狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第29章Part 3

Mrs Chick coughed as before, and drew lines on the carpet with the ivory end of her parasol. Miss Tox, who had experience of her fair friend, and knew that under the pressure of any slight fatigue or vexation she was prone to a discursive kind of irritability, availed herself of the pause, to change the subject.
'Pardon me, my dear Louisa,' said Miss Tox, 'but have I caught sight of the manly form of Mr Chick in the carriage?'
'He is there,' said Mrs Chick, 'but pray leave him there. He has his newspaper, and would be quite contented for the next two hours. Go on with your flowers, Lucretia, and allow me to sit here and rest.''My Louisa knows,' observed Miss Tox, 'that between friends like ourselves, any approach to ceremony would be out of the question. Therefore - ' Therefore Miss Tox finished the sentence, not in words but action; and putting on her gloves again, which she had taken off, and arming herself once more with her scissors, began to snip and clip among the leaves with microscopic industry.
'Florence has returned home also,' said Mrs Chick, after sitting silent for some time, with her head on one side, and her parasol sketching on the floor; 'and really Florence is a great deal too old now, to continue to lead that solitary life to which she has been accustomed. Of course she is. There can be no doubt about it. I should have very little respect, indeed, for anybody who could advocate a different opinion. Whatever my wishes might be, I could not respect them. We cannot command our feelings to such an extent as that.'
Miss Tox assented, without being particular as to the intelligibility of the proposition.
'If she's a strange girl,' said Mrs Chick, 'and if my brother Paul cannot feel perfectly comfortable in her society, after all the sad things that have happened, and all the terrible disappointments that have been undergone, then, what is the reply? That he must make an effort. That he is bound to make an effort. We have always been a family remarkable for effort. Paul is at the head of the family; almost the only representative of it left - for what am I - I am of no consequence - '
'My dearest love,' remonstrated Miss Tox.
Mrs Chick dried her eyes, which were, for the moment, overflowing; and proceeded:
'And consequently he is more than ever bound to make an effort. And though his having done so, comes upon me with a sort of shock - for mine is a very weak and foolish nature; which is anything but a blessing I am sure; I often wish my heart was a marble slab, or a paving-stone -
'My sweet Louisa,' remonstrated Miss Tox again.
'Still, it is a triumph to me to know that he is so true to himself, and to his name of Dombey; although, of course, I always knew he would be. I only hope,' said Mrs Chick, after a pause, 'that she may be worthy of the name too.
Miss Tox filled a little green watering-pot from a jug, and happening to look up when she had done so, was so surprised by the amount of expression Mrs Chick had conveyed into her face, and was bestowing upon her, that she put the little watering-pot on the table for the present, and sat down near it.
'My dear Louisa,' said Miss Tox, 'will it be the least satisfaction to you, if I venture to observe in reference to that remark, that I, as a humble individual, think your sweet niece in every way most promising?~ 'What do you mean, Lucretia?' returned Mrs Chick, with increased stateliness of manner. 'To what remark of mine, my dear, do you refer?'
'Her being worthy of her name, my love,' replied Miss Tox.

奇剋夫人像先前一樣咳嗽，並用她的陽傘的象牙頂在地毯上畫着線條。托克斯小姐熟悉她這位女朋友的脾氣，知道她稍有一點疲勞或煩惱，就容易急躁地東拉西扯，所以趁着停息的時間，改變了話題。
“請原諒我，我親愛的路易莎，”托克斯小姐說，”不過我好像在馬車裏看到了奇克先生雄偉的身姿了？”
“他是在那裏，”奇剋夫人說道，”不過讓他待在那裏吧。他有報紙，他將會十分甘心樂意地在那裏消磨掉兩小時。繼續弄你的花吧，盧克麗霞，請允許我坐在這裏休息一下。””我的路易莎知道，”托克斯小姐說道，”在我們這樣的朋友之間，根本不必講什麼禮節。因此--”因此托克斯小姐就用行動，而不是用言語來結束她的這句話；她又戴上原先脫下的手套，重新拿起剪刀，開始又細心又勤奮地修剪葉子。
“弗洛倫斯也回家了，”奇剋夫人頭歪向一邊，用陽傘頂在地板上畫着圖畫，這樣默默坐了一會兒之後說道，”說實在的，弗洛倫斯現在年紀太大了，不能再讓她過她過去習慣了的孤獨的生活了。她當然是太大了。這是毫無疑問的。說真的，誰要是提出不同的看法的話，那麼我們就不會再尊敬他們。不管我的願望怎麼樣，我也不能再尊敬他們了。我們不能把我們的感情支配到那樣的地步。”
托克斯小姐雖然並不十分理解這些話的含意，但她表示同意。
“如果她是個奇怪的女孩子，”奇剋夫人說道，”如果我的哥哥保羅在經歷了所有那些悲傷的事情、遭受了所有那些可怕的挫折之後，覺得跟她在一起不很自在的話，那麼該怎麼回答這個問題呢？回答是：他必須作出努力，他應當作出努力。我們這個家族的一個顯著的特點就是能作出努力。保羅是我們一家之首，幾乎是我們這個家族留下的唯一代表--因爲我算得了什麼？--我是個無足輕重的人。”
“我親愛的，”托克斯小姐表示異議地說道。
奇剋夫人抹乾了一時間汪汪涌出的眼淚，繼續說道：
“所以，他比任何時候都應當作出努力。雖然他所作出的努力使我感到了一種震驚--因爲我的性格是很軟弱和很可笑的，這無論如何也不是一件值得高興的事，我時常希望我的心是塊大理石板，或是塊鋪路的石頭--”
“我親愛的路易莎，”托克斯小姐又表示異議地說道。
“可是我還是十分高興地知道他不愧爲他本人，也不愧姓董貝這個姓；雖然，這是當然的，我過去也總知道，他將會這樣的！我僅僅希望，”奇剋夫人停了一下之後說道，”她也配姓那個姓。”
托克斯小姐從水罐中給一個綠色的小噴水壺中灌滿了水，當她灌完之後擡起眼睛的時候，她十分吃驚地看到奇剋夫人用那麼意味深長的神色看着她的臉孔，因此她就把小噴水壺暫時放在桌子上，在桌旁坐下。
“我親愛的路易莎，”托克斯小說道，”如果我聽了您的那句話，冒昧地回答說，我這個卑賤的人認爲您可愛的侄女在各方面都是個極有希望的孩子的話，那麼也許你會很不高興吧？”“您是什麼意思，盧克麗霞？”奇剋夫人用更加莊重的態度回答道，”您是指我的哪句話，我親愛的？”
“她配姓那個姓，我親愛的，”托克斯小姐回答道。