狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第36章Part5

'Unless you are a monster, which I sometimes think you are,' said Mrs Chick with candour, 'don't sit there humming tunes. How anyone with the most distant feelings of a man, can see that mother-in-law of Paul's, dressed as she is, going on like that, with Major Bagstock, for whom, among other precious things, we are indebted to your Lucretia Tox
'My Lucretia Tox, my dear!' said Mr Chick, astounded.
'Yes,' retorted Mrs Chick, with great severity, 'your Lucretia Tox - I say how anybody can see that mother-in-law of Paul's, and that haughty wife of Paul's, and these indecent old frights with their backs and shoulders, and in short this at home generally, and hum - ' on which word Mrs Chick laid a scornful emphasis that made Mr Chick start, 'is, I thank Heaven, a mystery to me!
Mr Chick screwed his mouth into a form irreconcilable with humming or whistling, and looked very contemplative.
'But I hope I know what is due to myself,' said Mrs Chick, swelling with indignation, 'though Paul has forgotten what is due to me. I am not going to sit here, a member of this family, to be taken no notice of. I am not the dirt under Mrs Dombey's feet, yet - not quite yet,' said Mrs Chick, as if she expected to become so, about the day after to-morrow. 'And I shall go. I will not say (whatever I may think) that this affair has been got up solely to degrade and insult me. I shall merely go. I shall not be missed!'
Mrs Chick rose erect with these words, and took the arm of Mr Chick, who escorted her from the room, after half an hour's shady sojourn there. And it is due to her penetration to observe that she certainly was not missed at all.
But she was not the only indignant guest; for Mr Dombey's list (still constantly in difficulties) were, as a body, indignant with Mrs Dombey's list, for looking at them through eyeglasses, and audibly wondering who all those people were; while Mrs Dombey's list complained of weariness, and the young thing with the shoulders, deprived of the attentions of that gay youth Cousin Feenix (who went away from the dinner-table), confidentially alleged to thirty or forty friends that she was bored to death. All the old ladies with the burdens on their heads, had greater or less cause of complaint against Mr Dombey; and the Directors and Chairmen coincided in thinking that if Dombey must marry, he had better have married somebody nearer his own age, not quite so handsome, and a little better off. The general opinion among this class of gentlemen was, that it was a weak thing in Dombey, and he'd live to repent it. Hardly anybody there, except the mild men, stayed, or went away, without considering himself or herself neglected and aggrieved by Mr Dombey or Mrs Dombey; and the speechless female in the black velvet hat was found to have been stricken mute, because the lady in the crimson velvet had been handed down before her. The nature even of the mild men got corrupted, either from their curdling it with too much lemonade, or from the general inoculation that prevailed; and they made sarcastic jokes to one another, and whispered disparagement on stairs and in bye-places. The general dissatisfaction and discomfort so diffused itself, that the assembled footmen in the hall were as well acquainted with it as the company above. Nay, the very linkmen outside got hold of it, and compared the party to a funeral out of mourning, with none of the company remembered in the will. At last, the guests were all gone, and the linkmen too; and the street, crowded so long with carriages, was clear; and the dying lights showed no one in the rooms, but Mr Dombey and Mr Carker, who were talking together apart, and Mrs Dombey and her mother: the former seated on an ottoman; the latter reclining in the Cleopatra attitude, awaiting the arrival of her maid. Mr Dombey having finished his communication to Carker, the latter advanced obsequiously to take leave.
'I trust,' he said, 'that the fatigues of this delightful evening will not inconvenience Mrs Dombey to-morrow.'
'Mrs Dombey,' said Mr Dombey, advancing, 'has sufficiently spared herself fatigue, to relieve you from any anxiety of that kind. I regret to say, Mrs Dombey, that I could have wished you had fatigued yourself a little more on this occasion.
She looked at him with a supercilious glance, that it seemed not worth her while to protract, and turned away her eyes without speaking.
'I am sorry, Madam,' said Mr Dombey, 'that you should not have thought it your duty -
She looked at him again.

