狄更斯双语小说:《董贝父子》第22章Part 9

'I'll come back, mother dear!' cried Rob. And passing through the shrill cry of his brothers and sisters in reception of this promise, he followed Mr Carker out.
'What!' said Mr Carker, who had heard this. 'You have a bad father, have you?'
'No, Sir!' returned Rob, amazed. 'There ain't a better nor a kinder father going, than mine is.'
'Why don't you want to see him then?' inquired his patron.
'There's such a difference between a father and a mother, Sir,' said Rob, after faltering for a moment. 'He couldn't hardly believe yet that I was doing to do better - though I know he'd try to but a mother - she always believes what's,' good, Sir; at least I know my mother does, God bless her!'
Mr Carker's mouth expanded, but he said no more until he was mounted on his horse, and had dismissed the man who held it, when, looking down from the saddle steadily into the attentive and watchful face of the boy, he said:
'You'll come to me tomorrow morning, and you shall be shown where that old gentleman lives; that old gentleman who was with me this morning; where you are going, as you heard me say.'
'Yes, Sir,' returned Rob.
'I have a great interest in that old gentleman, and in serving him, you serve me, boy, do you understand? Well,' he added, interrupting him, for he saw his round face brighten when he was told that: 'I see you do. I want to know all about that old gentleman, and how he goes on from day to day - for I am anxious to be of service to him - and especially who comes there to see him. Do you understand?'
Rob nodded his steadfast face, and said 'Yes, Sir,' again.
'I should like to know that he has friends who are attentive to him, and that they don't desert him - for he lives very much alone now, poor fellow; but that they are fond of him, and of his nephew who has gone abroad. There is a very young lady who may perhaps come to see him. I want particularly to know all about her.'
'I'll take care, Sir,' said the boy.
'And take care,' returned his patron, bending forward to advance his grinning face closer to the boy's, and pat him on the shoulder with the handle of his whip: 'take care you talk about affairs of mine to nobody but me.'
'To nobody in the world, Sir,' replied Rob, shaking his head.

“我会回来的，亲爱的妈妈！”罗布喊道。弟弟妹妹们听到了这个许诺后都发出了尖锐的欢叫声，他就在这欢叫声中跟着卡克先生出去。
“怎么！”听到这些谈话的卡克先生说道，“你的爸爸不好，是不是？”
“不是，先生！”罗布惊异地回答道，“没有哪一个爸爸能比我爸爸更善良更仁慈的了。”
“那么你为什么不想看到他呢？”他的恩人问道。
“父亲和母亲是很不相同的，先生，”罗布踌躇了片刻之后说道，“现在他还不会相信我会改好——虽然我知道他会想法相信这一点的——可是母亲，她总是相信好事，先生；至少我知道我母亲是这样。愿上帝保佑她！”
卡克先生张开嘴巴，但没有说什么话，直到他骑上马，辞退了看马的人以后，才从马鞍上凝视着孩子向他表示敬重的和注视着的脸，说道：
“明天早上你到我这里来，那时我会向你指点那位先生住在哪里；就是今天早上你在我那里看到的那位先生；你听我说过，你就是到他那里去。”
“是的，先生，”罗布回答道。
“我对那位老先生很感兴趣。你为他服务就是为我服务，孩子，你明白吗？唔，”他看出他听到这点，圆圆的脸上露出喜色，没等到他开口，就接着说道，“看来你明白了。我想要知道这位老先生的一切，他一天天怎么生活的——因为我很想给他帮点忙——，特别是，我想要知道，谁到那里去看他。你明白吗？”
罗布像先前一样全神贯注；他点着头，又说了一声：“是的，先生。”
“我想要知道，他有一些朋友，他们关心他，不抛弃他——因为可怜的人，他现在十分孤单了——他们喜欢他，喜欢他的到外国去了的外甥。有一位很年轻的小姐也许会前去看他。我特别想要知道有关她的一切事情。”
“我会注意的，先生，”孩子说道。
“你还要注意，”他的恩人把露出牙齿的脸低下去，更凑近孩子一些，又用鞭子柄拍拍他的肩膀，“你要注意，我的事情你除了对我说以外，别跟任何人说。”
“我不跟世界上任何人说，先生，”罗布点点头，回答道。