雙語小說連載:《董貝父子》第11章 Part 1大綱
The Captain viewed the subject in quite a different light. He appeared to entertain a belief that the interview at which he had assisted was so very satisfactory and encouraging, as to be only a step or two removed from a regular betrothal of Florence to Walter; and that the late transaction had immensely forwarded, if not thoroughly established, the Whittingtonian hopes. Stimulated by this conviction, and by the improvement in the sPirits of his old friend, and by his own consequent gaiety, he even attempted, in favouring them with the ballad of 'Lovely Peg' for the third time in one evening, to make an extemporaneous substitution of the name 'Florence;' but finding this difficult, on account of the word Peg invariably rhyming to leg (in which personal beauty the original was described as having excelled all competitors), he hit upon the happy thought of changing it to Fle-e-eg; which he accordingly did, with an archness almost supernatural, and a voice quite vociferous, notwithstanding that the time was close at band when he must seek the abode of the dreadful Mrs MacStinger.
Mrs Pipchin's constitution was made of such hard metal, in spite of its liability to the fleshly weaknesses of standing in need of repose after chops, and of requiring to be coaxed to sleep by the soporific agency of sweet-breads, that it utterly set at naught the predictions of Mrs Wickam, and showed no symptoms of decline. Yet, as Paul's rapt interest in the old lady continued unbated, Mrs Wickam would not budge an inch from the position she had taken up. Fortifying and entrenching herself on the strong ground of her Uncle's Betsey Jane, she advised Miss Berry, as a friend, to prepare herself for the worst; and forewarned her that her aunt might, at any time, be expected to go off suddenly, like a powder-mill.
皮普欽太太的體質是由這樣堅硬的金屬做成的，它雖然難免身軀虛弱，需要在吃過排骨之後休息休息，也需要依賴小羊胰臟的催眠作用才能進入夢鄉，但它使威肯姆大嫂的預言完全落了空，沒有顯露出衰老的任何症狀。然而，由於保羅對這位老太太全神貫注的興趣並沒有減弱，所以威肯姆大嫂也不願意從她原先的立場上後退一英寸。她以她舅舅的女兒貝特西·簡爲堅強後盾，挖掘壕溝，構築要塞，防衛着自己的地段，因此她以一位朋友的身份勸告貝里小姐要爲發生最壞的情況作好準備，並預先警告她，她的姑媽在任何時候都可能像火藥廠一樣突然爆炸。Poor Berry took it all in good part, and drudged and slaved away as usual; perfectly convinced that Mrs Pipchin was one of the most meritorious persons in the world, and making every day innumerable sacrifices of herself upon the altar of that noble old woman. But all these immolations of Berry were somehow carried to the credit of Mrs Pipchin by Mrs Pipchin's friends and admirers; and were made to harmonise with, and carry out, that melancholy fact of the deceased Mr Pipchin having broken his heart in the Peruvian mines.
可憐的貝里毫無惡感地接受了所有這些勸告，並跟往常一樣，像奴隸一樣拼命做着苦工；她完全相信，皮普欽太太是世界上最值得稱頌的人之一，自願作出無數犧牲，奉獻給那位尊貴的老女人的祭壇。可是貝里所作出的所有這些犧牲卻被皮普欽太太的朋友們與崇拜者們記爲皮普欽太太的功勞，而且還跟那件令人傷感的事實——已故的皮普欽先生是在祕魯的礦井傷心而死的——聯繫起來，認爲兩者是一脈相承的。
For example, there was an honest grocer and general dealer in the retail line of business, between whom and Mrs Pipchin there was a small memorandum book, with a greasy red cover, perpetually in question, and concerning which divers secret councils and conferences were continually being held between the parties to that register, on the mat in the passage, and with closed doors in the parlour. Nor were there wanting dark hints from Master Bitherstone (whose temper had been made revengeful by the solar heats of India acting on his blood), of balances unsettled, and of a failure, on one occasion within his memory, in the supply of moist sugar at tea-time. This grocer being a bachelor and not a man who looked upon the surface for beauty, had once made honourable offers for the hand of Berry, which Mrs Pipchin had, with contumely and scorn, rejected. Everybody said how laudable this was in Mrs Pipchin, relict of a man who had died of the Peruvian mines; and what a staunch, high, independent spirit the old lady had. But nobody said anything about poor Berry, who cried for six weeks (being soundly rated by her good aunt all the time), and lapsed into a state of hopeless spinsterhood.
