I laboured hard at my book, without allowing it to interfere with the punctual discharge of my newspaper duties; —
我努力地写作我的书，同时也不让它影响我准时完成报纸工作； —

and it came out and was very successful. —
结果出来后非常成功； —

I was not stunned by the praise which sounded in my ears, notwithstanding that I was keenly alive to it, and thought better of my own performance, I have little doubt, than anybody else did. —
虽然耳边响起了赞美之声，但我并没有被震慑住，虽然我很敏锐地感受到了它，而且相信自己的表现比其他人更好，我毫无疑问； —

It has always been in my observation of human nature, that a man who has any good reason to believe in himself never flourishes himself before the faces of other people in order that they may believe in him. —
我一直观察到的人性是，一个有充分理由相信自己的人永远不会在别人面前自吹自擂，让他们相信他； —

For this reason, I retained my modesty in very self-respect; —
因此，我保持着我的谦逊和自尊； —

and the more praise I got, the more I tried to deserve.
而且我得到的赞美越多，我就越努力去配得上；

It is not my purpose, in this record, though in all other essentials it is my written memory, to pursue the history of my own fictions. —
在这篇记录中并非我用来追溯我虚构作品的历史，尽管在其他方面它是我的记忆记录； —

They express themselves, and I leave them to themselves. —
它们自我表达，我就让它们自行发挥； —

When I refer to them, incidentally, it is only as a part of my progress.
当我偶然提到它们时，只是作为我的进步的一部分；

Having some foundation for believing, by this time, that nature and accident had made me an author, I pursued my vocation with confidence. —
因为到这个时候我有一定的根据相信天性和偶然使我成为了一个作家，所以我充满自信地追求我的使命； —

Without such assurance I should certainly have left it alone, and bestowed my energy on some other endeavour. —
如果没有这样的自信，我肯定会放弃，把我的精力投入到其他事业上去； —

I should have tried to find out what nature and accident really had made me, and to be that, and nothing else. —
我本来应该尝试找出天性和偶然真正使我成为什么样的人，然后成为那个人，而不要做其他什么； —

I had been writing, in the newspaper and elsewhere, so prosperously, that when my new success was achieved, I considered myself reasonably entitled to escape from the dreary debates. —
我的作品在报纸和其他地方写得如此顺利，以至于当我取得新的成功时，我认为自己合理地有权摆脱沉闷的辩论； —

One joyful night, therefore, I noted down the music of the parliamentary bagpipes for the last time, and I have never heard it since; —
因此，在一个喜悦的夜晚，我最后一次记下了议会风笛的音乐，从那以后我再也没有听到过它； —

though I still recognize the old drone in the newspapers, without any substantial variation (except, perhaps, that there is more of it), all the livelong session.
虽然我仍然在报纸上认出了那个老调子，没有太大变化（也许只是变得更多），整个漫长的议会期间。

I now write of the time when I had been married, I suppose, about a year and a half. —
我现在写的是我已经结婚大约一年半的时候。 —

After several varieties of experiment, we had given up the housekeeping as a bad job. —
经过几种尝试，我们放弃了家庭管理这个极糟的工作。 —

The house kept itself, and we kept a page. —
房子自己管理，而我们雇了一个跑腿的。 —

The principal function of this retainer was to quarrel with the cook; —
这个雇员的主要工作是和厨师吵架； —

in which respect he was a perfect Whittington, without his cat, or the remotest chance of being made Lord Mayor.
在这方面，他就像是一个完美的无猫的威廉·惠廷顿，或者极少被选为市长的机会。

He appears to me to have lived in a hail of saucepan-lids. His whole existence was a scuffle. —
在我看来，他像是生活在锅盖的铺天盖地之下。他整个存在都充满着争斗。 —

He would shriek for help on the most improper occasions, - as when we had a little dinner-party, or a few friends in the evening, - and would come tumbling out of the kitchen, with iron missiles flying after him. —
他总是在最不合适的时候尖叫求助 - 比如我们举办小型晚宴时，或者晚上有几个朋友在家里时，- 然后铁制物件就飞向他。 —

We wanted to get rid of him, but he was very much attached to us, and wouldn’t go. —
我们想要摆脱他，但他非常依恋我们，不肯走。 —

He was a tearful boy, and broke into such deplorable lamentations, when a cessation of our connexion was hinted at, that we were obliged to keep him. —
他是一个爱哭鼻子的男孩，当我们暗示要中止我们的关系时，他会发出极为悲伤的哭诉，我们只能不得不留着他。 —

He had no mother - no anything in the way of a relative, that I could discover, except a sister, who fled to America the moment we had taken him off her hands; —
他没有母亲 - 也没有我能发现的其他亲戚，除了一个姐姐，一离开他我们就带走，飞往美国； —

and he became quartered on us like a horrible young changeling. —
他像一个可怕的小妖精一样被安置在我们家里。 —

He had a lively perception of his own unfortunate state, and was always rubbing his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket, or stooping to blow his nose on the extreme corner of a little pocket-handkerchief, which he never would take completely out of his pocket, but always economized and secreted.
他对自己不幸的境况有着敏锐的感知，总是用外套袖子抹眼睛，或是在小薄手帕的极端角落擤鼻涕，他永远也不会完全从口袋里拿出手帕，而总是节约和隐藏着。

This unlucky page, engaged in an evil hour at six pounds ten per annum, was a source of continual trouble to me. —
这个不幸的跑腿，以每年六磅十便士的价格在一个厄运之时被雇佣，对我来说是一个持续的麻烦。 —

