狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第34章Part12

The old woman nodded in the affirmative; and a few more paces brought them to the threshold. There was the light of fire and candle in the room where Alice had sat to dry her clothes; and on her knocking at the door, John Carker appeared from that room.
He was surprised to see such visitors at such an hour, and asked Alice what she wanted.
'I want your sister,' she said. 'The woman who gave me money to-day.'
At the sound of her raised voice, Harriet came out.
'Oh!' said Alice. 'You are here! Do you remember me?'
'Yes,' she answered, wondering.
The face that had humbled itself before her, looked on her now with such invincible hatred and defiance; and the hand that had gently touched her arm, was clenched with such a show of evil purpose, as if it would gladly strangle her; that she drew close to her brother for protection.
'That I could speak with you, and not know you! That I could come near you, and not feel what blood was running in your veins, by the tingling of my own!' said Alice, with a menacing gesture.
'What do you mean? What have I done?'
'Done!' returned the other. 'You have sat me by your fire; you have given me food and money; you have bestowed your compassion on me! You! whose name I spit upon!'
The old woman, with a malevolence that made her uglIness quite awful, shook her withered hand at the brother and sister in confirmation of her daughter, but plucked her by the skirts again, nevertheless, imploring her to keep the money.
'If I dropped a tear upon your hand, may it wither it up! If I spoke a gentle word in your hearing, may it deafen you! If I touched you with my lips, may the touch be poison to you! A curse upon this roof that gave me shelter! Sorrow and shame upon your head! Ruin upon all belonging to you!'
As she said the words, she threw the money down upon the ground, and spurned it with her foot.
'I tread it in the dust: I wouldn't take it if it paved my way to Heaven! I would the bleeding foot that brought me here to-day, had rotted off, before it led me to your house!'
Harriet, pale and trembling, restrained her brother, and suffered her to go on uninterrupted.
'It was well that I should be pitied and forgiven by you, or anyone of your name, in the first hour of my return! It was well that you should act the kind good lady to me! I'll thank you when I die; I'll pray for you, and all your race, you may be sure!'
With a fierce action of her hand, as if she sprinkled hatred on the ground, and with it devoted those who were standing there to destruction, she looked up once at the black sky, and strode out into the wild night.
The mother, who had plucked at her skirts again and again in vain, and had eyed the money lying on the threshold with an absorbing greed that seemed to concentrate her faculties upon it, would have prowled about, until the house was dark, and then groped in the mire on the chance of repossessing herself of it. But the daughter drew her away, and they set forth, straight, on their return to their dwelling; the old woman whimpering and bemoaning their loss upon the road, and fretfully bewailing, as openly as she dared, the undutiful conduct of her handsome girl in depriving her of a supper, on the very first night of their reunion.
Supperless to bed she went, saving for a few coarse fragments; and those she sat mumbling and munching over a scrap of fire, long after her undutiful daughter lay asleep.
Were this miserable mother, and this miserable daughter, only the reduction to their lowest grade, of certain social vices sometimes prevailing higher up? In this round world of many circles within circles, do we make a weary journey from the high grade to the low, to find at last that they lie close together, that the two extremes touch, and that our journey's end is but our starting-place? Allowing for great difference of stuff and texture, was the pattern of this woof repeated among gentle blood at all?
Say, Edith Dombey! And Cleopatra, best of mothers, let us have your testimony!

