'Ay! But that's at night,' said Mr Dombey, drawing his own chair closer to his son's, and laying his hand gently on his back; 'little people should be tired at night, for then they sleep well.'
'Oh, it's not at night, Papa,' returned the child, 'it's in the day; and I lie down in Florence's lap, and she sings to me. At night I dream about such cu-ri-ous things!'
“是的！可是那是在夜里，”董貝先生把他自己的椅子拉得跟他兒子的椅子挨近一些，同時把他的手輕輕地放在他的背上，說道，“小人兒夜里應該是累的，因為這樣他們才能睡得香。”
“哦，這不是在夜里，爸爸，”孩子回答道，“這是在白天。我躺在弗洛倫斯的膝蓋上，她唱歌 給我 聽。夜里我夢見這些希奇——古怪的事情！”
And he went on, warming his hands again, and thinking about them, like an old man or a young goblin.
他繼續講下去，一邊又烘烘手，像一個老頭子或一個年輕的妖魔一樣想著這些事情。
Mr Dombey was so astonished, and so uncomfortable, and so perfectly at a loss how to pursue the conversation, that he could only sit looking at his son by the light of the fire, with his hand resting on his back, as if it were detained there by some magnetic attraction. Once he advanced his other hand, and turned the contemplative face towards his own for a moment. But it sought the fire again as soon as he released it; and remained, addressed towards the flickering blaze, until the nurse appeared, to summon him to bed.
董貝先生十分驚異，十分不安，完全不知道該怎么把談話進行下去；他就只好借著火光看著他的兒子，一只手仍擱在他的背上不動，仿佛有什么魔術的吸引力把它阻留在那里似的。有一次他伸出另一只手，把那沉思的臉轉向他一會兒，可是他手一放松，它又 轉回去對著壁爐，眼睛一動不動地 看著閃爍的火焰，直到保姆前 來召喚他去睡覺為止。
'I want Florence to come for me,' said Paul.
“我要弗洛倫斯到我這里來，”保羅說道。
'Won't you come with your poor Nurse Wickam, Master Paul?' inquired that attendant, with great pathos.
“您不想跟您的可憐的威肯姆保姆一道走嗎，保羅少爺？”那位侍候他的女人十分凄楚地問道。
'No, I won't,' replied Paul, composing himself in his arm-chair again, like the master of the house.
“不，我不想，”保羅像是這個房屋的主人似的，在他的椅子中重新坐好，回答道。
Invoking a blessing upon his innocence, Mrs Wickam withdrew, and presently Florence appeared in her stead. The child immediately started up with sudden readiness and animation, and raised towards his father in bidding him good-night, a countenance so much brighter, so much younger, and so much more child-like altogether, that Mr Dombey, while he felt greatly reassured by the change, was quite amazed at it.
威肯姆大嫂一邊祈求上帝保佑他天真無邪，一邊出去了；一會兒，弗洛倫斯代替她來了。孩子立刻欣喜、活潑地跳起來，向他父親抬起一張快活得多、年輕得多、孩子氣得多的臉孔，祝他晚安；董貝先生看到這個轉變大大地安下心來，同時又感到十分驚奇。
After they had left the room together, he thought he heard a soft voice singing; and remembering that Paul had said his sister sung to him, he had the curiosity to open the door and listen, and look after them. She was toiling up the great, wide, vacant staircase, with him in her arms; his head was lying on her shoulder, one of his arms thrown negligently round her neck. So they went, toiling up; she singing all the way, and Paul sometimes crooning out a feeble accompaniment. Mr Dombey looked after them until they reached the top of the staircase - not without halting to rest by the way - and passed out of his sight; and then he still stood gazing upwards, until the dull rays of the moon, glimmering in a melancholy manner through the dim skylight, sent him back to his room.
