Chapter 15 Chapter Eleven

Sometimes, when I was meditating on these things alone, I would rise up suddenly in horror, put on my hat, and go to see how the estate was doing.I believe I felt a duty in my conscience to warn him: how people talked about his actions, and then I remembered his stubborn vice, and it was hopeless to change him, and I didn't want to go into that again. A gloomy house, doubting whether my words will be accepted by others. Once I was on my way to Gimmerton, and passed the old gate by detour.It was about the period of which my story is being told--a bright and bitter afternoon, when the ground was bare and the road was hard and dry.I came to a place where there was a large rock, where the road branched off into the moor on the left hand side, and there was a rough pillar of sand with the inscription W. H． , to the east is G. , the southwest is T. G． ①.This is used as a guidepost to farms, villas and villages.The sun made its gray dome yellow and reminded me of summer.I can't tell why, but for a moment, a wave of childhood emotions flooded into my heart.Twenty years ago, Hindley and us used this as a place to linger.I stared at the weathered rock for a long time; squatting down again, I saw a hole near the ground, still full of snails and gravel.These and other things that are easy to destroy are things we like to store there.And, as vivid as reality, I seem to see my early playmates sitting on the dry turf.His black square head was bowed forward, and his little hands were digging the earth with a tile.

①W． H．The abbreviation of the original Wuthering Heights, that is, Wuthering Heights. G．The abbreviation of the original Gimmerton, that is, Gimmerton. T． G．The abbreviation of Thrushcross Grange in the original text, that is, Thrushcross Grange. "Poor Hindley!" I could not help exclaiming.I was startled—my physical eyes were in a trance for a moment, as if I saw the child raise his face and stare straight at me!In a blink of an eye the face was gone; but at once I felt an irresistible longing to go to the Heights.Superstition compelled me to follow this impulse—"Suppose he's dead!" I thought, "or he's dying soon!—I'm afraid it's an omen of death!"

The nearer I came to the house the more excited I became, and trembling in every limb when I saw it.The phantom of the hallucinations was ahead of me, and it was standing there looking at me through the gate.That was my first thought when I saw a boy with curly hair and brown eyes leaning his red face against the gate.Then it occurred to him that it must be Hareton.My Hareton, he has not changed much since I left him ten months ago. "God bless you, baby!" I yelled, immediately forgetting my stupid fears. "Hareton, it's Nelly! Nelly, your nurse." He backed away so I couldn't reach him, and picked up a big hard rock.

"I've come to see your father, Hareton," I said again, guessing from the gesture that, if Nelly had lived in his memory, he would not have known me as Nelly. He raised his dart to throw.I started to say something nice, but I couldn't stop his hand.The stone hit my hat, and what followed was a series of stammered curses from the little guy's mouth. I don't know if he understood what he was cursing, but he said it very well. Sophisticated, with a vicious tone.And twisted his baby face into a startling evil.You will believe that this appearance makes me angry and makes me more miserable.I almost cried.I took another orange out of my pocket and made peace with him with it.He hesitated, then snatched it from me, as if he guessed I was just trying to seduce him and disappoint him.I showed him another one, but he wouldn't let it.

"Who taught you to say those bad things, my boy?" I asked. "Is it the curate?" "Damn the curate, and you! Give me that," he replied. "Tell me where you studied and you can get this," I said. "Who is your teacher?" "Ghost Daddy," was his reply. "What did you learn from Dad?" I continued to ask. He jumped up to grab the fruit, and I lifted it higher. "What did he teach you?" I asked. "Nothing," he said, "just tell me to stay away from him. Daddy can't stand me, because I'm swearing at him."

"Ah! The ghost taught you to scold daddy?" I said. "Um - no," he said slowly. "So, who is it?" "Heathcliff." I asked him if he liked Mr. Heathcliff. "Well," he replied again. I want to know why he likes him, and I only hear these words: "I don't know - he will treat Dad as he treats me - he scolds Dad because Dad scolds me. He says what I want to do, I should go Dry." "Then the curate doesn't teach you to read and write?" I asked. "No more, I've heard that if the curate steps over the threshold, he'll have--his teeth in his--throat--Heathcliff promised!"

