I soon realized that neither Mr nor Mrs Micawger had ever been able to manage money.The little that Mr Micawber earned was not enough, either to keep hiscreditorshappy, or to pay for the needs of his growing family. So his creditors wereconstantlyat the door, demanding payment, and meals were rather irregular in the Micawber house. Mr and Mrs Micawber's moods varied according to the situation. One moment Mr Micawber looked extremely miserable and depressed,the next he was brushing his shoes and singing a song before going out. Mrs Micawber's character was similar to her husband's. Sometimes I came home to find her lying on the floor,with her hair undone, looking wild and desperate, but an hour later she was cheerfully eating a good supper.
我很快意識到無論是米考伯先生還是米考伯太太都沒法弄到錢。米考伯先生僅有的一點收入遠遠不夠,既不能讓他的債主放心,也不能承擔他那日見膨脹的家庭支出。所以,他的債主們就常常出現在他的家門口索取債務,而米考伯先生家中卻常常是上頓不接下頓。米考伯夫婦的情緒會隨境況的改變而改變。忽兒,米考伯先生看上去極其痛苦、消沉,忽兒,他又會邊擦皮鞋邊哼哼小曲兒準備外出。米考伯太太的性格很像她丈夫。有時,我走進家里見她躺在地上,頭發蓬亂,表情瘋狂而絕望。但一小時后,她就會興高采烈地享受一頓豐盛的晚餐。
I lived with these kind people for several months, and became very fond of them. I bought my own food out of my wages,because I knew the Micawbers hardly ever had enough for themselves,and I lived mostly on bread and cheese. As they were so short of money, once or twice I offered to lend them a few shillings,which they refused to accept. But at last Mr Micawber's creditors became tired of waiting for their money,and went to the police, whoarrested him for debt. He was taken to the King's Prison, and asked me to visit him there. When I arrived,I was shown to his room, where he was waiting for me. He seemed quite brokenhearted, and even cried a little.
我和這些友善的人住了幾個月就開始喜歡他們了。我用自己的工資買食物,因為我知道米考伯一家很難夠自己吃的,而我的食物大致上也只是面包和奶酪。由于他們如此缺錢,有那么一兩次我主動提出借他們幾先令,但被他們拒絕了。然而,米考伯先生的債主們最終沒有耐心再等待下去,就找來警察,以拖欠債務之名拘捕了米考伯先生。他被送往王家監獄,他要求我去那兒看他。我一到那兒就被帶到他的房間,他早已在那里等我。他似乎痛心疾首,甚至還傷心落淚。