I watched him as he grew - and he grew like scarlet beans - with painful apprehensions of the time when he would begin to shave; —
我看着他长大 - 他像红豆一样长大 - 担心着他开始刮胡子的时候； —

even of the days when he would be bald or grey. I saw no prospect of ever getting rid of him; —
甚至担心他秃头或变灰的日子。我看不到摆脱他的前景； —

and, projecting myself into the future, used to think what an inconvenience he would be when he was an old man.
而且，将自己投射到未来时，我曾经认为他老了会是个多么让人讨厌的人。

I never expected anything less, than this unfortunate’s manner of getting me out of my difficulty. —
我从来没有预料到，这个不幸者会以这种方式解决我困境。 —

He stole Dora’s watch, which, like everything else belonging to us, had no particular place of its own; —
他偷了多拉的手表，就像我们其他的所有东西一样，都没固定的地方； —

and, converting it into money, spent the produce (he was always a weak-minded boy) in incessantly riding up and down between London and Uxbridge outside the coach. —
把它变卖为钱后，花了这笔款项（他一直是个软弱的孩子），来回无休地乘坐驶向伦敦和厄斯布利奇的马车。 —

He was taken to Bow Street, as well as I remember, on the completion of his fifteenth journey; —
在我记得的情况下，他被带到鲍街，这是他第十五次的旅程完成后； —

when four-and-sixpence, and a second-hand fife which he couldn’t play, were found upon his person.
当时在他身上发现了四先令六便士和一个他不会吹奏的二手草管。

The surprise and its consequences would have been much less disagreeable to me if he had not been penitent. —
如果他不后悔就好了，那么这惊喜及其后果对我来说会少得多。 —

But he was very penitent indeed, and in a peculiar way - not in the lump, but by instalments. —
但他确实非常懊悔，而且以一种特殊的方式 — 不是一次性地，而是分期付款地。 —

For example: the day after that on which I was obliged to appear against him, he made certain revelations touching a hamper in the cellar, which we believed to be full of wine, but which had nothing in it except bottles and corks. —
例如：在我被迫起诉他的第二天，他对地下酒窖里一个装有酒的纸篓做出了某些透露，但实际上里面除了瓶子和软木塞什么也没有。 —

We supposed he had now eased his mind, and told the worst he knew of the cook; —
我们以为他现在已经宽慰了心灵，并透露了他对厨师的了解； —

but, a day or two afterwards, his conscience sustained a new twinge, and he disclosed how she had a little girl, who, early every morning, took away our bread; —
但是，几天后，他的良心又遭到了新的一击，并透露了厨娘每天早上如何让我们的面包消失，以及他被胁持来帮助奶贩买煤的事情。 —

and also how he himself had been suborned to maintain the milkman in coals. —
再过两三天，当局告诉我他揭露了厨房杂物中的牛排和抹布包里的床单。 —

In two or three days more, I was informed by the authorities of his having led to the discovery of sirloins of beef among the kitchen-stuff, and sheets in the rag-bag. —
再过一会儿，他突然改变了方向，坦白承认他知道打算闯入我们房屋的洗碗工的意图，于是这名洗碗工立即被捕。 —

A little while afterwards, he broke out in an entirely new direction, and confessed to a knowledge of burglarious intentions as to our premises, on the part of the pot-boy, who was immediately taken up. —
我对自己成为这样一个受害者感到如此羞愧，以至于我会给他任何钱来保持沉默，或者会付一大笔贿赂让他逃走。 —

I got to be so ashamed of being such a victim, that I would have given him any money to hold his tongue, or would have offered a round bribe for his being permitted to run away. —
但他很快又后悔了，他坦白承认了他知道洗碗工的盗窃意图，并导致这名洗碗工被捕。 —

It was an aggravating circumstance in the case that he had no idea of this, but conceived that he was making me amends in every new discovery: —
在这个案子中，一个加情况是他对此一无所知，但却认为自己在每一次新的发现中在向我道歉： —

not to say, heaping obligations on my head.
更不用说，还在我的头上堆积着人情。

At last I ran away myself, whenever I saw an emissary of the police approaching with some new intelligence; —
最后每当我看到警察的使者走进来带着新的消息时，我就溜走了； —

and lived a stealthy life until he was tried and ordered to be transported. —
并且过着隐秘的生活，直到他被审判并被流放。 —

Even then he couldn’t be quiet, but was always writing us letters; —
即使那时他也无法安静，总是给我们写信； —

and wanted so much to see Dora before he went away, that Dora went to visit him, and fainted when she found herself inside the iron bars. —
并且在他离开之前，他非常想见多拉，以至于多拉去看他，当发现自己被铁栅栏围在其中时，她晕倒了。 —

In short, I had no peace of my life until he was expatriated, and made (as I afterwards heard) a shepherd of, ‘up the country’ somewhere; —
总之，在他被驱逐之前，我生活中一直没有宁静，后来听说他被流放，成为了在某个“国外”某处的牧羊人； —

I have no geographical idea where.
我对地理位置一窍不通。

All this led me into some serious reflections, and presented our mistakes in a new aspect; —
所有这些让我产生了一些严肃的思考，并以一个新的角度展现了我们的错误； —

as I could not help communicating to Dora one evening, in spite of my tenderness for her.
尽管我对多拉深情，但我还是在一个晚上不禁将这种想法传达给了她。

‘My love,’ said I, ‘it is very painful to me to think that our want of system and management, involves not only ourselves (which we have got used to), but other people.’
“亲爱的，”我说，”想到我们缺乏系统和管理，不仅影响了我们自己（这一点我们已经习惯了），还影响了其他人，这令我很痛苦。”

‘You have been silent for a long time, and now you are going to be cross!’ said Dora.
“你沉默了很久，现在你要生气了！”多拉说。

