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Great Expectations

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6 Great expectations

One Saturday evening，when I had been apprenticed to Joe for four years，he and I were sitting in the pub，with some of the villagers, listening to Mr Wopsle．He was giving a dramatic reading of a newspaper report of a murder trial, and we all enjoyed watching him act the main characters. His witnesses were old and feeble，his lawyers were clever and sharp-eyed，and his accused was a violent，wicked murderer.

Suddenly we became aware of a strange gentleman who had also been listening，and was now looking coldly at us.

‘Well！’he said to us，biting the side of his finger.‘So you've decided the accused was the murderer，have you？'

‘Sir，'answered Mr Wopsle firmly，‘yes，I do think he is guilty.’We all nodded our heads in agreement.

‘But，’said the stranger，‘do you or do you not know that the law of England supposes every man to be innocent until he is proved-proved-to be guilty？’

‘Sir，’began Mr Wopsle，‘as an Englishman myself，I-’

‘Come！’said the stranger，‘don't avoid the question．Either you know it，or you don't know it．Which is it？’

‘Of course I know it，’answered poor Mr Wopsle.

‘Then why didn't you say so at first？Another question. Do you know that this trial isn't finished yet？’

Mr Wopsle hesitated，and we all began to have a rather bad opinion of him .

‘And you were going to say that the accused was guilty，before the end of the trial，before he has been proved guilty！’We realized that the unfortunate Wopsle had no understanding of the law，or indeed anything at all.

Now the stranger stood in front of our little group.

‘I'm looking for the blacksmith，Joe Gargery，’he said，‘and his apprentice，Pip．’He did not recognize me but I knew he was the gentleman I had met on the stairs when visiting Miss Havisham. There was even the same smell of per－fumed soap on his large hands.‘I want to speak to you two in private，’he said，and so Joe and I left the pub and walked home with him．

‘My name is Jaggers，and I'm a lawyer，’he said，when he reached the forge．‘Joe Gargery，I am sent by someone who suggests cancelling this boy's apprenticeship to you．Would you want any money，if you lost your apprentice？'

‘I'd never stand in Pip's way，never，'said Joe，staring.‘The answer is no.’

‘Don't try to change that answer later，’said Mr Jaggers .‘Now，what I have to say，and remember，I'm only an agent，I don't speak for myself，is that this young man has great expectations.’

Joe and I gasped，and looked at each other.

‘I have been told to say that he will be very rich when he is older.In addition，the person who sent me wants the young man to be removed from his home and educated as a gentleman who expects to inherit a fortune.'

My dream had come true. Miss Havisham was making me rich！

‘Now，Mr Pip，’continued the lawyer，‘there are two conditions．The first is that you always use the name of Pip．The second is that the name of the person who has heen so generous to you must remain a secret，until that person chooses to tell you．You are forbidden to ask any questions or try to discover who the person is．Do you accept these conditions？

My heart was beating fast as I whispered，‘Yes '.

‘Now，to details．I have been given enough money for you to live the life of a gentleman in London while you are studying .You will come to me to ask for whatever you need .I suggest Mr Matthew Pocket as a teacher．’I remembered that was the name of one of Miss Havisham 's relations，the one who did not visit her often．‘ You must buy some new clothes．Shall I leave you twenty pounds？’He counted twenty coins out of his large purse onto the table．‘And when can you come to London？Next Saturday？’

I agreed，feeling very confused．He looked at Joe，who seemed even more confused.

‘Well，Joe Gargery？Perhaps，I only say perhaps，I promise nothing，’he said，throwing his purse carelessly from one hand to another，‘perhaps I have been told to give you a present when you lose your apprentice．'

Joe put his great strong hand on my shoulder in the gentlest possible way . ‘Pip can go freely to fortune and happiness，he knows that．But if you think that money can ever pay me back for losing the little child－who came to the forge－and always the best of friends！’He could not continue.

Dear good Joe！I was so ready to leave you，and so ungrateful to you！I can see you now，with your strong blacksmith's arm in front of your eyes，and your shoulders shaking，and tears on your cheeks. But at the time I was so excited by my good luck that I forgot what I owed to Joe. Mr Jaggers clearly thought Joe was a fool for refusing money，and left the house，reminding me to go straight to his office in London in a week's time.

