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Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, CHAPTER XXXI

CHAPTER XXXI

My home, then, when I at last find a home,—is a cottage; a little room with whitewashed walls and a sanded floor, containing four painted chairs and a table, a clock, a cupboard, with two or three plates and dishes, and a set of tea-things in delf. Above, a chamber of the same dimensions as the kitchen, with a deal bedstead and chest of drawers; small, yet too large to be filled with my scanty wardrobe: though the kindness of my gentle and generous friends has increased that, by a modest stock of such things as are necessary. It is evening.

I have dismissed, with the fee of an orange, the little orphan who serves me as a handmaid. I am sitting alone on the hearth. This morning, the village school opened. I had twenty scholars. But three of the number can read: none write or cipher. Several knit, and a few sew a little. They speak with the broadest accent of the district. At present, they and I have a difficulty in understanding each other's language. Some of them are unmannered, rough, intractable, as well as ignorant; but others are docile, have a wish to learn, and evince a disposition that pleases me. I must not forget that these coarsely-clad little peasants are of flesh and blood as good as the scions of gentlest genealogy; and that the germs of native excellence, refinement, intelligence, kind feeling, are as likely to exist in their hearts as in those of the best-born. My duty will be to develop these germs: surely I shall find some happiness in discharging that office. Much enjoyment I do not expect in the life opening before me: yet it will, doubtless, if I regulate my mind, and exert my powers as I ought, yield me enough to live on from day to day. Was I very gleeful, settled, content, during the hours I passed in yonder bare, humble schoolroom this morning and afternoon? Not to deceive myself, I must reply—No: I felt desolate to a degree. I felt—yes, idiot that I am—I felt degraded. I doubted I had taken a step which sank instead of raising me in the scale of social existence. I was weakly dismayed at the ignorance, the poverty, the coarseness of all I heard and saw round me. But let me not hate and despise myself too much for these feelings; I know them to be wrong—that is a great step gained; I shall strive to overcome them. To-morrow, I trust, I shall get the better of them partially; and in a few weeks, perhaps, they will be quite subdued. In a few months, it is possible, the happiness of seeing progress, and a change for the better in my scholars may substitute gratification for disgust. Meantime, let me ask myself one question—Which is better?—To have surrendered to temptation; listened to passion; made no painful effort—no struggle;—but to have sunk down in the silken snare; fallen asleep on the flowers covering it; wakened in a southern clime, amongst the luxuries of a pleasure villa: to have been now living in France, Mr. Rochester's mistress; delirious with his love half my time—for he would—oh, yes, he would have loved me well for a while. He did love me—no one will ever love me so again. I shall never more know the sweet homage given to beauty, youth, and grace—for never to any one else shall I seem to possess these charms. He was fond and proud of me—it is what no man besides will ever be.—But where am I wandering, and what am I saying, and above all, feeling? Whether is it better, I ask, to be a slave in a fool's paradise at Marseilles—fevered with delusive bliss one hour—suffocating with the bitterest tears of remorse and shame the next—or to be a village-schoolmistress, free and honest, in a breezy mountain nook in the healthy heart of England? Yes; I feel now that I was right when I adhered to principle and law, and scorned and crushed the insane promptings of a frenzied moment. God directed me to a correct choice: I thank His providence for the guidance! Having brought my eventide musings to this point, I rose, went to my door, and looked at the sunset of the harvest-day, and at the quiet fields before my cottage, which, with the school, was distant half a mile from the village. The birds were singing their last strains— “The air was mild, the dew was balm.” While I looked, I thought myself happy, and was surprised to find myself ere long weeping—and why? For the doom which had reft me from adhesion to my master: for him I was no more to see; for the desperate grief and fatal fury—consequences of my departure—which might now, perhaps, be dragging him from the path of right, too far to leave hope of ultimate restoration thither. At this thought, I turned my face aside from the lovely sky of eve and lonely vale of Morton—I say lonely , for in that bend of it visible to me there was no building apparent save the church and the parsonage, half-hid in trees, and, quite at the extremity, the roof of Vale Hall, where the rich Mr. Oliver and his daughter lived. I hid my eyes, and leant my head against the stone frame of my door; but soon a slight noise near the wicket which shut in my tiny garden from the meadow beyond it made me look up. A dog—old Carlo, Mr. Rivers' pointer, as I saw in a moment—was pushing the gate with his nose, and St. John himself leant upon it with folded arms; his brow knit, his gaze, grave almost to displeasure, fixed on me. I asked him to come in. “No, I cannot stay; I have only brought you a little parcel my sisters left for you. I think it contains a colour-box, pencils, and paper.” I approached to take it: a welcome gift it was.

He examined my face, I thought, with austerity, as I came near: the traces of tears were doubtless very visible upon it. “Have you found your first day's work harder than you expected?” he asked. “Oh, no!

On the contrary, I think in time I shall get on with my scholars very well.” “But perhaps your accommodations—your cottage—your furniture—have disappointed your expectations? They are, in truth, scanty enough; but—” I interrupted— “My cottage is clean and weather-proof; my furniture sufficient and commodious. All I see has made me thankful, not despondent. I am not absolutely such a fool and sensualist as to regret the absence of a carpet, a sofa, and silver plate; besides, five weeks ago I had nothing—I was an outcast, a beggar, a vagrant; now I have acquaintance, a home, a business. I wonder at the goodness of God; the generosity of my friends; the bounty of my lot. I do not repine.” “But you feel solitude an oppression?

The little house there behind you is dark and empty.” “I have hardly had time yet to enjoy a sense of tranquillity, much less to grow impatient under one of loneliness.” “Very well; I hope you feel the content you express: at any rate, your good sense will tell you that it is too soon yet to yield to the vacillating fears of Lot's wife. What you had left before I saw you, of course I do not know; but I counsel you to resist firmly every temptation which would incline you to look back: pursue your present career steadily, for some months at least.” “It is what I mean to do,” I answered.

St.

