書蟲6級《名利場》第七章: 團(tuán)聚、爭吵及其他家事

Pitt Crawley was astonished to receive such a pleasant letter from his brother Rawdon. His wife Lady Jane, a gentle, kindly woman, was delighted, and expected that Pitt would immediately divide his aunt's inheritance into two equal parts and send one to his brother.

皮特·克勞利收到他弟弟羅頓禮貌且友善的來信，感到非常意外。他的妻子簡女士是個溫柔善良的人，收到信她十分歡喜，希望皮特馬上把他姑姑的遺產(chǎn)平分，一份送給他弟弟。

Pitt did not feel the need to send a cheque to Rawdon for thirty thousand pounds, but he did write back in a friendly manner, promising to help his brother and his family if he could.

皮特覺得沒有必要送給羅頓一張三萬英鎊的支票，但他還是友好地回了信，許諾說會盡量幫助他的弟弟和家人。

Rawdon carried the letter to Becky in her bedroom -- with her cup of chocolate, which he always took to her every morning.

羅頓拿著信去貝姬的臥室，還端著一杯巧克力飲料。他每天早晨總會給她送一杯。

The brothers did not meet for some time, however. Since the death of Miss Crawley, Pitt and Lady Jane had been living down at Queen's Crawley, where Becky had gone as governess years before. Her former employer, Sir Pitt Crawley, was still alive, but even more disagreeable than he used to be, and when he finally died a few years later, none of his family felt any great sorrow.

不過，兩兄弟隔了一段時間才見面。自從克勞利小姐去世后，皮特和簡女士就一直在昆士克勞利居住，那里正是多年前貝姬做家庭教師的地方。她的老雇主皮特·克勞利爵士仍然健在，但是比過去更惹人厭煩了。幾年后他去世時，家里人沒有誰覺得悲痛。

In fact, when the black-edged invitation to the funeral arrived in Curzon Street, the reactions were very far from sorrowful.

實(shí)際上，當(dāng)黑邊的葬禮邀請函到達(dá)柯曾大街時，其引起的反應(yīng)跟悲痛絲毫不沾邊。

"Of course we're going, you silly man!" cried Becky, jumping up in delight. "Your brother is now Sir Pitt, and a Member of Parliament. I want Lady Jane to present me at court next year, and I want Sir Pitt to get you a position of some importance -- the Governor of the West Indies, or something like that. We must order our black clothes for the funeral at once."

“我們當(dāng)然要去，你這個傻瓜！”貝姬喊道，高興得跳了起來。“你哥哥現(xiàn)在是皮特爵士 了，還是下院議員。我想讓簡女士明年把我引見給王公貴族，還想讓皮特爵士給你安排個重要職務(wù)——西印度群島總督，或者其他類似職務(wù)。我們得趕快訂購參加葬禮用的黑色禮服。”

"We don't have to go, do we, Becky?" he said. "Pitt bores me to death, and a carriage there and back will cost too much."

“我們不是非得去，對吧，貝姬？”他說，“皮特乏味得要命，而且一輛馬車來回的花費(fèi)太大了。”

"Little Rawdy comes too, of course," said her husband.

“小羅迪當(dāng)然也去。”她丈夫說。

"Of course not! Why pay for a third seat in the carriage?"

“當(dāng)然不去！為什么要再花一份坐票的錢呢？”

"What I should like to do first," Becky said, in a soft little voice, "is to see your dear little children."

“我想先看看你親愛的孩子們。”貝姬溫柔地說。

It was a great moment when the two Crawley brothers met again at last. The new Sir Pitt shook his brother warmly by the hand, while Lady Jane took both Becky's hands, and kissed her.

最終，克勞利兩兄弟再次聚首，場面十分美好。新皮特爵士熱情地同弟弟握手，簡女士則拉著貝姬的雙手，親吻她。

This mark of kindness brought tears to Becky's eyes, which was a rare event. When Lady Jane took Becky to her room, Becky at once began work on earning her sister-in-law's approval.

善意的舉動令貝姬熱淚盈眶，這可是很罕見的。簡女士帶貝姬去她房間時，貝姬立刻開始施展魅力，以求贏得她妯娌的心。

This request pleased Lady Jane very much. She led Becky away to meet her daughter and son, aged four and two, and in no time at all, she and Becky were close and affectionate friends.