例如，有一位經營食品、雜貨和一般零售業的誠實的商人，與皮普欽太太之間有一本油膩的紅封面的小備忘錄，它總是不斷地引起爭議；爲了這一點，登記冊涉及的各方經常在鋪了席子的走廊裏或在關着門的客廳裏舉行各種祕密的磋商與會議。比瑟斯通少爺（由於印度的太陽熱對他的血液發生作用的緣故，因此他產生了一副愛報復的脾氣）也屢次隱約地暗示，錢款收支不符，差額沒有結清；他還記得，有一次喝茶的時候，沒有供應潮溼的糖。這位商人是個單身漢，並不看重外表的漂亮，一次規規矩矩地向貝里求婚，但皮普欽太太卻傲慢無禮地刻薄挖苦他，把他的求婚給拒絕了。人人都說，皮普欽太太，一位死在祕魯礦井的男子的遺孀，這樣做是多麼值得稱讚，還說這位老太太有着多麼堅強、高尚與獨立的精神。可是對可憐的貝里卻沒有一個人說過一句話；她哭了六個星期（她善良的姑媽一直在嚴厲地斥責她），並落到一個絕望的老處女的處境。--------①英文中腿（leg）這個詞的發音爲萊格。註釋：assist n. 幫助；助攻
vi. 參加；出席
vt. 幫助；促進
assist in 幫助
例句：
(1) Could I assist you, madam?
我能幫助你嗎，太太？
(2) Perhaps I could assist in some way.
也許我能幫上什麼忙。
(3) Assist in charge of foreign affairs.
協助分管外事方面工作。
(4) Could you assist me with the luggage?
可不可以幫我搬行李？
(5) Good glasses will assist you to read .
好的眼鏡能有助於你閱讀。
(6) Earth and Nature are always present to assist.
地球和大自然總是在場來協助。
(7) When all assist , the job will be done quickly .
大家都幫忙，工作很快就會做完？
(8) Universal DNA databases would assist that process.
全面的DNA數據庫將有助於此。
carry vt. 拿，扛；攜帶；支持；搬運
vi. 能達到；被攜帶；被搬運
n. 運載；[計] 進位；射程
[ 複數carries 過去式carried 過去分詞carried 現在分詞carrying ]
詞組：
carry out vt. 執行，實行；貫徹；實現；完成
carry on 繼續
carry forward 發揚；推進
carry through 貫徹；完成；堅持下去
carry in 攜帶；輸入
carry with 進行
carry on with 繼續；與…調情
carry around 隨身攜帶
carry away 運走；使失去自制力
carry off 奪去；獲得；使喪命；成功地處理
carry over ..留到以後處理；繼續存在
fetch and carry 做雜務，打雜
carry trade 套利交易；套息交易；利差交易；息差交易
carry about 帶着；隨身攜帶
carry the torch 開戰；奮鬥；單戀
carry weight 有影響；重要；有分量
carry up 建高（房屋），追溯
carry back vt. 運回；拿回；使回想；使回憶起
carry bag n. 手提袋；厚紙袋
carry the can 代人受過；背黑鍋；單獨承擔困難的任務
例句：
(1) I need you to carry all the bags.
我需要你幫我提所有的包。
(2) Don't carry too much money.
別帶太多錢在身上。
(3) I am sorry we don't carry that brand.
我很抱歉我們沒有這種牌子。
(4) If one engine fails, the other can carry on.
如果一臺引擎失靈，另一臺還能夠繼續工作。
(5) Others carry silver in hopes of finding money.
也有人會帶上銀製品，希望能夠發財。
(6) We bought the bookcases in the new cash and carry.
我們在這個新開的現款取貨商店買了這幾個書櫥。
