When I awoke in the morning I thought very much of little Em’ly, and her emotion last night, after Martha had left. —
当我早上醒来时，我非常想起小艾米丽，还有昨晚玛莎离开后她的情绪。 —

I felt as if I had come into the knowledge of those domestic weaknesses and tendernesses in a sacred confidence, and that to disclose them, even to Steerforth, would be wrong. —
我感觉好像进入了那些家庭弱点和柔情的神圣秘密，而将它们透露给史迪福，甚至对我来说，都是错误的。 —

I had no gentler feeling towards anyone than towards the pretty creature who had been my playmate, and whom I have always been persuaded, and shall always be persuaded, to my dying day, I then devotedly loved. —
我对任何人都没有比那个曾经是我的玩伴的可爱生物更温柔的感情，我一直相信，也将一直相信到我临终的那一天，那时我是深深地爱着她的。 —

The repetition to any ears - even to Steerforth’s - of what she had been unable to repress when her heart lay open to me by an accident, I felt would be a rough deed, unworthy of myself, unworthy of the light of our pure childhood, which I always saw encircling her head. —
将她无法抑制的情感向任何耳朵重复 - 即使是向史迪福 - 就我来说，这是一种粗暴的行为，不配我，也不配我们纯洁童年的光辉，我总是看到那光辉环绕在她的头上。 —

I made a resolution, therefore, to keep it in my own breast; —
因此，我下定决心将其保留在我自己的心中； —

and there it gave her image a new grace.
在那里，它给她的形象增添了新的优雅。

While we were at breakfast, a letter was delivered to me from my aunt. —
当我们吃早餐时，我收到了姨母的一封信。 —

As it contained matter on which I thought Steerforth could advise me as well as anyone, and on which I knew I should be delighted to consult him, I resolved to make it a subject of discussion on our journey home. —
因为它包含了我认为史迪福能给我建议，也是我乐意请教他的事情，所以我决定在回家的路上讨论这个问题。 —

For the present we had enough to do, in taking leave of all our friends. —
目前我们要做的就是向所有的朋友告别。 —

Mr. Barkis was far from being the last among them, in his regret at our departure; —
巴克斯先生在我们离开时，并不是最后一个为我们的离开感到遗憾的人； —

and I believe would even have opened the box again, and sacrificed another guinea, if it would have kept us eight-and-forty hours in Yarmouth. —
我相信，如果能让我们在亚茅斯停留四十八小时，他甚至会再次打开箱子，牺牲另一枚金币。 —

Peggotty and all her family were full of grief at our going. —
佩各蒂和她全家都为我们的离开而感到悲伤。 —

The whole house of Omer and Joram turned out to bid us good-bye; —
奥默和乔拉姆的整个家庭都出来向我们道别； —

and there were so many seafaring volunteers in attendance on Steerforth, when our portmanteaux went to the coach, that if we had had the baggage of a regiment with us, we should hardly have wanted porters to carry it. —
当我们的皮箱送上马车时，有那么多海员志愿者跟着史迪福，以至于如果我们带着一连队的行李，我们几乎不需要搬运工来搬运。 —

In a word, we departed to the regret and admiration of all concerned, and left a great many people very sorry behind US.
总之，我们离开时，所有相关人都感到遗憾和钦佩，留下很多人为我们感到非常难过。

Do you stay long here, Littimer?’ said I, as he stood waiting to see the coach start.
你在这儿待很久吗，利蒂默？’我问，他站在那里等着看车开始启程。

‘No, sir,’ he replied; ‘probably not very long, sir.’
‘不，先生，’他回答道；’可能不会待很久，先生。’

‘He can hardly say, just now,’ observed Steerforth, carelessly. —
‘他现在可能说不准，’斯提福夫漫不经心地说。 —

‘He knows what he has to do, and he’ll do it.’
‘他知道自己该做什么，他会做的。’

‘That I am sure he will,’ said I.
‘我相信他会，’我说。

Littimer touched his hat in acknowledgement of my good opinion, and I felt about eight years old. —
利蒂默触摸了一下帽檐以示感谢我的好意，我感觉自己像个八岁的孩子。 —

He touched it once more, wishing us a good journey; —
他再次触摸帽檐，祝我们一路平安； —

and we left him standing on the pavement, as respectable a mystery as any pyramid in Egypt.
我们离开他站在人行道上，一个与埃及金字塔一样令人尊敬的谜。

For some little time we held no conversation, Steerforth being unusually silent, and I being sufficiently engaged in wondering, within myself, when I should see the old places again, and what new changes might happen to me or them in the meanwhile. —
有一段时间我们没有交谈，斯提福夫异常沉默，而我则足够忙于内心猜想，不知何时我会再见到旧地方，或者在此期间我或它们会发生什么新的变化。 —

At length Steerforth, becoming gay and talkative in a moment, as he could become anything he liked at any moment, pulled me by the arm:
最后，斯提福夫转眼间变得愉快和健谈起来，因为他可以在任何时刻变成他想要的任何东西，他拽住我的胳膊说：

‘Find a voice, David. What about that letter you were speaking of at breakfast?’
‘发出声音，戴维。早餐时提到的那封信怎么样？’

‘Oh!’ said I, taking it out of my pocket. ‘It’s from my aunt.’
‘哦！’我说，从口袋里拿出来。’那是我阿姨写的信。’

‘And what does she say, requiring consideration?’
‘她说了什么，需要考虑？’

‘Why, she reminds me, Steerforth,’ said I, ‘that I came out on this expedition to look about me, and to think a little.’
‘她提醒我，斯提福夫，’我说，’我出门这次探险是为了四处看看，稍微思考一下。’

‘Which, of course, you have done?’
‘当然，你做到了吧？’

‘Indeed I can’t say I have, particularly. To tell you the truth, I am afraid I have forgotten it.’
‘事实上，我不能说我特别记得了。坦率地说，恐怕我已经忘记了。’

‘Well! look about you now, and make up for your negligence,’ said Steerforth. —
‘嗯！看看你周围，弥补一下你的疏忽吧，’ 斯提福斯说。 —

‘Look to the right, and you’ll see a flat country, with a good deal of marsh in it; —
‘往右看，你会看到一片平坦的土地，其中有很多沼泽地； —

look to the left, and you’ll see the same. Look to the front, and you’ll find no difference; —
往左看，你会看到同样的景象。往前看，不会有任何不同； —

look to the rear, and there it is still.’ —
往后看，依然如此。’ —

I laughed, and replied that I saw no suitable profession in the whole prospect; —
我笑了，回答说我在整个景象中看不到任何适合的职业； —

which was perhaps to be attributed to its flatness.
也许这可以归因于它的平坦。

‘What says our aunt on the subject?’ inquired Steerforth, glancing at the letter in my hand. —
‘我们的阿姨在这个问题上有什么说法?’ 斯提福斯看了看我手中的信。 —

‘Does she suggest anything?’
‘她有什么建议吗?’

‘Why, yes,’ said I. ‘She asks me, here, if I think I should like to be a proctor? —
‘嗯，是的，’我说。’她在这里问我，我觉得我是否想成为一名代理人？ —

What do you think of it?’
你觉得呢?’

