狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第51章Part1
'My dear Paul!' murmurs his sister, sidling into the room, on the day of Florence's departure, 'your wife! that upstart woman! Is it possible that what I hear confusedly, is true, and that this is her return for your unparalleled devotion to her; extending, I am sure, even to the sacrifice of your own relations, to her caprices and haughtiness? My poor brother!'
With this speech feelingly reminiscent of her not having been asked to dinner on the day of the first party, Mrs Chick makes great use of her pocket-handkerchief, and falls on Mr Dombey's neck. But Mr Dombey frigidly lifts her off, and hands her to a chair.
'I thank you, Louisa,' he says, 'for this mark of your affection; but desire that our conversation may refer to any other subject. When I bewail my fate, Louisa, or express myself as being in want of consolation, you can offer it, if you will have the goodness.'
'My dear Paul,' rejoins his sister, with her handkerchief to her face, and shaking her head, 'I know your great sPirit, and will say no more upon a theme so painful and revolting;' on the heads of which two adjectives, Mrs Chick visits scathing indignation; 'but pray let me ask you - though I dread to hear something that will shock and distress me - that unfortunate child Florence -
'Louisa!' says her brother, sternly, 'silence! Not another word of this!'
Mrs Chick can only shake her head, and use her handkerchief, and moan over degenerate Dombeys, who are no Dombeys. But whether Florence has been inculpated in the flight of Edith, or has followed her, or has done too much, or too little, or anything, or nothing, she has not the least idea.
He goes on, without deviation, keeping his thoughts and feelings close within his own breast, and imparting them to no one. He makes no search for his daughter. He may think that she is with his sister, or that she is under his own roof. He may think of her constantly, or he may never think about her. It is all one for any sign he makes.
But this is sure; he does not think that he has lost her. He has no suspicion of the truth. He has lived too long shut up in his towering supremacy, seeing her, a patient gentle creature, in the path below it, to have any fear of that. Shaken as he is by his disgrace, he is not yet humbled to the level earth. The root is broad and deep, and in the course of years its fibres have spread out and gathered nourishment from everything around it. The tree is struck, but not down.
Though he hide the world within him from the world without - which he believes has but one purpose for the time, and that, to watch him eagerly wherever he goes - he cannot hide those rebel traces of it, which escape in hollow eyes and cheeks, a haggard forehead, and a moody, brooding air. Impenetrable as before, he is still an altered man; and, proud as ever, he is humbled, or those marks would not be there.
The world. What the world thinks of him, how it looks at him, what it sees in him, and what it says - this is the haunting demon of his mind. It is everywhere where he is; and, worse than that, it is everywhere where he is not. It comes out with him among his servants, and yet he leaves it whispering behind; he sees it pointing after him in the street; it is waiting for him in his counting-house; it leers over the shoulders of rich men among the merchants; it goes beckoning and babbling among the crowd; it always anticipates him, in every place; and is always busiest, he knows, when he has gone away. When he is shut up in his room at night, it is in his house, outside it, audible in footsteps on the pavement, visible in print upon the table, steaming to and fro on railroads and in ships; restless and busy everywhere, with nothing else but him.
It is not a phantom of his imagination. It is as active in other people's minds as in his. Witness Cousin Feenix, who comes from Baden-Baden, purposely to talk to him. Witness Major Bagstock, who accompanies Cousin Feenix on that friendly mission.
Mr Dombey receives them with his usual dignity, and stands erect, in his old attitude, before the fire. He feels that the world is looking at him out of their eyes. That it is in the stare of the pictures. That Mr Pitt, upon the bookcase, represents it. That there are eyes in its own map, hanging on the wall.
'An unusually cold spring,' says Mr Dombey - to deceive the world.
'Damme, Sir,' says the Major, in the warmth of friendship, 'Joseph Bagstock is a bad hand at a counterfeit. If you want to hold your friends off, Dombey, and to give them the cold shoulder, J. B. is not the man for your purpose. Joe is rough and tough, Sir; blunt, Sir, blunt, is Joe. His Royal Highness the late Duke of York did me the honour to say, deservedly or undeservedly - never mind that - "If there is a man in the service on whom I can depend for coming to the point, that man is Joe - Joe Bagstock."'
Mr Dombey intimates his acquiescence.