老太婆肯定地點點頭；她們再走幾步，就到了門口。艾麗斯曾經坐着烘衣服的那間房屋中有着爐火和蠟燭的亮光；她敲了敲門，約翰?卡克就從那間房間中走出來。
在這樣的時刻看到這樣的來訪者，他感到驚訝。他問艾麗斯需要什麼。
“我需要你的姐姐，”她說道，”就是今天給我錢的那個女人。”
哈里特聽到她提高了嗓門的，就走出來了。
“啊！”艾麗斯喊道，”你在這裏！你記得我嗎？”
“記得，”她感到奇怪地回答道。
先前曾經恭順地對着她的那張臉孔，現在卻以這樣不可抑制的仇恨和蔑視的神情看着她；先前曾經溫柔地摸過她的胳膊的那隻手，現在卻這樣顯露出不懷好意地緊握着，彷彿它真想把她勒死似的；哈里特看到這種情景，就緊挨着她的弟弟，尋求保護。
“我先前怎麼能跟你講話，沒有把你認出來呢！我先前怎麼能接近你，沒有根據我自己血液的震顫，感覺到你血管裏流的是什麼樣的血呢！”艾麗斯擺出一副威脅的姿態，說道。
“您是什麼意思？我做了什麼啦？”
“你做了什麼啦？”另一位回答道，”你曾讓我坐在你的爐火旁邊；你曾給我飯吃，給我錢；你曾向我表示憐憫！你！對你的姓我要吐唾沫！”
老太婆懷着怨恨（這使她那醜陋的臉孔更加可怕了），向姐弟倆揮動着滿是皺紋的手，表示完全同意她女兒說的話，可是她卻又拉拉女兒的裙子，求她把錢留着。
“如果我有一顆眼淚掉在你的手上，那麼就讓它使你的手枯萎吧！如果我曾對你講過一句溫柔的話，那麼就讓它把你的耳朵震聾吧！如果我曾用嘴脣吻過你的話，那麼就讓它毒害你吧！讓我咀咒這座曾經給我庇護的房屋！讓悲傷和恥辱落到你的頭上！讓你所有的親人全都毀滅吧！”
她一邊說，一邊把錢扔在地上，用腳去踢它們。
“我把它們踏進塵土！即使它們給我鋪設了通向天堂的道路，我也不去撿它們！我真但願我這雙今天走到這裏來的流血的腳在去你家之前爛掉就好了！”
哈里特臉色蒼白，身子發抖；她攔住她弟弟，聽憑艾麗斯說下去，不去打斷她。
“真不錯，在我回來的第一個小時，我就被你或姓你這個姓的別的什麼人憐憫和寬恕了！真不錯，你扮演了慈善夫人的角色來對待我！我臨終的時候將感謝你；我將爲你，爲你們整個家族祈禱，你可以相信這一點！”
她狠狠地揮了揮手，彷彿要把仇恨灑到地上，讓站在她前面的這兩個人毀滅似的，同時又向黑暗的天空仰望了一次，然後大踏步地走進暴風雨的深夜。
母親曾經一次又一次徒勞無益地拉着女兒的裙子，並用無比貪婪的眼光注視着落在門口的錢幣，彷彿她全身的注意力都集中在上面似的；她真想留下來在附近遊蕩，直到房屋裏的燈火熄滅之後，再到污泥中去摸索，把那幾個錢重新弄到手裏。可是女兒把她拉開了，她們踏上了歸途；老太婆一路上不斷爲她們的損失哀哭和悲嘆着，就她膽量所敢的程度，痛心地抱怨她漂亮的女兒的不孝順的行爲--在她們母女團聚的第一夜就奪走了她一頓晚餐。
如果不算那點粗劣的剩飯的話，她可以說沒吃晚飯就上牀睡覺了；至於這點剩飯，她在她不孝順的女兒睡熟之後很久還坐在那裏，對着即將熄滅的爐火，閉着嘴有力地咀嚼着。
這位可憐的母親和這位可憐的女兒，是不是隻不過是有時在上層社會流行的某些社會惡習在下層社會的一個縮影呢？在這個圓圓的世界中存在許多圈子，一圈套着一圈；我們需不需要在這個世界中作一次令人疲勞的旅行，從最高層一直旅行到最低層，最後得出這個結論：最高層與最低層是緊緊挨近的，最高層的開始的一端與最低層結尾的一端是相互聚合的，我們旅行的終點只不過是我們旅行的出發點？儘管材料與質地有很大的不同，這種式樣的織品在上流社會中不是也完全可以找到嗎？
伊迪絲?董貝，請回答吧！還有克利奧佩特拉，您這位母親當中最好的母親，讓我們請您來作證吧！