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I fully expected to find a Constable in the kitchen, waiting to take me up. But not only was there no Constable there, but no discovery had yet been made of the robbery. Mrs. Joe was prodigiously busy in getting the house ready for the festivities of the day, and Joe had been put upon the kitchen door—step to keep him out of the dust—pan—an article into which his destiny always led him sooner or later, when my sister was vigorously reaping the floors of her establishment.
我满以为厨房里会有一个警察，在那里等着逮捕我。然而不仅没有警察，而且没有人发现我偷拿了东西。乔太太正在为过节布置房屋，忙得不可开交。乔被支到了厨房门阶上，从而让他离簸箕远一点。不过像往常一样，他早晚还是会跑到簸箕那边添乱。此时我姐姐正在起劲地扫地。
"And where the deuce have you been? " was Mrs. Joe's Christmas salutation, when I and my conscience showed ourselves?
“你刚刚究竟跑到哪里去了？” 当我满心愧疚地回到家时，乔太太给我的圣诞问候就是这句话。
I said I had been down to hear the Carols. "Ah! well! " observed Mrs. Joe. "You might ha 'done worse. " Not a doubt of that, I thought.
我说我跑去听圣诞颂歌了。 “哦！那就好！” 乔太太说道， “我以为你又跑去闯祸了。” 我寻思着，真被她说中了。
"Perhaps if I wasn't a blacksmith's wife, and (what's the same thing) a slave with her apron never off, I should have been to hear the Carols, " said Mrs. Joe. "I 'm rather partial to Carols, myself, and that's the best of reasons for my never hearing any. "
“要不是我嫁给了铁匠，整天像个奴隶一样戴着围裙忙来忙去的话，我也早就去听圣诞颂歌了。” 乔太太说道， “我特别喜欢独自听颂歌，这正是我从没有去听过颂歌的最佳理由。”
Joe, who had ventured into the kitchen after me as the dust—pan had retired before us, drew the back of his hand across his nose with a conciliatory air when Mrs. Joe darted a look at him, and, when her eyes were withdrawn, secretly crossed his two forefingers, and exhibited them to me, as our token that Mrs. Joe was in a cross temper. This was so much her normal state that Joe and I would often, for weeks together, be, as to our fingers, like monumental Crusaders as to their legs.
乔壮着胆子尾随我进了厨房，簸箕在我们进来之前就被拿走了。乔太太瞪了乔一眼，乔就用手背擦了擦鼻子，做出想和解的姿态。当乔太太的目光转移到别处时，乔就偷偷地朝我做了个两根食指交叉的手势。这是我们的暗号，表示乔太太心情很差。她总是心情很差，我和乔时常一连几个星期都十指交叉，就像伟大的十字军战士们交叉的双腿一样。
We were to have a superb dinner, consisting of a leg of pickled pork and greens, and a pair of roast stuffed fowls. A handsome mince—pie had been made yesterday morning (which accounted for the mincemeat not being missed), and the pudding was already on the boil. These extensive arrangements occasioned us to be cut off unceremoniously in respect of breakfast; "for I ain't, " said Mrs. Joe, "I ain't a—going to have no formal cramming and busting and washing up now, with what I've got before me, I promise you! "
我们的午餐将会非常丰盛，有青菜烧腌猪腿和一对八宝烤鸡。昨天早上已经做好了一个很大的肉末馅饼，所以我偷拿碎肉的事还没有被发现。布丁也已经开始蒸了。这些大量的准备工作蛮横地挤掉了我们的早餐。 “我可没有时间，” 乔太太说， “眼下我要忙的事情够多的了，我可没有时间另外给你们准备好吃的、好喝的，替你们洗洗涮涮了。别指望了！”
So, we had our slices served out, as if we were two thousand troops on a forced march instead of a man and boy at home; and we took gulps of milk and water, with apologetic countenances, from a jug on the dresser. In the meantime, Mrs. Joe put clean white curtains up, and tacked a new flowered—flounce across the wide chimney to replace the old one, and uncovered the little state parlor across the passage, which was never uncovered at any other time, but passed the rest of the year in a cool haze of silver paper, which even extended to the four little white crockery poodles on the mantelshelf, each with a black nose and a basket of flowers in his mouth, and each the counterpart of the other. Mrs. Joe was a very clean housekeeper, but had an exquisite art of making her cleanliness more uncomfortable and unacceptable than dirt itself. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, and some people do the same by their religion.
