狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第23章Part 13

'As yet?' repeated Florence.
'Not a bit,' returned the Captain, kissing his iron hand; 'and afore I begin to be, my Hearts-delight, Wal'r will have wrote home from the island, or from some port or another, and made all taut and shipsahape'And with regard to old Sol Gills, here the Captain became solemn, 'who I'll stand by, and not desert until death do us part, and when the stormy winds do blow, do blow, do blow - overhaul the Catechism,' said the Captain parenthetically, 'and there you'll find them expressions - if it would console Sol Gills to have the opinion of a seafaring man as has got a mind equal to any undertaking that he puts it alongside of, and as was all but smashed in his'prenticeship, and of which the name is Bunsby, that 'ere man shall give him such an opinion in his own parlour as'll stun him. Ah!' said Captain Cuttle, vauntingly, 'as much as if he'd gone and knocked his head again a door!'
'Let us take this ~gentleman to see him, and let us hear what he says,' cried Florence. 'Will you go with us now? We have a coach here.'
Again the Captain clapped his hand to his head, on which the hard glazed hat was not, and looked discomfited. But at this instant a most remarkable phenomenon occurred. The door opening, without any note of preparation, and apparently of itself, the hard glazed hat in question skimmed into the room like a bird, and alighted heavily at the Captain's feet. The door then shut as violently as it had opened, and nothIng ensued in explanation of the prodigy.
Captain Cuttle picked up his hat, and having turned it over with a look of interest and welcome, began to polish it on his sleeve' While doing so, the Captain eyed his visitors intently, and said in a low voice
'You see I should have bore down on Sol Gills yesterday, and this morning, but she - she took it away and kep it. That's the long and short ofthe subject.'
'Who did, for goodness sake?' asked Susan Nipper.
'The lady of the house, my dear,'returned the Captain, in a gruff whisper, and making signals of secrecy.'We had some words about the swabbing of these here planks, and she - In short,' said the Captain, eyeing the door, and relieving himself with a long breath, 'she stopped my liberty.'
'Oh! I wish she had me to deal with!' said Susan, reddening with the energy of the wish. 'I'd stop her!'
'Would you, do you, my dear?' rejoined the Captain, shaking his head doubtfully, but regarding the desperate courage of the fair aspirant with obvious admiration. 'I don't know. It's difficult navigation. She's very hard to carry on with, my dear. You never can tell how she'll head, you see. She's full one minute, and round upon you next. And when she in a tartar,' said the Captain, with the perspiration breaking out upon his forehead. There was nothing but a whistle emphatic enough for the conclusion of the sentence, so the Captain whistled tremulously. After which he again shook his head, and recurring to his admiration of Miss Nipper's devoted bravery, timidly repeated, 'Would you, do you think, my dear?'
Susan only replied with a bridling smile, but that was so very full of defiance, that there is no knowing how long Captain Cuttle might have stood entranced in its contemplation, if Florence in her anxiety had not again proposed their immediately resorting to the oracular Bunsby. Thus reminded of his duty, Captain Cuttle Put on the glazed hat firmly, took up another knobby stick, with which he had supplied the place of that one given to Walter, and offering his arm to Florence, prepared to cut his way through the enemy.
It turned out, however, that Mrs MacStinger had already changed her course, and that she headed, as the Captain had remarked she often did, in quite a new direction. For when they got downstairs, they found that exemplary woman beating the mats on the doorsteps, with Alexander, still upon the paving-stone, dimly looming through a fog of dust; and so absorbed was Mrs MacStinger in her household occupation, that when Captain Cuttle and his visitors passed, she beat the harder, and neither by word nor gesture showed any consciousness of their vicinity. The Captain was so well pleased with this easy escape - although the effect of the door-mats on him was like a copious administration of snuff, and made him sneeze until the tears ran down his face - that he could hardly believe his good fortune; but more than once, between the door and the hackney-coach, looked over his shoulder, with an obvious apprehension of Mrs MacStinger's giving chase yet.