I put the orange in his hand, and told him to tell his father that there was a woman named Nelly Dean waiting at the garden gate to speak to him.He walked down the path and entered the house.But when Hindley didn't come, Heathcliff appeared on the doorstep, and I turned and ran as hard as I could toward the road, without stopping a step till I reached the signpost, and I was as frightened as if I had seen a ghost Same.This incident had little to do with Miss Isabella's affairs, but it only made me more determined to be on my guard, and to do my best to prevent such evil influences from spreading to the Grange, even if I should be offended by it. Mrs. Linton did not care that her displeasure caused a domestic turmoil.

The next time Heathcliff came, my lady happened to be feeding the pigeons in the yard.She hadn't spoken a word to her sister-in-law for three days, but she was no longer complaining, which was a great relief to us.I know that Heathcliff had never been in the habit of paying Miss Linton unnecessary attentions.Now, when he saw her, his first warning gesture was to scan the front of the house.I was standing at the kitchen window, but I stepped back so he couldn't see me, and then he came across the stone path to her and said something.She seemed embarrassed and wanted to go away.To keep her from going, he grabbed her arm.She turned her face away, obviously he asked some questions she didn't want to answer.He took another quick glance at the house, thinking no one saw him, and the rascal embraced her brazenly.

"Judas the perfidious!" I cried out suddenly. "And you're a hypocrite, aren't you? A deceitful liar." ① Judas—one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, later betrayed Jesus to the enemy, so Jesus was crucified and died. "Who is it, Nelly?" Catherine's voice came from beside me.I was so focused on looking at the couple outside that I didn't notice her coming in. "Your worthless friend!" I answered excitedly. "It's that sneaky rascal over there. Ah, he's seen us—he's come in! Since he told you he hated her, don't know Is he still trying to find some clever excuse to explain that he is courting the lady?"

Mrs Linton saw Isabella tear herself away and run into the garden.A minute later Heathcliff opened the door.I could not help venting a little of my anger, but Catherine angrily insisted on silencing me, and threatened to order me out of the kitchen if I dared to speak arrogantly. "They'll think you're the mistress if they hear you!" she cried. "You will do your part, Heathcliff, and what are you doing, making this trouble? I said you must leave Isabella alone! I beg you not, unless you are no longer willing to be in the Received here, and would like Linton to shut you down!"

