雙語小說連載:《董貝父子》第8章 Part 3

On one of these occasions, when they had both been perfectly quiet for a long time, and Mr Dombey only knew that the child was awake by occasionally glancing at his eye, where the bright fire was sparkling like a jewel, little Paul broke silence thus:
'Papa! what's Money?'
有一次他們兩人一言不發地沉默了很久，董貝先生只是由於偶爾往他的眼睛看上一眼，看到他眼中的亮光像珠子一樣閃耀，因此知道他沒有睡着，這時候，小保羅這樣打破了沉默：
“爸爸，錢是什麼？”
The abrupt question had such immediate reference to the subject of Mr Dombey's thoughts, that Mr Dombey was quite disconcerted.
這個突然提出的問題跟董貝先生正在思考的問題十分直接地聯結着，因此董貝先生感到困窘。
'What is money, Paul?' he answered. 'Money?'
“你問錢是什麼嗎，保羅？”他回答道。“錢？”
'Yes,' said the child, laying his hands upon the elbows of his little chair, and turning the old face up towards Mr Dombey's; 'what is money?'
“是的，”孩子把手擱在小椅子的扶手上，擡起他那老氣橫秋的臉，望着董貝先生的臉，說道，“錢是什麼？”
Mr Dombey was in a difficulty. He would have liked to give him some explanation involving the terms circulating-medium, currency, depreciation of currency', paper, bullion, rates of exchange, value of precious metals in the market, and so forth; but looking down at the little chair, and seeing what a long way down it was, he answered: 'Gold, and silver, and copper. Guineas, shillings, half-pence. You know what they are?'
董貝先生陷入了困境。他本來真想把流通手段、通貨、通貨貶值、鈔票、金條銀條、匯率、市場上貴金屬的價值等等一類術語向他作出一些解釋，可是他向下看看那小椅子，看到下面還有那麼遠遠的一段距離，就回答道，“金，銀，銅，基尼，先令，半便士。①，你知道它們是什麼嗎？”
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①當時的英國貨幣單位。1基尼等於21先令；1鎊等於20先令；1先令等於12便士。
'Oh yes, I know what they are,' said Paul. 'I don't mean that, Papa. I mean what's money after all?'
“啊，是的，我知道它們是什麼，”保羅說道，“我問的不是這意思，爸爸。我是想問，錢究竟是什麼？”
Heaven and Earth, how old his face was as he turned it up again towards his father's!
哎呀，天老爺！當他擡起臉望着他父親的臉的時候，那是一張多麼老氣的臉啊！
'What is money after all!' said Mr Dombey, backing his chair a little, that he might the better gaze in sheer amazement at the presumptuous atom that propounded such an inquiry.
“錢究竟是什麼！”董貝先生大爲驚異地把椅子挪後一點，以便仔細看看提出這樣一個問題的自以爲是的小東西。
'I mean, Papa, what can it do?' returned Paul, folding his arms (they were hardly long enough to fold), and looking at the fire, and up at him, and at the fire, and up at him again.
“爸爸，我的意思是它能做什麼？”保羅合抱着兩隻胳膊（它們不夠長，不容易合抱），看着火，又擡起眼睛來看着他，又看着火，然後又擡起眼睛來看着他。
Mr Dombey drew his chair back to its former place, and patted him on the head. 'You'll know better by-and-by, my man,' he said. 'Money, Paul, can do anything.' He took hold of the little hand, and beat it softly against one of his own, as he said so.
董貝先生把他的椅子拉回到原先的地方，摸摸他的頭。
“你會逐漸知道的，我的孩子，”他說道。“錢能做任何事情，保羅。”他一邊說，一邊拉起那隻小手，輕輕地敲打着他自己的手。
But Paul got his hand free as soon as he could; and rubbing it gently to and fro on the elbow of his chair, as if his wit were in the palm, and he were sharpening it - and looking at the fire again, as though the fire had been his adviser and prompter - repeated, after a short pause:
'Anything, Papa?'
但是保羅儘快地抽回了自己的手，並輕輕地擦着椅子的扶手，彷彿他的智慧是在手心裏，他正在把它磨擦得更機敏一些——同時又看着火，彷彿火是他的顧問與提詞員似的——；他在短短的沉默之後，重複着問道：
“任何事情嗎，爸爸？”
'Yes. Anything - almost,' said Mr Dombey.
“是的，任何事情——幾乎，”董貝先生說道。
'Anything means everything, don't it, Papa?' asked his son: not observing, or possibly not understanding, the qualification.
“任何事情就是每一件事情，是不是，爸爸？”他的兒子問道；他沒有注意到或者可能不理解那個限制詞。
'It includes it: yes,' said Mr Dombey.
“是的，任何事情包括每一件事情，”董貝先生回答道。
'Why didn't money save me my Mama?' returned the child. 'It isn't cruel, is it?'
“爲什麼錢不能把我的媽媽救活呢？”孩子反問道。“它是殘酷的，是不是？”
'Cruel!' said Mr Dombey, settling his neckcloth, and seeming to resent the idea. 'No. A good thing can't be cruel.'
“殘酷！”董貝先生整整領飾，似乎憎恨這個想法。“不，好東西不會是殘酷的。”
'If it's a good thing, and can do anything,' said the little fellow, thoughtfully, as he looked back at the fire, 'I wonder why it didn't save me my Mama.'
“如果它是個好東西，能做任何事情，”小傢伙重新看着火，沉思地說道，“那麼我奇怪，它爲什麼不能把我的媽媽救活呢。”