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On one of these occasions, when they had both been perfectly quiet for a long time, and Mr Dombey only knew that the child was awake by occasionally glancing at his eye, where the bright fire was sparkling like a jewel, little Paul broke silence thus:
'Papa! what's money?'
有一次他们两人一言不发地沉默了很久，董贝先生只是由于偶尔往他的眼睛看上一眼，看到他眼中的亮光像珠子一样闪耀，因此知道他没有睡着，这时候，小保罗这样打破了沉默：
“爸爸，钱是什么？”
The abrupt question had such immediate reference to the subject of Mr Dombey's thoughts, that Mr Dombey was quite disconcerted.
这个突然提出的问题跟董贝先生正在思考的问题十分直接地联结着，因此董贝先生感到困窘。
'What is money, Paul?' he answered. 'Money?'
“你问钱是什么吗，保罗？”他回答道。“钱？”
'Yes,' said the child, laying his hands upon the elbows of his little chair, and turning the old face up towards Mr Dombey's; 'what is money?'
“是的，”孩子把手搁在小椅子的扶手上，抬起他那老气横秋的脸，望着董贝先生的脸，说道，“钱是什么？”
Mr Dombey was in a difficulty. He would have liked to give him some explanation involving the terms circulating-medium, currency, depreciation of currency', paper, bullion, rates of exchange, value of precious metals in the market, and so forth; but looking down at the little chair, and seeing what a long way down it was, he answered: 'Gold, and silver, and copper. Guineas, shillings, half-pence. You know what they are?'
董贝先生陷入了困境。他本来真想把流通手段、通货、通货贬值、钞票、金条银条、汇率、市场上贵金属的价值等等一类术语向他作出一些解释，可是他向下看看那小椅子，看到下面还有那么远远的一段距离，就回答道，“金，银，铜，基尼，先令，半便士。①，你知道它们是什么吗？”
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①当时的英国货币单位。1基尼等于21先令；1镑等于20先令；1先令等于12便士。
'Oh yes, I know what they are,' said Paul. 'I don't mean that, Papa. I mean what's money after all?'
“啊，是的，我知道它们是什么，”保罗说道，“我问的不是这意思，爸爸。我是想问，钱究竟是什么？”
Heaven and Earth, how old his face was as he turned it up again towards his father's!
哎呀，天老爷！当他抬起脸望着他父亲的脸的时候，那是一张多么老气的脸啊！
'What is money after all!' said Mr Dombey, backing his chair a little, that he might the better gaze in sheer amazement at the presumptuous atom that propounded such an inquiry.
“钱究竟是什么！”董贝先生大为惊异地把椅子挪后一点，以便仔细看看提出这样一个问题的自以为是的小东西。
'I mean, Papa, what can it do?' returned Paul, folding his arms (they were hardly long enough to fold), and looking at the fire, and up at him, and at the fire, and up at him again.
“爸爸，我的意思是它能做什么？”保罗合抱着两只胳膊（它们不够长，不容易合抱），看着火，又抬起眼睛来看着他，又看着火，然后又抬起眼睛来看着他。
Mr Dombey drew his chair back to its former place, and patted him on the head. 'You'll know better by-and-by, my man,' he said. 'Money, Paul, can do anything.' He took hold of the little hand, and beat it softly against one of his own, as he said so.
董贝先生把他的椅子拉回到原先的地方，摸摸他的头。
“你会逐渐知道的，我的孩子，”他说道。“钱能做任何事情，保罗。”他一边说，一边拉起那只小手，轻轻地敲打着他自己的手。
But Paul got his hand free as soon as he could; and rubbing it gently to and fro on the elbow of his chair, as if his wit were in the palm, and he were sharpening it - and looking at the fire again, as though the fire had been his adviser and prompter - repeated, after a short pause:
'Anything, Papa?'
但是保罗尽快地抽回了自己的手，并轻轻地擦着椅子的扶手，仿佛他的智慧是在手心里，他正在把它磨擦得更机敏一些——同时又看着火，仿佛火是他的顾问与提词员似的——；他在短短的沉默之后，重复着问道：
“任何事情吗，爸爸？”
'Yes. Anything - almost,' said Mr Dombey.
“是的，任何事情——几乎，”董贝先生说道。
'Anything means everything, don't it, Papa?' asked his son: not observing, or possibly not understanding, the qualification.
“任何事情就是每一件事情，是不是，爸爸？”他的儿子问道；他没有注意到或者可能不理解那个限制词。
'It includes it: yes,' said Mr Dombey.
“是的，任何事情包括每一件事情，”董贝先生回答道。
'Why didn't money save me my Mama?' returned the child. 'It isn't cruel, is it?'
“为什么钱不能把我的妈妈救活呢？”孩子反问道。“它是残酷的，是不是？”
'Cruel!' said Mr Dombey, settling his neckcloth, and seeming to resent the idea. 'No. A good thing can't be cruel.'
“残酷！”董贝先生整整领饰，似乎憎恨这个想法。“不，好东西不会是残酷的。”
'If it's a good thing, and can do anything,' said the little fellow, thoughtfully, as he looked back at the fire, 'I wonder why it didn't save me my Mama.'
“如果它是个好东西，能做任何事情，”小家伙重新看着火，沉思地说道，“那么我奇怪，它为什么不能把我的妈妈救活呢。” |
