狄更斯哪部作品好 狄更斯双语小说:《董贝父子》第21章Part 1

狄更斯双语小说:《董贝父子》第21章Part 1  

The MAJOR
more blue-faced and staring - more over-ripe
as it were
than ever - and giving vent
every now and then
to one of the horse's coughs
not so much of necessity as in a spontaneous explosion of importance
walked arm-in-arm with Mr Dombey up the sunny side of the way
with his cheeks swelling over his tight stock
his legs majestically wide apart
and his great head wagging from side to side
as if he were remonstrating within himself for being such a captivating object. They had not walked many yards
before the Major encountered somebody he knew
nor many yards farther before the Major encountered somebody else he knew
but he merely shook his fingers at them as he passed
and led Mr Dombey on: pointing out the localities as they went
and enlivening the walk with any current scandal suggested by them.
In this manner the Major and Mr Dombey were walking arm-in-arm
much to their own satisfaction
when they beheld advancing towards them
a wheeled chair
in which a lady was seated
indolently steering her carriage by a kind of rudder in front
while it was propelled by some unseen power in the rear. Although the lady was not young
she was very blooming in the face - quite rosy- and her dress and attitude were perfectly juvenile. Walking by the side of the chair
and carrying her gossamer parasol with a proud and weary air
as if so great an effort must be soon abandoned and the parasol dropped
sauntered a much younger lady
very handsome
very haughty
very wilful
who tossed her head and drooped her eyelids
as though
if there were anything in all the world worth looking into
save a mirror
it certainly was not the earth or sky.
'Why
what the devil have we here
Sir!' cried the Major
stopping as this little cavalcade drew near.
'My dearest Edith!' drawled the lady in the chair
'Major Bagstock!'
The Major no sooner heard the voice
than he relinquished Mr Dombey's arm
darted forward
took the hand of the lady in the chair and pressed it to his lips. With no less gallantry
the Major folded both his gloves upon his heart
and bowed low to the other lady. And now
the chair having stopped
the motive power became visible in the shape of a flushed page pushing behind
who seemed to have in part outgrown and in part out-pushed his strength
for when he stood upright he was tall
and wan
and thin
and his plight appeared the more forlorn from his having injured the shape of his hat
by butting at the carriage with his head to urge it forward
as is sometimes done by elephants in Oriental countries.
'Joe Bagstock
' said the Major to both ladies
'is a proud and happy man for the rest of his life.'
'You false creature! said the old lady in the chair
insipidly. 'Where do you e from? I can't bear you.'
'Then suffer old Joe to present a friend
Ma'am
' said the Major
promptly
'as a reason for being tolerated. Mr Dombey
Mrs Skewton.' The lady in the chair was gracious. 'Mr Dombey
Mrs Granger.' The lady with the parasol was faintly conscious of Mr Dombey's taking off his hat
and bowing low. 'I am delighted
Sir
' said the Major
'to have this opportunity.'
The Major seemed in earnest
for he looked at all the three
and leered in his ugliest manner.
'Mrs Skewton
Dombey
' said the Major
'makes havoc in the heart of old Josh.'
Mr Dombey signified that he didn't wonder at it.
'You perfidious goblin
' said the lady in the chair
'have done! How long have you been here
bad man?'
'One day
' replied the Major.
'And can you be a day
or even a minute
' returned the lady
slightly settling her false curls and false eyebrows with her fan
and showing her false teeth
set off by her false plexion
'in the garden of what's-its-name
'Eden
I suppose
Mama
' interrupted the younger lady
scornfully.
'My dear Edith
' said the other
'I cannot help it. I never can remember those frightful names - without having your whole Soul and Being inspired by the sight of Nature; by the perfume
' said Mrs Skewton
rustling a handkerchief that was faint and sickly with essences
'of her artless breath
you creature!'
The discrepancy beeen Mrs Skewton's fresh enthusiasm of words
and forlornly faded manner
was hardly less observable than that beeen her age
which was about seventy
and her dress
which would have been youthful for enty-seven. Her attitude in the wheeled chair (which she never varied) was one in which she had been taken in a barouche
some fifty years before
by a then fashionable artist who had appended to his published sketch the name of Cleopatra: in consequence of a discovery made by the critics of the time
that it bore an exact resemblance to that Princess as she reclined on board her galley. Mrs Skewton was a beauty then
and bucks threw wine-glasses over their heads by dozens in her honour. The beauty and the barouche had both passed away
but she still preserved the attitude
and for this reason expressly
maintained the wheeled chair and the butting page: there being nothing whatever
except the attitude
to prevent her from walking.
'Mr Dombey is devoted to Nature
I trust?' said Mrs Skewton
settling her diamond brooch. And by the way
she chiefly lived upon the reputation of some diamonds
and her family connexions.