‘No, my dear, indeed! Let me explain to you what I mean.’
“不，亲爱的！让我向你解释我的意思。”

‘I think I don’t want to know,’ said Dora.
“我想我不想知道，”多拉说。

‘But I want you to know, my love. Put Jip down.’
“但我希望你知道，亲爱的。把吉普放下。”

Dora put his nose to mine, and said ‘Boh!’ to drive my seriousness away; —
多拉把她的鼻子凑到我的鼻子旁边，说着“咚！”试图驱赶我严肃的表情； —

but, not succeeding, ordered him into his Pagoda, and sat looking at me, with her hands folded, and a most resigned little expression of countenance.
但是没有成功，她把他赶进了她的小塔楼，坐着看着我，双手交叉，带着一副顺从的表情；

‘The fact is, my dear,’ I began, ‘there is contagion in us. We infect everyone about us.’
‘事实上，亲爱的，’我开始说，‘我们身上都有传染的因素。我们会影响到我们周围的每个人；

I might have gone on in this figurative manner, if Dora’s face had not admonished me that she was wondering with all her might whether I was going to propose any new kind of vaccination, or other medical remedy, for this unwholesome state of ours. —
如果多拉的表情没有警告我，提醒我她拼命在思考着我是否要提出任何新的疫苗，或者其他医疗补救措施，我可能会继续用比喻的方式说下去； —

Therefore I checked myself, and made my meaning plainer.
因此我停下来，让我的意思更清楚。

‘It is not merely, my pet,’ said I, ‘that we lose money and comfort, and even temper sometimes, by not learning to be more careful; —
‘亲爱的，’我说，‘问题不仅仅在于我们因为不够小心而失去金钱、舒适，甚至有时甚至是耐心； —

but that we incur the serious responsibility of spoiling everyone who comes into our service, or has any dealings with us. —
而是我们承担着严肃的责任，会害坏每一个进入我们的服务范围，或者与我们有任何往来的人。 —

I begin to be afraid that the fault is not entirely on one side, but that these people all turn out ill because we don’t turn out very well ourselves.’
我开始担心，错误不完全在我们这一边，而是这些人都表现不好，因为我们自己也没有表现得很好。’

‘Oh, what an accusation,’ exclaimed Dora, opening her eyes wide; —
‘哦，这是多么严厉的指责，’多拉惊呼道，瞪大了眼睛； —

‘to say that you ever saw me take gold watches! Oh!’
‘说你曾看到我拿金表！哦！’

‘My dearest,’ I remonstrated, ‘don’t talk preposterous nonsense! —
‘我亲爱的，’我抗议说，‘别说出荒谬的胡言！ —

Who has made the least allusion to gold watches?’
谁提到过金表？’

‘You did,’ returned Dora. ‘You know you did. —
‘你说过，’多拉回答说。‘你知道你说过。 —

You said I hadn’t turned out well, and compared me to him.’
你说我没长好，然后拿他和我比较。’

‘To whom?’ I asked.
‘和谁比？’我问。

‘To the page,’ sobbed Dora. ‘Oh, you cruel fellow, to compare your affectionate wife to a transported page! —
‘上一页，’ 多拉抽泣着说。’哦，你这个残忍的家伙，竟把你深爱的妻子比作一个被流放的书童！ —

Why didn’t you tell me your opinion of me before we were married? —
为什么你不在我们结婚之前告诉我你对我的看法？ —

Why didn’t you say, you hard-hearted thing, that you were convinced I was worse than a transported page? —
为什么你不说，你这个冷酷的人，你相信我比一个被流放的书童还要糟糕？ —

Oh, what a dreadful opinion to have of me! Oh, my goodness!’
哦，你对我的看法太可怕了！哦，我的天啊！

‘Now, Dora, my love,’ I returned, gently trying to remove the handkerchief she pressed to her eyes, ‘this is not only very ridiculous of you, but very wrong. —
‘现在，多拉，我的爱，’ 我轻柔地试图移开她贴在眼睛上的手帕，’这不仅是你非常荒谬的行为，而且也是错的。 —

In the first place, it’s not true.’
首先，这不是真的。

‘You always said he was a story-teller,’ sobbed Dora. ‘And now you say the same of me! —
‘你总是说他是个说谎者，’ 多拉啜泣着说。’现在你也这样说我！ —

Oh, what shall I do! What shall I do!’
哦，我该怎么办！我该怎么办！

‘My darling girl,’ I retorted, ‘I really must entreat you to be reasonable, and listen to what I did say, and do say. —
‘我亲爱的姑娘，’ 我回答道，’我实在必须求你理智一些，听听我说了什么，也听听我说的话。 —

My dear Dora, unless we learn to do our duty to those whom we employ, they will never learn to do their duty to us. —
我亲爱的多拉，除非我们学会对待我们雇佣的人，否则他们永远不会学会对我们尽责。 —

I am afraid we present opportunities to people to do wrong, that never ought to be presented. —
我担心我们给他人提供了一些绝不应该存在的做错事的机会。 —

Even if we were as lax as we are, in all our arrangements, by choice - which we are not - even if we liked it, and found it agreeable to be so - which we don’t - I am persuaded we should have no right to go on in this way. —
即使我们在一切安排上像我们是出于选择那样放松 - 虽然我们不是 - 即使我们喜欢这种方式，并发现这样做很愉快 - 虽然我们并不喜欢 - 我相信我们也没有权利继续这样下去。 —

We are positively corrupting people. We are bound to think of that. —
我们是在腐蚀人。我们有责任思考这个问题。 —

I can’t help thinking of it, Dora. It is a reflection I am unable to dismiss, and it sometimes makes me very uneasy. —
多拉，我无法不去考虑这些。这是一个我无法摒除的反思，有时让我很不安。 —

