狄更斯双语小说:《董贝父子》第37章Part5

'Well, Ma'am,' replied the frightened maid, 'I hardly know. She's making faces!'
Edith hurried with her to her mother's room. Cleopatra was arrayed in full dress, with the diamonds, short sleeves, rouge, curls, teeth, and other juvenility all complete; but Paralysis was not to be deceived, had known her for the object of its errand, and had struck her at her glass, where she lay like a horrible doll that had tumbled down.
They took her to pieces in very shame, and put the little of her that was real on a bed. Doctors were sent for, and soon came. Powerful remedies were resorted to; opinions given that she would rally from this shock, but would not survive another; and there she lay speechless, and staring at the ceiling, for days; sometimes making inarticulate sounds in answer to such questions as did she know who were present, and the like: sometimes giving no reply either by sign or gesture, or in her unwinking eyes.
At length she began to recover consciousness, and in some degree the power of motion, though not yet of speech. One day the use of her right hand returned; and showing it to her maid who was in attendance on her, and appearing very uneasy in her mind, she made signs for a pencil and some paper. This the maid immediately provided, thinking she was going to make a will, or write some last request; and Mrs Dombey being from home, the maid awaited the result with solemn feelings.
After much painful scrawling and erasing, and putting in of wrong characters, which seemed to tumble out of the pencil of their own accord, the old woman produced this document:
'Rose-coloured curtains.'
The maid being perfectly transfixed, and with tolerable reason, Cleopatra amended the manuscript by adding two words more, when it stood thus:
'Rose-coloured curtains for doctors.'
The maid now perceived remotely that she wished these articles to be provided for the better presentation of her complexion to the faculty; and as those in the house who knew her best, had no doubt of the correctness of this opinion, which she was soon able to establish for herself the rose-coloured curtains were added to her bed, and she mended with increased rapidity from that hour. She was soon able to sit up, in curls and a laced cap and nightgown, and to have a little artificial bloom dropped into the hollow caverns of her cheeks.
It was a tremendous sight to see this old woman in her finery leering and mincing at Death, and playing off her youthful tricks upon him as if he had been the Major; but an alteration in her mind that ensued on the paralytic stroke was fraught with as much matter for reflection, and was quite as ghastly.
Whether the weakening of her intellect made her more cunning and false than before, or whether it confused her between what she had assumed to be and what she really had been, or whether it had awakened any glimmering of remorse, which could neither struggle into light nor get back into total darkness, or whether, in the jumble of her faculties, a combination of these effects had been shaken up, which is perhaps the more likely supposition, the result was this: - That she became hugely exacting in respect of Edith's affection and gratitude and attention to her; highly laudatory of herself as a most inestimable parent; and very jealous of having any rival in Edith's regard. Further, in place of remembering that compact made between them for an avoidance of the subject, she constantly alluded to her daughter's marriage as a proof of her being an incomparable mother; and all this, with the weakness and peevishness of such a state, always serving for a sarcastic commentary on her levity and youthfulness.
'Where is Mrs Dombey? she would say to her maid.
'Gone out, Ma'am.'

“唔，夫人，”受惊的侍女回答道，”我不明白是怎么一回事。她的脸在一歪一歪地做着各种怪样。”
伊迪丝急忙跟她一道到她母亲的房间里去。克利奥佩特拉盛装打扮：钻石啦，短袖子啦，胭脂啦，卷发啦，牙齿啦，少女般的其他装饰啦，一一齐全。可是麻痹症是欺骗不了的；它认出她就是它所负使命的目标，已在镜子前面打中了她；她就活像一个摔倒在地板上的讨厌的玩偶一样，躺在那里。
她们没有什么不好意思地把她身上穿戴的物品一件一件地剥掉，把整个人撕得支离破碎，然后把真正是她本人的那一小部分抬到床上；派人去请医生，不久医生就来了，采用了极为有效的医药；诊断的意见是：她能从这一次打击中恢复过来，但经不起再一次打击。她好几天躺在那里，呆呆地望着天花板，说不出话来；有时当问她知不知道谁在那里这样一类问题时，她发出口齿不清的来回答；有时她既不能用手势或表情来回答，也不能眨巴一下眼睛来回答。
后来她终于开始恢复了知觉，在一定程度上也恢复了动作的能力，但是说话的能力仍然没有恢复。有一天，她的右手又能活动了，她显示给照料她的侍女看，看去心情十分焦急不安；她做了个手势，要铅笔和纸；侍女立刻把它们送上，心想她要写遗嘱或写下一些最后的要求；这时董贝夫人不在家，侍女就怀着沉重的心情等候结果。
老太婆费劲地涂涂改改，还写错了几个仿佛从铅笔里自动跑出的字母之后，递交了这样一张字条：
“玫瑰色的帐子。”
由于侍女惊奇得发呆--这不是没有理由的--，克利奥佩特拉就在原稿上加上几个字，这时在纸条上看到的是：
“为医生准备的玫瑰色帐子。”
这时侍女模糊地猜测到：她要帐子的目的是为了使她的气色在医生面前显得好一些；由于家里最了解她的人们对这一意见的正确性毫不怀疑，她自己不久也能证实这一点，所以在她的床上就挂起了玫瑰色的帐子。从这时起她以加快的速度恢复。不久她就能卷着头发，戴着带花边的便帽，穿着睡衣，坐起来了；在凹陷的靥窝里还人为地涂上一点红润的颜色。
看到这位浓妆艳抹的老太婆向死神使着媚眼，装腔作势，跟他开着种种年轻人的玩笑，仿佛他就是少校似的，这真是个可怕的情景；可是她在遭受麻痹症打击之后心情的变化也同样充满了许多可供思考的资料，也同样是可怕的。
究竟是智力的衰退使她变得比先前更狡猾和虚伪呢，还是她把她自以为是什么样的人和她实际上是什么样的人混淆起来了呢，还是她模模糊糊地感到有些后悔呢（这种后悔既不能使她挣扎到光明之中，也不能使她后退到彻底的黑暗之中），还是在她头脑的混乱中，所有这些作用全都被激发出来了呢--这个猜测也许最可能是真的--，总之，结果是这样：她更加非常苛刻地要求伊迪丝对她表示亲爱、感激和关怀；她把自己高度赞扬成为一个难以估量的好母亲；她对伊迪丝关怀的其他一切对象都变得十分妒嫉；不仅如此，她还忘记了她们母女之间达成的闭口不谈女儿婚事这个问题的协议，经常不断地提到它，用这来证明她是一位难以比拟的好母亲；这一切，再加上她的病弱和好发脾气，就常常成为她变化无常与年轻浮躁的讽刺性注释。
“董贝夫人在哪里？”她会这样问侍女。
“出去了，夫人。”