狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第33章Part 2

With a passing gesture of his hand at the picture - what! a menace? No; yet something like it. A wave as of triumph? No; yet more like that. An insolent salute wafted from his lips? No; yet like that too - he resumes his breakfast, and calls to the chafing and imprisoned bird, who coming down into a pendant gilded hoop within the cage, like a great wedding-ring, swings in it, for his delight.
The second home is on the other side of London, near to where the busy great north road of bygone days is silent and almost deserted, except by wayfarers who toil along on foot. It is a poor small house, barely and sparely furnished, but very clean; and there is even an attempt to decorate it, shown in the homely flowers trained about the porch and in the narrow garden. The neighbourhood in which it stands has as little of the country to recommend'it, as it has of the town. It is neither of the town nor country. The former, like the giant in his travelling boots, has made a stride and passed it, and has set his brick-and-mortar heel a long way in advance; but the intermediate space between the giant's feet, as yet, is only blighted country, and not town; and, here, among a few tall chimneys belching smoke all day and night, and among the brick-fields and the lanes where turf is cut, and where the fences tumble down, and where the dusty nettles grow, and where a scrap or two of hedge may yet be seen, and where the bird-catcher still comes occasionally, though he swears every time to come no more - this second home is to be found.'
She who inhabits it, is she who left the first in her devotion to an outcast brother. She withdrew from that home its redeeming spirit, and from its master's breast his solitary angel: but though his liking for her is gone, after this ungrateful slight as he considers it; and though he abandons her altogether in return, an old idea of her is not quite forgotten even by him. Let her flower-garden, in which he never sets his foot, but which is yet maintained, among all his costly alterations, as if she had quitted it but yesterday, bear witness!
Harriet Carker has changed since then, and on her beauty there has fallen a heavier shade than Time of his unassisted self can cast, all-potent as he is - the shadow of anxiety and sorrow, and the daily struggle of a poor existence. But it is beauty still; and still a gentle, quiet, and retiring beauty that must be sought out, for it cannot vaunt itself; if it could, it would be what it is, no more.
Yes. This slight, small, patient figure, neatly dressed in homely stuffs, and indicating nothing but the dull, household virtues, that have so little in common with the received idea of heroism and greatness, unless, indeed, any ray of them should shine through the lives of the great ones of the earth, when it becomes a constellation and is tracked in Heaven straightway - this slight, small, patient figure, leaning on the man still young but worn and grey, is she, his sister, who, of all the world, went over to him in his shame and put her hand in his, and with a sweet composure and determination, led him hopefully upon his barren way.
'It is early, John,' she said. 'Why do you go so early?'
'Not many minutes earlier than usual, Harriet. If I have the time to spare, I should like, I think - it's a fancy - to walk once by the house where I took leave of him.'
'I wish I had ever seen or known him, John.'

他向畫像揮了揮手--這是什麼意思！是威嚇嗎？不是，可是也有些像威嚇。是揚揚得意的流露嗎？不是，可是很有些像揚揚得意。是從他嘴脣上吹送出去的侮辱性的飛吻嗎？不是，可是也像是飛吻。--他又重新吃早飯，並招呼關在籠子中的生氣的鳥兒；有一個像很大的結婚戒指一樣的鍍金的圓環懸垂在籠子中，那鳥兒往下走到圓環中，前後搖盪，給他開心取樂。
第二個家在倫敦的另一邊，離北邊的大公路不遠；在往昔的日子裏，這條大路交通繁忙，如今卻是靜寂無聲；除了步行的旅客還沿着它辛苦地跋涉外，它幾乎已被人們遺棄了。這是一座貧窮的小房屋，傢俱簡陋、稀少，但卻很乾淨；從裁培在門廊旁邊和狹窄的庭園中的普通花卉來看，房屋的主人甚至還想把它裝飾一下。它所坐落的地方既沒有鄉村的景色，也沒有城市的風光。它既不是城市，又不是鄉村。城市就像是個穿着旅行靴的巨人，大步跨過它，在遠遠的前方落下了他的由磚頭和灰泥做成的靴底；可是在巨人兩腳之間的地方，現在仍然是光景蕭條的鄉村。這裏有幾座日夜冒着黑煙的煙囪，有幾個磚廠，還有一些小路，小路上青草已經被割去了，籬笆已經倒塌了，但生長着灰塵覆蓋的蕁麻，還可以看到一兩片樹籬；捉鳥的人仍偶爾前來光顧，但每次都發誓不再回來了；第二個家的住宅就坐落在這樣的環境之中。
住在這個住宅中的她，就是由於熱愛一個被遺棄的弟弟，才離開第一個家的住宅的。她從那座住宅中帶走了贖罪的精神，從住宅主人的心胸中帶走了他唯一的守護天使。雖然在這次在他看來是忘恩負義的、侮辱性的行爲之後，他對她已不再喜愛；雖然他爲了報復，已將她拋棄；可是甚至在他的心中也還沒有完全遺忘對她的往日的記憶。讓她在他門前留下的花園來證明吧！雖然他的腳步從來沒有走進去過，可是他儘管花了很多錢來改建他的住宅，這個花園卻依舊保留下來，就彷彿她昨天才離開似的。
哈里特?卡克從那時以來，容貌已經改變了；時間老人已經在她美麗的姿容上投下了比他在沒有得到外界幫助的情況下獨自所能投下的更爲沉重的陰影--這是憂慮、悲傷和每天爲可憐的生活掙扎的陰影。可是她的姿容仍然是美麗的，仍然是溫柔的、文靜的、謙遜的美；它是必須尋找才能發現的，因爲它不會炫耀自己；如果它會的話，那麼它就不會像現在這樣了。
是的，這個苗條、矮小、耐性的人兒，穿着普通布料做成的潔淨的衣服；在她身上所能看到的僅僅是平淡無奇的家常美德，並沒有別的；這種美德與公認的英雄與偉大氣概很少有共同之處，除非當這種美德之光成爲星座，可以從天上直接找到，那時候這種美德的光線就會照進這個世界上的偉大人物的生活之中。--這位苗條的、矮小的、耐性的人兒靠在一位仍然年輕，但卻疲乏無力、頭髮斑白的男子身上。她就是他的姐姐。她在他蒙受恥辱的時候，獨自來到他身邊，把她的手擱到他的手中，親切地、沉着地懷着決心，滿懷希望地引導他走上他的荒蕪的道路。
“現在還早呢，約翰，”她說道，”爲什麼你這麼早就走了？”
“比平時只早幾分鐘，哈里特。如果我能抽出時間的話，我想，我就愛從我跟他告別的那座房屋旁邊經過，這是個怪癖。”
“我要是過去看見過他或認識他就好了，約翰。”