However, they got to the corner of Brig Place without any molestation from that terrible fire-ship; and the Captain mounting the coach-box - for his gallantry would not allow him to ride inside with the ladies, though besought to do so - piloted the driver on his course for Captain Bunsby's vessel, which was called the Cautious Clara, and was lying hard by Ratcliffe.
Arrived at the wharf off which this great commander's ship was jammed in among some five hundred companions, whose tangled rigging looked like monstrous cobwebs half swept down, Captain Cuttle appeared at the coach-window, and invited Florence and Miss Nipper to accompany him on board; observing that Bunsby was to the last degree soft-hearted in respect of ladies, and that nothing would so much tend to bring his expansive intellect into a state of harmony as their presentation to the Cautious Clara.
Florence readily consented; and the Captain, taking her little hand in his prodigious palm, led her, with a mixed expression of patronage, paternity, pride, and ceremony, that was pleasant to see, over several very dirty decks, until, coming to the Clara, they found that cautious craft (which lay outside the tier) with her gangway removed, and half-a-dozen feet of river interposed between herself and her nearest neighbour. It appeared, from Captain Cuttle's explanation, that the great Bunsby, like himself, was cruelly treated by his landlady, and that when her usage of him for the time being was so hard that he could bear it no longer, he set this gulf between them as a last resource.
'Clara a-hoy!' cried the Captain, putting a hand to each side of his mouth.
'A-hoy!' cried a boy, like the Captain's echo, tumbling up from below.
'Bunsby aboard?' cried the Captain, hailing the boy in a stentorian voice, as if he were half-a-mile off instead of two yards.
'Ay, ay!' cried the boy, in the same tone.
The boy then shoved out a plank to Captain Cuttle, who adjusted it carefully, and led Florence across: returning presently for Miss Nipper. So they stood upon the deck of the Cautious Clara, in whose standing rigging, divers fluttering articles of dress were curing, in company with a few tongues and some mackerel.
Immediately there appeared, coming slowly up above the bulk-head of the cabin, another bulk-head 'human, and very large - with one stationary eye in the mahogany face, and one revolving one, on the principle of some lighthouses. This head was decorated with shaggy hair, like oakum,' which had no governing inclination towards the north, east, west, or south, but inclined to all four quarters of the compass, and to every point upon it. The head was followed by a perfect desert of chin, and by a shirt-collar and neckerchief, and by a dreadnought pilot-coat, and by a pair of dreadnought pilot-trousers, whereof the waistband was so very broad and high, that it became a succedaneum for a waistcoat: being ornamented near the wearer's breastbone with some massive wooden buttons, like backgammon men. As the lower portions of these pantaloons became revealed, Bunsby stood confessed; his hands in their pockets, which were of vast size; and his gaze directed, not to Captain Cuttle or the ladies, but the mast-head.
The profound appearance of this philosopher, who was bulky and strong, and on whose extremely red face an expression of taciturnity sat enthroned, not inconsistent with his character, in which that quality was proudly conspicuous, almost daunted Captain Cuttle, though on familiar terms with him. Whispering to Florence that Bunsby had never in his life expressed surprise, and was considered not to know what it meant, the Captain watched him as he eyed his mast-head, and afterwards swept the horizon; and when the revolving eye seemed to be coming round in his direction, said:
'Bunsby, my lad, how fares it?'

