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'I should recommend you looking up a friend or so,' said Mr Brogley, 'and talking it over.'
“我想建议您去找位朋友，”布罗格利先生说道，“跟他谈谈这件事情。”
'To be sure!' cried Walter, catching at anything. 'Certainly! Thankee. Captain Cuttle's the man, Uncle. Wait till I run to Captain Cuttle. Keep your eye upon my Uncle, will you, Mr Brogley, and make him as comfortable as you can while I am gone? Don't despair, Uncle Sol. Try and keep a good heart, there's a dear fellow!'
“完全正确！”沃尔特急忙抓住一切机会，喊道。“当然该这么办！谢谢您。卡特尔船长就是我们所需要的人，舅舅。等着我，等我跑去找卡特尔船长。布罗格利先生，当我不在家的时候，请您照看一下我的舅舅，尽量安慰安慰他，好吗？不要灰心丧气，所尔舅舅。努力振作起精神，这才是个男子汉！”
Saying this with great fervour, and disregarding the old man's broken remonstrances, Walter dashed out of the shop again as hard as he could go; and, having hurried round to the office to excuse himself on the plea of his Uncle's sudden illness, set off, full speed, for Captain Cuttle's residence.
沃尔特热情洋溢地说完了这些话，不顾老人上句不接下句地劝阻，迅猛地又冲出了店铺；他急忙跑到办公室，借口他舅舅突然病了，请求准假，然后火速地向卡特尔船长的住所进发。
Everything seemed altered as he ran along the streets. There were the usual entanglement and noise of carts, drays, omnibuses, waggons, and foot passengers, but the misfortune that had fallen on the wooden Midshipman made it strange and new. Houses and shops were different from what they used to be, and bore Mr Brogley's warrant on their fronts in large characters. The broker seemed to have got hold of the very churches; for their spires rose into the sky with an unwonted air. Even the sky itself was changed, and had an execution in it plainly.
当他沿着街道跑过去的时候，一切似乎都已改变了。像往常一样，手推车、大车、公共汽车、运货马车和行人混杂在一起，熙熙攘攘，发出了各种闹声，可是落到木制海军军官候补生身上的不幸使它们变得古怪与新奇。房屋与店铺跟它们平日的样子不同，正面有很大的字母写着布格罗利先生的付款通知单。这位经纪人似乎把教堂也掌握在手中了，因为它们的尖顶以一种不同寻常的气概升入了天空；甚至天空本身也改变了，也明显地参与了这件事情的执行。
Captain Cuttle lived on the brink of a little canal near the India Docks, where there was a swivel bridge which opened now and then to let some wandering monster of a ship come roamIng up the street like a stranded leviathan. The gradual change from land to water, on the approach to Captain Cuttle's lodgings, was curious. It began with the erection of flagstaffs, as appurtenances to public-houses; then came slop-sellers' shops, with Guernsey shirts, sou'wester hats, and canvas pantaloons, at once the tightest and the loosest of their order, hanging up outside. These were succeeded by anchor and chain-cable forges, where sledgehammers were dinging upon iron all day long. Then came rows of houses, with little vane-surmounted masts uprearing themselves from among the scarlet beans. Then, ditches. Then, pollard willows. Then, more ditches. Then, unaccountable patches of dirty water, hardly to be descried, for the ships that covered them. Then, the air was perfumed with chips; and all other trades were swallowed up in mast, oar, and block-making, and boatbuilding. Then, the ground grew marshy and unsettled. Then, there was nothing to be smelt but rum and sugar. Then, Captain Cuttle's lodgings - at once a first floor and a top storey, in Brig Place - were close before you.
卡特尔船长住在靠近印度造船厂的小运河的岸边；那里有一座旋桥，它不时旋开，让一些如同漫游巨怪般的船舰像搁浅了的海中怪兽一样，沿着街道冲游过去。当走向卡特尔船长住所的时候，从陆地到水上的逐步变化是奇妙有趣的。开始时是一些作为客栈附属物的旗杆高高耸立着；然后是现成服装店，店外悬挂着耿济岛①的黑色厚毛线衫，海员用的防水帽以及最紧窄和最宽松的帆布裤子。接着是生产锚和锚链的铁工厂，长柄的大铁锤整天叮叮当当地抡打着铁块。再下去是一排排房屋，房屋附近种植的红豆中间竖立着顶上有小风信标的桅杆。接下去是水沟，然后是截去树梢的柳树。再下去是更多的水沟。然后是一片片奇怪的脏水，由于上面有船，很难辨认出来。再下去，空气中散发着刨花的气味。所有其他行业都被制作桅、桨和滑车的行业和造船业排挤掉了。往下去，土地变得像沼泽一样低湿、泥泞，很不牢固。再下去，除了朗姆酒和糖的气味外，再也闻不到别的气味了。再往下，卡特尔船长的住所就近在您的眼前了。他住在二层楼，那是布里格广场上最高的一层。
The Captain was one of those timber-looking men, suits of oak as well as hearts, whom it is almost impossible for the liveliest imagination to separate from any part of their dress, however insignificant. Accordingly, when Walter knocked at the door, and the Captain instantly poked his head out of one of his little front windows, and hailed him, with the hard glared hat already on it, and the shirt-collar like a sail, and the wide suit of blue, all standing as usual, Walter was as fully persuaded that he was always in that state, as if the Captain had been a bird and those had been his feathers.
船长是那些看去像木材的人们当中的一位，他们的衣服和身体好像是从一株橡树中一道砍削出来的，最活跃的想象力也几乎不可能把他们衣服中的任何一部分从身上分开，哪怕那是无关重要的一部分；因此，当沃尔特敲了门，船长立刻从他前面的小窗子当中的一个伸出头来招呼他的时候，他像平时一样，头上已经戴着那顶上了光的硬帽子，身上已经穿上那套蓝色的宽阔的外衣，还露出那像船帆一样的衬衫领子；沃尔特完全相信，他经常处于这种状态，仿佛船长是一只鸟，那些衣帽是他的羽毛似的。 -------- ①耿济岛（IsleofGuernsey）：英国海峡中的一个岛。 |
