狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第31章Part 11

'Therefore,' says Cousin Feenix, 'I congratulate the family of which I am a member, on the acquisition of my friend Dombey. I congratulate my friend Dombey on his union with my lovely and accomplished relative who possesses every requisite to make a man happy; and I take the liberty of calling on you all, in point of fact, to congratulate both my friend Dombey and my lovely and accomplished relative, on the present occasion.'
The speech of Cousin Feenix is received with great applause, and Mr Dombey returns thanks on behalf of himself and Mrs Dombey. J. B. shortly afterwards proposes Mrs Skewton. The breakfast languishes when that is done, the violated hatchments are avenged, and Edith rises to assume her travelling dress.
All the servants in the meantime, have been breakfasting below. Champagne has grown too common among them to be mentioned, and roast fowls, raised pies, and lobster-salad, have become mere drugs. The very tall young man has recovered his spirits, and again alludes to the exciseman. His comrade's eye begins to emulate his own, and he, too, stares at objects without taking cognizance thereof. There is a general redness in the faces of the ladies; in the face of Mrs Perch particularly, who is joyous and beaming, and lifted so far above the cares of life, that if she were asked just now to direct a wayfarer to Ball's Pond, where her own cares lodge, she would have some difficulty in recalling the way. Mr Towlinson has proposed the happy pair; to which the silver-headed butler has responded neatly, and with emotion; for he half begins to think he is an old retainer of the family, and that he is bound to be affected by these changes. The whole party, and especially the ladies, are very frolicsome. Mr Dombey's cook,who generally takes the lead in society, has said, it is impossible to settle down after this, and why not go, in a party, to the play? Everybody (Mrs Perch included) has agreed to this; even the Native, who is tigerish in his drink, and who alarms the ladies (Mrs Perch particularly) by the rolling of his eyes. One of the very tall young men has even proposed a ball after the play, and it presents itself to no one (Mrs Perch included) in the light of an impossibility. Words have arisen between the housemaid and Mr Towlinson; she, on the authority of an old saw, asserting marriages to be made in Heaven: he, affecting to trace the manufacture elsewhere; he, supposing that she says so, because she thinks of being married her own self: she, saying, Lord forbid, at any rate, that she should ever marry him. To calm these flying taunts, the silver-headed butler rises to propose the health of Mr Towlinson, whom to know is to esteem, and to esteem is to wish well settled in life with the object of his choice, wherever(here the silver-headed butler eyes the housemaid) she may be. Mr Towlinson returns thanks in a speech replete with feeling, of which the peroration turns on foreigners, regarding whom he says they may find favour, sometimes, with weak and inconstant intellects that can be led away by hair, but all he hopes, is, he may never hear of no foreigner never boning nothing out of no travelling chariot. The eye of Mr Towlinson is so severe and so expressive here, that the housemaid is turning hysterical, when she and all the rest, roused by the intelligence that the Bride is going away, hurry upstairs to witness her departure.

“因此，”菲尼克斯表哥說道，“我祝賀我們的家庭（我是其中的一個成員）得到了我的朋友董貝，我祝賀我的朋友董貝跟我的可愛的、多才多藝的、具備使一位男子幸福的一切條件的親戚結合；我冒昧地建議你們諸位全體爲這良辰美景來舉杯，事實上，祝賀我的朋友董貝和我的可愛的、多才多藝的親戚。”
菲尼克斯表哥的講話搏得了熱烈的掌聲，董貝先生代表他本人和董貝夫人表示感謝。在這之後不久，喬·白建議爲斯丘頓夫人的健康乾杯。然後，早餐就毫無生氣地結束了，剛纔受到褻瀆的喪徽這時已消怒雪恨了。伊迪絲站起來去換穿行裝。
這時候，所有的僕人們都在地下室中吃早餐。他們對香檳酒已毫不希罕，不值一提；燒雞、發麪餡餅、龍蝦色拉已經無人光顧；身材很高的年輕人恢復精神，重新談到“興放”。他的同伴的眼睛開始跟他的眼睛競賽，他不知不覺地也把視線老盯在東西上面。所有的婦女們的臉都紅了；特別是珀奇太太的臉孔，她歡天喜地、眉飛色舞，把生活的憂慮忘得一乾二淨，如果這時請她把一位趕路的人領到鮑爾斯池塘（這是她本人操勞的地方）去，她將會不容易記得道路怎麼走了，託林森先生建議爲幸福的新婚夫婦乾杯；白髮蒼蒼的男管家立即深有感情地響應，因爲他覺得他是這個家庭留下來的最老的僕人，他不能不被這些變化所感動。所有的人，特別是婦女們，都很愛鬧着玩。廚娘通常是給大家領頭的，她說不能在這之後就草草收場，爲什麼他們不一起去看戲呢？大家（包括珀奇太太）全都贊成，甚至連本地人也不例外，他喝了酒以後變得像老虎一樣兇暴，轉動着眼珠子，把婦女們（特別是珀奇太太）嚇得要命。身材很高的年輕人當中的一位，甚至建議在看戲之後去參加舞會，可是沒有人（包括珀奇太太）響應這個建議，因爲那是做不到的。女僕和託林森先生髮生了爭吵：她根據一句古老的諺語，斷定婚姻是在天上安排的，他則認爲是在別的地方安排的；他推測她講這話是因爲她想到了她自己的婚姻了，她則說，天主無論如何也不允許她嫁給他。爲了平息這些尖酸刻薄的辱罵，白髮蒼蒼的男管家建議爲託林森先生的健康乾杯，因爲了解他就意味着尊敬他，尊敬他就意味着他跟他所選擇的對象生活得幸福，不管她現在在哪裏（白髮蒼蒼的男管家這時看了女僕一眼）。託林森先生在充滿感情的講話中表示答謝；講話在末尾的時候轉到了外國人身上，他說，他們有時可能會從眼力不足和喜新厭舊的人（這些人是隻要一根頭髮就可以輕輕帶走的）那裏得到寵愛，不過他一心指望的是，他不再聽到外國人搶劫旅行馬車的事了。託林森先生的眼光十分嚴厲和富於表情，女僕看了幾乎都要發狂了，幸好這時女僕和所有其他的人聽到新娘就要動身的消息，於是就趕忙跑出地下室去看她離開。