所以，我们只能吃几片面包来充饥。我们看起来不是呆在家里的大人和孩子，而是正被迫行军中的两千名士兵。同时我们一脸歉意地拿起橱柜上的罐子，大口大口地喝着牛奶和水。此时，乔太太挂起了洁白的窗帘，在宽大的壁炉四周钉上新的花边，换下了旧花边。她同时还打开了走廊上的小客厅。这个比较正式的小客厅平时从不打开，常年笼罩在锡箔纸蒙胧的寒光之中。这寒光甚至一直照到壁炉台上四只小巧玲珑的白色瓷制鬈毛狗身上。每只鬈毛狗都顶着个黑鼻头，嘴里叼着花篮，四只一模一样。乔太太是个非常爱干净的家庭主妇，但她却有本事让她的干净比灰尘本身更让人不自在，让人受不了。干净往往与虔诚联系在一起，有些人出于信仰而非常爱干净。
My sister having so much to do was going to church vicariously; that is to say, Joe and I were going. In his working clothes, Joe was a well—knit characteristic—looking blacksmith; in his holiday clothes, he was more like a scarecrow in good circumstances, than anything else. Nothing that he wore then, fitted him or seemed to belong to him; and everything that he wore then, grazed him. On the present festive occasion he emerged from his room, when the blithe bells were going, the picture of misery, in a full suit of Sunday penitential. As to me, I think my sister must have had some general idea that I was a young offender whom an Accouter Policemen had taken up (on my birthday) and delivered over to her, to be dealt with according to the outraged majesty of the law. I was always treated as if I had insisted on being born, in opposition to the dictates of reason, religion, and morality, and against the dissuading arguments of my best friends. Even when I was taken to have a new suit of clothes, the tailor had orders to make them like a kind of Reformatory, and on no account to let me have the free use of my limbs.
我姐姐总是有很多事要做，所以只能 “间接” 去教堂，也就是说，由我和乔替她去。穿着工作服，乔就是一个身膀结实、很有个性的铁匠；而穿上节日服装，他更像一个装扮一新的稻草人。那时他身上穿的所有衣服都不适合他，看起来根本不是他的衣服，他穿的每一件衣服都会把他擦伤。在这个充满节日气氛的时刻，随着欢快的钟声响起，他带着痛苦的表情走出房间，就像一个要去教堂做忏悔的人。至于我，我觉得我姐姐基本上认为我天生就是个小罪犯，就好像一生下来就被警察逮捕，然后交给了她，要她根据我触犯的法律来惩治我。一直以来我都被看作是一个违背理性、宗教、道德的指示，且不顾好友劝阻，执意要来到这个世界上的人。就连带我去做一身新衣服，都要让裁缝做出一套类似少年犯管教所里的行头，绝对不让我自由活动四肢。
Joe and I going to church, therefore, must have been a moving spectacle for compassionate minds. Yet, what I suffered outside was nothing to what I underwent within. The terrors that had assailed me whenever Mrs. Joe had gone near the pantry, or out of the room, were only to be equaled by the remorse with which my mind dwelt on what my hands had done. Under the weight of my wicked secret, I pondered whether the Church would be powerful enough to shield me from the vengeance of the terrible young man, if I divulged to that establishment. I conceived the idea that the time when the banns were read and when the clergyman said, "Ye are now to declare it! " would be the time for me to rise and propose a private conference in the vestry. I am far from being sure that I might not have astonished our small congregation by resorting to this extreme measure, but for its being Christmas Day and no Sunday.
因此，我和乔去教堂这件事在那些充满怜悯之心的人看来，一定是令人大为感动的景象。然而，这些来自外部的痛苦与我内心的折磨相比简直是微不足道。每当乔太太走近食品间或走出房间时，我都极度恐惧。与这种恐惧一样折磨着我的是，一想起自己做过的事我就非常懊悔。这个不可告人的秘密重重地压在我的心头。我思忖着，要是我去忏悔，教堂能不能有足够的力量保护我免遭那个可怕的年轻人的报复。我打算，在结婚预告宣读完毕，牧师宣布 “如有异议可陈述己见” 的时候，我就要站起来要求与牧师到祈祷室去密谈。只不过这天是圣诞节而不是礼拜日，否则我说不定真会采取这种极端的做法，让为数不多的全体教堂会众大吃一惊。
Mr. Wopsle, the clerk at church, was to dine with us; and Mr. Hubble the wheelwright and Mrs. Hubble; and Uncle Pumblechook (Joe's uncle, but Mrs. Joe appropriated him), who was a well—to—do corn—chandler in the nearest town, and drove his own chaise—cart. The dinner hour was half—past one. When Joe and I got home, we found the table lay, and Mrs. Joe dressed, and the dinner dressing, and the front door unlocked (it never was at any other time) for the company to enter by, and everything most splendid. And still, not a word of the robbery.
