第7章

Mr. Hindley came home to the funeral; and-a thing that amazed us, and set the neighbours gossiping right and left-he brought a wife with him. What she was, and where she was born, he never informed us: probably, she had neither money nor name to recommend her, or he would scarcely have kept the union from his father.

She was not one that would have disturbed the house much on her own account. Every object she saw, the moment she crossed the threshold, appeared to delight her; and every circumstance that took place about her: except the preparing for the burial, and the presence of the mourners. I thought she was half silly, from her behaviour while that went on: she ran into her chamber, and made me come with her, though I should have been dressing the children: and there she sat shivering and clasping her hands, and asking repeatedly-‘Are they gone yet?’Then she began describing with hysterical emotion the effect it produced on her to see black; and started, and trembled, and, at last, fell a-weeping-and when I asked what was the matter, answered, she didn't know; but she felt so afraid of dying! I imagined her as little likely to die as myself. She was rather thin, but young, and fresh-complexioned, and her eyes sparkled as bright as diamonds. I did remark, to be sure, that mounting the stairs made her breathe very quick; that the least sudden noise set her all in a quiver, and that she coughed troublesomely sometimes:but I knew nothing of what these symptoms portended, and had no impulse to sympathise with her. We don't in general take to foreigners here, Mr. Lockwood, unless they take to us first.

Young Earnshaw was altered considerably in the three years of his absence. He had grown sparer, and lost his colour, and spoke and dressed quite differently; and, on the very day of his return, he told Joseph and me we must thenceforth quarter ourselves in the back-kitchen, and leave the house for him. Indeed, he would have carpeted and papered a small spare room for a parlour; but his wife expressed such pleasure at the white floor and huge glowing fireplace, at the pewter dishes and delf-case, and dog-kennel, and the wide space there was to move about in where they usually sat, that he thought it unnecessary to her comfort, and so dropped the intention.

She expressed pleasure, too, at finding a sister among her new acquaintance; and she prattled to Catherine, and kissed her, and ran about with her, and gave her quantities of presents, at the beginning. Her affection tired very soon, however, and when she grew peevish, Hindley became tyrannical. A few words from her, evincing a dislike to Heathcliff, were enough to rouse in him all his old hatred of the boy. He drove him from their company to the servants, deprived him of the instructions of the curate, and insisted that he should labour out of doors instead; compelling him to do so as hard as any other lad on the farm.

Heathcliff bore his degradation pretty well at first, because Cathy taught him what she learnt, and worked or played with him in the fields. They both promised fair to grow up as rude as savages; the young master being entirely negligent how they behaved, and what they did, so they kept clear of him. He would not even have seen after their going to church on Sundays, only Joseph and the curate reprimanded his carelessness when they absented themselves; and that reminded him to order Heathcliff a flogging, and Catherine a fast from dinner or supper. But it was one of their chief amusements to run away to the moors in the morning and remain there all day, and the after punishment grew a mere thing to laugh at. The curate might set as many chapters as he pleased for Catherine to get by heart, and Joseph might thrash Heathcliff till his arm ached; they forgot everything the minute they were together again: at least the minute they had contrived some naughty plan of revenge; and many a time I've cried to myself to watch them growing more reckless daily, and I not daring to speak a syllable, for fear of losing the small power I still retained over the unfriended creatures. One Sunday evening, it chanced that they were banished from the sitting-room, for making a noise, or a light offence of the kind;and when I went to call them to supper, I could discover them nowhere. We searched the house, above and below, and the yard and stables; they were invisible: and, at last, Hindley in a passion told us to bolt the doors, and swore nobody should let them in that night. The household went to bed; and I, too, anxious to lie down, opened my lattice and put my head out to hearken, though it rained: determined to admit them in spite of the prohibition, should they return. In a while, I distinguished steps coming up the road, and the light of a lantern glimmered through the gate. I threw a shawl over my head and ran to prevent them from waking Mr. Earnshaw by knocking. There was Heathcliff, by himself: it gave me a start to see him alone.

