My job was to wash bottles, which would then be filled with wine, or to pack the filled bottles in cases. I was paid only six shillings a week. There were several other boys who worked with me,but I was the only one who had been to school. All the warehouse workers werecoarse, rough people, who were used to working in dirty conditions for long hours. No words can describe the horror I felt, when I realized what my life was going to be like from now on. I was deeply ashamed at having such a job and I was also afraid that I would forget everything I had learnt from my mother and my teachers. I would never find friends like Traddles or Steerforth, or be able to get a better position in life. It was an extremely unhappy time for me.
我的工作是洗刷那些用來裝酒的瓶子,或者把灌了酒的瓶子集裝成箱。他們只付我一星期6先令的工錢。那兒還有其他一些孩子和我一起干活,但我是唯一上過學的。所有倉庫工人都很粗魯、庸俗,他們已經習慣于在骯臟的環境下連續工作數小時。當我意識到我的生活從此之后便是這個模樣,我就產生一種不可名狀的恐懼。我為做這樣的工作感到十分羞愧,我害怕我會把母親和老師們教給我的知識都忘光。我再也找不到像特拉德和斯提福茲那樣的朋友了,也不可能有更好的生活境遇。那一段生活我過得很不愉快。
My stepfather had asked Mr Quinion, the manager, to find me somewhere to stay in London,so at the end of my first day I was called to Mr Quinion's office and introduced to an important-looking, rather fat, middle-aged man with a head as bald as an egg. His name was Mr Micawber, and he offered me a spare room in the house he was renting with his family.
我繼父要求經理奎寧先生為我在倫敦尋找一處住處,所以第一天工作結束后我被叫到奎寧先生的辦公室,并認識了一位大人物長相、腦袋像雞蛋一樣光亮的肥胖的中年男子,他叫米考伯先生。他給我提供了他們家正租用著的一所房子的一間空房,我答應接受,于是米考伯先生和我就一同回家了。