‘Well, I don’t know,’ replied Steerforth, coolly. —
‘嗯，我不知道，’斯提福斯冷静地回答道。 —

‘You may as well do that as anything else, I suppose?’
‘你大概还是可以选择这个，我想？’

I could not help laughing again, at his balancing all callings and professions so equally; —
我忍不住再次笑了，他如此平衡地考虑各种职业； —

and I told him so.
我告诉他。

‘What is a proctor, Steerforth?’ said I.
“什么是监考官，史迪福？”我问道。

‘Why, he is a sort of monkish attorney,’ replied Steerforth. —
“嗯，他是一种类似僧侣的律师，”史迪福回答道。 —

‘He is, to some faded courts held in Doctors’ Commons, - a lazy old nook near St. Paul’s Churchyard - what solicitors are to the courts of law and equity. —
“他就像律师对待法律和公平法院的法官一样，负责在圣保罗教堂附近的一个悠闲的叫作医生公共院的地方召开一些已经消磨过的法庭。” —

He is a functionary whose existence, in the natural course of things, would have terminated about two hundred years ago. —
“他是一个职能人员，在自然情况下，他的存在应该在大约两百年前终结。” —

I can tell you best what he is, by telling you what Doctors’ Commons is. —
“我可以最好地告诉你他是什么，通过告诉你医生公共院是什么。” —

It’s a little out-of-the-way place, where they administer what is called ecclesiastical law, and play all kinds of tricks with obsolete old monsters of acts of Parliament, which three-fourths of the world know nothing about, and the other fourth supposes to have been dug up, in a fossil state, in the days of the Edwards. —
“那是一个有些不受人注意的地方，在那里他们实施所谓的教会法，并对已经被遗弃的议会法案进行各种花招，大约四分之三的世界对此一无所知，而另外四分之一则认为这些法案是在爱德华时代挖掘出来时就已经是化石了。” —

It’s a place that has an ancient monopoly in suits about people’s wills and people’s marriages, and disputes among ships and boats.’
“这是一个在处理有关人们遗嘱和婚姻，以及船只之间纠纷的地方，有古老的垄断权。”

‘Nonsense, Steerforth!’ I exclaimed. ‘You don’t mean to say that there is any affinity between nautical matters and ecclesiastical matters?’
“胡说八道，史迪福！”我大声说。“你难道是说航海事务和教会事务之间有什么关联吗？”

‘I don’t, indeed, my dear boy,’ he returned; —
“不，我的亲爱的朋友，我不是这个意思，”他回答说。 —

‘but I mean to say that they are managed and decided by the same set of people, down in that same Doctors’ Commons. —
“但我的意思是说，这些事务都由医生公共院中的同一群人管理和裁决。” —

You shall go there one day, and find them blundering through half the nautical terms in Young’s Dictionary, apropos of the “Nancy” having run down the “Sarah Jane”, or Mr. Peggotty and the Yarmouth boatmen having put off in a gale of wind with an anchor and cable to the “Nelson” Indiaman in distress; —
“有一天你会去那里，发现他们在讨论关于‘南希号’撞击了‘莎拉简号’，或者佩戈蒂先生和雅茅斯船员在大风中带着锚和缆绳前往遇险的‘纳尔逊’印度人船救援行动中，他们将翻阅《杨氏词典》中一半的航海术语； —

and you shall go there another day, and find them deep in the evidence, pro and con, respecting a clergyman who has misbehaved himself; —
另一天你去那里，会发现他们深陷对一个行为不端的牧师的证据支持与反驳之中； —

and you shall find the judge in the nautical case, the advocate in the clergyman’s case, or contrariwise. —
你会发现在航海案中的法官，在牧师案中的辩护律师，或者反过来。 —

They are like actors: now a man’s a judge, and now he is not a judge; —
他们就像演员：有时一个人是法官，有时他不是法官； —

now he’s one thing, now he’s another; now he’s something else, change and change about; —
有时他是一个东西，有时他是另一个；有时他是另一回事，反复无常。” —

but it’s always a very pleasant, profitable little affair of private theatricals, presented to an uncommonly select audience.’
但这总是一个非常愉快、有利可图的私人戏剧表演，呈现给一群异常挑剔的观众。

‘But advocates and proctors are not one and the same?’ said I, a little puzzled. ‘Are they?’
‘但辩护律师和代理人不是一回事？’我有点困惑地说。 ‘是吗？’

‘No,’ returned Steerforth, ‘the advocates are civilians - men who have taken a doctor’s degree at college - which is the first reason of my knowing anything about it. —
‘不，’斯提福斯回答说，’辩护律师是文官——那些在大学取得博士学位的人——这就是我对此了解的第一个原因。 —

The proctors employ the advocates. Both get very comfortable fees, and altogether they make a mighty snug little party. —
代理人雇用辩护律师。他们都拿到非常舒适的费用，总的来说，他们组成了一个非常舒适的小团体。 —

On the whole, I would recommend you to take to Doctors’ Commons kindly, David. They plume them- selves on their gentility there, I can tell you, if that’s any satisfaction.’
总体而言，我建议你友好地对待伦敦市郊医生，大卫。我可以告诉你，在那里，他们以他们的优雅自傲自豪，如果这是什么安慰的话。

I made allowance for Steerforth’s light way of treating the subject, and, considering it with reference to the staid air of gravity and antiquity which I associated with that ‘lazy old nook near St. Paul’s Churchyard’, did not feel indisposed towards my aunt’s suggestion; —
我理解了斯提福斯轻松对待这个话题的方式，考虑到我与那个“圣保罗教堂附近那个慵懒的角落”所关联的庄严的古老气氛，我没有对我阿姨的建议感到不舒服； —

which she left to my free decision, making no scruple of telling me that it had occurred to her, on her lately visiting her own proctor in Doctors’ Commons for the purpose of settling her will in my favour.
她将这个决定完全留给我自由决定，坦率地告诉我，这是她最近去拜访自己在伦敦市郊医生为了在我的利益中解决她的遗嘱而留下的。

‘That’s a laudable proceeding on the part of our aunt, at all events,’ said Steerforth, when I mentioned it; —
‘无论如何，我们的阿姨的这种行为是值得称赞的，’提到这一点时，斯提福斯说， —

‘and one deserving of all encouragement. —
‘值得鼓励。 —

Daisy, my advice is that you take kindly to Doctors’ Commons.’
黛西，我的建议是你对待伦敦市郊医生友善。

I quite made up my mind to do so. I then told Steerforth that my aunt was in town awaiting me (as I found from her letter), and that she had taken lodgings for a week at a kind of private hotel at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, where there was a stone staircase, and a convenient door in the roof; —
我完全决定照做。然后告诉斯提福斯，我阿姨在城里等我（从她的信中得知），她已经在林肯法院街的一家私人旅馆里租了一个星期的住所，那里有一个石阶楼梯，在屋顶上还有一扇方便的门； —

my aunt being firmly persuaded that every house in London was going to be burnt down every night.
我的阿姨坚信，伦敦每晚都会有房子被烧毁。

We achieved the rest of our journey pleasantly, sometimes recurring to Doctors’ Commons, and anticipating the distant days when I should be a proctor there, which Steerforth pictured in a variety of humorous and whimsical lights, that made us both merry. —
我们愉快地完成了剩下的旅程，有时会回想起伦敦市郊医生，期待着我将在那里成为代理人的遥遥无期的日子，斯提福斯以一系列幽默而古怪的光线描绘着这一画面，让我们都很开心。 —