‘Where is Miss Catherine?’I cried hurriedly.‘No accident, I hope?’‘At Thrushcross Grange,’he answered;‘and I would have been there too, but they had not the manners to ask me to stay.’‘Well, you will catch it!’I said:‘you'll never be content till you're sent about your business. What in the world led you wandering to Thrushcross Grange?’‘Let me get off my wet clothes, and I'll tell you all about it, Nelly,’he replied. I bid him beware of rousing the master, and while he undressed and I waited to put out the candle, he continued-‘Cathy and I escaped from the wash-house to have a ramble at liberty, and getting a glimpse of the Grange lights, we thought we would just go and see whether the Lintons passed their Sunday evenings standing shivering in corners, while their father and mother sat eating and drinking, and singing and laughing, and burning their eyes out before the fire. Do you think they do? Or reading sermons, and being catechised by their manservant, and set to learn a column of Scripture names, if they don't answer properly?’‘Probably not,’I responded.‘They are good children, no doubt, and don't deserve the treatment you receive, for your bad conduct.’‘Don't cant, Nelly,’he said:‘nonsense! We ran from the top of the Heights to the park, without stopping-Catherine completely beaten in the race, because she was barefoot. You'll have to seek for her shoes in the bog to-morrow. We crept through a broken hedge, groped our way up the path, and planted ourselves on a flower-plot under the drawing-room window. The light came from thence; they had not put up the shutters, and the curtains were only half closed. Both of us were able to look in by standing on the basement, and clinging to the ledge, and we saw-ah! it was beautiful-a splendid place carpeted with crimson, and crimson-covered chairs and tables, and a pure white ceiling bordered by gold, a shower of glass-drops hanging in silver chains from the centre, and shimmering with little soft tapers. Old Mr. and Mrs. Linton were not there; Edgar and his sisters had it entirely to themselves. Shouldn't they have been happy? We should have thought ourselves in heaven! And now, guess what your good children were doing? Isabella-I believe she is eleven, a year younger than Cathy-lay screaming at the farther end of the room, shrieking as if witches were running red-hot needles into her. Edgar stood on the hearth weeping silently, and in the middle of the table sat a little dog, shaking its paw and yelping; which, from their mutual accusations, we understood they had nearly pulled in two between them. The idiots! That was their pleasure! to quarrel who should hold a heap of warm hair, and each begin to cry because both, after struggling to get it, refused to take it. We laughed outright at the petted things; we did despise them! When would you catch me wishing to have what Catherine wanted? or find us by ourselves, seeking entertainment in yelling, and sobbing, and rolling on the ground, divided by the whole room? I'd not exchange, for a thousand lives, my condition here, for Edgar Linton's at Thrushcross Grange-not if I might have the privilege of flinging Joseph off the highest gable, and painting the house-front with Hindley's blood!’

‘Hush, hush!’I interrupted.‘Still you have not told me, Heathcliff, how Catherine is left behind?’

‘I told you we laughed,’he answered.‘The Lintons heard us, and with one accord they shot like arrows to the door; there was silence, and then a cry,“Oh, mamma, mamma! Oh, papa! Oh, mamma, come here. Oh, papa, oh!”They really did howl out something in that way. We made frightful noises to terrify them still more, and then we dropped off the ledge, because somebody was drawing the bars, and we felt we had better flee. I had Cathy by the hand, and was urging her on, when all at once she fell down.“Run, Heathcliff, run!”she whispered.“They have let the bull-dog loose, and he holds me!”The devil had seized her ankle, Nelly: I heard his abominable snorting. She did not yell out-no! she would have scorned to do it, if she had been spitted on the horns of a mad cow. I did, though: I vociferated curses enough to annihilate any fiend in Christendom; and I got a stone and thrust it between his jaws, and tried with all my might to cram it down his throat. A beast of a servant came up with a lantern, at last, shouting-“Keep fast, Skulker, keep fast!”He changed his note, however, when he saw Skulker's game. The dog was throttled off; his huge, purple tongue hanging half a foot out of his mouth, and his pendent lips streaming with bloody slaver. The man took Cathy up; she was sick: not from fear, I'm certain, but from pain. He carried her in; I followed, grumbling execrations and vengeance.“What prey, Robert?”hallooed Linton from the entrance.“Skulker has caught a little girl, sir,”he replied;“and there's a lad here,”he added, making a clutch at me,“who looks an out-andouter! Very like the robbers were for putting them through the window to open the doors to the gang after all were asleep, that they might murder us at their ease. Hold your tongue, you foul-mouthed thief, you! you shall go to the gallows for this. Mr. Linton, sir, don't lay by your gun.”“No, no, Robert,”said the old fool.“The rascals knew that yesterday was my rent-day:they thought to have me cleverly. Come in; I'll furnish them a reception. There, John, fasten the chain. Give Skulker some water, Jenny. To beard a magistrate in his stronghold, and on the Sabbath, too! Where will their insolence stop? Oh, my dear Mary, look here! Don't be afraid, it is but a boy-yet the villain scowls so plainly in his face; would it not be a kindness to the country to hang him at once, before he shows his nature in acts as well as features?”He pulled me under the chandelier, and Mrs. Linton placed her spectacles on her nose and raised her hands in horror. The cowardly children crept nearer also, Isabella lisping-“Frightful thing! Put him in the cellar, papa. He's exactly like the son of the fortune-teller that stole my tame pheasant. Isn't he, Edgar?”‘While they examined me, Cathy came round; she heard the last speech, and laughed. Edgar Linton, after an inquisitive stare, collected sufficient wit to recognise her. They see us at church, you know, though we seldom meet them elsewhere.“That's Miss Earnshaw?”he whispered to his mother,“and look how Skulker has bitten her-how her foot bleeds!”