John continued— “It is hard work to control the workings of inclination and turn the bent of nature; but that it may be done, I know from experience. God has given us, in a measure, the power to make our own fate; and when our energies seem to demand a sustenance they cannot get—when our will strains after a path we may not follow—we need neither starve from inanition, nor stand still in despair: we have but to seek another nourishment for the mind, as strong as the forbidden food it longed to taste—and perhaps purer; and to hew out for the adventurous foot a road as direct and broad as the one Fortune has blocked up against us, if rougher than it. “A year ago I was myself intensely miserable, because I thought I had made a mistake in entering the ministry: its uniform duties wearied me to death. I burnt for the more active life of the world—for the more exciting toils of a literary career—for the destiny of an artist, author, orator; anything rather than that of a priest: yes, the heart of a politician, of a soldier, of a votary of glory, a lover of renown, a luster after power, beat under my curate's surplice. I considered; my life was so wretched, it must be changed, or I must die. After a season of darkness and struggling, light broke and relief fell: my cramped existence all at once spread out to a plain without bounds—my powers heard a call from heaven to rise, gather their full strength, spread their wings, and mount beyond ken. God had an errand for me; to bear which afar, to deliver it well, skill and strength, courage and eloquence, the best qualifications of soldier, statesman, and orator, were all needed: for these all centre in the good missionary. “A missionary I resolved to be.

From that moment my state of mind changed; the fetters dissolved and dropped from every faculty, leaving nothing of bondage but its galling soreness—which time only can heal. My father, indeed, imposed the determination, but since his death, I have not a legitimate obstacle to contend with; some affairs settled, a successor for Morton provided, an entanglement or two of the feelings broken through or cut asunder—a last conflict with human weakness, in which I know I shall overcome, because I have vowed that I will overcome—and I leave Europe for the East.” He said this, in his peculiar, subdued, yet emphatic voice; looking, when he had ceased speaking, not at me, but at the setting sun, at which I looked too. Both he and I had our backs towards the path leading up the field to the wicket. We had heard no step on that grass-grown track; the water running in the vale was the one lulling sound of the hour and scene; we might well then start when a gay voice, sweet as a silver bell, exclaimed— “Good evening, Mr. Rivers.

And good evening, old Carlo. Your dog is quicker to recognise his friends than you are, sir; he pricked his ears and wagged his tail when I was at the bottom of the field, and you have your back towards me now.” It was true.

Though Mr. Rivers had started at the first of those musical accents, as if a thunderbolt had split a cloud over his head, he stood yet, at the close of the sentence, in the same attitude in which the speaker had surprised him—his arm resting on the gate, his face directed towards the west. He turned at last, with measured deliberation. A vision, as it seemed to me, had risen at his side. There appeared, within three feet of him, a form clad in pure white—a youthful, graceful form: full, yet fine in contour; and when, after bending to caress Carlo, it lifted up its head, and threw back a long veil, there bloomed under his glance a face of perfect beauty. Perfect beauty is a strong expression; but I do not retrace or qualify it: as sweet features as ever the temperate clime of Albion moulded; as pure hues of rose and lily as ever her humid gales and vapoury skies generated and screened, justified, in this instance, the term. No charm was wanting, no defect was perceptible; the young girl had regular and delicate lineaments; eyes shaped and coloured as we see them in lovely pictures, large, and dark, and full; the long and shadowy eyelash which encircles a fine eye with so soft a fascination; the pencilled brow which gives such clearness; the white smooth forehead, which adds such repose to the livelier beauties of tint and ray; the cheek oval, fresh, and smooth; the lips, fresh too, ruddy, healthy, sweetly formed; the even and gleaming teeth without flaw; the small dimpled chin; the ornament of rich, plenteous tresses—all advantages, in short, which, combined, realise the ideal of beauty, were fully hers. I wondered, as I looked at this fair creature: I admired her with my whole heart. Nature had surely formed her in a partial mood; and, forgetting her usual stinted step-mother dole of gifts, had endowed this, her darling, with a grand-dame's bounty. What did St.

John Rivers think of this earthly angel? I naturally asked myself that question as I saw him turn to her and look at her; and, as naturally, I sought the answer to the inquiry in his countenance. He had already withdrawn his eye from the Peri, and was looking at a humble tuft of daisies which grew by the wicket. “A lovely evening, but late for you to be out alone,” he said, as he crushed the snowy heads of the closed flowers with his foot. “Oh, I only came home from S-” (she mentioned the name of a large town some twenty miles distant) “this afternoon. Papa told me you had opened your school, and that the new mistress was come; and so I put on my bonnet after tea, and ran up the valley to see her: this is she?” pointing to me. “It is,” said St.

John. “Do you think you shall like Morton?” she asked of me, with a direct and naive simplicity of tone and manner, pleasing, if child-like. “I hope I shall.

I have many inducements to do so.” “Did you find your scholars as attentive as you expected?” “Quite.”

“Do you like your house?”

“Very much.”

“Have I furnished it nicely?”

“Very nicely, indeed.”

“And made a good choice of an attendant for you in Alice Wood?”

“You have indeed.

She is teachable and handy.” (This then, I thought, is Miss Oliver, the heiress; favoured, it seems, in the gifts of fortune, as well as in those of nature! What happy combination of the planets presided over her birth, I wonder? “I shall come up and help you to teach sometimes,” she added.

“It will be a change for me to visit you now and then; and I like a change. Mr. Rivers, I have been so gay during my stay at S-. Last night, or rather this morning, I was dancing till two o'clock. The ---th regiment are stationed there since the riots; and the officers are the most agreeable men in the world: they put all our young knife-grinders and scissor merchants to shame.” It seemed to me that Mr. St.

John's under lip protruded, and his upper lip curled a moment. His mouth certainly looked a good deal compressed, and the lower part of his face unusually stern and square, as the laughing girl gave him this information. He lifted his gaze, too, from the daisies, and turned it on her. An unsmiling, a searching, a meaning gaze it was. She answered it with a second laugh, and laughter well became her youth, her roses, her dimples, her bright eyes. As he stood, mute and grave, she again fell to caressing Carlo. “Poor Carlo loves me,” said she. “ He is not stern and distant to his friends; and if he could speak, he would not be silent.” As she patted the dog's head, bending with native grace before his young and austere master, I saw a glow rise to that master's face. I saw his solemn eye melt with sudden fire, and flicker with resistless emotion. Flushed and kindled thus, he looked nearly as beautiful for a man as she for a woman. His chest heaved once, as if his large heart, weary of despotic constriction, had expanded, despite the will, and made a vigorous bound for the attainment of liberty. But he curbed it, I think, as a resolute rider would curb a rearing steed. He responded neither by word nor movement to the gentle advances made him. “Papa says you never come to see us now,” continued Miss Oliver, looking up. “You are quite a stranger at Vale Hall. He is alone this evening, and not very well: will you return with me and visit him?” “It is not a seasonable hour to intrude on Mr. Oliver,” answered St. John. “Not a seasonable hour!

