In which some more First Appearances are made on the Stage of these Adventures
Though the offices of Dombey and Son were within the liberties of the City of London, and within hearing of Bow Bells, when their clashing voices were not drowned by the uproar in the streets, yet were there hints of adventurous and romantic story to be observed in some of the adjacent objects. Gog and Magog held their state within ten minutes' walk; the Royal Exchange was close at hand; the Bank of England, with its vaults of gold and silver 'down among the dead men' underground, was their magnificent neighbour. Just round the corner stood the rich East India House, teeming with suggestions of precious stuffs and stones, tigers, elephants, howdahs, hookahs, umbrellas, palm trees, palanquins, and gorgeous princes of a brown complexion sitting on carpets, with their slippers very much turned up at the toes. Anywhere in the immediate vicinity there might be seen pictures of ships speeding away full sail to all parts of the world; outfitting warehouses ready to pack off anybody anywhere, fully equipped in half an hour; and little timber midshipmen in obsolete naval uniforms, eternally employed outside the shop doors of nautical Instrument-makers in taking observations of the hackney carriages.
Sole master and proprietor of one of these effigies - of that which might be called, familiar!y, the woodenest - of that which thrust itself out above the pavement, right leg foremost, with a suavity the least endurable, and had the shoe buckles and flapped waistcoat the least reconcileable to human reason, and bore at its right eye the most offensively disproportionate piece of machinery - sole master and proprietor of that Midshipman, and proud of him too, an elderly gentleman in a Welsh wig had paid house-rent, taxes, rates, and dues, for more years than many a full-grown midshipman of flesh and blood has numbered in his life; and midshipmen who have attained a pretty green old age, have not been wanting in the English Navy.
The stock-in-trade of this old gentleman comprised chronometers, barometers, telescopes, compasses, charts, maps, sextants, quadrants, and specimens of every kind of instrument used in the working of a ship's course, or the keeping of a ship's reckoning, or the prosecuting of a ship's discoveries. Objects in brass and glass were in his drawers and on his shelves, which none but the initiated could have found the top of, or guessed the use of, or having once examined, could have ever got back again into their mahogany nests without assistance. Everything was jammed into the tightest cases, fitted into the narrowest corners, fenced up behind the most impertinent cushions, and screwed into the acutest angles, to prevent its philosophical composure from being disturbed by the rolling of the sea. Such extraordinary precautions were taken in every instance to save room, and keep the thing compact; and so much practical navigation was fitted, and cushioned, and screwed into every box (whether the box was a mere slab, as some were, or something between a cocked hat and a star-fish, as others were, and those quite mild and modest boxes as compared with others); that the shop itself, partaking of the general infection, seemed almost to become a snug, sea-going, ship-shape concern, wanting only good sea-room, in the event of an unexpected launch, to work its way securely to any desert island in the world.
Many minor incidents in the household life of the Ships'
Instrument-maker who was proud of his little Midshipman, assisted and bore out this fancy. His acquaintance lying chiefly among ship-chandlers and so forth, he had always plenty of the veritable ships' biscuit on his table. It was familiar with dried meats and tongues, possessing an extraordinary flavour of rope yarn. Pickles were produced upon it, in great wholesale jars, with 'dealer in all kinds of Ships' Provisions' on the label; spirits were set forth in case bottles with no throats. Old prints of ships with alphabetical references to their various mysteries, hung in frames upon the walls; the Tartar Frigate under weigh, was on the plates; outlandish shells, seaweeds, and mosses, decorated the chimney-piece; the little wainscotted back parlour was lighted by a sky-light, like a cabin.
Here he lived too, in skipper-like state, all alone with his nephew Walter: a boy of fourteen who looked quite enough like a midshipman, to carry out the prevailing idea. But there it ended, for Solomon Gills himself (more generally called old Sol) was far from having a maritime appearance. To say nothing of his Welsh wig, which was as plain and stubborn a Welsh wig as ever was worn, and in which he looked like anything but a Rover, he was a slow, quiet-spoken, thoughtful old fellow, with eyes as red as if they had been small suns looking at you through a fog; and a newly-awakened manner, such as he might have acquired by having stared for three or four days successively through every optical instrument in his shop, and suddenly came back to the world again, to find it green. The only change ever known in his outward man, was from a complete suit of coffee-colour cut very square, and ornamented with glaring buttons, to the same suit of coffee-colour minus the inexpressibles, which were then of a pale nankeen. He wore a very precise shirt-frill, and carried a pair of first-rate spectacles on his forehead, and a tremendous chronometer in his fob, rather than doubt which precious possession, he would have believed in a conspiracy against it on part of all the clocks and watches in the City, and even of the very Sun itself. Such as he was, such he had been in the shop and parlour behind the little Midshipman, for years upon years; going regularly aloft to bed every night in a howling garret remote from the lodgers, where, when gentlemen of England who lived below at ease had little or no idea of the state of the weather, it often blew great guns.
It is half-past five o'clock, and an autumn afternoon, when the reader and Solomon Gills become acquainted. Solomon Gills is in the act of seeing what time it is by the unimpeachable chronometer. The usual daily clearance has been making in the City for an hour or more; and the human tide is still rolling westward. 'The streets have thinned,' as Mr Gills says, 'very much.' It threatens to be wet to-night. All the weatherglasses in the shop are in low spirits, and the rain already shines upon the cocked hat of the wooden Midshipman.
'Where's Walter, I wonder!' said Solomon Gills, after he had carefully put up the chronometer again. 'Here's dinner been ready, half an hour, and no Walter!'
Turning round upon his stool behind the counter, Mr Gills looked out among the instruments in the window, to see if his nephew might be crossing the road. No. He was not among the bobbing umbrellas, and he certainly was not the newspaper boy in the oilskin cap who was slowly working his way along the piece of brass outside, writing his name over Mr Gills's name with his forefinger.
'If I didn't know he was too fond of me to make a run of it, and go and enter himself aboard ship against my wishes, I should begin to be fidgetty,' said Mr Gills, tapping two or three weather-glasses with his knuckles. 'I really should. All in the Downs, eh! Lots of moisture! Well! it's wanted.'
I believe,' said Mr Gills, blowing the dust off the glass top of a compass-case, 'that you don't point more direct and due to the back parlour than the boy's inclination does after all. And the parlour couldn't bear straighter either. Due north. Not the twentieth part of a point either way.'
'Halloa, Uncle Sol!'
'Halloa, my boy!' cried the Instrument-maker, turning briskly round. 'What! you are here, are you?'
A cheerful looking, merry boy, fresh with running home in the rain; fair-faced, bright-eyed, and curly-haired.
'Well, Uncle, how have you got on without me all day? Is dinner ready? I'm so hungry.'
'As to getting on,' said Solomon good-naturedly, 'it would be odd if I couldn't get on without a young dog like you a great deal better than with you. As to dinner being ready, it's been ready this half hour and waiting for you. As to being hungry, I am!'
'Come along then, Uncle!' cried the boy. 'Hurrah for the admiral!'
'Confound the admiral!' returned Solomon Gills. 'You mean the Lord Mayor.'
'No I don't!' cried the boy. 'Hurrah for the admiral! Hurrah for the admiral! For-ward!'
At this word of command, the Welsh wig and its wearer were borne without resistance into the back parlour, as at the head of a boarding party of five hundred men; and Uncle Sol and his nephew were speedily engaged on a fried sole with a prospect of steak to follow.
'The Lord Mayor, Wally,' said Solomon, 'for ever! No more admirals. The Lord Mayor's your admiral.'
'Oh, is he though!' said the boy, shaking his head. 'Why, the Sword Bearer's better than him. He draws his sword sometimes.
'And a pretty figure he cuts with it for his pains,' returned the Uncle. 'Listen to me, Wally, listen to me. Look on the mantelshelf.'
'Why who has cocked my silver mug up there, on a nail?' exclaimed the boy.
I have,' said his Uncle. 'No more mugs now. We must begin to drink out of glasses to-day, Walter. We are men of business. We belong to the City. We started in life this morning.
'Well, Uncle,' said the boy, 'I'll drink out of anything you like, so long as I can drink to you. Here's to you, Uncle Sol, and Hurrah for the
'Lord Mayor,' interrupted the old man.
'For the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, Common Council, and Livery,' said the boy. 'Long life to 'em!'
The uncle nodded his head with great satisfaction. 'And now,' he said, 'let's hear something about the Firm.'
'Oh! there's not much to be told about the Firm, Uncle,' said the boy, plying his knife and fork.' It's a precious dark set of offices, and in the room where I sit, there's a high fender, and an iron safe, and some cards about ships that are going to sail, and an almanack, and some desks and stools, and an inkbottle, and some books, and some boxes, and a lot of cobwebs, and in one of 'em, just over my head, a shrivelled-up blue-bottle that looks as if it had hung there ever so long.'
'Nothing else?' said the Uncle.