“現在？”弗洛倫斯重複他的話，問道。
“一點也不，”船長吻了吻他那隻鐵手，回答道，“我心中的喜悅，在我開始憂慮之前，沃爾就會從那個島嶼或從一個什麼港口給家裏寫信來，這樣就會萬事大吉，無牽無掛了。至於老所爾·吉爾斯，”這時船長的神色十分嚴肅，“當暴風吹颳着，吹亂着，吹颳着的時候，我將站在他的身旁，決不會拋棄他，直到死亡把我們分開爲止。——請您翻一下《教義問答》，您可以在那裏找到這些話。”船長附帶地說道，“有一位海員，頭腦十分聰明，通曉各種事情，他在當學徒的時候，頭險些被扎破；他姓邦斯貝，如果所爾·吉爾斯聽一聽一位海員的意見對他是一種安慰的話，那麼這個人會到他的客廳裏談談他的看法，所爾·吉爾斯聽了準會目瞪口呆，”卡特爾船長誇張地說道，“就像把頭撞在門上一樣！”
“讓我們把這位先生請去看看他吧，讓我們聽聽他說些什麼，”弗洛倫斯喊道，“您現在肯和我們一起去嗎？外面有一輛馬車在等着我們。”
船長又把手拍拍他的沒有戴着上了光的帽子的腦袋，露出爲難的神色。可是就在這個時刻出現了一個極爲驚人的現象。沒有任何預先通知，門顯然是自動地開了；前面提到的那頂堅硬的上了光的帽子像一隻鳥兒一樣飛進了屋子，沉重地落在船長的腳邊。然後門像開時一樣猛烈地關上了，隨後沒有發生任何事情可以解釋這個怪事。
船長撿起帽子，露出興趣和歡迎的表情把它轉了轉，然後開始用袖子把它擦亮。船長在這樣做的時候，目不轉睛地注視着他的客人們，低聲說道：
“你們看，我本想在昨天和今天早上戴着它到所爾·吉爾斯那裏去的，但是她——她卻把它拿走了，藏了起來。就是這麼回事。”
“哎呀！是誰這麼幹的？”蘇珊·尼珀問道。
“是房東太太，我親愛的，”船長作了個留神被人聽見的手勢，用嘶啞的低聲回答道，“在擦洗這些地板的問題上，我向她提了一些意見，她就——簡單地說——”船長注視着門，深深地吐了一口氣，說道，“她就剝奪了我的自由。”
“啊，我真希望她來跟我打交道！”蘇珊說道，她的臉由於興奮而發紅，“我得制止她的橫行霸道！”
“您認爲您會這麼做嗎，我親愛的？”船長回答道，一邊懷疑地搖搖頭，但顯然很欽佩這位抱負不凡的美人的不顧一切的勇氣，“我不知道。這是困難的航行。她是很難對付的，我親愛的。您要知道，您永遠也沒法猜到，她要朝那個方向開去。這一分鐘她一直往前走，下一分鐘她又朝着您轉過身來了。而當她是個蠻不講理的潑婦的時候，”船長前額冒出了汗珠，說道。由於只有吹一下口哨纔能有力地結束這句句子，所以他用顫抖的聲音吹了一下口哨。然後他又搖搖頭，對尼珀姑娘無所畏懼的勇敢精神重新感到欽佩，膽怯地重複問道，“您認爲您會那麼做嗎，我親愛的？”
蘇珊只是昂着頭，輕蔑地微笑了一下，作爲回答，但這裏面充滿了挑戰的意味；如果弗洛倫斯不是焦急地再次建議立即到那彷彿能傳告神諭似的邦斯貝那裏去的話，那麼卡特爾船長就不知會多久地站在那裏，出神地注視着她的那副神態。被弗洛倫斯提醒了他的責任之後，卡特爾船長堅決地戴上了上了光的帽子，拿上另一根多節的手杖（這一根已經代替了那根給了沃爾特的），把胳膊伸給弗洛倫斯，準備衝過敵人的陣線，打開一條道路出去。
