THE TIME ARRIVES FOR NANCY TO REDEEM HER PLEDGE TO ROSE MAYLIE. SHE FAILS.
当南茜来赎回她对罗斯梅利的承诺时，她失败了。

Adept as she was, in all the arts of cunning and dissimulation, the girl Nancy could not wholly conceal the effect which the knowledge of the step she had taken, wrought upon her mind. —
尽管南茜精通所有狡诈和伪装的技艺，但她无法完全掩饰她所知道的自己所采取步骤带来的影响对她心灵的冲击。 —

She remembered that both the crafty Jew and the brutal Sikes had confided to her schemes, which had been hidden from all others: —
她记得，那狡猾的犹太人和残暴的赛克斯曾向她透露一些对其他人隐瞒的阴谋： —

in the full confidence that she was trustworthy and beyond the reach of their suspicion. —
他们完全相信她是值得信赖，并且不会受到他们的怀疑。 —

Vile as those schemes were, desperate as were their originators, and bitter as were her feelings towards Fagin, who had led her, step by step, deeper and deeper down into an abyss of crime and misery, whence was no escape; —
尽管这些计划是卑鄙的，发起者绝望，而她对费金的感情也很痛苦，费金一步步地将她引向犯罪和悲惨的深渊，没有任何逃脱的出路； —

still, there were times when, even towards him, she felt some relenting, lest her disclosure should bring him within the iron grasp he had so long eluded, and he should fall at last–richly as he merited such a fate–by her hand.
仍然，有时她甚至对他有些后悔，担心她的吐露会使他陷入他曾长期逃避的铁腕之下，最终落得–虽然他实至名归地应得这样的结局–落到她手中。

But, these were the mere wanderings of a mind unable wholly to detach itself from old companions and associations, though enabled to fix itself steadily on one object, and resolved not to be turned aside by any consideration. —
但是，这些不过是心智不能完全摆脱旧伙伴和联系的漫游思绪，纵然能够坚定地集中在一个对象上，并决不为任何考虑所转移。 —

Her fears for Sikes would have been more powerful inducements to recoil while there was yet time; —
她对赛克斯的担忧本来可能是回避的更有力动机； —

but she had stipulated that her secret should be rigidly kept, she had dropped no clue which could lead to his discovery, she had refused, even for his sake, a refuge from all the guilt and wretchedness that encompasses her–and what more could she do! She was resolved.
但她已经规定了她的秘密必须严格保密，她没有留下任何线索可以导致他的发现，她甚至因了他而拒绝了一个摆脱所有罪恶和困苦包围的避难所–她还能做什么！她下定决心。

Though all her mental struggles terminated in this conclusion, they forced themselves upon her, again and again, and left their traces too. —
虽然她的所有心理斗争最终以这个结论告终，但它们一次又一次地迫使她回想起这些痕迹。 —

She grew pale and thin, even within a few days. —
几天时间里，她变得苍白而消瘦。 —

At times, she took no heed of what was passing before her, or no part in conversations where once, she would have been the loudest. —
有时，她对正在发生的事情不闻不问，或者在曾经的谈话中没有参与。 —

At other times, she laughed without merriment, and was noisy without a moment afterwards–she sat silent and dejected, brooding with her head upon her hands, while the very effort by which she roused herself, told, more forcibly than even these indications, that she was ill at ease, and that her thoughts were occupied with matters very different and distant from those in the course of discussion by her companions.
在其他时候，她笑得没有欢乐，后来又变得嘈杂–她坐在那里沉默而郁郁寡欢，靠着手的头，即使使劲振作自己的努力，比她的同伴们讨论的事情更让人感觉到她内心的不安，她的思绪被占据着完全不同和遥远的事物。

It was Sunday night, and the bell of the nearest church struck the hour. —
那是星期天晚上，最近的教堂钟声敲响了小时。 —

Sikes and the Jew were talking, but they paused to listen. —
赛克斯和犹太人正在交谈，但他们停下来听了起来。 —

The girl looked up from the low seat on which she crouched, and listened too. Eleven.
女孩从蹲坐的低凳上抬起头来，也听着。十一。