But I declare it is. It is just the hour when papa most wants company: when the works are closed and he has no business to occupy him. Now, Mr. Rivers, do come. Why are you so very shy, and so very sombre?” She filled up the hiatus his silence left by a reply of her own. “I forgot!” she exclaimed, shaking her beautiful curled head, as if shocked at herself. “I am so giddy and thoughtless! Do excuse me. It had slipped my memory that you have good reasons to be indisposed for joining in my chatter. Diana and Mary have left you, and Moor House is shut up, and you are so lonely. I am sure I pity you. Do come and see papa.” “Not to-night, Miss Rosamond, not to-night.”

Mr.

St.

John spoke almost like an automaton: himself only knew the effort it cost him thus to refuse. “Well, if you are so obstinate, I will leave you; for I dare not stay any longer: the dew begins to fall. Good evening!” She held out her hand.

He just touched it. “Good evening!” he repeated, in a voice low and hollow as an echo. She turned, but in a moment returned. “Are you well?” she asked.

Well might she put the question: his face was blanched as her gown. “Quite well,” he enunciated; and, with a bow, he left the gate. She went one way; he another. She turned twice to gaze after him as she tripped fairy-like down the field; he, as he strode firmly across, never turned at all. This spectacle of another's suffering and sacrifice rapt my thoughts from exclusive meditation on my own.

Diana Rivers had designated her brother “inexorable as death.” She had not exaggerated.

CHAPTER XXXI CAPÍTULO XXXI CAPÍTULO XXXI BÖLÜM XXXI

My home, then, when I at last find a home,—is a cottage; a little room with whitewashed walls and a sanded floor, containing four painted chairs and a table, a clock, a cupboard, with two or three plates and dishes, and a set of tea-things in delf. My home, then, when I at last find a home,—is a cottage; a little room with whitewashed walls and a sanded floor, containing four painted chairs and a table, a clock, a cupboard, with two or three plates and dishes, and a set of tea-things in delf. Ma maison donc, quand je trouve enfin une maison, c'est une chaumière; une petite pièce aux murs blanchis à la chaux et au sol sablé, contenant quatre chaises peintes et une table, une horloge, un placard, avec deux ou trois assiettes et plats, et un ensemble de thé en delf. Above, a chamber of the same dimensions as the kitchen, with a deal bedstead and chest of drawers; small, yet too large to be filled with my scanty wardrobe: though the kindness of my gentle and generous friends has increased that, by a modest stock of such things as are necessary. Au-dessus, une chambre des mêmes dimensions que la cuisine, avec un lit et une commode; petite, mais trop grande pour être remplie de ma maigre garde-robe: bien que la gentillesse de mes amis doux et généreux ait augmenté cela, par un stock modeste de ce qui est nécessaire. It is evening.

