狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第41章Part4

Briggs is still grinding in the mill of knowledge; and Tozer, too; and Johnson, too; and all the rest; the older pupils being principally engaged in forgetting, with prodigious labour, everything they knew when they were younger. All are as polite and as pale as ever; and among them, Mr Feeder, B.A., with his bony hand and bristly head, is still hard at it; with his Herodotus stop on just at present, and his other barrels on a shelf behind him.
A mighty sensation is created, even among these grave young gentlemen, by a visit from the emancipated Toots; who is regarded with a kind of awe, as one who has passed the Rubicon, and is pledged never to come back, and concerning the cut of whose clothes, and fashion of whose jewellery, whispers go about, behind hands; the bilious Bitherstone, who is not of Mr Toots's time, affecting to despise the latter to the smaller boys, and saying he knows better, and that he should like to see him coming that sort of thing in Bengal, where his mother had got an emerald belonging to him that was taken out of the footstool of a Rajah. Come now!Bewildering emotions are awakened also by the sight of Florence, with whom every young gentleman immediately falls in love, again; except, as aforesaid, the bilious Bitherstone, who declines to do so, out of contradiction. Black jealousies of Mr Toots arise, and Briggs is of opinion that he ain't so very old after all. But this disparaging insinuation is speedily made nought by Mr Toots saying aloud to Mr Feeder, B.A., 'How are you, Feeder?' and asking him to come and dine with him to-day at the Bedford; in right of which feats he might set up as Old Parr, if he chose, unquestioned.
There is much shaking of hands, and much bowing, and a great desire on the part of each young gentleman to take Toots down in Miss Dombey's good graces; and then, Mr Toots having bestowed a chuckle on his old desk, Florence and he withdraw with Mrs Blimber and Cornelia; and Doctor Blimber is heard to observe behind them as he comes out last, and shuts the door, 'Gentlemen, we will now resume our studies,' For that and little else is what the Doctor hears the sea say, or has heard it saying all his life.
Florence then steals away and goes upstairs to the old bedroom with Mrs Blimber and Cornelia; Mr Toots, who feels that neither he nor anybody else is wanted there, stands talking to the Doctor at the study-door, or rather hearing the Doctor talk to him, and wondering how he ever thought the study a great sanctuary, and the Doctor, with his round turned legs, like a clerical pianoforte, an awful man. Florence soon comes down and takes leave; Mr Toots takes leave; and Diogenes, who has been worrying the weak-eyed young man pitilessly all the time, shoots out at the door, and barks a glad defiance down the cliff; while Melia, and another of the Doctor's female domestics, looks out of an upper window, laughing 'at that there Toots,' and saying of Miss Dombey, 'But really though, now - ain't she like her brother, only prettier?'
Mr Toots, who saw when Florence came down that there were tears upon her face, is desperately anxious and uneasy, and at first fears that he did wrong in proposing the visit. But he is soon relieved by her saying she is very glad to have been there again, and by her talking quite cheerfully about it all, as they walked on by the sea. What with the voices there, and her sweet voice, when they come near Mr Dombey's house, and Mr Toots must leave her, he is so enslaved that he has not a scrap of free-will left; when she gives him her hand at parting, he cannot let it go.
'Miss Dombey, I beg your pardon,' says Mr Toots, in a sad fluster, 'but if you would allow me to - to -
The smiling and unconscious look of Florence brings him to a dead stop.
'If you would allow me to - if you would not consider it a liberty, Miss Dombey, if I was to - without any encouragement at all, if I was to hope, you know,' says Mr Toots.
Florence looks at him inquiringly.
'Miss Dombey,' says Mr Toots, who feels that he is in for it now, 'I really am in that state of adoration of you that I don't know what to do with myself. I am the most deplorable wretch. If it wasn't at the corner of the Square at present, I should go down on my knees, and beg and entreat of you, without any encouragement at all, just to let me hope that I may - may think it possible that you -
'Oh, if you please, don't!' cries Florence, for the moment quite alarmed and distressed. 'Oh, pray don't, Mr Toots. Stop, if you please. Don't say any more. As a kindness and a favour to me, don't.'
Mr Toots is dreadfully abashed, and his mouth opens.
'You have been so good to me,' says Florence, 'I am so grateful to you, I have such reason to like you for being a kind friend to me, and I do like you so much;' and here the ingenuous face smiles upon him with the pleasantest look of honesty in the world; 'that I am sure you are only going to say good-bye!'
'Certainly, Miss Dombey,' says Mr Toots, 'I - I - that's exactly what I mean. It's of no consequence.'
'Good-bye!' cries Florence.