教堂执事沃甫赛先生要来我们家吃饭，另外还有车匠哈布尔先生和他的太太还有彭波契克舅舅。彭波契克舅舅理应是乔的舅舅，但乔太太却也喊他是舅舅。他是邻镇上一个有钱的粮商，拥有一辆轻便马车。吃饭时间是下午一点半。当我和乔回到家时，我们发现餐桌已经布置妥当，乔夫人打扮好了，菜肴已经开始准备了，正门开着迎接客人的到来，要知道，平时这扇门是从不打开的。一切看上去都好极了。到目前为止，还没有任何关于失窃的消息。
The time came, without bringing with it any relief to my feelings, and the company came. Mr. Wopsle, united to a Roman nose and a large shining bald forehead, had a deep voice which he was uncommonly proud of; indeed it was understood among his acquaintance that if you could only give him his head, he would read the clergyman into fits; he himself confessed that if the Church was "thrown open, " meaning to competition, he would not despair of making his mark in it. The Church not being "thrown open, " he was, as I have said, our clerk. But he punished the Amens tremendously; and when he gave out the psalm—always giving the whole verse—he looked all round the congregation first, as much as to say, "You have heard my friend overhead; oblige me with your opinion of this style! "
午饭时间到了，但这并没有让我感到如释重负。客人们也都来了。沃甫赛先生长了个鹰钩鼻和一个硕大的、闪闪发光的秃脑门。他的嗓音低沉，对此他特别骄傲。的确，认识他的人都知道，如果任其发挥，他读经文比牧师读得都好。他自己也认为，如果教会举行公开竞选的话，他一定会成功当选。然而教会并不举行公开竞选，所以正如我之前所说的，他只是个执事。但是他很不喜欢大家总是附和 “阿门” ；当他诵读赞美诗时——总是一下子读一整节——他先要环视一下教堂里的会众，仿佛是在说： “你们已经听到我天上的朋友的声音，请对我这种风格提出你们的意见！”
I opened the door to the company—making believe that it was a habit of ours to open that door—and I opened it first to Mr. Wopsle, next to Mr. and Mrs. Hubble, and last of all to Uncle Pumblechook. N. B., I was not allowed to call him uncle, under the severest penalties.
我为来客们开门，以使他们相信我们平时也总开着这扇大门。我开门迎接的第一个人是沃甫赛先生，接着是哈布尔先生和他的太太，最后是彭波契克舅舅。注意，我是不能喊他舅舅的，否则会受到严厉的惩罚。
"Mrs. Joe, " said Uncle Pumblechook: a large hard—breathing middle—aged slow man, with a mouth like a fish, dull staring eyes, and sandy hair standing upright on his head, so that he looked as if he had just been all but choked, and had that moment come to; "I have brought you, as the compliments of the season—I have brought you, Mum, a bottle of sherry wine—and I have brought you, Mum, a bottle of port wine.”
彭波契克舅舅是个魁梧的中年人，行动迟缓、呼吸急促，嘴巴长得像鱼嘴，双目圆睁却目光呆滞，头上立着沙褐色的头发，这些让他看起来就好像是刚刚被噎到了，才缓过来一样。 “乔太太，” 他说道，作为节日的问候，太太，我给您带来一瓶雪莉酒。太太，我还给您带来一瓶波尔图葡萄酒。”
Every Christmas Day he presented himself, as a profound novelty, with exactly the same words, and carrying the two bottles like dumb—bells. Every Christmas Day, Mrs. Joe replied, as she now replied, "Oh, Un—cle Pum—ble—chook! This is kind!” Every Christmas Day, he retorted, as he now retorted, " It's no more than your merits. And now are you all bobbish, and how's Sixpennorth of halfpence? "Meaning me.