這個請求使簡女士大為高興。她帶著貝姬去看她的女兒和兒子，他們分別是四歲和兩歲。不消一會兒工夫，她和貝姬就成了親密無間的好朋友。

"You must be so sad," Lady Jane said sympathetically, "to have left your little boy in London."

“你一定很傷心吧，”簡女士同情地說，“把你的小寶貝留在倫敦。”

"Dear, dear Rawdy!" sighed Becky. "I miss him so much."

“我親愛的，親愛的羅迪！”貝姬嘆了口氣，“我太想他了。”

It was fortunate that her husband did not hear this remark as it would have surprised him greatly. He was very fond of his son. He saw Rawdy every day at home, bought him presents and toys, played with him whenever he could. His mother took no notice of the boy at all. When he cried at night, it was a servant who came and took him to her room to comfort him.

幸好她丈夫沒有聽到她這番話，否則一定會驚訝不已。他非常愛自己的兒子。他每天在家都要見羅迪，給他買禮物和玩具，一有機(jī)會就陪他玩。孩子的母親則對他不聞不問。他晚上哭泣，也是一個仆人把他帶到她自己的房間哄他。

Rawdon and Becky spent several days at Queen's Crawley, and it was time well spent. Lady Jane thought Becky was delightful, and Sir Pitt also approved of her. She had shown interest in his ambitions for government, and made admiring comments on his political ideas, which he had found very agreeable.

羅頓和貝姬在昆士克勞利住了幾天，收獲頗豐。簡女士覺得貝姬討人喜歡，皮特爵士也接受了她。她對他從政的抱負(fù)顯示出興趣，對他的政治主張表示贊賞，這很討皮特爵士的喜歡。

"I did not like the marriage at the time," he told his wife, "but it has improved Rawdon very much."

“當(dāng)初我不贊成這樁婚事。”他告訴妻子，“不過結(jié)婚讓羅頓變成熟了許多。”

"It isn't difficult to be a country gentleman's wife," she said to Rawdon in the carriage returning to London. "I think I could be a good woman if I had five thousand a year."

“做個鄉(xiāng)紳的妻子沒什么難的。”在返回倫敦的馬車上，她對羅頓說，“我要是一年有五千英鎊，我也能當(dāng)個好主婦。”

Rawdon was almost sorry to leave, but Becky was glad to escape from playing the part of a dutiful sister-in-law -- listening with interest to dull conversations, inspecting the fruit garden, visiting sick villagers with soup and encouragement.

羅頓幾乎要為離開而感到遺憾，但貝姬卻很高興，因為她再也不用扮演賢弟媳的角色——要興致勃勃地聽那些無聊的談話，視察果園，帶著湯去慰問鼓勵那些生病的村民。

"Mm," said Rawdon. "I wish you'd got some money out of Pitt, though. I'd like to pay the landlord some of the rent we owe. It isn't right, you know, that his family should starve because of us."

“呣。”羅頓說，“我倒希望你從皮特那里得了些錢。我想把拖欠的房租付一部分給房東。你知道，要是他一家因為我們的緣故而挨餓，這怎么說得過去。”

This Lord Steyne was one of Becky's admirers in London. High-society women still ignored her, but the men crowded to Mrs Crawley's little house, where the suppers were excellent, and the conversation brilliant. And where many of them, of course, lost money at the card-tables to Colonel Crawley.

這位斯泰恩勛爵是貝姬在倫敦的仰慕者之一。雖然上流社會的太太們?nèi)圆焕聿撬?，但男士們卻蜂擁至克勞利夫人的小家。那里的晚餐精美可口，談話精彩有趣。當(dāng)然，其中許多人在牌桌上把錢輸給了克勞利上校。

"Pitt gave me this for Rawdy," Becky said. It was a cheque for a small amount. "Give it to the landlord. We've been invited to Queen's Crawley for Christmas -- perhaps Pitt will do something for you then. Or next year, when they come to London. Until then we must manage on your winnings at cards. And perhaps Lord Steyne will hear of a position for you."

