简爱中英文版（65）

inflame发炎
cripple残废


“And afterward? ”I asked.
“Well, ma ‘am, afterward the house was burnt to the ground. There are only some bits of walls standing now. "
“Were any other lives lost?”
“No.. perhaps it would have been better if there had.”
“You said he was alive?"I exclaimed.
“Yes, yes, he is alive.”
“Where is he?” I asked.“ Is he in England?”
“He ‘s in England. He can't get out of England.”
“Why? How? ” My blood was again running cold.
“He is stone-blind ,“he said at last. “Yes, Mr. Edward is stone-blind.”
I had dreaded worse. I had dreaded he was mad. I summoned strength to ask what had caused this
calamity.
“It was all his own courage. He was taken out from under the ruins, alive, but sadly hurt. A beam had fallen in such a way as to protect him partly, but t one eye was knocked out, and one hand so crushed that the surgeon had to remove it directly, The other eye inflamed. He lost the sight of that also. He is now helpless, blind and a cripple.”
“Where is he? Where does he now live？”
“At Ferndean, a manor-house on a farm he has, about thirty miles off:quite a desolate spot.”
“Who is with him?”
" Old John and his wife. He would have none else. He is quite broken down, they say.”