狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第33章Part 1

Turn we our eyes upon two homes; not lying side by side, but wide apart, though both within easy range and reach of the great city of London.
The first is situated in the green and wooded country near Norwood. It is not a mansion; it is of no pretensions as to size; but it is beautifully arranged, and tastefully kept. The lawn, the soft, smooth slope, the flower-garden, the clumps of trees where graceful forms of ash and willow are not wanting, the conservatory, the rustic verandah with sweet-smelling creeping plants entwined about the pillars, the simple exterior of the house, the well-ordered offices, though all upon the diminutive scale proper to a mere cottage, bespeak an amount of elegant comfort within, that might serve for a palace. This indication is not without warrant; for, within, it is a house of refinement and luxury. Rich colours, excellently blended, meet the eye at every turn; in the furniture - its proportions admirably devised to suit the shapes and sizes of the small rooms; on the walls; upon the floors; tingeing and subduing the light that comes in through the odd glass doors and windows here and there. There are a few choice prints and pictures too; in quaint nooks and recesses there is no want of books; and there are games of skill and chance set forth on tables - fantastic chessmen, dice, backgammon, cards, and billiards.
And yet amidst this opulence of comfort, there is something in the general air that is not well. Is it that the carpets and the cushions are too soft and noiseless, so that those who move or repose among them seem to act by stealth? Is it that the prints and pictures do not commemorate great thoughts or deeds, or render nature in the Poetry of landscape, hall, or hut, but are of one voluptuous cast - mere shows of form and colour - and no more? Is it that the books have all their gold outside, and that the titles of the greater part qualify them to be companions of the prints and pictures? Is it that the completeness and the beauty of the place are here and there belied by an affectation of humility, in some unimportant and inexpensive regard, which is as false as the face of the too truly painted portrait hanging yonder, or its original at breakfast in his easy chair below it? Or is it that, with the daily breath of that original and master of all here, there issues forth some subtle portion of himself, which gives a vague expression of himself to everything about him?
It is Mr Carker the Manager who sits in the easy chair. A gaudy parrot in a burnished cage upon the table tears at the wires with her beak, and goes walking, upside down, in its dome-top, shaking her house and screeching; but Mr Carker is indifferent to the bird, and looks with a musing smile at a picture on the opposite wall.
'A most extraordinary accidental likeness, certainly,' says he.
Perhaps it is a Juno; perhaps a Potiphar's Wife'; perhaps some scornful Nymph - according as the Picture Dealers found the market, when they christened it. It is the figure of a woman, supremely handsome, who, turning away, but with her face addressed to the spectator, flashes her proud glance upon him.
It is like Edith.

讓我們把眼睛轉到兩個家。雖然它們離偉大的倫敦城都不遠，但它們並不是並排坐落在鄰近的地方，而是相隔着很大的距離。
第一個家位於諾伍德附近林木蔥蘢的鄉間。它不是個公館，它可以自誇的地方不在於面積；但它建造得美麗，裝飾得雅緻。裏面有草坪，花園，暖房；斜坡是柔軟和徐緩的，樹叢中有不少風姿優美的白蠟樹和柳樹；遊廊是用天然的樹木建造的，芳香的匍匐植物纏繞在它的柱子上；住宅的外表樸素，廚房、廁所的設備完善；所有這一切雖然都是小型的，適合於一個普通的別墅，但卻說明屋裏有着可以供宮殿使用的各種優雅的舒適物品。這個說法並不是沒有根據，因爲屋子裏面的陳設全都是精美與奢華的。鮮豔的顏色處處映入眼簾，它們搭配得很好。在傢俱中，在牆壁上，在地板上，這些鮮豔的顏色給從奇異的玻璃門窗中射進來的光線染上色彩，使它們變得柔和。傢俱的大小設計得跟小房間的形狀與面積驚人地協調。這裏還有幾幅優美的木刻與圖畫；在離奇有趣的角落與壁凹中有不少書；幾張桌子上擺着各種比賽技巧或碰運氣的遊戲用具：奇異的棋子，骰子，十五子棋，紙牌和檯球。
可是，在這些豐富的舒適物品當中存在的總的氣氛中卻有着某些不良的東西。是不是因爲地毯和墊子太柔軟、太沒有，因此在這裏走動或安息的人們都好像是在偷偷摸摸地行動呢？是不是因爲那些木刻和圖畫不是讚頌崇高的思想或業績，也不是反映風景、廳堂或茅舍中含有詩意的自然美色，而全都是色情肉感一類的作品--它們僅僅炫示形狀與顏色而已--而沒有別的呢？是不是因爲那些書籍都有着金色的外表，從大部分標題來看跟那些木刻與圖畫都是屬於同一類內容的貨色呢？是不是因爲這房屋的富裕與華美跟這裏那裏在某些無關重要和耗費不大的方面假裝出來的謙遜不相一致呢？（這種虛假的程度就跟掛在牆上的那幅畫得逼真的肖像的臉孔或坐在下面安樂椅中正在吃早飯的原型一模一樣），或者是不是因爲這幅肖像的原型--這裏一切的主人--由於每天呼吸空氣，就不知不覺地把他自己身上某些微妙的影響擴散到周圍的一切東西中呢？
坐在安樂椅中的就是卡克先生。桌子上閃閃發亮的鳥籠子裏有一隻豔麗的鸚鵡，它用嘴巴咬着鐵絲，在它的圓屋頂裏胡亂地走來走去，同時搖撼着它的房屋，在尖聲叫着；可是卡克先生絲毫也不去注意這隻鳥，而是含着沉思的微笑，望着對面牆上的畫像。
“的確，碰巧非常相像，”他說道。
也許，這是朱諾吧；也許這是波提乏的妻子吧；也許，就像市場上商人們在買賣時所命名的，這是個藐視一切的寧芙③吧。這是一位非常漂亮的女人的畫像，她轉過身子，但卻回過頭來，臉孔對着看畫的人，向他投來高傲的眼光。
她像伊迪絲。