'No, nothing else, except an old birdcage (I wonder how that ever came there!) and a coal-scuttle.'
'No bankers' books, or cheque books, or bills, or such tokens of wealth rolling in from day to day?' said old Sol, looking wistfully at his nephew out of the fog that always seemed to hang about him, and laying an unctuous emphasis upon the words.
'Oh yes, plenty of that I suppose,' returned his nephew carelessly; 'but all that sort of thing's in Mr Carker's room, or Mr Morfin's, or MR Dombey's.'
'Has Mr Dombey been there to-day?' inquired the Uncle.
'Oh yes! In and out all day.'
'He didn't take any notice of you, I suppose?'.
'Yes he did. He walked up to my seat, - I wish he wasn't so solemn and stiff, Uncle, - and said, "Oh! you are the son of Mr Gills the Ships' Instrument-maker." "Nephew, Sir," I said. "I said nephew, boy," said he. But I could take my oath he said son, Uncle.'
'You're mistaken I daresay. It's no matter.
'No, it's no matter, but he needn't have been so sharp, I thought. There was no harm in it though he did say son. Then he told me that you had spoken to him about me, and that he had found me employment in the House accordingly, and that I was expected to be attentive and punctual, and then he went away. I thought he didn't seem to like me much.'
'You mean, I suppose,' observed the Instrument-maker, 'that you didn't seem to like him much?'
'Well, Uncle,' returned the boy, laughing. 'Perhaps so; I never thought of that.'
Solomon looked a little graver as he finished his dinner, and glanced from time to time at the boy's bright face. When dinner was done, and the cloth was cleared away (the entertainment had been brought from a neighbouring eating-house), he lighted a candle, and went down below into a little cellar, while his nephew, standing on the mouldy staircase, dutifully held the light. After a moment's groping here and there, he presently returned with a very ancient-looking bottle, covered with dust and dirt.
'Why, Uncle Sol!' said the boy, 'what are you about? that's the wonderful Madeira! - there's only one more bottle!'
Uncle Sol nodded his head, implying that he knew very well what he was about; and having drawn the cork in solemn silence, filled two glasses and set the bottle and a third clean glass on the table.
'You shall drink the other bottle, Wally,' he said, 'when you come to good fortune; when you are a thriving, respected, happy man; when the start in life you have made to-day shall have brought you, as I pray Heaven it may! - to a smooth part of the course you have to run, my child. My love to you!'
Some of the fog that hung about old Sol seemed to have got into his throat; for he spoke huskily. His hand shook too, as he clinked his glass against his nephew's. But having once got the wine to his lips, he tossed it off like a man, and smacked them afterwards.
'Dear Uncle,' said the boy, affecting to make light of it, while the tears stood in his eyes, 'for the honour you have done me, et cetera, et cetera. I shall now beg to propose Mr Solomon Gills with three times three and one cheer more. Hurrah! and you'll return thanks, Uncle, when we drink the last bottle together; won't you?'
They clinked their glasses again; and Walter, who was hoarding his wine, took a sip of it, and held the glass up to his eye with as critical an air as he could possibly assume.
His Uncle sat looking at him for some time in silence. When their eyes at last met, he began at once to pursue the theme that had occupied his thoughts, aloud, as if he had been speaking all the time.
'You see, Walter,' he said, 'in truth this business is merely a habit with me. I am so accustomed to the habit that I could hardly live if I relinquished it: but there's nothing doing, nothing doing. When that uniform was worn,' pointing out towards the little Midshipman, 'then indeed, fortunes were to be made, and were made. But competition, competition - new invention, new invention - alteration, alteration - the world's gone past me. I hardly know where I am myself, much less where my customers are.
'Never mind 'em, Uncle!'
'Since you came home from weekly boarding-school at Peckham, for instance - and that's ten days,' said Solomon, 'I don't remember more than one person that has come into the shop.'
'Two, Uncle, don't you recollect? There was the man who came to ask for change for a sovereign - '
'That's the one,' said Solomon.
'Why Uncle! don't you call the woman anybody, who came to ask the way to Mile-End Turnpike?'
'Oh! it's true,' said Solomon, 'I forgot her. Two persons.'
'To be sure, they didn't buy anything,' cried the boy.
'No. They didn't buy anything,' said Solomon, quietly.
'Nor want anything,' cried the boy.
'No. If they had, they'd gone to another shop,' said Solomon, in the same tone.
'But there were two of 'em, Uncle,' cried the boy, as if that were a great triumph. 'You said only one.'
'Well, Wally,' resumed the old man, after a short pause: 'not being like the Savages who came on Robinson Crusoe's Island, we can't live on a man who asks for change for a sovereign, and a woman who inquires the way to Mile-End Turnpike. As I said just now, the world has gone past me. I don't blame it; but I no longer understand it. Tradesmen are not the same as they used to be, apprentices are not the same, business is not the same, business commodities are not the same. Seven-eighths of my stock is old-fashioned. I am an old-fashioned man in an old-fashioned shop, in a street that is not the same as I remember it. I have fallen behind the time, and am too old to catch it again. Even the noise it makes a long way ahead, confuses me.'
Walter was going to speak, but his Uncle held up his hand.
'Therefore, Wally - therefore it is that I am anxious you should be early in the busy world, and on the world's track. I am only the ghost of this business - its substance vanished long ago; and when I die, its ghost will be laid. As it is clearly no inheritance for you then, I have thought it best to use for your advantage, almost the only fragment of the old connexion that stands by me, through long habit. Some people suppose me to be wealthy. I wish for your sake they were right. But whatever I leave behind me, or whatever I can give you, you in such a House as Dombey's are in the road to use well and make the most of. Be diligent, try to like it, my dear boy, work for a steady independence, and be happy!'
'I'll do everything I can, Uncle, to deserve your affection. Indeed I will,' said the boy, earnestly
'I know it,' said Solomon. 'I am sure of it,' and he applied himself to a second glass of the old Madeira, with increased relish. 'As to the Sea,' he pursued, 'that's well enough in fiction, Wally, but it won't do in fact: it won't do at all. It's natural enough that you should think about it, associating it with all these familiar things; but it won't do, it won't do.'
Solomon Gills rubbed his hands with an air of stealthy enjoyment, as he talked of the sea, though; and looked on the seafaring objects about him with inexpressible complacency.
'Think of this wine for instance,' said old Sol, 'which has been to the East Indies and back, I'm not able to say how often, and has been once round the world. Think of the pitch-dark nights, the roaring winds, and rolling seas:'
'The thunder, lightning, rain, hail, storm of all kinds,' said the boy.
'To be sure,' said Solomon, - 'that this wine has passed through. Think what a straining and creaking of timbers and masts: what a whistling and howling of the gale through ropes and rigging:'
'What a clambering aloft of men, vying with each other who shall lie out first upon the yards to furl the icy sails, while the ship rolls and pitches, like mad!' cried his nephew.
'Exactly so,' said Solomon: 'has gone on, over the old cask that held this wine. Why, when the Charming Sally went down in the - '
'In the Baltic Sea, in the dead of night; five-and-twenty minutes past twelve when the captain's watch stopped in his pocket; he lying dead against the main-mast - on the fourteenth of February, seventeen forty-nine!' cried Walter, with great animation.
'Ay, to be sure!' cried old Sol, 'quite right! Then, there were five hundred casks of such wine aboard; and all hands (except the first mate, first lieutenant, two seamen, and a lady, in a leaky boat) going to work to stave the casks, got drunk and died drunk, singing "Rule Britannia", when she settled and went down, and ending with one awful scream in chorus.'
'But when the George the Second drove ashore, Uncle, on the coast of Cornwall, in a dismal gale, two hours before daybreak, on the fourth of March, 'seventy-one, she had near two hundred horses aboard; and the horses breaking loose down below, early in the gale, and tearing to and fro, and trampling each other to death, made such noises, and set up such human cries, that the crew believing the ship to be full of devils, some of the best men, losing heart and head, went overboard in despair, and only two were left alive, at last, to tell the tale.'
'And when,' said old Sol, 'when the Polyphemus - '
'Private West India Trader, burden three hundred and fifty tons, Captain, John Brown of Deptford. Owners, Wiggs and Co.,' cried Walter.
'The same,' said Sol; 'when she took fire, four days' sail with a fair wind out of Jamaica Harbour, in the night - '
'There were two brothers on board,' interposed his nephew, speaking very fast and loud, 'and there not being room for both of them in the only boat that wasn't swamped, neither of them would consent to go, until the elder took the younger by the waist, and flung him in. And then the younger, rising in the boat, cried out, "Dear Edward, think of your promised wife at home. I'm only a boy. No one waits at home for me. Leap down into my place!" and flung himself in the sea!'
The kindling eye and heightened colour of the boy, who had risen from his seat in the earnestness of what he said and felt, seemed to remind old Sol of something he had forgotten, or that his encircling mist had hitherto shut out. Instead of proceeding with any more anecdotes, as he had evidently intended but a moment before, he gave a short dry cough, and said, 'Well! suppose we change the subject.'
