Ten days later Thorpe Athelny was well enough to leave the hospital. He gave Philip his address, and Philip promised to dine with him at one o’clock on the following Sunday. Athelny had told him that he lived in a house built by Inigo Jones; he had raved , as he raved over everything, over the balustrade of old oak; and when he came down to open the door for Philip he made him at once admire the elegant carving of the lintel.
It was a shabby house, badly needing a coat of paint, but with the dignity of its period, in a little street between Chancery Lane and Holborn, which had once been fashionable but was now little better than a slum: there was a plan to pull it down in order to put up handsome offices; meanwhile the rents were small, and Athelny was able to get the two upper floors at a price which suited his income.
Philip had not seen him up before and was surprised at his small size; he was not more than five feet and five inches high. He was dressed fantastically in blue linen trousers of the sort worn by working men in France, and a very old brown velvet coat; he wore a bright red sash round his waist, a low collar, and for tie a flowing bow of the kind used by the comic Frenchman in the pages of Punch. He greeted Philip with enthusiasm. He began talking at once of the house and passed his hand lovingly over the balusters.
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4
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"瞧瞧这栏杆,再用手摸摸,真像一块绸子。实在是个了不起的奇迹!五年后,强盗就会拆去当柴卖罗。"
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‘Look at it, feel it, it’s like silk. What a miracle of grace! And in five years the house-breaker will sell it for firewood.’
He insisted on taking Philip into a room on the first floor, where a man in shirt sleeves, a blousy woman, and three children were having their Sunday dinner.
‘I’ve just brought this gentleman in to show him your ceiling. Did you ever see anything so wonderful? How are you, Mrs. Hodgson? This is Mr. Carey, who looked after me when I was in the hospital.’
‘Come in, sir,’ said the man. ‘Any friend of Mr. Athelny’s is welcome. Mr. Athelny shows the ceiling to all his friends. And it don’t matter what we’re doing, if we’re in bed or if I’m ‘aving a wash, in ‘e comes.’
Philip could see that they looked upon Athelny as a little queer; but they liked him none the less and they listened open-mouthed while he discoursed with his impetuous fluency on the beauty of the seventeenth-century ceiling.
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9
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"霍奇森,把这房子推倒简直是犯罪,呢,对不?你是位有影响的公民,为什么不写信给报社表示抗议呢?"
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‘What a crime to pull this down, eh, Hodgson? You’re an influential citizen, why don’t you write to the papers and protest?’
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10
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那位穿衬衫的男人呵呵笑了笑,接着面对菲利普说:
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10
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The man in shirt sleeves gave a laugh and said to Philip:
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11
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"阿特尔涅先生就喜欢开个小小的玩笑。人们都说这几幢房子不到生,还说住在这里不安全。"
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11
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‘Mr. Athelny will ‘ave his little joke. They do say these ‘ouses are that insanitory, it’s not safe to live in them.’
‘Sanitation be damned, give me art,’ cried Athelny. ‘I’ve got nine children and they thrive on bad drains. No, no, I’m not going to take any risk. None of your new-fangled notions for me! When I move from here I’m going to make sure the drains are bad before I take anything.’
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13
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门上响起了一记敲门声,接着一个金发小姑娘推门走进来。
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There was a knock at the door, and a little fair-haired girl opened it.
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14
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"爸爸,妈妈叫你别光顾着说话,快回去吃午饭。"
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‘Daddy, mummy says, do stop talking and come and eat your dinner.’
‘This is my third daughter,’ said Athelny, pointing to her with a dramatic forefinger . ‘She is called Maria del Pilar, but she answers more willingly to the name of Jane. Jane, your nose wants blowing.’
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"爸爸,我没有手绢儿。"
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‘I haven’t got a hanky, daddy.’
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17
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"嘘!嘘!孩子,"说话间,他变戏法似的掏出了一块漂亮的印花大手帕,"你瞧,上帝给你送什么来啦?"
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17
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‘Tut, tut, child,’ he answered, as he produced a vast, brilliant bandanna , ‘what do you suppose the Almighty gave you fingers for?’