When we came to our journey’s end, he went home, engaging to call upon me next day but one; —
当我们到达目的地时，他回家了，答应后天拜访我； —

and I drove to Lincoln’s Inn Fields, where I found my aunt up, and waiting supper.
而我则驱车前往林肯法院街，在那里发现我的阿姨已经起来等着吃晚饭。

If I had been round the world since we parted, we could hardly have been better pleased to meet again. —
自从我们分别以来，如果我走遍全世界，我们再见面时也不会更高兴。 —

My aunt cried outright as she embraced me; —
我阿姨拥抱我的时候哭了起来； —

and said, pretending to laugh, that if my poor mother had been alive, that silly little creature would have shed tears, she had no doubt.
她假装笑着说，如果我可怜的母亲还活着，那个傻乎乎的小东西肯定会流泪的，她毫不怀疑。

‘So you have left Mr. Dick behind, aunt?’ said I. ‘I am sorry for that. Ah, Janet, how do you do?’
“那你把迪克先生留在后面了，阿姨？”我说。“真为此感到遗憾。啊，珍妮特，你好吗？”

As Janet curtsied, hoping I was well, I observed my aunt’s visage lengthen very much.
珍妮特行了个屈膝礼，希望我一切安好，我看见我阿姨的脸色变得非常严肃。

‘I am sorry for it, too,’ said my aunt, rubbing her nose. —
她摸了摸鼻子说：“我也为此感到遗憾。” —

‘I have had no peace of mind, Trot, since I have been here.’ —
“自从来这里以后，我一直心神不宁，特罗特。” —

Before I could ask why, she told me.
在我来得及问个为什么，她就告诉我了。

‘I am convinced,’ said my aunt, laying her hand with melancholy firmness on the table, ‘that Dick’s character is not a character to keep the donkeys off. —
“我确信”，我阿姨用忧郁而坚定的语气把手放在桌子上说，“迪克的性格不足以阻止这些驴子。 —

I am confident he wants strength of purpose. —
我确信他缺乏决心。 —

I ought to have left Janet at home, instead, and then my mind might perhaps have been at ease. —
我本该把珍妮特留在家里而不是带来，也许那样我的心情也许可以安宁些。 —

If ever there was a donkey trespassing on my green,’ said my aunt, with emphasis, ‘there was one this afternoon at four o’clock. —
如果有一只驴子闯入了我的院子，”我阿姨强调道，“那是今天下午四点。 —

A cold feeling came over me from head to foot, and I know it was a donkey!’
一股寒意从头到脚传遍我，我知道那是一只驴子！”

I tried to comfort her on this point, but she rejected consolation.
我试图在这一点上安慰她，但她拒绝了安慰。

‘It was a donkey,’ said my aunt; ‘and it was the one with the stumpy tail which that Murdering sister of a woman rode, when she came to my house.’ —
“那是一只驴子，”我阿姨说，“那就是那个杀人般的妹妹骑的那只尾巴短短的驴子，当她来我家时。” —

This had been, ever since, the only name my aunt knew for Miss Murdstone. —
从那时起,这一直是我姑姑对穆德斯通小姐的唯一称呼。 —

‘If there is any Donkey in Dover, whose audacity it is harder to me to bear than another’s, that,’ said my aunt, striking the table, ‘is the animal!’
“如果在多佛有一匹驴，比其他任何人更难以忍受，那就是这只动物！”我姑姑捶着桌子说道。

Janet ventured to suggest that my aunt might be disturbing herself unnecessarily, and that she believed the donkey in question was then engaged in the sand-and-gravel line of business, and was not available for purposes of trespass. —
珍妮特大胆地建议，我姑姑可能是在过度担忧，她认为所谈到的那匹驴当时正在涉足沙砾业务，不会用于侵犯目的。 —

But my aunt wouldn’t hear of it.
但我姑姑根本不听。

Supper was comfortably served and hot, though my aunt’s rooms were very high up - whether that she might have more stone stairs for her money, or might be nearer to the door in the roof, I don’t know - and consisted of a roast fowl, a steak, and some vegetables, to all of which I did ample justice, and which were all excellent. —
晚餐供应得十分舒适和热，尽管我姑姑的房间很高——不知道是为了多走几级石阶值得她付出更多，还是可能靠近屋顶的门，我不清楚——晚餐包括烤鸡、牛排和一些蔬菜，我都吃得津津有味，实在是一顿美味佳肴。 —

But my aunt had her own ideas concerning London provision, and ate but little.
但我姑姑对伦敦食品有自己的想法，几乎没怎么吃。

‘I suppose this unfortunate fowl was born and brought up in a cellar,’ said my aunt, ‘and never took the air except on a hackney coach-stand. —
“我想这只不幸的鸡是在地窖里出生长大的，”我姑姑说，“除了在马车站等待上过车的时候，从来没见过大气。” —

I hope the steak may be beef, but I don’t believe it. —
“我希望牛排是牛肉，但我不相信。” —

Nothing’s genuine in the place, in my opinion, but the dirt.’
“在我看来，这个地方的唯一真实的东西就是脏。”

‘Don’t you think the fowl may have come out of the country, aunt?’ I hinted.
“你不觉得那只鸡可能是乡下来的吗，姑姑？”我暗示道。

‘Certainly not,’ returned my aunt. ‘It would be no pleasure to a London tradesman to sell anything which was what he pretended it was.’
“当然不可能，”我姑姑回答。“对于伦敦的商人来说，卖的任何东西都不可能是他所宣称的。”

I did not venture to controvert this opinion, but I made a good supper, which it greatly satisfied her to see me do. —
我没有敢反驳这种看法，但我吃得很饱，这大大满足了她。 —

When the table was cleared, Janet assisted her to arrange her hair, to put on her nightcap, which was of a smarter construction than usual (‘in case of fire’, my aunt said), and to fold her gown back over her knees, these being her usual preparations for warming herself before going to bed. —
当桌子被清理好后，珍妮特帮助她整理头发，戴上比平时更时髦的睡帽（我姑姑说是“以防火灾”），并把她的袍子反折到膝盖上，这是她上床前常做的准备。 —

I then made her, according to certain established regulations from which no deviation, however slight, could ever be permitted, a glass of hot wine and water, and a slice of toast cut into long thin strips. —
然后按照一定的既定规定，任何细微偏差都是绝对不被允许的，我为她倒了一杯热的葡萄酒和水，还有一片切成细长条的烤面包片。 —

With these accompaniments we were left alone to finish the evening, my aunt sitting opposite to me drinking her wine and water; —
带着这些陪衬，我们被留下来独自度过晚上，我姑姑坐在对面喝着自己的葡萄酒和水； —

soaking her strips of toast in it, one by one, before eating them; —
将她的烤面包片一片片浸泡其中，然后吃掉； —

and looking benignantly on me, from among the borders of her nightcap.
并且从她的睡帽边缘仁慈地看着我。

‘Well, Trot,’ she began, ‘what do you think of the proctor plan? —
“嗯，特罗特，”她开始说道，“你觉得监护人计划怎么样？ —

Or have you not begun to think about it yet?’
或者你还没开始考虑呢？”

‘I have thought a good deal about it, my dear aunt, and I have talked a good deal about it with Steerforth. —
“我已经考虑了很多，亲爱的姑妈，我和斯蒂尔福也谈了很多。 —

I like it very much indeed. I like it exceedingly.’
我非常喜欢这个计划。我极其喜欢。”

