雙語小說連載:《董貝父子》第9章 Part 7
'Wal'r, my lad!'said Captain Cuttle. 'Stand by and knock again. Hard! It's washing day.'
“沃爾，我的孩子！”卡特爾船長說道。“做好準備，再敲一次。使勁敲，今天是洗衣服的日子。”
Walter, in his impatience, gave a prodigious thump with the knocker.
沃爾特急不可耐地用門環砰砰地猛敲着。
'Hard it is!' said Captain Cuttle, and immediately drew in his head, as if he expected a squall.
“很有勁！”卡特爾船長說道，然後立即把頭縮了進去，彷彿他預料到一場夾帶冰雹的暴風就要來臨似的。
Nor was he mistaken: for a widow lady, with her sleeves rolled up to her shoulders, and her arms frothy with soap-suds and smoking with hot water, replied to the summons with startling rapidity. Before she looked at Walter she looked at the knocker, and then, measuring him with her eyes from head to foot, said she wondered he had left any of it.
他沒有錯，因爲一位寡居的太太以驚人的敏捷回答了這個召喚；她袖子捲到肩膀上，胳膊上沾滿了肥皂泡，而且冒着霧騰騰的熱氣。她在看沃爾特之前先看了一下門環，然後用眼睛把他從頭到腳打量了一下，說她很奇怪，門環居然還在門上，沒有被他完全打落下來。
'Captain Cuttle's at home, I know,' said Walter with a conciliatory smile.
“就我所知，卡特爾船長在家裏，”沃爾特和解地笑了一下，說道。
'Is he?' replied the widow lady. 'In-deed!'
“他在家嗎？”這位寡居的太太回答道。“原來——如此！”
'He has just been speaking to me,' said Walter, in breathless explanation.
“他剛纔還跟我說話，”沃爾特急促地解釋道。
'Has he?' replied the widow lady. 'Then p'raps you'll give him Mrs MacStinger's respects, and say that the next time he lowers himself and his lodgings by talking out of the winder she'll thank him to come down and open the door too.' Mrs MacStinger spoke loud, and listened for any observations that might be offered from the first floor.
“他跟您說話了嗎？”寡居的太太回答道。“那麼也許您可以向他轉達麥克斯廷傑太太的敬意，告訴他，如果下一次要貶損他本人和他的住所的體面，從窗口對外講話的話，那麼就請他也下樓來開門，她將爲此而感謝他。”麥克斯廷傑太太高聲地說着，同時聽聽二層樓上對這會提出什麼意見。
'I'll mention it,' said Walter, 'if you'll have the goodness to let me in, Ma'am.'
“夫人，”沃爾特說道，“如果您肯行個好，讓我進去的話，那麼我會對他說的。”
For he was repelled by a wooden fortification extending across the doorway, and put there to prevent the little MacStingers in their moments of recreation from tumbling down the steps.
因爲有一個木製的路障橫放在門口，把他擋住了，那路障是爲了防止小麥克斯廷傑在玩耍的時候，從臺階上滾下去而擺設在那裏的。
'A boy that can knock my door down,' said Mrs MacStinger, contemptuously, 'can get over that, I should hope!' But Walter, taking this as a permission to enter, and getting over it, Mrs MacStinger immediately demanded whether an Englishwoman's house was her castle or not; and whether she was to be broke in upon by 'raff.' On these subjects her thirst for information was still very importunate, when Walter, having made his way up the little staircase through an artificial fog occasioned by the washing, which covered the banisters with a clammy perspiration, entered Captain Cuttle's room, and found that gentleman in ambush behind the door.
“我希望，”麥克斯廷傑太太傲慢地說道，“一個能把我的門敲下的小子能夠從這裏跳過去。”可是當沃爾特以爲這是允許他進去，因此跳了過去之後，麥克斯廷傑太太卻立刻問道，一位英國婦女的家是不是她的堡壘？①它是不是可以容許“二流子”隨意闖入？當沃爾特穿過洗衣服所形成的人造霧氣（它使樓梯扶手粘粘糊糊，像出了汗似的），進到卡特爾船長的房間，看到這位先生正在門後埋伏着的時候，她仍糾纏不休地渴望在這兩個問題上得到回答。
'Never owed her a penny, Wal'r,' said Captain Cuttle, in a low voice, and with visible marks of trepidation on his countenance. 'Done her a world of good turns, and the children too. Vixen at times, though. Whew!'
“我從來不欠她一個便士，沃爾，”船長輕聲說道，臉上仍明顯地流露出恐怖的神色。“我對她和她的小孩子們做了許許多多的好事。可是有時她還是蠻不講理。噓！” -------- ①“一位英國男子的家是他的堡壘”（AnEnglishman′shouseishiscastle．）是英國法學家愛德華·科克爵士（SirEdwardCoke，1552—1634年，曾任民事法院的首席法官）在他的著作《英國法總論》（InstitutesoftheLawsofEngland）中所說的一句話，意爲一位英國男子在他家中就處於法律威力所及的範圍之外。麥克斯廷傑太太的問話就是從這句話引伸出來的。
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