每年圣诞节他都会出现，讲同样的话，带来两个哑铃一样的酒瓶，而他却认为这很有创意。每年圣诞节，乔太太就像眼下这样回答他： “噢，彭——波——契克舅舅！您太客气了！” 每年圣诞节，他都像眼下这样回敬道： “比起您来还是差远了。你们现在都身体安好吗？那个小东西怎么样了？” “小东西” 指的是我。
We dined on these occasions in the kitchen, and adjourned, for the nuts and oranges and apples, to the parlor; which was a change very like Joe's change from his working clothes to his Sunday dress. My sister was uncommonly lively on the present occasion, and indeed was generally more gracious in the society of Mrs. Hubble than in other company. I remember Mrs. Hubble as a little curly sharp—edged person in sky—blue, who held a conventionally juvenile position, because she had married Mr. Hubble—I don't know at what remote period—when she was much younger than he. I remember Mr. Hubble as a tough high—shouldered stooping old man, of a saw dusty fragrance, with his legs extraordinarily wide apart: so that in my short days I always saw some miles of open country between them when I met him coming up the lane.
每年过节我们都在厨房吃饭，吃完后换到客厅去吃坚果、桔子、苹果。从厨房换到客厅给人的感觉就像看到乔把工作服换成节日礼服一样。我姐姐眼下非常愉快。的确，她与哈布尔太太在一起比和其他人在一起的时候更加和蔼可亲。我记得哈布尔太太身材娇小，头发卷曲，面部轮廓清晰，穿着天蓝色的衣服。她看起来仍是个传统的少女模样，因为她嫁给了比自己大得多的哈布尔先生。但我不知道他们是多久之前结的婚。我记得哈布尔先生是个身体健壮、肩膀高高、有点驼背的老头，身上散发出锯屑的香气，走路时两腿叉开得很大。所以在我个头还很矮的时候，如果路上见他迎面走来，我能从他叉开的两腿之间看到几英里以外的乡间旷野。
Among this good company I should have felt myself, even if I hadn't robbed the pantry, in a false position. Not because I was squeezed in at an acute angle of the table—cloth, with the table in my chest, and the Pumblechookian elbow in my eye, nor because I was not allowed to speak (I didn't want to speak), nor because I was regaled with the scaly tips of the drumsticks of the fowls, and with those obscure corners of pork of which the pig, when living, had had the least reason to be vain. No; I should not have minded that, if they would only have left me alone. But they wouldn't leave me alone. They seemed to think the opportunity lost, if they failed to point the conversation at me, every now and then, and stick the point into me. I might have been an unfortunate little bull in a Spanish arena, I got so startlingly touched up by these moral goads.
身处这些宾客之中，我感到即使我没有从食品间里偷东西，自己还是与他们格格不入。不是因为我被挤到了桌角，桌子高过我的胸口，而且彭波契克的胳膊肘总是碰到我的眼睛；不是因为他们不许我说话，其实我本来就不想说话；也不是因为他们用来招待我的都是些带着鳞皮的鸡爪尖，以及那些不知取自猪身上哪个部位，连猪生前都觉得不值得夸耀的肉。不，都不是因为这些，如果他们能让我自己呆着，我根本就不在乎这些。可他们就是不让我自己好好呆着。他们似乎认为，如果不时时地把对话引向我，拿我当话柄的话，就再也没有这个机会了。我就像西班牙斗牛场上的一头不幸的小公牛，被这些看似道德的刺棒打得遍体鳞伤。
It began the moment we sat down to dinner. Mr. Wopsle said grace with theatrical declamation—as it now appears to me, something like a religious cross of the Ghost in Hamlet with Richard the Third—and ended with the very proper aspiration that we might be truly grateful. Upon which my sister fixed me with her eye, and said, in a low reproachful voice, "Do you hear that? Be grateful. "
这种折磨从我们一坐下来吃饭就开始了。沃甫赛先生像念剧本台词似的大声做饭前祷告，我现在回想起来觉得那就像是《哈姆雷特》和《理查三世》中的幽灵结合成了一个教徒。最后沃甫赛先生希望大家能诚心感恩，祷告结束。这时我姐姐就紧盯着着我，用责备的口吻低声说道： “听到了吗？要感恩。”
"Especially, " said Mr. Pumblechook, "be grateful, boy, to them which brought you up by hand. "
“孩子，” 彭波契克先生说道， “特别是要感谢那些亲手把你养大的人啊。”
Mrs. Hubble shook her head, and contemplating me with a mournful presentiment that I should come to no good, asked, "Why is it that the young are never grateful? " This moral mystery seemed too much for the company until Mr. Hubble tersely solved it by saying, "Naturally vicious. " Everybody then murnured "True! " and looked at me in a particularly unpleasant and personal manner.
