雙語·面紗 第五十章

50

Since the nuns were busy from morning till night with a hundred duties Kitty saw little of them but at the services in the bare, humble chapel. On her first day the Mother Superior, catching sight of her seated at the back behind the girls on the benches according to their ages, stopped and spoke to her.

“You must not think it necessary for you to come to the chapel when we do,” she said. “You are a Protestant and you have your own convictions.”

“But I like to come, Mother. I find that it rests me.”

The Mother Superior gave her a moment's glance and slightly inclined her grave head.

“Of course you will do exactly as you choose. I merely wanted you to understand that you are under no obligation.”

But with Sister St. Joseph Kitty soon became on terms not of intimacy perhaps but of familiarity. The economy of the convent was in her charge and to look after the material well-being of that big family kept the Sister on her feet all day. She said that the only time she had to rest was that which she devoted to prayer. But it pleased her towards evening when Kitty was with the girls at their work to come in and, vowing that she was tired out and had not a moment to spare, sit down for a few minutes and gossip. When she was not in the presence of the Mother Superior she was a talkative, merry creature, fond of a joke, and she did not dislike a bit of scandal. Kitty stood in no fear of her, her habit did not prevent Sister St. Joseph from being a good-natured, homely woman, and she chattered with her gaily. She did not mind with her showing how badly she talked French and they laughed with one another over Kitty's mistakes. The Sister taught her every day a few useful words of Chinese. She was a farmer's daughter and at heart she was still a peasant.

“I used to keep the cows when I was little,” she said, “l(fā)ike St. Joan of Arc. But I was too wicked to have visions. It was fortunate, I think, for my father would certainly have whipped me if I had. He used often to whip me, the good old man, for I was a very naughty little girl. I am ashamed sometimes when I think now of the pranks I used to play.”

Kitty laughed at the thought that this corpulent, middle-aged nun could ever have been a wayward child. And yet there was something childlike in her still so that your heart went out to her: she seemed to have about her an aroma of the countryside in autumn when the apple trees are laden with fruit and the crops are in and safely housed. She had not the tragic and austere saintliness of the Mother Superior, but a gaiety that was simple and happy.

“Do you never wish to go home again, ma soeur?” asked Kitty.

“Oh, no. It would be too hard to come back. I love to be here and I am never so happy as when I am among the orphans. They're so good, they're so grateful. But it is all very well to be a nun(on a beau être religieuse), still one has a mother and one cannot forget that one drank the milk of her breasts. She is old, my mother, and it is hard never to see her again; but then she is fond of her daughter-in-law, and my brother is good to her. His son is growing up now, I should think they will be glad of an extra pair of strong arms on the farm; he was only a child when I left France, but he promised to have a fist that you could fell an ox with.”

It was almost impossible in that quiet room, listening to the nun, to realize that on the other side of these four walls cholera was raging. Sister St. Joseph had an unconcern which conveyed itself to Kitty.

She had a na?ve curiosity about the world and its inhabitants. She asked Kitty all kinds of questions about London and England, a country, she thought, where so thick was the fog that you could not see your hand at mid-day, and she wanted to know if Kitty went to balls and whether she lived in a grand house and how many brothers and sisters she had. She spoke often of Walter. The Mother Superior said he was wonderful and every day they prayed for him. How lucky Kitty was to have a husband who was so good and so brave and so clever.

第五十章

因為修女們從早到晚忙著數(shù)不清的工作，除了在那座空蕩、寒酸的小教堂里做禮拜的時候，凱蒂很少能見到她們。她第一天去小教堂，院長嬤嬤看到她坐在女孩子們后面，這些孩子是按照年齡的大小被安排在小教堂的長條凳子上的。院長嬤嬤停下腳步，走過來跟凱蒂說道：

“我們必須來這所教堂時，你千萬別認為自己也必須來。”她接著說，“你是一名新教教徒，你有自己的信仰?！?/p>

“但是我愿意來，嬤嬤。我發(fā)現(xiàn)來這兒能讓我休息和放松?！?/p>

院長嬤嬤看了她一眼，稍微俯身湊近了她。

“當然，你完全可以按照自己的選擇去做，我是想讓你明白，你沒有責任和義務一定要去做什么。”