The truth was, that the simple-minded Uncle in his secret attraction towards the marvellous and adventurous - of which he was, in some sort, a distant relation, by his trade - had greatly encouraged the same attraction in the nephew; and that everything that had ever been put before the boy to deter him from a life of adventure, had had the usual unaccountable effect of sharpening his taste for it. This is invariable. It would seem as if there never was a book written, or a story told, expressly with the object of keeping boys on shore, which did not lure and charm them to the ocean, as a matter of course.
But an addition to the little party now made its appearance, in the shape of a gentleman in a wide suit of blue, with a hook instead of a hand attached to his right wrist; very bushy black eyebrows; and a thick stick in his left hand, covered all over (like his nose) with knobs. He wore a loose black silk handkerchief round his neck, and such a very large coarse shirt collar, that it looked like a small sail. He was evidently the person for whom the spare wine-glass was intended, and evidently knew it; for having taken off his rough outer coat, and hung up, on a particular peg behind the door, such a hard glazed hat as a sympathetic person's head might ache at the sight of, and which left a red rim round his own forehead as if he had been wearing a tight basin, he brought a chair to where the clean glass was, and sat himself down behind it. He was usually addressed as Captain, this visitor; and had been a pilot, or a skipper, or a privateersman, or all three perhaps; and was a very salt-looking man indeed.
His face, remarkable for a brown solidity, brightened as he shook hands with Uncle and nephew; but he seemed to be of a laconic disposition, and merely said:
'How goes it?'
'All well,' said Mr Gills, pushing the bottle towards him.
He took it up, and having surveyed and smelt it, said with extraordinary expression:
'The?'
'The,' returned the Instrument-maker.
Upon that he whistled as he filled his glass, and seemed to think they were making holiday indeed.
'Wal'r!' he said, arranging his hair (which was thin) with his hook, and then pointing it at the Instrument-maker, 'Look at him! Love! Honour! And Obey! Overhaul your catechism till you find that passage, and when found turn the leaf down. Success, my boy!'
He was so perfectly satisfied both with his quotation and his reference to it, that he could not help repeating the words again in a low voice, and saying he had forgotten 'em these forty year.
'But I never wanted two or three words in my life that I didn't know where to lay my hand upon 'em, Gills,' he observed. 'It comes of not wasting language as some do.'
The reflection perhaps reminded him that he had better, like young Norval's father, '"ncrease his store." At any rate he became silent, and remained so, until old Sol went out into the shop to light it up, when he turned to Walter, and said, without any introductory remark:
'I suppose he could make a clock if he tried?'
'I shouldn't wonder, Captain Cuttle,' returned the boy.
'And it would go!' said Captain Cuttle, making a species of serpent in the air with his hook. 'Lord, how that clock would go!'
For a moment or two he seemed quite lost in contemplating the pace of this ideal timepiece, and sat looking at the boy as if his face were the dial.
'But he's chockful of science,' he observed, waving his hook towards the stock-in-trade. 'Look'ye here! Here's a collection of 'em. Earth, air, or water. It's all one. Only say where you'll have it. Up in a balloon? There you are. Down in a bell? There you are. D'ye want to put the North Star in a pair of scales and weigh it? He'll do it for you.'
It may be gathered from these remarks that Captain Cuttle's reverence for the stock of instruments was profound, and that his philosophy knew little or no distinction between trading in it and inventing it.
'Ah!' he said, with a sigh, 'it's a fine thing to understand 'em. And yet it's a fine thing not to understand 'em. I hardly know which is best. It's so comfortable to sit here and feel that you might be weighed, measured, magnified, electrified, polarized, played the very devil with: and never know how.'
Nothing short of the wonderful Madeira, combined with the occasion (which rendered it desirable to improve and expand Walter's mind), could have ever loosened his tongue to the extent of giving utterance to this prodigious oration. He seemed quite amazed himself at the manner in which it opened up to view the sources of the taciturn delight he had had in eating Sunday dinners in that parlour for ten years. Becoming a sadder and a wiser man, he mused and held his peace.
'Come!' cried the subject of this admiration, returning. 'Before you have your glass of grog, Ned, we must finish the bottle.'
'Stand by!' said Ned, filling his glass. 'Give the boy some more.'
'No more, thank'e, Uncle!'
'Yes, yes,' said Sol, 'a little more. We'll finish the bottle, to the House, Ned - Walter's House. Why it may be his House one of these days, in part. Who knows? Sir Richard Whittington married his master's daughter.'
'"Turn again Whittington, Lord Mayor of London, and when you are old you will never depart from it,"' interposed the Captain. 'Wal'r! Overhaul the book, my lad.'
'And although Mr Dombey hasn't a daughter,' Sol began.
'Yes, yes, he has, Uncle,' said the boy, reddening and laughing.
'Has he?' cried the old man. 'Indeed I think he has too.
'Oh! I know he has,' said the boy. 'Some of 'em were talking about it in the office today. And they do say, Uncle and Captain Cuttle,' lowering his voice, 'that he's taken a dislike to her, and that she's left, unnoticed, among the servants, and that his mind's so set all the while upon having his son in the House, that although he's only a baby now, he is going to have balances struck oftener than formerly, and the books kept closer than they used to be, and has even been seen (when he thought he wasn't) walking in the Docks, looking at his ships and property and all that, as if he was exulting like, over what he and his son will possess together. That's what they say. Of course, I don't know.
