while, knelt and leaned in front of him, saying:

"For my sake, or my husband's, to be able to say something on the subject; to be able to clear up the doubts I've always had; to respect my husband or care for me, and to know that anything—whatever—can help In the case of our reconciliation, then I implore friends who can do this to speak up!"

For a moment, there was only a dignified silence in the room.I hesitated painfully for several minutes before making up my mind.

"Mrs. Strong," said I, "I understand one thing, but Dr. Strong has begged me earnestly to keep it a secret, and I have always done so. But I feel that the time has come. If you continue to keep it conservative, you will misunderstand what trust and care are, and your appeal just now has dissolved the constraints imposed on me by the doctor."

"Our future harmony," she said, "is probably in your hands. I am quite sure that you will tell the truth without reservation. I have known for a long time that what you or anyone have to say to me can only be Say with one voice the noble character of my husband, and say whatever you may find offensive to me, and then I will speak for myself before him, and before God."

Under such a sincere and earnest request, I honestly told what happened in the same room that time without asking the doctor for permission.Except to tone down some of Julia Heep's vulgar remarks.

When I had finished, Anne was silent for a moment, her head bowed.Then she took the doctor's hand and kissed it.Mr. Dick helped her up, keeping her eyes on the doctor.

"After marriage, all that has been on my mind," she whispered in a soft, submissive voice, "I will tell you now. Now that I know what I know, if I Keep it for a while, and you won't be able to live any longer."

"It goes without saying, Anne," said the doctor, "that I never doubted you, and there was no need, my dear."

"It is very necessary," she said, "that in the presence of a generous, honest man like you, a man whom I respect and love more and more day by day and year by year, I express my heart It is very necessary to speak out.”

"Exactly," interposed Mrs. Mark Kan, "if I only know a little about—"

("You are a person who has not accomplished enough and failed more than you can understand." My aunt whispered angrily.)

"Then you have to let me say that you don't need to talk about these details."

"Mother, only my husband is entitled to say that," she said, "and my husband will listen to me. If I say anything that sounds distressing to you, please forgive me, Mother. I have Suffered first, and endured for a long time."

"Really!" Mrs. Ma Kan gasped and said.

Anne said: "When I was a child, all my earliest learning came from my dear father's friend - a man whom I have always respected. When I think of the things I know, I naturally think of him. He has left upon my mind the first treasures of value, and upon them the imprint of his character, which I am convinced would be of much use to me if I had acquired them from others. I'll never be that helpful."

"So, she doesn't think much of her mother at all!" exclaimed Mrs. Ma Kan.

"It's not like that, mother," said Anne, "I just saw him as he was. I had to, and when I was a man he still held the same place in my heart, and I was proud of his concern— —I am strongly, lovingly, gratefully attached to him. I cannot express enough my admiration for him—I see him as a father and mentor, and he compliments me like no other. If I can't trust the world , but I can trust him and rely on him. Mom, when you introduced him to me as a lover, at that time, I was so young and inexperienced."

"I have said that to everyone here more than fifty times." Mrs. Ma Kan said.

("In that case, shut up and stop talking!" my aunt muttered.)

What a change, what a loss, I thought at first.Annie said: "I was emotional and distressed. I was young. I was saddened that the man I had admired over the years had changed so much. But nothing could bring him back to the way he was before. At the same time, I also felt that it pleased me that he should think so highly of me, and we got married."

"You were married at St. Alphege's, Canterbury," said Mrs. Markan.

("The goddamn woman!" my aunt said, "she just won't keep that mouth shut!")

"It never occurred to me," continued Anne, "that my husband would bring me any property. In my heart there was only respect, and there was no room for such frivolous possessions. Mother, the first to make me To think of anyone who, by means of that odious suspicion, would injure myself and my husband, is you!"

"Me!" Mrs. Ma Kan called.

("That's right, it's you!" said my aunt. "You can't fan this sin away, my soldier friend!")

"It was the first misfortune of my new married life," said Anne, "the first of all my unpleasures, which were more and more numerous than count. But , it is not--my tolerant husband--not for such reasons as you suppose, that nothing can separate all that I think, all that I wish, and all that I remember, from you as a man."

