評論
打印
December
十二月
The Trader.
商人
Thursday, 1st.
星期四，1日。
MY father wishes me to have some one of my companions come to the house every holiday, or that I should go to see one of them, in order that I may gradually become friends with all of them. Sunday I shall go to walk with Votini, the well-dressed boy who is always polishing himself up, and who is so envious of Derossi. In the meantime, Garoffi came to the house to-day,--that long, lank boy, with the nose like an owl's beak, and small, knavish eyes, which seem to be ferreting everywhere. He is the son of a grocer; he is an eccentric fellow; he is always counting the soldi that he has in his pocket; he reckons them on his fingers very, very rapidly, and goes through some process of multiplication without any tables; and he hoards his money, and already has a book in the Scholars' Savings Bank. He never spends a soldo, I am positive; and if he drops a centesimo under the benches, he is capable of hunting for it for a week. He does as magpies do, so Derossi says. Everything that he finds--worn-out pens, postage-stamps that have been used, pins, candle-ends--he picks up.
父親叫我以休假日招待朋友來家或去訪問他們，使彼此更加親密。所以這次星期日，我預備和那漂亮人物華梯尼去散步。今天卡洛斐來訪——就是那身材瘦長，長著鴉嘴鼻，生著狡猾的眼睛的。他是雜貨店里的兒子，真是一個奇人，袋里總帶著錢，數錢的本領要算一等，心算之快更無人能及了。他又能儲蓄，無論怎樣斷不濫用一錢。即使有五厘銅幣落在座位下面，他雖費了一禮拜的工夫，也必須尋得了才肯罷休。不論是用舊了的鋼筆頭、編針、點剩的蠟燭或是舊郵票，他都好好地收藏起來。
He has been collecting postage-stamps for more than two years now; and he already has hundreds of them from every country, in a large album, which he will sell to a bookseller later on, when he has got it quite full. Meanwhile, the bookseller gives him his copy-books gratis, because he takes a great many boys to the shop. In school, he is always bartering; he effects sales of little articles every day, and lotteries and exchanges; then he regrets the exchange, and wants his stuff back;
他已費兩年的工夫收集舊郵票了，好幾百張地粘在大大的自籌上，各國的都有，說粘滿了就去賣給書店。他常拉了同學們到書店購物，所以書店肯把筆記簿送他。他在學校里，也做著種種的交易，有時買進別人的東西，有時賣給別人；有時發行彩票；有時把東西和別人交換；交換了以后有時懊悔了，還要調回來。
