狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第36章Part3

'Exactly,' said Cousin Feenix, bending forward to see the mild man, and smile encouragement at him down the table. 'That was Jack. Joe wore - '
'Tops!' cried the mild man, rising in public estimation every Instant.
'Of course,' said Cousin Feenix, 'you were intimate with em?'
'I knew them both,' said the mild man. With whom Mr Dombey immediately took wine.
'Devilish good fellow, Jack!' said Cousin Feenix, again bending forward, and smiling.
'Excellent,' returned the mild man, becoming bold on his success. 'One of the best fellows I ever knew.'
'No doubt you have heard the story?' said Cousin Feenix.
'I shall know,' replied the bold mild man, 'when I have heard your Ludship tell it.' With that, he leaned back in his chair and smiled at the ceiling, as knowing it by heart, and being already tickled.
'In point of fact, it's nothing of a story in itself,' said Cousin Feenix, addressing the table with a smile, and a gay shake of his head, 'and not worth a word of preface. But it's illustrative of the neatness of Jack's humour. The fact is, that Jack was invited down to a marriage - which I think took place in Berkshire?'
'Shropshire,' said the bold mild man, finding himself appealed to.
'Was it? Well! In point of fact it might have been in any shire,' said Cousin Feenix. 'So my friend being invited down to this marriage in Anyshire,' with a pleasant sense of the readiness of this joke, 'goes. Just as some of us, having had the honour of being invited to the marriage of my lovely and accomplished relative with my friend Dombey, didn't require to be asked twice, and were devilish glad to be present on so interesting an occasion. - Goes - Jack goes. Now, this marriage was, in point of fact, the marriage of an uncommonly fine girl with a man for whom she didn't care a button, but whom she accepted on account of his property, which was immense. When Jack returned to town, after the nuptials, a man he knew, meeting him in the lobby of the House of Commons, says, "Well, Jack, how are the ill-matched couple?" "Ill-matched," says Jack "Not at all. It's a perfectly and equal transaction. She is regularly bought, and you may take your oath he is as regularly sold!"'
In his full enjoyment of this culminating point of his story, the shudder, which had gone all round the table like an electric spark, struck Cousin Feenix, and he stopped. Not a smile occasioned by the only general topic of conversation broached that day, appeared on any face. A profound silence ensued; and the wretched mild man, who had been as innocent of any real foreknowledge of the story as the child unborn, had the exquisite misery of reading in every eye that he was regarded as the prime mover of the mischief.
Mr Dombey's face was not a changeful one, and being cast in its mould of state that day, showed little other apprehension of the story, if any, than that which he expressed when he said solemnly, amidst the silence, that it was 'Very good.' There was a rapid glance from Edith towards Florence, but otherwise she remained, externally, impassive and unconscious.
Through the various stages of rich meats and wines, continual gold and silver, dainties of earth, air, fire, and water, heaped-up fruits, and that unnecessary article in Mr Dombey's banquets - ice- the dinner slowly made its way: the later stages being achieved to the sonorous music of incessant double knocks, announcing the arrival of visitors, whose portion of the feast was limited to the smell thereof. When Mrs Dombey rose, it was a sight to see her lord, with stiff throat and erect head, hold the door open for the withdrawal of the ladies; and to see how she swept past him with his daughter on her arm.
Mr Dombey was a grave sight, behind the decanters, in a state of dignity; and the East India Director was a forlorn sight near the unoccupied end of the table, in a state of solitude; and the Major was a military sight, relating stories of the Duke of York to six of the seven mild men (the ambitious one was utterly quenched); and the Bank Director was a lowly sight, making a plan of his little attempt at a pinery, with dessert-knives, for a group of admirers; and Cousin Feenix was a thoughtful sight, as he smoothed his long wristbands and stealthily adjusted his wig. But all these sights were of short duration, being speedily broken up by coffee, and the desertion of the room.

