雙語小說連載:《董貝父子》第四章 Part 2

It is half-past five o'clock, and an autumn afternoon, when the reader and Solomon Gills become acquainted. Solomon Gills is in the act of seeing what time it is by the unimpeachable chronometer. The usual daily clearance has been making in the City for an hour or more; and the human tide is still rolling westward. 'The streets have thinned,' as Mr Gills says, 'very much.' It threatens to be wet to-night. All the weather glasses in the shop are in low spirits, and the rain already shines upon the cocked hat of the wooden Midshipman.

讀者與所羅門·吉爾斯認識是在一個秋天下午的五點半鐘。所羅門·吉爾斯那時正在看他那隻完美無缺的精密計時錶，看看是什麼時候了。城市照常每天一次向外疏散人羣，已經進行了一個小時或更長久一些；人的浪潮仍然向西滾滾流動着。就像吉爾斯先生所說的，“街上的人已經稀少得多了。”今天晚上好像要下雨。店鋪裏所有的晴雨表都呈現出垂頭喪氣的神態。雨滴已經在木製海軍軍官候補生的三角帽上閃耀着亮光。

'Where's Walter, I wonder!' said Solomon Gills, after he had carefully put up the chronometer again. 'Here's dinner been ready, half an hour, and no Walter!'
Turning round upon his stool behind the counter, Mr Gills looked out among the instruments in the window, to see if his nephew might be crossing the road. No. He was not among the bobbing umbrellas, and he certainly was not the newspaper boy in the oilskin cap who was slowly working his way along the piece of brass outside, writing his name over Mr Gills's name with his forefinger.

“不知道沃爾特在哪裏！”吉爾斯把精密計時錶重新小心地藏好以後，說道，“晚飯已經準備好半個小時了，可是卻不見沃爾特！”
吉爾斯先生在櫃檯後面的凳子上轉過身子，通過櫥窗中的儀器往外看，看看他的外甥是不是正在穿越馬路。沒有。他沒有在那些擺動的雨傘中間。他也決不是那個戴油布帽子、賣報的男孩子，那男孩子正沿着外面的銅牌慢吞吞地走過去，並且用食指把自己的姓名寫在吉爾斯先生的姓名上面。

'If I didn't know he was too fond of me to make a run of it, and go and enter himself aboard ship against my wishes, I should begin to be fidgetty,' said Mr Gills, tapping two or three weather-glasses with his knuckles. 'I really should. All in the Downs, eh! Lots of moisture! Well! it's wanted.'

“如果我不知道，他太愛我了，不會逃跑，也不會違反我的意願，自己跑到船上去的話，那麼我真要開始坐立不安了，”吉爾斯先生用指關節輕輕敲打着兩、三個晴雨表。“我真會的！全都在很低的度數①，啊！溼氣真大！唔，是需要下雨了。”

I believe,' said Mr Gills, blowing the dust off the glass top of a compass-case, 'that you don't point more direct and due to the back parlour than the boy's inclination does after all. And the parlour couldn't bear straighter either. Due north. Not the twentieth part of a point either way.'

“我覺得，”吉爾斯先生把一個羅盤匣子玻璃頂上的灰塵吹去，說道，“孩子總是喜歡跑到後客廳裏去，你畢竟不能比他更直接更準確地指向後客廳。後客廳的方向是不能更正確的了。正北，不向其他方向偏離二十分之一度！”

' Halloa, Uncle Sol!'
'Halloa, my boy!' cried the Instrument-maker, turning briskly round. 'What! you are here, are you?'
“喂，所爾舅舅！”
“喂，我的孩子！”儀器製造商輕快地轉過身去，喊道，“啊，你回來了，是嗎？”
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①原文爲AllintheDowns，吉爾斯這樣說是指晴雨表中的度數很低，但這又是英國劇作家和詩人約翰·蓋伊（JohnGay，1685—1732年）著名敘事詩《溫存的威廉和黑眼睛的蘇珊告別》（SweetWiliam’sFarewelltoBlack－eyedSusan）中開頭的詩句，意爲“船隊全都在唐斯”。唐斯（theDowns）是英法之間多佛海峽的一部分，爲船舶停泊處。狄更斯採用這種文字表現方法，是爲了使讀者感到幽默有趣。