'He knows all about her already, you see,' said the instrument-maker.
'Nonsense, Uncle,' cried the boy, still reddening and laughing, boy-like. 'How can I help hearing what they tell me?'
'The Son's a little in our way at present, I'm afraid, Ned,' said the old man, humouring the joke.
'Very much,' said the Captain.
'Nevertheless, we'll drink him,' pursued Sol. 'So, here's to Dombey and Son.'
'Oh, very well, Uncle,' said the boy, merrily. 'Since you have introduced the mention of her, and have connected me with her and have said that I know all about her, I shall make bold to amend the toast. So here's to Dombey - and Son - and Daughter!'
雖然董貝父子公司的營(yíng)業(yè)所位于倫敦城的轄區(qū)之內(nèi)，鮑教堂①的鐘所發(fā)出的響亮聲音在沒有被街道的喧囂淹沒時(shí)，在這里是可以聽得見的，但在鄰近某些地方仍然可以看得見英勇冒險(xiǎn)、情節(jié)離奇的傳說的遺跡。高格和馬高格②的尊嚴(yán)神態(tài)，在十分鐘步行的距離之內(nèi)就可以看見；倫敦皇家交易所就在近旁；英格蘭銀行是它最宏偉的近鄰，它地下的保險(xiǎn)庫中，“在下面的空瓶子中間③”，裝滿了金銀。在街道拐角上矗立著富有的東印度公司④，它使人接連不斷地聯(lián)想起貴重的織物、寶石、老虎、象、象轎⑤、水煙筒、雨傘、棕櫚樹、四人或六人抬的大轎，還有那皮膚褐色、坐在地毯上的豪華的王子們，他們的便鞋前端是高高翹起的。在鄰近的任何地方都可以看到畫著張滿風(fēng)帆、飛速駛向世界各地的船舶的圖畫，也可以看到旅行用品倉庫，它們可以在半小時(shí)之內(nèi)把任何人到任何地方去所需要的旅行用品裝備齊全；還可以看到在航海儀器制造商人的店門外有一些小小的、木制的海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生，穿著陳舊過時(shí)的海軍制服，永遠(yuǎn)在監(jiān)視著出租馬車。
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①鮑教堂（BowChurch）：位于倫敦市中心；它的鐘聲所及之處，就是倫敦市的市區(qū)。
②高格和馬高格（GogandMagog）：是倫敦市政廳門前的兩個(gè)木雕巨像；相傳馬格是過去的君王，馬高格是另一位傳說中的英雄。
③這是古老的祝酒詞中的話語。
④東印度公司（EastIndiaHouse）：存在于1600年至1858年的英國(guó)貿(mào)易公司。公司長(zhǎng)期壟斷了對(duì)印度的貿(mào)易，并操縱了這個(gè)國(guó)家最重要的管理職能。
⑤象轎：馱在象背上可供數(shù)人乘坐的涼亭狀座位。
有些海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生的模擬像我們可以不客氣地稱為最像木頭那樣死板的，它們以一種使人極難以忍受的謙恭有禮的神氣，伸出右腿，矗立在人行道上；它們的鞋扣和帶翻領(lǐng)的背心的式樣是人們的理智最難以接受的；它們還拿了一件儀器，放在右眼附近，那儀器的大小十分不合比例，使人看了極為不快。在這些模擬像當(dāng)中，有一個(gè)模擬像的的主人與所有者，也就是說那個(gè)海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生的的主人與所有者（他以他而感到自豪），是一位上了年紀(jì)、帶威爾士假發(fā)的、有身份的先生；他支付房租、稅金和應(yīng)付費(fèi)用的時(shí)間比許多有血有肉、完全長(zhǎng)大成人的海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生的年齡還長(zhǎng)；在英國(guó)海軍中，年富力強(qiáng)的海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生是并不缺少的。
這位老先生的存貨包括精密計(jì)時(shí)表、晴雨表、望遠(yuǎn)鏡、羅盤、航海圖、地圖、六分儀、象限儀，以及用于確定船舶航線、進(jìn)行船舶計(jì)算、研究船舶所在地的各種儀器的樣品。在他的抽屜中和架子上存放著銅制的與玻璃制的物品；除了那些具有初步知識(shí)的人以外，誰也不能找出它們的頂部，或猜出它們的使用方法，或在看過它們之后，在沒有幫助的情況下，能放回到它們桃花心木制的老窩里去。每一件東西都被塞進(jìn)最緊湊的箱子中，裝到最狹窄的角落里，后面用最不得當(dāng)?shù)能泬|防護(hù)著，并用螺絲擰緊到最尖銳的角中，以防止它那像哲學(xué)家般的沉著鎮(zhèn)靜被海洋的滾滾波濤所擾亂。在所有的情況下都采取了這種不同尋常的預(yù)防措施，以便節(jié)省地方，把東西擺得緊湊。一切都適合于實(shí)際航行的要求，都用軟墊防護(hù)，并都緊緊擰進(jìn)每個(gè)箱子中（不論它們像有些箱子那樣，是普通的四角形箱子，還是像另一些箱子那樣，有些像三角帽、有些像海星的東西，或者是那些與其他箱子比較起來比較溫柔和不大的箱子）；因此，在這種總的氣氛的影響下，這個(gè)店鋪本身似乎幾乎都要變成一個(gè)溫暖舒適、適于航海的、船舶形狀的商店了，在突然下水的情況下，所缺少的只是足夠行船的水面，能使它安全行駛到世界上任何一個(gè)荒島上去。
這位對(duì)他的小海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生感到自豪的船舶儀器制造商的家庭生活中的許多細(xì)小情節(jié)，也加深和突出這樣一種幻覺。他的熟人主要是船具商之類的人，所以他在餐桌上經(jīng)常擺放著許多真正在船上吃的餅干。餐桌上也經(jīng)常有肉干和舌干，散發(fā)出繩子麻線的氣味；酸菜是用很大的批發(fā)的壇子端到餐桌上來的，壇子上貼著印有“經(jīng)銷船上各種食品”字樣的標(biāo)簽；烈酒是用沒有瓶頸的方瓶子端上的。墻上掛著的畫框中是描繪船舶的老版畫，船舶上的字母是指明各種秘密的；盤子上畫著在前進(jìn)中的韃靼快速帆船；壁爐架上裝飾著奇異的貝殼、海藻和苔蘚；裝有護(hù)壁板的小后客廳，像船艙一樣，光線是從天窗中射進(jìn)來的。
他像小商船的船長(zhǎng)一樣，和他的外甥沃爾特住在這里，沒有別的人。沃爾特是一位十四歲的男孩子，他那副神態(tài)活像是一位海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生，這也進(jìn)一步加深了上述總的印象。但事情到這里也就完結(jié)了，因?yàn)樗_門·吉爾斯本人（人們通常更喜歡管他叫老所爾），根本沒有一位航海人員的外貌。他那威爾士假發(fā)自然不消說了，那是威爾士假發(fā)中最普通、最難梳理的，他帶上它看上去一點(diǎn)也不像海盜。從其他方面來看，他是個(gè)慢條斯理，講話平平靜靜，并喜愛思考的老人；他的眼睛紅紅的，仿佛是穿過迷霧看著您的小太陽；他的神態(tài)像是剛剛被喚醒的樣子，如果他通過店中每一架光學(xué)儀器連續(xù)凝視三、四天之后，突然重新回到周圍的世界上，發(fā)現(xiàn)它一片綠色的話，那么他就可能呈現(xiàn)出這樣的神態(tài)。他的外表中可以看到的變化是，他原來全身上下穿著一套咖啡色的服裝，裁剪得寬松肥大，上面裝飾著發(fā)亮的扣子，現(xiàn)在則仍舊穿著那同樣咖啡色的上衣，但褲子卻換成顏色較淡的本色布做的了。他襯衫的褶邊整整齊齊；前額上架著一副最上等的眼鏡；褲上的表袋中裝著一只很大的精密計(jì)時(shí)表，他寧肯相信倫敦城里所有的鐘表，甚至太陽都共同密謀來跟它作對(duì)，也決不會(huì)對(duì)他這個(gè)寶貴的財(cái)產(chǎn)產(chǎn)生懷疑。他現(xiàn)在就像過去一樣，年復(fù)一年地這樣待在這個(gè)小小的海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生身后的店鋪中和客廳里；每天夜里他定時(shí)爬上遠(yuǎn)離其他房客的一個(gè)凄涼的頂樓中去睡覺，當(dāng)安安逸逸住在下面的英國(guó)的先生們很少想到，或根本沒有想到天氣怎樣的時(shí)候，這頂樓上卻常常刮大風(fēng)。
讀者與所羅門·吉爾斯認(rèn)識(shí)是在一個(gè)秋天下午的五點(diǎn)半鐘。所羅門·吉爾斯那時(shí)正在看他那只完美無缺的精密計(jì)時(shí)表，看看是什么時(shí)候了。城市照常每天一次向外疏散人群，已經(jīng)進(jìn)行了一個(gè)小時(shí)或更長(zhǎng)久一些；人的浪潮仍然向西滾滾流動(dòng)著。就像吉爾斯先生所說的，“街上的人已經(jīng)稀少得多了。”今天晚上好像要下雨。店鋪里所有的晴雨表都呈現(xiàn)出垂頭喪氣的神態(tài)。雨滴已經(jīng)在木制海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生的三角帽上閃耀著亮光。
“不知道沃爾特在哪里！”吉爾斯把精密計(jì)時(shí)表重新小心地藏好以后，說道，“晚飯已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備好半個(gè)小時(shí)了，可是卻不見沃爾特！”
吉爾斯先生在柜臺(tái)后面的凳子上轉(zhuǎn)過身子，通過櫥窗中的儀器往外看，看看他的外甥是不是正在穿越馬路。沒有。他沒有在那些擺動(dòng)的雨傘中間。他也決不是那個(gè)戴油布帽子、賣報(bào)的男孩子，那男孩子正沿著外面的銅牌慢吞吞地走過去，并且用食指把自己的姓名寫在吉爾斯先生的姓名上面。
“如果我不知道，他太愛我了，不會(huì)逃跑，也不會(huì)違反我的意愿，自己跑到船上去的話，那么我真要開始坐立不安了，”吉爾斯先生用指關(guān)節(jié)輕輕敲打著兩、三個(gè)晴雨表?！拔艺鏁?huì)的！全都在很低的度數(shù)①，?。駳庹娲?！唔，是需要下雨了?！?BR> --------
①原文為AllintheDowns，吉爾斯這樣說是指晴雨表中的度數(shù)很低，但這又是英國(guó)劇作家和詩人約翰·蓋伊（JohnGay，1685—1732年）敘事詩《溫存的威廉和黑眼睛的蘇珊告別》（SweetWiliam’sFarewelltoBlack－eyedSusan）中開頭的詩句，意為“船隊(duì)全都在唐斯”。唐斯（theDowns）是英法之間多佛海峽的一部分，為船舶停泊處。狄更斯采用這種文字表現(xiàn)方法，是為了使讀者感到幽默有趣。
“我覺得，”吉爾斯先生把一個(gè)羅盤匣子玻璃頂上的灰塵吹去，說道，“孩子總是喜歡跑到后客廳里去，你畢竟不能比他更直接更準(zhǔn)確地指向后客廳。后客廳的方向是不能更正確的了。正北，不向其他方向偏離二十分之一度！”
“喂，所爾舅舅！”
“喂，我的孩子！”儀器制造商輕快地轉(zhuǎn)過身去，喊道，“啊，你回來了，是嗎？”
這是個(gè)興致勃勃、快快活活的男孩子，由于冒雨回家來，顯得十分精神；他的臉白嫩、漂亮，眼睛明亮，頭發(fā)卷曲。
“唔，舅舅，我不在，你整天是怎么過的？晚飯好了嗎？
我餓極了?！?BR> “說到這一天怎么過嘛，”所羅門和顏悅色地說道，“如果像你這樣一條小狗不在，我不能過得比你在的時(shí)候好得多，那就怪了。說到晚飯好了沒有嘛，它已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備好半個(gè)鐘頭了，正在等著你呢。說到餓嘛，·我也一樣！”
“那么來吧，舅舅！”孩子喊道，“海軍上將萬歲！”
“去你的海軍上將！”所羅門·吉爾斯回答道?！澳闶窍胝f市長(zhǎng)先生吧。”
“不，我不是想說他！”孩子喊道?！昂＼娚蠈⑷f歲！海軍上將萬歲！前——進(jìn)！”
這道命令一下，威爾士假發(fā)和它的佩戴者就立刻毫無抵抗地被帶領(lǐng)到后客廳去，就好像走在由五百人組成的攻入敵船的隊(duì)伍的最前面似的；然后所爾舅舅和他的外甥很快就開始吃起煎箬鰨魚來；旁邊擺著的牛排是他們的下一道菜。
“永遠(yuǎn)是市長(zhǎng)，沃利，”所羅門說道，“不要再提海軍上將了。市長(zhǎng)就是·你·的海軍上將?！?BR> “哦，難道是這樣嗎？”孩子搖搖頭，說道，“唔，捧劍侍從也比市長(zhǎng)強(qiáng)些。捧劍侍從有時(shí)還能抽出·他·們的劍來?！?BR> “盡管他費(fèi)盡力氣，但還是顯出一副愚蠢的樣子，”舅舅回答道?！奥犖艺f，沃利，聽我說。看那壁爐架?！?BR> “哎呀，誰把我的銀杯子掛在釘子上了？”孩子高聲喊道。
