狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第33章Part 4

The cordial face she lifted up to his to kiss him, was his home, his life, his universe, and yet it was a portion of his punishment and grief; for in the cloud he saw upon it - though serene and calm as any radiant cloud at sunset - and in the constancy and devotion of her life, and in the sacrifice she had made of ease, enjoyment, and hope, he saw the bitter fruits of his old crime, for ever ripe and fresh.
She stood at the door looking after him, with her hands loosely clasped in each other, as he made his way over the frowzy and uneven patch of ground which lay before their house, which had once (and not long ago) been a pleasant meadow, and was now a very waste, with a disorderly crop of beginnings of mean houses, rising out of the rubbish, as if they had been unskilfully sown there. Whenever he looked back - as once or twice he did - her cordial face shone like a light upon his heart; but when he plodded on his way, and saw her not, the tears were in her eyes as she stood watching him.
Her pensive form was not long idle at the door. There was daily duty to discharge, and daily work to do - for such commonplace spirits that are not heroic, often work hard with their hands - and Harriet was soon busy with her household tasks. These discharged, and the poor house made quite neat and orderly, she counted her little stock of money, with an anxious face, and went out thoughtfully to buy some necessaries for their table, planning and conniving, as she went, how to save. So sordid are the lives of such lo natures, who are not only not heroic to their valets and waiting-women, but have neither valets nor waiting-women to be heroic to withal!
While she was absent, and there was no one in the house, there approached it by a different way from that the brother had taken, a gentleman, a very little past his prime of life perhaps, but of a healthy florid hue, an upright presence, and a bright clear aspect, that was gracious and good-humoured. His eyebrows were still black, and so was much of his hair; the sprinkling of grey observable among the latter, graced the former very much, and showed his broad frank brow and honest eyes to great advantage.
After knocking once at the door, and obtaining no response, this gentleman sat down on a bench in the little porch to wait. A certain skilful action of his fingers as he hummed some bars, and beat time on the seat beside him, seemed to denote the musician; and the extraordinary satisfaction he derived from humming something very slow and long, which had no recognisable tune, seemed to denote that he was a scientific one.
The gentleman was still twirlIng a theme, which seemed to go round and round and round, and in and in and in, and to involve itself like a corkscrew twirled upon a table, without getting any nearer to anything, when Harriet appeared returning. He rose up as she advanced, and stood with his head uncovered.
'You are come again, Sir!' she said, faltering.
'I take that liberty,' he answered. 'May I ask for five minutes of your leisure?'
After a moment's hesitation, she opened the door, and gave him admission to the little parlour. The gentleman sat down there, drew his chair to the table over against her, and said, in a voice that perfectly corresponded to his appearance, and with a simplicity that was very engaging:
'Miss Harriet, you cannot be proud. You signified to me, when I called t'other morning, that you were. Pardon me if I say that I looked into your face while you spoke, and that it contradicted you. I look into it again,' he added, laying his hand gently on her arm, for an instant, 'and it contradicts you more and more.'
She was somewhat confused and agitated, and could make no ready answer.

她向着他的臉，擡起臉來吻他；她這張熱誠的臉孔對他來說，是他的家，他的生命，他的宇宙，可是這也是他的懲罰與痛苦的一部分；因爲在這張臉上籠罩着的雲（雖然它像日落時發出光彩的雲一樣，晴朗與寧靜）中，在她忠誠的獻身的精神中，在她拋棄安逸、歡樂和希望而作出的犧牲中，他看到了他過去所犯罪惡的苦果，永遠像過去一樣成熟與新鮮。
她站在門口，兩隻手鬆弛地互相握着，目送着他從房屋前面那個黴臭難聞和高低不平的地塊走過去；這塊地不久以前曾經一度是一片可愛的草地，如今已變爲一片荒野；在垃圾堆上雜亂無章地矗立着許多簡陋的小房子，彷彿是由一隻笨拙的手把它們播種在那裏似的。他回過頭來看了一、兩次，每當他回過頭來看的時候，她的熱誠的臉孔就像一縷明亮的光線一樣照射在他的心上；但是當他拖着沉重的腳步向前走去、不再看她的時候，她站在那裏望着他的背影，眼中卻涌出了眼淚。
她沒有在門口沉思地、無所事事地站多久。每天的職責必須去完成，每天的工作必須去做--因爲這些毫無英雄氣概的平凡的人們時常是用他們的雙手辛勤工作的--，所以哈里特很快就忙起家務事來。這些事情幹完之後，簡陋的房子被收拾得十分乾淨、整齊，這時她神色憂慮地數了數手頭少量的錢，然後若有所思地去買餐桌上所需的食品，一邊走一邊盤算着怎樣節省一些。是的，這些地位低微的人們的生活是這樣悲慘可憐，他們不僅在他們的男僕與女僕的眼中不是英雄，而且既沒有男僕也沒有女僕去讓他們逞英雄！
當她離開家，屋子裏一個人也沒有的時候，從與她弟弟不同的一條路上走來一位先生；他年紀也許剛剛過了壯年，但臉色紅潤、健康，身材挺直，神情高興、開朗，態度和藹、善良。他的眉毛還是黑的，頭髮有好多也是黑的，但中間夾雜着零星白髮，這使他的眉毛顯得十分優美，並鮮明地襯托出他寬闊、開朗的前額和誠實的眼睛。
這位先生在門上敲了一下，沒有得到回答，就在門廊裏的長凳上坐下等候。當他在哼着曲子並在身旁的凳子上打着拍子的時候，他手指的熟練的動作似乎顯示出他是一位音樂家。他哼着一支很慢很長、無法識別曲調的歌曲，哼得非常高興，從這點來看，似乎他是個精通音樂的內行。
當哈里特出現在回來的路上時，他仍在發展着主旋律；這主旋律似乎在不斷旋轉着，旋轉着，旋轉着，一層層地深入，深入，再深入，好像一個在桌子上滴溜溜旋轉的螺旋錐一樣，一直在圍繞着自己打轉，沒有個完。他看到她走來，就站起身來，脫了帽子站着。
“您又來了，先生！”她結結巴巴地說道。
“我很冒昧，”他回答道，”我可不可以打擾您五分鐘？”
她猶豫了一下子，然後開了門，領他到小客廳裏去。這位先生在那裏把椅子拉近桌邊，坐在她的對面，並用跟他的外表十分相稱的和很可愛的純樸態度說道：
“哈里特小姐，您是不會驕傲的。那天早上我到這裏來的時候，您向我表示，您是驕傲的。請原諒我，如果我告訴您，當您那天這樣說的時候，我看着您的臉孔，您的臉孔否定了您的話。我現在又看着您的臉孔，”他把手在她的胳膊上放了一下子，親切地接下去說道，”它愈加否定了您的話。”
她有些發窘和激動，沒有想出什麼話來回答。