When Philip rang a head was put out of the window, and in a minute he heard a noisy clatter on the stairs as the children ran down to let him in. It was a pale, anxious, thin face that he bent down for them to kiss. He was so moved by their exuberant affection that, to give himself time to recover, he made excuses to linger on the stairs. He was in a hysterical state and almost anything was enough to make him cry.
They asked him why he had not come on the previous Sunday, and he told them he had been ill; they wanted to know what was the matter with him; and Philip, to amuse them, suggested a mysterious ailment , the name of which, double-barrelled and barbarous with its mixture of Greek and Latin (medical nomenclature bristled with such), made them shriek with delight. They dragged Philip into the parlour and made him repeat it for their father’s edification. Athelny got up and shook hands with him. He stared at Philip, but with his round, bulging eyes he always seemed to stare, Philip did not know why on this occasion it made him self-conscious.
Philip could never tell lies without embarrassment , and he was scarlet when he finished his explanation for not coming. Then Mrs. Athelny entered and shook hands with him.
He did not know why she imagined that anything had been the matter with him, for the kitchen door was closed when he came up with the children, and they had not left him.
‘Dinner won’t be ready for another ten minutes,’ she said, in her slow drawl. ‘Won’t you have an egg beaten up in a glass of milk while you’re waiting?’
There was a look of concern on her face which made Philip uncomfortable. He forced a laugh and answered that he was not at all hungry. Sally came in to lay the table, and Philip began to chaff her. It was the family joke that she would be as fat as an aunt of Mrs. Athelny, called Aunt Elizabeth, whom the children had never seen but regarded as the type of obscene corpulence.
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9
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"嘿,莎莉,自上次见到你以来,发生了一个什么变化呀?"
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9
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‘I say, what HAS happened since I saw you last, Sally?’ Philip began.
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10
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"据我所知,什么变化也没有。"
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10
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‘Nothing that I know of.’
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11
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"我相信你一直在长膘。"
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11
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‘I believe you’ve been putting on weight.’
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12
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"我深信你长不了膘,"她反唇相讥,"你完全成了个骷髅。"
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12
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‘I’m sure you haven’t,’ she retorted. ‘You’re a perfect skeleton.’
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13
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菲利普的脸刷地红了。
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13
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Philip reddened.
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14
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"你这就不对罗,莎莉,"她的父亲嚷道。"罚你一根金头发。珍妮,去拿把大剪刀来。"
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14
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‘That’s a tu quoque, Sally,’ cried her father. ‘You will be fined one golden hair of your head. Jane, fetch the shears .’
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15
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"嗯,他是很瘦嘛,爸爸,"莎莉抗辩说,"简直骨瘦如柴。"
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15
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‘Well, he is thin, father,’ remonstrated Sally. ‘He’s just skin and bone.’
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16
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"这不是问题的要害,孩子。他完全有权利瘦吧,可是你过度肥胖却有失体面。"
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16
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‘That’s not the question, child. He is at perfect liberty to be thin, but your obesity is contrary to decorum.’
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17
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他说话的当儿,扬扬自得地用手搂住莎莉的腰,并用赞叹的目光注视着她。
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17
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As he spoke he put his arm proudly round her waist and looked at her with admiring eyes.
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18
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"让我把台布铺好,爸爸。要是我轻快了,有些人也不见得会来关心这件事。"
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18
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‘Let me get on with the table, father. If I am comfortable there are some who don’t seem to mind it.’
‘The hussy!’ cried Athelny, with a dramatic wave of the hand. ‘She taunts me with the notorious fact that Joseph, a son of Levi who sells jewels in Holborn, has made her an offer of marriage.’
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20
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"莎莉,你有没有接受他的求婚呀?"菲利普问道。
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20
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‘Have you accepted him, Sally?’ asked Philip.
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21
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"你到这时还不了解我父亲吗?他说的话没一句是真的。"
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21
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‘Don’t you know father better than that by this time? There’s not a word of truth in it.’
‘Well, if he hasn’t made you an offer of marriage,’ cried Athelny, ‘by Saint George and Merry England, I will seize him by the nose and demand of him immediately what are his intentions.’
‘Sit down, father, dinner’s ready. Now then, you children, get along with you and wash your hands all of you, and don’t shirk it, because I mean to look at them before you have a scrap of dinner, so there.’
Philip thought he was ravenous till he began to eat, but then discovered that his stomach turned against food, and he could eat hardly at all. His brain was weary; and he did not notice that Athelny, contrary to his habit, spoke very little. Philip was relieved to be sitting in a comfortable house, but every now and then he could not prevent himself from glancing out of the window.
The day was tempestuous . The fine weather had broken; and it was cold, and there was a bitter wind; now and again gusts of rain drove against the window. Philip wondered what he should do that night. The Athelnys went to bed early, and he could not stay where he was after ten o’clock. His heart sank at the thought of going out into the bleak darkness.
It seemed more terrible now that he was with his friends than when he was outside and alone. He kept on saying to himself that there were plenty more who would be spending the night out of doors. He strove to distract his mind by talking, but in the middle of his words a spatter of rain against the window would make him start.
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27
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"这倒像三月里的天气,"阿特尔涅说,"没有谁喜欢在这种天气里去渡英吉利海峡。"
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27
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‘It’s like March weather,’ said Athelny. ‘Not the sort of day one would like to be crossing the Channel.’
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28
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不一会儿,晚饭吃好了,莎莉进来收拾餐桌。
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28
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Presently they finished, and Sally came in and cleared away.
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29
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"这种两便士的蹩脚货,你想不想也来一根!"阿特尔涅说着,随手递给菲利普一支雪茄烟。
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29
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‘Would you like a twopennystinker?’ said Athelny, handing him a cigar.
Philip took it and inhaled the smoke with delight. It soothed him extraordinarily . When Sally had finished Athelny told her to shut the door after her.
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31
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"这下没人来打扰我们了,"他转过脸来对菲利普说。"我事先跟贝蒂说好的,我不叫,不准让孩子们进来。"
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31
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‘Now we shan’t be disturbed,’ he said, turning to Philip. ‘I’ve arranged with Betty not to let the children come in till I call them.’
Philip gave him a startled look, but before he could take in the meaning of his words, Athelny, fixing his glasses on his nose with the gesture habitual to him, went on.
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33
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"上星期天我写给你一封信,询问你出什么事没有。见你不回信,我星期三跑到你的住处找你去了。"
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33
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‘I wrote to you last Sunday to ask if anything was the matter with you, and as you didn’t answer I went to your rooms on Wednesday.’
Philip turned his head away and did not answer. His heart began to beat violently. Athelny did not speak, and presently the silence seemed intolerable to Philip. He could not think of a single word to say.
‘Your landlady told me you hadn’t been in since Saturday night, and she said you owed her for the last month. Where have you been sleeping all this week?’
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36
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这个问题菲利普实在不想回答。他目光呆滞地凝视着窗外。
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36
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It made Philip sick to answer. He stared out of the window.
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37
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"没地方可去。"
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37
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‘Nowhere.’
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38
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"我一直想法找到你。"
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38
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‘I tried to find you.’
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39
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"为什么?"菲利普问了一声。
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39
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‘Why?’ asked Philip.
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40
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"贝蒂和我的日子也一直很穷,我们还得抚养孩子。你为什么不上我家来呢?"
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40
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‘Betty and I have been just as broke in our day, only we had babies to look after. Why didn’t you come here?’