chapter 20
Rochester:Well,then Jane,call to aid your fancy:suppose you were no longer a girl well reared and disciplined,but a wild boy indulged from childhood upwards;imagine yourself in a remote foreign land; conceive that you there commit a capital error,no matter of what nature or from what motives,but one whose consequences must follow you through life and taint all your existence.Mind,I don't say a CRIME;I am not speaking of shedding of blood or any other guilty act,which might make the perpetrator amenable to the law:my word is ERROR.The results of what you have done become in time to you utterly insupportable;you take measures to obtain relief:unusual measures,but neither unlawful nor culpable.Still you are miserable;for the hope has quitted you on the very confines of life:your sun at noon darkens in an eclipse,which you feel will not leave it till the time of setting.Bitter and base associations have become the sole food of your memory:you wander here and there,seeking rest in exile:happiness in pleasure-I mean in heartless,sensual pleasure-such as dulls intellect and blights feeling.Heart-weary and soul-withered,yu come home after years of voluntary banishment:you make a new acquaintance-how or where no matter:you find in this stranger much of the good and bright qualities which you have sought for twenty years,and never before encountered;and they are all fresh,healthy,without soil and without taint.Such society revives,regenerates; you feel better days come back-higher wishes,purer feelings; you desire to recommence your life,and to spend what remains to you of days in a way more worthy of an immortal being.To attain this end,are you justified in overleaping an obstacle of custom-a mere conventional impediment which neither your conscience sanctifies nor your judgement approves?
第20章
羅切斯特：“那麽好吧，簡，發揮妳的想象力吧——設想妳不再是受過精心培養和教導的姑娘，而是從幼年時代起就是壹個放縱任性的男孩。想象妳身處遙遠的異國，假設妳在那裏鑄成了大錯，不管其性質如何，出於什麽動機，它的後果殃及妳壹生，玷汙妳的生活。註意，我沒有說‘犯罪’，不是說流血或是其他犯罪行為，那樣的話肇事者會被繩之以法，我用的字是‘錯誤’。妳行為的惡果，到頭來使妳絕對無法忍受。妳采取措施以求獲得解脫，非正常的措施，但既不是非法，也並非有罪。而妳仍然感到不幸，因為希望在生活的邊緣離妳而去，妳的太陽遇上日蝕，在正午就開始暗淡，妳覺得不到日落不會有所改變，痛苦和卑賤的聯想，成了妳記憶的唯壹食品。妳到處遊蕩，在放逐中尋求安逸，在亨樂中尋覓幸福壹—我的意思是沈緬於無情的肉欲——它消蝕才智，摧殘情感。在幾年的自願放逐以後，妳心力交瘁地回到了家裏，結識了壹位新知——何時結識，如何結識，都無關緊要。在這位陌生人身上，妳看到了很多出類拔率的品質，為它們妳已經尋尋覓覓二十來年，卻終不可得。這些品質新鮮健康，沒有汙漬，沒有斑點，這種交往使人復活，催人新生。妳覺得好日子又回來了——誌更高，情更真。妳渴望重新開始生活，以壹種更配得上不朽的靈魂的方式度過余生。為了達到這個目的，妳是不是有理由越過習俗的藩籬——那種既沒有得到妳良心的認可，也不為妳的識見所贊同的、純粹因襲的障礙？”
chapter 23
Jane:Do you think I can stay to become nothing to you?Do you think I am an automaton?-a machine without feelings?and can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips,and my drop of living water dashed from my cup?Do you think,because I am poor,obscure,plain,and littele,I am soulless and heartless?You think wrong!-I have as much soul as you-and full as much heart!And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth,I should have made it as hard for you to leave me,as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom,conventionalities,nor even of mortal flesh:it is my spirit that addresses your spirit;just as if both had passed through the grave,and we stood at God’s feet,equal-as we are!
第23章
簡：“妳難道認為，我會留下來甘願做壹個對妳來說無足輕重的人？妳以為我是壹架機器？——壹架沒有感情的機器？能夠容忍別人把壹口面包從我嘴裏搶走，把壹滴生命之水從我杯子裏潑掉？難道就因為我壹貧如洗、默默無聞、長相平庸、個子瘦小，就沒有靈魂，沒有心腸了？——妳不是想錯了嗎？——我的心靈跟妳壹樣豐富，我的心胸跟妳壹樣充實！要是上帝賜予我壹點姿色和充足的財富，我會使妳同我現在壹樣難分難舍，我不是根據習俗、常規，甚至也不是血肉之軀同妳說話，而是我的靈魂同妳的靈魂在對話，就仿佛我們兩人穿過墳墓，站在上帝腳下，彼此平等——本來就如此！”