‘An hour this side of midnight,’ said Sikes, raising the blind to look out and returning to his seat. —
‘午夜前一个小时，’赛克斯说着，拉开百叶窗往外望了一眼，然后回到座位上。 —

‘Dark and heavy it is too. A good night for business this.’
‘天黑而沉重。这真是做生意的好时机啊。’

‘Ah!’ replied Fagin. ‘What a pity, Bill, my dear, that there’s none quite ready to be done.’
‘啊！’法金回答道，‘可惜，比尔，可惜没有事情可以做。’

‘You’re right for once,’ replied Sikes gruffly. ‘It is a pity, for I’m in the humour too.’
‘你说的没错。’赛克斯粗声道，‘真可惜，我也正有心情。’

Fagin sighed, and shook his head despondingly.
法金叹了口气，无奈地摇了摇头。

‘We must make up for lost time when we’ve got things into a good train. —
‘等我们把事情安排好了，就得加倍努力弥补失去的时间。’ —

That’s all I know,’ said Sikes.
‘我知道的就这些，’赛克斯说。

‘That’s the way to talk, my dear,’ replied Fagin, venturing to pat him on the shoulder. —
‘你说话啊，亲爱的，’法金说着鼓起勇气拍了拍他的肩膀，‘听你这样说我就感觉挺好的。’ —

‘It does me good to hear you.’
‘这让你感觉好，是吧！’赛克斯喊着，‘好吧，随你的便。’

‘Does you good, does it!’ cried Sikes. ‘Well, so be it.’
‘哈！哈！哈！’法金笑着说，似乎连这点让步也让他松了口气。

‘Ha! ha! ha!’ laughed Fagin, as if he were relieved by even this concession. —
‘今晚你还真像你自己。比尔，真的像你自己。’ —

‘You’re like yourself to-night, Bill. Quite like yourself.’
‘当你把那只枯瘦的老爪子放在我的肩膀上时，我就不像自己了，所以拿开吧，’赛克斯说着，甩开犹太人的手。

‘I don’t feel like myself when you lay that withered old claw on my shoulder, so take it away,’ said Sikes, casting off the Jew’s hand.
‘这让你紧张，比尔，会让你想起被抓的时刻，是吧？’

‘It make you nervous, Bill,–reminds you of being nabbed, does it?’ —
‘Yes.’ —

said Fagin, determined not to be offended.
“嘿！”Sikes叫道。“南茜。这么晚了，姑娘要去哪？”

‘Reminds me of being nabbed by the devil,’ returned Sikes. ‘There never was another man with such a face as yours, unless it was your father, and I suppose he is singeing his grizzled red beard by this time, unless you came straight from the old ‘un without any father at all betwixt you; —
“不远。” —

which I shouldn’t wonder at, a bit.’
Fagin没有回应这个恭维；

Fagin offered no reply to this compliment: —
但拉着Sikes的袖子，指着南茜，南茜趁着刚才的对话戴上了帽子，正在离开房间。 —

but, pulling Sikes by the sleeve, pointed his finger towards Nancy, who had taken advantage of the foregoing conversation to put on her bonnet, and was now leaving the room.
“哈啰！”Sikes叫道。“南茜。这么晚了，姑娘要去哪？”

‘Hallo!’ cried Sikes. ‘Nance. Where’s the gal going to at this time of night?’
‘不远。’

‘Not far.’
Fagin拒绝被冒犯。

‘What answer’s that?’ retorted Sikes. ‘Do you hear me?’
‘赛克斯反驳道：”那是什么回答？你听到我说话了吗？”’

‘I don’t know where,’ replied the girl.
’“我不知道在哪里，”女孩回答道。’

‘Then I do,’ said Sikes, more in the spirit of obstinacy than because he had any real objection to the girl going where she listed. —
’“我知道在哪里，”赛克斯说，更多地是出于固执的精神，而不是因为他真的有任何反对女孩去她想去的地方。’ —

‘Nowhere. Sit down.’
’“没地方。坐下。”’

‘I’m not well. I told you that before,’ rejoined the girl. ‘I want a breath of air.’
’“我不舒服。我之前告诉过你，”女孩回答道。”我想要呼吸新鲜空气。”’

