狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第38章Part5

The cheery face of Mrs Richards shone with a hospitable reply, and Miss Tox, accepting the proffered chair, and grab fully recognising Mr Toodle on her way to it, untied her bonnet strings, and said that in the first place she must beg the dear children, one and all, to come and kiss her.
The ill-starred youngest Toodle but one, who would appear, from the frequency of his domestic troubles, to have been born under an unlucky planet, was prevented from performing his part in this general salutation by having fixed the sou'wester hat (with which he had been previously trifling) deep on his head, hind side before, and being unable to get it off again; which accident presenting to his terrified imagination a dismal picture of his passing the rest of his days in darkness, and in hopeless seclusion from his friends and family, caused him to struggle with great violence, and to utter suffocating cries. Being released, his face was discovered to be very hot, and red, and damp; and Miss Tox took him on her lap, much exhausted.
'You have almost forgotten me, Sir, I daresay,' said Miss Tox to Mr Toodle.
'No, Ma'am, no,' said Toodle. 'But we've all on us got a little older since then.'
'And how do you find yourself, Sir?' inquired Miss Tox, blandly.
'Hearty, Ma'am, thank'ee,' replied Toodle. 'How do you find yourself, Ma'am? Do the rheumaticks keep off pretty well, Ma'am? We must all expect to grow into 'em, as we gets on.'
'Thank you,' said Miss Tox. 'I have not felt any inconvenience from that disorder yet.'
'You're wery fortunate, Ma'am,' returned Mr Toodle. 'Many people at your time of life, Ma'am, is martyrs to it. There was my mother - ' But catching his wife's eye here, Mr Toodle judiciously buried the rest in another mug of tea
'You never mean to say, Mrs Richards,' cried Miss Tox, looking at Rob, 'that that is your - '
'Eldest, Ma'am,' said Polly. 'Yes, indeed, it is. That's the little fellow, Ma'am, that was the innocent cause of so much.'
'This here, Ma'am,' said Toodle, 'is him with the short legs - and they was,' said Mr Toodle, with a touch of poetry in his tone, 'unusual short for leathers - as Mr Dombey made a Grinder on.'
The recollection almost overpowered Miss Tox. The subject of it had a peculiar interest for her directly. She asked him to shake hands, and congratulated his mother on his frank, ingenuous face. Rob, overhearing her, called up a look, to justify the eulogium, but it was hardly the right look.
'And now, Mrs Richards,' said Miss Tox, - 'and you too, Sir,' addressing Toodle - 'I'll tell you, plainly and truly, what I have come here for. You may be aware, Mrs Richards - and, possibly, you may be aware too, Sir - that a little distance has interposed itself between me and some of my friends, and that where I used to visit a good deal, I do not visit now.'

理查茲大嫂高興的臉上閃現出一片好客的情意，這就是她的回答；托克斯小姐接受了爲她擺好的椅子，並且在向椅子走過去的時候，舉止文雅地向圖德爾先生打着招呼，然後解開帽帶，說，她首先得請這些可愛的小寶寶們一個個前來親親她。
第二個最小的圖德爾走運不利，如果從他在家裏遭到不幸的次數來看，也許他是在一顆不吉祥的星辰的照耀下出生的；這時他又不能參加到這次普遍的問候中去，因爲他把那頂防水帽（他起先正在玩弄它）深深地緊套在頭上，但前後戴錯了，現在不能把它脫下來；這樁意外事故在他恐怖的想象中預兆着一幅灰暗的圖景：他將在黑暗中度過今後的歲月，並和他的朋友與家庭永遠隔離，因此他拼命掙扎，發出了幾乎要窒息的號哭聲。當他擺脫困境之後，大家看到他的臉孔很熱，很紅，很溼；托克斯小姐把他抱到膝蓋上，這時他已筋疲力盡了。
“先生，我想您已幾乎把我忘了吧，”托克斯小姐對圖德爾先生說道。
“不，夫人，不，”圖德爾說道。”不過從那時以來我們全都比過去老一些了。”
“您身體怎麼樣，先生？”托克斯小姐溫和地問道。
“身強力壯，夫人，謝謝您，”圖德爾回答道。”您身體怎麼樣？還沒有得風溼病吧，夫人？我們歲數慢慢大起來，今後全都會得上它的。”
“謝謝您，”托克斯小姐說道，”我現在還沒有得這個病，沒有感到它的苦惱呢。”
“您很幸運，夫人，”圖德爾先生回答道。”許多人到了您這樣的年紀，夫人，都受它的折磨。就拿我母親來說吧--”可是這時圖德爾先生覺察到妻子的眼色，就聰明地把沒說出來的話埋葬在另一杯茶水裏了。
“理查茲大嫂，”托克斯小姐看着羅布，喊道，”這莫不是您的--”
“大兒子，夫人，”波利說道，”不錯，他就是。就是這個小傢伙，夫人，他就是好多事情無罪的根源。”
“就是他，夫人，就是那個腿短短的，”圖德爾先生帶着詩意的語調說道，”特別是當董貝先生讓他當上一名磨工，他穿上皮短褲的時候，他的腿就越發顯得異乎尋常的短。”
這回憶幾乎使托克斯小姐支撐不了。回憶到的主人翁與她直接有着特殊的利害關係。她請他跟她握手，併爲他的坦率的、老實的臉孔向他母親表示祝賀；羅布聽到這些話，竭力在臉上裝出一副神色來證明這讚美是正確的，可是他裝得不太像。
“現在，理查茲大嫂，”托克斯小姐說道，”還有您，先生，”她轉過去對圖德爾說，”我要坦白地、老實地告訴你們，我爲什麼要上這裏來。您可能知道，理查茲大嫂--也許您也可能知道，先生，--我跟我朋友當中的某個人產生了一點隔閡，相互疏遠了；過去我經常去拜訪的地方，我現在不去了。”