註釋：knuckles n. 壓關節，指關節（knuckle複數形式）
v. 以指節打；以手指射（knuckle的第三人稱單數形式）
例句：
1. Even the knuckles on his hands.
甚至手指關節。
2. This is what hate looks like, you realized—white knuckles on a chair.
你知道，這就是恨的表現——“坐椅上的白色關節”。

A cheerful looking, merry boy, fresh with running home in the rain; fair-faced, bright-eyed, and curly-haired.
這是個興致勃勃、快快活活的男孩子，由於冒雨回家來，顯得十分精神；他的臉白嫩、漂亮，眼睛明亮，頭髮捲曲。

'Well, Uncle, how have you got on without me all day? Is dinner ready? I'm so hungry.'
“唔，舅舅，我不在，你整天是怎麼過的？晚飯好了嗎？我餓極了。

'Come along then, Uncle!' cried the boy. 'Hurrah for the admiral!'
“那麼來吧，舅舅！”孩子喊道，“海軍上將萬歲！”

'Confound the admiral!' returned Solomon Gills. 'You mean the Lord Mayor.'
“去你的海軍上將！”所羅門·吉爾斯回答道。“你是想說市長先生吧。”

'No I don't!' cried the boy. 'Hurrah for the admiral! Hurrah for the admiral! For-ward!'
“不，我不是想說他！”孩子喊道。“海軍上將萬歲！海軍上將萬歲！前——進！”

' As to getting on,' said Solomon good-naturedly, 'it would be odd if I couldn't get on without a young dog like you a great deal better than with you. As to dinner being ready, it's been ready this half hour and waiting for you. As to being hungry, I am!'

“說到這一天怎麼過嘛，”所羅門和顏悅色地說道，“如果像你這樣一條小狗不在，我不能過得比你在的時候好得多，那就怪了。說到晚飯好了沒有嘛，它已經準備好半個鐘頭了，正在等着你呢。說到餓嘛，·我也一樣！”

At this word of command, the Welsh wig and its wearer were borne without resistance into the back parlour, as at the head of a boarding party of five hundred men; and Uncle Sol and his nephew were speedily engaged on a fried sole with a prospect of steak to follow.

這道命令一下，威爾士假髮和它的佩戴者就立刻毫無抵抗地被帶領到後客廳去，就好像走在由五百人組成的攻入敵船的隊伍的最前面似的；然後所爾舅舅和他的外甥很快就開始吃起煎箬鰨魚來；旁邊擺着的牛排是他們的下一道菜。

'The Lord Mayor, Wally,' said Solomon, 'for ever! No more admirals. The Lord Mayor's your admiral.'
“永遠是市長，沃利，”所羅門說道，“不要再提海軍上將了。市長就是·你·的海軍上將。”

'Oh, is he though!' said the boy, shaking his head. 'Why, the Sword Bearer's better than him. He draws his sword sometimes.
“哦，難道是這樣嗎？”孩子搖搖頭，說道，“唔，捧劍侍從也比市長強些。捧劍侍從有時還能抽出·他·們的劍來。”

'And a pretty figure he cuts with it for his pains,' returned the Uncle. 'Listen to me, Wally, listen to me. Look on the mantelshelf.'
“儘管他費盡力氣，但還是顯出一副愚蠢的樣子，”舅舅回答道。“聽我說，沃利，聽我說。看那壁爐架。”

'Why who has cocked my silver mug up there, on a nail?' exclaimed the boy.
I have,' said his Uncle. 'No more mugs now. We must begin to drink out of glasses to-day, Walter. We are men of business. We belong to the City. We started in life this morning.