I have dismissed, with the fee of an orange, the little orphan who serves me as a handmaid. I have dismissed, with the fee of an orange, the little orphan who serves me as a handmaid. J'ai congédié, moyennant le paiement d'une orange, le petit orphelin qui me sert de servante. I am sitting alone on the hearth. I am sitting alone on the hearth. This morning, the village school opened. I had twenty scholars. But three of the number can read: none write or cipher. But three of the number can read: none write or cipher. Mais trois des nombres peuvent lire: aucun n'écrit ou ne chiffre. Several knit, and a few sew a little. Plusieurs d'entre eux tricotent et quelques-uns cousent un peu. They speak with the broadest accent of the district. Ils parlent avec l'accent le plus large du quartier. At present, they and I have a difficulty in understanding each other’s language. Some of them are unmannered, rough, intractable, as well as ignorant; but others are docile, have a wish to learn, and evince a disposition that pleases me. Some of them are unmannered, rough, intractable, as well as ignorant; but others are docile, have a wish to learn, and evince a disposition that pleases me. Certains d'entre eux sont indisciplinés, rugueux, insolubles et ignorants; mais d'autres sont dociles, ont le désir d'apprendre et manifestent une disposition qui me plaît. I must not forget that these coarsely-clad little peasants are of flesh and blood as good as the scions of gentlest genealogy; and that the germs of native excellence, refinement, intelligence, kind feeling, are as likely to exist in their hearts as in those of the best-born. I must not forget that these coarsely-clad little peasants are of flesh and blood as good as the scions of gentlest genealogy; and that the germs of native excellence, refinement, intelligence, kind feeling, are as likely to exist in their hearts as in those of the best-born. Je ne dois pas oublier que ces petits paysans grossièrement vêtus sont de chair et de sang aussi bons que les descendants de la plus douce généalogie; et que les germes de l'excellence indigène, du raffinement, de l'intelligence, de la gentillesse, sont aussi susceptibles d'exister dans leurs cœurs que dans ceux des meilleurs-nés. My duty will be to develop these germs: surely I shall find some happiness in discharging that office. My duty will be to develop these germs: surely I shall find some happiness in discharging that office. Mon devoir sera de développer ces germes: je trouverai sûrement du bonheur à remplir cette fonction. Much enjoyment I do not expect in the life opening before me: yet it will, doubtless, if I regulate my mind, and exert my powers as I ought, yield me enough to live on from day to day. Much enjoyment I do not expect in the life opening before me: yet it will, doubtless, if I regulate my mind, and exert my powers as I ought, yield me enough to live on from day to day. Je n'attends pas beaucoup de plaisir dans la vie qui s'ouvre devant moi; cependant, sans doute, si je règle mon esprit et que j'exerce mes pouvoirs comme je le dois, me donnera assez pour vivre au jour le jour. Was I very gleeful, settled, content, during the hours I passed in yonder bare, humble schoolroom this morning and afternoon? Was I very gleeful, settled, content, during the hours I passed in yonder bare, humble schoolroom this morning and afternoon? Étais-je très joyeux, posé, content, pendant les heures que je passais dans cette humble salle de classe nue ce matin et cet après-midi? Not to deceive myself, I must reply—No: I felt desolate to a degree. Pour ne pas me tromper, je dois répondre Non : je me suis sentie désolée jusqu'à un certain point. I felt—yes, idiot that I am—I felt degraded. Je me sentais - oui, idiot que je suis - je me sentais dégradé. I doubted I had taken a step which sank instead of raising me in the scale of social existence. I doubted I had taken a step which sank instead of raising me in the scale of social existence. Je doutais d'avoir fait un pas qui a sombré au lieu de m'élever dans l'échelle de l'existence sociale. I was weakly dismayed at the ignorance, the poverty, the coarseness of all I heard and saw round me. I was weakly dismayed at the ignorance, the poverty, the coarseness of all I heard and saw round me. J'étais faiblement consterné par l'ignorance, la pauvreté, la grossièreté de tout ce que j'entendais et voyais autour de moi. But let me not hate and despise myself too much for these feelings; I know them to be wrong—that is a great step gained; I shall strive to overcome them. But let me not hate and despise myself too much for these feelings; I know them to be wrong—that is a great step gained; I shall strive to overcome them. Mais laissez-moi ne pas me haïr et me mépriser trop pour ces sentiments; Je sais qu'ils se trompent - c'est un grand pas gagné; Je m'efforcerai de les surmonter. To-morrow, I trust, I shall get the better of them partially; and in a few weeks, perhaps, they will be quite subdued. To-morrow, I trust, I shall get the better of them partially; and in a few weeks, perhaps, they will be quite subdued. Demain, j'espère, j'aurai raison d'eux en partie; et dans quelques semaines, peut-être, ils seront assez calmes. In a few months, it is possible, the happiness of seeing progress, and a change for the better in my scholars may substitute gratification for disgust. In a few months, it is possible, the happiness of seeing progress, and a change for the better in my scholars may substitute gratification for disgust. Dans quelques mois, il est possible que le bonheur de voir des progrès et un changement pour le mieux chez mes élèves remplace la satisfaction par le dégoût. Meantime, let me ask myself one question—Which is better?—To have surrendered to temptation; listened to passion; made no painful effort—no struggle;—but to have sunk down in the silken snare; fallen asleep on the flowers covering it; wakened in a southern clime, amongst the luxuries of a pleasure villa: to have been now living in France, Mr. Rochester’s mistress; delirious with his love half my time—for he would—oh, yes, he would have loved me well for a while. En attendant, permettez-moi de me poser une question - Qu'est-ce qui est mieux? - D'avoir cédé à la tentation; écouté la passion; n'a fait aucun effort pénible, aucune lutte, mais s'être enfoncé dans le piège de soie; endormi sur les fleurs qui le recouvrent; réveillé dans un climat méridional, parmi les luxes d'une villa d'agrément: avoir habité maintenant en France, la maîtresse de M. Rochester; délirant avec son amour la moitié de mon temps - car il le ferait - oh, oui, il m'aurait bien aimé pendant un moment. He did love me—no one will ever love me so again. He did love me—no one will ever love me so again. Il m'aimait - personne ne m'aimera plus jamais de la sorte. I shall never more know the sweet homage given to beauty, youth, and grace—for never to any one else shall I seem to possess these charms. I shall never more know the sweet homage given to beauty, youth, and grace—for never to any one else shall I seem to possess these charms. Je ne connaîtrai plus jamais le doux hommage rendu à la beauté, à la jeunesse et à la grâce - car jamais à personne d'autre ne semblerai posséder ces charmes. He was fond and proud of me—it is what no man besides will ever be.—But where am I wandering, and what am I saying, and above all, feeling? He was fond and proud of me—it is what no man besides will ever be.—But where am I wandering, and what am I saying, and above all, feeling? Il aimait et était fier de moi - c'est ce qu'aucun homme d'autre ne sera jamais. - Mais où est-ce que j'erre, et que dis-je et surtout ressens? Whether is it better, I ask, to be a slave in a fool’s paradise at Marseilles—fevered with delusive bliss one hour—suffocating with the bitterest tears of remorse and shame the next—or to be a village-schoolmistress, free and honest, in a breezy mountain nook in the healthy heart of England? Que vaut-il mieux, je demande, être esclave dans un paradis des fous à Marseille - fiévreux d'une félicité illusoire une heure - suffoquant des larmes les plus amères de remords et de honte le lendemain - ou d'être une maîtresse d'école de village, libre et honnête, dans un coin de montagne aéré au cœur sain de l'Angleterre? Yes; I feel now that I was right when I adhered to principle and law, and scorned and crushed the insane promptings of a frenzied moment. Yes; I feel now that I was right when I adhered to principle and law, and scorned and crushed the insane promptings of a frenzied moment. Oui; Je sens maintenant que j'avais raison quand j'ai adhéré au principe et à la loi, méprisé et écrasé les incitations insensées d'un moment frénétique. God directed me to a correct choice: I thank His providence for the guidance! God directed me to a correct choice: I thank His providence for the guidance! Having brought my eventide musings to this point, I rose, went to my door, and looked at the sunset of the harvest-day, and at the quiet fields before my cottage, which, with the school, was distant half a mile from the village. Having brought my eventide musings to this point, I rose, went to my door, and looked at the sunset of the harvest-day, and at the quiet fields before my cottage, which, with the school, was distant half a mile from the village. Ayant amené mes réflexions éventuelles à ce point, je me suis levé, je suis allé à ma porte et j'ai regardé le coucher du soleil du jour de la récolte, et les champs tranquilles devant ma maison, qui, avec l'école, était éloignée d'un demi-mille village. The birds were singing their last strains— Les oiseaux chantaient leurs dernières souches - “The air was mild, the dew was balm.” «L'air était doux, la rosée était du baume. While I looked, I thought myself happy, and was surprised to find myself ere long weeping—and why? Pendant que je regardais, je me croyais heureuse, et étais surprise de me retrouver bientôt à pleurer - et pourquoi? For the doom which had reft me from adhesion to my master: for him I was no more to see; for the desperate grief and fatal fury—consequences of my departure—which might now, perhaps, be dragging him from the path of right, too far to leave hope of ultimate restoration thither. Pour le sort qui m'avait refoulé de l'adhésion à mon maître: pour lui je n'étais plus à voir; pour la douleur désespérée et la fureur fatale - conséquences de mon départ - qui pourraient maintenant, peut-être, l'entraîner hors du chemin du droit, trop loin pour y laisser l'espoir d'une ultime restauration. At this thought, I turned my face aside from the lovely sky of eve and lonely vale of Morton—I say lonely , for in that bend of it visible to me there was no building apparent save the church and the parsonage, half-hid in trees, and, quite at the extremity, the roof of Vale Hall, where the rich Mr. Oliver and his daughter lived. À cette pensée, je détournai mon visage du beau ciel de veille et de la vallée solitaire de Morton - je dis solitaire, car dans ce détour que je voyais il n'y avait aucun bâtiment apparent sauf l'église et le presbytère, à demi cachés arbres, et, tout à l'extrémité, le toit de Vale Hall, où vivaient le riche M. Oliver et sa fille. I hid my eyes, and leant my head against the stone frame of my door; but soon a slight noise near the wicket which shut in my tiny garden from the meadow beyond it made me look up. Je cachai mes yeux et appuyai ma tête contre le cadre de pierre de ma porte; mais bientôt un léger bruit près du guichet qui fermait mon petit jardin depuis la prairie au-delà me fit lever les yeux. A dog—old Carlo, Mr. Rivers' pointer, as I saw in a moment—was pushing the gate with his nose, and St. John himself leant upon it with folded arms; his brow knit, his gaze, grave almost to displeasure, fixed on me. Jean lui-même s'appuya dessus les bras croisés; ses sourcils froncés, son regard, grave presque pour déplaire, fixé sur moi. I asked him to come in. “No, I cannot stay; I have only brought you a little parcel my sisters left for you. I think it contains a colour-box, pencils, and paper.” I approached to take it: a welcome gift it was.

