In the course of time Mr. Earnshaw began to fail. He had been active and healthy, yet his strength left him suddenly; and when he was confined to the chimney-corner he grew grievously irritable. A nothing vexed him; and suspected slights of his authority nearly threw him into fits. This was especially to be remarked if any one attempted to impose upon, or domineer over, his favourite: he was painfully jealous lest a word should be spoken amiss to him; seeming to have got into his head the notion that, because he liked Heathcliff, all hated, and longed to do him an ill-turn. It was a disadvantage to the lad; for the kinder among us did not wish to fret the master, so we humoured his partiality; and that humouring was rich nourishment to the child's pride and black tempers. Still it became in a manner necessary;twice, or thrice, Hindley's manifestation of scorn, while his father was near, roused the old man to a fury: he seized his stick to strike him, and shook with rage that he could not do it.

At last, our curate (we had a curate then who made the living answer by teaching the little Lintons and Earnshaws, and farming his bit of land himself) advised that the young man should be sent to college; and Mr. Earnshaw agreed, though with a heavy spirit, for he said—‘Hindley was nought, and would never thrive as where he wandered.’

I hoped heartily we should have peace now. It hurt me to think the master should be made uncomfortable by his own good deed. I fancied the discontent of age and disease arose from his family disagreements; as he would have it that it did: really, you know, sir, it was in his sinking frame. We might have got on tolerably, notwithstanding, but for two people—Miss Cathy, and Joseph, the servant: you saw him, I daresay, up yonder. He was, and is yet most likely, the wearisomest self-righteous Pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the promises to himself and fling the curses to his neighbours. By his knack of sermonising and pious discoursing, he contrived to make a great impression on Mr. Earnshaw; and the more feeble the master became, the more influence he gained. He was relentless in worrying him about his soul's concerns, and about ruling his children rigidly. He encouraged him to regard Hindley as a reprobate;and, night after night, he regularly grumbled out a long string of tales against Heathcliff and Catherine: always minding to flatter Earnshaw's weakness by heaping the heaviest blame on the latter.

Certainly she had ways with her such as I never saw a child take up before; and she put all of us past our patience fifty times and oftener in a day: from the hour she came down-stairs till the hour she went to bed, we had not a minute's security that she wouldn't be in mischief. Her spirits were always at high-water mark, her tongue always going-singing, laughing, and plaguing everybody who would not do the same. A wild, wicked slip she was-but she had the bonniest eye, the sweetest smile, and lightest foot in the parish: and, after all, I believe she meant no harm; for when once she made you cry in good earnest, it seldom happened that she would not keep you company, and oblige you to be quiet that you might comfort her. She was much too fond of Heathcliff. The greatest punishment we could invent for her was to keep her separate from him: yet she got chided more than any of us on his account. In play, she liked exceedingly to act the little mistress; using her hands freely, and commanding her companions:she did so to me, but I would not bear slapping and ordering; and so I let her know.

Now, Mr. Earnshaw did not understand jokes from his children: he had always been strict and grave with them; and Catherine, on her part, had no idea why her father should be crosser and less patient in his ailing condition than he was in his prime. His peevish reproofs wakened in her a naughty delight to provoke him: she was never so happy as when we were all scolding her at once, and she defying us with her bold, saucy look, and her ready words; turning Joseph's religious curses into ridicule, baiting me, and doing just what her father hated most-showing how her pretended insolence, which he thought real, had more power over Heathcliff than his kindness: how the boy would do her bidding in anything, and his only when it suited his own inclination. After behaving as badly as possible all day, she sometimes came fondling to make it up at night.‘Nay, Cathy,’the old man would say,‘I cannot love thee, thou'rt worse than thy brother. Go, say thy prayers, child, and ask God's pardon. I doubt thy mother and I must rue that we ever reared thee!’That made her cry, at first; and then being repulsed continually hardened her, and she laughed if I told her to say she was sorry for her faults, and beg to be forgiven.

But the hour came, at last, that ended Mr. Earnshaw's troubles on earth. He died quietly in his chair one October evening, seated by the fire-side. A high wind blustered round the house, and roared in the chimney: it sounded wild and stormy, yet it was not cold, and we were all together-I, a little removed from the hearth, busy at my knitting, and Joseph reading his Bible near the table (for the servants generally sat in the house then, after their work was done). Miss Cathy had been sick, and that made her still; she leant against her father's knee, and Heathcliff was lying on the floor with his head in her lap. I remember the master, before he fell into a doze, stroking her bonny hair-it pleased him rarely to see her gentle-and saying,‘Why canst thou not always be a good lass, Cathy?’And she turned her face up to his, and laughed, and answered,‘Why cannot you always be a good man, father?’But as soon as she saw him vexed again, she kissed his hand, and said she would sing him to sleep. She began singing very low, till his fingers dropped from hers, and his head sank on his breast. Then I told her to hush, and not stir, for fear she should wake him. We all kept as mute as mice a full half-hour, and should have done so longer, only Joseph, having finished his chapter, got up and said that he must rouse the master for prayers and bed. He stepped forward, and called him by name, and touched his shoulder; but he would not move: so he took the candle and looked at him. I thought there was something wrong as he set down the light; and seizing the children each by an arm, whispered them to‘frame up-stairs, and make little din-they might pray alone that evening-he had summut to do.’