“我掛的，”他的舅舅說道。“現(xiàn)在不用這種有柄的大杯子了。從今天起我們必須用玻璃杯喝了，沃爾特。我們是做生意的人。我們屬于倫敦市。從今天早上起，我們開始過新的生活了?！?BR> “好吧，舅舅，”孩子說道，“只要我能為你祝福就行，我可以用任何你喜歡的東西來喝?，F(xiàn)在，所爾舅舅。為你的健康干杯！我還要為——”
“為市長(zhǎng)歡呼?！崩先舜驍嗨脑挕?BR> “為市長(zhǎng)，為名譽(yù)郡長(zhǎng)，為市參議會(huì)，為同業(yè)工會(huì)會(huì)員歡呼！”孩子說道，“祝他們?nèi)f歲！”
舅舅十分滿意地點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭。“現(xiàn)在，”他說道，“讓我來聽你談?wù)劰镜氖裁词虑榘?。?BR> “??！公司的事情沒有什么好談的，舅舅，”孩子使用著刀和叉，說道，“那里有好多非常陰暗的辦公室；在我坐的那個(gè)房間里，有一個(gè)很高的火爐圍欄，一個(gè)鐵的保險(xiǎn)柜，一些關(guān)于即將啟航的商船公告，一個(gè)日歷，幾張寫字臺(tái)和凳子，一個(gè)墨水瓶，幾本書，幾個(gè)箱子，還有好多蜘蛛網(wǎng)，其中有一個(gè)正好在我的頭頂，里面有一只干癟的青蠅，看上去掛在那里已經(jīng)好久了?！?BR> “沒有別的了嗎？”舅舅問道。
“是的，沒有別的了，不過還有一只舊的鳥籠子，我不知道它怎么到那里去的！還有一個(gè)煤桶。”
“難道就沒有銀行存折、支票簿、證券或者其他象征著每天滾滾涌進(jìn)來的財(cái)富之類的東西嗎？”老所爾說道，一邊通過那永遠(yuǎn)好像籠罩在他的四周的迷霧，渴望了解似地望著他的外甥，并故意討好地強(qiáng)調(diào)那些詞兒。
“啊是的，我想那會(huì)有好多，”他的外甥漫不經(jīng)心地回答道，“不過所有那些東西都是在卡克先生的房間里，或者在莫芬先生的房間里，或者在董貝先生的房間里?！?BR> “董貝先生今天在那里嗎？”舅舅問道。
“啊是的。整天進(jìn)進(jìn)出出?！?BR> “我想他沒有注意到你吧?！?BR> “不，他注意到了。他走到我的坐位跟前——我真但愿他不那么嚴(yán)肅，不那么生硬呆板，舅舅——，說，‘哦！您就是船舶儀器制造商吉爾斯先生的兒子吧?！艺f，‘他的外甥，先生?！f，‘我是說外甥，孩子?！?，舅舅，我可以發(fā)誓，他確實(shí)是說兒子。”
“我想是你弄錯(cuò)了，這不要緊。”
“是的，這不要緊，但是我想，他不用那么嚴(yán)厲。雖然他確實(shí)是說兒子，但這話倒不含有什么惡意。然后他告訴我，你曾經(jīng)對(duì)他說到我，因此他就在公司里給我找了個(gè)工作；他希望我勤勤懇懇工作，按時(shí)上班下班，然后他就走開了。我覺得他好像不是很喜歡我?！?BR> “我想，你的意思是想說，”儀器制造商說道，“你好像不很喜歡他吧？”
“唔，舅舅，”孩子大笑著回答道，“也許是的。我從沒有想到過這一點(diǎn)?！?BR> 所羅門吃完晚飯的時(shí)候，神情比剛才沉著一些；他不時(shí)向孩子快活的臉看一眼。當(dāng)晚餐已經(jīng)結(jié)束，桌布已經(jīng)撤走（這頓飯菜是從鄰近的小餐館里取來的）以后，他點(diǎn)亮了一支蠟燭，下樓走到一個(gè)小地窖里；他的外甥則站在生了霉的樓梯上，孝順地拿著蠟燭照他；他這里那里摸索了一番之后，不久就拿著一個(gè)樣子很古老并積滿了灰塵的瓶子回來了。
“哎呀，所爾舅舅！”孩子說道，“你想干什么？那是珍貴的馬德拉白葡萄酒①呀！那里只剩下一瓶了。”
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Though the offices of Dombey and Son were within the liberties of the City of London, and within hearing of Bow Bells, when their clashing voices were not drowned by the uproar in the streets, yet were there hints of adventurous and romantic story to be observed in some of the adjacent objects. Gog and Magog held their state within ten minutes' walk; the Royal Exchange was close at hand; the Bank of England, with its vaults of gold and silver 'down among the dead men' underground, was their magnificent neighbour. Just round the corner stood the rich East India House, teeming with suggestions of precious stuffs and stones, tigers, elephants, howdahs, hookahs, umbrellas, palm trees, palanquins, and gorgeous princes of a brown complexion sitting on carpets, with their slippers very much turned up at the toes. Anywhere in the immediate vicinity there might be seen pictures of ships speeding away full sail to all parts of the world; outfitting warehouses ready to pack off anybody anywhere, fully equipped in half an hour; and little timber midshipmen in obsolete naval uniforms, eternally employed outside the shop doors of nautical Instrument-makers in taking observations of the hackney carriages.
Sole master and proprietor of one of these effigies - of that which might be called, familiar!y, the woodenest - of that which thrust itself out above the pavement, right leg foremost, with a suavity the least endurable, and had the shoe buckles and flapped waistcoat the least reconcileable to human reason, and bore at its right eye the most offensively disproportionate piece of machinery - sole master and proprietor of that Midshipman, and proud of him too, an elderly gentleman in a Welsh wig had paid house-rent, taxes, rates, and dues, for more years than many a full-grown midshipman of flesh and blood has numbered in his life; and midshipmen who have attained a pretty green old age, have not been wanting in the English Navy.
The stock-in-trade of this old gentleman comprised chronometers, barometers, telescopes, compasses, charts, maps, sextants, quadrants, and specimens of every kind of instrument used in the working of a ship's course, or the keeping of a ship's reckoning, or the prosecuting of a ship's discoveries. Objects in brass and glass were in his drawers and on his shelves, which none but the initiated could have found the top of, or guessed the use of, or having once examined, could have ever got back again into their mahogany nests without assistance. Everything was jammed into the tightest cases, fitted into the narrowest corners, fenced up behind the most impertinent cushions, and screwed into the acutest angles, to prevent its philosophical composure from being disturbed by the rolling of the sea. Such extraordinary precautions were taken in every instance to save room, and keep the thing compact; and so much practical navigation was fitted, and cushioned, and screwed into every box (whether the box was a mere slab, as some were, or something between a cocked hat and a star-fish, as others were, and those quite mild and modest boxes as compared with others); that the shop itself, partaking of the general infection, seemed almost to become a snug, sea-going, ship-shape concern, wanting only good sea-room, in the event of an unexpected launch, to work its way securely to any desert island in the world.
Many minor incidents in the household life of the Ships'
Instrument-maker who was proud of his little Midshipman, assisted and bore out this fancy. His acquaintance lying chiefly among ship-chandlers and so forth, he had always plenty of the veritable ships' biscuit on his table. It was familiar with dried meats and tongues, possessing an extraordinary flavour of rope yarn. Pickles were produced upon it, in great wholesale jars, with 'dealer in all kinds of Ships' Provisions' on the label; spirits were set forth in case bottles with no throats. Old prints of ships with alphabetical references to their various mysteries, hung in frames upon the walls; the Tartar Frigate under weigh, was on the plates; outlandish shells, seaweeds, and mosses, decorated the chimney-piece; the little wainscotted back parlour was lighted by a sky-light, like a cabin.
