In the course of time Mr. Earnshaw began to fail. He had been active and healthy, yet his strength left him suddenly; and when he was confined to the chimney-corner he grew grievously irritable. A nothing vexed him; and suspected slights of his authority nearly threw him into fits. This was especially to be remarked if any one attempted to impose upon, or domineer over, his favourite: he was painfully jealous lest a word should be spoken amiss to him; seeming to have got into his head the notion that, because he liked Heathcliff, all hated, and longed to do him an ill-turn. It was a disadvantage to the lad; for the kinder among us did not wish to fret the master, so we humoured his partiality; and that humouring was rich nourishment to the child's pride and black tempers. Still it became in a manner necessary; twice, or thrice, Hindley's manifestation of scorn, while his father was near, roused the old man to a fury: he seized his stick to strike him, and shook with rage that he could not do it.

* humour – [verb] to agree with sb’s wishes, even if they seem unreasonable, in order to keep the person happy: She thought it best to humour him rather than get into an argument.

恩肖先生日益老去。他曾經(jīng)活躍，曾經(jīng)健康，然而氣力仿佛突然棄他而去。當(dāng)他的只能在煙筒旁的角落活動(dòng)時(shí)，他變得極為暴躁，讓人非常擔(dān)憂。無(wú)關(guān)緊要的事也讓他感到煩心，如若稍有置疑他的權(quán)威，他就會(huì)發(fā)作一氣。尤其是在有人試圖誣陷或欺負(fù)他心愛的（希斯克利夫）時(shí)，這點(diǎn)就表現(xiàn)得特別突出。他的嫉妒心理已經(jīng)幾近扭曲，見不得別人說(shuō)他（希斯克利夫）不對(duì)，仿佛有個(gè)理念已經(jīng)在他頭腦中根深蒂固，那就是因?yàn)樗矚g希斯克利夫，所以所有得人都恨他（希斯克利夫），都想哪天損上他（希斯克利夫）一把。這對(duì)那孩子（希斯克利夫）是不利的。因?yàn)橄裎覀冞@樣的人不愿意惹怒主任，所以我們就順著他的意愿，而這種順從也是助長(zhǎng)這個(gè)孩子驕傲和壞脾氣的主要養(yǎng)料。有兩三次，在父親旁邊，欣德利嘲笑（希斯克利夫），而使得老人家火冒三丈，抓起拐棍就要揍他，由于沒有打著老人氣得渾身顫抖。

At last, our curate (we had a curate then who made the living answer by teaching the little Lintons and Earnshaws, and farming his bit of land himself) advised that the young man should be sent to college; and Mr. Earnshaw agreed, though with a heavy spirit, for he said - 'Hindley was nought, and would never thrive as where he wandered.'

最后，我們的教區(qū)牧師 （我們有一個(gè)靠教小林頓們和小恩肖們維持生計(jì)，并自己耕種一點(diǎn)土地。）建議讓小伙子去上大學(xué)，雖然恩肖先生同意了，但是他并情愿，因?yàn)樗f(shuō)，“欣德利是沒有什么用的，也不可能成就他的黃粱美夢(mèng)的?！?BR>

I hoped heartily we should have peace now. It hurt me to think the master should be made uncomfortable by his own good deed. I fancied the discontent of age and disease arose from his family disagreements; as he would have it that it did: really, you know, sir, it was in his sinking frame. We might have got on tolerably, notwithstanding, but for two people - Miss Cathy, and Joseph, the servant: you saw him, I daresay, up yonder. He was, and is yet most likely, the wearisomest self-righteous Pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself and fling the curses to his neighbours. By his knack of sermonising and pious discoursing, he contrived to make a great impression on Mr. Earnshaw; and the more feeble the master became, the more influence he gained.

我真心希望以后可以過平靜的日子。想想老主人落得個(gè)好心沒好報(bào)的下場(chǎng)，讓我感到難過。我猜是對(duì)年齡的不滿和家庭不合的不安；而他也得承認(rèn)就是如此。真的，先生，他那時(shí)已經(jīng)日益衰老。盡管我們的處得還算過得去，但是有兩個(gè)人——?jiǎng)P西小姐和約瑟夫，那個(gè)仆人，你見過的，我敢說(shuō)要好很多。他（約瑟夫）就像是最乏味的自以為是的法利賽人，翻來(lái)覆去的查看一本圣經(jīng)，搜尋所有對(duì)自己有利的咒語(yǔ)，卻把詛咒丟給他的旁邊的人們，現(xiàn)在還是這副樣子。由于他精通布道，還有會(huì)虔誠(chéng)的講道，他成功的給恩肖先生留下了及好的印象，而起主人越是虛弱，他的影響力也就越大。

He was relentless in worrying him about his soul's concerns, and about ruling his children rigidly. He encouraged him to regard Hindley as a reprobate; and, night after night, he regularly grumbled out a long string of tales against Heathcliff and Catherine: always minding to flatter Earnshaw's weakness by heaping the heaviest blame on the latter.

他總是讓主人擔(dān)心自己的靈魂所在，擔(dān)心對(duì)的孩子管教過嚴(yán)。他鼓勵(lì)主人將欣德利當(dāng)成是被上帝摒棄的人，而且，一天一天的，他嘀咕了不少詆毀希斯克利夫和凱瑟琳的事，考慮到恩肖的脾氣，他總是把最重的責(zé)備加在后者的頭上。

Certainly, she had ways with her such as I never saw a child take up before; and she put all of us past our patience fifty times and oftener in a day: from the hour she came down-stairs till the hour she went to bed, we had not a minute's security that she wouldn't be in mischief. Her spirits were always at high-water mark, her tongue always going - singing, laughing, and plaguing everybody who would not do the same. A wild, wicked slip she was - but she had the bonniest eye, the sweetest smile, and lightest foot in the parish: and, after all, I believe she meant no harm; for when once she made you cry in good earnest, it seldom happened that she would not keep you company, and oblige you to be quiet that you might comfort her. She was much too fond of Heathcliff. The greatest punishment we could invent for her was to keep her separate from him: yet she got chided more than any of us on his account. In play, she liked exceedingly to act the little mistress; using her hands freely, and commanding her companions: she did so to me, but I would not bear slapping and ordering; and so I let her know.

當(dāng)然，她總是那副樣子，我從來(lái)沒有見那個(gè)孩子這樣。常常在一天之內(nèi)，從她下樓到她上床睡覺，她總要把所有的人惹火無(wú)數(shù)次。我們沒有辦法讓她有一分鐘不淘氣的。她的總是處于興奮狀態(tài)，她的小嘴總是在——唱歌，笑，還有就是騷擾那些不跟她一道的人。她是一個(gè)野性的，淘氣的孩子，但是她有最漂亮的眼睛，最甜的微笑，當(dāng)?shù)刈钶p盈的腳步。而起，我最終相信，她是沒有壞心眼的，因?yàn)槊看嗡娴陌涯闳菒懒?，她很少?huì)跑開，使得你不得不安靜下來(lái)去安慰她。她非常喜歡希斯克利夫。我們能施于她最大的懲罰莫過于把她和他分開，因?yàn)樗脑颍さ牧R比我們都多。彎游戲的時(shí)候，她特別喜歡扮演小女主人，肆無(wú)忌憚地指揮她的玩伴們，她對(duì)我也這樣做過，但是我受不了她的猛打和命令，所以我告訴了她。