“皮特給了我這個，送給羅迪的。”貝姬說。那是一張小額支票。“把這個給房東吧。我們已經(jīng)受邀去昆士克勞利過圣誕節(jié)，沒準(zhǔn)兒那時皮特會為你做點(diǎn)什么的，或者是明年他們來倫敦的時候。在那之前，我們只能靠你在牌桌上贏來的錢過活了。也許斯泰恩勛爵會幫你打聽個職位。”

Becky amused Lord Steyne. He admired her charm and her intelligence and her cunning, which he saw was equal to his own, and her artful lies gave him much entertainment. He laughed a great deal at Becky's account of her time at Queen's Crawley.

貝姬能逗斯泰恩勛爵開心。他欣賞她的魅力、智慧和狡黠，覺得和他旗鼓相當(dāng)。她巧妙的謊話也給了他許多樂趣。貝姬在講述昆士克勞利的生活時，他時常捧腹大笑。

Not Lord Steyne, however, who was no fool. He was a short, ugly man, disliked by many for his cruel tongue and his evil reputation. But he was extremely wealthy, belonged to one of the grandest families in England, and dined with the Prince of Wales. It comforted the poor landlord to see Lord Steyne's carriage outside the Crawleys' door. With such rich friends, he thought, they were sure to pay his rent one day…

然而斯泰恩勛爵不在其中，他可不傻。他個子矮小，長相丑陋，由于說話刻薄，聲名狼藉，素來為人所不喜。但是他極為富有，出身英格蘭最負(fù)名望的家族之一，還和威爾士親王用過膳。可憐的房東看見斯泰恩勛爵的馬車停在克勞利家門前，心中略感安慰。他想，他們有這么富有的朋友，總有一天一定會付給他房租的……

Lord Steyne laughed again. "And you, my pretty lady, were bored to tears by them all. Come now, admit it, Mrs Crawley!"

斯泰恩勛爵又笑了：“而你呢，我可愛的女士，被他們煩得要哭了吧。得了，承認(rèn)吧，克勞利夫人！”

Becky gave a wicked little smile, but would admit nothing, and after taking some tea, Lord Steyne went away. On the way out he met Rawdon, and greeted him in his usual manner.

貝姬露出一絲壞笑，但什么也不肯承認(rèn)。喝過茶，斯泰恩勛爵離開了。出門時他碰到了羅頓，像平時一樣和他打招呼。

"They are very good people," said Becky sternly. "You should not laugh at them."

“他們是很好的人。”貝姬嚴(yán)肅地說，“你不應(yīng)該嘲笑他們。”

"I should like to see you visiting the sick," he said, "and being polite to those dull relations of your husband's."

“我想看看你怎么探望病人，”他說，“怎么彬彬有禮地對待你丈夫那些乏味的親戚的。”

"Some gentlemen are coming tonight who would bore you," she would say. "I only invite them because they have influence and can help you. And now I have a companion, there's no need for you to be here."

“一些紳士今晚過來，他們會讓你感到無聊。”她會這么說，“我邀請他們，是因為他們有權(quán)勢能幫到你?，F(xiàn)在我有女伴了，你就沒必要待在這兒了。”

Rawdon was still very fond of his wife. He admired her brilliance and her clever conversation, and obeyed her orders without question. But he had few interests apart from gambling and horses, and was glad whenever Becky released him from his social duties and sent him off to dine with his friends.

羅頓仍然深愛著他的妻子。他愛慕她的才華、她機(jī)靈的言談，按她說的行事，從不質(zhì)疑。但是除了賭博和騎馬，他沒什么其他興趣。每當(dāng)貝姬不要求他社交應(yīng)酬，讓他和自己的朋友吃飯，他就很高興。

"How is Mrs Crawley's husband?" he would say, and indeed, in London that is what Rawdon had become. He was Colonel Crawley no more; he was Mrs Crawley's husband.

他問：“克勞利夫人的丈夫好嗎？”的確，在倫敦這就是羅頓的稱呼。他不再是克勞利上校了，他是克勞利夫人的丈夫。

The companion was Miss Briggs, who had been companion to Rawdon's aunt until that lady died. Becky, hearing that Miss Briggs had inherited some money from Miss Crawley, had invited her to Curzon Street as her companion. Miss Briggs's friends warned her against the Crawleys, but Miss Briggs went to live with Mrs Rawdon the next week, and had lent Rawdon Crawley six hundred pounds before six months were over.