He examined my face, I thought, with austerity, as I came near: the traces of tears were doubtless very visible upon it. He examined my face, I thought, with austerity, as I came near: the traces of tears were doubtless very visible upon it. “Have you found your first day’s work harder than you expected?” he asked. “Have you found your first day's work harder than you expected?” he asked. “Oh, no!

On the contrary, I think in time I shall get on with my scholars very well.” On the contrary, I think in time I shall get on with my scholars very well.” Au contraire, je pense qu'avec le temps, je m'entendrai très bien avec mes boursiers". “But perhaps your accommodations—your cottage—your furniture—have disappointed your expectations? “But perhaps your accommodations—your cottage—your furniture—have disappointed your expectations? They are, in truth, scanty enough; but—” I interrupted— They are, in truth, scanty enough; but—” I interrupted— Ils sont, en vérité, assez rares; mais… »J'ai interrompu… “My cottage is clean and weather-proof; my furniture sufficient and commodious. “My cottage is clean and weather-proof; my furniture sufficient and commodious. «Mon chalet est propre et résistant aux intempéries; mon mobilier suffisant et spacieux. All I see has made me thankful, not despondent. All I see has made me thankful, not despondent. Tout ce que je vois m'a rendu reconnaissant, pas découragé. I am not absolutely such a fool and sensualist as to regret the absence of a carpet, a sofa, and silver plate; besides, five weeks ago I had nothing—I was an outcast, a beggar, a vagrant; now I have acquaintance, a home, a business. I am not absolutely such a fool and sensualist as to regret the absence of a carpet, a sofa, and silver plate; besides, five weeks ago I had nothing—I was an outcast, a beggar, a vagrant; now I have acquaintance, a home, a business. I wonder at the goodness of God; the generosity of my friends; the bounty of my lot. I wonder at the goodness of God; the generosity of my friends; the bounty of my lot. Je m'étonne de la bonté de Dieu; la générosité de mes amis; la générosité de mon sort. I do not repine.” “But you feel solitude an oppression? “But you feel solitude an oppression?

The little house there behind you is dark and empty.” “I have hardly had time yet to enjoy a sense of tranquillity, much less to grow impatient under one of loneliness.” “I have hardly had time yet to enjoy a sense of tranquillity, much less to grow impatient under one of loneliness.” «J'ai à peine eu le temps de ressentir un sentiment de tranquillité, encore moins de m'impatienter sous celui de solitude. “Very well; I hope you feel the content you express: at any rate, your good sense will tell you that it is too soon yet to yield to the vacillating fears of Lot’s wife. “Very well; I hope you feel the content you express: at any rate, your good sense will tell you that it is too soon yet to yield to the vacillating fears of Lot's wife. "Très bien; J'espère que vous ressentez le contenu que vous exprimez: en tout cas, votre bon sens vous dira qu'il est encore trop tôt pour céder aux craintes vacillantes de la femme de Lot. What you had left before I saw you, of course I do not know; but I counsel you to resist firmly every temptation which would incline you to look back: pursue your present career steadily, for some months at least.” What you had left before I saw you, of course I do not know; but I counsel you to resist firmly every temptation which would incline you to look back: pursue your present career steadily, for some months at least.” Ce qu'il vous restait avant de vous voir, bien sûr, je ne le sais pas; mais je vous conseille de résister fermement à toutes les tentations qui vous inciteraient à regarder en arrière: poursuivez votre carrière actuelle avec constance, pendant au moins quelques mois. “It is what I mean to do,” I answered.

St.

