狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第41章Part10

'Upon my honour, Dombey, I don't think we could do better,' says Cousin Feenix. 'It's on the spot, you see, and a very cheerful place.'
'And when,' hints Mr Dombey, 'would it be convenient?'
'I shall make a point,' says Cousin Feenix, 'of pledging myself for any day you think best. I shall have great pleasure (melancholy pleasure, of course) in following my poor aunt to the confines of the - in point of fact, to the grave,' says Cousin Feenix, failing in the other turn of speech.
'Would Monday do for leaving town?' says Mr Dombey.
'Monday would suit me to perfection,' replies Cousin Feenix. Therefore Mr Dombey arranges to take Cousin Feenix down on that day, and presently takes his leave, attended to the stairs by Cousin Feenix, who says, at parting, 'I'm really excessively sorry, Dombey, that you should have so much trouble about it;' to which Mr Dombey answers, 'Not at all.'
At the appointed time, Cousin Feenix and Mr Dombey meet, and go down to Brighton, and representing, in their two selves, all the other mourners for the deceased lady's loss, attend her remains to their place of rest. Cousin Feenix, sitting in the mourning-coach, recognises innumerable acquaintances on the road, but takes no other notice of them, in decorum, than checking them off aloud, as they go by, for Mr Dombey's information, as 'Tom Johnson. Man with cork leg, from White's. What, are you here, Tommy? Foley on a blood mare. The Smalder girls' - and so forth. At the ceremony Cousin Feenix is depressed, observing, that these are the occasions to make a man think, in point of fact, that he is getting shaky; and his eyes are really moistened, when it is over. But he soon recovers; and so do the rest of Mrs Skewton's relatives and friends, of whom the Major continually tells the club that she never did wrap up enough; while the young lady with the back, who has so much trouble with her eyelids, says, with a little scream, that she must have been enormously old, and that she died of all kinds of horrors, and you mustn't mention it.
So Edith's mother lies unmentioned of her dear friends, who are deaf to the waves that are hoarse with repetition of their mystery, and blind to the dust that is piled upon the shore, and to the white arms that are beckoning, in the moonlight, to the invisible country far away. But all goes on, as it was wont, upon the margin of the unknown sea; and Edith standing there alone, and listening to its waves, has dank weed cast up at her feet, to strew her path in life withal.

“以我的榮譽發誓，董貝，我認爲沒有比這更好的地方了，”菲尼克斯表哥說道。”就在當地，而且那是個使人賞心悅目的地方。”
“定在什麼日子合適呢？”董貝先生探問道。
“任何日子，只要是您認爲最合適的，我都保證同意。”菲尼克斯表哥說道，”跟隨我的姑媽到達那個--邊境，事實上，也就是到達墳墓，我將感到極大的愉快（當然，是憂鬱的愉快），”菲尼克斯表哥說道，其他的話他說不出來了。
“您能在星期一離開城裏嗎？”董貝先生問道。
“星期一對我完全合適，”菲尼克斯表哥回答道。因此董貝先生就約定在那天來把他送去，然後就立刻告辭了；菲尼克斯表哥把他送到樓梯口，分別時說道，”我實在非常抱歉，董貝，這件事給您添了這麼多麻煩”；董貝先生回答道，”一點也不！”
在約定的那一天，菲尼克斯表哥和董貝先生會了面，然後前去布賴頓；他們兩人代表對亡故的夫人表示哀悼的所有其他的人們，護送她的遺體到安息的地點。菲尼克斯表哥坐在靈柩車中，沿途認出無數熟人，可是他遵守禮節，沒有和他們談話，僅僅當從他們身旁經過的時候，他大聲喊出他們的名字，讓董貝先生知道；如：”湯姆?約翰遜。他有一條軟木做的腿，是懷特公司給做的。怎麼，湯米，您在這裏呀？弗利，他騎一匹純種的母馬。這是斯莫德爾的姑娘們”，等等。在舉行葬禮時，菲尼克斯表哥情緒低落；他說，在這種場合，一個人不由得會想到，他的身體事實上已逐漸衰弱了；當儀式結束時，他的眼睛確實是淚汪汪的。但是他很快就恢復了精神；斯丘頓夫人的其他親友們也跟他一樣；其中少校在俱樂部裏反覆地講，她從來不把衣服穿嚴實；那位光裸着後背、打扮得十分年輕、費很大勁才能撐開眼皮的夫人則輕輕地頭叫了一聲，說，她一定非常衰老了；她是得了各種最可怕的病死去的；您應該別提起它了。
就這樣，伊迪絲的母親躺在那裏，不再被她親愛的朋友們提起，他們聽不見海浪嘶啞地重複着它那神祕的語言，看不見沙子堆積在岸上，看不見白色的胳膊在月光下向遠方看不見的國家打着招呼。可是在這未知的海洋的邊緣，一切都像往常一樣進行着；伊迪絲獨自站在那裏，聽着海浪的；潮溼的海藻漂打到她的腳邊，而且也撒佈在她的生活道路上。