Here he lived too, in skipper-like state, all alone with his nephew Walter: a boy of fourteen who looked quite enough like a midshipman, to carry out the prevailing idea. But there it ended, for Solomon Gills himself (more generally called old Sol) was far from having a maritime appearance. To say nothing of his Welsh wig, which was as plain and stubborn a Welsh wig as ever was worn, and in which he looked like anything but a Rover, he was a slow, quiet-spoken, thoughtful old fellow, with eyes as red as if they had been small suns looking at you through a fog; and a newly-awakened manner, such as he might have acquired by having stared for three or four days successively through every optical instrument in his shop, and suddenly came back to the world again, to find it green. The only change ever known in his outward man, was from a complete suit of coffee-colour cut very square, and ornamented with glaring buttons, to the same suit of coffee-colour minus the inexpressibles, which were then of a pale nankeen. He wore a very precise shirt-frill, and carried a pair of first-rate spectacles on his forehead, and a tremendous chronometer in his fob, rather than doubt which precious possession, he would have believed in a conspiracy against it on part of all the clocks and watches in the City, and even of the very Sun itself. Such as he was, such he had been in the shop and parlour behind the little Midshipman, for years upon years; going regularly aloft to bed every night in a howling garret remote from the lodgers, where, when gentlemen of England who lived below at ease had little or no idea of the state of the weather, it often blew great guns.
It is half-past five o'clock, and an autumn afternoon, when the reader and Solomon Gills become acquainted. Solomon Gills is in the act of seeing what time it is by the unimpeachable chronometer. The usual daily clearance has been making in the City for an hour or more; and the human tide is still rolling westward. 'The streets have thinned,' as Mr Gills says, 'very much.' It threatens to be wet to-night. All the weatherglasses in the shop are in low spirits, and the rain already shines upon the cocked hat of the wooden Midshipman.
'Where's Walter, I wonder!' said Solomon Gills, after he had carefully put up the chronometer again. 'Here's dinner been ready, half an hour, and no Walter!'
Turning round upon his stool behind the counter, Mr Gills looked out among the instruments in the window, to see if his nephew might be crossing the road. No. He was not among the bobbing umbrellas, and he certainly was not the newspaper boy in the oilskin cap who was slowly working his way along the piece of brass outside, writing his name over Mr Gills's name with his forefinger.
'If I didn't know he was too fond of me to make a run of it, and go and enter himself aboard ship against my wishes, I should begin to be fidgetty,' said Mr Gills, tapping two or three weather-glasses with his knuckles. 'I really should. All in the Downs, eh! Lots of moisture! Well! it's wanted.'
I believe,' said Mr Gills, blowing the dust off the glass top of a compass-case, 'that you don't point more direct and due to the back parlour than the boy's inclination does after all. And the parlour couldn't bear straighter either. Due north. Not the twentieth part of a point either way.'
'Halloa, Uncle Sol!'
'Halloa, my boy!' cried the Instrument-maker, turning briskly round. 'What! you are here, are you?'
A cheerful looking, merry boy, fresh with running home in the rain; fair-faced, bright-eyed, and curly-haired.
'Well, Uncle, how have you got on without me all day? Is dinner ready? I'm so hungry.'
'As to getting on,' said Solomon good-naturedly, 'it would be odd if I couldn't get on without a young dog like you a great deal better than with you. As to dinner being ready, it's been ready this half hour and waiting for you. As to being hungry, I am!'
'Come along then, Uncle!' cried the boy. 'Hurrah for the admiral!'
'Confound the admiral!' returned Solomon Gills. 'You mean the Lord Mayor.'
'No I don't!' cried the boy. 'Hurrah for the admiral! Hurrah for the admiral! For-ward!'
At this word of command, the Welsh wig and its wearer were borne without resistance into the back parlour, as at the head of a boarding party of five hundred men; and Uncle Sol and his nephew were speedily engaged on a fried sole with a prospect of steak to follow.
'The Lord Mayor, Wally,' said Solomon, 'for ever! No more admirals. The Lord Mayor's your admiral.'
'Oh, is he though!' said the boy, shaking his head. 'Why, the Sword Bearer's better than him. He draws his sword sometimes.
'And a pretty figure he cuts with it for his pains,' returned the Uncle. 'Listen to me, Wally, listen to me. Look on the mantelshelf.'
'Why who has cocked my silver mug up there, on a nail?' exclaimed the boy.
I have,' said his Uncle. 'No more mugs now. We must begin to drink out of glasses to-day, Walter. We are men of business. We belong to the City. We started in life this morning.
'Well, Uncle,' said the boy, 'I'll drink out of anything you like, so long as I can drink to you. Here's to you, Uncle Sol, and Hurrah for the
'Lord Mayor,' interrupted the old man.
'For the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, Common Council, and Livery,' said the boy. 'Long life to 'em!'
The uncle nodded his head with great satisfaction. 'And now,' he said, 'let's hear something about the Firm.'
'Oh! there's not much to be told about the Firm, Uncle,' said the boy, plying his knife and fork.' It's a precious dark set of offices, and in the room where I sit, there's a high fender, and an iron safe, and some cards about ships that are going to sail, and an almanack, and some desks and stools, and an inkbottle, and some books, and some boxes, and a lot of cobwebs, and in one of 'em, just over my head, a shrivelled-up blue-bottle that looks as if it had hung there ever so long.'
'Nothing else?' said the Uncle.
'No, nothing else, except an old birdcage (I wonder how that ever came there!) and a coal-scuttle.'
'No bankers' books, or cheque books, or bills, or such tokens of wealth rolling in from day to day?' said old Sol, looking wistfully at his nephew out of the fog that always seemed to hang about him, and laying an unctuous emphasis upon the words.
'Oh yes, plenty of that I suppose,' returned his nephew carelessly; 'but all that sort of thing's in Mr Carker's room, or Mr Morfin's, or MR Dombey's.'
'Has Mr Dombey been there to-day?' inquired the Uncle.
'Oh yes! In and out all day.'
'He didn't take any notice of you, I suppose?'.
'Yes he did. He walked up to my seat, - I wish he wasn't so solemn and stiff, Uncle, - and said, "Oh! you are the son of Mr Gills the Ships' Instrument-maker." "Nephew, Sir," I said. "I said nephew, boy," said he. But I could take my oath he said son, Uncle.'
'You're mistaken I daresay. It's no matter.
'No, it's no matter, but he needn't have been so sharp, I thought. There was no harm in it though he did say son. Then he told me that you had spoken to him about me, and that he had found me employment in the House accordingly, and that I was expected to be attentive and punctual, and then he went away. I thought he didn't seem to like me much.'
'You mean, I suppose,' observed the Instrument-maker, 'that you didn't seem to like him much?'
'Well, Uncle,' returned the boy, laughing. 'Perhaps so; I never thought of that.'
Solomon looked a little graver as he finished his dinner, and glanced from time to time at the boy's bright face. When dinner was done, and the cloth was cleared away (the entertainment had been brought from a neighbouring eating-house), he lighted a candle, and went down below into a little cellar, while his nephew, standing on the mouldy staircase, dutifully held the light. After a moment's groping here and there, he presently returned with a very ancient-looking bottle, covered with dust and dirt.
'Why, Uncle Sol!' said the boy, 'what are you about? that's the wonderful Madeira! - there's only one more bottle!'
Uncle Sol nodded his head, implying that he knew very well what he was about; and having drawn the cork in solemn silence, filled two glasses and set the bottle and a third clean glass on the table.
'You shall drink the other bottle, Wally,' he said, 'when you come to good fortune; when you are a thriving, respected, happy man; when the start in life you have made to-day shall have brought you, as I pray Heaven it may! - to a smooth part of the course you have to run, my child. My love to you!'
Some of the fog that hung about old Sol seemed to have got into his throat; for he spoke huskily. His hand shook too, as he clinked his glass against his nephew's. But having once got the wine to his lips, he tossed it off like a man, and smacked them afterwards.
'Dear Uncle,' said the boy, affecting to make light of it, while the tears stood in his eyes, 'for the honour you have done me, et cetera, et cetera. I shall now beg to propose Mr Solomon Gills with three times three and one cheer more. Hurrah! and you'll return thanks, Uncle, when we drink the last bottle together; won't you?'
They clinked their glasses again; and Walter, who was hoarding his wine, took a sip of it, and held the glass up to his eye with as critical an air as he could possibly assume.
His Uncle sat looking at him for some time in silence. When their eyes at last met, he began at once to pursue the theme that had occupied his thoughts, aloud, as if he had been speaking all the time.