“哎呀，誰把我的銀盃子掛在釘子上了？”孩子高聲喊道。
“我掛的，”他的舅舅說道。“現在不用這種有柄的大杯子了。從今天起我們必須用玻璃杯喝了，沃爾特。我們是做生意的人。我們屬於倫敦市。從今天早上起，我們開始過新的生活了。”

註釋： engaged adj. 使用中的，忙碌的;
v. 保證；約定；同…訂婚（engage的過去分詞）
例句：
1. He got engaged to her when working in Xian.
他是在西安工作時和她訂婚的。
2. They are engaged in interior trade.
他們從事國內貿易。

'

Well, Uncle,' said the boy, 'I'll drink out of anything you like, so long as I can drink to you. Here's to you, Uncle Sol, and Hurrah for the
'Lord Mayor,' interrupted the old man.

“好吧，舅舅，”孩子說道，“只要我能爲你祝福就行，我可以用任何你喜歡的東西來喝。現在，所爾舅舅。爲你的健康乾杯！我還要爲——”
“爲市長歡呼。”老人打斷他的話。

'For the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, Common Council, and Livery,' said the boy. 'Long life to 'em!'
The uncle nodded his head with great satisfaction. 'And now,' he said, 'let's hear something about the Firm.'

“爲市長，爲名譽郡長，爲市參議會，爲同業工會會員歡呼！”孩子說道，“祝他們萬歲！”
舅舅十分滿意地點點頭。“現在，”他說道，“讓我來聽你談談公司的什麼事情吧。”

'Oh! there's not much to be told about the Firm, Uncle,' said the boy, plying his knife and fork.' It's a precious dark set of offices, and in the room where I sit, there's a high fender, and an iron safe, and some cards about ships that are going to sail, and an almanack, and some desks and stools, and an ink bottle, and some books, and some boxes, and a lot of cobwebs, and in one of 'em, just over my head, a shrivelled-up blue-bottle that looks as if it had hung there ever so long.'

“啊！公司的事情沒有什麼好談的，舅舅，”孩子使用着刀和叉，說道，“那裏有好多非常陰暗的辦公室；在我坐的那個房間裏，有一個很高的火爐圍欄，一個鐵的保險櫃，一些關於即將啓航的商船公告，一個日曆，幾張寫字檯和凳子，一個墨水瓶，幾本書，幾個箱子，還有好多蜘蛛網，其中有一個正好在我的頭頂，裏面有一隻乾癟的青蠅，看上去掛在那裏已經好久了。”

'Nothing else?' said the Uncle.
'No, nothing else, except an old birdcage (I wonder how that ever came there!) and a coal-scuttle.'
'No bankers' books, or cheque books, or bills, or such tokens of wealth rolling in from day to day?' said old Sol, looking wistfully at his nephew out of the fog that always seemed to hang about him, and laying an unctuous emphasis upon the words.

“沒有別的了嗎？”舅舅問道。
“是的，沒有別的了，不過還有一隻舊的鳥籠子，我不知道它怎麼到那裏去的！還有一個煤桶。”
“難道就沒有銀行存摺、支票簿、證券或者其他象徵着每天滾滾涌進來的財富之類的東西嗎？”老所爾說道，一邊通過那永遠好像籠罩在他的四周的迷霧，渴望瞭解似地望着他的外甥，並故意討好地強調那些詞兒。

'Oh yes, plenty of that I suppose,' returned his nephew carelessly; 'but all that sort of thing's in Mr Carker's room, or Mr Morfin's, or MR Dombey's.'
'Has Mr Dombey been there to-day?' inquired the Uncle.
'Oh yes! In and out all day.'

“啊是的，我想那會有好多，”他的外甥漫不經心地回答道，“不過所有那些東西都是在卡克先生的房間裏，或者在莫芬先生的房間裏，或者在董貝先生的房間裏。”
“董貝先生今天在那裏嗎？”舅舅問道。
“啊是的。整天進進出出。”

註釋：supposevt. 假設；認爲；讓（虛擬語氣）；推想
vi. 猜想；料想 conj. 假使…結果會怎樣
例句：
1. I beg your pardon. I suppose I should have knocked.
請原諒，我想我本該敲門的。
2. I suppose you also have a caste system in your society.
我想你們的社會裏也有一種等級制度。