John continued— “It is hard work to control the workings of inclination and turn the bent of nature; but that it may be done, I know from experience. «C'est un travail difficile de contrôler le fonctionnement de l'inclinaison et de tourner le penchant de la nature; mais que cela puisse être fait, je le sais par expérience. God has given us, in a measure, the power to make our own fate; and when our energies seem to demand a sustenance they cannot get—when our will strains after a path we may not follow—we need neither starve from inanition, nor stand still in despair: we have but to seek another nourishment for the mind, as strong as the forbidden food it longed to taste—and perhaps purer; and to hew out for the adventurous foot a road as direct and broad as the one Fortune has blocked up against us, if rougher than it. Dieu nous a donné, dans une certaine mesure, le pouvoir de faire notre propre destin; et quand nos énergies semblent exiger une nourriture qu'elles ne peuvent pas obtenir - quand notre volonté s'efforce de suivre un chemin que nous ne pouvons pas suivre - nous n'avons pas besoin de mourir de faim de l'inanition, ni de rester immobile dans le désespoir: nous n'avons qu'à chercher une autre nourriture pour l'esprit, comme fort comme la nourriture interdite qu'il désirait goûter - et peut-être plus pur; et tracer pour le pied aventureux une route aussi directe et large que celle que la Fortune a bloquée contre nous, quoique plus rude qu'elle. “A year ago I was myself intensely miserable, because I thought I had made a mistake in entering the ministry: its uniform duties wearied me to death. “A year ago I was myself intensely miserable, because I thought I had made a mistake in entering the ministry: its uniform duties wearied me to death. «Il y a un an, j'étais moi-même extrêmement misérable, car je pensais avoir commis une erreur en entrant au ministère: ses devoirs uniformes me fatiguaient à mort. I burnt for the more active life of the world—for the more exciting toils of a literary career—for the destiny of an artist, author, orator; anything rather than that of a priest: yes, the heart of a politician, of a soldier, of a votary of glory, a lover of renown, a luster after power, beat under my curate’s surplice. I burnt for the more active life of the world—for the more exciting toils of a literary career—for the destiny of an artist, author, orator; anything rather than that of a priest: yes, the heart of a politician, of a soldier, of a votary of glory, a lover of renown, a luster after power, beat under my curate's surplice. J'ai brûlé pour la vie plus active du monde - pour les travaux les plus passionnants d'une carrière littéraire - pour le destin d'un artiste, auteur, orateur; quoi que ce soit plutôt que celui d'un prêtre: oui, le cœur d'un homme politique, d'un soldat, d'un adepte de la gloire, d'un amoureux de la renommée, d'un éclat après pouvoir, battu sous le surplis de mon curé. I considered; my life was so wretched, it must be changed, or I must die. I considered; my life was so wretched, it must be changed, or I must die. J'ai considéré; ma vie était si misérable, elle doit être changée, ou je dois mourir. After a season of darkness and struggling, light broke and relief fell: my cramped existence all at once spread out to a plain without bounds—my powers heard a call from heaven to rise, gather their full strength, spread their wings, and mount beyond ken. After a season of darkness and struggling, light broke and relief fell: my cramped existence all at once spread out to a plain without bounds—my powers heard a call from heaven to rise, gather their full strength, spread their wings, and mount beyond ken. Après une saison d'obscurité et de lutte, la lumière s'est brisée et le soulagement est tombé: mon existence exiguë s'est soudainement étendue dans une plaine sans limites - mes pouvoirs ont entendu un appel du ciel à se lever, à rassembler toute leur force, à déployer leurs ailes et à monter au-delà ken. God had an errand for me; to bear which afar, to deliver it well, skill and strength, courage and eloquence, the best qualifications of soldier, statesman, and orator, were all needed: for these all centre in the good missionary. God had an errand for me; to bear which afar, to deliver it well, skill and strength, courage and eloquence, the best qualifications of soldier, statesman, and orator, were all needed: for these all centre in the good missionary. Dieu avait une mission pour moi; pour porter lequel de loin, pour le délivrer bien, il fallait savoir-faire et force, courage et éloquence, les meilleures qualifications de soldat, d'homme d'État et d'orateur: pour tout cela se concentre dans le bon missionnaire. “A missionary I resolved to be.

From that moment my state of mind changed; the fetters dissolved and dropped from every faculty, leaving nothing of bondage but its galling soreness—which time only can heal. A partir de ce moment, mon état d'esprit a changé; les chaînes se dissolvaient et tombaient de toutes les facultés, ne laissant rien d'autre à la servitude que sa douleur fulgurante - que le temps seul peut guérir. My father, indeed, imposed the determination, but since his death, I have not a legitimate obstacle to contend with; some affairs settled, a successor for Morton provided, an entanglement or two of the feelings broken through or cut asunder—a last conflict with human weakness, in which I know I shall overcome, because I have vowed that I will overcome—and I leave Europe for the East.” Mon père, en effet, a imposé la détermination, mais depuis sa mort, je n'ai pas d'obstacle légitime à affronter; quelques affaires réglées, un successeur de Morton pourvu, un enchevêtrement ou deux des sentiments brisés ou coupés en deux - un dernier conflit avec la faiblesse humaine, dans lequel je sais que je surmonterai, parce que j'ai juré que je vaincrai - et je pars L'Europe pour l'Est. » He said this, in his peculiar, subdued, yet emphatic voice; looking, when he had ceased speaking, not at me, but at the setting sun, at which I looked too. Il a dit cela, de sa voix particulière, modérée, mais emphatique; regardant, quand il avait cessé de parler, non pas à moi, mais au soleil couchant, que je regardais aussi. Both he and I had our backs towards the path leading up the field to the wicket. Lui et moi tournions le dos au chemin menant au champ jusqu'au guichet. We had heard no step on that grass-grown track; the water running in the vale was the one lulling sound of the hour and scene; we might well then start when a gay voice, sweet as a silver bell, exclaimed— Nous n'avions entendu aucun pas sur cette piste herbeuse; l'eau qui coulait dans la vallée était le seul bruit endormi de l'heure et de la scène; nous pourrions bien alors commencer lorsqu'une voix gaie, douce comme une cloche d'argent, s'écria: “Good evening, Mr. Rivers.

And good evening, old Carlo. Your dog is quicker to recognise his friends than you are, sir; he pricked his ears and wagged his tail when I was at the bottom of the field, and you have your back towards me now.” Votre chien reconnaît plus rapidement ses amis que vous, monsieur; il s'est piqué les oreilles et a remué sa queue quand j'étais au fond du champ, et tu me tournes le dos maintenant. It was true.