‘“Miss Earnshaw? Nonsense!”cried the dame;“Miss Earnshaw scouring the country with a gipsy! And yet, my dear, the child is in mourning-surely it is-and she may be lamed for life!”

‘“What culpable carelessness in her brother!”exclaimed Mr. Linton, turning from me to Catherine.“I've understood from Shielders”’(that was the curate, sir)‘“that he lets her grow up in absolute heathenism. But who is this? Where did she pick up this companion? Oho! I declare he is that strange acquisition my late neighbour made, in his journey to Liverpool-a little Lascar, or an American or Spanish castaway.”

‘“A wicked boy, at all events,”remarked the old lady,“and quite unfit for a decent house! Did you notice his language, Linton? I'm shocked that my children should have heard it.”

‘I recommenced cursing-don't be angry, Nelly-and so Robert was ordered to take me off. I refused to go without Cathy; he dragged me into the garden, pushed the lantern into my hand,assured me that Mr. Earnshaw should be informed of my behaviour, and, bidding me march directly, secured the door again. The curtains were still looped up at one corner, and I resumed my station as spy; because, if Catherine had wished to return, I intended shattering their great glass panes to a million of fragments, unless they let her out. She sat on the sofa quietly. Mrs. Linton took off the grey cloak of the dairy-maid which we had borrowed for our excursion, shaking her head and expostulating with her, I suppose: she was a young lady, and they made a distinction between her treatment and mine. Then the woman-servant brought a basin of warm water, and washed her feet; and Mr. Linton mixed a tumbler of negus, and Isabella emptied a plateful of cakes into her lap, and Edgar stood gaping at a distance. Afterwards, they dried and combed her beautiful hair, and gave her a pair of enormous slippers, and wheeled her to the fire; and I left her, as merry as she could be, dividing her food between the little dog and Skulker, whose nose she pinched as he ate; and kindling a spark of spirit in the vacant blue eyes of the Lintons-a dim reflection from her own enchanting face. I saw they were full of stupid admiration; she is so immeasurably superior to them-to everybody on earth, is she not, Nelly?’

‘There will more come of this business than you reckon on,’I answered, covering him up and extinguishing the light.‘You are incurable, Heathcliff; and Mr. Hindley will have to proceed to extremities, see if he won't.’My words came truer than I desired. The luckless adventure made Earnshaw furious. And then Mr. Linton, to mend matters, paid us a visit himself on the morrow, and read the young master such a lecture on the road he guided his family, that he was stirred to look about him, in earnest. Heathcliff received no flogging, but he was told that the first word he spoke to Miss Catherine should ensure a dismissal; and Mrs. Earnshaw undertook to keep her sister-in-law in due restraint when she returned home;employing art, not force: with force she would have found it impossible.

欣德利先生回家来奔丧；而且——有一件事让我们大吃一惊，也让左邻右舍说了闲话——就是他带回了一位太太。她是何人、来自何方，欣德利从来没有告诉过我们：也许是她既没有钱又没有名望使自己受人欢迎，否则欣德利也不会向父亲隐瞒这桩婚姻。

她不是那种为了自己而搅得家里不得安宁的女人。她一跨进门槛，见到的每件东西，以及周围发生的每件事情，除了准备安葬和有人吊唁之外，似乎都让她高兴。从她这期间的举止来看，我觉得她有些傻。她跑进卧室，还要我跟她同行，尽管我要给孩子们穿孝衣。她坐在那里瑟瑟发抖，紧握手指，反复问道——“他们走了吗？”随后，她开始带着歇斯底里的感情描述起了她看到黑色会产生什么后果。她惊讶，颤抖，最后哭了起来——我问是怎么回事，她回答说她不知道；但是，她觉得非常害怕死人！我想她跟我一样不可能会死。她相当瘦，却很年轻，气色不错，眼睛像钻石一般闪闪发亮。当然，我的确注意到：一是爬楼梯会使她呼吸急促，突然听到一点风吹草动就让她浑身哆嗦；二是她有时咳得令人心烦。然而，我不知道这些症状预示着什么，所以我也无意去同情她。洛克伍德先生，我们这里通常不去喜欢外地人，除非他们先喜欢我们。

