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Great Expectations

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4 A present from a stranger

I desperately wanted to be accepted by Estella．I realized I could never become well-educated just by attending old Mrs Wopsle's evening school，so I asked Mr Wopsle's cousin Biddy to teach me everything she knew．She helped me as much as she could，but I knew it would take a long time to reach Estella's level．

One evening I went to fetch Joe from the village pub, where my sister sometimes allowed him to smoke his pipe and have a beer．Mr Wopsle and Joe were sitting with a stranger，a man I'd never seen before．One of his eyes was half closed,and he wore a big hat which covered most of his head．He suddenly looked interested when I arrived，and rubbed his leg in a rather strange way．He had just ordered hot rum for the three of them．

‘It' s lonely country round here，gentlemen，’he said．‘Yes，’said Joe，‘just marshes down to the river．’

Do people ever spend the night on the marshes？’

‘No，’‘replied Joe，‘except an escaped prisoner sometimes．Difficult to find，they are．Went out to look for one once，me，and Mr Wopsle，and young Pip here．Didn't we，Pip？’

‘Yes，Joe.’

The stranger looked at me with his good eye．

‘What's his name？Pip？Your son，is he？’

‘The boy is the blacksmith's wife's brother，’explained Mr Wopsle in his official church clerk's voice．

When the drinks arrived，the stranger did something that he wanted nobody to see except me. He mixed his hot rum and water，not with a spoon，but with a file，which he put back in his pocket when he had finished．As soon as I saw the file，I knew it was the one I had stolen from Joe，and I knew that this man knew my convict. I stared at him in horror.

The men continued their conversation in a friendly way until Joe stood up to leave，and took my hand．

‘Wait a moment，'I said the stranger．‘I'd like to give the boy something，'and wrapping a coin in some old paper from his pocket，handed it to me. ‘That' s yours！he told me，giving me a look full of meaning .

‘Thank you，sir，'I said，still staring at him．Together Joe and I walked home，Joe with his mouth open all the way so that my sister would not notice the smell of rum on his breath .

But when we arrived home，we found the stranger had giv-en me two Pound notes as well as the coin．My sister thought it must have been a mistake，and kept the pound notes in case he came back for them．But I knew they came from my con－vict，and I felt that having criminal friends made me more common than ever.

The next time I went to Miss Havisham's，I was shown in－to a different room to wait. Several ladies and gentlemen，relations of hers，were there. They all turned and looked at me in disgust when I was the first to be called by Estella．

As Estella was leading me along the dark passages，she stopped suddenly and put her face close to mine．

‘Look at me，boy！Am I pretty？'

‘Yes，I think you're very pretty．'

‘Am I rude to you？'

‘Not as much as last time．'

She hit my face as hard as she could.

‘Now，you coarse little boy，what do you think of me？’

‘I won't tell you．’

‘Why don't you cry again，you fool？'

‘Because I'll never cry for you again，'I said，which was a very false promise，because I was crying inside at the time，and only I know how much I cried for her later．

On our way upstairs we met a gentleman coming down in the dark．He was a large，heavy man，with a very dark skin，sharp eyes，and a huge head，almost bald on the top．His hands smelt strongly of perfumed soap．I didn't know then how important he would ha later on in my life. ‘Who's this？’he asked Estella，stopping to look at me. ‘A local boy. Miss Havisham sent for him，'she replied．

‘Well，in my experience most boys are bad，'he said to me.‘Behave yourself！'He bit the side of his large finger as he frowned at me，and then continued downstairs.

This time Miss Havisham was in another room，which I had not seen before．All the furniture was covered in dust．In the candle－light I could see a long table，in the middle of which was a large yellow shape，with hundreds of insects feeding off it．

‘This，’said Miss Havisham，pointing to the table，‘is where they will put me when I'm dead． I'll lie on the table，and my relations can come and look at me．' She put a bony hand on my shoulder，but I didn't want her to touch me．I was afraid she would die there and then．‘And that，’she added，pointing to the yellow shape，‘that was my wedding cake．Mine！’She looked all round the room angrily．‘Come！’she said suddenly．‘Help me walk round the room．And call Estella！’

I held her arm to support her as she walked．We were still going slowly and painfully round the room when Estella brought in the relations who had been waiting downstairs．They stood watching us at the door．I thought they blamed me for Miss Havisham's cold manner towards them．

‘Dear Miss Havisham！’said one of the ladies lovingly．‘How well you look！’

‘I do not，’replied Miss Havisham sharply．‘I am yellow skin and bone．'

‘How could Miss Havisham look well，after all her suffer－ing？’said a second lady quickly．‘ Impossible！What a silly idea！’

‘ And how are you？’Miss Havisham asked this lady．As we were close to her then，I would have stopped，but Miss Havisham insisted on walking past .It seemed rather rude．

‘Not well at all，'said this lady sadly.‘I don't want to talk too much about my feelings，but－well－I often lie awake at night thinking of you，dear Miss Havisham！'

‘Well，don't！’said Miss Havisham crossly as we hurried past the little group again.

‘I'm afraid I can't stop myself．I often wish I were less sensitive and loving . But that's my character and I have to live with it！'And she started crying softly．‘Look at Matthew now！’she added，through her tears.‘Matthew never comes to see dear Miss Havisham .But I-’

When she heard Matthew's name，Miss Havisham stopped walking and stood looking at the speaker，who suddenly became silent.

