狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第21章Part 5
Whether she held cheap attractions that could only call forth admiration that was worthless to her, or whether she designed to render them more precious to admirers by this usage of them, those to whom they were precious seldom paused to consider.
'I hope, Mrs Granger,' said Mr Dombey, advancing a step towards her, 'we are not the cause of your ceasing to play?'
'You! oh no!'
'Why do you not go on then, my dearest Edith?' said Cleopatra.
'I left off as I began - of my own fancy.'
The exquisite indifference of her manner in saying this: an indifference quite removed from dulness or insensibility, for it was pointed with proud purpose: was well set off by the carelessness with which she drew her hand across the strings, and came from that part of the room.
'Do you know, Mr Dombey,' said her languishing mother, playing with a hand-screen, 'that occasionally my dearest Edith and myself actually almost differ - '
'Not quite, sometimes, Mama?' said Edith.
'Oh never quite, my darling! Fie, fie, it would break my heart,' returned her mother, making a faint attempt to pat her with the screen, which Edith made no movement to meet, ' - about these old conventionalities of manner that are observed in little things? Why are we not more natural? Dear me! With all those yearnings, and gushings, and impulsive throbbings that we have implanted in our souls, and which are so very charming, why are we not more natural?'
Mr Dombey said it was very true, very true.
'We could be more natural I suppose if we tried?' said Mrs Skewton. Mr Dombey thought it possible.
'Devil a bit, Ma'am,' said the Major. 'We couldn't afford it. Unless the world was peopled with J.B.'s - tough and blunt old Joes, Ma'am, plain red herrings with hard roes, Sir - we couldn't afford it. It wouldn't do.'
'You naughty Infidel,' said Mrs Skewton, 'be mute.'
'Cleopatra commands,' returned the Major, kissing his hand, 'and Antony Bagstock obeys.'
'The man has no sensitiveness,' said Mrs Skewton, cruelly holding up the hand-screen so as to shut the Major out. 'No sympathy. And what do we live for but sympathy! What else is so extremely charming! Without that gleam of sunshine on our cold cold earth,' said Mrs Skewton, arranging her lace tucker, and complacently observing the effect of her bare lean arm, looking upward from the wrist, 'how could we possibly bear it? In short, obdurate man!' glancing at the Major, round the screen, 'I would have my world all heart; and Faith is so excessively charming, that I won't allow you to disturb it, do you hear?'
The Major replied that it was hard in Cleopatra to require the world to be all heart, and yet to appropriate to herself the hearts of all the world; which obliged Cleopatra to remind him that flattery was insupportable to her, and that if he had the boldness to address her in that strain any more, she would positively send him home.
Withers the Wan, at this period, handing round the tea, Mr Dombey again addressed himself to Edith.
'There is not much company here, it would seem?' said Mr Dombey, in his own portentous gentlemanly way.
'I believe not. We see none.'
'Why really,' observed Mrs Skewton fom her couch, 'there are no people here just now with whom we care to associate.'
'They have not enough heart,' said Edith, with a smile. The very twilight of a smile: so singularly were its light and darkness blended.
'My dearest Edith rallies me, you see!' said her mother, shaking her head: which shook a little of itself sometimes, as if the palsy Bed now and then in opposition to the diamonds. 'Wicked one!'
'You have been here before, if I am not mistaken?' said Mr Dombey. Still to Edith.
'Oh, several times. I think we have been everywhere.'
'A beautiful country!'