‘I shall bid father good-night first,’said Catherine, putting her arms round his neck, before we could hinder her. The poor thing discovered her loss directly-she screamed out-‘Oh, he's dead, Heathcliff! he's dead!’And they both set up a heart-breaking cry.

I joined my wail to theirs, loud and bitter; but Joseph asked what we could be thinking of to roar in that way over a saint in heaven. He told me to put on my cloak and run to Gimmerton for the doctor and the parson. I could not guess the use that either would be of, then. However, I went, through wind and rain, and brought one, the doctor, back with me; the other said he would come in the morning. Leaving Joseph to explain matters, I ran to the children's room:their door was ajar, I saw they had never lain down, though it was past midnight; but they were calmer, and did not need me to console them. The little souls were comforting each other with better thoughts than I could have hit on: no parson in the world ever pictured heaven so beautifully as they did, in their innocent talk; and, while I sobbed and listened, I could not help wishing we were all there safe together.

隨著時光的流逝，恩肖先生開始體力衰退了。他一向健康活躍，但卻突然沒有了力量；而到了只能呆在壁爐角時，他變得異常暴躁。雞毛蒜皮的小事都會讓他心煩意亂；如果懷疑有人蔑視他的權威，簡直就會讓他發瘋。如果有人企圖欺騙或壓制他的寵兒，這種情況就特別常見。他煞費苦心，疑神疑鬼，唯恐有人對希斯克利夫出言不遜；他的腦海里好像有一種成見：他喜歡希斯克利夫，大家都恨他，都一心想害他。這對那個孩子是不利的，我們當中心地比較善良的都不希望惹東家生氣，所以便遷就他的偏心眼；而這種遷就卻成了孩子傲慢和乖戾的豐富滋養。但是，不這樣還不行；有兩三次，欣德利不顧父親就在近旁，露出了輕蔑的神情，惹得老頭子大發雷霆，一把抓起拐棍就要打兒子，打不著就氣得渾身顫抖。

最后，我們的教區副牧師（我們當時有一個副牧師，除了薪俸之外，他還要教林頓家和恩肖家的孩子們，自己種點地，才能維持生計）建議說，應該送這個年輕人去上大學；恩肖先生盡管顧慮重重，但還是表示同意，他說——“欣德利一無是處，跑到哪里都不會有出息。”

我衷心希望我們現在會相安無事。一想到東家自己做了好事，卻心里難受，我就感到痛心。我還以為他年老多病、心懷不滿是因家庭不和引起的，他也認為是這樣。其實，你知道，先生，這是他的身體衰弱引起的。盡管如此，但我們還算過得去，只有兩個人例外——就是凱茜小姐和傭人約瑟夫，我敢說你在那邊見過他。他十有八九是一個最讓人討厭、自以為是的偽君子，過去是，現在還是，在《圣經》里翻來翻去，把希望留給自己，把禍患留給鄰人。他憑借巧言令色和虔誠說教，設法給恩肖先生留下了深刻的印象；東家越衰弱，他就越得勢。他持續不斷地讓東家擔心自己的靈魂問題，嚴格管教子女。他慫恿東家把欣德利看成是上帝擯棄的人；而且，夜復一夜，他常常連篇累牘地編排希斯克利夫和凱瑟琳的壞話，總是處心積慮添油加醋地指責后者，從而突顯恩肖的軟弱無能。

當然，凱瑟琳有自己的行為方式，我以前還從來沒有見過她這樣的孩子；一天內，她會使我們大家失去耐心五十次，甚至更多；她從下樓那個時刻起，直到上床睡覺，都在調皮，我們一分鐘都不得安寧。她總是興致勃勃，舌頭始終在動——又唱又笑，誰不那樣做，她就纏著誰。她真是一個又野又淘的丫頭片子——而她在教區里眼睛最漂亮，笑容最甜美，腳步最輕盈。我認為她終究心眼不壞，因為她一旦真讓你哭起來，常常會陪著你一起哭，使你只好止住哭聲，反過來去安慰她。她非常喜歡希斯克利夫。對付她，我們所能想出的最嚴厲的懲罰就是把他們倆分開；但是，由于他的緣故，凱瑟琳比我們中任何人受到的責罵都多。玩耍時，她特別喜歡扮演小主婦，隨意動手，并對她的玩伴們發號施令。她對我也這樣做，但我受不了挨打和命令，所以就告訴了她。