There, dear, that’s all. Come now. Don’t be foolish!’
亲爱的，就是这样。现在来，别傻了！’

Dora would not allow me, for a long time, to remove the handkerchief. —
多拉长时间不让我拿走手绢。 —

She sat sobbing and murmuring behind it, that, if I was uneasy, why had I ever been married? —
她坐在手绢后面抽泣低语，说如果我不安心，为什么当初要结婚呢？ —

Why hadn’t I said, even the day before we went to church, that I knew I should be uneasy, and I would rather not? —
为什么我在去教堂的前一天没有说我会感到不安，宁可不结婚？ —

If I couldn’t bear her, why didn’t I send her away to her aunts at Putney, or to Julia Mills in India? —
如果我受不了她，为什么不把她送到普特尼的姑妈那里，或者送到印度的茱莉亚·米尔斯那里？ —

Julia would be glad to see her, and would not call her a transported page; —
茱莉亚会很高兴见到她，不会叫她一个被驱逐的小男孩； —

Julia never had called her anything of the sort. —
茱莉亚从来没有叫她这样的名字。 —

In short, Dora was so afflicted, and so afflicted me by being in that condition, that I felt it was of no use repeating this kind of effort, though never so mildly, and I must take some other course.
总之，多拉如此悲伤，如此使我痛苦，让我感到重复这种努力是无济于事，无论再委婉、温和，我必须采取其他的方式。

What other course was left to take? To ‘form her mind’? —
还能采取什么其他的方式呢？去“形成她的头脑”？ —

This was a common phrase of words which had a fair and promising sound, and I resolved to form Dora’s mind.
这是个听起来很通用且有前途的词语，于是我决定要“形成多拉的头脑”。

I began immediately. When Dora was very childish, and I would have infinitely preferred to humour her, I tried to be grave - and disconcerted her, and myself too. —
我立即开始。当多拉很幼稚时，我更愿意迁就她，我试图变得严肃——这使她困扰，也使我自己困扰。 —

I talked to her on the subjects which occupied my thoughts; —
我和她讨论占据我思想的主题； —

and I read Shakespeare to her - and fatigued her to the last degree. —
我给她读莎士比亚——使她疲惫至极。 —

I accustomed myself to giving her, as it were quite casually, little scraps of useful information, or sound opinion - and she started from them when I let them off, as if they had been crackers. —
我习惯性地向她提供一些有用的信息或正确的观点，仿佛无意中这样做——她却像爆竹一样跳起来。 —

No matter how incidentally or naturally I endeavoured to form my little wife’s mind, I could not help seeing that she always had an instinctive perception of what I was about, and became a prey to the keenest apprehensions. —
无论我多么偶然或自然地努力塑造我小妻子的头脑，我都无法不看到她总是本能地察觉到我在干什么，并且陷入最敏锐的恐惧之中。 —

In particular, it was clear to me, that she thought Shakespeare a terrible fellow. —
特别明显的是，我看得出来，她觉得莎士比亚是个可怕的家伙。 —

The formation went on very slowly.
这个过程进行得非常缓慢。

I pressed Traddles into the service without his knowledge; —
我在没有他知情的情况下，强迫特拉德尔斯为我效劳； —

and whenever he came to see us, exploded my mines upon him for the edification of Dora at second hand. —
每当他来看我们时，我总是向他倾诉我的智慧，目的是让朵拉借鉴。 —

The amount of practical wisdom I bestowed upon Traddles in this manner was immense, and of the best quality; —
我用这种方式传授给特拉德尔斯的实际智慧量巨大而优质； —

but it had no other effect upon Dora than to depress her spirits, and make her always nervous with the dread that it would be her turn next. —
但这对朵拉只产生了一个效果，那就是压抑她的情绪，让她总是因为害怕接下来是她的轮到而神经紧张。 —

I found myself in the condition of a schoolmaster, a trap, a pitfall; —
我发现自己处于一种学校老师、陷阱、旋涡的状态之中； —

of always playing spider to Dora’s fly, and always pouncing out of my hole to her infinite disturbance.
经常充当蜘蛛诱捕朵拉的蝇，总是从洞穴中突然闪现，让她感到极其不安。

Still, looking forward through this intermediate stage, to the time when there should be a perfect sympathy between Dora and me, and when I should have ‘formed her mind’ to my entire satisfaction, I persevered, even for months. —
然而，我期待着在这个过渡阶段之后，朵拉和我之间应该会有完美的默契，我会使她的思想完全满足，所以我坚持了几个月。 —

Finding at last, however, that, although I had been all this time a very porcupine or hedgehog, bristling all over with determination, I had effected nothing, it began to occur to me that perhaps Dora’s mind was already formed.
然而最终发现，尽管我一直像刺猬一样强烈、整体浸透决心，但我却什么也未完成，于是我开始意识到也许朵拉的思想已经成熟。

On further consideration this appeared so likely, that I abandoned my scheme, which had had a more promising appearance in words than in action; —
继续深思熟虑后，似乎事情确实如此，我放弃了自己原本更有前途的计划，决定从此对我的儿媳满意，并尝试任何过程都不去改变她。 —

resolving henceforth to be satisfied with my child-wife, and to try to change her into nothing else by any process. —
我已经非常厌倦了独自睿智而谨慎，也厌倦了看着心爱的人受到约束； —

I was heartily tired of being sagacious and prudent by myself, and of seeing my darling under restraint; —
所以我为她买了一对漂亮的耳环，给吉普买了一个项圈，有一天回家时装得很讨人喜欢。 —

so I bought a pretty pair of ear-rings for her, and a collar for Jip, and went home one day to make myself agreeable.
朵拉非常喜欢这些小礼物，高兴地吻了我；

