伯斯利、汉桥、克尼普、朗肖、特恩希尔——这就是本书所说的五镇。这些故事发生在20世纪初的英格兰中部地区。如今的五镇已经成为斯托克城,不过这个地方仍然因为陶瓷和阿诺德·贝内特故事中的人物而闻名。 Bursley, Hanbridge, Knype, Longshaw, Turnhill — these are the Five Towns of Arnold Bennett’s stories, set in the English Midlands in the early 1900s. Today the Five Towns are the city of Stoke-on-Trent, but the place is still famous for its pottery... and for the people in Arnold Bennett’s stories. 这些人既不是名人,也不是什么大人物。他们在商店和工厂工作;他们恋爱又失恋;他们会拌嘴,会争吵。他们有时头脑聪明而且事业成功,他们有时的所作所为又极其愚蠢。菲利普有个重要消息要告诉母亲,不过他自己也将得到一个大大的惊喜……杰先生讨厌自己的画像,但又能怎么办呢?这可是五镇人送给他的礼物……在克尼普站,托比·霍尔突然决定乘火车去特恩希尔,不过这是为什么呢?然后出场的是约翰和罗伯特。他们是亲兄弟,住在同一屋檐下,在同一张桌子上吃饭——但十年来他们没和对方说过一个字…… They are not famous or important people. They work in shops and factories; they fall in, and out of, love; they argue and they quarrel. Sometimes they are clever and successful, and sometimes they do very stupid things. Philip has some important news to tell his mother, but he is also going to get a big surprise... Sir Jee hates his portrait, but what can he do about it? It was a present from the people of the Five Towns... At Knype station, Toby Hall suddenly decides to take the train to Turnhill, but why? Then there are John and Robert. They are brothers, they live in the same house, they eat meals together — and neither has said a single word to the other for ten years...
My mother never came to meet me at Bursley station when I arrived in the Five Towns from London. She always had other things to do; she was getting ready for me. So I always walked alone up Trafalgar Road, between the factories and past the football field. And so tonight, I had time to think. I had some very important news for my mother, and I didn’t know how to tell her.
I wrote to my mother every week, to tell her what I was doing. She knew the names of all my friends. I often wrote about Agnes and her family. But it’s difficult to write in a letter: ’I think Agnes likes me,’ ’I’m in love with her,’ ’I’m sure she likes me,’ ’I think she loves me,’ ’I’m going to ask her to marry me.’ You can’t do that. Well, I couldn’t do it. And on the 20th December I asked Agnes to marry me, and Agnes said yes. But my mother didn’t know anything about it. And now, on the 22nd December, I was coming to spend Christmas with my mother.
My mother was a widow. I was her only son — and now I was engaged and she didn’t know. I was afraid she was going to be a little unhappy, and I was ready for a difficult evening.
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我走到家门口,还没按铃,门就开了,母亲站在那儿。她拥抱了我。
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I walked up to the front door, but before I put my hand up to ring, the door opened and there was my mother. She put her arms around me.
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“哦,菲利普!你好吗?”
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Well, Philip! How are you?’
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我说:“哦!我很好,母亲。你怎么样?”
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And I said, ’Oh! I’m all right, mother. How are you?’
She smiled at me. She looked excited and younger than her forty-five years. There was something strange in her smile. I thought: ’She knows I’m going to get married. How does she know?’
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但我什么也没说。和母亲们打交道要小心才是。
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But I said nothing. You have to be careful with mothers.
I went upstairs to my bedroom. When I came down, my mother was busy in the kitchen. I went into the dining room, and here I had a surprise. There were three chairs around the table, and three plates and three glasses.
So Agnes was coming! I didn’t know how my mother knew, but she did know. She and my wonderful Agnes were planning a surprise for me. Agnes was coming to Bursley for Christmas!
