狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第23章Part 3

But Florence bloomed there, like the king's fair daughter in the story. Her books, her music, and her daily teachers, were her only real companions, Susan Nipper and Diogenes excepted: of whom the former, in her attendance on the studies of her young mistress, began to grow quite learned herself, while the latter, softened possibly by the same influences, would lay his head upon the window-ledge, and placidly open and shut his eyes upon the street, all through a summer morning;

sometimes pricking up his head to look with great significance after some noisy dog in a cart, who was barking his way along, and sometimes, with an exasperated and unaccountable recollection of his supposed enemy in the neighbourhood, rushing to the door, whence, after a deafening disturbance, he would come jogging back with a ridiculous complacency that belonged to him, and lay his jaw upon the window-ledge again, with the air of a dog who had done a public service.

So Florence lived in her wilderness of a home, within the circle of her innocent pursuits and thoughts, and nothing harmed her. She could go down to her father's rooms now, and think of him, and suffer her loving heart humbly to approach him, without fear of repulse. She could look upon the objects that had surrounded him in his sorrow, and could nestle near his chair, and not dread the glance that she so well remembered.

She could render him such little tokens of her duty and service' as putting everything in order for him with her own hands, binding little nosegays for table, changing them as one by one they withered and he did not come back, preparing something for him every' day, and leaving some timid mark of her presence near his usual seat.

To-day, it was a little painted stand for his watch; tomorrow she would be afraid to leave it, and would substitute some other trifle of her making not so likely to attract his eye. Waking in the night, perhaps, she would tremble at the thought of his coming home and angrily rejecting it, and would hurry down with slippered feet and quickly beating heart, and bring it away. At another time, she would only lay her face upon his desk, and leave a kiss there, and a tear.

但是弗洛倫斯像故事中國王的美麗的女兒一樣，在這裏茁壯美好地成長着。如果不算蘇珊·尼珀和戴奧吉尼斯的話，那麼書本、音樂和每天來到的老師是她僅有的真正伴侶。蘇珊·尼珀陪同她年輕的女主人一起上課，因此也獲得了很多知識。戴奧吉尼斯可能由於同樣的影響，變得溫和起來了；他整個夏天上午會把頭擱在窗臺上，一會兒張開着眼睛，一會兒閉着眼睛，平平靜靜地對着街道；

有時他猛擡起頭來，含着極爲深意的眼光，目送着一條吵吵嚷嚷的狗，在大車中一路吠叫過去；有時他勃然大怒，莫名其妙地回憶起鄰近假想的敵人，猛衝到門口，在那裏震耳欲聾地狂吠一陣之後，露出了他那特有的滑稽可笑和得意揚揚的姿態，磨磨蹭蹭地走回來，重新把下巴擱到窗臺上，顯出一條已爲公衆立功效勞的狗的神氣。

弗洛倫斯就這樣生活在她的冷清淒涼的家中，進行着單純的研究，心中懷着單純的思想，沒有什麼東西擾亂她的安寧。她現在可以走到樓下父親的房間裏，想念着他，聽憑她熱愛的心忍辱含垢地接近他，不用害怕遭到拒絕。

她可以觀看他在悲傷中周圍的物品，並可以偎依在他的椅子旁邊，不用恐懼會碰上她記得清清楚楚的那個眼光。她可以向他表示一點小小的孝敬與關心，比方說親手爲他把一切物品收拾得整整齊齊，並且捆紮花束放在他的桌子上，當它們一支支枯萎了的時候就給換上新鮮的。他沒有回來，她就每天爲他準備一點東西，在他平常的座位旁邊膽怯地留下一點表示她曾到過那裏的東西。

今天，是給他的表準備一隻小小的油漆的託座；明天她可能害怕把它留在那裏會引起他的注意，就換上她所做的其它小玩藝兒。也許，當她半夜裏醒來，想到他回到家中，怒氣衝衝地把它丟棄的時候，她會趿着拖鞋，心中怦怦直跳地急忙跪下樓去，把它拿走。在其他時候，她會只把臉貼在他的寫字檯上，留下一個親吻和一滴眼淚。