‘Come!’ said my aunt. ‘That’s cheering!’
“来吧！”我姑妈说，“这真让人振奋！”

‘I have only one difficulty, aunt.’
“姑妈，我只有一个困难。”

‘Say what it is, Trot,’ she returned.
“说说是什么，特罗特，”她回答道。

‘Why, I want to ask, aunt, as this seems, from what I understand, to be a limited profession, whether my entrance into it would not be very expensive?’
“为什么，我想问，姑妈，因为据我所了解，这似乎是一个有限的职业，我进入其中不会很昂贵吗？”

‘It will cost,’ returned my aunt, ‘to article you, just a thousand pounds.’
“要把你送去学徒，需要一千英镑。”

‘Now, my dear aunt,’ said I, drawing my chair nearer, ‘I am uneasy in my mind about that. —
“现在，我亲爱的姑妈，”我靠近椅子说，“我对此感到不安。 —

It’s a large sum of money. You have expended a great deal on my education, and have always been as liberal to me in all things as it was possible to be. —
这是一大笔钱。您已经在我的教育上花费了很多，并且在一切事情上对我一直慷慨至极。 —

You have been the soul of generosity. Surely there are some ways in which I might begin life with hardly any outlay, and yet begin with a good hope of getting on by resolution and exertion. —
您一直是慷慨的灵魂。我想，一定有一些方法，可以在几乎不花费任何费用的情况下开始我的生活，但又能凭着决心和努力有希望出人头地。 —

Are you sure that it would not be better to try that course? —
您确定尝试这种方式不是更好吗？ —

Are you certain that you can afford to part with so much money, and that it is right that it should be so expended? —
你能确定你有能力花这么多钱吗，并且这样的支出是正确的吗？ —

I only ask you, my second mother, to consider. Are you certain?’
我只是想问你，我的第二个母亲，请考虑一下。你确定吗？

My aunt finished eating the piece of toast on which she was then engaged, looking me full in the face all the while; —
我的姑母吃完了手里的一块土司，一直盯着我看； —

and then setting her glass on the chimney-piece, and folding her hands upon her folded skirts, replied as follows:
然后把杯子放在壁炉上，把手叠在叠起的裙子上，接着说道：

‘Trot, my child, if I have any object in life, it is to provide for your being a good, a sensible, and a happy man. —
特洛特，孩子，如果我生活中有任何目标，那就是为了让你成为一个好的、明智的、快乐的人。 —

I am bent upon it - so is Dick. I should like some people that I know to hear Dick’s conversation on the subject. —
我决心如此—迪克也是。我希望一些我认识的人能听到迪克对这个话题的谈论。 —

Its sagacity is wonderful. But no one knows the resources of that man’s intellect, except myself!’
他的智慧是惊人的。但除了我以外，没有人知道那个人的智力资源！

She stopped for a moment to take my hand between hers, and went on:
她停了一会儿，把我的手握在她手中，接着说：

‘It’s in vain, Trot, to recall the past, unless it works some influence upon the present. —
无谓回忆过去，除非它对现在产生某种影响。 —

Perhaps I might have been better friends with your poor father. —
也许我本来可以和你可怜的父亲相处得更好。 —

Perhaps I might have been better friends with that poor child your mother, even after your sister Betsey Trotwood disappointed me. —
也许我本来可以和你母亲那个可怜的孩子相处得更好，甚至在你姐姐贝茜·特勒伍德让我失望之后。 —

When you came to me, a little runaway boy, all dusty and way-worn, perhaps I thought so. —
当你来找我，一个灰头土脸的小跑掉的男孩，也许我曾这样想。 —

From that time until now, Trot, you have ever been a credit to me and a pride and a pleasure. —
从那时直到现在，特洛特，你一直是我的骄傲和快乐。 —

I have no other claim upon my means; at least’ - here to my surprise she hesitated, and was confused - ‘no, I have no other claim upon my means - and you are my adopted child. —
我的财产没有其他索取者；至少—在这里让我惊讶的是她犹豫了一下，有些困惑—不，我没有其他索取者—而你是我的养子。 —

Only be a loving child to me in my age, and bear with my whims and fancies; —
只要在我年迈时成为一个爱我的孩子，包容我的怪癖； —

and you will do more for an old woman whose prime of life was not so happy or conciliating as it might have been, than ever that old woman did for you.’
而你将会为一位老妇人做更多，她的青春期并不如她所希望的那样幸福或和解，比那位老妇人为你所做的任何事情更多。

It was the first time I had heard my aunt refer to her past history. —
这是我第一次听到我的姑姑提及她的过去历史。 —

There was a magnanimity in her quiet way of doing so, and of dismissing it, which would have exalted her in my respect and affection, if anything could.
她以一种安静的方式这样做，将过去抛在脑后，这种宽宏大量会让我更加尊重和喜爱她，如果有的话。

‘All is agreed and understood between us, now, Trot,’ said my aunt, ‘and we need talk of this no more. —
“我们之间一切都商定并理解了，现在特洛特，”我姑姑说，“我们不需要再谈这件事了。 —

Give me a kiss, and we’ll go to the Commons after breakfast tomorrow.’
亲我一下，明天早餐后我们就去议院。

We had a long chat by the fire before we went to bed. —
我们在睡觉前在壁炉边聊了很久。 —

I slept in a room on the same floor with my aunt’s, and was a little disturbed in the course of the night by her knocking at my door as often as she was agitated by a distant sound of hackney-coaches or market-carts, and inquiring, ‘if I heard the engines?’ —
我住在和姑姑同层的一间房间里，是被远处的马车或市场车辆的声音搅扰，而她也醒来好几次，询问 “我听到引擎声吗？” —

But towards morning she slept better, and suffered me to do so too.
但往晨，她睡得更好了，也让我能安静。

At about mid-day, we set out for the office of Messrs Spenlow and Jorkins, in Doctors’ Commons. —
大约中午，我们动身前往Doctor’s Commons的Spenlow和Jorkins律师事务所。 —

My aunt, who had this other general opinion in reference to London, that every man she saw was a pickpocket, gave me her purse to carry for her, which had ten guineas in it and some silver.
我姑姑对伦敦还有一个普遍看法是，她见到的每个男人都是扒手，于是把她的钱包交给我带着，里面有十个金币和一些银币。

We made a pause at the toy shop in Fleet Street, to see the giants of Saint Dunstan’s strike upon the bells - we had timed our going, so as to catch them at it, at twelve o’clock - and then went on towards Ludgate Hill, and St. Paul’s Churchyard. —
我们在 Fleet Street 的玩具店停下来，看圣邓斯坦钟楼的巨人敲钟——我们的时间刚刚好，正好在十二点时赶到——然后继续向Ludgate Hill和St. Paul教堂地前进。 —

We were crossing to the former place, when I found that my aunt greatly accelerated her speed, and looked frightened. —
当我们要过马路的时候，我发现我的姑姑加快了步伐，看起来很害怕。 —

I observed, at the same time, that a lowering ill-dressed man who had stopped and stared at us in passing, a little before, was coming so close after us as to brush against her.
与此同时，我注意到一名穿着邋遢、神情阴郁的男子在我们经过时停下来盯着我们，稍后便靠得很近以至于碰到了她。

‘Trot! My dear Trot!’ cried my aunt, in a terrified whisper, and pressing my arm. —
“特洛特！我亲爱的特洛特！”我姑姑惊恐地低声说着，紧紧拽住我的胳膊。 —