Though Mr. Rivers had started at the first of those musical accents, as if a thunderbolt had split a cloud over his head, he stood yet, at the close of the sentence, in the same attitude in which the speaker had surprised him—his arm resting on the gate, his face directed towards the west. Bien que M. Rivers eût commencé au premier de ces accents musicaux, comme si un coup de foudre avait fendu un nuage au-dessus de sa tête, il se tenait encore, à la fin de la phrase, dans la même attitude dans laquelle l'orateur l'avait surpris - son bras posé sur la grille, le visage tourné vers l'ouest. He turned at last, with measured deliberation. Il se retourna enfin, avec une délibération mesurée. A vision, as it seemed to me, had risen at his side. Une vision, me semblait-il, s'était élevée à ses côtés. There appeared, within three feet of him, a form clad in pure white—a youthful, graceful form: full, yet fine in contour; and when, after bending to caress Carlo, it lifted up its head, and threw back a long veil, there bloomed under his glance a face of perfect beauty. A moins d'un mètre de lui, apparut une forme vêtue de blanc pur, une forme jeune et gracieuse, aux contours pleins et fins à la fois ; et lorsque, après s'être penchée pour caresser Carlo, elle releva la tête et rejeta en arrière un long voile, un visage d'une beauté parfaite s'épanouit sous le regard de l'homme. Perfect beauty is a strong expression; but I do not retrace or qualify it: as sweet features as ever the temperate clime of Albion moulded; as pure hues of rose and lily as ever her humid gales and vapoury skies generated and screened, justified, in this instance, the term. La beauté parfaite est une expression forte; mais je ne le retrace ni ne le qualifie: aussi doux que jamais le climat tempéré d'Albion moulé; comme de pures teintes de rose et de lys, comme toujours, ses coups de vent humides et son ciel vaporeux générés et masqués, justifiaient, dans ce cas, le terme. No charm was wanting, no defect was perceptible; the young girl had regular and delicate lineaments; eyes shaped and coloured as we see them in lovely pictures, large, and dark, and full; the long and shadowy eyelash which encircles a fine eye with so soft a fascination; the pencilled brow which gives such clearness; the white smooth forehead, which adds such repose to the livelier beauties of tint and ray; the cheek oval, fresh, and smooth; the lips, fresh too, ruddy, healthy, sweetly formed; the even and gleaming teeth without flaw; the small dimpled chin; the ornament of rich, plenteous tresses—all advantages, in short, which, combined, realise the ideal of beauty, were fully hers. Aucun charme ne manquait, aucun défaut n'était perceptible ; la jeune fille avait des lignes régulières et délicates ; des yeux formés et colorés comme on les voit dans les beaux tableaux, grands, sombres et pleins ; le cil long et ombrageux qui entoure un œil fin avec une fascination si douce ; le front tracé au crayon qui donne une telle clarté ; Le front blanc et lisse, qui ajoute un tel repos aux beautés plus vives de la teinte et du rayon ; la joue ovale, fraîche et lisse ; les lèvres, fraîches elles aussi, rondes, saines, doucement formées ; les dents régulières et brillantes, sans défaut ; le petit menton à fossettes ; l'ornement de tresses riches et abondantes - tous les avantages, en somme, qui, combinés, réalisent l'idéal de la beauté, étaient pleinement les siens. I wondered, as I looked at this fair creature: I admired her with my whole heart. me demandais-je en regardant cette belle créature : Je l'admirais de tout mon cœur. Nature had surely formed her in a partial mood; and, forgetting her usual stinted step-mother dole of gifts, had endowed this, her darling, with a grand-dame’s bounty. La nature l'avait sûrement formée d'humeur partielle; et, oubliant sa chère-mère habituelle de cadeaux, avait doté celle-ci, sa chérie, d'une prime de grand-dame. What did St.

John Rivers think of this earthly angel? John Rivers pense à cet ange terrestre? I naturally asked myself that question as I saw him turn to her and look at her; and, as naturally, I sought the answer to the inquiry in his countenance. Je me suis naturellement posé cette question en le voyant se tourner vers elle et la regarder ; et, tout aussi naturellement, j'ai cherché la réponse à cette question dans son visage. He had already withdrawn his eye from the Peri, and was looking at a humble tuft of daisies which grew by the wicket. Il avait déjà retiré son œil du Péri, et regardait une humble touffe de marguerites qui poussait près du guichet. “A lovely evening, but late for you to be out alone,” he said, as he crushed the snowy heads of the closed flowers with his foot. «Une belle soirée, mais tard pour que tu sois seul dehors», dit-il en écrasant les têtes enneigées des fleurs fermées avec son pied. “Oh, I only came home from S-” (she mentioned the name of a large town some twenty miles distant) “this afternoon. Papa told me you had opened your school, and that the new mistress was come; and so I put on my bonnet after tea, and ran up the valley to see her: this is she?” pointing to me. Papa told me you had opened your school, and that the new mistress was come; and so I put on my bonnet after tea, and ran up the valley to see her: this is she?” pointing to me. “It is,” said St.

John. “Do you think you shall like Morton?” she asked of me, with a direct and naive simplicity of tone and manner, pleasing, if child-like. "Pensez-vous que vous aimerez Morton ?" me demanda-t-elle, avec une simplicité directe et naïve de ton et de manière, agréable, bien qu'enfantine. “I hope I shall.

I have many inducements to do so.” J'ai de nombreuses incitations à le faire. » “Did you find your scholars as attentive as you expected?” “Quite.”

“Do you like your house?”

“Very much.”

“Have I furnished it nicely?”

“Very nicely, indeed.”

“And made a good choice of an attendant for you in Alice Wood?” «Et vous avez fait le bon choix d'un accompagnateur à Alice Wood?

“You have indeed.

She is teachable and handy.”  (This then, I thought, is Miss Oliver, the heiress; favoured, it seems, in the gifts of fortune, as well as in those of nature! Elle est enseignable et pratique". (Voici donc, pensai-je, Miss Oliver, l'héritière ; favorisée, semble-t-il, par les dons de la fortune, aussi bien que par ceux de la nature ! What happy combination of the planets presided over her birth, I wonder? Quelle heureuse combinaison de planètes a présidé à sa naissance, je me le demande ? “I shall come up and help you to teach sometimes,” she added. "Je viendrai vous aider à enseigner de temps en temps", a-t-elle ajouté.

