狄更斯雙語小說:《董貝父子》第22章Part 12

Oh, it's of no consequence, thank'ee,' was the invariable reply of Mr Toots; and when he had said so, he always went away very fast.
Now it is certain that Mr Toots had a filmy something in his mind, which led him to conclude that if he could aspire successfully in the fulness of time, to the hand of Florence, he would be fortunate and blest. It is certain that Mr Toots, by some remote and roundabout road, had got to that point, and that there he made a stand. His heart was wounded; he was touched; he was in love. He had made a desperate attempt, one night, and had sat up all night for the purpose, to write an acrostic on Florence, which affected him to tears in the conception. But he never proceeded in the execution further than the words 'For when I gaze,' - the flow of imagination in which he had previously written down the initial letters of the other seven lines, deserting him at that point.
Beyond devising that very artful and politic measure of leaving a card for Mr Dombey daily, the brain of Mr Toots had not worked much in reference to the subject that held his feelings prisoner. But deep consideration at length assured Mr Toots that an important step to gain, was, the conciliation of Miss Susan Nipper, preparatory to giving her some inkling of his state of mind.
A little light and playful gallantry towards this lady seemed the means to employ in that early chapter of the history, for winning her to his interests. Not being able quite to make up his mind about it, he consulted the Chicken - without taking that gentleman into his confidence; merely informing him that a friend in Yorkshire had written to him (Mr Toots) for his opinion on such a question. The Chicken replying that his opinion always was, 'Go in and win,' and further, 'When your man's before you and your work cut out, go in and do it,' Mr Toots considered this a figurative way of supporting his own view of the case, and heroically resolved to kiss Miss Nipper next day.
Upon the next day, therefore, Mr Toots, putting into requisition some of the greatest marvels that Burgess and Co. had ever turned out, went off to Mr Dotnbey's upon this design. But his heart failed him so much as he approached the scene of action, that, although he arrived on the ground at three o'clock in the afternoon, it was six before he knocked at the door.
Everything happened as usual, down to the point where Susan said her young mistress was well, and Mr Toots said it was ofno consequence. To her amazement, Mr Toots, instead of going off, like a rocket, after that observation, lingered and chuckled.'Perhaps you'd like to walk upstairs, Sir!' said Susan.
'Well, I think I will come in!' said Mr Toots.
But instead of walking upstairs, the bold Toots made an awkward plunge at Susan when the door was shut, and embracing that fair creature, kissed her on the cheek
'Go along with you!~ cried Susan, 'or Ill tear your eyes out.'
'Just another!' said Mr Toots.

“哦，這無關緊要，謝謝您。”這是圖茨先生固定不變的回答。說完這句話之後，他總是很快地就走開了。
毫無疑問，圖茨先生心中有一種模模糊糊的思想，這種思想使他斷定：如果隨着時間的到來，他能成功地向弗洛倫斯求婚，那麼他將是幸運和幸福的。毫無疑問，圖茨先生是通過某種遙遠和迂迴的道路得出這個想法的，他在這裏站住了。他的心受了創傷；他的心絃被觸動了；他戀愛了。有一天夜裏，他絞盡腦計，百般嘗試，整夜坐着寫一首關於弗洛倫斯的離合體的詩；在構思過程中他感動得流淚，可是他寫下：“弗要怪我凝視着您”這幾個字以後，再也沒有寫下去。他在想象的涌流中先前曾經寫下其他三行的第一個字，但是他的想象力卻到此中斷，完全離開他了。
圖茨先生每天給董貝先生留下一張名片，這是他想出的一個巧妙並很有策略的辦法；但是除此之外，在這個俘虜了他的感情的問題上，他的頭腦並沒有思索出更多的高招。但是深深的考慮終於使圖茨先生相信，在向蘇珊·尼珀姑娘稍稍暗示他的心情之前，重要的一步是先博得她的好感。
在這部小說前頭的一章中談到，他似乎曾用一些輕鬆的、開玩笑的方式向這位女士顯示殷勤，把她爭取到他這一邊來。他打不定主意這件事該怎麼辦，就向鬥雞請教——他並沒有向這位先生透露內心的祕密，而只是告訴他，他在約克郡有一位朋友寫信給他，徵求他對這個問題的意見。鬥雞回答道，他的意見總是這樣：“去吧，去打一場勝仗！”“當你的敵手已經站在你的面前，你的任務又務必完成時，那就上前去，大打一場！”圖茨先生把這些話看成是用比喻的方式來支持他本人的看法，於是就英勇地決定在第二天去吻尼珀姑娘。
因此，在第二天，圖茨先生穿上了伯吉斯公司裁剪的最爲美妙的服裝，抱着這個目的出發到董貝先生家裏去。可是當他走近行動地點時，他的勇氣卻不聽從他的願望；雖然他在下午三點鐘就已到達門口，可是直到六點鐘他才敲門。
一切都像往常一樣進行，直到蘇珊說她的女主人身體健康，圖茨先生說這無關緊要的時候。使她感到驚奇的是，圖茨先生說完那句話以後沒有像火箭一樣地離開，而是拖延着不走和吃吃地笑着。“也許您願意上樓去吧，先生？”蘇珊說道。
“唔，我想我進來吧！”圖茨先生說道。
可是他沒有上樓；在門關上之後，鹵莽的圖茨笨手笨腳地向蘇珊猛衝過去，擁抱住那個漂亮的人兒，並吻她的臉頰。
“滾開！”蘇珊喊道，“要不我將把您的眼珠子給抓出來！”
“再吻一次！”圖茨先生說道。