現在，恩肖先生并不理解孩子們的玩笑；他對他們總是既嚴厲又古板；而凱瑟琳自己也不清楚為什么體弱多病時父親比盛年時脾氣更暴躁，更沒有耐心。父親一次次暴躁的訓斥反而激起了她想激怒他的調皮的興趣。她最高興我們一起罵她，這樣她就會公然擺出一副橫眉冷對的架勢，伶牙俐齒地回敬我們；她還喜歡嘲弄約瑟夫的虔誠詛咒，喜歡捉弄我，喜歡做她的父親最不喜歡的事兒——露出她矯揉造作、她的父親卻信以為真的傲慢神氣，讓他的善良對希斯克利夫更有威力：那個孩子對她言聽計從，對恩肖的命令只是合他的心意時才會聽。盡情撒野了整整一天后，到了夜里凱瑟琳有時會跑來撒嬌，以求和解。“不行，凱茜，”老頭子會說，“我不會疼愛你，你比你的哥哥還壞。去，孩子，為自己禱告去吧，祈求上帝的寬恕。我懷疑你的母親跟我都要后悔生養了你呢！”起初，這話還使她哭上一陣；后來，頻繁受到數落之后，她的心也就硬了起來，如果我讓她認錯悔過、祈求原諒，她就會哈哈大笑。

但是，恩肖先生告別塵世煩惱的時刻最終還是來臨了。十月的一天夜晚，恩肖先生安坐在爐邊的椅子里撒手而去了。大風在房子四周呼嘯，在煙囪里怒吼，聽上去就像狂風暴雨一般，但天并不冷，我們大家都在一起——我離壁爐稍遠一點，忙著針織活；約瑟夫靠著桌子讀《圣經》（此時，傭人們做完事后，常常會坐在這個屋里）。凱茜小姐生了病，這讓她安靜了下來。她靠在父親的膝頭，希斯克利夫躺在地板上，頭枕著她的膝蓋上。我還記得，東家睡過去之前，撫摸著凱瑟琳漂亮的頭發——看到她溫順，他難得地高興起來——說道：“你為什么不能永遠做一個乖乖女呢，凱茜？”凱茜仰起臉沖著父親的臉，笑著答道：“你為什么不能永遠做一個好男人呢，爸爸？”但是，一見父親又氣惱，凱茜立刻親吻起了他的手，說她要唱歌給他催眠。凱茜開始低聲唱了起來，唱得父親的手指從她的指尖滑落，腦袋垂到了胸前。于是，我讓她安靜，不要動彈，唯恐她驚醒了東家。我們足有半個小時都一聲不吭，本來還會更久，只是約瑟夫看完了他那一章，起身說他必須叫醒東家，讓他禱告就寢。他走上前，喚著東家的名字，碰了碰他的肩膀；然而，東家一動不動。于是，他拿起蠟燭查看。約瑟夫放下蠟燭，一手拽住一個孩子的胳膊，輕聲吩咐他們：“上樓，別出聲——他們今晚可以自己禱告——他還有事要做。”

“我要先跟父親道晚安，”凱瑟琳說，我們還沒有來得及攔住她，她就抱住了父親的脖子。可憐的小家伙立刻發現她失去了父親——她尖叫起來——“噢，他死了，希斯克利夫！他死了！”于是，他倆放聲痛哭，讓人心碎。

我跟他們一起嚎啕大哭，哭聲響亮悲痛；但是，約瑟夫問道，我們在想什么，怎么能對一位升入天堂的圣人這樣吼叫？他吩咐我穿上大衣，跑去吉默屯請醫生和牧師。當時，我猜不準請這兩個人有什么用。不過，我還是頂風冒雨去了，只請回來一位，另一位說他明天上午來。約瑟夫留在那里向醫生敘說原委，我跑到孩子們的房間。只見門半開著，盡管已過半夜，但我瞧見他們根本沒有睡下；不過，他們平靜了些，無需我來安慰了。兩個小東西正在相互安慰，他們想到的那些話比我偶爾所能想到的還要好。他們的談話天真無邪，世界上任何牧師都不會像他們那樣把天堂描繪得那么美好；于是，我一邊哭泣，一邊傾聽，情不自禁地希望我們都一塊平安到達那里。