Dora was delighted with the little presents, and kissed me joyfully; —
但我们之间有一个阴影，虽然微弱，但我已决心将其消除。 —

but there was a shadow between us, however slight, and I had made up my mind that it should not be there. —
朵拉很高兴得到这些小礼物，并欢快地吻了我； —

If there must be such a shadow anywhere, I would keep it for the future in my own breast.
如果任何地方必须有这样的阴影，我会将它珍藏在自己的胸膛里，为了将来。

I sat down by my wife on the sofa, and put the ear-rings in her ears; —
我坐在沙发上，把耳环戴在妻子耳朵上； —

and then I told her that I feared we had not been quite as good company lately, as we used to be, and that the fault was mine. —
然后我告诉她，我担心最近我们的相处不如以前那样愉快，而这是我的错。 —

Which I sincerely felt, and which indeed it was.
我真心如此，事实也正是如此。

‘The truth is, Dora, my life,’ I said; ‘I have been trying to be wise.’
“实情是，朵拉，我的生命，”我说，“我一直在试图变得聪明。”

‘And to make me wise too,’ said Dora, timidly. ‘Haven’t you, Doady?’
“也试图让我变聪明，是吧，朵迪？”朵拉胆怯地说。

I nodded assent to the pretty inquiry of the raised eyebrows, and kissed the parted lips.
我对这个问号眉毛的可爱质询点点头，亲吻那张微张的嘴唇。

‘It’s of not a bit of use,’ said Dora, shaking her head, until the ear-rings rang again. —
“这没一点用处，“朵拉说，摇着头，耳环响了起来。 —

‘You know what a little thing I am, and what I wanted you to call me from the first. —
“你知道我很小气，从一开始就想让你叫我什么。 —

If you can’t do so, I am afraid you’ll never like me. —
如果你做不到，我担心你永远也不会喜欢我。 —

Are you sure you don’t think, sometimes, it would have been better to have -’
你确定有时候不觉得，做 -”

‘Done what, my dear?’ For she made no effort to proceed.
“做什么，亲爱的？”因为她并没有继续说下去。

‘Nothing!’ said Dora.
“什么都不做！”朵拉说。

‘Nothing?’ I repeated.
“什么都不做？”我重复道。

She put her arms round my neck, and laughed, and called herself by her favourite name of a goose, and hid her face on my shoulder in such a profusion of curls that it was quite a task to clear them away and see it.
她搂住我的脖子笑了起来，把自己称为最喜欢的“鹅”的名字，并把脸埋在我肩膀上，头发卷曲丰富到要费一番功夫才能整理开来，看见她的笑脸。

‘Don’t I think it would have been better to have done nothing, than to have tried to form my little wife’s mind?’ —
‘难道我不觉得最好是什么都不做，而不是试图塑造我小妻子的思想吗？’ —

said I, laughing at myself. ‘Is that the question? —
我笑着对自己说道。’这就是问题吗？ —

Yes, indeed, I do.’
是的，我确实是这样认为的。

‘Is that what you have been trying?’ cried Dora. ‘Oh what a shocking boy!’
‘你一直在做尝试吗？’ 多拉喊道。’哦，这个可怕的男孩！

‘But I shall never try any more,’ said I. ‘For I love her dearly as she is.’
‘但我再也不会尝试了，’我说。’因为我爱她，爱她就是她的样子。

‘Without a story - really?’ inquired Dora, creeping closer to me.
‘没有一个故事 - 真的？’ 多拉问道，慢慢靠近我。

‘Why should I seek to change,’ said I, ‘what has been so precious to me for so long! —
‘为什么我要去改变，’我说，’这么长时间以来对我如此珍贵的东西！ —

You never can show better than as your own natural self, my sweet Dora; —
你从来不会比作为你自己最自然的样子更好看，我亲爱的多拉； —

and we’ll try no conceited experiments, but go back to our old way, and be happy.’
我们不会尝试做自以为是的实验，而是回到我们的旧方式，快乐地生活。

‘And be happy!’ returned Dora. ‘Yes! All day! —
‘快乐！’ 多拉回答道。’是的！整天！ —

And you won’t mind things going a tiny morsel wrong, sometimes?’
有时候事情出了一点小错，你也不会介意吧？

‘No, no,’ said I. ‘We must do the best we can.’
‘不会，不会，’我说。’我们必须尽力而为。

‘And you won’t tell me, any more, that we make other people bad,’ coaxed Dora; —
‘你也不会再告诉我，我们让其他人变坏，’多拉哄着说； —

‘will you? Because you know it’s so dreadfully cross!’
‘对吧？因为你知道那样太讨厌了！

‘No, no,’ said I.
‘不会，不会，’我说。

‘it’s better for me to be stupid than uncomfortable, isn’t it?’ said Dora.
朵拉说：“比起不舒服，我还是愿意选择愚蠢的。”

‘Better to be naturally Dora than anything else in the world.’
“在这个世界上，最好还是做自然的朵拉。”

‘In the world! Ah, Doady, it’s a large place!’
“在这个世界上！啊，朵迪，这是一个广阔的地方！”

She shook her head, turned her delighted bright eyes up to mine, kissed me, broke into a merry laugh, and sprang away to put on Jip’s new collar.
她摇了摇头，把兴奋明亮的眼睛转向我，亲吻了我，开心地笑了起来，然后跳开去给吉普戴上新颈圈。

So ended my last attempt to make any change in Dora. I had been unhappy in trying it; —
这是我最后一次尝试改变朵拉。但我却很不开心； —