日子一天天地過去，這位高傲的人在做些什麼呢？他曾想到他的女兒嗎？或曾感到奇怪，她到哪裏去了嗎？是不是他以爲她已回到家裏，在這枯燥無趣的公館中，像過去一樣過着她的生活呢？沒有人能替他回答。從那時候起，他從來沒有提到過她的名字。他家裏的人太害怕他了，不敢向他提起一個他堅決不談的話題，而唯一敢問他的人，他又立即使她沉默下來。
“我親愛的保羅！”他的妹妹在弗洛倫斯逃走的那一天，側身走進他的房間，低聲問道，”你的妻子！那位暴發的女人！我聽到的那些傳說紛紜的消息難道可能是真的嗎？你對她無比真誠；毫無疑問，爲了遷就她的任性與高傲，你甚至不惜犧牲自己的親屬；難道這就是她對你的報答嗎？我可憐的哥哥！”
奇剋夫人說了這些話，傷心地回憶起在舉行第一次晚會的那天她沒有被邀請參加宴會，不斷使用她的手絹，並撲到董貝先生的脖子上。但是董貝先生冷淡地推開她，讓她在椅子中坐下。
“謝謝你所表示的感情，路易莎，”他說道，”但是我希望我們能轉到其他的話題上去。以後當我爲我的命運痛哭或者表示需要安慰的時候，路易莎，那時如果你肯費心的話，那麼你可以再來安慰我。”
“我親愛的保羅，”他的妹妹用手絹捂着臉，搖搖頭，回答道，”我知道你的偉大的精神力量，我將不再談一個令人如此痛苦和厭惡的話題，”奇剋夫人極爲憤慨地說出這兩個形容詞，”可是請允許我問你一下--雖然我害怕會聽到使我震驚和痛苦的消息--，那個不幸的孩子弗洛倫斯--”
“路易莎！”她的哥哥嚴厲地說道，”別說了。一個字也別談這個！”
奇剋夫人只好搖搖頭，使用她的手絹，併爲董貝家裏這些退化了的人嘆息，她們已不再能稱得上是董貝家裏的人了。但是弗洛倫斯在伊迪絲的私奔中究竟是不是有罪，是不是跟隨着她逃走了，在這次逃走的事件中她是參與得太多還是參與得太少，是多少參與了一點還是根本沒有參與，奇剋夫人卻絲毫不瞭解。
他絲毫沒有改變，依舊像過去一樣，把他的思想與感情掩藏在自己心中，不向任何人透露。他沒有尋找他的女兒。也許他以爲她跟他的妹妹住在一起，或者她就住在他自己的家中。也許他經常想到她，也許他從來沒有想到過她。如果從他表露的跡象來判斷，所有這些設想都是對的。
不過有一點是確實的：他?沒?有想到他已失去了她。他沒有懷疑過這一事實。他對周圍的事情不聞不問，在高高在上、至尊至貴的地位中生活得太久了，他看到的她是在他下面的一條小路上的一個耐性的、溫柔的人兒，所以他一點也不曾害怕會失去她。他雖然由於喪失體面而受到了震動，但還沒有被推翻到地上。樹根又粗又深，在長久的歲月中它的鬚根伸展開來，從四周的一切東西中吸取了營養。樹受到了打擊，但沒有倒下。
雖然他把他內心的世界掩藏起來，不讓外面的社會看見--他相信，外面的社會現在只有一個目的：不論他走到哪裏，它都急切地注視着他--，但是他卻不能掩藏他在內心世界所進行的鬥爭，因爲他那凹陷的眼睛與雙頰、露出皺紋的前額、怏怏不樂的沉思的神態都表明了這一點。雖然他像以前一樣使人看不透，但他還是改變了；雖然他像往常一樣高傲，但他的銳氣還是受到了挫折，否則那些痕跡就不會留下來了。
社會。社會對他想些什麼，它怎樣看他，它在他身上看到了什麼，它議論些什麼，--這是經常纏擾他心緒的惡魔。在他所在的一切地方，它都在那裏；不僅如此，甚至在他不在的一切地方，它也在那裏。它和他一起出現在僕人中間；在他離開的時候，它還和他們一起在背後竊竊私語；他看到它在街道上指點他；它在他的營業所裏等待着他；它從有錢的商人轉過身來的時候斜眼看着他；它在人羣中間招手示意並喋喋不休地談論着；它在每個地方總比他搶先一步；當他走開以後，他知道它總是極爲忙碌的。夜間當他把自己關在房間裏的時候，它就在他的公館裏面和公館外面，可以從人行道上的腳步聲中聽到它，可以從桌子上的報紙中看到它，它沿着鐵路線和乘坐在船舶上來來往往；它在每個地方都不眠不休，忙碌不停，不爲其他事情，只是爲了他。
這不是他想象的幻影。它在其他人們的心中就像在他的心中一樣活躍。從巴登一巴登專程前來跟他談話的菲尼克斯表哥是一個見證人。陪同菲尼克斯表哥來完成這一友好任務的白格斯托克少校也是一個見證人。
董貝先生以他往常的尊嚴態度接待了他們，並採取他往常的姿勢，筆直地站在壁爐前面。他覺得，社會正通過他們的眼睛在看着他。他覺得，它存在於四周圖畫的注視中。書櫥上的皮特先生是它的代表。他覺得，甚至掛在牆上的地圖中也有它的眼睛。
“今年春天格外冷，”董貝先生說道，--這是爲了欺騙社會。
“他媽的，先生，”少校懷着熱情的友誼說道，”約瑟夫?白格斯托克最不會裝假。如果您想要避開您的朋友們的話，那麼喬?白不是適合於您的目的的人，董貝。喬是粗魯和堅強的，先生；他是個直腸直肚的人，直腸直肚是喬的性格；已故的約克郡公爵殿下使我不勝榮幸地指出過（我配受或不配受這種光榮，這倒無關緊要），‘我手下這些在職的人當中，如果有一位我可以信賴他能直言不諱的話，那麼這個人就是喬--喬?白格斯托克’。”
董貝先生表示同意。
