狄更斯的小说特点 狄更斯双语小说:《董贝父子》第39章Part1

狄更斯双语小说:《董贝父子》第39章Part1  

Further Adventures of Captain Edward Cuttle
Mariner Time
sure of foot and strong of will
had so pressed onward
that the year enjoined by the old Instrument-maker
as the term during which his friend should refrain from opening the sealed packet acpanying the letter he had left for him
was now nearly expired
and Captain Cuttle began to look at it
of an evening
with feelings of mystery and uneasiness
The Captain
in his honour
would as soon have thought of opening the parcel one hour before the expiration of the term
as he would have thought of opening himself
to study his own anatomy. He merely brought it out
at a certain stage of his first evening pipe
laid it on the table
and sat gazing at the outside of it
through the smoke
in silent gravity
for o or three hours at a spell. Sometimes
when he had contemplated it thus for a pretty long while
the Captain would hitch his chair
by degrees
farther and farther off
as if to get beyond the range of its fascination; but if this were his design
he never succeeded: for even when he was brought up by the parlour wall
the packet still attracted him; or if his eyes
in thoughtful wandering
roved to the ceiling or the fire
its image immediately followed
and posted itself conspicuously among the coals
or took up an advantageous position on the whitewash.
In respect of Heart's Delight
the Captain's parental and admiration knew no change. But since his last interview with Mr Carker
Captain Cuttle had e to entertain doubts whether his former intervention in behalf of that young lady and his dear boy Wal'r
had proved altogether so favourable as he could have wished
and as he at the time believed. The Captain was troubled with a serious misgiving that he had done more harm than good
in short; and in his remorse and modesty he made the best atonement he could think of
by putting himself out of the way of doing any harm to anyone
and
as it were
throwing himself overboard for a dangerous person.
Self-buried
therefore
among the instruments
the Captain never went near Mr Dombey's house
or reported himself in any way to Florence or Miss Nipper. He even severed himself from Mr Perch
on the occasion of his next visit
by dryly informing that gentleman
that he thanked him for his pany
but had cut himself adrift from all such acquaintance
as he didn't know what magazine he mightn't blow up
without meaning of it. In this self-imposed retirement
the Captain passed whole days and weeks without interchanging a word with anyone but Rob the Grinder
whom he esteemed as a pattern of disinterested attachment and fidelity. In this retirement
the Captain
gazing at the packet of an evening
would sit smoking
and thinking of Florence and poor Walter
until they both seemed to his homely fancy to be dead
and to have passed away into eternal youth
the beautiful and innocent children of his first remembrance.
The Captain did not
however
in his musings
neglect his own improvement
or the mental culture of Rob the Grinder. That young man was generally required to read out of some book to the Captain
for one hour
every evening; and as the Captain implicitly believed that all books were true
he accumulated
by this means
many remarkable facts. On Sunday nights
the Captain always read for himself
before going to bed
a certain Divine Sermon once delivered on a Mount; and although he was accustomed to quote the text
without book
after his own manner
he appeared to read it with as reverent an understanding of its heavenly spirit
as if he had got it all by heart in Greek
and had been able to write any number of fierce theological disquisitions on its every phrase.
Rob the Grinder
whose reverence for the inspired writings
under the admirable system of the Grinders' School
had been developed by a perpetual bruising of his intellectual shins against all the proper names of all the tribes of Judah
and by the monotonous repetition of hard verses
especially by way of punishment
and by the parading of him at six years old in leather breeches
three times a Sunday
very high up
in a very hot church
with a great an buzzing against his drowsy head
like an exceedingly busy bee - Rob the Grinder made a mighty show of being edified when the Captain ceased to read
and generally yawned and nodded while the reading was in progress. The latter fact being never so much as suspected by the good Captain.
Captain Cuttle
also
as a man of business; took to keeping books. In these he entered observations on the weather
and on the currents of the waggons and other vehicles: which he observed
in that quarter
to set wesard in the morning and during the greater part of the day
and easard towards the evening. Two or three stragglers appearing in one week
who 'spoke him' - so the Captain entered it- on the subject of spectacles
and who
without positively purchasing
said they would look in again
the Captain decided that the business was improving
and made an entry in the day-book to that effect: the wind then blowing (which he first recorded) pretty fresh
west and by north; having changed in the night.
One of the Captain's chief difficulties was Mr Toots
who called frequently
and who without saying much seemed to have an idea that the little back parlour was an eligible room to chuckle in
as he would sit and avail himself of its acmodations in that regard by the half-hour together
without at all advancing in intimacy with the Captain. The Captain
rendered cautious by his late experience
was unable quite to satisfy his mind whether Mr Toots was the mild subject he appeared to be
or was a profoundly artful and dissimulating hypocrite. His frequent reference to Miss Dombey was suspicious; but the Captain had a secret kindness for Mr Toots's apparent reliance on him
and forbore to decide against him for the present; merely eyeing him
with a sagacity not to be described
whenever he approached the subject that was nearest to his heart.
“吉尔斯船长，”图茨先生有一天以他惯常的方式，突然说道，”您能不能行个好，考虑一下我的建议，让我跟您交个朋友好吗？”
“啊，我的孩子，我来跟您说说，事情是怎样的，”船长终于决定了行动方针，回答道，”我已经想过这件事了。”