I could not endure my own solitary wisdom; —
我无法忍受我的孤独智慧； —

I could not reconcile it with her former appeal to me as my child-wife. —
我无法将其与她曾经向我呼唤成为我的孩子妻子的旧形态调和。 —

I resolved to do what I could, in a quiet way, to improve our proceedings myself, but I foresaw that my utmost would be very little, or I must degenerate into the spider again, and be for ever lying in wait.
“我决定以自己能够的方式，默默地，来改善我们的进程，但我预见到我所能做的很少，要不然我会再次沦为蜘蛛，永远潜伏等待。”

And the shadow I have mentioned, that was not to be between us any more, but was to rest wholly on my own heart? —
“那个不再存在于我们之间的阴影，而是完全降临在我的心上呢？” —

How did that fall?
“那是怎样发生的？”

The old unhappy feeling pervaded my life. It was deepened, if it were changed at all; —
那种旧有的不快感依旧弥漫在我的生活中。它若有改变，更加加深了； —

but it was as undefined as ever, and addressed me like a strain of sorrowful music faintly heard in the night. —
但它依旧像以前一样不明确，像夜晚微弱听到的悲伤音乐一样呼唤我。 —

I loved my wife dearly, and I was happy; —
我深爱我的妻子，我很幸福； —

but the happiness I had vaguely anticipated, once, was not the happiness I enjoyed, and there was always something wanting.
但我过去模糊预期的幸福，并非我所享受的幸福，总觉得少了点什么。

In fulfilment of the compact I have made with myself, to reflect my mind on this paper, I again examine it, closely, and bring its secrets to the light. —
根据我与自己订立的约定，将我的思绪反映在这篇文章中，我再次仔细审视它，将它的秘密揭示出来。 —

What I missed, I still regarded - I always regarded - as something that had been a dream of my youthful fancy; —
我错过的东西，我仍然视为曾是我年轻幻想的一部分； —

that was incapable of realization; that I was now discovering to be so, with some natural pain, as all men did. —
但是，我发现它是无法实现的；我像所有人一样感到了一些自然的痛苦。 —

But that it would have been better for me if my wife could have helped me more, and shared the many thoughts in which I had no partner; —
但是我知道，如果我的妻子更能帮助我，分享我其中很多无伴侣的想法，那对我来说会更好。 —

and that this might have been; I knew.
而这是有可能的；我知道。

Between these two irreconcilable conclusions: the one, that what I felt was general and unavoidable; —
在这两个无法调和的结论之间：一方面，我所感受到的是普遍且无法避免的； —

the other, that it was particular to me, and might have been different: —
另一方面，它是我特有的，也可以有所不同。 —

I balanced curiously, with no distinct sense of their opposition to each other. —
我好奇地权衡着这两种结论，对它们之间的对立没有明显的感受。 —

When I thought of the airy dreams of youth that are incapable of realization, I thought of the better state preceding manhood that I had outgrown; —
当我想起那些无法实现的青年虚幻梦时，我想到了我已经长大过去了的更好状态； —

and then the contented days with Agnes, in the dear old house, arose before me, like spectres of the dead, that might have some renewal in another world, but never more could be reanimated here.
然后，与阿格尼丝一起在亲爱的老房子里度过的幸福日子，像死者的幽灵一样浮现在我面前，这可能在另一个世界会有所复苏，但在这里永远不会再次复活。

Sometimes, the speculation came into my thoughts, What might have happened, or what would have happened, if Dora and I had never known each other? —
有时候，我思索着，如果朵拉和我从未相遇，可能会发生什么，或者将会发生什么？ —

But she was so incorporated with my existence, that it was the idlest of all fancies, and would soon rise out of my reach and sight, like gossamer floating in the air.
但是她已经如此融入我的生活，这是最无聊的幻想，很快就会离开我，像在空中飘浮的蛛丝一样。

I always loved her. What I am describing, slumbered, and half awoke, and slept again, in the innermost recesses of my mind. —
我一直爱着她。我所描述的东西在心灵深处沉睡、半醒、再次入睡。 —

There was no evidence of it in me; I know of no influence it had in anything I said or did. —
在我身上没有任何证据；我知道它在我所言所行中没有任何影响。 —

I bore the weight of all our little cares, and all my projects; Dora held the pens; —
我承担了我们所有小小的关怀和所有的计划；朵拉拿笔； —

and we both felt that our shares were adjusted as the case required. —
我们都觉得我们的责任已经根据情况得到调整。 —

She was truly fond of me, and proud of me; —
她真的很喜欢我，而且为我感到骄傲； —

and when Agnes wrote a few earnest words in her letters to Dora, of the pride and interest with which my old friends heard of my growing reputation, and read my book as if they heard me speaking its contents, Dora read them out to me with tears of joy in her bright eyes, and said I was a dear old clever, famous boy.
当阿格尼丝在信中写下一些真诚的话，描述我的旧友们听闻我声名鹊起时的自豪和兴趣，多拉读给我听时，她那明亮的眼睛里含着喜悦的泪水，说我是一个可爱的老聪明有名望的男孩。

‘The first mistaken impulse of an undisciplined heart.’ —
‘未经训练的心灵的第一个错误冲动。’ —

Those words of Mrs. Strong’s were constantly recurring to me, at this time; —
这段话经常在我脑中反复出现，当时； —

were almost always present to my mind. I awoke with them, often, in the night; —
常常在夜里，我想起这些话醒来； —

I remember to have even read them, in dreams, inscribed upon the walls of houses. —
我记得甚至梦中看到过这些话，刻在房子的墙上。 —