究竟是她不重視她那隻能引起對她愛慕（這種愛慕對她是毫無價值的）的魅力呢，還是她有意這樣對待她的魅力，使那些愛慕者感到這種魅力更爲寶貴呢，那些把這種魅力看得很寶貴的人們很少停下來想一想。
"格蘭傑夫人，"董貝先生向她走近一步，說道，"我希望，我們不是使您停止彈琴的原因吧？"
"·你·們？哦，不！"
"那麼你爲什麼不繼續彈下去呢，我最親愛的伊迪絲？"克利奧佩特拉問道。
"我彈不彈——都隨我自己喜歡。"
她講這些話時態度非常冷淡；這種冷淡與感覺遲鈍或麻木不仁截然不同，因爲它是由於高傲的原因而有意顯露出來的；這時她用手帶過琴絃，走到房間的另一端去；她那漫不經心的神態把她的冷淡襯托得更爲突出。
"您知道嗎，董貝先生，"衰弱無力的母親玩弄着一塊手提的遮光板，說道，"我最親愛的伊迪絲偶爾跟我的意見實際上幾乎是不一致的——"
"不是偶爾吧，我們不是時常不一致嗎，媽媽？"伊迪絲說道。
"啊，不，我親愛的寶貝！別那麼說，那會使我很傷心的，"她的母親回答道，一邊想用遮光板輕輕拍打她，伊迪絲卻沒有挨近去讓她拍打，"在一些小事情上，在待人接物的態度方面必須遵守的嚴格的陳規舊俗上，我的伊迪絲是經常跟我意見不一致的，是不是？爲什麼我們不能更自然些呢？阿，我的天！既然在我們的心靈中灌輸進了這些急切的希望、洋溢的熱情、激動的感情，而它們又是多麼十分可愛，那麼爲什麼我們不能更自然一些呢？"
董貝先生說，她的話說得很對，很對。
"我想，如果我們設法去做，我們就能夠更自然一些。"斯丘頓夫人說道。
"絕對不行，夫人，"少校說道，"那樣做我們受不了。除非這世界上滿都是喬·白——堅強不屈、直腸直肚的老喬，夫人，滿都是清淡的帶卵的薰鯡魚，先生——否則我們就受不了，萬萬不能那樣！"
"你這沒禮貌的異教徒！"斯丘頓夫人說道，"別吱聲！"
"克利奧佩特拉命令，安東尼·白格斯托克服從。"少校送了一個飛吻，問答道。
少校在這裏把自己比作馬克·安東尼。"這是個麻木不仁的人，"斯丘頓夫人說道，一邊狠狠地舉起遮光板，把少校擋在外面，"他沒有任何同情心；如果沒有同情心的話，我們還能生活嗎？還有什麼別的能像它這麼極爲可愛的呢？如果沒有這道陽光照耀到我們這冰冷冰冷的土地上的話，那麼我們怎麼可能忍受得了這種寒冷呢？"斯丘頓夫人說，一邊整整她的花邊領布，得意揚揚地從手腕往上看，觀察着她露在衣服外面的枯瘦的胳膊所發揮的作用，"一句話，冷淡無情的人！"她又從遮光板旁邊向少校看了一眼，"我想使我的世界全都是心；信仰又是這麼非常可愛，因此我不容許你去攪亂它，你聽見了沒有？"
少校回答說，克利奧佩特拉要求全世界都是心，而且還要求全世界的心都歸她佔有，這是個苛刻的要求；這迫使克利奧佩特拉提醒他，諂媚是她所不能忍受的，如果他膽敢再用這種腔調來對她說話，那麼她一定要把他攆回家去。
這時臉無血色的威瑟斯送上茶來，董貝先生又轉向伊迪絲。
"這裏似乎沒有什麼社交活動吧？"董貝先生保持着他那特有的自命不凡的紳士派頭，說道。
"我想沒有。我們沒有看到。"
"啊，真的，"斯丘頓夫人從她的長沙發椅中說道，"現在這裏沒有什麼我們願意跟他們來往的人。"
"他們沒有足夠的心，"伊迪絲露出一絲微笑，說道。這是若隱若現的微笑，就像薄暮或黎明，光明與黑暗是多麼奇怪地混合在一起。
"你看，我最親愛的伊迪絲在嘲笑我呢！"母親搖搖頭說道；她的頭有時無意在搖着，彷彿麻痹症不時發作一下，要跟不時閃耀着的鑽石比賽高低似的。"壞東西！"
"如果我沒錯，您以前來過這裏吧？"董貝先生仍然對着伊迪絲，說道。
"啊，來過好幾次了。我想我們什麼地方都去過了。"
"這是個美麗的地方！"