少东家恩肖外出这三年变化相当大。他长得更加瘦削，面无血色，谈吐衣着大不一样；而且，回来当天，他就吩咐我和约瑟夫从今往后我们必须住到后厨，把堂屋留给他。其实，他不想找一间小空屋，铺上地毯，糊上墙纸，作为客厅；但是，他的太太对白木地板、火光熊熊的大壁炉，对锡镴盘子、代夫特陶盒，对狗窝，以及他们日常起居的宽敞空间，都表示非常高兴。因此，他觉得，为了太太的舒适，不必多此一举，所以就打消了这个念头。

她也对能在新相识者中找到一个妹妹表示高兴；她又是神侃，又是亲吻，跟凯瑟琳跑来跑去，还送了好多礼物。然而，她的热乎劲儿很快就退了，稍有不悦，欣德利就专横跋扈起来。她只要说几句不喜欢希斯克利夫的话，就足以勾起欣德利对那小子的满腔积怨。欣德利把希斯克利夫从东家群里贬到了佣人堆里，剥夺了他从副牧师那里接受教育的权利，还坚持说他应该到户外劳动，逼迫希斯克利夫跟其他伙计一样在田地里吃苦卖力。

一开始，希斯克利夫倒还能忍受自己的降级，因为凯茜将其所学转教给他，还陪他在田地里劳动或玩耍。看来他们俩都会长得像野人那样粗鲁无礼；少东家完全没有在意他们的一举一动和所作所为，甚至连他们礼拜天去教堂的事儿都不过问，直到约瑟夫跟牧师针对他们缺席而谴责欣德利时，他才想起，就赏了希斯克利夫一顿鞭子，并罚凯瑟琳饿上一顿午饭或晚饭。但是，早上跑到荒野上，在那里呆上整整一天，是他们的主要乐趣之一；而事后受到惩罚，仅仅成了一件可笑的事儿。副牧师可以随意布置许多章，让凯瑟琳背诵；约瑟夫可以抽打希斯克利夫，直到胳膊酸痛为止；他们一旦又凑到一块，至少是一旦想出什么顽皮的报复计划，就把什么都忘到了脑后。有好多次，我眼看着他们一天疯似一天，自己哭天抹泪，却不敢提起一个字，唯恐失去手里仅剩的看护这对无依无靠孤儿的小小权利。一个礼拜天的晚上，碰巧他们因吵闹之类的小过失而被赶出了起居室；我去叫他们吃晚饭时，却找不见他们。我们上上下下搜遍了宅子，连院子和马厩都没有放过，他们连个人影都没有。最后，一气之下，欣德利吩咐我们拴上房门，赌咒发誓夜里谁也不能放他们进来。全家上上下下都上床睡觉了；而我却忧心忡忡，躺不下来，就打开格子窗，不顾天还下着雨，探出头来侧耳倾听，下定决心，只要他们回来，就不顾禁令放他们进来。过了一会儿，我听出马路上传来了脚步声，还有灯笼的火光透过大门一明一暗地闪动着。我把披巾搭在头上，跑去阻止他们敲门，以防吵醒恩肖先生。只有希斯克利夫一个人：看到他独自一人，我吃了一惊。