哈布尔太太摇了摇头，问道： “为什么现在的年轻人都不知道感恩呢？” 同时她看着我，好像已经悲哀地预感到，我将来也好不到哪里去。这个道德谜团似乎难住了所有人，直到最后哈布尔先生简短的一句话解决了这个难题： “他们天生如此败坏。” 所有人随即小声说道： “的确如此！” 同时用极其不悦并极具攻击性的眼神看着我。
Joe's station and influence were something feebler (if possible) when there was company, than when there was none. But he always aided and comforted me when he could, in some way of his own, and he always did so at dinner—time by giving me gravy, if there were any. There being plenty of gravy today, Joe spooned into my plate, at this point, about half a pint.
有客人在的时候，乔即使有地位和影响力，也比没有外人的时候小得多。但他总是以他自己的方式尽可能地帮助我、安慰我。吃饭的时候，如果有肉汁，他就不停地给我肉汁，作为对我的安慰。今天饭桌上有很多肉汁，此刻乔用勺子往我盘子里舀了差不多半品脱。
A little later on in the dinner, Mr. Wopsle reviewed the sermon with some severity, and intimated—in the usual hypothetical case of the Church being "thrown open" —what kind of sermon he would have given them. After favoring them with some heads of that discourse, he remarked that he considered the subject of the day's homily, ill—chosen; which was the less excusable, he added, when there were so many subjects "going about. "
吃了一会儿，沃甫赛先生开始严厉地批评牧师的布道词，同时一如既往地表示，如果教会进行公开竞选的话，他会给予会众多么好的布道词。吹嘘了一番之后，他又评论说今天讲道的主题选得太差了。他说，好的主题很多，这种糟糕的选择实在是不可原谅的。
"True again, " said Uncle Pumblechook. "You've hit it, sir! Plenty of subjects going about, for them that know how to put salt upon their tails. That's what's wanted. A man needn't go far to find a subject, if he's ready with his salt—box.” Mr. Pumblechook added, after a short interval of reflection, " Look at Pork alone. There's a subject! If you want a subject, look at Pork! "
“千真万确。” 彭波契克舅舅说道， “您真是一语中的，先生！是有很多主题，对他们来说是要懂得如何抓住这些主题。这才是最重要的。如果诱饵准备妥当，一个人根本不用走太远就能找到猎物。” 彭波契克先生想了一会儿接着说道： “就看这猪肉，这就是个主题！如果你要找个布道主题，猪肉就是一个！”
"True, sir. Many a moral for the young, " returned Mr. Wopsle; and I knew he was going to lug me in, before he said it; "might be deduced from that text. "
“确实是这样的，先生。对年轻人来说太有寓意了。” 沃甫赛先生答道，他没有说完我就知道他又要把话题转移到我身上了， “他们能从中得到很多教训。”
( "You listen to this, " said my sister to me, in a severe parenthesis. ) Joe gave me some more gravy.
“你好好听着。” 我姐姐十分严厉地对我说。乔又给我舀了些肉汁。
"Swine, " pursued Mr. Wopsle, in his deepest voice, and pointing his fork at my blushes, as if he were mentioning my Christian name; "Swine were the companions of the prodigal. The gluttony of Swine is put before us, as an example to the young. " (I thought this pretty well in him who had been praising up the pork for being so plump and juicy. ) "What is detestable in a pig, is more detestable in a boy. "
“猪，” 沃甫赛先生用他深沉的嗓音继续说道，同时拿叉子指着我已经羞得通红的脸，仿佛他正在喊我的教名， “猪是挥霍浪费者的同伴。猪贪吃的下场已经摆在了我们面前，年轻人应该引以为戒。” （我觉得有趣的是，他刚刚还夸这猪肉肥厚多汁呢。） “猪身上令人厌恶的毛病放在一个男孩子身上就更加让人讨厌了。”
"Or girl, " suggested Mr. Hubble.
