狄更斯小说改编系列 狄更斯双语小说:《董贝父子》第26章Part 4

狄更斯双语小说:《董贝父子》第26章Part 4  

'Very well
' said Mrs Skewton. 'Go away
and shut the door. I am engaged.'
As Withers disappeared
Mrs Skewton turned her head languidly towards the Major
without otherwise moving
and asked him how his friend was.
'Dombey
Ma'am
' returned the Major
with a facetious gurgling in his throat
'is as well as a man in his condition can be. His condition is a desperate one
Ma'am. He is touched
is Dombey! Touched!' cried the Major. 'He is bayoted through the body.'
Cleopatra cast a sharp look at the Major
that contrasted forcibly with the affected drawl in which she presently said:
'Major Bagstock
although I know but little of the world
- nor can I really regret my experience
for I fear it is a false place
full of withering conventionalities: where Nature is but little regarded
and where the music of the heart
and the gushing of the soul
and all that sort of thing
which is so truly poetical
is seldom heard
- I cannot misunderstand your meaning. There is an allusion to Edith - to my extremely dear child
' said Mrs Skewton
tracing the outline of her eyebrows with her forefinger
'in your words
to which the tenderest of chords vibrates excessively.'
'Bluntness
Ma'am
' returned the Major
'has ever been the characteristic of the Bagstock breed. You are right. Joe admits it.'
'And that allusion
' pursued Cleopatra
'would involve one of the most - if not positively the most - touching
and thrilling
and sacred emotions of which our sadly-fallen nature is susceptible
I conceive.'
The Major laid his hand upon his lips
and wafted a kiss to Cleopatra
as if to identify the emotion in question.
'I feel that I am weak. I feel that I am wanting in that energy
which should sustain a Mama: not to say a parent: on such a subject
' said Mrs Skewton
trimming her lips with the laced edge of her pocket-handkerchief; 'but I can hardly approach a topic so excessively momentous to my dearest Edith without a feeling of faintness. Nevertheless
bad man
as you have boldly remarked upon it
and as it has occasioned me great anguish:' Mrs Skewton touched her left side with her fan: 'I will not shrink from my duty.'
The Major
under cover of the dimness
swelled
and swelled
and rolled his purple face about
and winked his lobster eye
until he fell into a fit of wheezing
which obliged him to rise and take a turn or o about the room
before his fair friend could proceed.
'Mr Dombey
' said Mrs Skewton
when she at length resumed
'was obliging enough
now many weeks ago
to do us the honour of visiting us here; in pany
my dear Major
with yourself. I acknowledge - let me be open - that it is my failing to be the creature of impulse
and to wear my heart as it were
outside. I know my failing full well. My enemy cannot know it better. But I am not penitent; I would rather not be frozen by the heartless world
and am content to bear this imputation justly.'
Mrs Skewton arranged her tucker
pinched her wiry throat to give it a soft surface
and went on
with great placency.
'It gave me (my dearest Edith too
I am sure) infinite pleasure to receive Mr Dombey. As a friend of yours
my dear Major
we were naturally disposed to be prepossessed in his favour; and I fancied that I observed an amount of Heart in Mr Dombey
that was excessively refreshing.'
'There is devilish little heart in Dombey now
Ma'am
' said the Major.