狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第23章Part 17

"He was christened John," cried the delighted Captain Cuttle. "Hear him!"
"And what I says," pursued the voice, after some deliberation, "I stands to.
The Captain, with Florence on his arm, nodded at the auditory, and seemed to say, "Now he"s coming out. This is what I meant when I brought him."
"Whereby," proceeded the voice, "why not? If so, what odds? Can any man say otherwise? No. Awast then!"
When it had pursued its train of argument to this point, the voice stopped, and rested. It then proceeded very slowly, thus:
"Do I believe that this here Son and Heir"s gone down, my lads? Mayhap. Do I say so? Which? If a skipper stands out by Sen" George"s Channel, making for the Downs, what"s right ahead of him? The Goodwins. He isn"t foroed to run upon the Goodwins, but he may. The bearings of this observation lays in the application on it. That ain"t no part of my duty. Awast then, keep a bright look-out for"ard, and good luck to you!"
The voice here went out of the back parlour and into the street, taking the Commander of the Cautious Clara with it, and accompanying him on board again with all convenient expedition, where he immediately turned in, and refreshed his mind with a nap.
The students of the sage"s precepts, left to their own application of his wisdom - upon a principle which was the main leg of the Bunsby tripod, as it is perchance of some other oracular stools - looked upon one another in a little uncertainty; while Rob the Grinder, who had taken the innocent freedom of peering in, and listening, through the skylight in the roof, came softly down from the leads, in a state of very dense confusion. Captain Cuttle, however, whose admiration of Bunsby was, if possible, enhanced by the splendid manner in which he had justified his reputation and come through this solemn reference, proceeded to explain that Bunsby meant nothing but confidence; that Bunsby had no misgivings; and that such an opinion as that man had given, coming from such a mind as his, was Hope"s own anchor, with good roads to cast it in. Florence endeavoured to believe that the Captain was right; but the Nipper, with her arms tight folded, shook her head in resolute denial, and had no more trust m Bunsby than inMr Perch himself.

“他洗禮的時候被命名爲約翰，”喜氣洋洋的船長喊道，“聽他說吧！”
“我對我說了的話，”經過了一些思考之後，那聲音繼續說道，“是堅持不變的。”
船長由弗洛倫斯挽着胳膊，這時向這位在聽着話的人點點頭，好像是說，“現在他開口了。我把他領到這裏來，我所指望的就正是這個。”
“憑什麼呢？”聲音繼續說道，“爲什麼不呢？如果是這樣，那有什麼關係？誰能說不是這樣？誰也不能。那就說到這裏吧！”
當把一層層的推論推到這一點之後，聲音停住，休息了一下，然後又很緩慢地說道：
“難道我相信這艘‘兒子和繼承人’已經沉沒了嗎，我的孩子們？可能吧。我說過這話了嗎？爲什麼這麼說？如果一個小商船的船長從聖喬治運河中開出來，向唐斯錨地開去，在他前面的是什麼？古德溫沙洲。他並不是非在古德溫沙洲觸礁不可，但他也可能在那裏觸礁。在觀察到這個方位之後，就得好好運用它，沿着正確的航線行駛。但這已經不是我的事了。那就說到這裏吧。高興地注視着前方吧，祝你們幸運！”
這時聲音離開後客廳，走進街道，把“謹慎的克拉拉”號的指揮者也隨着引了過去，並伴隨着他，從容而迅速地重新上了船；一到船上他立即上了牀，打一個瞌睡來振作精神。
這位智慧非凡的人的學生們不得不根據作爲邦斯貝三腳架的軸杆的原理（這也可能是從某些其他神諭中得到的）來獨自運用他的教導；他們有些不知所措地你看看我，我看看你。磨工羅布原先通過屋頂的天窗，天真地、隨意地向屋裏凝視着和注意地聽着，這時帶着極爲困惑不解的神情，從鉛板屋頂上悄悄地走下來。可是卡特爾船長不一樣，他看到邦斯貝極爲出色地作出了莊嚴的闡述，表明他對他所享有的聲譽確是當之無愧，因此他對他是愈加欽佩了（如果這是可能的話）；這時他開始解釋說：邦斯貝僅僅表明了他的信心；邦斯貝沒有任何憂慮，由這樣一位傑出人物所表述的意見就寄託着希望，就好像希望之神在一個很好的地方拋了錨一樣。弗洛倫斯設法相信，船長是對的；可是尼珀堅決否定地搖着頭，她不相信邦斯貝，就像不相信珀奇先生一樣。