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'Assuredly,' said Mrs Blimber.
“一定，”布林伯夫人說道。
The Apothecary bending down, looked closely into Paul's eyes, and felt his head, and his pulse, and his heart, with so much interest and care, that Paul said, 'Thank you, Sir.'
藥劑師彎下身子，仔細地觀察著保羅的眼睛，非常關切、非常細心地摸摸他的頭、他的 脈搏、他的心臟，因此，保羅說，“謝謝您，先生。”
'Our little friend,' observed Doctor Blimber, 'has never complained.'
“我們的小朋友，”布林伯博士說道，“從來沒有喊叫過痛苦。”
'Oh no!' replied the Apothecary. 'He was not likely to complain.'
“啊沒有！”藥劑師回答道。“他是不大可能喊叫痛苦的。”
'You find him greatly better?' said Doctor Blimber.
“您覺得他好多了嗎？”布林伯博士問道。
'Oh! he is greatly better, Sir,' returned the Apothecary.
“啊，他好多了，先生，”藥劑師回答道。
Paul had begun to speculate, in his own odd way, on the subject that might occupy the Apothecary's mind just at that moment; so musingly had he answered the two questions of Doctor Blimber. But the Apothecary happening to meet his little patient's eyes, as the latter set off on that mental expedition, and coming instantly out of his abstraction with a cheerful smile, Paul smiled in return and abandoned it.
保羅開始按照自己奇怪的方式來思考當時引起藥劑師思考的問題；他是那么沉思地回答 了布林伯博士的兩個問題。可是，當他的小病人正開始進行內(nèi)心探索時，藥劑師正巧碰 上了他的眼光，于是他就立刻用一個愉快的微笑停止了出神，保羅也用微笑回答他，不再思考了。
He lay in bed all that day, dozing and dreaming, and looking at Mr Toots; but got up on the next, and went downstairs. Lo and behold, there was something thematterwith the great clock; and a workman on a pair of steps had taken its face off, and was poking instruments into the works by the light of a candle! This was a great event for Paul, who sat down on the bottom stair, and watched the operation attentively: now and then glancing at the clock face, leaning all askew, against the wall hard by, and feeling a little confused by a suspicion that it was ogling him.
他整天躺在床上，昏昏沉沉地睡著，做著夢，看著圖茨先生；但第二天他起來了，走下 樓去。哎喲，你看，大鐘出了點什么事，一位站在梯子上的工人已把鐘面卸下，現(xiàn)在正 借著一支燭光，把工具戳進機械中去！對保羅來說，這是一件大事；他在樓梯最低的一 級上坐下來，專心致志地看著正在進行的操作；有時向歪斜地靠在近旁墻上的鐘面看一 眼，心中有些不安地猜疑，它正在向他送秋波吧。
The workman on the steps was very civil; and as he said, when he observed Paul, 'How do you do, Sir?' Paul got into conversation with him, and told him he hadn't been quite well lately. The ice being thus broken, Paul asked him a multitude of questions about chimes and clocks: as, whether people watched up in the lonely church steeples by night to make them strike, and how the bells were rung when people died, and whether those were different bells from wedding bells, or only sounded dismal in the fancies of the living. Finding that his new acquaintance was not very well informed on the subject of the Curfew Bell of ancient days, Paul gave him an account of that institution; and also asked him, as a practical man, what he thought about King Alfred's idea of measuring time by the burning of candles; to which the workman replied, that he thought it would be the ruin of the clock trade if it was to come up again. In fine, Paul looked on, until the clock had quiterecoveredits familiar aspect, and resumed its sedate inquiry; when the workman, putting away his tools in a long basket, bade him good day, and went away. Though not before he had whispered something, on the door—mat, to the footman, in which there was the phrase 'old—fashioned' — for Paul heard it. What could that old fashion be, that seemed to make the people sorry! What could it be!
梯子上的工人很有禮貌；當他看到保羅的時候，問他，“您好嗎，先生？”于是保羅就跟 他攀談起來，告訴他，他最近身體不十分好。這樣消除隔閡之后，保羅向他問了許多關 于鐘樂和時鐘的問題；例如，人們是不是在寂寞的教堂尖塔里值夜，以便到時候敲響時 鐘；人們死去的時候，鐘是怎樣敲的，它們跟結婚的鐘聲是不是不同，還是僅僅是在活 著的人們的幻想中聽起來凄涼而已。當保羅發(fā)現(xiàn)他新結識的朋友對古代的熄燈晚鐘①沒 有很多知識的時候，他就向他敘述了那個風俗；保羅還問他，作為一個講究實際的人， 他覺得艾爾弗雷德國王②用燃燒蠟燭的辦法來計算時間的主意怎么樣；工人回答說，他 認為現(xiàn)在重新采用這種辦法，時鐘行業(yè)就會破產(chǎn)了。最后，保羅繼續(xù)看著，直到時鐘完 全恢復了它平時的外貌，重新發(fā)出了它那沉著冷靜的問題為止。這時候這位工人把工具 收拾到一個長籃子中去，向他告別之后，離開了。雖然在這之前他走到門口擦鞋的棕墊 那里時曾向男仆低聲說了幾句話，其中有“老氣”這兩個字——因為保羅聽到了。
Having nothing to learn now, he thought of this frequently; though not so often as he might have done, if he had had fewer things to think of. But he had a great many; and was always thinking, all day long.
似乎使人們感到遺憾的“老氣”究竟是什么呢？它究竟是什么呢？ 由于他現(xiàn)在不需要學習什么，所以他不時想到這一點；如果他要想的事情比現(xiàn)在少一些 ，那么他想到這一點的次數(shù)就會更多了。但是他有很多很多的事情要想；因此整天經(jīng)常在想著。
注釋：①中世紀，根據(jù)一項特別法律，在歐洲的許多城市，夜間到了規(guī)定的熄燈時間，就敲鐘發(fā)出通知。
②艾爾弗雷德國王（KingAlfred，849—899年），別稱艾爾弗雷德大帝（AlfredtheGreat） ，是九世紀時英格蘭西南部撒克遜－韋塞克斯（Saxon－Wessex）王朝的國王（在位時間 為871—899年）；他治國井井有條，善制訂一部重要法典；用點蠟燭來計算時間的方法 就是他建議的。
