1 Pip meets a stranger
My first name was Philip，but when I was a small child I could only manage to say Pip．So Pip wasyou don't，or if you tell anyone about me，I'll cut your heart out．’
‘I promise I'll do it，sir，’I answered．I was badly fright ened and my whole body was trembling .
‘You see，’he continued，smiling unpleasantly，‘I travel with a young man，a friend of mine，who roasts boys’hearts and eats them．He'll find you，wherever you are，and he'll have your heart．So bring the file and the food to that wooden shelter over there，early tomorrow morning，if you want to keep your heart，that is Remember，you promised！’
I watched him turn and walk with difficulty across the marshes，the chain hanging clumsily around his leg．Then I ran home as fast as I could．
My sister，Mrs Joe Gargery，was very proud of the fact that she had brought me up‘by hand’．Nobody explained to me what this meant，and because she had a hard and heavy hand，which she used freely on her husband as well as me，I supposed that Joe and I were both brought up by hand．She was not a beautiful woman，being tall and thin，with black hair and eyes and a very red face．She clearly felt that Joe and I caused her a lot of trouble，and she frequently complained about it．Joe，on the other hand，was a gentle，kind man with fair hair and weak blue eyes，who quietly accepted her scolding．
Because Joe and I were in the same position of being scolded by Mrs Joe，we were good friends，and Joe protected me from her anger whenever he could．So when I ran breathless into the kitchen，he gave me a friendly warning．‘She's out look-ing for you，Pip！And she's got the stick with her！’This stick had been used so often for beating me that it was now quite smooth．
Just then Mrs Joe rushed in．
‘Where have you been，you young monkey？’she shouted．I jumped behind Joe to avoid being hit with the stick．
‘Only to the churchyard，’I whispered，starting to cry．
‘Churchyard！If I hadn't brought you up，you'd be in the churchyard with our pare
《远大前程》 来自淘豆网m.daumloan.com转载请标明出处.