這位女伴是布里格斯小姐，一直陪伴羅頓的姑姑直到她去世。貝姬聽說布里格斯小姐從克勞利小姐那里繼承了一些錢，就邀請她來柯曾大街陪伴自己。布里格斯小姐的朋友們警告她小心克勞利夫婦，但她一周后就和羅頓夫人住在了一起。不到半年，她就已經(jīng)借給羅頓·克勞利六百英鎊了。

For two years she had hardly spoken to him. She disliked him, and he bored her. One day, attracted by the sound of his mother's voice singing, he came quietly downstairs. The drawing-room door opened suddenly and revealed the boy standing there, listening in delight to the music.

兩年了她很少和他說話。她不喜歡他，覺得他煩。一天，他被母親唱歌的聲音吸引，悄悄地走下樓。客廳的門突然開了，大家發(fā)現(xiàn)小男孩正站在那里，滿心歡喜地聽著音樂。

Her presence in the house made it possible for Becky to receive gentlemen visitors when her husband was not at home, and although Lord Steyne often growled at her "watch-dog", as he called Miss Briggs, Becky only laughed.

布里格斯小姐的存在使得貝姬可以在羅頓外出時也接待男士訪客了。盡管斯泰恩勛爵經(jīng)常沖她的“看門狗”（他如此稱呼布里格斯小姐）大吼，但貝姬也只是笑笑。

"It isn't because it hurts," he said, crying bitterly, "but why can't I listen to her singing? She sings to that bald-headed man with the big teeth. Why doesn't she sing to me?"

“我哭不是因為疼。”他傷心地哭著說，“為什么我不能聽她唱歌？她給那個長著大板牙的禿頂男人唱歌。她為什么不給我唱？”

His mother came out and struck him violently on the ear. He heard a laugh from Lord Steyne inside the room (who was amused by this display of Becky's bad temper), and he ran away, down to his friends the servants in the kitchen.

他母親走出來，狠狠地打了他一耳光。他聽到客廳里斯泰恩勛爵一聲大笑（勛爵覺得貝姬發(fā)脾氣很有意思），然后就跑開了，去樓下廚房找他的仆人朋友們。

Miss Briggs also helped to look after little Rawdon. He was now seven years old, a fine, strong boy, with a gentle nature, fond of everyone who was good to him, especially Miss Briggs and his father. He no longer thought of his mother in that way.

布里格斯小姐還幫忙照看小羅頓。他現(xiàn)在七歲了，相貌清秀，身體健壯，性情溫和，對他好的人他都喜歡，尤其是布里格斯小姐和他的父親。他再也不認(rèn)為母親待他好了。

"He's the finest boy in England," he said, "but you don't seem to love him as much as you do your little dog. He won't bother you much. He'll be with the other children all the time, and on the journey he can ride outside on the coach with me."

“他是英格蘭最棒的男孩子。”羅頓說，“但是你似乎愛他還沒愛你的小狗那么多。他不會怎么打擾你的。到那里后，他會一直和其他孩子在一起。在路上，他可以和我一起坐在車廂外面。”

When Christmas came and the visit to Queen's Crawley, Becky wanted to leave the child behind, but Lady Jane insisted that he came too. Rawdon complained at Becky's neglect of their son.

圣誕到了，該去昆士克勞利拜訪，貝姬想把孩子留下，但是簡女士堅持讓她帶著孩子一起去。羅頓抱怨貝姬不在意孩子。

From that day Becky hated her son. And the boy began to feel fear and doubt. He knew that this man was his enemy. Whenever they met, Lord Steyne would make some nasty remark, and in return, the child would stare hard at him and put his hands up as though to fight him.

從那天起，貝姬討厭她的兒子。男孩開始疑懼不安。他明白那個男人是他的敵人。只要他們一碰面，斯泰恩勛爵都會說些難聽話，而孩子就死死地盯著他，舉起手，擺出一副要和他打架的樣子。

"You only sit outside on the coach so you can smoke those awful cigars," said Becky.

“你坐在外面就是為了抽你的臭雪茄罷了。”貝姬說。

His wife laughed. "That was before we were married," she said.

他的妻子笑了。“那是在我們結(jié)婚之前。”她說。

"You always used to like the smell of cigars," Rawdon said.

“你過去一直都喜歡雪茄味的。”羅頓說。

So little Rawdon accompanied them to Queen's Crawley, and he loved every minute. When they arrived, Sir Pitt and Lady Jane and their children were there to welcome them in the hall, and the little girl, Matilda, shyly kissed Rawdy on the cheek.