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门铃响了。“是阿格尼丝!”我这样想着,跑到门口打开了门。
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There was a ring at the door. ’It’s Agnes!’ I thought, and running to the door, I opened it.
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来客是尼克松先生。
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It was Mr Nixon.
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尼克松先生是我家的老朋友。他魁梧健壮,大概49岁或50岁的样子。父亲死后他对母亲很是照顾。
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Mr Nixon was an old friend of the family. He was a large, strong man of about forty-nine or fifty. He was very helpful to my mother after my father’s death.
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“晚上好,年轻人,”他说“很高兴看见你回到伯斯利。”
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Good evening, young man,’ he said. ’It’s good to see you back in Bursley.’
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“尼克松先生来吃晚饭,菲利普。”母亲说。
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Mr Nixon has come for supper, Philip,’ said my mother.
Mr Nixon often came to supper during my visits to Bursley, but never on the first night. I liked him, but I wasn’t very happy to see him tonight because I wanted to talk to my mother. I couldn’t talk to her about Agnes with Mr Nixon sitting at the table.
We started our supper. We talked about this and that, but nobody ate very much. I was thinking about what to say to my mother when Mr Nixon went home. At the end of the meal I told my mother that I must go to the post office. I had an important letter to post.
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“宝贝儿,不能等明天再寄吗?”母亲问道。
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Can’t it wait until tomorrow, my pet?’ my mother asked.
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“不行。”我回答。
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It can’t,’ I said.
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我的信当然是寄给阿格尼丝的。给阿格尼丝的信可不能等到明天!我向餐厅门口走去。
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My letter, of course, was to Agnes. A letter to Agnes could not wait until tomorrow! I walked over to the dining room door.
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“给一位小姐的信?”尼克松先生笑着问我。
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A letter to a lady?’ asked Mr Nixon, laughing.
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“是的。”我回答。
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Yes,’ I replied.
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我到邮局寄了信。回到家,我不安地发现尼克松先生还没走,他自己待在客厅里抽烟。
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I walked to the post office and posted my letter. When I got back home, I was sorry to see that Mr Nixon was still there. He was alone in the sitting-room, smoking.
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“母亲在哪儿?”我问。
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Where’s mother?’ I asked.
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“她刚出去。”他说,“过来坐下吧,抽支烟。我想和你谈谈,菲利普。”
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She’s just gone out of the room,’ he said. ’Come and sit down. Have a cigarette. I’d like to talk to you, Philip.’
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我接过烟,坐了下来。我希望不会谈太久。
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I took a cigarette and sat down. I hoped the talk was not going to be a long one.
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“哦,孩子,”他说,“你愿意让我做你的继父吗?”
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Well, my boy,’ he said. ’Would you like me as a stepfather?’
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有那么一会儿,我愣住了。
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For a second I could not move or speak.
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“什么?”我说,“你的意思是……你和我母亲……?”
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What?’ I said. ’You mean... you and my mother...?’
Yes, my boy, I do. I asked her yesterday, and she said yes. I’ve wanted to ask her for a long time — I think she knew that. Did she tell you in her letters? No? It’s difficult to write in a letter, of course. She couldn’t really write, "My dear Philip, an old friend, Mr Nixon, is falling in love with me and I think I’m falling in love with him. I think he’ll ask me to marry him soon." I don’t think your mother could write that, could she?’
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我笑了。
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I laughed.
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“握个手吧,”我说,“这是个特大的好消息。”
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Shake hands,’ I said. ’This is wonderful news.’
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过了一会儿,母亲进来了,脸颊微微发红。
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After a moment my mother came in, a little red in the face.
I said nothing about my own plans that evening. It was something new to me that my mother could fall in love, and that a man could fall in love with her. It was something new to me that she was lonely in our old house and that perhaps she wanted a new life. Perhaps, like all sons, I thought only about myself and my life. So I decided to say nothing about my news, and that evening my mother came first for me. I could tell her about Agnes tomorrow. We live and learn.