雙語小說連載:《董貝父子》第11章 Part 9
Mrs Pipchin, in her deference, merely muttered at the young man as she passed on, and said, 'Oh! he was a precious fellow' - leaving the young man, who was all meekness and incapacity, affected even to tears by the incident. But Mrs Pipchin had a way of falling foul of all meek people; and her friends said who could wonder at it, after the Peruvian mines!
The Doctor was sitting in his portentous study, with a globe at each knee, books all round him, Homer over the door, and Minerva on the mantel-shelf. 'And how do you do, Sir?' he said to Mr Dombey, 'and how is my little friend?' Grave as an organ was the Doctor's speech; and when he ceased, the great clock in the hall seemed (to Paul at least) to take him up, and to go on saying, 'how, is, my, lit, tle, friend? how, is, my, lit, tle, friend?' over and over and over again.
博士坐在他的奇特的書房中，每隻膝蓋上擺着一個地球儀，四周都是書籍，荷馬①在門的上面，米涅瓦②在壁爐架上。“您好嗎，先生？”他對董貝先生說道；“我的小朋友好嗎？”博士的聲音像風琴一樣莊重沉着；當他停止講話的時候，前廳中的大鐘似乎（至少保羅覺得是這樣）接着他的話，繼續往下說道，“我，的，小，朋，友，好，嗎？我，的，小，朋，友，好，嗎？”一遍，一遍，又一遍地重複說着。The little friend being something too small to be seen at all from where the Doctor sat, over the books on his table, the Doctor made several futile attempts to get a view of him round the legs; which Mr Dombey perceiving, relieved the Doctor from his embarrassment by taking Paul up in his arms, and sitting him on another little table, over against the Doctor, in the middle of the room.
小朋友太小了，從博士坐着的地方，越過桌子上的書去看是看不見的；博士就試圖通過桌腿去看他，但也是徒勞無益；董貝先生看到這一點，就把保羅抱起來，讓他坐在房間中間面對着博士的另一張小桌子上，使博士擺脫了困難。
'Ha!' said the Doctor, leaning back in his chair with his hand in his breast. 'Now I see my little friend. How do you do, my little friend?'
“哈！”博士把手伸進上衣的胸間，仰靠在椅子中說道。“現在我看見我的小朋友了。您好嗎，我的小朋友？”The clock in the hall wouldn't subscribe to this alteration in the form of words, but continued to repeat how, is, my, lit, tle, friend? how, is, my, lit, tle, friend?'
前廳中的鐘不贊同把詞的組合形式進行這樣的改變，繼續重複說道，“我，的，小，朋，友，好，嗎？我，的，小，朋，友，好，嗎？”'Very well, I thank you, Sir,' returned Paul, answering the clock quite as much as the Doctor.
“很好，謝謝您，先生，”保羅回答了博士，也回答了鍾。'Ha!' said Doctor Blimber. 'Shall we make a man of him?'
“哈！”布林伯博士說道。“我們將把他培養成一個大人嗎？”'Do you hear, Paul?' added Mr Dombey; Paul being silent.
“你聽到了嗎，保羅？”董貝先生補充了一句。保羅默不作聲。--------①荷馬（Homer）：公元前10世紀前後的希臘盲詩人；《伊利亞特》及《奧德賽》兩大著名史詩的作者。②米涅瓦（Minerva）：羅馬神話中司智慧、學問、戰爭的女神。
註釋：precious adj. 寶貴的；珍貴的；矯揉造作的
[ 比較級more precious 最高級most precious ]
例句：
(1) A precious friend you have been.
你真是個寶貝朋友。(諷刺話)
(2) It is precious. And fragile.
它是寶貴的，也是脆弱的。
(3) You see, true friends are very precious indeed.
你知道，真正的朋友確實是非常珍貴的。
(4) Just what are precious and semi-precious stones?
究竟什麼是寶石和半寶石呢？
(5) That precious child of hers is really a holy terror .
所有的孩子都怕詹妮，因爲她是一個頑童。
(6) There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.
沒有什麼禮物能比這些更珍貴。
(7) The hapless Gordon Brown has got precious little thanks.
倒黴的戈登•布朗得到了微不足道的寶貴感謝。
lean vi. 傾斜；倚靠；傾向；依賴
adj. 瘦的；貧乏的，歉收的
vt. 使傾斜
n. 瘦肉；傾斜；傾斜度
[ 過去式leaned或 leant 過去分詞leaned或 leant 現在分詞leaning ]
例句：
(1) I lean to the group approach.
我贊成集體探討方法。
(2) He stretched his lean, lithe body.
他伸了伸他那瘦削，靈活的肢體。
(3) The trees lean in the strong wind .
樹在強風中傾斜。
(4) To lean out of the window is dangerous.
把身子探出窗外是很危險的。
(5) His early years at the bar were very lean.
他早年在律師界的工作毫無起色。
(6) It also prepares our family for lean times.
這也爲家庭的困難時期做了準備。
(7) At times, this can cause him to lean liberal.
當時，這點導致他傾向（自由派）左派。
(8) I was glad to be able sometimes to lean on him.
我引以爲幸的是，我有時候能夠依靠他辦事。
(9) Wise men lean more from fool than fool from wise men.
賢人自蠢人學得者，較蠢人自賢人學得者爲多。
(10) His lean limbs and white face were his only language.
削瘦的四肢和白色的臉孔是他僅有的語言。
