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That
spice
of
romance
and
love
of
the
marvellous,
of
which
there
was
a
pretty
strong
infusion
in
the
nature
of
young
Walter
Gay,
and
which
the
guardianship
of
his
Uncle,
old
Solomon
Gills,
had
not
very
much
weakened
by
the
waters
of
stern
practical
experience,
was
the
occasion
of
his
attaching
an
uncommon
and
delightful
interest
to
the
adventure
of
Florence
with
Good
Mrs
Brown.
He
pampered
and
cherished
it
in
his
memory,
especially
that
part
of
it
with
which
he
had
been
associated:
until
it
became
the
spoiled
child
of
his
fancy,
and
took
its
own
way,
and
did
what
it
liked
with
it.
就年轻的沃尔特·盖伊的性格来说，他原本强烈地喜爱浪漫的情趣和向往奇异的事迹；在舅舅老所罗门·吉尔斯的监护下，严酷的生活经验的水流并没有把他的这种性格冲淡多少；这就是他对弗洛伦斯跟善良的布朗太太的奇遇兴致勃勃地怀着异乎寻常的兴趣的原因。他在记忆中纵容它，珍惜它，特别是与他有关的那一部分，后来它终于成了他想象中的一个惯坏了的孩子，可以自行其是，随心所欲了。
The
recollection
of
those
incidents,
and
his
own
share
in
them,
may
have
been
made
the
more
captivating,
perhaps,
by
the
weekly
dreamings
of
old
Sol
and
Captain
Cuttle
on
Sundays.
Hardly
a
Sunday
passed,
without
mysterious
references
being
made
by
one
or
other
of
those
worthy
chums
to
Richard
Whittington;
and
the
latter
gentleman
had
even
gone
so
far
as
to
purchase
a
ballad
of
considerable
antiquity,
that
had
long
fluttered
among
many
others,
chiefly
expressive
of
maritime
sentiments,
on
a
dead
wall
in
the
Commercial
Road:
which
poetical
performance
set
forth
the
courtship
and
nuptials
of
a
promising
young
coal-
whipper
with
a
certain
'lovely
Peg,
'
the
accomplished
daughter
of
the
master
and
part-
owner
of
a
Newcastle
collier.
In
this
stirring
legend,
Captain
Cuttle
descried
a
profound
metaphysical
bearing
on
the
case
of
Walter
and
Florence;
and
it
excited
him
so
much,
that
on
very
festive
occasions,
as
birthdays
and
a
few
other
non-
Dominical
holidays,
he
would
roar
through
the
whole
song
in
the
little
back
parlour;
making
an
amazing
shake
on
the
word
Pe-
e-
eg,
with
which
every
verse
concluded,
in
compliment
to
the
heroine
of
the
piece.
老所尔与卡特尔船长每个星期天聚会时都要做一次他们的美梦，这样一来，这些事情和他本人在其中的参与就更具有一种令人神魂颠倒的魅力。很少有哪一个星期天，这两位高尚的朋友中的这一位或那一位不神秘地提到理查德·惠廷顿的。卡特尔船长甚至还买了一本相当古老的叙事曲，它主要是反映海员们的思想感情的，它和许多其他的歌曲书籍一起，挂在商业路上的冷清的墙上，飘动着书页，已经好久了；这本诗歌作品叙述了一位有出息的给船上装煤的年轻人跟一位“可爱的佩格姑娘”之间求爱与结婚的故事；这位佩格姑娘是纽卡斯尔①一艘煤船的船长（他同时也是船主之一）的有才能的女儿，卡特尔船长从这个激动人心的传说中，看到它与沃尔特和弗洛伦斯的情况有一种意味深长的、形而上学的相似关系；它使他感到十分兴奋，每逢生日或其他非宗教节日的喜庆日子，他都会在小后厅里放开嗓子，把这首歌从头到尾唱完。在唱到“佩——格”这个词的时候，他还发出了令人惊奇的颤音；每个诗句都是用这个赞美女主人公的词来结尾的。
-------- ①纽卡斯尔（
Newcastle）：英国港市。
But
a
frank,
free-
spirited,
open-
hearted
boy,
is
not
much
given
to
analysing
the
nature
of
his
own
feelings,
however
strong
their
hold
upon
him:
and
Walter
would
have
found
it
difficult
to
decide
this
point.
He
had
a
great
affection
for
the
wharf
where
he
had
encountered
Florence,
and
for
the
streets
(
albeit
not
enchanting
in
themselves)
by
which
they
had
come
home.
The
shoes
that
had
so
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