‘Put your head out of the winder,’ replied Sikes.
’“把头探出窗子，”赛克斯回答道。’

‘There’s not enough there,’ said the girl. ‘I want it in the street.’
’“窗外没有足够的空气，”女孩说道。”我想在街上呼吸。”’

‘Then you won’t have it,’ replied Sikes. With which assurance he rose, locked the door, took the key out, and pulling her bonnet from her head, flung it up to the top of an old press. —
’“那你就别呼吸了，”赛克斯回答道。说完，他起身，锁上门，把钥匙拿走，从女孩头上摘下帽子，扔到一个旧橱柜的顶部上。’ —

‘There,’ said the robber. ‘Now stop quietly where you are, will you?’
’“在那里，”强盗说道。”现在安静地待在那里，好吗？”’

‘It’s not such a matter as a bonnet would keep me,’ said the girl turning very pale. ‘What do you mean, Bill? —
’“这并不是帽子可以留住我的事情，”女孩变得非常苍白地说道。”你是什么意思，比尔？’ —

Do you know what you’re doing?’
‘你知道自己在做什么吗？”’

‘Know what I’m–Oh!’ cried Sikes, turning to Fagin, ‘she’s out of her senses, you know, or she daren’t talk to me in that way.’
’“我知道我在做什么——哦！”赛克斯转向费金，”她疯了，你知道，否则她是不敢这样跟我说话的。’

‘You’ll drive me on the something desperate,’ muttered the girl placing both hands upon her breast, as though to keep down by force some violent outbreak. —
’“你会逼得我做出疯狂的事情，”女孩低声说着，双手捂住胸口，仿佛要用力控制住一种剧烈的爆发。’ —

‘Let me go, will you,–this minute–this instant.’
’“让我走，你能做到吗，—马上—这一刻。”’

‘No!’ said Sikes.
’“不行！”赛克斯说道。’

‘Tell him to let me go, Fagin. He had better. It’ll be better for him. —
‘告诉他，让我走，费金。他最好做到。对他更好。 —

Do you hear me?’ cried Nancy stamping her foot upon the ground.
‘你听见我说话了吗?‘南希一边踩着地面一边喊道。

‘Hear you!’ repeated Sikes turning round in his chair to confront her. ‘Aye! —
‘听到了!‘赛克斯转过椅子面对她说。’是的! —

And if I hear you for half a minute longer, the dog shall have such a grip on your throat as’ll tear some of that screaming voice out. —
‘如果我再听到你半分钟，这狗就会咬住你的喉咙，撕掉你那尖叫的声音之一。 —

Wot has come over you, you jade! Wot is it?’
‘你这个贱人，怎么了!是什么?’

‘Let me go,’ said the girl with great earnestness; —
‘放开我，’女孩非常认真地说; —

then sitting herself down on the floor, before the door, she said, ‘Bill, let me go; —
然后坐在门前的地板上，她说，’比尔，让我走; —

you don’t know what you are doing. You don’t, indeed. For only one hour–do–do!’
你不知道你在做什么。你真的不知道。只要一个小时–请–请!’

‘Cut my limbs off one by one!’ cried Sikes, seizing her roughly by the arm, ‘If I don’t think the gal’s stark raving mad. Get up.’
‘一条一条地割断我的四肢!‘赛克斯大声说着，粗暴地抓住她的胳膊，’如果我不认为这姑娘是完全疯了。起来。

‘Not till you let me go–not till you let me go–Never–never!’ screamed the girl. —
‘不让我走–等不到你让我走–永远–永远!‘女孩尖声尖叫道。 —

Sikes looked on, for a minute, watching his opportunity, and suddenly pinioning her hands dragged her, struggling and wrestling with him by the way, into a small room adjoining, where he sat himself on a bench, and thrusting her into a chair, held her down by force. —
赛克斯观察着，耐心等待着机会，突然抓住她的手，用力拖着她进入一个相邻的小房间，他坐在一张长椅上，再次把她扯进椅子里，强行将她按住。 —

