狄更斯雙語小説:《董貝父子》第46章Part6

'And then,' said Mrs Brown, with her arms uplifted towards the sky, and her head thrown back and shaking, 'if he's true to his word, I'll never come a-near him though I know where he is, and never breathe a syllable about him! Never!'
This ejaculation seemed a drop of comfort to the miserable Grinder, who shook Mrs Brown by the hand upon it, and implored her with tears in his eyes, to leave a cove and not destroy his prospects. Mrs Brown, with another fond embrace, assented; but in the act of following her daughter, turned back, with her finger stealthily raised, and asked in a hoarse whisper for some money.
'A shilling, dear!' she said, with her eager avaricious face, 'or sixpence! For old acquaintance sake. I'm so poor. And my handsome gal' - looking over her shoulder - 'she's my gal, Rob - half starves me.
But as the reluctant Grinder put it in her hand, her daughter, coming quietly back, caught the hand in hen, and twisted out the coin.
'What,' she said, 'mother! always money! money from the first, and to the last' Do you mind so little what I said but now? Here. Take it!'
The old woman uttered a moan as the money was restored, but without in any other way opposing its restoration, hobbled at her daughter's side out of the yard, and along the bye street upon which it opened. The astonished and dismayed Rob staring after them, saw that they stopped, and fell to earnest conversation very soon; and more than once observed a darkly threatening action of the younger woman's hand (obviously having reference to someone of whom they spoke), and a crooning feeble imitation of it on the part of Mrs Brown, that made him earnestly hope he might not be the subject of their discourse.
With the present consolation that they were gone, and with the prospective comfort that Mrs Brown could not live for ever, and was not likely to live long to trouble him, the Grinder, not otherwise regretting his misdeeds than as they were attended with such disagreeable incidental consequences, composed his ruffled features to a more serene expression by thinking of the admirable manner in which he had disposed of Captain Cuttle (a reflection that seldom failed to put him in a flow of spirits), and went to the Dombey Counting House to receive his master's orders.
There his master, so subtle and vigilant of eye, that Rob quaked before him, more than half expecting to be taxed with Mrs Brown, gave him the usual morning's box of papers for Mr Dombey, and a note for Mrs Dombey: merely nodding his head as an enjoinder to be careful, and to use dispatch - a mysterious admonition, fraught in the Grinder's imagination with dismal warnings and threats; and more powerful with him than any words.
Alone again, in his own room, Mr Carker applied himself to work, and worked all day. He saw many visitors; overlooked a number of documents; went in and out, to and from, sundry places of mercantile resort; and indulged in no more abstraction until the day's business was done. But, when the usual clearance of papers from his table was made at last, he fell into his thoughtful mood once more.
He was standing in his accustomed place and attitude, with his eyes intently fixed upon the ground, when his brother entered to bring back some letters that had been taken out in the course of the day. He put them quietly on the table, and was going immediately, when Mr Carker the Manager, whose eyes had rested on him, on his entrance, as if they had all this time had him for the subject of their contemplation, instead of the office-floor, said:
'Well, John Carker, and what brings you here?'
His brother pointed to the letters, and was again withdrawing.

“既然是這樣，”布朗太太把手舉向天空，把頭往後一仰，並搖晃着，”雖然我知道他住在哪裏，但如果他信守他的諾言的話，那麼我就不到他那裏去，而且我一個字也決不會談到他！決不會！”
這聲喊叫對可憐的磨工似乎是一絲安慰，他握握布朗太太的手，眼裏含着淚水，請求她別去打擾一位年輕小夥子，別去破壞他的前程。布朗太太又親熱地擁抱了他一次，表示同意；但是當她正要跟女兒離開的時候，她又轉過身來，偷偷地舉起一個指頭，用嘶啞的湊着他的耳朵，求他給一點錢。
“一先令，親愛的！”她露出急切的、貪婪的臉色，説道，”要不六便士也行！看在老熟人的面子上。我是這麼窮。而我漂亮的女兒，”--她回過頭去望了望--”她是我的女兒，羅布，她讓我過着半飢半飽的生活。”
可是當羅布勉勉強強地把錢塞到她手裏的時候，她的女兒卻悄悄地轉過身來，抓住她的手，把錢幣從她手中搶出來。
“什麼，”她説道，”媽媽！老是錢！開頭是錢，到最後還是錢。我剛才講過的話你怎麼一點也不記在心上？錢在這裏。拿回去吧！”
當錢歸還原主的時候，老太婆哀歎了一聲，但沒有阻攔，然後挨着她女兒的身旁，一拐一拐地走出院子，沿着鄰近的一條小街走去。萬分驚訝的羅布目不轉睛地看着她們離開，他看到她們很快就站住，認真地交談起來；他不止一次地注意到年輕女人的手兇狠地作了一個威脅的動作（顯然是針對她們所談到的一個什麼人），布朗太太也有氣無力地模仿了一下這個動作，因而他不由得衷心地希望，她們所談論的對象不是他。
羅布想到她們現在已經走了，又想到布朗太太將來不能永久活下去，很可能不久就不會來打擾他了，心中感到一些安慰；他對過去的過錯會隨着帶來這些不愉快的後果，心中倒也因此而感到有些悔恨，但是他想到他是怎樣巧妙地擺脱了卡特爾船長的（他一回憶起這件事，就必然能使精神煥發起來），這就使他把受了擾亂的心緒鎮靜下來，換上一副平靜的面容，到董貝公司的營業所去接受他主人的吩咐。
他的主人在那裏，眼睛是那麼敏鋭，那麼警覺，因此羅布一看到它們，就在他面前顫抖起來，十分擔心布朗太太的事情會使他受到責罵；他的主人像往常一樣，交給他一個匣子和一張短箋；匣子裏裝着上午的公文，是送給董貝先生的；那張短箋是送給董貝夫人的；他只是向他點了點頭，算是囑咐他要謹慎小心，並必須火速送達--這樣一種神祕的告誡，在磨工看來，充滿了可怕的警告與威脅，它比任何言語都更有力。
房間裏只剩下卡克先生一個人的時候，他又專心致志地工作起來，工作了一整天。他接見了不少來訪者，審閲了許多文件，在各種商業場所進進出出，來來往往，在一天的業務沒有做完之前，他從不分心走神。但是，當他桌子上的公文終於辦完送走以後，他又一次陷入沉思之中。
當他以慣常的姿勢站在慣常的地方，眼睛全神貫注地凝視着地板的時候，他的哥哥進來把這一天中間從這裏取走的一些函件送回。在他進來的時候，經理卡克先生的眼睛注視着他，彷彿它們在這段時間裏一直靜觀着的不是辦公室的地板，而是他似的；當他默默地把函件放在桌子上，想立刻就走開的時候，經理卡克先生説道：
“唔，約翰?卡克，是什麼使你到這裏來的？”
他的哥哥指指函件，然後又向門口走去。