“女孩也一样。” 哈布尔先生提示说。
"Of course, or girl, Mr. Hubble, " assented Mr. Wopsle, rather irritably, "but there is no girl present. "
“当然，女孩也一样，哈布尔先生。” 沃甫赛先生表示同意，但一脸怒气， “但这里没有女孩子。”
"Besides, " said Mr. Pumblechook, turning sharp on me, "think what you've got to be grateful for. If you'd been born a Squeaker—”
“另外，” 彭波契克先生迅速转向我说道， “想想你所拥有的值得感恩的一切。如果你生来就是个爱哭鬼——”
"He was, if ever a child was, " said my sister, most emphatically.
“他就是个爱哭鬼，世间少有这样的孩子。” 我姐姐断然答道。
Joe gave me some more gravy.
乔又给我舀了些肉汁。
"Well, but I mean a four—footed Squeaker, " said Mr. Pumblechook. "If you had been born such, would you have been here now? Not you—”
“好吧，不过我说的是四只脚的爱哭鬼。” 彭波契克先生说， “如果你生来是那样的话，你现在还能坐在这里吗？你不会的——”
"Unless in that form, " said Mr. Wopsle, nodding towards the dish.
“除非以那种形式。” 沃甫赛先生说着朝盘子中的猪肉点了点头。
"But I don't mean in that form, sir, " returned Mr. Pumblechook, who had an objection to being interrupted; "I mean, enjoying himself with his elders and betters, and improving himself with their conversation, and rolling in the lap of luxury. Would he have been doing that? No, he wouldn't. And what would have been your destination? " Turning on me again. "You would have been disposed of for so many shillings according to the market price of the article, and Duns table the butcher would have come up to you as you lay in your straw, and he would have whipped you under his left arm, and with his right he would have tucked up his frock to get a penknife from out of his waistcoat—pocket, and he would have shed your blood and had your life. No bringing up by hand then. Not a bit of it!”
“但我不是那个意思，先生。” 彭波契克先生回答道，他很反感自己说话时被打断， “我的意思是，和大人长辈一起快乐地生活，在大人长辈的教导中进步，生活优裕、养尊处优。他能拥有这些吗？不，他不能。那么你的命运会是怎样的呢？” 他又转向我。 “根据市场物价，你会被出售，换回很多先令。屠夫邓恩斯•泰布会朝你躺着的稻草堆走过来，他会把你夹在左胳膊下，用右手撩起衣服，从背心口袋里掏出一把小刀，然后放你的血，要你的命。那时就没有人亲手把你养大了。一个人也没有！”
Joe offered me more gravy, which I was afraid to take.
乔给我舀了更多的肉汁，我却不敢吃。
"He was a world of trouble to you, ma 'am, " said Mrs. Hubble, commiserating my sister.
“太太，他一定给你惹来不少麻烦。” 哈布尔太太对我姐姐同情地说道。
"Trouble? " echoed my sister; "trouble? " and then entered on a fearful catalogue of all the illnesses I had been guilty of, and all the acts of sleeplessness I had committed, and all the high places I had tumbled from, and all the low places I had tumbled into, and all the injuries I had done myself, and all the times she had wished me in my grave, and I had contumaciously refused to go there.
“麻烦？” 我姐姐附和道， “只有麻烦而已吗？” 然后就开始了那令人厌烦的长篇大论，细数我染上的种种疾病，醒着的时候干下的种种坏事，曾经从哪些高处摔了下来，又跌进哪些低洼的地方，自作自受受了多少伤，以及一直以来她都希望我干脆死了算了，但我就是不让她如愿。
I think the Romans must have aggravated one another very much, with their noses. Perhaps, they became the restless people they were, in consequence. Anyhow, Mr. Wopsle's Roman nose so aggravated me, during the recital of my misdemeanors that I should have liked to pull it until he howled. But, all I had endured up to this time, was nothing in comparison with the awful feelings that took possession of me when the pause was broken which ensued upon my sister's recital, and in which pause everybody had looked at me (as I felt painfully conscious) with indignation and abhorrence.