She struggled and implored by turns until twelve o’clock had struck, and then, wearied and exhausted, ceased to contest the point any further. —
她时而挣扎，时而恳求，直到钟敲了十二下，然后，疲惫不堪，精疲力尽，不再争辩。 —

With a caution, backed by many oaths, to make no more efforts to go out that night, Sikes left her to recover at leisure and rejoined Fagin.
告诉她不要再试图在当晚出去，赛克斯留她自己慢慢恢复，重新加入费金。

‘Whew!’ said the housebreaker wiping the perspiration from his face. —
“哇!” 这个闯入者从脸上擦去汗水说。 —

‘Wot a precious strange gal that is!’
‘那是个多么奇怪的女孩!’

‘You may say that, Bill,’ replied Fagin thoughtfully. ‘You may say that.’
‘你可能这么说，比尔，’费金若有所思地回答道。“你可能这么说。”

‘Wot did she take it into her head to go out to-night for, do you think?’ —
‘你觉得她今晚为什么突然要出去呢？’ —

asked Sikes. ‘Come; you should know her better than me. —
赛克斯问道。“来吧，你应该比我更了解她。” —

Wot does it mean?’
‘这是什么意思？’

‘Obstinacy; woman’s obstinacy, I suppose, my dear.’
‘我想是固执；女人的固执，我猜，亲爱的。”

‘Well, I suppose it is,’ growled Sikes. ‘I thought I had tamed her, but she’s as bad as ever.’
‘好吧，我以为我已经驯服了她，但她还是一如既往的顽固。’

‘Worse,’ said Fagin thoughtfully. ‘I never knew her like this, for such a little cause.’
‘更糟糕，’费金若有所思地说。“我从未见过她为这么点小事发这么大的脾气。”

‘Nor I,’ said Sikes. ‘I think she’s got a touch of that fever in her blood yet, and it won’t come out–eh?’
‘Sikes说，’我也不觉得。我觉得她的血液里还有点发热，可能还没完全散去，对吧?’

‘Like enough.’
‘很有可能。’

‘I’ll let her a little blood, without troubling the doctor, if she’s took that way again,’ said Sikes.
‘如果她再次发病的话，我会给她放点血，不麻烦医生的，’Sikes说。

Fagin nodded an expressive approval of this mode of treatment.
Fagin点点头，表示赞同这种对待方式。

‘She was hanging about me all day, and night too, when I was stretched on my back; —
“当我躺在床上时，她整天都围着我转； —

and you, like a blackhearted wolf as you are, kept yourself aloof,’ said Sikes. ‘We was poor too, all the time, and I think, one way or other, it’s worried and fretted her; —
你这个心黑如狼的家伙却冷漠置之，”赛克斯说。“我们也一直很穷，我想，某种程度上，这让她焦虑不安； —

and that being shut up here so long has made her restless–eh?’
她在这里被关了这么长时间，可能让她变得不安– 是吗？

‘That’s it, my dear,’ replied the Jew in a whisper. ‘Hush!’
“是的，亲爱的”犹太人小声回答。“嘘！”

As he uttered these words, the girl herself appeared and resumed her former seat. —
当他说这些话时，女孩本人出现了，重新就坐在原来的位置。 —

Her eyes were swollen and red; she rocked herself to and fro; —
她眼睛肿胀发红；她前后摇摆自己； —

tossed her head; and, after a little time, burst out laughing.
摇摆头；不久之后，突然放声大笑。

‘Why, now she’s on the other tack!’ exclaimed Sikes, turning a look of excessive surprise on his companion.
“嘿，现在她变得另外一种态度了！”赛克斯惊讶地看着他的伙伴。

Fagin nodded to him to take no further notice just then; —
Fagin示意他不要在那时再多说； —

and, in a few minutes, the girl subsided into her accustomed demeanour. —
几分钟后，女孩恢复了平常的举止。 —

Whispering Sikes that there was no fear of her relapsing, Fagin took up his hat and bade him good-night. —
低声告诉赛克斯她不会再复发后，Fagin戴上帽子，向他道晚安。 —

