評論
打印
'Come! What do you make of it?' said Captain Cuttle.
“聽著，您看這些怎么樣？”卡特爾船長問道。
'Why, Lord help you!' returned the broker; 'you don't suppose that property's of any use, do you?'
“啊，上帝保佑您！”經紀人回答道；“難道您以為那些財產有什么用處嗎？”
'Why not?' inquired the Captain.
“為什么沒有用處？”船長問道。
'Why? The amount's three hundred and seventy, odd,' replied the broker.
“為什么？總共是三百七十多鎊，”經紀人回答道。
'Never mind,' returned the Captain, though he was evidently dismayed by the figures: 'all's fish that comes to your net, I suppose?'
“不要緊，”船長回答道，雖然這個數字顯然使他吃驚，“我想，跑進您網里來的都是魚吧？”
'Certainly,' said Mr Brogley. 'But sprats ain't whales, you know.'
“當然，”布羅格利先生說道。“但是您知道，西鯡魚并不是鯨魚。”
The philosophy of this observation seemed to strike the Captain. He ruminated for a minute; eyeing the broker, meanwhile, as a deep genius; and then called the Instrument-maker aside.
這句話的哲理似乎擊中了船長。他沉思了一會兒；同時目不轉睛地看著經紀人，像是在看一位思想深奧的天才似的。然后他把儀器制造商叫到一旁。
'Gills,' said Captain Cuttle, 'what's the bearings of this business? Who's the creditor?'
“吉爾斯，”卡特爾船長說道，“這是什么樣的一筆債務？債權人是誰？”
'Hush!' returned the old man. 'Come away. Don't speak before Wally. It's a matter of security for Wally's father - an old bond. I've paid a good deal of it, Ned, but the times are so bad with me that I can't do more just now. I've foreseen it, but I couldn't help it. Not a word before Wally, for all the world.'
“說輕一些！”老人回答道。“我們走開一些，別當著沃利的面說。這是為了給沃利的父親擔保而發生的事情。——一筆老債務。我已經償付了好多，內德，可是我的日子過得很艱難，目前我不能再做什么了。我預見到這件事，可是我無能為力。無論如何，在沃利面前一句話也別說。”
'You've got some money, haven't you?' whispered the Captain.
“你有一些錢吧，是不是？”船長低聲問道。
'Yes, yes - oh yes- I've got some,' returned old Sol, first putting his hands into his empty pockets, and then squeezing his Welsh wig between them, as if he thought he might wring some gold out of it; 'but I - the little I have got, isn't convertible, Ned; it can't be got at. I have been trying to do something with it for Wally, and I'm old fashioned, and behind the time. It's here and there, and - and, in short, it's as good as nowhere,' said the old man, looking in bewilderment about him.
“是的，是的，——啊，是的。——我有一些，”老所爾回答道；他首先把手伸進兩只空空的衣袋，然后用它們緊緊擠著他的威爾士假發，仿佛他以為他可以從那里擠出一些金子似的。“但是我，——我有一點錢是不能兌換成現錢的，內德；它是不能立刻拿來用的。我一直在想用它來給沃利做點什么事。可是我已過時了，落在時代后面了。這里那里都是錢，但同時——同時，總之，實際上等于什么地方都沒有錢。”老人手足無措地看著四周，說道。
He had so much the air of a half-witted person who had been hiding his money in a variety of places, and had forgotten where, that the Captain followed his eyes, not without a faint hope that he might remember some few hundred pounds concealed up the chimney, or down in the cellar. But Solomon Gills knew better than that.
他那樣子很像是個神志恍惚的人，把錢藏在許多地方，但卻忘記藏在哪里了，所以船長跟隨著他的眼光，心里懷著一絲微弱的希望，也許他會記起來在上面的煙囪里或在下面的地窖里隱藏著幾百鎊。可是所羅門·吉爾斯心里很清楚，這是決不會發生的事情。