我想罗马人一定是因为他们的鼻子而激怒了彼此。也许正是因此，他们最后成了一个不安分的民族。不管怎样，在我姐姐数落我的种种罪行时，沃甫赛先生的鼻子让我万分恼怒。我真想一把扯住他的鼻子，直到他大声嚎叫为止。我姐姐数落完之后出现了片刻的沉默。沉默当中我痛苦地感觉到，所有人都用满是愤怒和厌恶的眼神看着我。但到目前为止，我所承受的一切与沉默打破之后我糟糕的心情相比简直是微不足道。
"Yet, " said Mr. Pumblechook, leading the company gently back to the theme from which they had strayed, "Pork—regarded as billed—is rich, too; isn't it? "
“但是，” 彭波契克先生轻声地将大家带回之前背离的主题， “烹煮过的猪肉也是很有滋味的，不是吗？”
"Have a little brandy, uncle, " said my sister.
“喝点白兰地吧，舅舅。” 我姐姐说道。
O Heavens, it had come at last! He would find it was weak, he would say it was weak, and I was lost! I held tight to the leg of the table under the cloth, with both hands, and awaited my fate.
天哪，这下大祸临头了！他会发现白兰地太淡了，他会说这酒怎么这么淡，那样我就完了。我两只手紧紧地抓住桌布下的桌腿，等待着厄运的到来。
My sister went for the stone bottle, came back with the stone bottle, and poured his brandy out: no one else taking any. The wretched man trifled with his glass—took it up, looked at it through the light, put it down—prolonged my misery. All this time, Mrs. Joe and Joe were briskly clearing the table for the pie and pudding.
我姐姐去取石酒坛。取回酒坛，给他满上白兰地，其他人一点也没喝。这个可恶的家伙摆弄着他的酒杯，举起来，对着光看看，再放下，这些都延长了我痛苦的时间。同时，乔太太和乔迅速地清理了饭桌，准备端上馅饼和布丁。
I couldn't keep my eyes off him. Always holding tight by the leg of the table with my hands and feet, I saw the miserable creature finger his glass playfully, take it up, smile, throw his head back, and drink the brandy off. Instantly afterwards, the company were seized with unspeakable consternation, owing to his springing to his feet, turning round several times in an appalling spasmodic whooping—cough dance, and rushing out at the door; he then became visible through the window, violently plunging and expectorating, making the most hideous faces, and apparently out of his mind.
我没法把目光从他身上移开。我的手脚一齐紧紧地抱住桌腿。我看着那可恶的家伙用手指打趣地划过酒杯，举起来，笑了笑，一仰头，将白兰地喝了下去。随后即刻之间，客人们就陷入了不可名状的惊愕当中，因为他跳了起来，转了几圈，身体抽搐，又喊又咳，手舞足蹈，让人大为震惊。接着他冲出门去，透过窗户可以看见他猛地俯下身去大口地往外咳着什么，面部表情扭曲难看，完全疯掉了一样。
I held on tight, while Mrs. Joe and Joe ran to him. I didn't know how I had done it, but I had no doubt I had murdered him somehow.
我紧紧地抱着桌腿，乔太太和乔跑了过去。我不知道自己是怎么做到的，但不管怎样，我确信是我谋害了他。
In my dreadful situation, it was a relief when he was brought back, and, surveying the company all round as if they had disagreed with him, sank down into his chair with the one significant gasp, "Tar! "
我惊恐万分，之后他被带了回来，我松了一口气。他审视着周围的客人，仿佛是他们跟他过不去，接着倒在椅子上，重重地喘了一口气，说： “柏油水！”
I had filled up the bottle from the tar—water jug. I knew he would be worse by—and—by. I moved the table, like a Medium of the present day, by the vigor of my unseen hold upon it.
我往酒坛里倒的是柏油水。我知道他之后会觉得越来越难受。由于抓得太紧，我挪动了一下桌子，就像如今的巫师，用看不见的力量挪动一个物体。
"Tar! " cried my sister, in amazement. "Why, how ever could Tar come there? "
“柏油水！” 我姐姐惊讶地喊道， “什么，柏油水怎么跑到酒坛里去了？”
But, Uncle Pumblechook, who was omnipotent in that kitchen, wouldn't hear the word, wouldn't hear of the subject, imperiously waved it all away with his hand, and asked for hot gin—and—water.
