雙語小說連載:《董貝父子》第8章 Part 5

'Ay! But that's at night,' said Mr Dombey, drawing his own chair closer to his son's, and laying his hand gently on his back; 'little people should be tired at night, for then they sleep well.'
'Oh, it's not at night, Papa,' returned the child, 'it's in the day; and I lie down in Florence's lap, and she sings to me. At night I dream about such cu-ri-ous things!'
“是的！可是那是在夜裏，”董貝先生把他自己的椅子拉得跟他兒子的椅子挨近一些，同時把他的手輕輕地放在他的背上，說道，“小人兒夜裏應該是累的，因爲這樣他們才能睡得香。”
“哦，這不是在夜裏，爸爸，”孩子回答道，“這是在白天。我躺在弗洛倫斯的膝蓋上，她唱歌 給我 聽。夜裏我夢見這些希奇——古怪的事情！”
And he went on, warming his hands again, and thinking about them, like an old man or a young goblin.
他繼續講下去，一邊又烘烘手，像一個老頭子或一個年輕的妖魔一樣想着這些事情。
Mr Dombey was so astonished, and so uncomfortable, and so perfectly at a loss how to pursue the conversation, that he could only sit looking at his son by the light of the fire, with his hand resting on his back, as if it were detained there by some magnetic attraction. Once he advanced his other hand, and turned the contemplative face towards his own for a moment. But it sought the fire again as soon as he released it; and remained, addressed towards the flickering blaze, until the nurse appeared, to summon him to bed.
董貝先生十分驚異，十分不安，完全不知道該怎麼把談話進行下去；他就只好藉着火光看着他的兒子，一隻手仍擱在他的背上不動，彷彿有什麼魔術的吸引力把它阻留在那裏似的。有一次他伸出另一隻手，把那沉思的臉轉向他一會兒，可是他手一放鬆，它又 轉回去對着壁爐，眼睛一動不動地 看着閃爍的火焰，直到保姆前 來召喚他去睡覺爲止。
'I want Florence to come for me,' said Paul.
“我要弗洛倫斯到我這裏來，”保羅說道。
'Won't you come with your poor Nurse Wickam, Master Paul?' inquired that attendant, with great pathos.
“您不想跟您的可憐的威肯姆保姆一道走嗎，保羅少爺？”那位侍候他的女人十分悽楚地問道。
'No, I won't,' replied Paul, composing himself in his arm-chair again, like the master of the house.
“不，我不想，”保羅像是這個房屋的主人似的，在他的椅子中重新坐好，回答道。
Invoking a blessing upon his innocence, Mrs Wickam withdrew, and presently Florence appeared in her stead. The child immediately started up with sudden readiness and animation, and raised towards his father in bidding him good-night, a countenance so much brighter, so much younger, and so much more child-like altogether, that Mr Dombey, while he felt greatly reassured by the change, was quite amazed at it.
威肯姆大嫂一邊祈求上帝保佑他天真無邪，一邊出去了；一會兒，弗洛倫斯代替她來了。孩子立刻欣喜、活潑地跳起來，向他父親擡起一張快活得多、年輕得多、孩子氣得多的臉孔，祝他晚安；董貝先生看到這個轉變大大地安下心來，同時又感到十分驚奇。
After they had left the room together, he thought he heard a soft voice singing; and remembering that Paul had said his sister sung to him, he had the curiosity to open the door and listen, and look after them. She was toiling up the great, wide, vacant staircase, with him in her arms; his head was lying on her shoulder, one of his arms thrown negligently round her neck. So they went, toiling up; she singing all the way, and Paul sometimes crooning out a feeble accompaniment. Mr Dombey looked after them until they reached the top of the staircase - not without halting to rest by the way - and passed out of his sight; and then he still stood gazing upwards, until the dull rays of the moon, glimmering in a melancholy manner through the dim skylight, sent him back to his room.
他們一起離開房間以後，他覺得他聽到了一個溫柔的聲音在唱歌；他記起保羅曾對他說過他姐姐給他唱歌的事，就懷着好奇心開了門，聽着並目送着他們。她抱着他，沿着那寬闊的、沒有人的大樓梯，辛苦地走上去；他的頭靠在她的肩膀上，一隻胳膊隨便地挽着她的脖子。他們就這樣吃力地走上去；她一路唱着歌，保羅有時有氣無力地低聲伴唱着。董貝先生目送着他們，直到他們到達樓梯頂上——他們在中間也曾停下 來休息過——，離開了他的視野；可是這時候他仍站在那裏向上凝視着，直到後來淡弱的月光淒涼地、忽隱忽視地穿過幽暗的天窗，照着他回到他自己的房間。
Mrs Chick and Miss Tox were convoked in council at dinner next day; and when the cloth was removed, Mr Dombey opened the proceedings by requiring to be informed, without any gloss or reservation, whether there was anything the matter with Paul, and what Mr Pilkins said about him.
第二天吃晚飯的時候，奇剋夫人與托克斯小姐被召集一起來進行商議。桌布一撤走，董貝先生在會議開始時就要求她們毫不掩飾、毫無保留地告訴他，保羅是不是出了什麼毛病，皮爾金斯先生是怎樣說他的。
'For the child is hardly,' said Mr Dombey, 'as stout as I could wish.'
“因爲這孩子不像我所希望的那麼健壯，”董貝先生說道。