"God forbid!" replied the villain.I hated him so much at the moment. "God will make him docile and patient! I want to send him to heaven more and more every day, and I'm going crazy!" "Hush!" said Catherine, closing the inner door. "Don't bother me. Why are you ignoring my request? Is she looking for you on purpose?" "What does it have to do with you?" he said grumblingly. "I have the right to kiss her if she wants, and you have no right to object. I'm not your husband, so you don't have to be jealous for me!" "I am not jealous of you," answered the mistress, "but out of love for you. Be cheerful, and you need not frown at me! If you like Isabella, marry her. But you like her Really? Tell the truth, Heathcliff! Well, you won't answer. I knew you didn't like it!" "And will Mr. Linton consent to his sister marrying that man?" I asked. "Mr. Linton will agree," retorted my lady decisively. "He needn't trouble himself with it," said Heathcliff, "and I can do it without his permission. As for you, Catherine, now that we've come this far, I'd like to say a few words." .I want you to understand that I know you have been mean to me—very mean! Do you hear me? If you think I don't see it, you're a fool. If you think you can comfort me with sweet words, then You're an idiot. If you're imagining that I'm going to put up with it and not want revenge, then in the shortest possible time, I'm going to convince you that it's the exact opposite! Also, thank you for telling me your sister-in-law's secret, I swear I'll try my best Take advantage of it. You just step aside?" "What new twist in his character is this?" exclaimed Mrs. Linton, astonished. "I have treated you very badly—you want revenge! How will you take revenge? Ingratitude, brute? How have I treated you so badly?" "I don't want revenge on you," replied Heathcliff, less angry. "That was not in the plan. A tyrant oppresses the slaves, they do not resist him; they oppress those below them. You torture me to death to please yourself, I am willing; only allow me to make myself Be merry, and do as much as you can to avoid insults. When you have leveled my palace, don't erect a hut, and appreciate your good deed with satisfaction, thinking that you gave me this hut as a home. I could slit my throat if I thought you really wanted me to marry Isabella." "Well, the trouble is that I'm not jealous, is I?" cried Catherine. "Well, I'll stop talking about this marriage, it's as bad as offering a lost soul to Satan. Your pleasure, like the devil's, is in making people suffer. You proved it. Ed Jacques recovered from his tantrum when you first came, and I have just settled down. And you, as soon as you know that we are quiet, are disturbed, and seem to want to start a quarrel. Go to Edgar, if you Deceive his sister, Heathcliff, if you will! You have just found the most effective means of revenge on me." The conversation ceased, and Mrs Linton sat in the fire-room, flushed and melancholy.Her emotions became more and more inseparable from her body.She couldn't let go, and couldn't control it.He stood by the fire with his arms folded, thinking about those bad thoughts.It was on this condition that I left them, and went to my master, who was wondering what had kept Catherine downstairs so long. "Ellen," said he, when I entered, "do you see your mistress?" "Yes, she's in the kitchen, sir," I answered. "She was very displeased by Mr. Heathcliff's behaviour. In fact, I think it is time to consider his coming and going in and out of our house in terms of another relationship. Too easy is harmful, and it has come to the point—" I will just relate what happened in the yard, and, as far as I dare, the whole dispute that followed.I thought my account would not do Mrs. Linton very bad; unless she herself went so far as to defend her guest against him.Edgar Linton followed me with difficulty.His opening sentences show that he does not think his wife is innocent. "This cannot be tolerated!" he exclaimed. "It's disrespectful of her to take him as a friend, and force me to associate with him! Call me two men from the hall, Ellen. Catherine can't stay there any longer to argue with that dirty wretch—I'm too old for that." Accommodate her." He went downstairs, told the servants to wait in the passage, and went to the kitchen, and I followed him.The two men in the kitchen argued furiously again.Mrs. Linton, at least, swore vigorously again.Heathcliff had gone to the window, his head bowed, evidently somewhat frightened by her scolding.He saw his master first, and hurriedly told her to stop talking, and she obeyed him as soon as she realized the reason for his hint. "What's the matter?" said Linton to her, "and what do you think of the observance of propriety when you stay here after that wretched man has said all this to you? I suppose, because he usually Talk like that, so you don't think it's all right, you're used to his indecentness, and maybe you think I can get used to it too!" "Are you listening at the door, Edgar?" asked the hostess, in a tone deliberately intended to annoy her