然而，彭波契克舅舅此时就是这间厨房里万能的主。他不想再听见这个词，不想再提起这个话题，蛮横地一挥手，表示不要再说了，并要热的杜松子酒水。
My sister, who had begun to be alarmingly meditative, had to employ herself actively in getting the gin, the hot water, the sugar, and the lemon—peel, and mixing them. For the time being at least, I was saved. I still held on to the leg of the table, but clutched it now with the fervor of gratitude.
我姐姐从惊慌和思考中回过神来，赶紧去取来杜松子酒、热水、糖和柠檬皮，并把它们混合在一起。至少眼下我是得救了。我仍然抱着桌腿，但这次是心怀感激地抱着它。
By degrees, I became calm enough to release my grasp and partake of pudding. Mr. Pumblechook partook of pudding. All partook of pudding.
逐渐地，我镇静下来，松开了手，开始吃布丁。彭波契克先生吃起了布丁。大家都开始吃布丁。
The course terminated, and Mr. Pumblechook had begun to beam under the genial influence of gin—and—water. I began to think I should get over the day, when my sister said to Joe, "Clean plates—cold.”
甜食吃完了，彭波契克先生在杜松子酒水的帮助下，脸上开始泛起了红光。我开始觉得我能熬过今天了。突然我姐姐对乔说： “去拿干净的盘子来，冷盘子。”
I clutched the leg of the table again immediately, and pressed it to my bosom as if it had been the companion of my youth and friend of my soul. I foresaw what was coming, and I felt that this time I really was gone.
我马上又抓住了桌腿，把它紧紧地贴在胸前，仿佛它是我儿时的伙伴、灵魂的密友一样。我能预见即将发生的事情，我感觉这次真的完了。
"You must taste, " said my sister, addressing the guests with her best grace, "You must taste, to finish with, such a delightful and delicious present of Uncle Pumblechook's! "
“你们一定要尝尝，” 我姐姐和颜悦色地对客人说道， “在宴会结束之前，你们一定要尝尝彭波契克舅舅带来的令人愉悦的美味礼品！”
Must they! Let them not hope to taste it!
必须要他们尝尝吗！还是不要让他们尝吧！
"You must know, " said my sister, rising, "it's a pie; a savory pork pie. "
“你们得知道，” 我姐姐站起来说道， “是一个馅饼，一个美味的猪肉馅饼。”
The company murmured their compliments. Uncle Pumblechook, sensible of having deserved well of his fellow—creatures, said—quite vivaciously, all things considered— "Well, Mrs. Joe, we'll do our best endeavors; let us have a cut at this same pie. "
客人们小声地恭维着。彭波契克舅舅觉得，考虑到之前发生的事情，自己是客人当中最该享用馅饼的人，所以异常活跃地说道： “好吧，乔太太，我们会好好享用的，让我们共享一个馅饼吧。”
My sister went out to get it. I heard her steps proceed to the pantry. I saw Mr. Pumblechook balance his knife. I saw re—awakening appetite in the Roman nostrils of Mr. Wopsle. I heard Mr. Hubble remark that "a bit of savory pork pie would lay atop of anything you could mention, and do no harm, " and I heard Joe say, "You shall have some, Pip. " I have never been absolutely certain whether I uttered a shrill yell of terror, merely in spirit, or in the bodily hearing of the company. I felt that I could bear no more, and that I must run away. I released the leg of the table, and ran for my life.
我姐姐出去取馅饼了。我听见她走向食品间的脚步声。我看到彭波契克先生摆弄着餐刀。我从沃甫赛先生的鹰勾鼻鼻孔中看出他重新燃起的食欲。我听见哈布尔先生评论道： “一点猪肉馅饼是你所能提及的最好的东西了，而且没有害处。” 我还听见乔说： “你也吃点，皮普。” 我从来都不十分确定我只是从内心发出了惊恐的一声尖叫，还是真的发出了所有人都听得见的尖叫。我感觉我再也受不了了，我必须逃跑。我松开了桌腿，没命似的逃走了。
But, I ran no further than the house door, for there I ran head foremost into a party of soldiers with their muskets: one of whom held out a pair of handcuffs to me, saying, "Here you are, look sharp, come on! "
但我刚刚跑到大门口就一头扎进一队士兵当中。他们都扛着火枪。一个士兵递给我一副手铐，说道： “在这里啊，看起来挺机灵的，快来！”