‘I don’t know what I am to do.’
“我不知道该怎么办。”

‘Don’t be alarmed,’ said I. ‘There’s nothing to be afraid of. —
“别惊慌，”我说。“没什么可害怕的。” —

Step into a shop, and I’ll soon get rid of this fellow.’
“走进一家店吧，我很快就会摆脱这个家伙。”

‘No, no, child!’ she returned. ‘Don’t speak to him for the world. I entreat, I order you!’
“不，孩子！”她回答。“千万不要和他说话。我恳求你，我命令你！”

‘Good Heaven, aunt!’ said I. ‘He is nothing but a sturdy beggar.’
“天哪，姑姑！”我说。“他只是个结实的乞丐。”

‘You don’t know what he is!’ replied my aunt. —
“你不知道他是谁！”我姑姑回答。 —

‘You don’t know who he is! You don’t know what you say!’
“你不知道他是谁！你不知道你说了什么！”

We had stopped in an empty door-way, while this was passing, and he had stopped too.
在这个过程中，我们已经停在一个空门口，而他也停下了。

‘Don’t look at him!’ said my aunt, as I turned my head indignantly, ‘but get me a coach, my dear, and wait for me in St. Paul’s Churchyard.’
“别看他！”我姑姑说，当我满腹愤怒地转过头时，“给我叫辆马车，亲爱的，然后在圣保罗教堂等我。”

‘Wait for you?’ I replied.
“等你？”我回答。

‘Yes,’ rejoined my aunt. ‘I must go alone. I must go with him.’
“是的，”我姑姑回答。“我必须独自去。我必须和他一起去。”

‘With him, aunt? This man?’
“和他一起去，姑姑？这个人？”

‘I am in my senses,’ she replied, ‘and I tell you I must. Get mea coach!’
“我还是清醒的，”她回答。“我告诉你我必须去。给我叫辆马车！”

However much astonished I might be, I was sensible that I had no right to refuse compliance with such a peremptory command. —
虽然我可能感到多么惊讶，但我意识到我没有权利拒绝这样一个强硬的命令。 —

I hurried away a few paces, and called a hackney-chariot which was passing empty. —
我匆匆走开几步，叫来了一辆经过的包租马车。 —

Almost before I could let down the steps, my aunt sprang in, I don’t know how, and the man followed. She waved her hand to me to go away, so earnestly, that, all confounded as I was, I turned from them at once. —
在我甚至来得及放下车步之前，我姑姑怎么蹦进去的，我不知道，那个男人跟着上了。她挥手示意让我走开，如此急切，以至于我虽然困惑万分，还是立刻转身离开了。 —

In doing so, I heard her say to the coachman, ‘Drive anywhere! Drive straight on!’ —
这样做时，我听见她对车夫说：“往任何地方走！直走！” —

and presently the chariot passed me, going up the hill.
不久，马车就从我身边经过，朝着山上走去。

What Mr. Dick had told me, and what I had supposed to be a delusion of his, now came into my mind. —
迪克告诉我的事情，以及我以为是他的幻觉，现在在我脑海中浮现出来。 —

I could not doubt that this person was the person of whom he had made such mysterious mention, though what the nature of his hold upon my aunt could possibly be, I was quite unable to imagine. —
我不容置疑这个人就是他曾神秘提到过的人，不过他对我姨妈产生了何种影响，我却完全想象不出来。 —

After half an hour’s cooling in the churchyard, I saw the chariot coming back. —
教堂墓地里冷却了半个小时后，我看到马车回来了。 —

The driver stopped beside me, and my aunt was sitting in it alone.
车夫停在我身边，车里只有我姨妈。

She had not yet sufficiently recovered from her agitation to be quite prepared for the visit we had to make. —
她还没有完全从激动中恢复过来，无法完全准备好我们要去的地方。 —

She desired me to get into the chariot, and to tell the coachman to drive slowly up and down a little while. —
她让我上车，告诉车夫慢慢地上下开一会。 —

She said no more, except, ‘My dear child, never ask me what it was, and don’t refer to it,’ until she had perfectly regained her composure, when she told me she was quite herself now, and we might get out. —
她除了说：“亲爱的孩子，永远不要问我那是什么，也不要提起它。”之外，直到她完全恢复镇定才告诉我她现在已经完全正常，我们可以下车了。 —

On her giving me her purse to pay the driver, I found that all the guineas were gone, and only the loose silver remained.
她给我她的钱包让我付给司机，结果发现所有金币都不见了，只剩下零碎的银币。

Doctors’ Commons was approached by a little low archway. —
博士公社通过一道小小的拱门进入。 —

Before we had taken many paces down the street beyond it, the noise of the city seemed to melt, as if by magic, into a softened distance. —
在我们走过去的城市街道上，仅仅不多的几步之后，城市的噪音似乎神奇地变得遥远而温和。 —

A few dull courts and narrow ways brought us to the sky-lighted offices of Spenlow and Jorkins; —
几条沉闷的小巷和窄窄的道路把我们带到了斯潘罗和约金斯的带天窗的办公室； —

in the vestibule of which temple, accessible to pilgrims without the ceremony of knocking, three or four clerks were at work as copyists. —
在寺庙的门厅里，接待朝圣者而不需要敲门的三四名文员正在工作，抄写稿件。 —

One of these, a little dry man, sitting by himself, who wore a stiff brown wig that looked as if it were made of gingerbread, rose to receive my aunt, and show us into Mr. Spenlow’s room.
其中一位独自坐着的小干瘪男子，头上戴着一顶看起来像姜饼一样的硬梳发假发，站起来接待我姨妈，带我们进入斯潘罗先生的房间。

‘Mr. Spenlow’s in Court, ma’am,’ said the dry man; ‘it’s an Arches day; —
“斯潘洛先生在法庭上，夫人，”那位干瘪的人说，“今天是Arches法院的日子； —

but it’s close by, and I’ll send for him directly.’
“但他就在附近，我会立刻派人去叫他。”

As we were left to look about us while Mr. Spenlow was fetched, I availed myself of the opportunity. —
当斯潘洛先生被叫来之时，我们被留在房间里自由活动。 —

The furniture of the room was old-fashioned and dusty; —
房间里的家具都很老式且布满灰尘； —

and the green baize on the top of the writing-table had lost all its colour, and was as withered and pale as an old pauper. —
书桌顶上的绿毡已经失去了颜色，像一个老穷人一样干枯苍白。 —

There were a great many bundles of papers on it, some endorsed as Allegations, and some (to my surprise) as Libels, and some as being in the Consistory Court, and some in the Arches Court, and some in the Prerogative Court, and some in the Admiralty Court, and some in the Delegates’ Court; —
书桌上有许多一捆捆的文件，有些标注为“A辩护”，有些令我惊讶地标注为“诽谤”，有些在领圣法庭，有些在Arches法院，还有些在统领法庭，有些在海军法庭，有些在代表法庭； —

giving me occasion to wonder much, how many Courts there might be in the gross, and how long it would take to understand them all. —
这让我非常好奇，大概还有多少法庭，要学懂这些法庭要花多长时间。 —

Besides these, there were sundry immense manuscript Books of Evidence taken on affidavit, strongly bound, and tied together in massive sets, a set to each cause, as if every cause were a history in ten or twenty volumes. —
除此之外，还有许多巨大的卷宗，里面记录着以宣誓作证的证据，精心装订，用厚实的线捆绑在一起，每一个案件一套，就好像每一个案件都是十到二十卷的历史。 —