husband, to show her indifference to his anger, and to show contempt. Heathcliff, began Linton, who had looked up at those words, gave a sneer at the words, which seemed to draw Mr. Linton's attention.He succeeded.But Edgar had no intention of losing his temper with him. "I have put up with you, sir," he said calmly, "not that I am ignorant of your base, depraved character, but that I feel that you are only partly responsible for it, and Catherine is willing to be with you." I acquiesce in your coming and going--foolish. Your presence is a moral poison which can defile even the most virtuous of men. For this reason, and to prevent worse consequences, I will not allow you to You come to this house, and I tell you now that I want you to leave at once. Three more minutes' delay, and your departure will be forced and shameful." Heathcliff looked up and down the speaker with mocking eyes. "Katie, you lamb as frightening as a buffalo!" said he, "He's in danger of cracking his skull if he touches my fist. Honestly! Mr. Linton, I'm so sorry: it's easy to knock you down!" My master glanced down the aisle, suggesting that I call for someone—he had no intention of risking a single.I obeyed the cue.But Mrs. Linton, suspecting something, followed, and when I was about to call them, she dragged me back, and shut and locked the door. "That's fair!" she said, in reply to her husband's look of angry surprise. "If you don't have the guts to hit him, apologize, or let yourself get hit. It will correct your air of pretending to be more heroic than you are. No, if you take the key, I'll swallow it! I'm sorry The kindness of both of you is so happily rewarded! After continually pampering the weak nature of the one, and the wicked nature of the other, I have been rewarded in the end with two blind ingratitudes, ridiculously stupid! They It borders on absurdity. Edgar, I have been protecting you and what you have, and now may Heathcliff whip you sick, for you dare think so badly of me!" There is no need for whipping, the effect of beating has already been produced on the master.He tries to wrest the key from Catherine.To be on the safe side, she threw the key into the hottest part of the fire.Then Mr. Edgar trembled nervously, and his face grew deathly pale.No matter what he could not avoid this flood of emotions, the mixture of pain and shame completely overwhelmed him.He leaned back in a chair, covering his face. "Oh, dear! That would have made you a knight in olden times!" cried Mrs. Linton. "We're out! We're out! Heathcliff's about to get at you, as a king sends his army to a nest of mice. Take heart, you won't be hurt You are not a sheep, but a little rabbit that is suckling like this!" "I wish you all the joy you have with this brat, Katie!" said her friend. "I congratulate you on your taste. You'd rather have that drooling, quivering thing than me! Instead of hitting him with my fists, I'll kick him with my feet, and that would be Considerable satisfaction. Is he crying, or is he fainting with fright?" The fellow went up and pushed the chair on which Linton was leaning.He might as well have stood back, for my master quickly straightened up and delivered a solid blow to his throat.This blow can knock down a weaker person.This left Heathcliff breathless for a minute.While he choked, Mr. Linton went out by the back door into the yard, and thence to the front gate. "Why! You can't come here again," cried Catherine. "Now, go—he's coming back with a pair of pistols, and half a dozen helpers. If he does hear us, of course he'll never forgive Yours. Your conduct has done me great disservice, Heathcliff! But go—quickly! I would rather see Edgar unlucky than you." "You think I got that hot punch in the throat and got away?" He was furious. "I swear to hell: never! Before I step over the threshold, I'll smash his ribs like a rotten club! If I don't beat him now, I'll kill him someday. So, since You cherish his life, just let me beat him up!" "He's not coming," I interjected, lying. "There's a groom and two gardeners there, and you certainly don't expect to be thrown into the road by them! They each have a stick. It's probable that the master is standing at the drawing-room window watching them carry out his orders." The gardener and groom were there, but Linton was with them.They have come into the yard.On a second thought, Heathcliff resolved to avoid a fight with the three servants.He grabbed a pair of pokers, knocked on the lock of the inner door, and was out of the way before they came striding in. Mrs Linton was very excited, and asked me to accompany her upstairs.She didn't know that I was contributing to the mess, and I was determined not to let her know. "I'm going crazy, Nelly!" she cried, throwing herself on the sofa. "A thousand blacksmith's hammers are beating in my head! Tell Isabella to stay away from me, she's the cause of this incident; and if she or anyone else annoys me now, I'll go mad .And, Nelly, if you see Edgar again tonight, tell him I'm in danger of being seriously ill—I hope I do. He frightens me and makes