For I knew, now, that my own heart was undisciplined when it first loved Dora; —
因为我现在知道，当我最初爱多拉的时候，我的心是不受训练的； —

and that if it had been disciplined, it never could have felt, when we were married, what it had felt in its secret experience.
如果它被训练过，那在我们结婚时，它就不会感受到它在秘密经历中感受到的东西。

‘There can be no disparity in marriage, like unsuitability of mind and purpose.’ —
‘婚姻中没有比心灵和目的不合更大的不协调。’ —

Those words I remembered too. I had endeavoured to adapt Dora to myself, and found it impracticable. It remained for me to adapt myself to Dora; —
我也记得这些话。我曾试图使多拉适应我自己，但发现这是不可行的。现在轮到我适应多拉； —

to share with her what I could, and be happy; —
与她分享我能分享的，然后快乐； —

to bear on my own shoulders what I must, and be happy still. —
承担我必须承担的责任，然后仍然快乐。 —

This was the discipline to which I tried to bring my heart, when I began to think. —
当我开始思考时，这就是我试图让我的心灵接受的训练。 —

It made my second year much happier than my first; —
这使得我的第二年比第一年快乐得多； —

and, what was better still, made Dora’s life all sunshine.
而更好的是，让多拉的生活充满了阳光。

But, as that year wore on, Dora was not strong. —
但是，随着那一年的进行，多拉变得虚弱了。 —

I had hoped that lighter hands than mine would help to mould her character, and that a baby-smile upon her breast might change my child-wife to a woman. —
我曾希望比我更轻柔的手会帮助塑造她的性格，一个婴儿的微笑会让我的孩子妻子变成一个女人。 —

It was not to be. The spirit fluttered for a moment on the threshold of its little prison, and, unconscious of captivity, took wing.
但事与愿违。灵魂在其小小监狱的门槛上片刻挣扎，毫不知情地起舞。

‘When I can run about again, as I used to do, aunt,’ said Dora, ‘I shall make Jip race. —
‘等我再次能像过去那样乱跑时，阿姨，’多拉说，’我要让基普比赛。 —

He is getting quite slow and lazy.’
它变得相当慢且懒散了。

‘I suspect, my dear,’ said my aunt quietly working by her side, ‘he has a worse disorder than that. Age, Dora.’
‘我怀疑，亲爱的，’我阿姨静静地在一旁工作时说，’它患上了一种比那更糟糕的疾病。老了，多拉。

‘Do you think he is old?’ said Dora, astonished. ‘Oh, how strange it seems that Jip should be old!’
‘你觉得它老了吗？’多拉惊讶地说。’哦，基普变老了，这多么奇怪！’

‘It’s a complaint we are all liable to, Little One, as we get on in life,’ said my aunt, cheerfully; —
‘这是我们随着年龄的增长都会面临的问题，小家伙，’我阿姨开心地说； —

‘I don’t feel more free from it than I used to be, I assure you.’
‘我可以向你保证，我并没有比过去更不受它影响。’

‘But Jip,’ said Dora, looking at him with compassion, ‘even little Jip! Oh, poor fellow!’
‘但是基普，’多拉对着它怜悯地说，’甚至小基普！哦，可怜的家伙！’

‘I dare say he’ll last a long time yet, Blossom,’ said my aunt, patting Dora on the cheek, as she leaned out of her couch to look at Jip, who responded by standing on his hind legs, and baulking himself in various asthmatic attempts to scramble up by the head and shoulders. —
‘我敢打赌它还能活很久，花朵儿，’我阿姨说，拍着多拉的脸颊，因为她从沙发上弯下腰看着基普，它响应着站起来，通过各种气喘吁吁的尝试躺在头和肩膀上。 —

‘He must have a piece of flannel in his house this winter, and I shouldn’t wonder if he came out quite fresh again, with the flowers in the spring. —
‘这个冬天他的房子里必须有一块法兰绒，我不会惊讶的如果他在春天的花朵中又恢复生机。 —

Bless the little dog!’ exclaimed my aunt, ‘if he had as many lives as a cat, and was on the point of losing ‘em all, he’d bark at me with his last breath, I believe!’
上帝保佑这只小狗！’我阿姨惊呼道，’如果它有与猫一样多的性命，并且在即将失去它们时，它会以最后一口气对着我吠，我相信！’

Dora had helped him up on the sofa; where he really was defying my aunt to such a furious extent, that he couldn’t keep straight, but barked himself sideways. —
多拉已经帮助他爬到沙发上了；在那里，他对我阿姨发泄得如此猛烈，以至于他无法保持挺直，只能侧身吠叫。 —

The more my aunt looked at him, the more he reproached her; —
我阿姨看着它，它越发责备她； —

for she had lately taken to spectacles, and for some inscrutable reason he considered the glasses personal.
因为她最近开始戴眼镜，而且由于某种不能解释的原因，他认为那副眼镜是私人物品。

Dora made him lie down by her, with a good deal of persuasion; —
多拉劝说他躺在她旁边。 —

and when he was quiet, drew one of his long ears through and through her hand, repeating thoughtfully, ‘Even little Jip! Oh, poor fellow!’
当他安静下来时，她把他长长的一只耳朵穿过手指，反复思考着说，“甚至小Jip！哦，可怜的家伙！”

‘His lungs are good enough,’ said my aunt, gaily, ‘and his dislikes are not at all feeble. —
我的阿姨高兴地说，“他的肺很好，而且他的嗜好也一点也不差。 —

He has a good many years before him, no doubt. —
他还有很多年可以活，毫无疑问。 —

But if you want a dog to race with, Little Blossom, he has lived too well for that, and I’ll give you one.’
不过，如果你想要一只用来赛跑的狗，小花朵，他已经过得太好了，我会给你一只。”