就這樣，小羅頓和他們一道去了昆士克勞利，他享受在那里的每分每秒。他們到時，皮特爵士、簡女士和孩子們在大廳里迎接他們，小女孩瑪?shù)贍栠_(dá)羞澀地親吻了羅迪的面頰。

The children were soon firm friends, with Rawdy, who was the oldest, the leader in all their games. He also loved going with his father to the stables, or helping in the hunt for rats in the farm buildings. But best of all, he loved his Aunt Jane, who was so kind to him. He even allowed her to kiss him sometimes. In the evenings, after dinner, when the ladies went to the drawing-room and left the gentlemen to drink their wine, he always preferred to sit near his Aunt Jane, rather than his mother.

孩子們很快就成了好朋友，他們中羅迪年紀(jì)最大，在所有的游戲中都是帶頭人。他也喜歡陪父親去馬廄，或者幫忙在農(nóng)舍里捉老鼠。但他最喜歡的還是簡伯母，她對他好極了。他有時甚至允許簡伯母吻他。吃過晚飯后，女士們起身去客廳，留下男士們喝葡萄酒，這時候他總是愿意坐在簡伯母身邊，而不是母親身旁。

After that day Lady Jane and Becky were never quite so friendly. There was a coolness in the air, and Lady Jane began to feel that her husband was paying Becky too much attention. They spent hours in his study, discussing his political ambitions and plans -- subjects that Sir Pitt never mentioned to his wife.

打那天起，簡女士和貝姬的關(guān)系就沒有那么友好了。兩人之間氣氛冷淡，簡女士開始覺得她丈夫?qū)ω惣н^分關(guān)注了。他們在書房里一待就是好幾個小時，討論他的政治抱負(fù)和愿景，而這些話題皮特爵士從來沒向妻子提起過。

He looked her full in the face after the kiss, trembling and turning very red. "You never kiss me at home, mama," he said.

親吻結(jié)束后，他直視著她的臉，渾身顫抖，滿臉通紅。“你在家從來不吻我，媽媽。”他說。

One evening when there were guests, Becky, having noticed that Lady Jane and the other ladies were in the habit of kissing their children, called her son over to her and kissed him.

一天晚上，有客來訪，貝姬注意到簡女士和其他女士都有親吻自己孩子的習(xí)慣，于是她把兒子叫到身邊也吻了他。

An embarrassed silence fell in the room, and there was a rather unpleasant look in Becky's eyes.

房間里陷入一陣尷尬的沉默。貝姬的眼神頗顯不悅。

While Becky was busily making new friends and new enemies, her former friend Amelia found her social circle was shrinking. Dobbin had gone to India, and her brother Joseph had returned to his job there soon after the Battle of Waterloo. Perhaps he had been afraid that his terrified flight from Brussels might be talked about and laughed at. However, he made an allowance to his parents of a hundred and twenty pounds a year, paid monthly through his London agent.

在貝姬忙于結(jié)交新朋友、樹立新敵人之時，她以前的朋友阿梅莉亞發(fā)現(xiàn)自己的社交圈子越來越小了。多賓去了印度，她哥哥約瑟夫在滑鐵盧戰(zhàn)役后不久也回到那里工作?；蛟S，他擔(dān)心自己倉皇逃離布魯塞爾的事可能會被人議論和恥笑。盡管如此，他每年給父母補(bǔ)貼一百二十英鎊，通過他在倫敦的經(jīng)紀(jì)人按月支付。

Rawdon had become fond of his sister-in-law because she was so kind to his son, and when the holiday was over, both he and his son were sad to leave. The ladies, however, said goodbye to each other with less sadness. Becky was keen to return to the bright lights of London. She was bored with the country and bored with the sweet and gentle Lady Jane, though of course she was careful not to reveal this, as she needed Lady Jane to present her at court. She was determined to climb the social ladder as high as she could, determined to show those proud, stiff-necked society women that she, Rebecca Sharp, daughter of a drawing-teacher, could outshine them all in social brilliance.