All this looked tolerably expensive, I thought, and gave me an agreeable notion of a proctor’s business. —
我认为这一切看起来相当昂贵，给了我一种有关代理人业务的令人愉悦的印象。 —

I was casting my eyes with increasing complacency over these and many similar objects, when hasty footsteps were heard in the room outside, and Mr. Spenlow, in a black gown trimmed with white fur, came hurrying in, taking off his hat as he came.
当我满心欢喜地看着这些以及许多类似的物品时，外面房间传来匆忙的脚步声，斯潘洛先生穿着黑袍，镶着白色毛皮边赶紧走了进来，进来时拿下帽子。

He was a little light-haired gentleman, with undeniable boots, and the stiffest of white cravats and shirt-collars. —
他是一个金发的小绅士，身穿无可置疑的靴子，衬衫领子和领带都勒得很紧。 —

He was buttoned up, mighty trim and tight, and must have taken a great deal of pains with his whiskers, which were accurately curled. —
他打扮得非常整洁，非常拘束，一定花了很多心思来整理他那一丝不苟的胡子。 —

His gold watch-chain was so massive, that a fancy came across me, that he ought to have a sinewy golden arm, to draw it out with, like those which are put up over the goldbeaters’ shops. —
他的金表链如此粗壮，使我产生了一个奇怪的想法，他应该有一个肌肉结实的金手臂来拿出来，就像那些熟金匠店铺上面放的金手臂一样。 —

He was got up with such care, and was so stiff, that he could hardly bend himself; —
他打扮得如此仔细，如此刻板，以至于他几乎无法弯曲； —

being obliged, when he glanced at some papers on his desk, after sitting down in his chair, to move his whole body, from the bottom of his spine, like Punch.
当他坐在椅子上后瞥一眼桌上的文件时，他被迫从脊椎底部开始移动他的整个身体，像木偶Punch那样。

I had previously been presented by my aunt, and had been courteously received. He now said:
我之前曾受我姑姑的介绍，受到了礼貌的接待。他现在说道：

‘And so, Mr. Copperfield, you think of entering into our profession? —
“所以，考虑要进入我们这一行了，柯波菲尔德先生？ —

I casually mentioned to Miss Trotwood, when I had the pleasure of an interview with her the other day,’ - with another inclination of his body - Punch again - ‘that there was a vacancy here. —
“我随口在另一天有幸与特洛特伍德小姐见面时提到过，”- 他的身体又微微倾斜了一下 - 又来了一次打拳 - “这里有一个职位空缺。 —

Miss Trotwood was good enough to mention that she had a nephew who was her peculiar care, and for whom she was seeking to provide genteelly in life. —
“特洛特伍德小姐好心地提到她有一个侄子，是她特别照顾的，她希望能给他提供体面的生活。 —

That nephew, I believe, I have now the pleasure of’ - Punch again. —
“我相信，那位侄子，我现在有幸认识到了，”再来一拳。 —

I bowed my acknowledgements, and said, my aunt had mentioned to me that there was that opening, and that I believed I should like it very much. —
我鞠躬示意，说我姑姑跟我提过有这个机会，我相信我会很喜欢。 —

That I was strongly inclined to like it, and had taken immediately to the proposal. —
我说我强烈倾向于喜欢这份工作，并立即接受了提议。 —

That I could not absolutely pledge myself to like it, until I knew something more about it. —
我说，我虽然基本上倾向于喜欢这个工作，但在我了解更多之前不能完全保证。 —

That although it was little else than a matter of form, I presumed I should have an opportunity of trying how I liked it, before I bound myself to it irrevocably.
“虽然这几乎只是形式上的事情，我想我应该有机会在做决定之前试试看我是否喜欢。”

‘Oh surely! surely!’ said Mr. Spenlow. ‘We always, in this house, propose a month - an initiatory month. —
“哦，当然！当然！”斯彭洛先生说，“我们这里总是提出一个月 - 一个试用月。 —

I should be happy, myself, to propose two months - three - an indefinite period, in fact - but I have a partner. Mr. Jorkins.’
我自己很乐意提议两个月 - 三个月 - 具体时间无限 - 但我有个合作伙伴。乔金斯先生。”

‘And the premium, sir,’ I returned, ‘is a thousand pounds?’
“那么，先生，保证金是一千镑？”

‘And the premium, Stamp included, is a thousand pounds,’ said Mr. Spenlow. —
“保证金，包括印花税，是一千镑，”斯彭洛先生说。 —

‘As I have mentioned to Miss Trotwood, I am actuated by no mercenary considerations; —
“正如我对特洛特伍德小姐提过的，我在这方面并非出于金钱动机； —

few men are less so, I believe; but Mr. Jorkins has his opinions on these subjects, and I am bound to respect Mr. Jorkins’s opinions. —
“我相信没有几个人比我更不是，但乔金斯先生对这些问题有他的看法，我必须尊重乔金斯先生的看法。” —

Mr. Jorkins thinks a thousand pounds too little, in short.’
乔金斯先生认为一千英镑太少了，简而言之。

‘I suppose, sir,’ said I, still desiring to spare my aunt, ‘that it is not the custom here, if an articled clerk were particularly useful, and made himself a perfect master of his profession’ - I could not help blushing, this looked so like praising myself - ‘I suppose it is not the custom, in the later years of his time, to allow him any -’
“我猜，先生，”我说，仍然想要保护我阿姨，“在这里，如果一名见习律师特别有用，把自己的专业技能完全掌握了” - 我不禁脸红，因为这看起来像是自我夸耀 - “我猜，在他见习期后期，不给他任何-”

Mr. Spenlow, by a great effort, just lifted his head far enough out of his cravat to shake it, and answered, anticipating the word ‘salary’:
斯彭洛先生将头从领带中费了很大的力气掏出来，摇着头回答，预料到了“薪水”这个词：

‘No. I will not say what consideration I might give to that point myself, Mr. Copperfield, if I were unfettered. —
“不。我不会说，如果我没有束缚，我会考虑这个问题多少，考虑这个问题自己，考虑这个问题，科波菲尔德先生。 —

Mr. Jorkins is immovable.’
“乔金斯先生是坚定不移的。”

I was quite dismayed by the idea of this terrible Jorkins. —
我被这个可怕的乔金斯的想法吓坏了。 —

But I found out afterwards that he was a mild man of a heavy temperament, whose place in the business was to keep himself in the background, and be constantly exhibited by name as the most obdurate and ruthless of men. —
但后来我发现，他是一位脾气沉重的温和人，他在公司中的职位是把自己保持在背景中，并且总是被他的名字公开展示为最冷酷无情的人。 —

If a clerk wanted his salary raised, Mr. Jorkins wouldn’t listen to such a proposition. —
如果一个文员想要加薪，乔金斯先生不会听任何这样的建议。 —

If a client were slow to settle his bill of costs, Mr. Jorkins was resolved to have it paid; —
如果有客户拖延付清律师费帐单，乔金斯先生都决心要求付款； —

and however painful these things might be (and always were) to the feelings of Mr. Spenlow, Mr. Jorkins would have his bond. —
无论这些事情（并且总是）对斯彭洛先生的感情多么痛苦，乔金斯先生都会追索他的债务。 —