‘Thank you, aunt,’ said Dora, faintly. ‘But don’t, please!’
“谢谢，阿姨，”多拉虚弱地说。“但是请不要！”

‘No?’ said my aunt, taking off her spectacles.
“不要？”我阿姨说，摘下眼镜。

‘I couldn’t have any other dog but Jip,’ said Dora. ‘It would be so unkind to Jip! —
“我不会有其他狗，除了Jip，”多拉说。“那对Jip太不公平了！ —

Besides, I couldn’t be such friends with any other dog but Jip; —
而且，我只能和Jip这只狗做朋友； —

because he wouldn’t have known me before I was married, and wouldn’t have barked at Doady when he first came to our house. —
因为其他狗不会认识我结婚前，也不会在多迪第一次来我们家时对他叫。 —

I couldn’t care for any other dog but Jip, I am afraid, aunt.’
我恐怕别的狗我也会不在乎，阿姨。”

‘To be sure!’ said my aunt, patting her cheek again. ‘You are right.’
“当然！”我阿姨轻拍着她的脸说。“你是对的。”

‘You are not offended,’ said Dora. ‘Are you?’
多拉说：“你不会生气吧？”

‘Why, what a sensitive pet it is!’ cried my aunt, bending over her affectionately. —
“真是多么敏感的宠物！”我阿姨亲切地俯身说。 —

‘To think that I could be offended!’
“想到我竟会感到生气！”

‘No, no, I didn’t really think so,’ returned Dora; —
“不，不，我真的没这样想，” 多拉回答道； —

‘but I am a little tired, and it made me silly for a moment - I am always a silly little thing, you know, but it made me more silly - to talk about Jip. He has known me in all that has happened to me, haven’t you, Jip? —
“但我有点累了，刚才让我有点傻了 - 你知道的，我总是一个傻呆呆的小东西，但谈及吉普让我更加傻 - 他已经见证了发生在我身上的一切，不是吗，吉普？ —

And I couldn’t bear to slight him, because he was a little altered - could I, Jip?’
而我不忍心冷落他，因为他有些变了 - 对吧，吉普？”

Jip nestled closer to his mistress, and lazily licked her hand.
吉普更靠近他的女主人，懒洋洋地舔着她的手。

‘You are not so old, Jip, are you, that you’ll leave your mistress yet?’ —
“吉普，你还没老呢，对吧？你不会离开你的女主人的，对吧？” —

said Dora. ‘We may keep one another company a little longer!’
多拉说。“我们还能彼此陪伴一段时间！”

My pretty Dora! When she came down to dinner on the ensuing Sunday, and was so glad to see old Traddles (who always dined with us on Sunday), we thought she would be ‘running about as she used to do’, in a few days. —
我的漂亮的多拉！当她在接下来的星期天下午来到餐桌上，见到老特拉德尔斯（他总是周日和我们一起吃饭），我们以为她会在几天后像过去一样四处跑。 —

But they said, wait a few days more; and then, wait a few days more; —
但他们说，再等几天; 然后，再等几天; —

and still she neither ran nor walked. She looked very pretty, and was very merry; —
她还是没有跑也没有走。她看起来很漂亮，也很快乐； —

but the little feet that used to be so nimble when they danced round Jip, were dull and motionless.
但当她在跳舞时曾经那么灵活的小脚，现在迟钝而静止。

I began to carry her downstairs every morning, and upstairs every night. —
我开始每天早晨给她背下楼，晚上再背上楼。 —

She would clasp me round the neck and laugh, the while, as if I did it for a wager. —
她会搂着我的脖子笑，仿佛我是为了打赌才这样做。 —

Jip would bark and caper round us, and go on before, and look back on the landing, breathing short, to see that we were coming. —
吉普会在我们周围吠叫着跳跃，并且在前面走，并回头望着楼梯口，短促地喘着气，看着我们来了没有。 —

My aunt, the best and most cheerful of nurses, would trudge after us, a moving mass of shawls and pillows. —
我阿姨，最好最开朗的护士，会在我们后面跋山涉水，身上裹着一团披肩和枕头。 —

Mr. Dick would not have relinquished his post of candle-bearer to anyone alive. —
狄克先生不会把担任提灯人的职位让给任何活着的人。 —

Traddles would be often at the bottom of the staircase, looking on, and taking charge of sportive messages from Dora to the dearest girl in the world. —
特拉德尔斯经常站在楼梯底部，看着，并负责把朵拉的俏皮讯息传递给世界上最亲爱的女孩。 —

We made quite a gay procession of it, and my child-wife was the gayest there.
我们走得很开心，而我的孩子般的妻子是那里最开心的一个。

But, sometimes, when I took her up, and felt that she was lighter in my arms, a dead blank feeling came upon me, as if I were approaching to some frozen region yet unseen, that numbed my life. —
但是，有时当我抱着她，感觉她在我怀里变轻了，一种死寂的感觉袭来，仿佛我正在接近一个尚未见过的冰封之地，让我的生命麻木了起来。 —

I avoided the recognition of this feeling by any name, or by any communing with myself; —
我避免用任何名称或与自己内心交流来承认这种感觉; —

until one night, when it was very strong upon me, and my aunt had left her with a parting cry of ‘Good night, Little Blossom,’ I sat down at my desk alone, and cried to think, Oh what a fatal name it was, and how the blossom withered in its bloom upon the tree!
直到有一天晚上，那种感觉变得特别强烈，我姨妈已经吻别她说了声“晚安，小花朵”，我独自坐在书桌前，想到，哦，这是一个多么致命的名字，多么可悲，那朵花在树上的花朵凋谢了！