狄更斯小说改编系列 狄更斯双语小说:《董贝父子》第36章Part3

狄更斯双语小说:《董贝父子》第36章Part3  

'Exactly
' said Cousin Feenix
bending forward to see the mild man
and smile encouragement at him down the table. 'That was Jack. Joe wore - '
'Tops!' cried the mild man
rising in public estimation every Instant.
'Of course
' said Cousin Feenix
'you were intimate with em?'
'I knew them both
' said the mild man. With whom Mr Dombey immediately took wine.
'Devilish good fellow
Jack!' said Cousin Feenix
again bending forward
and smiling.
'Excellent
' returned the mild man
being bold on his success. 'One of the best fellows I ever knew.'
'No doubt you have heard the story?' said Cousin Feenix.
'I shall know
' replied the bold mild man
'when I have heard your Ludship tell it.' With that
he leaned back in his chair and smiled at the ceiling
as knowing it by heart
and being already tickled.
'In point of fact
it's nothing of a story in itself
' said Cousin Feenix
addressing the table with a smile
and a gay shake of his head
'and not worth a word of preface. But it's illustrative of the neatness of Jack's humour. The fact is
that Jack was invited down to a marriage - which I think took place in Berkshire?'
'Shropshire
' said the bold mild man
finding himself appealed to.
'Was it? Well! In point of fact it might have been in any shire
' said Cousin Feenix. 'So my friend being invited down to this marriage in Anyshire
' with a pleasant sense of the readiness of this joke
'goes. Just as some of us
having had the honour of being invited to the marriage of my lovely and acplished relative with my friend Dombey
didn't require to be asked ice
and were devilish glad to be present on so interesting an occasion. - Goes - Jack goes. Now
this marriage was
in point of fact
the marriage of an unCommonly fine girl with a man for whom she didn't care a button
but whom she accepted on account of his property
which was immense. When Jack returned to town
after the nuptials
a man he knew
meeting him in the lobby of the House of Commons
says
"Well
Jack
how are the ill-matched couple?" "Ill-matched
" says Jack "Not at all. It's a perfectly and equal transaction. She is regularly bought
and you may take your oath he is as regularly sold!"'
In his full enjoyment of this culminating point of his story
the shudder
which had gone all round the table like an electric spark
struck Cousin Feenix
and he stopped. Not a smile occasioned by the only general topic of conversation broached that day
appeared on any face. A profound silence ensued; and the wretched mild man
who had been as innocent of any real foreknowledge of the story as the child unborn
had the exquisite misery of reading in every eye that he was regarded as the prime mover of the mischief.
Mr Dombey's face was not a changeful one
and being cast in its mould of state that day
showed little other apprehension of the story
if any
than that which he expressed when he said solemnly
amidst the silence
that it was 'Very good.' There was a rapid glance from Edith towards Florence
but otherwise she remained
externally
impassive and unconscious.
Through the various stages of rich meats and wines
continual gold and silver
dainties of earth
air
fire
and water
heaped-up fruits
and that unnecessary article in Mr Dombey's banquets - ice- the dinner slowly made its way: the later stages being achieved to the sonorous music of incessant double knocks
announcing the arrival of visitors
whose portion of the feast was limited to the smell thereof. When Mrs Dombey rose
it was a sight to see her lord
with stiff throat and erect head
hold the door open for the withdrawal of the ladies; and to see how she swept past him with his daughter on her arm.
Mr Dombey was a grave sight
behind the decanters
in a state of dignity; and the East India Director was a forlorn sight near the unoccupied end of the table
in a state of solitude; and the Major was a military sight
relating stories of the Duke of York to six of the seven mild men (the ambitious one was utterly quenched); and the Bank Director was a lowly sight
making a plan of his little attempt at a pinery
with dessert-knives
for a group of admirers; and Cousin Feenix was a thoughtful sight
as he smoothed his long wristbands and stealthily adjusted his wig. But all these sights were of short duration
being speedily broken up by coffee
and the desertion of the room.