'You see, Walter,' he said, 'in truth this business is merely a habit with me. I am so accustomed to the habit that I could hardly live if I relinquished it: but there's nothing doing, nothing doing. When that uniform was worn,' pointing out towards the little Midshipman, 'then indeed, fortunes were to be made, and were made. But competition, competition - new invention, new invention - alteration, alteration - the world's gone past me. I hardly know where I am myself, much less where my customers are.
'Never mind 'em, Uncle!'
'Since you came home from weekly boarding-school at Peckham, for instance - and that's ten days,' said Solomon, 'I don't remember more than one person that has come into the shop.'
'Two, Uncle, don't you recollect? There was the man who came to ask for change for a sovereign - '
'That's the one,' said Solomon.
'Why Uncle! don't you call the woman anybody, who came to ask the way to Mile-End Turnpike?'
'Oh! it's true,' said Solomon, 'I forgot her. Two persons.'
'To be sure, they didn't buy anything,' cried the boy.
'No. They didn't buy anything,' said Solomon, quietly.
'Nor want anything,' cried the boy.
'No. If they had, they'd gone to another shop,' said Solomon, in the same tone.
'But there were two of 'em, Uncle,' cried the boy, as if that were a great triumph. 'You said only one.'
'Well, Wally,' resumed the old man, after a short pause: 'not being like the Savages who came on Robinson Crusoe's Island, we can't live on a man who asks for change for a sovereign, and a woman who inquires the way to Mile-End Turnpike. As I said just now, the world has gone past me. I don't blame it; but I no longer understand it. Tradesmen are not the same as they used to be, apprentices are not the same, business is not the same, business commodities are not the same. Seven-eighths of my stock is old-fashioned. I am an old-fashioned man in an old-fashioned shop, in a street that is not the same as I remember it. I have fallen behind the time, and am too old to catch it again. Even the noise it makes a long way ahead, confuses me.'
Walter was going to speak, but his Uncle held up his hand.
'Therefore, Wally - therefore it is that I am anxious you should be early in the busy world, and on the world's track. I am only the ghost of this business - its substance vanished long ago; and when I die, its ghost will be laid. As it is clearly no inheritance for you then, I have thought it best to use for your advantage, almost the only fragment of the old connexion that stands by me, through long habit. Some people suppose me to be wealthy. I wish for your sake they were right. But whatever I leave behind me, or whatever I can give you, you in such a House as Dombey's are in the road to use well and make the most of. Be diligent, try to like it, my dear boy, work for a steady independence, and be happy!'
'I'll do everything I can, Uncle, to deserve your affection. Indeed I will,' said the boy, earnestly
'I know it,' said Solomon. 'I am sure of it,' and he applied himself to a second glass of the old Madeira, with increased relish. 'As to the Sea,' he pursued, 'that's well enough in fiction, Wally, but it won't do in fact: it won't do at all. It's natural enough that you should think about it, associating it with all these familiar things; but it won't do, it won't do.'
Solomon Gills rubbed his hands with an air of stealthy enjoyment, as he talked of the sea, though; and looked on the seafaring objects about him with inexpressible complacency.
'Think of this wine for instance,' said old Sol, 'which has been to the East Indies and back, I'm not able to say how often, and has been once round the world. Think of the pitch-dark nights, the roaring winds, and rolling seas:'
'The thunder, lightning, rain, hail, storm of all kinds,' said the boy.
'To be sure,' said Solomon, - 'that this wine has passed through. Think what a straining and creaking of timbers and masts: what a whistling and howling of the gale through ropes and rigging:'
'What a clambering aloft of men, vying with each other who shall lie out first upon the yards to furl the icy sails, while the ship rolls and pitches, like mad!' cried his nephew.
'Exactly so,' said Solomon: 'has gone on, over the old cask that held this wine. Why, when the Charming Sally went down in the - '
'In the Baltic Sea, in the dead of night; five-and-twenty minutes past twelve when the captain's watch stopped in his pocket; he lying dead against the main-mast - on the fourteenth of February, seventeen forty-nine!' cried Walter, with great animation.
'Ay, to be sure!' cried old Sol, 'quite right! Then, there were five hundred casks of such wine aboard; and all hands (except the first mate, first lieutenant, two seamen, and a lady, in a leaky boat) going to work to stave the casks, got drunk and died drunk, singing "Rule Britannia", when she settled and went down, and ending with one awful scream in chorus.'
'But when the George the Second drove ashore, Uncle, on the coast of Cornwall, in a dismal gale, two hours before daybreak, on the fourth of March, 'seventy-one, she had near two hundred horses aboard; and the horses breaking loose down below, early in the gale, and tearing to and fro, and trampling each other to death, made such noises, and set up such human cries, that the crew believing the ship to be full of devils, some of the best men, losing heart and head, went overboard in despair, and only two were left alive, at last, to tell the tale.'
'And when,' said old Sol, 'when the Polyphemus - '
'Private West India Trader, burden three hundred and fifty tons, Captain, John Brown of Deptford. Owners, Wiggs and Co.,' cried Walter.
'The same,' said Sol; 'when she took fire, four days' sail with a fair wind out of Jamaica Harbour, in the night - '
'There were two brothers on board,' interposed his nephew, speaking very fast and loud, 'and there not being room for both of them in the only boat that wasn't swamped, neither of them would consent to go, until the elder took the younger by the waist, and flung him in. And then the younger, rising in the boat, cried out, "Dear Edward, think of your promised wife at home. I'm only a boy. No one waits at home for me. Leap down into my place!" and flung himself in the sea!'
The kindling eye and heightened colour of the boy, who had risen from his seat in the earnestness of what he said and felt, seemed to remind old Sol of something he had forgotten, or that his encircling mist had hitherto shut out. Instead of proceeding with any more anecdotes, as he had evidently intended but a moment before, he gave a short dry cough, and said, 'Well! suppose we change the subject.'
The truth was, that the simple-minded Uncle in his secret attraction towards the marvellous and adventurous - of which he was, in some sort, a distant relation, by his trade - had greatly encouraged the same attraction in the nephew; and that everything that had ever been put before the boy to deter him from a life of adventure, had had the usual unaccountable effect of sharpening his taste for it. This is invariable. It would seem as if there never was a book written, or a story told, expressly with the object of keeping boys on shore, which did not lure and charm them to the ocean, as a matter of course.
But an addition to the little party now made its appearance, in the shape of a gentleman in a wide suit of blue, with a hook instead of a hand attached to his right wrist; very bushy black eyebrows; and a thick stick in his left hand, covered all over (like his nose) with knobs. He wore a loose black silk handkerchief round his neck, and such a very large coarse shirt collar, that it looked like a small sail. He was evidently the person for whom the spare wine-glass was intended, and evidently knew it; for having taken off his rough outer coat, and hung up, on a particular peg behind the door, such a hard glazed hat as a sympathetic person's head might ache at the sight of, and which left a red rim round his own forehead as if he had been wearing a tight basin, he brought a chair to where the clean glass was, and sat himself down behind it. He was usually addressed as Captain, this visitor; and had been a pilot, or a skipper, or a privateersman, or all three perhaps; and was a very salt-looking man indeed.
His face, remarkable for a brown solidity, brightened as he shook hands with Uncle and nephew; but he seemed to be of a laconic disposition, and merely said:
'How goes it?'
'All well,' said Mr Gills, pushing the bottle towards him.
He took it up, and having surveyed and smelt it, said with extraordinary expression:
'The?'
'The,' returned the Instrument-maker.
Upon that he whistled as he filled his glass, and seemed to think they were making holiday indeed.
'Wal'r!' he said, arranging his hair (which was thin) with his hook, and then pointing it at the Instrument-maker, 'Look at him! Love! Honour! And Obey! Overhaul your catechism till you find that passage, and when found turn the leaf down. Success, my boy!'
He was so perfectly satisfied both with his quotation and his reference to it, that he could not help repeating the words again in a low voice, and saying he had forgotten 'em these forty year.
'But I never wanted two or three words in my life that I didn't know where to lay my hand upon 'em, Gills,' he observed. 'It comes of not wasting language as some do.'
The reflection perhaps reminded him that he had better, like young Norval's father, '"ncrease his store." At any rate he became silent, and remained so, until old Sol went out into the shop to light it up, when he turned to Walter, and said, without any introductory remark:
'I suppose he could make a clock if he tried?'
'I shouldn't wonder, Captain Cuttle,' returned the boy.
'And it would go!' said Captain Cuttle, making a species of serpent in the air with his hook. 'Lord, how that clock would go!'
For a moment or two he seemed quite lost in contemplating the pace of this ideal timepiece, and sat looking at the boy as if his face were the dial.
'But he's chockful of science,' he observed, waving his hook towards the stock-in-trade. 'Look'ye here! Here's a collection of 'em. Earth, air, or water. It's all one. Only say where you'll have it. Up in a balloon? There you are. Down in a bell? There you are. D'ye want to put the North Star in a pair of scales and weigh it? He'll do it for you.'