可是事實上，麥克斯廷傑太太正如船長說她經常做的那樣，早已改變了她的航線，朝着一個完全新的方向開去。因爲當他們下樓的時候，他們發現這位堪稱楷模的女人正在敲打門口擦鞋的棕墊；這時亞歷山大仍舊坐在人行道的石板上，在瀰漫的灰塵中隱隱約約地現出身形。麥克斯廷傑太太專心致志地埋頭幹她的家務，當卡特爾船長和他的客人們從旁走過的時候，她敲打得更加用力，不論從話語或姿態上都絲毫表示不出她已知道他們走近。船長這樣輕易地就逃之夭夭，心中感到十分高興——雖然門口擦鞋的棕墊對他產生的作用，就像他聞到大量菸葉一樣，使他連打噴嚏，直到眼淚都流下了臉頰——，他簡直都不敢相信他的好運氣，因此從門口到馬車的路途中他不止一次地回過頭去望望，顯然害怕麥克斯廷傑太太還會追趕上來。
可是他們順利地到達了布里格廣場的拐角，沒有受到那艘可怕的火攻船的任何騷擾。船長在馬車伕的座位上坐下——雖然她們請他一起坐到馬車裏去，但他很客氣，不同意那麼做——，充當嚮導，向車伕指點前往邦斯貝的船的道路；那艘船的名字叫做“謹慎的克拉拉”，停泊在拉特克利夫附近。
到達了碼頭，這位偉大的指揮者的船停泊在碼頭外面，擠在大約五百多個同伴中間；它們那紛亂的索具看上去像是被掃下一半的怪異的蜘蛛網一般。卡特爾船長出現在馬車窗口，請弗洛倫斯與尼珀姑娘跟他一道上船去，這是考慮到邦斯貝對待婦女心腸最爲慈善的緣故；她們出現在“謹慎的克拉拉”上將比什麼都更能使他寬廣的智慧處於和諧良好的狀態。
弗洛倫斯欣然同意；船長把她的小手握在他巨大的手掌中，領她走過好幾個很骯髒的甲板；這時他臉上流露出保護人般的、慈父般的、自豪的和合乎禮儀的混雜的表情，看起來十分有趣。最後，他們走近“克拉拉”，發現這艘謹慎的船停泊在最外面，跳板已經撤掉，六英尺寬的河水把它和近鄰隔開。從卡特爾船長的解釋中知道，原來這位偉大的邦斯貝像他本人一樣，也受到房東太太的虐待；她目前待他實在太兇狠，他無法再忍受下去，所以就採取了這最後的手段，用這條鴻溝把他們兩人分隔開來。
“喂，克拉拉！”船長用兩隻手圍着嘴巴兩旁，喊道。
“喂！”一位見習船員跌跌撞撞地從下面跑到甲板上面來，像是船長的回聲一般地喊道。
“邦斯貝在船上嗎？”船長用極爲洪亮的聲音向這位見習船員高呼道，彷彿他是在半英里之外，而不是隻隔着兩碼距離似的。
“在，在！”見習船員用同樣洪亮的聲音向他喊道。
接着，見習船員向卡特爾船長投去一塊厚板，卡特爾船長仔細地把它搭好，領着弗洛倫斯走過去，然後又立即回來領尼珀姑娘；這樣，他們就都站在“謹慎的克拉拉”的甲板上了。船上的桅纜上晾曬着各種衣服，還有幾條舌頭和一些鮐魚。
從船艙的艙壁上面，立刻慢慢地露出一個很大的人頭，桃花心木的臉龐上有一隻眼睛固定不動，另一隻眼睛在轉動着，就像有些燈塔的情況一樣。這顆頭上裝飾着像麻絮一般蓬鬆的頭髮，它對東、南、西、北中的任何一方都沒有固定的傾向，而是朝向羅盤上所有四個方位和它上面的每一度。接着出現的是光禿禿的下巴，襯衫領子和圍巾，領航員厚呢上衣和領航員厚呢褲子；褲子的腰帶又寬又高，成了背心的代替品，在挨近胸骨的地方裝飾着幾個很大的像十五子棋一般的木鈕釦。當褲子最底下的部分顯露出來時，邦斯貝明白無誤地站在那裏，手插在很大的衣袋裏，眼光不是朝向卡特爾船長或兩位婦女，而是朝向桅頂。
這位智慧超羣的人身材魁偉、體格健壯，非常紅潤的臉上壓倒一切的表情是沉默寡言；這與他的性格並不矛盾，在他的性格中，這個特點也是十分顯著的；雖然卡特爾船長跟他關係很熟，可是他的這種深奧莫測的出現幾乎使卡特爾船長也畏縮不前了。船長低聲地對弗洛倫斯說，邦斯貝平生從沒有表示過驚奇，人們認爲他連驚奇的意義是什麼也不知道；當他凝視着桅頂，以後又向地平線掃視了一下的時候，船長注視着他；當那隻轉動着的眼睛似乎已轉向他那一邊的時候，船長說道：
“邦斯貝，老朋友，情況怎麼樣？”