狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第28章Part 4

Doctor and Mrs Blimber, accompanied (much against his will) by their valued charge, Master Barnet, were already gone back to Brighton, where that young gentleman and his fellow-pilgrims to Parnassus were then, no doubt, in the continual resumption of their studies. The holiday time was past and over; most of the juvenile guests at the villa had taken their departure; and Florence's long visit was come to an end.
There was one guest, however, albeit not resident within the house, who had been very constant in his attentions to the family, and who still remained devoted to them. This was Mr Toots, who after renewing, some weeks ago, the acquaintance he had had the happiness of forming with Skettles Junior, on the night when he burst the Blimberian bonds and soared into freedom with his ring on, called regularly every other day, and left a perfect pack of cards at the hall-door; so many indeed, that the ceremony was quite a deal on the part of Mr Toots, and a hand at whist on the part of the servant.
Mr Toots, likewise, with the bold and happy idea of preventing the family from forgetting him (but there is reason to suppose that this expedient originated in the teeming brain of the Chicken), had established a six-oared cutter, manned by aquatic friends of the Chicken's and steered by that illustrious character in person, who wore a bright red fireman's coat for the purpose, and concealed the perpetual black eye with which he was afflicted, beneath a green shade. Previous to the institution of this equipage, Mr Toots sounded the Chicken on a hypothetical case, as, supposing the Chicken to be enamoured of a young lady named Mary, and to have conceived the intention of starting a boat of his own, what would he call that boat? The Chicken replied, with divers strong asseverations, that he would either christen it Poll or The Chicken's Delight. Improving on this idea, Mr Toots, after deep study and the exercise of much invention, resolved to call his boat The Toots's Joy, as a delicate compliment to Florence,
of which no man knowing the parties, could possibly miss the appreciation.
Stretched on a crimson cushion in his gallant bark, with his shoes in the air, Mr Toots, in the exercise of his project, had come up the river, day after day, and week after week, and had flitted to and fro, near Sir Barnet's garden, and had caused his crew to cut across and across the river at sharp angles, for his better exhibition to any lookers-out from Sir Barnet's windows, and had had such evolutions performed by the Toots's Joy as had filled all the neighbouring part of the water-side with astonishment. But whenever he saw anyone in Sir Barnet's garden on the brink of the river, Mr Toots always feigned to be passing there, by a combination of coincidences of the most singular and unlikely description.
'How are you, Toots?' Sir Barnet would say, waving his hand from the lawn, while the artful Chicken steered close in shore.
'How de do, Sir Barnet?' Mr Toots would answer, What a surprising thing that I should see you here!'
Mr Toots, in his sagacity, always said this, as if, instead of that being Sir Barnet's house, it were some deserted edifice on the banks of the Nile, or Ganges.
'I never was so surprised!' Mr Toots would exclaim. - 'Is Miss Dombey there?'
Whereupon Florence would appear, perhaps.

布林伯博士和夫人，在他們尊貴的弟子巴尼特少爺的陪同（這是十分違反他心願的）下，早已回到布賴頓；這位小先生和跟他同去帕納薩斯朝聖的伴侶們無疑早已在那裏繼續他們的攻讀。假期早已過去了；別墅中大部分年輕的客人們都已離開；弗洛倫斯這長時間的拜訪也將要結束了。
不過，有一位客人雖然沒有居住在巴尼特爵士的家裏，但卻始終如一地對這家人表示關切，並仍和過去一樣對他們忠心耿耿。這就是圖茨先生。他在掙脫布林伯枷鎖，並戴着戒指高飛進自由王國的那一天晚上，有幸認識了小斯克特爾斯；他在幾個星期以前重敘了這一交情之後，每隔一天就準時前來看望一次，並在門廳的門口留下一大堆名片；名片的數量實在多極了，因此這個表示禮儀的方式使人想起了惠斯特牌①，圖茨先生像是在配牌，僕人則像是個玩牌的對手。
圖茨先生爲了使這家人不會忘記他，還採用了一個大膽的、巧妙的主意（不過，有理由設想，這個辦法是從鬥雞足智多謀的腦袋中產生的）：他購置了一條六個槳的單桅帆船；鬥雞的水上運動的朋友們充任船員，那位傑出的英雄親自把舵；他爲了這個目的穿了一件鮮紅的消防隊員的短外衣，並用綠色的遮陽掩蓋眼睛周圍永久性的青紫斑；在給這條船裝備用品之前，圖茨先生曾試探鬥雞對這樣一個假想的情況的意見：假定鬥雞迷戀上一位名叫瑪麗的姑娘，心裏正打算自己弄一條船，那麼他將把那條船取個什麼名字呢？鬥雞斬釘截鐵、發誓賭咒地回答說，他將把它命名爲“波爾”②或“鬥雞的喜悅”。圖茨先生把這個想法加以改進，在深深思索並充分發揮創造才能之後，決定把他的單桅帆船稱爲“圖茨的歡樂”——這是對弗洛倫斯的巧妙頌辭，凡是知道他們的人沒有一個不對它表示讚許的。
圖茨先生躺在他的華麗的帆船中的一個深紅色的靠墊上，腳蹺在空中，在執行他的計劃的過程中，一天又一天，一星期又一星期，向上遊划來，在巴尼特爵士花園附近來來去去；他命令他的船員們一次又一次沿着銳角方向穿過河流，以便從巴尼特爵士窗口往外看的人們可以更好地看到他；他還讓“圖茨的歡樂”進行各種演習，使河岸附近的居民看得目瞪口呆。可是每當他看到巴尼特爵士花園裏的什麼人待在河邊的時候，圖茨先生總是假裝成由於一些情況的巧合而劃過那裏，這種巧合是非常離奇古怪和不大可能發生的。
“您好嗎，圖茨？”巴尼特爵士會從草坪上向他揮着手，說道。這時機靈的鬥雞就直向岸邊劃去。
“您好，巴尼特爵士！”圖茨先生回答道，“多麼令人驚奇的事呀，我會在這裏遇見您！”
圖茨先生以他特有的聰明，經常這樣說，彷彿這裏不是巴尼特爵士的住宅，而是尼羅河或恆河上的一座什麼荒廢的大廈似的。
“我從沒感到這麼驚奇的！”圖茨先生會驚叫道，“董貝小姐在這裏嗎？”
也許弗洛倫斯隨後就會到這裏來。