“It will be a change for me to visit you now and then; and I like a change. "Ce sera un changement pour moi de vous rendre visite de temps en temps ; et j'aime le changement. Mr. Rivers, I have been so gay during my stay at S-. M. Rivers, j'ai été si gay pendant mon séjour à S-. Last night, or rather this morning, I was dancing till two o’clock. The ---th regiment are stationed there since the riots; and the officers are the most agreeable men in the world: they put all our young knife-grinders and scissor merchants to shame.” Le --- e régiment y est stationné depuis les émeutes; et les officiers sont les hommes les plus agréables du monde: ils ont fait honte à tous nos jeunes hachoirs et marchands de ciseaux. It seemed to me that Mr. St.

John’s under lip protruded, and his upper lip curled a moment. La lèvre inférieure de John dépassa et sa lèvre supérieure se courba un instant. His mouth certainly looked a good deal compressed, and the lower part of his face unusually stern and square, as the laughing girl gave him this information. Sa bouche avait certainement l'air bien comprimée, et la partie inférieure de son visage inhabituellement sévère et carrée, alors que la fille qui riait lui donnait cette information. He lifted his gaze, too, from the daisies, and turned it on her. An unsmiling, a searching, a meaning gaze it was. C'était un regard sans sourire, en quête de sens. She answered it with a second laugh, and laughter well became her youth, her roses, her dimples, her bright eyes. As he stood, mute and grave, she again fell to caressing Carlo. “Poor Carlo loves me,” said she. "Le pauvre Carlo m'aime, dit-elle. “ He is not stern and distant to his friends; and if he could speak, he would not be silent.” «Il n'est pas sévère et distant avec ses amis; et s'il pouvait parler, il ne se tairait pas. As she patted the dog’s head, bending with native grace before his young and austere master, I saw a glow rise to that master’s face. Alors qu'elle tapotait la tête du chien, se penchant avec une grâce indigène devant son jeune et austère maître, je vis une lueur monter sur le visage de ce maître. I saw his solemn eye melt with sudden fire, and flicker with resistless emotion. Je vis son œil solennel fondre d'un feu soudain et scintiller avec une émotion sans résistance. Flushed and kindled thus, he looked nearly as beautiful for a man as she for a woman. Rincé et allumé ainsi, il avait l'air presque aussi beau pour un homme qu'elle pour une femme. His chest heaved once, as if his large heart, weary of despotic constriction, had expanded, despite the will, and made a vigorous bound for the attainment of liberty. Sa poitrine se souleva une fois, comme si son grand cœur, las de la constriction despotique, s'était dilaté, malgré la volonté, et avait fait un bond vigoureux vers la liberté. But he curbed it, I think, as a resolute rider would curb a rearing steed. Mais il l'a freinée, je pense, comme un cavalier résolu freinerait un coursier qui se cabrait. He responded neither by word nor movement to the gentle advances made him. Il ne répondit ni par mot ni par mouvement aux douces avances qui lui étaient faites. “Papa says you never come to see us now,” continued Miss Oliver, looking up. "Papa dit que vous ne venez plus jamais nous voir", poursuit Miss Oliver en levant les yeux. “You are quite a stranger at Vale Hall. He is alone this evening, and not very well: will you return with me and visit him?” Il est seul ce soir, et il n'est pas très bien : voulez-vous venir avec moi lui rendre visite ?" “It is not a seasonable hour to intrude on Mr. Oliver,” answered St. "Ce n'est pas le moment de s'immiscer dans la vie de M. Oliver, répondit St. John. “Not a seasonable hour! “Pas une heure saisonnière!

But I declare it is. It is just the hour when papa most wants company: when the works are closed and he has no business to occupy him. C'est juste l'heure où papa a le plus envie de compagnie: quand les travaux sont fermés et qu'il n'a plus rien pour l'occuper. Now, Mr. Rivers, do come. Why are you so very shy, and so very sombre?”  She filled up the hiatus his silence left by a reply of her own. Pourquoi es-tu si timide et si sombre? Elle combla le hiatus laissé par son silence par une réponse de sa part. “I forgot!” she exclaimed, shaking her beautiful curled head, as if shocked at herself. "J'ai oublié!" s'exclama-t-elle en secouant sa belle tête recourbée, comme choquée par elle-même. “I am so giddy and thoughtless! «Je suis tellement étourdi et irréfléchi! Do excuse me. It had slipped my memory that you have good reasons to be indisposed for joining in my chatter. J'avais oublié que vous aviez de bonnes raisons d'être indisposé pour vous joindre à mon bavardage. Diana and Mary have left you, and Moor House is shut up, and you are so lonely. I am sure I pity you. Do come and see papa.” “Not to-night, Miss Rosamond, not to-night.”

Mr.

St.

John spoke almost like an automaton: himself only knew the effort it cost him thus to refuse. Jean parlait presque comme un automate : lui-même ne connaissait que l'effort qu'il lui coûtait ainsi de refuser. “Well, if you are so obstinate, I will leave you; for I dare not stay any longer: the dew begins to fall. «Eh bien, si vous êtes si obstiné, je vous quitterai; car je n'ose plus rester: la rosée commence à tomber. Good evening!” She held out her hand.

He just touched it. “Good evening!” he repeated, in a voice low and hollow as an echo. "Bonsoir!" répéta-t-il d'une voix basse et creuse comme un écho. She turned, but in a moment returned. “Are you well?” she asked.

Well might she put the question: his face was blanched as her gown. Elle pourrait bien poser la question: son visage était blanchi comme sa robe. “Quite well,” he enunciated; and, with a bow, he left the gate. She went one way; he another. She turned twice to gaze after him as she tripped fairy-like down the field; he, as he strode firmly across, never turned at all. Elle se retourna deux fois pour le regarder alors qu'elle trébuchait comme une fée dans le champ; lui, alors qu'il marchait fermement, ne se retourna jamais du tout. This spectacle of another’s suffering and sacrifice rapt my thoughts from exclusive meditation on my own. Ce spectacle de la souffrance et du sacrifice d'autrui ravit mes pensées de la méditation exclusive de la mienne.

Diana Rivers had designated her brother “inexorable as death.”  She had not exaggerated. Diana Rivers avait qualifié son frère d'"inexorable comme la mort". Elle n'avait pas exagéré.