他們一起離開房間以后，他覺得他聽到了一個溫柔的聲音在唱歌；他記起保羅曾對他說過他姐姐給他唱歌的事，就懷著好奇心開了門，聽著并目送著他們。她抱著他，沿著那寬闊的、沒有人的大樓梯，辛苦地走上去；他的頭靠在她的肩膀上，一只胳膊隨便地挽著她的脖子。他們就這樣吃力地走上去；她一路唱著歌，保羅有時有氣無力地低聲伴唱著。董貝先生目送著他們，直到他們到達樓梯頂上——他們在中間也曾停下 來休息過——，離開了他的視野；可是這時候他仍站在那里向上凝視著，直到后來淡弱的月光凄涼地、忽隱忽視地穿過幽暗的天窗，照著他回到他自己的房間。
Mrs Chick and Miss Tox were convoked in council at dinner next day; and when the cloth was removed, Mr Dombey opened the proceedings by requiring to be informed, without any gloss or reservation, whether there was anything the matter with Paul, and what Mr Pilkins said about him.
第二天吃晚飯的時候，奇克夫人與托克斯小姐被召集一起來進行商議。桌布一撤走，董貝先生在會議開始時就要求她們毫不掩飾、毫無保留地告訴他，保羅是不是出了什么毛病，皮爾金斯先生是怎樣說他的。
'For the child is hardly,' said Mr Dombey, 'as stout as I could wish.'
“因為這孩子不像我所希望的那么健壯，”董貝先生說道。
注釋：dream vi. 夢想；做夢，夢見；想到
n. 夢想，愿望；夢
vt. 夢想；做夢；想到
adj. 夢的；理想的；不切實際的
[ 過去式dreamt 過去分詞dreamt 現在分詞dreaming ]
詞組：
dream of 夢想；夢見
have a dream 做夢
like a dream 毫不費力地；輕而易舉地；完美地
dream come true 夢想成真；美夢成真
dream about 夢想；夢到
in my dream 在我的夢中
american dream 美國夢
sweet dream 酣夢，甜蜜的夢
dream world 夢境；幻想世界
fond dream 南柯一夢；黃粱美夢
one world one dream 同一個世界，同一個夢想（2008北京奧運會的口號）
pipe dream [口]白日夢，空想
dream team n. 夢之隊；最佳陣容
dream up 設計；創造
impossible dream 不可能實現的夢；不可能的夢想
dream house 夢想之家
day dream 白日夢
dream lover n. 夢中人
a midsummer night's dream 仲夏夜之夢（威廉·莎士比亞的喜劇作品）
dream away 虛度
例句：
(1). In his dream he could fly.
在他的夢里他可以飛。
(2). I know, but I can dream.
我知道，但是我可以夢想。
(3). And is there a dream job for everyone?
是否每個人都會有一份夢想的工作呢？
2. glimmer n. 微光；閃光；少許
vi. 閃爍；發微光
n.微光；閃光；少許
例句：
(1). He can see a glimmer of light through the curtains.
他能透過窗簾看到一“絲”微光。
(2). The doctor's report gave us only a glimmer of hope.
醫生的報告只給了我們一絲希望。
(3). We saw the glimmer of a distant light through the trees.
我們透過樹林看到遠方閃爍著星星點點的燈火。
(4). Victims of the internet mob still have a glimmer of hope.
網絡暴徒們的受害者們還尚存一絲希望。
(5). For the least glimmer of truth is conditioned by politics.
即便是最為微弱的真理之光，也逃不過政治的控制。
(6). She could see a glimmer that was the surface of the mirror.
她看到一線光亮，那是鏡面上反射出來的光。
(7). China has provided a glimmer of hope in the depressed global car industry.
中國為低迷的全球汽車業帶來一線希望。
(8). But money can not bring a glimmer of happiness from the depths of our hearts.
但是，金錢無法為我們的內心深處帶來一絲一毫的幸福感。
(9). In fact, as long as the collision sparks a glimmer of life will be different.
其實只要擦撞出一絲火花，生命就會與眾不同。
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