"Mother never," she went on, "begged you for herself, which is justifiable. I also think that her intentions are justifiable anyway. But when I saw how many unjust requests, How many times have you been used in my name; how generous and generous you are, and what kind of Mr. Wickfield, who is always concerned about your interests. When I was angry, I felt for the first time that I was suspected, that my love was bought. This suspicion made me feel as if I had been humiliated for no reason, and forced you to suffer with me. Although, in my own Deep down in my soul, I know that on the day I got married, I fulfilled my life's love and reputation. However, this kind of thought always weighs on my heart, makes me afraid, I can't describe it, how it feels- ─.”

"For the sake of caring for the whole family, one person has ended up like this! I wish I were a savage!" Mrs. Ma Kan said with tears.

("I wish you were a savage, too—and never leave your native land!" said my aunt.)

"I felt this most acutely when my mother pleaded most urgently for my cousin Melton. I confessed to liking him, admiringly. We were childhood sweethearts. If things don't change , I may believe that I really love him, and perhaps marry him, and thus fall into the greatest misfortune. There is no greater difference in marriage than a difference of thought and purpose."

Even when I listened attentively to what she was saying, I couldn't help but play with this sentence, as if there was a special meaning in it, a rare usage that I couldn't perceive.

"There is nothing in common between the two of us," said Anne, "as I have long since perceived. If I were not grateful to him for many other things, I would owe him my Rescue him from the wrong impulses of an undisciplined heart."

But her voice was as calm as ever.

"While he was waiting for your help, and when I was offended by this snobbish attempt, I thought he should go his own way. But I did not despise him until he went to India. Since that day It was only at night that I realized how hypocritical and heartless he was. It was then that I realized that he was staring at me like that for something. It was then that I realized for the first time that there was something wrong with me in my life. The shadow of suspicion."

"Suspicion, Anne!" said the Doctor. "No, absolutely not!"

"My husband, you have no doubts in your heart!" she went on. "I came to you that night to tell the whole of my unwarranted humiliation and pain. I Clearly, I have to tell you that one of my own relatives said something to me in your house, even if he thought I was the kind of spineless, stalking villain, those words should never have been said .From then on, I hated the filth in those words from the bottom of my heart, so I swallowed them again. Until now.”

Mrs. Ma Kan gave a short sigh and hid behind the fan.

"Since then, I have only spoken to him in your presence. He knew his place here years ago. You secretly helped him for his future, and you spoke to me afterwards, to my surprise and pleasure. These are just aggravating the distress that this secret has brought me.

"I must still do it all the same. I am faithful to my old feelings, only to find that anyone can bear to suspect that my sincerity is bought with money, and at the same time, everything around me seems to prove that view is true. That's right. You'll never know what bothers me about this situation and what it's like in my heart. I'm young and I've got no one to guide me. In everything that concerns you, there's nothing between me and my mother. There are always big differences between us. The reason why I hold back and hide our insults is because I respect you very much, and I hope you respect me too!"

"Anne, you pure heart!" said the doctor, "you dear child!"

"A few more words! I've often thought, you can marry so many people, they won't bring you such wealth, they will make this home more like a home. I often think, if I continue to be your It would be better to be your child. I have often thought that I am too unworthy of your learning and wisdom. If all this makes me hesitate, it is still because I respect you, I hope you do too."

"That day has been shining for a long time, Anne," said the Doctor.

"The cause of your recent change, I have figured out this evening. I have looked at it with great sadness and sorrow, sometimes thinking of my old anxieties--sometimes doing something closer to the truth Tonight, I was also surprised to learn that even under such a misunderstanding, you still have such a magnanimous trust in me. I don't hope that I can repay your love and respect with more than you have for me. Such trust. Now that I know what I know now, I can look up, look at this loving face, and solemnly declare that I never once felt sorry for you, never wavered To your due love and devotion.

"Hold me tight, my husband! Never leave me! Don't think or say that there is any difference between us! There is no difference between us except my immaturity. Every year that passes, I feel sorry for that The more I understand it, the more I respect you. You must hold me tight, my husband, my love is like a rock, it will last forever!"

"You're great, Dick!" my aunt admired. "You'll never pretend to be anything else, because I know you so well!"

Having said that, my aunt tugged on his sleeve secretly and nodded at me, so the three of us went home.

"If it weren't for the old Mrs. Ma Kan, there wouldn't be any trouble," said my aunt.

I thought about everything that had happened and Annie's words.

(End of this chapter)