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'Ay! But that's at night,' said Mr Dombey, drawing his own chair closer to his son's, and laying his hand gently on his back; 'little people should be tired at night, for then they sleep well.'
'Oh, it's not at night, Papa,' returned the child, 'it's in the day; and I lie down in Florence's lap, and she sings to me. At night I dream about such cu-ri-ous things!'
“是的！可是那是在夜里，”董贝先生把他自己的椅子拉得跟他儿子的椅子挨近一些，同时把他的手轻轻地放在他的背上，说道，“小人儿夜里应该是累的，因为这样他们才能睡得香。”
“哦，这不是在夜里，爸爸，”孩子回答道，“这是在白天。我躺在弗洛伦斯的膝盖上，她唱歌 给我 听。夜里我梦见这些希奇——古怪的事情！”
And he went on, warming his hands again, and thinking about them, like an old man or a young goblin.
他继续讲下去，一边又烘烘手，像一个老头子或一个年轻的妖魔一样想着这些事情。
Mr Dombey was so astonished, and so uncomfortable, and so perfectly at a loss how to pursue the conversation, that he could only sit looking at his son by the light of the fire, with his hand resting on his back, as if it were detained there by some magnetic attraction. Once he advanced his other hand, and turned the contemplative face towards his own for a moment. But it sought the fire again as soon as he released it; and remained, addressed towards the flickering blaze, until the nurse appeared, to summon him to bed.
董贝先生十分惊异，十分不安，完全不知道该怎么把谈话进行下去；他就只好借着火光看着他的儿子，一只手仍搁在他的背上不动，仿佛有什么魔术的吸引力把它阻留在那里似的。有一次他伸出另一只手，把那沉思的脸转向他一会儿，可是他手一放松，它又 转回去对着壁炉，眼睛一动不动地 看着闪烁的火焰，直到保姆前 来召唤他去睡觉为止。
'I want Florence to come for me,' said Paul.
“我要弗洛伦斯到我这里来，”保罗说道。
'Won't you come with your poor Nurse Wickam, Master Paul?' inquired that attendant, with great pathos.
“您不想跟您的可怜的威肯姆保姆一道走吗，保罗少爷？”那位侍候他的女人十分凄楚地问道。
'No, I won't,' replied Paul, composing himself in his arm-chair again, like the master of the house.
“不，我不想，”保罗像是这个房屋的主人似的，在他的椅子中重新坐好，回答道。
Invoking a blessing upon his innocence, Mrs Wickam withdrew, and presently Florence appeared in her stead. The child immediately started up with sudden readiness and animation, and raised towards his father in bidding him good-night, a countenance so much brighter, so much younger, and so much more child-like altogether, that Mr Dombey, while he felt greatly reassured by the change, was quite amazed at it.
威肯姆大嫂一边祈求上帝保佑他天真无邪，一边出去了；一会儿，弗洛伦斯代替她来了。孩子立刻欣喜、活泼地跳起来，向他父亲抬起一张快活得多、年轻得多、孩子气得多的脸孔，祝他晚安；董贝先生看到这个转变大大地安下心来，同时又感到十分惊奇。
After they had left the room together, he thought he heard a soft voice singing; and remembering that Paul had said his sister sung to him, he had the curiosity to open the door and listen, and look after them. She was toiling up the great, wide, vacant staircase, with him in her arms; his head was lying on her shoulder, one of his arms thrown negligently round her neck. So they went, toiling up; she singing all the way, and Paul sometimes crooning out a feeble accompaniment. Mr Dombey looked after them until they reached the top of the staircase - not without halting to rest by the way - and passed out of his sight; and then he still stood gazing upwards, until the dull rays of the moon, glimmering in a melancholy manner through the dim skylight, sent him back to his room.
他们一起离开房间以后，他觉得他听到了一个温柔的声音在唱歌；他记起保罗曾对他说过他姐姐给他唱歌的事，就怀着好奇心开了门，听着并目送着他们。她抱着他，沿着那宽阔的、没有人的大楼梯，辛苦地走上去；他的头靠在她的肩膀上，一只胳膊随便地挽着她的脖子。他们就这样吃力地走上去；她一路唱着歌，保罗有时有气无力地低声伴唱着。董贝先生目送着他们，直到他们到达楼梯顶上——他们在中间也曾停下 来休息过——，离开了他的视野；可是这时候他仍站在那里向上凝视着，直到后来淡弱的月光凄凉地、忽隐忽视地穿过幽暗的天窗，照着他回到他自己的房间。
Mrs Chick and Miss Tox were convoked in council at dinner next day; and when the cloth was removed, Mr Dombey opened the proceedings by requiring to be informed, without any gloss or reservation, whether there was anything the matter with Paul, and what Mr Pilkins said about him.
第二天吃晚饭的时候，奇克夫人与托克斯小姐被召集一起来进行商议。桌布一撤走，董贝先生在会议开始时就要求她们毫不掩饰、毫无保留地告诉他，保罗是不是出了什么毛病，皮尔金斯先生是怎样说他的。
'For the child is hardly,' said Mr Dombey, 'as stout as I could wish.'
“因为这孩子不像我所希望的那么健壮，”董贝先生说道。 |
