双语小说连载:《董贝父子》第三章 Part 1

      In which Mr Dombey, as a Man and a Father, is seen at the Head of the Home Department.

      The funeral of the deceased lady having been 'performed to the entire satisfaction of the undertaker, as well as of the neighbourhood at large, which is generally disposed to be captious on such a point, and is prone to take offence at any omissions or short-comings in the ceremonies, the various members of Mr Dombey's household subsided into their several places in the domestic system. That small world, like the great one out of doors, had the capacity of easily forgetting its dead; and when the cook had said she was a quiet-tempered lady, and the house-keeper had said it was the common lot, and the butler had said who'd have thought it, and the housemaid had said she couldn't hardly believe it, and the footman had said it seemed exactly like a dream, they had quite worn the subject out, and began to think their mourning was wearing rusty too.

      已故夫人的葬礼完成得使殡仪承办人和邻近的全体居民都完全称心满意（邻近的居民们通常在这种场合是喜欢吹毛求疵的，对礼仪中的任何疏忽或缺点都会生气见怪）；在这之后，董贝先生家里的各个成员各自回到了他们在这个家庭体系中原先的地位中。这个小小的世界，就像户外的大世界一样，很容易把死去的人忘掉；当厨娘说了“她是一位性情安静的夫人”，女管家说了“这是人人都难以逃脱的命运”，男管家说了“谁曾料想到会发生这件事呢？”女仆说了“她简直不能相信这件事”，男仆说了“这似乎完全跟做梦一样”之后，他们在这个话题上就没有什么可以再说的了，而且开始觉得他们的丧服也已经穿得褪色了。

      On Richards, who was established upstairs in a state of honourable captivity, the dawn of her new life seemed to break cold and grey. Mr Dombey's house was a large one, on the shady side of a tall, dark, dreadfully genteel street in the region between Portland Place and Bryanstone Square.' It was a corner house, with great wide areas containing cellars frowned upon by barred windows, and leered at by crooked-eyed doors leading to dustbins. It was a house of dismal state, with a circular back to it, containing a whole suite of drawing-rooms looking upon a gravelled yard, where two gaunt trees, with blackened trunks and branches, rattled rather than rustled, their leaves were so smoked-dried. The summer sun was never on the street, but in the morning about breakfast-time, when it came with the water-carts and the old clothes men, and the people with geraniums, and the umbrella-mender, and the man who trilled the little bell of the Dutch clock as he went along. It was soon gone again to return no more that day; and the bands of music and the straggling Punch's shows going after it, left it a prey to the most dismal of organs, and white mice; with now and then a porcupine, to vary the entertainments; until the butlers whose families were dining out, began to stand at the house-doors in the twilight, and the lamp-lighter made his nightly failure in attempting to brighten up the street with gas.

      理查兹以一种体面的被囚禁的状态被安顿在楼上；对她来说，她的新生活的黎明是寒冷与灰暗的。董贝先生的公馆是一栋宏伟的房屋，座落在一条阴暗的、非常优雅的街道的背阴的一面，这条街道位于波特兰十字路口和布赖恩广场之间的地区内，两旁矗立着高大的房屋。这是一栋在街道拐角上的房子，里面十分宽敞，其中还包括一些地窖，装了铁条的窗子向它们皱着眉头，眼睛歪斜的、通向垃圾箱的门向它们斜眼瞅着。这是一栋阴暗沉闷的房屋，后背是圆形的，房屋里有一整套客厅；客厅前面是一个铺了石子的庭院，庭院里有两株干枯的树，树干和树枝都已发黑，发出了格格的、而不是飒飒的响声，因为树叶都已被烟熏枯了。夏天的太阳只有在上午吃早饭的时候才照射到这条街上，那时候运水车、卖旧衣的商人、卖天竺葵的小贩、修雨伞的人、还有一边走一边使荷兰钟的小铃儿发出叮当叮当响声的人也随着太阳来到这里。太阳很快就消失，这一天不再回来；随后而来的是乐队和潘趣木偶戏①；在这之后，人们只能听听风琴的极为沉闷的声音和看看白耗子的表演——有时还有一只豪猪来演杂技，以便变换一下娱乐的兴趣；到了薄暮的时候，男管家们（他们家里的人到外面吃晚饭去了）开始站在门口；点街灯的人试图用煤气来照亮这条街道，但每夜都没有成功。

①潘趣（Punch）：英国木偶戏中的主角，他的背是驼的，鼻子很长，而且是钩形的，他的妻子名叫朱迪（Judy），时常和他吵架。
注释：dispose 1. v. 处理；配置；使适应；使有倾向 2. adj. 有......倾向的；打算做......的；有某种健康状态的
例句：
1. The criminal disposed of the witness to the crime.
罪犯将他犯罪的目击者杀死了。
2. She seemed well disposed towards us.
她看来对我们颇有好感。