第54章

第54章“hestarveduswhenhehadthesolesuperintendenceoftheprovisiondepartment，beforethecommitteewasappointed；andheboreduswithlonglecturesonceaweek，andwitheveningreadingsfrombooksofhisowninditing，aboutsuddendeathsandjudgments，whichmadeusafraidtogotobed.”

“whatagewereyouwhenyouwenttolowood？”

“aboutten.”

“andyoustayedthereeightyears：youarenow，then，eighteen？”

iassented.

“arithmetic，yousee，isuseful；withoutitsaid，ishouldhardlyhavebeenabletoguessyourage.itisapointdifficulttofixwherethefeaturesandcountenancearesomuchatvarianceasinyourcase.andnowwhatdidyoulearnatlowood？canyouplay？”

“alittle.”

“ofcourse：thatistheestablishedanswer.gointothelibrary—imean，ifyouplease.—(excusemytoneofcommand；iamusedtosay，‘dothis，’anditisdone：icannotaltermycustomaryhabitsforonenewinmate.)—go，then，intothelibrary；takeacandlewithyou；leavethedooropen；sitdowntothepiano，andplayatune.”

ideparted，obeyinghisdirections.

“enough！”hecalledoutinafewminutes.“youplayalittle，isee；likeanyotherenglishschool-girl；perhapsratherbetterthansome，butnotwell.”

iclosedthepianoandreturned.mr.rochestercontinued—“adèleshowedmesomesketchesthismorning，whichshesaidwereyours.idon’tknowwhethertheywereentirelyofyourdoing；probablyamasteraidedyou？”

“no，indeed！”iinterjected.

“ah！thatprickspride.well，fetchmeyourportfolio，ifyoucanvouchforitscontentsbeingoriginal；butdon’tpassyourwordunlessyouarecertain：icanrecognisepatchwork.”

“theniwillsaynothing，andyoushalljudgeforyourself，sir.”

ibroughttheportfoliofromthelibrary.

“approachthetable，”saidhe；andiwheeledittohiscouch.adèleandmrs.fairfaxdrewneartoseethepictures.

“nocrowding，”saidmr.rochester：“takethedrawingsfrommyhandasifinishwiththem；butdon’tpushyourfacesuptomine.”

hedeliberatelyscrutinisedeachsketchandpainting.threehelaidaside；theothers，whenhehadexaminedthem，hesweptfromhim.

“takethemofftotheothertable，mrs.fairfax，”saidhe，andlookatthemwithadèle；—you”(glancingatme)“resumeyourseat，andanswermyquestions.iperceivethosepicturesweredonebyonehand：wasthathandyours？”

“yes.”

“andwhendidyoufindtimetodothem？theyhavetakenmuchtime，andsomethought.”

“ididtheminthelasttwovacationsispentatlowood，whenihadnootheroccupation.”

“wheredidyougetyourcopies？”

“outofmyhead.”

“thatheadiseenowonyourshoulders？”

“yes，sir.”

“hasitotherfurnitureofthesamekindwithin？”

“ishouldthinkitmayhave：ishouldhope—better.”

无一错一首一发一内一容一在一6一9一书一吧一看！

hespreadthepicturesbeforehim，andagainsurveyedthemalternately.

whileheissooccupied，iwilltellyou，reader，whattheyare：andfirst，imustpremisethattheyarenothingwonderful.thesubjectshad，indeed，risenvividlyonmymind.asisawthemwiththespiritualeye，beforeiattemptedtoembodythem，theywerestriking；butmyhandwouldnotsecondmyfancy，andineachcaseithadwroughtoutbutapaleportraitofthethingihadconceived.

thesepictureswereinwater-colours.thefirstrepresentedcloudslowandlivid，rollingoveraswollensea：allthedistancewasineclipse；so，too，wastheforeground；orrather，thenearestbillows，fortherewasnoland.onegleamoflightliftedintoreliefahalf-submergedmast，onwhichsatacormorant，darkandlarge，withwingsfleckedwithfoam；itsbeakheldagoldbraceletsetwithgems，thatihadtouchedwithasbrillianttintsasmypalettecouldyield，andasglitteringdistinctnessasmypencilcouldimpart.sinkingbelowthebirdandmast，adrownedcorpseglancedthroughthegreenwater；afairarmwastheonlylimbclearlyvisible，whencethebracelethadbeenwashedortorn.

thesecondpicturecontainedforforegroundonlythedimpeakofahill，withgrassandsomeleavesslantingasifbyabreeze.beyondandabovespreadanexpanseofsky，darkblueasattwilight：risingintotheskywasawoman’sshapetothebust，portrayedintintsasduskandsoftasicouldcombine.thedimforeheadwascrownedwithastar；thelineamentsbelowwereseenasthroughthesuffusionofvapour；theeyesshonedarkandwild；thehairstreamedshadowy，likeabeamlesscloudtornbystormorbyelectrictravail.onthenecklayapalereflectionlikemoonlight；thesamefaintlustretouchedthetrainofthincloudsfromwhichroseandbowedthisvisionoftheeveningstar.