“除非你是個怪物（有時我覺得你真的就是個怪物），”奇剋夫人坦率地說道，”那就別坐在這裏吹你的小調了。一個人哪怕稍稍有點男子漢的感情，怎麼能看得住保羅的岳母打扮成那副模樣，在跟白格斯托克少校賣弄風情？別的使人愉快的事情就別提了，就是這個白格斯托克少校今天能在這裏，我們也還得感謝你的盧克麗霞?托克斯--”
“我的盧克麗霞?托克斯！”奇克先生吃驚地說道。
“是的，”奇剋夫人很嚴厲地回答道，”你的盧克麗霞?托克斯！我要問，不論是什麼人，看到保羅這位岳母，保羅這位傲慢的老婆，這些光裸着後背和肩膀的不成體統的老醜八怪們，總之一句話，看到今天這樣的招待會，怎麼還能有心情哼小調呢？”奇剋夫人在最後幾個字上冷嘲熱諷地加重了語氣，使奇克先生嚇了一跳。”這對我來說，謝謝上天，真是一件不可思議的事情。”
奇克先生把嘴巴扭歪成根本無法哼小調或吹口哨的形狀，並似乎很用心地在沉思着。
“雖然保羅已經忘記我該享受的權利了，”奇剋夫人火冒三丈，說道，”但我希望，我知道我本人應該享受什麼權利。我是這個家庭的一名成員；我不打算在這裏坐着，讓人不理不睬。我不是董貝夫人腳下的爛泥，現在還不是，”奇剋夫人說道，彷彿她預料後天就會變成這爛泥似的，”我要走！我不說（不管我怎麼想）這一切安排的唯一目的就是要貶低我，侮辱我。我將直截了當，一走了之。我不在，他們也不會發覺！”
奇剋夫人一邊這麼說着，一邊筆直地站了起來，挽着奇克先生的胳膊，離開了這個他們在偏僻的角落裏逗留了半個小時的房間。她真能洞察一切：她不在，確實完全沒有被人發覺。
不過她並不是唯一的憤怒的客人；因爲董貝先生名單上客人們（他們依舊不斷地處於困難的境地中）一致對董貝夫人名單上的客人們感到憤怒，因爲她們通過單眼鏡看他們，並大聲說不知道這些人是誰。在這同時，董貝夫人名單上的客人們抱怨疲乏；那位袒露着肩膀、打扮得很年輕的夫人，失掉那位快活的年輕人菲尼克斯表哥（他在宴會結束之後就走了）的照顧之後，對三、四十個朋友祕密地宣稱，她厭煩得要死。頭上戴滿了沉甸甸的飾物的老夫人們都有或大或小的理由抱怨董貝夫人。那些公司的董事和總經理們心裏都一致認爲，如果董貝一定要結婚，他最好娶一位跟他年紀比較接近的人，別這麼漂亮，但家境要寬裕一些纔好；這一類身份的先生們普遍的看法是，這是董貝的失着，他以後會後悔的。除了那些懦怯的人之外，留在那裏或走開的人，幾乎沒有一位不認爲自己從董貝先生或董貝夫人那裏受到冷落或委屈的。後來才知道，那位戴黑絲絨帽子、默默無言的夫人就是因爲那位穿深紅絲絨衣服的夫人比她先被攙扶到餐廳裏去才氣得一言不發的。甚至連那些懦怯的男子的脾氣也變壞了，這或者是由於他們喝了過多的檸檬汁，性格發生了變化，或者是由於他們受到整個房間的氣氛的感染的緣故；他們在樓梯上和偏僻的角落裏相互諷刺嘲笑，並低聲說些誹謗的話。普遍的不滿與不快廣泛地擴散開來，聚集在門廳裏的僕人們也跟樓上的客人們一樣感覺到這一點。甚至連等候在屋外、拿着火炬給大家照路的僕人也瞭解到這一點，他們把這個慶祝宴會跟那種在死者遺囑裏沒有提到任何人、因而聽不到哀哭的葬禮相比。最後，所有的客人都走了，拿着火炬給大家照路的僕人也走了。長時間被馬車堵塞的街道已暢通了。房間裏將要燃盡的燭光只照着在一旁交談的董貝先生和卡克先生，以及董貝夫人和他的母親，沒有別的人了。董貝夫人坐在絨墊睡椅上，她的母親仿照克利奧佩特拉的姿態躺着等待侍女前來。董貝先生和卡克談話結束之後，卡克諂媚討好地走上前來告別。
“我希望，”他說道，”董貝夫人經過這愉快的晚上所感到的勞累不會使她明天覺得不舒服。”
“董貝夫人已經充分地節省了她的勞累，”董貝先生走上前來，說道，”因此您絲毫不用在這方面替她擔心。董貝夫人，我很遺憾地想說，我實在希望在今天這樣的場合，您能比往常稍許勞累一些纔好。”
她傲慢地向他看了一眼，似乎不值得再看他，就一言不發地轉開了視線。
“我感到遺憾，夫人，”董貝先生說道，”您竟沒有想到這是您的責任--”
她又看了看他。