me miserable! I want to and frighten him. Besides, he might come, and swear and whine again. I'm sure I'll retort, God knows where we're going to end! Would you like to do that, my good Nelly? You know where I can't blame me in this matter. What ghost possessed him to eavesdrop? After you left us, Heathcliff spoke absurdly, but I immediately diverted him from Isabella, and the rest It doesn't matter what you say. And now it's all messed up because the fool is desperate to hear bad things about him, which tends to haunt people like a devil! If Edgar didn't hear us at all, He would never have made such a mess. Indeed, I hardly cared when, after I had scolded Heathcliff hoarsely for him, he spoke to me in that unpleasant, unreasonable tone. How they treated each other. In particular, I feel that, however the scene ends, we must be separated, and no one knows how long! Well, if I cannot keep Heathcliff as my friend— —If Edgar is mean and jealous, I'll break my heart so that they too. When I'm driven to extremes, it's a quick way to end it all! But it's worth it for a poor hope Survive—I would not strike Linton suddenly. He has been careful on this point, lest I should be irritated. You must see the danger of my abandoning this tactic, and remind him of my irascibility, When you get into a row, you go mad. I wish you would get rid of that indifference on your face, and show me a little interest!" The poise with which I accepted these instructions was undoubtedly irritating.Because these words are indeed very sincere.But I believe that a person who can plan in advance how to use her violent temper, even when it explodes, can exercise her will and try to control herself; and I don't want to "scare" as she said Her husband, was only adding to his troubles to satisfy her selfishness.So when I met my master coming towards the parlour, I said nothing, but I turned back, to hear if they had resumed their quarrel together. He started talking first. "You just stay there, Catherine," he said, and his tone was without anger, but full of pathos and despondency. "I'm not here to stay any longer. I'm not here to argue, or make peace. But I just want to know, after what happened tonight, if you're still going to continue your intimacy with that—" "Oh, poor, poor," interrupted the mistress, stamping her foot, "poor, poor, and now let us not speak of it again! Your cold blood is incapable of heat, and your veins are full of ice. Water. But my blood is boiling. Seeing you so cold and unkind makes my blood boil." "Go away and answer my questions," insisted Mr. Linton. "You must answer that your fury does not frighten me. I have found that you can be as calm and composed as anyone when you will. Will you give up Heathcliff, or me? You It's impossible to be my friend and his at the same time; I absolutely need to know which you choose." "I need you all to get away from me!" Catherine yelled furiously. "I beg of you! Don't you see that I am failing? Edgar, you—you avoid me!" She rang the bell until it broke: I walked in leisurely.Such irrational, violent temper, even the saints can't stand it!She's lying there banging her head on the arm of the sofa and gnashing her teeth so hard you'd think she was going to crush them!Mr. Linton, feeling a momentary mixture of remorse and terror, stood looking at her, and bade me fetch some water.Catherine was speechless.I brought a full glass of water, but she wouldn't drink it, so I splashed it in her face.In just a few seconds, she straightened her body, turned her eyes upwards, and her cheeks were suddenly white and blue, as if she was about to die.Linton looked terrified. "It doesn't matter at all," I whispered.I didn't want him to back down, even though I couldn't help being afraid myself. "Blood on her lips!" he said, trembling. "It's okay!" I replied meanly.I just told him how she decided to go crazy before he came.I didn't notice, my voice was raised too high.She heard it, because she was up suddenly—her hair fell over her shoulders, her eyes sparkled, and the veins on her neck and arms stood out unnaturally.I made up my mind to break at least a few bones, but she just glared around and rushed out of the house.The master told me to follow her, and I followed her to the door of her bedroom.She closed the door tightly, blocking me. And since she didn't say anything about going downstairs for breakfast the next morning, I asked her if she wanted me to bring some pastry upstairs. "No!" she replied flatly.At lunch, at tea, it was the same problem again.Same thing the next morning and always got the same answer.Mr. Linton spent his time in his study without asking about his wife.Isabella had had an hour's session with him, during which he had tried to wrest from her the normal sense of terror which Heathcliff's attack had aroused in her; but he evaded her. Nothing could be heard in the answer, and the interrogation ended unsatisfactorily; but with a solemn warning, that if she were so mad as to encourage the lowly suitor, she and he All relationships in between will be completely dissolved.