‘Matthew will come in the end，'said Miss Havisham firmly，‘when I die and am laid on that table. You will stand around and look at me，you here，you there，you next to her，you two there Now you know where to stand．And now go！'

The ladies and gentlemen went slowly out of the room，some protesting quietly that they had not seen enough of their dear relation. When they had all gone，Miss Havisham said to me，‘This is my birthday，Pip．I don't allow anyone to speak of it．My relations always come on this day once a year．This day，long before you were born，was my wedding day .Pehaps I shall die on this day too．And when they lay me in my wedding dress on that table，I'll have my revenge on him！’

In the heavy air of that dark，dusty room，she was a ghostly figure in her yellow－white dress．There was a long silence．

As usual I left the house and walked towards the gate， but this time something strange happened．In the garden I met a pale young gentleman with fair hair．

‘Hello！’he said．‘Come and fight！This way！’

I was so surprised that I followed him without a word．

‘Wait a minute，’he said，turning round quickly．‘I must give you a reason for fighting．There it is！’And he pulled my hair，then pushed his head hard into my stomach．I was ready to fight him after this，but he danced abut so much that I couldn't get close to bim．

‘Follow the laws of the game！’he said，eagerly preparing himself for our fight．He seemed to know so much about fighting that I was very surprised when I knocked him down with my first hit，and then again with my second．He always got up immediately and seemed very glad to be fighting in the correct manner．I admired him greatly for his bravery and his cheerfulness．Finally he had to agree I had won，and we said goodbye． When I reached the gate，I found Estella waiting for me．

She seemed very pleased about something．I wondered if she had been watching our fight．Before I went out，she said，

‘Here！you can kiss me if you like．’

I kissed her cheek．It was true I wanted to kiss her very much，but I felt that kiss was almost like a coin thrown to a poor common boy，and not worth anything．

I didn't see the pale young gentleman there again．I continued my visits to Miss Havisham for almost a year．She took great pleasure in watching my growing admiration for Estella，and my unhappiness when Estella laughed at me．

‘Go on，my love，she used to whisper in Estella's ear，‘break men's hearts and have no mercy！I want my revenge！'

Meanwhile my sister and that fool Pumblechook never stopped discussing Miss Havisham and her considerable wealth．They were sure I could expect a large present from her，either before or after her death．But one day Miss Havisham decided it was time to apprentice me to Joe，and told me to bring him to her house．My sister was very angry because she was not invited as well．

Dear old Joe simply could not believe his eyes when he and I entered Miss Havisham s room the next day．The darkness，the candles，the dust，the ancient furniture，the old lady in her bride's dress－it was almost too much for Joe's limited intelligence．That may be why he refused to speak to Miss Havisham directly，but spoke only to me during the conversation．I was ashamed of him，especially as I could see Estella laughing at me over Miss Havisham's shoulder．

‘So，’began Miss Havisham，‘you，Joe Gargery，black－smith，are ready to take Pip as an apprentice？'

‘You know，Pip，’replied Joe，‘how we've both been looking forward to working together．Haven't we，Pip？'

‘You don't expect any payment when he becomes your ap－prentice？'she continued．

‘Now，Pip，’said Joe，rather offended，‘that question doesn't need an answer. Between you and me. Does it，Pip？’

Miss Havisham looked kindly at Joe. I think she understood more of his character than Estella did．She picked up a little bag from the table．‘Pip has earned something here．There are twenty-five pounds in this bag .Give it to your master， Pip．'

The strange situation seemed to have made Joe go mad.Even now，he insisted on speaking to me．

This is very generous of you，Pip．Very generous．Now，old boy，we must try to do our duty to each other Mustn't we，Pip？’

‘Goodbye，Pip！’said Miss Havisham．‘Take them out，Estella！’

‘Shall I come again？I asked．

‘No，Gargery is your master now. Gargery！Remember，I'm giving you this money because he has been a good boy．Don't expect anything more！’

Somehow I managed to get Joe out of the house，and in the daylight he gradually became normal again．In fact I think his intelligence was improved by the interview，because as we walked home he invented a surprisingly clever plan．

‘Well，'cried my sister，as we arrived，‘so you've finished visiting your fine ladies，have you？ I'm surprised you bother to come home at all！’

‘Miss Havisham asked me to send，'said Joe，as if trying to remember the exact words，‘her-best wishes，was it，Pip？to Mrs J．Gargery…'

‘Best wishes，'I agreed．

‘And apologized for not being well enough，what was it，Pip？’

‘To have the pleasure，'I said．

‘To have the pleasure of a lady 's company，’he nodded，giving the impression of a man glad to pass on a message ocr－rectly .

‘Well！’said my sister，pleased．‘She could have sent that message earlier，but better late than never．And what did she give the boy？’

‘Nothing，’said Joe firmly，stopping Mrs Joe from speaking by raising his hand．‘What she gave，she gave to his sister，Mrs J．Gargery．That' s what she said．Didn't she，Pip？’

‘And how much did she give？asked my sister，laughing．She was actually laughing！

‘What would you say to ten pounds？’ asked Joe．

‘Not bad，’said my sister．

‘It's more than that．What would you say to twenty pounds？’ ‘That's good！’said my sister， ‘Well，here you are，it s twenty-five pounds！’said Joe de－lightedly，handing the bag to my sister．