羅頓漸漸喜歡上他的大嫂，因為她對他的兒子很好。假期結(jié)束時，父子倆都舍不得離開。然而，兩位女士道別就沒有那么傷感了。貝姬渴望回到倫敦的燈火輝煌之中。她厭倦了鄉(xiāng)下，也厭倦了溫柔甜美的簡女士。當(dāng)然了，她很小心沒有將厭倦之情顯露出來，因為她需要簡女士引見她入宮。她下定決心要盡她所能往上爬，讓那些傲慢的、死心眼的貴婦們知道：她，麗貝卡·夏普，一名繪畫教師的女兒，在任何社交場合上都能讓她們黯然失色。

Amelia seized the baby out of her mother's arms, then grabbed the bottle of medicine and sent it crashing into the fireplace.

阿梅莉亞從她母親懷里奪過孩子，然后抓起藥瓶，扔到壁爐里砸碎了。

Mr Sedley borrowed money to try to recover his lost fortune, but his attempts to start new businesses became more and more foolish, and he lost the money he had borrowed. Amelia had a small widow's pension, and with Joseph's money, the little family had just enough to live on.

塞德利先生借錢試圖賺回失去的財富，但是他的新生意越做越差，最后連借的錢也賠光了。阿梅莉亞有一小筆遺孀撫恤金，加上約瑟夫的錢，這一家人只能勉強(qiáng)度日。

Amelia's whole life was centred on her son Georgy. She was extremely possessive about him, and wanted to do everything for him herself. Once, when Georgy was still a baby, she came into her room and found her mother giving the child a spoonful of Daffy's Special Baby Medicine.

阿梅莉亞的生活重心全都放在她的兒子喬基身上。她對兒子的占有欲極強(qiáng)，事事都想親力親為。有一次，喬基還是個小寶寶時，她走進(jìn)房間，見到她母親正在給孩子喂一勺達(dá)菲牌特效嬰兒藥水。

"Very good; you think I'm a murderess," said Mrs Sedley. "I have met with misfortunes; I have sunk low in life; but I did not know I was a murderess before, and thank you for the news."

“好啊，你覺得我是個殺人犯。”塞德利夫人說，“我遭遇了諸多不幸，我的生活也一落千丈，但我還不知道自己竟是個殺人犯，多謝你告訴我這個新聞。”

"Georgy shall not have any medicine unless the doctor approves of it. And he told me that Daffy's was poison."

“除非醫(yī)生許可，否則喬基什么藥都不能吃。醫(yī)生告訴我，達(dá)菲牌的藥是毒藥。”

"I will not have my baby poisoned, mama!" she cried.

“我不 會讓別人給我的孩子下毒，媽媽！”她大聲喊。

"Poisoned, Amelia?" said the old lady. "What are you saying?"

“下毒，阿梅莉亞？”老夫人問，“你在說什么啊？”

"Oh no, my love, -- only that I was a murderess. Though I didn't poison you when you were a child. A murderess, indeed! May God forgive you, you wicked, ungrateful girl!"

“不，不，我親愛的孩子——你只不過說我是個殺人犯。你還是小孩子的時候，我倒是沒有毒死你。一個殺人犯，哈！愿上帝寬恕你，你這個不知感恩的壞姑娘！”

"Oh, mama," said the poor girl, "I didn't mean --"

“唉，媽媽。”可憐的姑娘說，“我不是這個意思——”

After this, there was a coolness between mother and daughter that never really went away. Mrs Sedley had little to do with her grandson and was frequently critical of her daughter.

母女之間從此變得生疏了，一直都沒有好轉(zhuǎn)。塞德利夫人幾乎不管她的外孫，而且頻頻指責(zé)她的女兒。

Georgy grew up to look very like his father, and Amelia spoke to him constantly of her love for her dead husband, whose picture hung on the wall above her bed, and was cleaned daily.

喬基長大后很像他的父親，阿梅莉亞常常向他說起她對亡夫的愛。她把丈夫的畫像掛在床前的墻上，每天都擦拭一番。

Amelia was not without admirers in her little social circle. She was not brilliant, nor clever, nor wise, nor very pretty, but men were always charmed by her. Perhaps it was her weakness and her sweet nature that made men want to protect her. But it was certain that young Mr Linton, the doctor's assistant, was her willing slave. He sat up through the night with Georgy during his childhood illnesses, and would call in at any time, without a fee, if Mrs Osborne was at all worried about her darling boy.