He paused when he reached the room-door, and looking round, asked if somebody would light him down the dark stairs.
抵达房门时，他停了下来，环顾四周，问是否有人能为他点亮暗黑的楼梯。

‘Light him down,’ said Sikes, who was filling his pipe. —
“给他点亮，”正在装烟斗的赛克斯说。 —

‘It’s a pity he should break his neck himself, and disappoint the sight-seers. —
“他自己摔断脖子，也让人们看不到多遗憾了。” —

Show him a light.’
给他点亮一盏灯。

Nancy followed the old man downstairs, with a candle. —
南希跟着老人走下楼梯，手拿着一支蜡烛。 —

When they reached the passage, he laid his finger on his lip, and drawing close to the girl, said, in a whisper.
当他们走到走廊时，他用手指捂住嘴唇，靠近女孩，轻声说道。

‘What is it, Nancy, dear?’
‘南希，亲爱的，是怎么回事？’

‘What do you mean?’ replied the girl, in the same tone.
女孩以同样的语气回答道。

‘The reason of all this,’ replied Fagin. ‘If he’–he pointed with his skinny fore-finger up the stairs–‘is so hard with you (he’s a brute, Nance, a brute-beast), why don’t you–’
‘这一切的原因，’法金回答道。’如果他–他用瘦削的手指指向楼上–对你这么刻薄（他是个禽兽，南希，一个禽兽），你为什么不–

‘Well?’ said the girl, as Fagin paused, with his mouth almost touching her ear, and his eyes looking into hers.
‘嗯？’女孩问道，法金停顿的时候，他的嘴几乎碰到她的耳朵，眼睛盯着她。

‘No matter just now. We’ll talk of this again. You have a friend in me, Nance; a staunch friend. —
‘现在不要紧。我们以后再谈。你在我这里有个朋友，南希；一个可靠的朋友。 —

I have the means at hand, quiet and close. —
我已经准备好手段，静静的、近在咫尺。 —

If you want revenge on those that treat you like a dog–like a dog! —
如果你想对那些把你当成狗–当成狗！ —

worse than his dog, for he humours him sometimes–come to me. I say, come to me. —
比他的狗还差，因为他有时候也宠他–报仇，来找我。我说，来找我。 —

He is the mere hound of a day, but you know me of old, Nance.’
他只是一时的狗奴，但你老熟悉我了，南希。

‘I know you well,’ replied the girl, without manifesting the least emotion. ‘Good-night.’
‘我很了解你，’女孩毫无情绪地回答道。’晚安。’

She shrank back, as Fagin offered to lay his hand on hers, but said good-night again, in a steady voice, and, answering his parting look with a nod of intelligence, closed the door between them.
她在法金伸手要触碰她的时候后退了一步，但用坚定的声音再次说了声晚安，并用一种充满了默契的眼神回应他的告别，关上了他们之间的门。

Fagin walked towards his home, intent upon the thoughts that were working within his brain. —
法金朝着自己的住处走去，沉浸在脑海中的思绪中。 —

He had conceived the idea–not from what had just passed though that had tended to confirm him, but slowly and by degrees–that Nancy, wearied of the housebreaker’s brutality, had conceived an attachment for some new friend. —
他从未经过的事情中构想出这个想法——尽管那确实使他更加坚信，但是慢慢地，一步一步——南希已经厌倦了那个入室抢劫者的残暴，已经对一位新朋友产生了感情。 —

Her altered manner, her repeated absences from home alone, her comparative indifference to the interests of the gang for which she had once been so zealous, and, added to these, her desperate impatience to leave home that night at a particular hour, all favoured the supposition, and rendered it, to him at least, almost matter of certainty. —
她的变化后的态度，她经常独自离家出走，她对她曾经如此热心的团伙利益的比较漠不关心，再加上她那晚渴望在特定时间离开家的迫切性，这一切都支持了这种假设，至少对于他来说，几乎可以确定。 —

The object of this new liking was not among his myrmidons. —
这种新情感的对象并不在他的爪牙之中。 —

He would be a valuable acquisition with such an assistant as Nancy, and must (thus Fagin argued) be secured without delay.
他将会是一名宝贵的得力助手，有南希这样的助手，必须（如弗金所辩论的）要立即保护。