“一點不錯，”菲尼克斯表哥說道，一邊向前探出身子去看看這位懦怯的人，對坐在桌子最下端的他笑嘻嘻地表示鼓勵，”這是傑克。喬穿的是--”
“長筒靴！”那位懦怯的人喊道；他在衆人心目中的地位每一秒鐘都在提高。
“當然，”菲尼克斯表哥說道，”您跟他們很熟吧？”
“我認識他們兩人，”那位懦怯的人說道。董貝先生立刻和他碰了杯。
“這傑克真是個非常好的人”，菲尼克斯表哥又笑嘻嘻地向前探出身子，說道。
“好極了，”那位懦怯的人回答道，他由於取得成功，因而膽子大起來了，”他是我所認識的最好的人當中的一個。”
“毫無疑問，您已經聽到這個故事了？”菲尼克斯表哥問道。
“現在還不敢說，”這位膽子大起來的懦怯的人回答道，”聽您閣下說了才知道。”他一邊說，一邊仰靠在椅背上，望着天花板微笑着，好像他熟記這個故事，早已被逗樂了。
“事實上，這件事本身根本算不了什麼故事，”菲尼克斯表哥笑嘻嘻地對着全桌的客人，快活地搖搖頭，說道，”用不着一句開場白。但是這說明了傑克靈巧的機智。事情是這樣的：傑克有一次被邀請去參加一個婚禮--這個婚禮我想是在巴克郡舉行的吧？”
“什羅郡，”那位膽子大起來的懦怯的人看到大家都在等待着他，就這樣回答道。
“是那裏嗎？事實上也可能在任何一個郡舉行，”菲尼克斯表哥說道，”我的朋友就這樣被邀請到任何郡去參加這次婚禮，”他對這笑話立刻會引起鬨堂大笑感到很高興，”他去了。正像我們當中有些人榮幸地被邀請來參加我可愛的、多才多藝的親戚跟我的朋友董貝的婚禮一樣，不需要別人邀請兩次，去出席這麼有趣的場面真是了不得的高興。所以，他--傑克就去了。可是這個婚姻事實上是一個異常漂亮的女孩子跟一個她連一丁點兒愛情也沒有的男人的婚姻，她是因爲貪圖他的財產才同意嫁給他的。當傑克參加婚禮之後回到城裏的時候，一位跟他認識的人在下院的休息室裏碰見他，問他‘唔，傑克，這錯配了的兩口子怎麼樣？’‘錯配！’傑克回答道，‘根本不是什麼錯配。這完全是公平交易。她是正正規規地被買下來，而他，您也可以發誓說，是正正規規地被賣出去的！’”
可是當菲尼克斯表哥正滿腔歡樂地到達他的故事的最高潮的時候，全桌人都像接觸到電火花似地打了個冷戰，這使他猛吃一驚，就停止了說話。這個成爲這一天大家普遍參加的談話的唯一話題在任何人的臉上也沒有引起微笑。接着是一片鴉雀無聲的沉默；那位不幸的懦怯的人事前對這故事就像對一個還沒出世的孩子一樣，一無所知，現在他從每隻眼睛中都可以看到，他被大家看成是這次禍害的元兇，心中感到劇烈的痛苦。
董貝先生的臉孔並不是容易變化的臉孔，這天他還是和平日一樣，擺出一副一本正經的態度；他在靜默中只是鄭重地說了一聲”很好”，此外，對這個故事就沒有任何其他表示理解的反應。伊迪絲朝弗洛倫斯迅速地看了一眼，可是除此之外她在表面上還繼續保持着冷冷淡淡、漠不關心的態度。
宴會通過了各個不同的階段：豐富的肉，芳醇的酒，連接不斷的金銀器皿，代表泥土、空氣、火、水的各種美味佳餚，成堆的水果，還有董貝先生的宴會上完全不需要的東西--冰，這頓晚餐漸漸地接近結束；在後幾個階段中，不斷聽到兩下敲門的響亮，通報客人來到；這些晚到的客人們只能聞聞宴會的香味而已。當董貝夫人站起來的時候，她的丈夫脖子堅挺，腦袋直豎，手按着打開的門，讓夫人們一一走出去，這一情景是很值得看一看的；董貝夫人胳膊挽着他的女兒，從他身旁匆匆走過的情景也是值得看一看的。
董貝先生威風凜凜地坐在細頸圓酒瓶後面時，是一幅莊嚴的景象；東印度公司的董事孤孤單單地坐在桌子空蕩蕩的另一頭的近旁時，是一幅淒涼的景象；少校向七位懦怯的人當中的六位（愛虛榮的那一位已經完全陷於絕境了）講約克郡公爵的軼事時，是一幅英武的景象；銀行董事用吃點心的小刀向一羣崇拜者描畫他有小菠蘿溫室的平面圖時，是一幅謙遜的景象；菲尼克斯表哥撫平長袖口，偷偷地整整假髮時，是一幅沉思的景象。可是所有這些景象持續的時間都很短，因爲很快就喝咖啡，而且大家不久都離開了餐廳。