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18
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他们三人上楼后,菲利普被领进一个四周嵌着深色栎本护墙板的房间。房间中央摆着一张狭长的柚木桌子,支架是活动的,由两根铁条固定着。这种式样的桌子,西班牙人管它叫mesa de hieraje。看来他们就要在这里用餐了,因为桌子上已摆好了两副餐具。桌旁还摆着两张大扶手椅,栎木扶手又宽又光滑,椅子的靠背与坐位均包着皮革。这两张椅子,朴素雅洁,但坐了并不舒适。
withE
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They went upstairs, and Philip was taken into a room with walls panelled in dark oak. In the middle was a narrow table of teak on trestle legs, with two supporting bars of iron, of the kind called in Spain mesa de hieraje. They were to dine there, for two places were laid, and there were two large arm-chairs, with broad flat arms of oak and leathern backs, and leathern seats. They were severe, elegant, and uncomfortable.
The only other piece of furniture was a bargueno, elaborately ornamented with gilt iron-work, on a stand of ecclesiastical design roughly but very finely carved. There stood on this two or three lustre plates, much broken but rich in colour; and on the walls were old masters of the Spanish school in beautiful though dilapidated frames: though gruesome in subject, ruined by age and bad treatment, and second-rate in their conception, they had a glow of passion.
There was nothing in the room of any value, but the effect was lovely. It was magnificent and yet austere . Philip felt that it offered the very spirit of old Spain. Athelny was in the middle of showing him the inside of the bargueno, with its beautiful ornamentation and secret drawers, when a tall girl, with two plaits of bright brown hair hanging down her back, came in.
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21
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"妈妈说午饭做好了,就等你们二位了。你们一坐好,我就把饭菜端进来。"
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‘Mother says dinner’s ready and waiting and I’m to bring it in as soon as you sit down.’
‘I christened her Maria del Sol, because she was my first child and I dedicated her to the glorious sun of Castile; but her mother calls her Sally and her brother Pudding-Face.’
The girl smiled shyly, she had even, white teeth, and blushed. She was well set-up, tall for her age, with pleasant gray eyes and a broad forehead. She had red cheeks.
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26
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"快去叫你妈妈上这儿来,趁凯里先生还没有坐下来用饭,先跟他握个手。"
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‘Go and tell your mother to come in and shake hands with Mr. Carey before he sits down.’
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"妈妈说一吃过中饭就来。她还没梳洗呢。"
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‘Mother says she’ll come in after dinner. She hasn’t washed herself yet.’
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28
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"那好,我们这就去看她。凯里先生不握一下那双做约克郡布丁的手决不能吃。"
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‘Then we’ll go in and see her ourselves. He mustn’t eat the Yorkshire pudding till he’s shaken the hand that made it.’
Philip followed his host into the kitchen. It was small and much overcrowded. There had been a lot of noise, but it stopped as soon as the stranger entered. There was a large table in the middle and round it, eager for dinner, were seated Athelny’s children. A woman was standing at the oven, taking out baked potatoes one by one.
She wore a dirty apron , and the sleeves of her cotton dress were turned up above her elbows; she had curling pins in her hair. Mrs. Athelny was a large woman, a good three inches taller than her husband, fair, with blue eyes and a kindly expression; she had been a handsome creature, but advancing years and the bearing of many children had made her fat and blousy; her blue eyes had become pale, her skin was coarse and red, the colour had gone out of her hair. She straightened herself, wiped her hand on her apron, and held it out.
‘You’re welcome, sir,’ she said, in a slow voice, with an accent that seemed oddly familiar to Philip. ‘Athelny said you was very kind to him in the ‘orspital.’
‘Now you must be introduced to the live stock,’ said Athelny. ‘That is Thorpe,’ he pointed to a chubby boy with curly hair, ‘he is my eldest son, heir to the title, estates, and responsibilities of the family. There is Athelstan, Harold, Edward.’ He pointed with his forefinger to three smaller boys, all rosy , healthy, and smiling, though when they felt Philip’s smiling eyes upon them they looked shyly down at their plates. ‘Now the girls in order: Maria del Sol...’
‘I call them Sally, Molly, Connie, Rosie, and Jane,’ said Mrs. Athelny. ‘Now, Athelny, you go into your own room and I’ll send you your dinner. I’ll let the children come in afterwards for a bit when I’ve washed them.’
Athelny and Philip installed themselves in the great monkish chairs, and Sally brought them in two plates of beef, Yorkshire pudding, baked potatoes, and cabbage. Athelny took sixpence out of his pocket and sent her for a jug of beer.
‘Did you ever taste such Yorkshire pudding? No one can make it like my wife. That’s the advantage of not marrying a lady. You noticed she wasn’t a lady, didn’t you?’
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45
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这个问题把菲利普弄得尴尬极了,他不知怎么回答才好。
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It was an awkward question, and Philip did not know how to answer it.