'His mother, my dear,' said Miss Tox, 'whose acquaintance I was to have made through you, does he at all resemble her?'
“他像他的母亲吗？”托克斯小姐问道，“我亲爱的，我得通过您才能了解她呀。”
'Not
at
all,
'
returned
Louisa.
“一点也不像，”路易莎回答道。
'She
was
-
she
was
pretty,
I
believe?
'
faltered
Miss
Tox.
“她——她长得漂亮吧。我想？”托克斯小姐迟疑地说道。
'Why,
poor
dear
Fanny
was
interesting,
'
said
Mrs
Chick,
after
some
judicial
consideration.
'Certainly
interesting.
She
had
not
that
air
of
commanding
superiority
which
one
would
somehow
expect,
almost
as
a
matter
of
course,
to
find
in
my
brother's
wife;
nor
had
she
that
strength
and
vigour
of
mind
which
such
a
man
requires.
'
“是的，可怜的亲爱的范妮是有趣的，”奇克夫人经过一些慎重的考虑以后说道。“确实是有趣的。人们不知怎么样，几乎理所当然地本指望会在我的哥哥的妻子身上看到那种威风凛凛、高人一等的气派，可是她并没有这种气派。她也没有这样一位男人所需要的那种精力与气魄。”
Miss
Tox
heaved
a
deep
sigh.
托克斯小姐深深地叹了一口气。
'But
she
was
pleasing:
'
said
Mrs
Chick:
'extremely
so.
And
she
meant! -
oh,
dear,
how
well
poor
Fanny
meant!
'
“不过她是讨人喜欢的，”奇克夫人说道，“非常讨人喜欢。还有她的心眼儿！——啊，亲爱的，可怜的范妮心眼儿多么好啊！”
'You
Angel!
'
cried
Miss
Tox
to
little
Paul.
'You
Picture
of
your
own
Papa!
'
“您这小天使！”托克斯小姐对小保罗喊道，“您跟您爸爸真是长得一模一样啊！”
If
the
Major
could
have
known
how
many
hopes
and
ventures,
what
a
multitude
of
plans
and
speculations,
rested
on
that
baby
head;
and
could
have
seen
them
hovering,
in
all
their
heterogeneous
confusion
and
disorder,
round
the
puckered
cap
of
the
unconscious
little
Paul;
he
might
have
stared
indeed.
Then
would
he
have
recognised,
among
the
crowd,
some
few
ambitious
motes
and
beams
belonging
to
Miss
Tox;
then
would
he
perhaps
have
understood
the
nature
of
that
lady's
faltering
investment
in
the
Dombey
Firm.
如果少校能知道，在那婴孩的头上寄托了多少希望与梦想，多少计划与打算的话，如果他能看到它们参差错乱、混杂无序地在一无所知的小保罗的带褶的帽子四周盘旋的话，那么他确实可能会把眼睛瞪得大大地来看的。那时候他就会从那成群的事物中辨认出属于托克斯小姐的一些野心勃勃的尘埃与光束了；那时候他也许就会明白那位女士畏畏缩缩地对董贝公司进行投资的性质了。
If
the
child
himself
could
have
awakened
in
the
night,
and
seen,
gathered
about
his
cradle-
curtains,
faint
reflections
of
the
dreams
that
other
people
had
of
him,
they
might
have
scared
him,
with
good
reason.
But
he
slumbered
on,
alike
unconscious
of
the
kind
intentions
of
Miss
Tox,
the
wonder
of
the
Major,
the
early
sorrows
of
his
sister,
and
the
stern
visions
of
his
father;
and
innocent
that
any
spot
of
earth
contained
a
Dombey
or
a
Son.
如果这孩子本人能在夜间醒过来，看到聚集在他的摇篮帐子周围、其他人们对他所抱的梦想的微弱的映像的话，那么它们很有理由会把他吓坏了。可是他却继续呼呼地酣睡，对托克斯小姐的善良的意图，少校的纳闷不解，他姐姐过早的悲哀和他父亲严峻的梦幻，都一概不知；他也不了解在地面上的什么地方还存在着一位董贝或一个他的儿子。
注释：1. superiority n. 优越，优势；优越性 词组： air superiority 空中优势；空优战斗机；空优 superiority complex 优越感；自尊情结；过于自尊 overwhelming superiority 绝对优势 例句： (1). They won the battle because of their superiority in numbers. 他们在数量上占了优势，所以取得了战 |