狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第33章Part 3

'It is better as it is, my dear, remembering his fate.'
'But I could not regret it more, though I had known him. Is not your sorrow mine? And if I had, perhaps you would feel that I was a better companion to you in speaking about him, than I may seem now.
'My dearest sister! Is there anything within the range of rejoicing or regret, in which I am not sure of your companionship?'
'I hope you think not, John, for surely there is nothing!'
'How could you be better to me, or nearer to me then, than you are in this, or anything?' said her brother. 'I feel that you did know him, Harriet, and that you shared my feelings towards him.'
She drew the hand which had been resting on his shoulder, round his neck, and answered, with some hesitation:
'No, not quite.'
'True, true!' he said; 'you think I might have done him no harm if I had allowed myself to know him better?'
'Think! I know it.'
'Designedly, Heaven knows I would not,' he replied, shaking his head mournfully; 'but his reputation was too precious to be perilled by such association. Whether you share that knowledge, or do not, my dear - '
'I do not,' she said quietly.
'It is still the truth, Harriet, and my mind is lighter when I think of him for that which made it so much heavier then.' He checked himself in his tone of melancholy, and smiled upon her as he said 'Good-bye!'
'Good-bye, dear John! In the evening, at the old time and place, I shall meet you as usual on your way home. Good-bye.'

“你現在這樣反倒好，我親愛的，要是你記得他的命運的話。”
“可是即使我過去認識他的話，那麼我也不會比現在更痛心的。難道你的悲傷不就是我的悲傷嗎？如果我過去認識他的話，那麼你在談到他的時候，也許就會覺得我是你更好的伴侶了。”
“我最親愛的姐姐！難道我不相信，有什麼歡樂你不是跟我共同分享，有什麼憂傷你不是跟我共同分擔的嗎？”
“我希望你相信這一點，約翰，因爲情況確實是這樣！”
“你在這件事情上或在其他任何事情上，還能對我更好更親近的嗎？”她的弟弟說道，”我覺得你好像過去是認識他的，哈里特，你跟我共同感受着對他的感情。”
她把擱在他肩膀上的手抽回來，摟着他的脖子，遲疑地回答道：
“不，不完全這樣。”
“是的，是的，”他說道，”你認爲如果我過去允許我自己跟他更親近一些，我並不會對他不利嗎？”
“我認爲？不，我瞭解這一點。”
“天知道，我是不會故意危害他的；”他傷心地搖着頭，回答道，”可是他的聲譽太寶貴了；我不願意由於跟他深交而使他的聲譽冒着遭受損害的危險；你同意不同意我的這個看法，我親愛的--？”
“我不同意，”她沉靜地說道。
“但這仍然是真實的情況，哈里特；當我回憶起他，想到我過去由於不能接近他而心情沉重痛苦時，我的心情就感到輕鬆一些。”他在他悲傷的聲調中抑制着自己，沒有說下去，並向她微笑着，說道，”再見！”
“再見，親愛的約翰！晚上，在老時間和老地點，我將跟往常一樣，在你回家的路途中來接你。再見！”