布里格斯依舊在知識磨坊中推着磨；託澤也是這樣；約翰遜也是這樣；所有其他的人也都是這樣；年紀大一些的學生們所從事的，主要是通過勤奮的努力，把他們在年紀較小的時候所學到的一切東西給忘記掉。所有的人都跟過去一樣彬彬有禮，臉色跟過去一樣蒼白；在他們中間，文學士菲德先生，手瘦得皮包骨頭，頭上密生着硬發，依舊像過去一樣用功，這時候他剛剛正在教赫羅多德的著作，由他這個人爲手搖風琴演奏的其他曲譜放在他後面的一個擱架上。
解放了的圖茨前來訪問，這件事甚至在那些態度沉着的年輕先生們中間也引起了巨大的鬨動。他們敬仰地看着他，就像他是渡過盧比孔河，發誓永不回來的一位英雄一樣。大家在背地裏嘁嘁喳喳地議論着他的服裝剪裁的式樣和珠寶飾物的時新款式；可是愛發脾氣的比瑟斯通（他不是圖茨先生時期的人）卻在較小的孩子面前裝出看不起圖茨先生的樣子，說，他見識得更多，他真願意在孟加拉見到圖茨先生；他母親在孟加拉有一塊純綠寶石，是屬於他的，那是從印度王侯寶座腳底中取出來的；哎呀，那才了不起呢！看到了弗洛倫斯，這些年輕人在感情上也引起了極大的波動，每一位年輕的先生都立刻愛上了她，又是隻有上面提到的愛發脾氣的比瑟斯通一人例外；他出於反抗心，拒絕這樣做。大家對圖茨先生產生了惡意的妒嫉。布里格斯認爲，圖茨先生畢竟年紀還不算很老；可是這個貶損性的暗諷立即被圖茨先生擋架住，使它不起作用；他大聲對文學士菲德先生說，”您好，菲德！”，並邀請他今天在貝德福德旅館去跟他一起吃晚飯；由於他成功地採取了這巧妙的一招，如果他願意的話，那麼他很可以自稱爲久經世事磨練的老手，沒有人會提出異議的。盧比孔（Rubicon）河，是意大利中部的一條河流。古羅馬將軍凱撒（JuliusCae－sar，公元前100--40年）如要渡過此河，必和掌握羅馬政府大權的龐培（PompeytheGreat，公元前106-48年，羅馬將軍）一戰，因此渡過盧比孔河是指採取斷然手段，下了重大決心的行動。凱撒就是在說着”骰子已經擲下了”之後，前去渡過這條河的。
好多的握手，好多的鞠躬，每位年輕的先生都極想消除弗洛倫斯小姐對圖茨先生的寵愛；接着，圖茨先生對他舊日的課桌吃吃地笑了一聲，作爲問候；然後弗洛倫斯與他，並和布林伯夫人與科妮莉亞一起離開了；當布林伯博士最後走出來，並把門關上的時候，他們聽到他說道，”各位先生，現在我們將重新開始我們的學習。”因爲博士聽到大海所說的，或者他這一輩子聽到它所說的，就是這一句話，沒有別的話了。
然後，弗洛倫斯悄悄地走開，跟布林伯夫人和科妮莉亞一起上樓到過去那間寢室裏；圖茨先生感到不需要他或其他人到那裏去，就站在書房門口跟博士談話，或者更確切地說，聽博士對他說話；他感到奇怪，他過去怎麼曾把這個書房看成是一座偉大的神殿，並把博士看成是一位令人敬畏的人；他那圓圓的、向裏彎曲的腿就像是教堂裏的鋼琴一般。弗洛倫斯不久從樓上下來，告別了；圖茨先生告別了；戴奧吉尼斯這段時間一直在無情地想咬那位弱視的年輕人，這時衝向門口，高興地、挑釁地吠叫着，並沿着斷崖飛跑下去；而這時候梅莉亞和博士的另一位女僕則從樓上的一個窗口往外望，對着”那裏那位圖茨”大笑着，同時談到董貝小姐，說，”不過說真的，她不是很像她弟弟嗎，只是更漂亮一些！”
當弗洛倫斯下樓來的時候，圖茨先生看到她臉上掛着眼淚，感到非常焦慮不安，起初他擔心他建議進行這次訪問是不是錯了。可是他不久就放下心，因爲當他們沿着海濱向前走去的時候，她說她很高興又到這裏來，而且很高興地談着這次訪問。當他們在海浪的和她那可愛的的伴隨下，走近董貝先生的房屋，圖茨先生必須離開她的時候，他已經完全成了她的奴隸，一星半點自由的意志也沒剩下了；當她告別時向他伸出手來時，他怎麼也放不開它。
“董貝小姐，請原諒，”圖茨先生悲傷而慌亂地說道，”不過如果您肯允許我--”
弗洛倫斯的微笑的、天真無邪的神色使他立刻完全停住，講不下去了。
“如果您肯允許我--如果您不認爲這是放肆的話，董貝小姐，如果我能--在沒有得到任何鼓勵下，如果我能希望，您知道，”圖茨先生說道。
弗洛倫斯詫異地看着他。
“董貝小姐，”圖茨先生覺得他現在已經欲罷不能，只有鼓着勇氣說下去了，”說實話，我愛慕您到了這樣的地步，我真不知道沒有您我自己一個人該怎麼辦。我是個最可憐最不幸的人。如果我們現在不是站在廣場的角落裏的話，那麼我就一定跪下去，哀求您，懇請您，在沒有得到您的任何鼓勵下，僅僅給我一個希望：我可以--可以認爲這是可能的，就是您--”
“啊，請您別這樣！”弗洛倫斯感到相當驚慌和苦惱，喊道，”啊，請您別這樣，圖茨先生！請別說了。什麼也別說了。就把這作爲您對我的好意和恩惠吧，請別說了。”
圖茨先生張着嘴巴，羞愧得不得了。
“您一直來對我很好，”弗洛倫斯說道，”我十分感謝您，我有充分的理由喜歡您做我的一個好朋友，我的確是很喜歡您；”這時那張天真的臉向他浮現出世界上最愉快、最真誠的微笑，”我相信，您只不過是想對我說一聲再見罷了。”
“當然，董貝小姐，”圖茨先生說道，”我--我--這正是我想要說的。這無關緊要。”
“再見！”弗洛倫斯喊道。