The heart and hand of the good angel Spenlow would have been always open, but for the restraining demon Jorkins. —
如果没有这个制约的恶魔乔金斯，好天使斯彭洛先生的心灵和手臂将永远敞开。 —

As I have grown older, I think I have had experience of some other houses doing business on the principle of Spenlow and Jorkins!
随着我年纪的增长，我想我对某些以斯彭洛和乔金斯的原则做生意的其他公司有了经验！

It was settled that I should begin my month’s probation as soon as I pleased, and that my aunt need neither remain in town nor return at its expiration, as the articles of agreement, of which I was to be the subject, could easily be sent to her at home for her signature. —
决定我应尽快开始为期一个月的试用期，并且协议可以很容易送到我阿姨家让她签字。 —

When we had got so far, Mr. Spenlow offered to take me into Court then and there, and show me what sort of place it was. —
当我们谈论到这一点时，斯彭洛先生提出现在就带我进法庭，向我展示那是什么地方。 —

As I was willing enough to know, we went out with this object, leaving my aunt behind; —
由于我很乐意去了解，我们为此目的出发，把我阿姨留在后面； —

who would trust herself, she said, in no such place, and who, I think, regarded all Courts of Law as a sort of powder-mills that might blow up at any time.
她说她永远不会相信自己在这样的地方，并且我认为她把所有的法庭都看作是随时可能爆炸的火药库。

Mr. Spenlow conducted me through a paved courtyard formed of grave brick houses, which I inferred, from the Doctors’ names upon the doors, to be the official abiding-places of the learned advocates of whom Steerforth had told me; —
斯潘洛先生领着我穿过由严肃的砖房组成的铺砌庭院，我从门上医生的名字推断出，这些医生是司徒福告诉我的那些学者们的官方住所； —

and into a large dull room, not unlike a chapel to my thinking, on the left hand. —
然后我们进入了一个宽敞沉闷的房间，左手边有一个不太像礼拜堂的房间。 —

The upper part of this room was fenced off from the rest; —
这个房间的上部和其他部分分开; —

and there, on the two sides of a raised platform of the horse-shoe form, sitting on easy old-fashioned dining-room chairs, were sundry gentlemen in red gowns and grey wigs, whom I found to be the Doctors aforesaid. —
在一个马蹄形的高高平台的两侧，坐在舒适的老式餐厅椅子上，是几位穿着红袍灰假发的绅士，我发现他们是上述医生们。 —

Blinking over a little desk like a pulpit-desk, in the curve of the horse-shoe, was an old gentleman, whom, if I had seen him in an aviary, I should certainly have taken for an owl, but who, I learned, was the presiding judge. —
在马蹄形的弯曲处的小桌子前眯缝着眼睛，看起来像个讲坛式的小桌子上，坐着一位老绅士，如果我在鸟舍见到他的话，我一定会认为他是只猫头鹰，但我得知他是主审法官。 —

In the space within the horse-shoe, lower than these, that is to say, on about the level of the floor, were sundry other gentlemen, of Mr. Spenlow’s rank, and dressed like him in black gowns with white fur upon them, sitting at a long green table. —
在这个马蹄形的空间内，即在地板的平面上方，是几位穿着黑袍带着白毛的绅士，和斯潘洛先生的等级相当，坐在一张长绿色桌子旁。 —

Their cravats were in general stiff, I thought, and their looks haughty; —
我觉得他们的衬衫领一般都很挺括，他们的神态很傲慢。 —

but in this last respect I presently conceived I had done them an injustice, for when two or three of them had to rise and answer a question of the presiding dignitary, I never saw anything more sheepish. —
但在这一点上，我很快就意识到我冤枉了他们，因为当其中两三个人不得不站起来回答主审的问题时，我从未见过他们变得更加胆怯。 —

The public, represented by a boy with a comforter, and a shabby-genteel man secretly eating crumbs out of his coat pockets, was warming itself at a stove in the centre of the Court. The languid stillness of the place was only broken by the chirping of this fire and by the voice of one of the Doctors, who was wandering slowly through a perfect library of evidence, and stopping to put up, from time to time, at little roadside inns of argument on the journey. —
公众，由一个戴着围脖的男孩和一个神秘地从外套口袋里偷吃面包屑的衣着破旧的绅士代表，围绕着法院中间的火炉取暖。这个地方的慵懒静谧只被火炉的吱吱声和一位医生的声音所打破，他慢慢走过一整库存的证据，不时地在旅途中停下来，对这条道路上的小道旅馆进行辩论。 —

Altogether, I have never, on any occasion, made one at such a cosey, dosey, old-fashioned, time-forgotten, sleepy-headed little family-party in all my life; —
总的来说，我从未在任何场合参加过像这样一个舒适、迷人、老式、被时光遗忘、昏昏欲睡的小家庭聚会； —

and I felt it would be quite a soothing opiate to belong to it in any character - except perhaps as a suitor.
我觉得作为任何角色属于其中会很令人放松，除了可能作为一个讼方。

Very well satisfied with the dreamy nature of this retreat, I informed Mr. Spenlow that I had seen enough for that time, and we rejoined my aunt; —
对于这个梦幻般的退避所的梦幻本质感到非常满意后，我告诉斯潘洛先生，我暂时满足了，我们和我阿姨一起离开了廷，当时我看到办公室的职员们用笔戳来指点我时，我感觉自己很年轻。 —

in company with whom I presently departed from the Commons, feeling very young when I went out of Spenlow and Jorkins’s, on account of the clerks poking one another with their pens to point me out.
除了在一次不幸的遭遇一个运货商的驴子，给我阿姨带来痛苦的联想之外，在林肯内院走过水汽无任何新的冒险。

We arrived at Lincoln’s Inn Fields without any new adventures, except encountering an unlucky donkey in a costermonger’s cart, who suggested painful associations to my aunt. —
我们抵达林肯内庭，并没有遇到任何新的冒险，除了在遇到一个运货商的驴子车上的倒霉驴子之外，给我阿姨带来了痛苦的联想。 —

We had another long talk about my plans, when we were safely housed; —
我们在安全安顿下来后又长时间谈了一次关于我的计划； —

and as I knew she was anxious to get home, and, between fire, food, and pickpockets, could never be considered at her ease for half-an-hour in London, I urged her not to be uncomfortable on my account, but to leave me to take care of myself.
我知道她急着回家，在伦敦火灾、食品和扒手之间，她永远无法半小时安心，在我方面她应该不必不自在，应该放心让我自己照料自己；

‘I have not been here a week tomorrow, without considering that too, my dear,’ she returned. —
‘我不到明天就住了不到一个星期，亲爱的，’她回答； —

‘There is a furnished little set of chambers to be let in the Adelphi, Trot, which ought to suit you to a marvel.’
‘在阿德尔菲有一套设备齐全的小套房可以出租，非常适合你，特劳特；’

With this brief introduction, she produced from her pocket an advertisement, carefully cut out of a newspaper, setting forth that in Buckingham Street in the Adelphi there was to be let furnished, with a view of the river, a singularly desirable, and compact set of chambers, forming a genteel residence for a young gentleman, a member of one of the Inns of Court, or otherwise, with immediate possession. —
她从口袋里拿出一则广告，精心剪下来的，广告上说在阿德尔菲的白金汉街有一套设备齐全的公寓要出租，可以看到河景，非常合适一个年轻绅士居住，某法院的成员或其他人，可立即入住； —