“凯瑟琳小姐在哪里？”我急忙喊道，“但愿她没有事儿吧？”“在画眉田庄，”他答道，“我本来也应该呆在那里，但他们没礼貌，竟不留我。”“啊，你要倒霉了！”我说，“你要到人家撵你走，才会甘心。你们究竟是怎么搞的，竟跑到画眉田庄去了？”“奈丽，让我脱掉湿衣服，再对你细说。”他答道。我嘱咐他小心，不要惊醒了东家；他脱衣服、我等着熄灯时，他继续说道——“我和凯茜从洗衣房溜了出来，想要四处溜达，却望见田庄上的灯火，我们本想只是跑去看看林顿他们是不是站在墙角哆嗦着打发礼拜天晚上，他们的父母亲则坐着又吃又喝，又唱又笑，在壁炉前眼睛都要烤出来了。你认为，他们是这样做？还是在念经文，受到男仆的盘问，他们要是回答不对，他就让他们学《圣经》上的一大串名字？”“也许不会吧，”我答道，“他们肯定都是好孩子，不应该像你们那样因做坏事而受罚。”“别假正经了，奈丽，”他说，“胡说！我们从庄子坡顶一路不停地跑到了田庄——这次赛跑，凯瑟琳彻底惨败，因为她光着脚。你明天得去沼泽里给她找鞋子。我们钻过一个篱笆缺口，摸黑顺着小路来到了客厅窗台下的花坛里，猫在了那里。灯光从那里射出来；他们没有关百叶窗，窗帘也只拉了一半。我们俩站在基岩上，扒住窗沿，刚好能看到里面。我们看到了——啊！真漂亮——是一个铺着深红色地毯、富丽堂皇的地方，桌子和椅子都覆盖着深红色桌布和椅套，白净的天花板镶着金色边框，一簇簇玻璃坠子从中央的银链上垂下来，让一支支小蜡烛映照得闪闪发亮。老林顿夫妇不在那里；那里完全就成了埃德加和他的妹妹们的天下。他们不应该开心吗？我们还以为自己到了天堂呢！现在，你猜猜你的好孩子们在干什么？伊莎贝拉——我想她有十一岁了，比凯茜小一岁——远远地躺在房间那头又叫又喊，她歇斯底里地尖叫着，就像是几个女巫正在用一根根通红的针扎她一般。埃德加站在壁炉边上默默哭泣，桌子中间卧着一条小狗，晃着一只爪子，痛得直叫；从他们俩的相互指责中，我们听明白他们差点儿把那条狗扯成了两半。白痴！这就是他们的乐趣！先是争吵谁应该抱那团暖融融的毛，后来各自又开始哭了起来，因为两人争抢一阵得到之后，又都不愿要了。我们马上对这两个活宝哈哈大笑；我们真瞧不起他们！你什么时候逮住我想要凯瑟琳要的东西？还是发现我们自己又嚎又哭，满地打滚，分别站在房间两头寻开心？就算活一千次，我也不会拿我在这里的地位跟埃德加林顿在画眉田庄的换——即便是我有权把约瑟夫从最高的山墙上扔下来，能用欣德利的血粉刷房屋的正面，我也不会换！”

“嘘！嘘！”我打断说，“希斯克利夫，你还没有告诉我凯瑟琳怎么被留下呢？”“我对你说过我们笑出了声，”他答道，“林顿兄妹听到我们笑了，不约而同，像箭一般窜到门口；沉默了一阵之后，放声大叫：‘噢，妈妈，妈妈！噢，爸爸！噢，妈妈，过来这里。噢，爸爸，噢！’他们的确就是这样嚎叫的。我们弄出可怕的声响，想要更狠地吓唬他们，然后从窗沿跳下来，因为有人在拉门栓，我们觉得最好还是溜之大吉。我拉住凯茜的手，催她快跑，这时她突然跌倒了。‘快跑，希斯克利夫，快跑！”她低声说道。“他们放开了牛头犬，它咬住我了！’那条恶犬已经咬住了她的脚踝，奈丽：我听到了它可恶的喷鼻声。凯瑟琳没有叫出声来——没有！她就是撞到疯牛角上也不屑这样做。可是，我叫出了声；我破口大骂，足以骂死基督世界的任何恶魔；我拿起一块石头，塞进了狗的嘴里，设法用尽全力想把石头塞进它的喉咙。最后，一个人面兽心的男仆提着灯笼走了过来，大声喊道——‘咬紧，狐子，咬紧！’然而，当看清那条狗咬的猎物时，他改变了语调。狗被掐住了脖子，跑开了；它的紫色大舌头耷拉在嘴外半英尺，下坠的嘴唇流淌着带血的口水。男仆抱起了凯茜；凯茜病恹恹的，我敢肯定，不是因为害怕，而是因为疼痛。他把凯茜抱进去；我跟在后面，咕咕哝哝地骂着要报仇。‘逮住什么了，罗伯特？’林顿从门口喊道。‘狐子逮住了一个小女孩，先生。’他答道，“这里还有一个小子。’他一把抓住了我，补充道，‘看上去他像一个彻头彻尾的坏蛋！很像是强盗们要让他们钻窗户，等大家都睡着后，他给那帮人开门，不费吹灰之力干掉我们。住嘴，你这个满嘴脏话的盗贼，你！你要为此上绞架。林顿先生，别放下枪。'‘不，不，罗伯特，’那个老笨蛋说，‘这些坏蛋知道昨天是我的收租日，他们是想给我耍小聪明。进来吧；我要招待他们一番。‘喂，约翰，扣紧锁链。给狐子喝点水，詹妮。竟敢冒犯长官，闯进他的公馆，而且还是在安息日！他们无法无天到什么地步才停止啊？噢，亲爱的玛丽，听我说！别怕，这只是一个小男孩——可是，那个坏蛋阴沉沉的，都清清楚楚地露在了脸上，趁他的本性只流露在脸上，还没有表现在行为上，我们马上把他绞死，这不是给乡里做了一件好事吗？’他把我拽到了枝形吊灯下面，林顿太太把眼镜架到了鼻梁上，惊恐地举起了双手。胆小的孩子们也蹑手蹑脚地凑近了些，伊莎贝拉口齿不清地说——‘可怕的家伙！爸爸，把他关进地窖里。他完全像那个偷走我驯雉的算命仙的儿子。不就是他吗，埃德加？’

