"Sorry indeed to hear it! she and I must have some talk."
"很遗憾听你这么说:我同她必须谈一谈。"
And bending from the perpendicular, he installed his person in the arm-chair opposite Mrs. Reed's.
他俯下原本垂直的身子,一屁股坐进里德太太对面的扶手椅里。
"Come here," he said.
"过来,"他说。
I stepped across the rug.
我走过地毯。
He placed me square and straight before him.
他让我面对面笔直站在他面前。
What a face he had, now that it was almost on a level with mine!
这时他的脸与我的几乎处在同一个水平面上,那是一张多怪的脸呀!
What a great nose! and what a mouth! and what large prominent teeth!
多大的鼻子,多难看的嘴巴!还有那一口的大板牙?
"No sight so sad as that of a naughty child," he began, "especially a naughty little girl."
"一个淘气孩子的模样最让人痛心,"他开始说,"尤其是不听话的小姑娘。"
"Do you know where the wicked go after death?"
"你知道坏人死后到哪里去吗?"
"They go to hell," was my ready and orthodox answer.
"他们下地狱,"我的回答既现成又正统。
"And what is hell? Can you tell me that?"
"地狱是什么地方?能告诉我吗?"
"A pit full of fire."
"是个火坑。"
"And should you like to fall into that pit, and to be burning there for ever?"
"你愿意落到那个火坑里,永远被火烤吗?"
"No, sir."
"不,先生。"
"What must you do to avoid it?"
"那你必须怎样才能避免呢?"
I deliberated a moment.
我细细思忖了一会。
My answer, when it did come, was objectionable: "I must keep in good health, and not die."
终于作出了令人讨厌的回答:"我得保持健康,不要死掉。"
"How can you keep in good health?
"你怎么可能保持健康呢?
Children younger than you die daily.
比你年纪小的孩子,每天都有死掉的。
I buried a little child of five years old only a day or two since, a good little child, whose soul is now in heaven.
一两天前我才埋葬过一个只有五岁的孩子,一个好孩子,现在他的灵魂已经上了天。
It is to be feared the same could not be said of you were you to be called hence."
要是你被召唤去的话,恐怕很难说能同他一样了。"
Not being in a condition to remove his doubt, I only cast my eyes down on the two large feet planted on the rug, and sighed, wishing myself far enough away.
我无法消除他的疑虑,便只好低下头去看他那双站立在地毯上的大脚,还叹了一口气,巴不得自己离得远一些。
I hope that sigh is from the heart, and that you repent of ever having been the occasion of discomfort to your excellent benefactress.
"但愿你的叹息是发自内心的,但愿你已后悔不该给你的大恩人带来烦恼。"
"Benefactress! benefactress!" said I inwardly: "They all call Mrs. Reed my benefactress; if so, a benefactress is a disagreeable thing."
"恩人!恩人!"我心里嘀咕着,"他们都说里德太太是我的恩人,要真是这样,那么恩人倒是个讨厌的家伙。"
"Do you say your prayers night and morning?" continued my interrogator.
"你早晚都祷告吗?"我的询问者继续说。
"Yes, sir."
"是的,先生。"
"Do you read your Bible?"
"你读《圣经》吗?"
"Sometimes."
"有时候读。"
"With pleasure? Are you fond of it?"
"高兴读吗?喜欢不喜欢?"
"I like Revelations, and the book of Daniel, and Genesis and Samuel, and a little bit of Exodus, and some parts of Kings and Chronicles, and Job and Jonah."
"我喜欢《启示录》、《但以理书》、《创世纪》和《撒母耳记》,《出埃及记》的一小部分,《列王记》和《历代志》的几个部分,还有《约伯》和《约拿书》。"
"And the Psalms? I hope you like them?"
"还有《诗篇》呢?我想你也喜欢吧。"