Terms moderate, and could be taken for a month only, if required.
租金适中，也可以只租一个月；

‘Why, this is the very thing, aunt!’ said I, flushed with the possible dignity of living in chambers.
‘哎呀，阿姨，这正合适啊！’我兴奋地说，想象着住在套房里可能带来的尊严；

‘Then come,’ replied my aunt, immediately resuming the bonnet she had a minute before laid aside. —
‘那来吧，’我阿姨立刻戴上刚才放下的帽子； —

‘We’ll go and look at ‘em.’
‘我们去看看这些房间；’

Away we went. The advertisement directed us to apply to Mrs. Crupp on the premises, and we rung the area bell, which we supposed to communicate with Mrs. Crupp. It was not until we had rung three or four times that we could prevail on Mrs. Crupp to communicate with us, but at last she appeared, being a stout lady with a flounce of flannel petticoat below a nankeen gown.
我们就去了。广告告诉我们找Mrs. Crupp，于是我们按了地面门铃，我们想这会和Mrs. Crupp联系。我们反复按了三四次才能说服Mrs. Crupp和我们交流，但最后她显身，是一位穿着纳金裤袍下面挂着蓬松法兰绒裙子的壮实女士；

‘Let us see these chambers of yours, if you please, ma’am,’ said my aunt.
‘请让我们看看您的房间，夫人，’我阿姨说；

‘For this gentleman?’ said Mrs. Crupp, feeling in her pocket for her keys.
‘给这位绅士看吗？’Mrs. Crupp说，摸着兜里的钥匙；

‘Yes, for my nephew,’ said my aunt.
‘是的，给我侄子，’我阿姨说；

‘And a sweet set they is for sich!’ said Mrs. Crupp.
‘这些房间对他应该很不错！’Mrs. Crupp说；

So we went upstairs.
于是我们就上楼去了。

They were on the top of the house - a great point with my aunt, being near the fire-escape - and consisted of a little half-blind entry where you could see hardly anything, a little stone-blind pantry where you could see nothing at all, a sitting-room, and a bedroom. —
他们站在房屋顶上 - 这是一个和我阿姨一起的绝佳地点，靠近防火功能楼梯 - 由一个小小的半盲门厅、一个你几乎看不见任何东西的石瞽库房、一间起居室和一间卧室组成。 —

The furniture was rather faded, but quite good enough for me; —
家具有点褪色，但对我来说已经足够好了； —

and, sure enough, the river was outside the windows.
而且，河就在窗外。

As I was delighted with the place, my aunt and Mrs. Crupp withdrew into the pantry to discuss the terms, while I remained on the sitting-room sofa, hardly daring to think it possible that I could be destined to live in such a noble residence. —
当我被这个地方所吸引时，我阿姨和克拉普夫夫人撤回到了库房里讨论租金条件，而我留在起居室的沙发上，几乎不敢相信我会有幸住在这样一个高贵的住所里。 —

After a single combat of some duration they returned, and I saw, to my joy, both in Mrs. Crupp’s countenance and in my aunt’s, that the deed was done.
他们经过一场持续一段时间的单挑后回来了，我看到了令我欣喜的事实，那就是克拉普夫夫人和我阿姨脸上都露出了喜悦之色，一切都已成定局。

‘Is it the last occupant’s furniture?’ inquired my aunt.
‘这是上一个住户的家具吗？’我阿姨询问道。

‘Yes, it is, ma’am,’ said Mrs. Crupp.
‘是的，夫人，’克拉普夫夫人说。

‘What’s become of him?’ asked my aunt.
‘他现在怎么样了？’我阿姨问。

Mrs. Crupp was taken with a troublesome cough, in the midst of which she articulated with much difficulty. —
克拉普夫夫人突然咳嗽起来，勉强说道。 —

‘He was took ill here, ma’am, and - ugh! ugh! —
‘他在这里生病了，夫人，还有 - 呃！呃！ —

ugh! dear me! - and he died!’
呃！天啊！– 他死了！’

‘Hey! What did he die of?’ asked my aunt.
‘嘿！他是怎么死的？’我阿姨问。

‘Well, ma’am, he died of drink,’ said Mrs. Crupp, in confidence. ‘And smoke.’
‘嗯，夫人，他是酒死的，’克拉普夫夫人私下说道。’还有烟吸的。’

‘Smoke? You don’t mean chimneys?’ said my aunt.
‘烟？你不是说烟囱吧？’我阿姨说。

‘No, ma’am,’ returned Mrs. Crupp. ‘Cigars and pipes.’
‘不是的，夫人，’克拉普夫夫人回答。’雪茄和烟斗。’

‘That’s not catching, Trot, at any rate,’ remarked my aunt, turning to me.
“这样的事情，特罗特，至少对你来说不是那么容易。”我阿姨转身对我说。

‘No, indeed,’ said I.
“没错，”我回答道。

In short, my aunt, seeing how enraptured I was with the premises, took them for a month, with leave to remain for twelve months when that time was out. —
总之，看到我对这个房子有多么着迷，我阿姨便租下了它们一个月，等到期满时，还可以继续住上十二个月。 —

Mrs. Crupp was to find linen, and to cook; every other necessary was already provided; —
克鲁普太太负责提供床上用品和做饭，其他一切必需品已经准备好了； —

and Mrs. Crupp expressly intimated that she should always yearn towards me as a son. —
克鲁普太太明确表示，她会永远将我视为自己的儿子。 —

I was to take possession the day after tomorrow, and Mrs. Crupp said, thank Heaven she had now found summun she could care for!
“后天我就要搬过去了，”我说。克鲁普太太说，感谢上帝，她现在找到了一个能够照顾的人！

On our way back, my aunt informed me how she confidently trusted that the life I was now to lead would make me firm and self-reliant, which was all I wanted. —
在回家的路上，我阿姨告诉我，她相信我即将面对的生活将使我坚定和自信，而这正是我所需要的。 —

She repeated this several times next day, in the intervals of our arranging for the transmission of my clothes and books from Mr. Wickfield’s; —
第二天，我们忙着整理我的衣物和书籍从韦克菲尔德先生那里运过来，她又重复了几次这句话； —

relative to which, and to all my late holiday, I wrote a long letter to Agnes, of which my aunt took charge, as she was to leave on the succeeding day. —
对于我晚些时候度过的假期以及所有这些事，我给阿格尼丝写了一封长信，我阿姨将信带走，因为她打算第二天离开。 —

Not to lengthen these particulars, I need only add, that she made a handsome provision for all my possible wants during my month of trial; —
为了不再冗长，我只需要补充说，她为我在试验期一个月期间可能需要的一切都提供了充足的准备； —

that Steerforth, to my great disappointment and hers too, did not make his appearance before she went away; —
令我和她都极为失望的是，史迪福在她离开之前并没有露面； —

that I saw her safely seated in the Dover coach, exulting in the coming discomfiture of the vagrant donkeys, with Janet at her side; —
送走了开往多佛的马车后，我转身面向阿德尔菲，思索着我过去在地下拱门下漫游的日子，以及带我来到地面的幸福变化。 —

and that when the coach was gone, I turned my face to the Adelphi, pondering on the old days when I used to roam about its subterranean arches, and on the happy changes which had brought me to the surface.
当马车消失之后，我开始思考我过去在地下拱门下游荡的日子。