凱蒂很快又遇見了圣約瑟夫修女，兩人雖然談不上有多親密，但可以說彼此很熟悉了。整個修道院的財政大權都掌握在圣約瑟夫修女手上，她經常因為要料理一大家子人的日?；ㄤN而忙得團團轉。她自稱在虔誠禱告時才能休息片刻。然而，能讓她開心的是，到了傍晚，當凱蒂和那些剛收工的女孩子一起來到教堂，她可以走上前來。圣約瑟夫修女發(fā)誓說她累壞了，但沒有時間休息，這樣她可以有理由坐下來休息幾分鐘，和凱蒂聊會兒天。她在院長嬤嬤不在跟前的時候總是很健談，充滿快樂，喜歡開玩笑，還熱衷于聊點兒小道消息。凱蒂喜歡她天不怕、地不怕的性格，可以說對她的喜歡超過了對她的敬畏。而圣約瑟夫修女的興趣愛好也不會妨礙她成為一個本性善良而平凡的女人。凱蒂和她高興地聊著天，不介意向修女承認自己的法語講得有多差，兩人經常對凱蒂語言上犯的錯誤哈哈大笑。圣約瑟夫修女每天教凱蒂一些有用的中文詞匯。她是農民的女兒，所以在內心深處，她還是一個純樸的農民。

“我小時候常常去放牛，”她說道，“就像圣女貞德一樣。但是我不夠圣潔，還不能在幻覺中看到美景。我想這也是不幸之中的萬幸，如果我真看到了幻景，我父親肯定會用鞭子抽我的，他過去常常打我，這個老家伙。我是個非常淘氣的小姑娘，有時候回想起當初的惡作劇，還覺得不好意思哩?！眲P蒂一想到這個胖胖的、已到中年的修女曾經是一個任性的孩子，就忍俊不禁。哪怕到了現(xiàn)在，她性格中還有些孩子氣，常常能夠感染你。她身上似乎有著秋天鄉(xiāng)下的香氣，也就是當蘋果樹結滿果實，莊稼被收割裝滿谷倉時所散發(fā)出的鄉(xiāng)土氣息。她沒有院長嬤嬤性情中的那種圣徒般的悲憫與苦修，但有一種樸素和幸福的樂觀。

“你從未想到過返回故鄉(xiāng)嗎，我的姐妹？”凱蒂問道。

“哦，沒有?；丶姨y了。再說我熱愛這兒，我從來沒有像在孤兒們中間那么開心過。他們是那么的善良，每個人都有一顆感恩的心。成為一名修女（我們一直虔誠地信奉宗教），我覺得挺好的，就像一個人有養(yǎng)育她的母親，她不能忘記是吸吮她的乳汁長大的一樣。我母親的年紀很大了，恐怕我們無法再見面了。我心里也很難過。但她和兒媳婦相處得很好，我的弟弟對她也很孝順，我的侄子現(xiàn)在也長大了，我想他們很高興農莊里又多了一個幫手，我離開法國時，他還是個孩子，可他答應我會快快長大，好有足夠的力氣干農活?！?/p>

聽著圣約瑟夫修女聊著家常，你幾乎不可能意識到，在這個安靜屋子的四面墻壁之外，有可怕的霍亂正在肆虐。在凱蒂看來，圣約瑟夫修女就對它毫不在意。

圣約瑟夫修女對這個世界和它的居民有著天真的好奇心，她問凱蒂關于英國和倫敦的各種各樣的問題，她認為英國整天大霧彌漫，甚至在大白天都伸手不見五指。她想知道凱蒂是否經常去舞會，是否住在一所大房子里，有多少個兄弟姐妹。她還經常談到沃爾特。院長嬤嬤說他人太好了，每天她們都會為他祈禱。凱蒂能有這么一個善良、勇敢、充滿智慧的丈夫是多么的幸運！