“正当他们审视我时，凯茜苏醒了过来；她听到这最后一句话，大笑了起来。埃德拉·林顿好奇地盯看了一番，思前想后，终于认出了她。你知道，他们在教堂见过我们，尽管我们在别处不常碰见他们。‘这是恩肖小姐吧？’他低声对母亲说，‘瞧狐子把她给咬的——瞧她这脚流的血！’

“‘恩肖小姐？胡说！’那位太太嚷道，‘恩肖小姐一个野孩子在野地里四处乱跑呢！不过，亲爱的，这孩子还在戴孝——肯定是这样——她可能会瘸一辈子！’

“‘这都怪她的哥哥粗心大意！’林顿先生大声叫道，转脸看着凯瑟琳，不再看我。‘我从希尔德斯那里听说，'”（那就是副牧师，先生）,‘他让她在彻头彻尾的异教中长大。可这又是谁呢？她是在哪里结交这个伙伴的呢？哎哟！我敢说，他就是我的已故邻居利物浦之行的奇怪收获——一个小印度水手，要么是一个美国或西班牙的弃儿。’

“‘不管怎么说，是一个坏孩子，’老太太说，‘根本不配呆在一个体面人家！你注意到他说的话了吗，林顿？我对自己的孩子们听到这种话感到震惊。’

“我又开始骂了起来——不要生气，奈丽——于是，罗伯特奉命要带我走。没有凯茜，我不愿走；他把我拖进了花园，将灯笼塞进了我的手里，还说肯定会把我的行径告诉恩肖先生，同时命令我立马走人，然后又闩好了门。窗帘仍旧卷起一角，我又回到了侦探岗位上，因为要是凯瑟琳想回来，他们又不放她出来，我就打算把他们那一块块大玻璃砸个粉碎。凯瑟琳静静地坐在沙发上。林顿太太解下那件我们为了远足借来的挤奶女工的灰色斗篷，摇了摇头，我想那是在规劝她。凯瑟琳是小姐，他们会区别对待我和她。接着，女仆端来了一盆温水，给她洗了洗脚；林顿先生调了一杯尼加斯酒，伊莎贝拉把一盘糕点倒在她的裙兜里。埃德加站在那里，目瞪口呆地望着远处。随后，他们把她的漂亮头发擦干梳好，又给了她一双大得出奇的拖鞋，然后把她推到了壁炉边；我离开时，凯瑟琳开心极了，正把食物分给小狗和狐子吃。狐子一边吃，她一边捏它的鼻子；这在林顿兄妹茫然的蓝眼睛里燃起了精神的火花——那是她自己迷人脸蛋的一个暗淡的映像。我看到他们满脸都是一副傻傻的羡慕之情；凯瑟琳比他们强得多了——比世界上所有人都强，不是吗，奈丽？”

“这件事还会带来你想不到的结果，”我一边回答，一边给他盖好被子熄了灯，“希斯克利夫，你不可救药；欣德利先生肯定会采取极端的手段，看他会不会吧。”我没想到自己的话还真管用。这次不幸的冒险使恩肖怒不可遏。于是，为了弥补事态，林顿先生第二天亲自造访，还向少东家说教了一番，要他引导家人走正路。少东家被说动了心，就认真管教起来。希斯克利夫尽管没有挨鞭子，但被告知说，只要他开口跟凯瑟琳小姐说一个字，肯定就会被撵走；等凯瑟琳回家后，恩肖太太就担起了约束她的职责。她没有硬来，而是动用心机：硬来，是行不通的。