阿梅莉亞在她的小社交圈里并非沒有仰慕者。她并不才華出眾，也不聰明伶俐，更非貌美如花，但男人們總是被她迷住。也許正是她柔弱甜美的氣質(zhì)讓男人想保護(hù)她。不過可以確定的是，年輕的醫(yī)生助理林頓先生心甘情愿當(dāng)她的奴隸。喬基年幼得病時，他通宵守在身邊。但凡奧斯本夫人有一丁點(diǎn)擔(dān)心她可愛的孩子，他都會隨時應(yīng)召前來，而且不收費(fèi)用。

"It's quite obvious," Mrs Sedley remarked to the landlady, "that Major Dobbin is in love with her, but whenever I mention the fact, she begins to cry, and goes and sits upstairs with her little picture of George. I'm sick of that picture. I wish we'd never seen those horrid, proud Osbornes."

“事情相當(dāng)明顯。”塞德利夫人對房東太太說，“多賓少校愛上她了，但是每次我跟她提起這件事，她就開始哭，然后就上樓守著她那張喬治的畫像呆坐著。我煩死那張畫像了。我希望我們從來都沒遇見過那些令人討厭又自大的奧斯本家人。”

Amelia kept her promise to Dobbin and wrote to him two or three times a year -- letters all about little Georgy. Dobbin was delighted to receive these letters, and always replied. He sent many gifts too -- beautiful Indian shawls for Amelia and her mother, wonderful carved wooden animals for Georgy.

阿梅莉亞遵守對多賓的承諾，每年給他寫兩三封信，信里寫的全是小喬基的事。多賓收到信很高興，而且總會回復(fù)。他也寄去很多禮物——給阿梅莉亞和她母親的漂亮印度披肩，給喬基的精致木雕動物。

Dobbin's letters continued to take a close interest in Georgy, asking about his reading and writing, wanting to know if he was going to school, and offering to help with the fees.

多賓的來信繼續(xù)密切關(guān)注著喬基，詢問他讀書和寫字的情況，想知道他要不要去上學(xué)，提出愿意幫助出學(xué)費(fèi)。

Georgy grew up surrounded by love, ruling the little world around him, including his gentle mother, whom he loved with a passionate affection. Everyone was amazed at how like his father he was -- the same face, the same hair, even the same pride.

喬基在愛的包圍中長大，統(tǒng)治著身邊的小小世界，其中包括了他溫柔的母親，他對她尤為熱愛。人們不禁詫異，他長得太像他父親了——同樣的臉龐，同樣的頭發(fā)，甚至連驕矜都是一樣的。

"Oh!" said Amelia. She was very, ver y happy indeed. But her eyes seemed a little damp, and she was strangely silent for the rest of the day -- though she was very happy indeed at the news.

“噢！”阿梅莉亞說。她的確非常 開心?？墒撬难劬λ坪跤行駶?，那天后來的時間里她也表現(xiàn)得異常沉默——盡管她得知那個消息確實(shí)非常開心。

Sometimes his sister, Miss Dobbin (no doubt on her brother's instructions), came to visit Amelia and Georgy; and sometimes she begged that the boy might spend a day with her at home. Unwillingly, Amelia agreed to this, but Georgy loved his days at Miss Dobbin's home, where there was a wonderful garden to play in, and wonderful fruit to eat from the hot-houses.

有時他的妹妹多賓小姐（無疑是在他的指示下）來看望阿梅莉亞和喬基，有時她懇求讓喬基去她家待一天。盡管不情愿，阿梅莉亞還是同意了，不過喬基很喜歡在多賓小姐家里的日子。她家有一個很漂亮的花園，可以在里面玩耍，溫室里還有很美味的水果可以吃。

"Oh, no," his sister replied. "Not at all. But I have very good reason to believe that dear William is about to be married -- to a most lovely girl, everybody says."

“啊，不。”他妹妹回答，“不是的。但是我有充足的理由相信，親愛的威廉要結(jié)婚了——和一個非常可愛的女孩，大家都這么說。”

One day Miss Dobbin arrived with some very interesting news about her brother William that she was sure would delight Amelia.

一天，多賓小姐來訪，帶來了某個有關(guān)她哥哥威廉的新聞，十分 有意思，她肯 定 阿梅莉亞聽了后會很高興的。

"Is he coming home?" Amelia asked, looking pleased.

“他要回來了嗎？”阿梅莉亞問，看上去很開心。