There was another, and a darker object, to be gained. —
还有另一个更加黑暗的目的要达成。 —

Sikes knew too much, and his ruffian taunts had not galled Fagin the less, because the wounds were hidden. —
塞克斯知道得太多了，他的恶棍般嘲讽并没有减轻弗金的痛苦，因为伤口是隐藏的。 —

The girl must know, well, that if she shook him off, she could never be safe from his fury, and that it would be surely wreaked–to the maiming of limbs, or perhaps the loss of life–on the object of her more recent fancy.
女孩必须清楚，如果她摆脱他，她将永远不会远离他的暴怒，而这种暴怒会被确保实现——可能是肢体残废，甚至是生命的丧失——会降临在她更近的幻想对象身上。

‘With a little persuasion,’ thought Fagin, ‘what more likely than that she would consent to poison him? —
‘经过一点说服，’弗金想，‘她很可能会同意毒死他。 —

Women have done such things, and worse, to secure the same object before now. —
女人以前为了达到同样的目的已经做过这样的事情，甚至更糟。 —

There would be the dangerous villain: the man I hate: gone; another secured in his place; —
那个危险的恶徒就会消失；而我所憎恨的那个人会被取而代之； —

and my influence over the girl, with a knowledge of this crime to back it, unlimited.’
并且我的影响力对于那个女孩，再加上支持这种犯罪的知识，将会无限。

These things passed through the mind of Fagin, during the short time he sat alone, in the housebreaker’s room; —
这些想法在弗金独自一人坐在入室抢劫者的房间里的短暂时间里从他脑海中经过； —

and with them uppermost in his thoughts, he had taken the opportunity afterwards afforded him, of sounding the girl in the broken hints he threw out at parting. —
并且在这些想法最重要的时候，他随后获得的机会，对这个女孩进行了探讨，他在分别时所抛出的含糊暗示。 —

There was no expression of surprise, no assumption of an inability to understand his meaning. —
这没有表达出惊讶，也没有假装无法理解他的意思。 —

The girl clearly comprehended it. Her glance at parting showed that.
那个女孩很清楚地理解了。她分别时的一瞥表明了这一点。

But perhaps she would recoil from a plot to take the life of Sikes, and that was one of the chief ends to be attained. —
或许她会对暗杀赛克斯的阴谋感到厌恶，那是需要达到的主要目的。 —

‘How,’ thought Fagin, as he crept homeward, ‘can I increase my influence with her? —
“我如何能增加我在她心中的影响力呢？”法金想到，他悄悄地躲回家里。 —

What new power can I acquire?’
我能获取什么新的力量呢？

Such brains are fertile in expedients. If, without extracting a confession from herself, he laid a watch, discovered the object of her altered regard, and threatened to reveal the whole history to Sikes (of whom she stood in no common fear) unless she entered into his designs, could he not secure her compliance?
这样的脑袋想法狡猾。如果他在不从她口中得到自白的情况下设法监视，发现了她改变感情的对象，并威胁要向赛克斯（她非同小可地害怕的人物）透露整个故事，除非她参与他的计划，他不能确保她的顺从吗？

‘I can,’ said Fagin, almost aloud. ‘She durst not refuse me then. —
“我可以，”法金几乎大声地说。“那时她不敢拒绝我。 —

Not for her life, not for her life! I have it all. —
不要命，也不要命！我已经全盘掌握。 —

The means are ready, and shall be set to work. —
方法已准备好，将开展工作。 —

I shall have you yet!’
我还要得到你！”

He cast back a dark look, and a threatening motion of the hand, towards the spot where he had left the bolder villain; —
他向他放下更胆大的恶棍的地方投去了一个黑暗的眼神和威胁性的手势； —

and went on his way: busying his bony hands in the folds of his tattered garment, which he wrenched tightly in his grasp, as though there were a hated enemy crushed with every motion of his fingers.
并继续前行：他瘦骨嶙峋的手在他破烂衣服的褶皱中忙碌，像是每一次手指的动作都压扁了一个憎恨的敌人。