Joe told Biddy what had happened，and both congratulated me. They were very quiet and sad at first，because I would be leaving them，but I promised I would never forget them and would often return to visit them. Biddy tried to explain the good news to my sister，but the poor woman could not under-stand．

As Joe and Biddy became a little more cheerful，discussing my possible plans for the future，I became more miserable. Now that I could be a gentleman，as I had always wished，I was not sure if I wanted to leave my home，which was full of happy memories.

That week passed slowly. I took a last walk through the churchyard to the marshes．At least I need never think about my convict again. No doubt he was dead by now.

I had something special to ask Biddy.‘Biddy，’I said，when we were alone，‘don't you think you could teach Joe a bit？’

‘What do you mean，teach him？’asked Biddy.

‘Well，I love dear old Joe more than anyone else，but his education and manners could be improved.’

Biddy opened her eyes very wide．‘Oh？’she said.‘So his manners aren't good enough，then？’

‘Oh，they're all right for here，but when I receive my for－tune，I'll want him to meet important people，and behave ocrrectly.’

Haven't you ever thought，’asked Biddy，not looking at me，‘that he wouldn't want to meet important people，he wouldn't want to be taken away from this job that he does well，and the village where he's loved？’

‘Now，Biddy，’I said crossly，‘are you jealous of my good luck？I didn't expect this of you．This is a bad side of your character，Biddy.’

‘Whether you scold me or thank me，I'll always do my best for the family at all times．And I'll always remember you，whatever you think of me，’said poor Biddy.

I was not pleased with this interview，and thought it was strange that the news of my expectations had not made me happier.

When I went into town to order my new clothes， Mr Pumblechook was waiting for me at the door of his shop．

‘My dear friend， if you will allow me to call you that，’ he cried，shaking both my hands，‘let me congratulate you on your fortune！ Nobody deserves it more than you！’He seemed so much more sensible than before that I agreed to have lunch with him．

‘When I think，’ he said happily，‘that I，Pumblechook，was able to help in my small way， by taking you to play at Miss-’

‘Remember，’I stopped him， ‘we must never say anything about the person who is being so generous to me．’

‘Don't worry， trust me， my dear friend Have some wine，have some chicken！Oh chicken，you didn't think when you were running around on the farm that you would be lucky enough to be served to one who－May I？May I？’ and he jumped up to shake my hand again．

As we drank our wine， Pumblechook reminded me of the happy times he and I had spent together during my childhood．I did not remember it quite like that， but I began to feel he was a good-hearted， sincere man． He wanted to ask my advice on a business matter．He said he was hoping to find a young gentleman who would put money into his business， and seemed very interested in my opinion．‘And may I？May I？’He shook hands with me again．

‘You know， I always used to say，“That boy will make his fortune． He's no ordinary boy．”’He had certainly kept his opinion very secret， I thought．

There was one person I really wanted to visit before going to London．Dressed in my new clothes I went to Miss Havisham's house，where her cousin opened the gate to me again．

‘Well， Pip？’said Miss Havisham to me when she saw me．

‘I'm going to London tomorrow， Miss Havisham，’I said，choosing my words carefully，‘and I wanted to say goodbye．I've been so lucky since I saw you last，and I'm so grateful for it！’

‘Good， good！’ she replied， looking delightedly at her cousin who was staring at my new clothes．‘I know about it．I've seen Mr Jaggers．So，a rich person has adopted you？’

‘Yes， Miss Havisham．’

She smiled cruelly at her cousin， who was looking rather ill．

‘Remember to do what Mr Jaggers tells you．And you will always keep the name of Pip，won't you？Goodbye，Pip．’She gave me her hand and I kissed it．It seemed the natural thing to do． And so I left the old lady in her bride's dress in the candle-light， with the dusty furniture around her．

On Saturday morning I was in such a hurry that I only said a quick goodbye to my family， before setting out to walk the few miles into town for the London coach． As I left the peaceful sleeping village， the mist over the marshes was rising，to show me the great unknown world I was entering． Suddenly I realized what I was leaving behind－my childhood， my home，and Joe． Then I wished I had asked him to walk with me to the coach， and I could not stop crying． Whenever the horses were changed on the journey， I wondered with an aching heart whether to get down and go back to say goodbye properly．But the mist had completely risen now， and my new world lay ahead of me．