It may be gathered from these remarks that Captain Cuttle's reverence for the stock of instruments was profound, and that his philosophy knew little or no distinction between trading in it and inventing it.
'Ah!' he said, with a sigh, 'it's a fine thing to understand 'em. And yet it's a fine thing not to understand 'em. I hardly know which is best. It's so comfortable to sit here and feel that you might be weighed, measured, magnified, electrified, polarized, played the very devil with: and never know how.'
Nothing short of the wonderful Madeira, combined with the occasion (which rendered it desirable to improve and expand Walter's mind), could have ever loosened his tongue to the extent of giving utterance to this prodigious oration. He seemed quite amazed himself at the manner in which it opened up to view the sources of the taciturn delight he had had in eating Sunday dinners in that parlour for ten years. Becoming a sadder and a wiser man, he mused and held his peace.
'Come!' cried the subject of this admiration, returning. 'Before you have your glass of grog, Ned, we must finish the bottle.'
'Stand by!' said Ned, filling his glass. 'Give the boy some more.'
'No more, thank'e, Uncle!'
'Yes, yes,' said Sol, 'a little more. We'll finish the bottle, to the House, Ned - Walter's House. Why it may be his House one of these days, in part. Who knows? Sir Richard Whittington married his master's daughter.'
'"Turn again Whittington, Lord Mayor of London, and when you are old you will never depart from it,"' interposed the Captain. 'Wal'r! Overhaul the book, my lad.'
'And although Mr Dombey hasn't a daughter,' Sol began.
'Yes, yes, he has, Uncle,' said the boy, reddening and laughing.
'Has he?' cried the old man. 'Indeed I think he has too.
'Oh! I know he has,' said the boy. 'Some of 'em were talking about it in the office today. And they do say, Uncle and Captain Cuttle,' lowering his voice, 'that he's taken a dislike to her, and that she's left, unnoticed, among the servants, and that his mind's so set all the while upon having his son in the House, that although he's only a baby now, he is going to have balances struck oftener than formerly, and the books kept closer than they used to be, and has even been seen (when he thought he wasn't) walking in the Docks, looking at his ships and property and all that, as if he was exulting like, over what he and his son will possess together. That's what they say. Of course, I don't know.
'He knows all about her already, you see,' said the instrument-maker.
'Nonsense, Uncle,' cried the boy, still reddening and laughing, boy-like. 'How can I help hearing what they tell me?'
'The Son's a little in our way at present, I'm afraid, Ned,' said the old man, humouring the joke.
'Very much,' said the Captain.
'Nevertheless, we'll drink him,' pursued Sol. 'So, here's to Dombey and Son.'
'Oh, very well, Uncle,' said the boy, merrily. 'Since you have introduced the mention of her, and have connected me with her and have said that I know all about her, I shall make bold to amend the toast. So here's to Dombey - and Son - and Daughter!'
雖然董貝父子公司的營(yíng)業(yè)所位于倫敦城的轄區(qū)之內(nèi)，鮑教堂①的鐘所發(fā)出的響亮聲音在沒有被街道的喧囂淹沒時(shí)，在這里是可以聽得見的，但在鄰近某些地方仍然可以看得見英勇冒險(xiǎn)、情節(jié)離奇的傳說的遺跡。高格和馬高格②的尊嚴(yán)神態(tài)，在十分鐘步行的距離之內(nèi)就可以看見；倫敦皇家交易所就在近旁；英格蘭銀行是它最宏偉的近鄰，它地下的保險(xiǎn)庫中，“在下面的空瓶子中間③”，裝滿了金銀。在街道拐角上矗立著富有的東印度公司④，它使人接連不斷地聯(lián)想起貴重的織物、寶石、老虎、象、象轎⑤、水煙筒、雨傘、棕櫚樹、四人或六人抬的大轎，還有那皮膚褐色、坐在地毯上的豪華的王子們，他們的便鞋前端是高高翹起的。在鄰近的任何地方都可以看到畫著張滿風(fēng)帆、飛速駛向世界各地的船舶的圖畫，也可以看到旅行用品倉庫，它們可以在半小時(shí)之內(nèi)把任何人到任何地方去所需要的旅行用品裝備齊全；還可以看到在航海儀器制造商人的店門外有一些小小的、木制的海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生，穿著陳舊過時(shí)的海軍制服，永遠(yuǎn)在監(jiān)視著出租馬車。
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①鮑教堂（BowChurch）：位于倫敦市中心；它的鐘聲所及之處，就是倫敦市的市區(qū)。
②高格和馬高格（GogandMagog）：是倫敦市政廳門前的兩個(gè)木雕巨像；相傳馬格是過去的君王，馬高格是另一位傳說中的英雄。
③這是古老的祝酒詞中的話語。
④東印度公司（EastIndiaHouse）：存在于1600年至1858年的英國(guó)貿(mào)易公司。公司長(zhǎng)期壟斷了對(duì)印度的貿(mào)易，并操縱了這個(gè)國(guó)家最重要的管理職能。
⑤象轎：馱在象背上可供數(shù)人乘坐的涼亭狀座位。
有些海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生的模擬像我們可以不客氣地稱為最像木頭那樣死板的，它們以一種使人極難以忍受的謙恭有禮的神氣，伸出右腿，矗立在人行道上；它們的鞋扣和帶翻領(lǐng)的背心的式樣是人們的理智最難以接受的；它們還拿了一件儀器，放在右眼附近，那儀器的大小十分不合比例，使人看了極為不快。在這些模擬像當(dāng)中，有一個(gè)模擬像的的主人與所有者，也就是說那個(gè)海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生的的主人與所有者（他以他而感到自豪），是一位上了年紀(jì)、帶威爾士假發(fā)的、有身份的先生；他支付房租、稅金和應(yīng)付費(fèi)用的時(shí)間比許多有血有肉、完全長(zhǎng)大成人的海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生的年齡還長(zhǎng)；在英國(guó)海軍中，年富力強(qiáng)的海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生是并不缺少的。
這位老先生的存貨包括精密計(jì)時(shí)表、晴雨表、望遠(yuǎn)鏡、羅盤、航海圖、地圖、六分儀、象限儀，以及用于確定船舶航線、進(jìn)行船舶計(jì)算、研究船舶所在地的各種儀器的樣品。在他的抽屜中和架子上存放著銅制的與玻璃制的物品；除了那些具有初步知識(shí)的人以外，誰也不能找出它們的頂部，或猜出它們的使用方法，或在看過它們之后，在沒有幫助的情況下，能放回到它們桃花心木制的老窩里去。每一件東西都被塞進(jìn)最緊湊的箱子中，裝到最狹窄的角落里，后面用最不得當(dāng)?shù)能泬|防護(hù)著，并用螺絲擰緊到最尖銳的角中，以防止它那像哲學(xué)家般的沉著鎮(zhèn)靜被海洋的滾滾波濤所擾亂。在所有的情況下都采取了這種不同尋常的預(yù)防措施，以便節(jié)省地方，把東西擺得緊湊。一切都適合于實(shí)際航行的要求，都用軟墊防護(hù)，并都緊緊擰進(jìn)每個(gè)箱子中（不論它們像有些箱子那樣，是普通的四角形箱子，還是像另一些箱子那樣，有些像三角帽、有些像海星的東西，或者是那些與其他箱子比較起來比較溫柔和不大的箱子）；因此，在這種總的氣氛的影響下，這個(gè)店鋪本身似乎幾乎都要變成一個(gè)溫暖舒適、適于航海的、船舶形狀的商店了，在突然下水的情況下，所缺少的只是足夠行船的水面，能使它安全行駛到世界上任何一個(gè)荒島上去。
這位對(duì)他的小海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生感到自豪的船舶儀器制造商的家庭生活中的許多細(xì)小情節(jié)，也加深和突出這樣一種幻覺。他的熟人主要是船具商之類的人，所以他在餐桌上經(jīng)常擺放著許多真正在船上吃的餅干。餐桌上也經(jīng)常有肉干和舌干，散發(fā)出繩子麻線的氣味；酸菜是用很大的批發(fā)的壇子端到餐桌上來的，壇子上貼著印有“經(jīng)銷船上各種食品”字樣的標(biāo)簽；烈酒是用沒有瓶頸的方瓶子端上的。墻上掛著的畫框中是描繪船舶的老版畫，船舶上的字母是指明各種秘密的；盤子上畫著在前進(jìn)中的韃靼快速帆船；壁爐架上裝飾著奇異的貝殼、海藻和苔蘚；裝有護(hù)壁板的小后客廳，像船艙一樣，光線是從天窗中射進(jìn)來的。
他像小商船的船長(zhǎng)一樣，和他的外甥沃爾特住在這里，沒有別的人。沃爾特是一位十四歲的男孩子，他那副神態(tài)活像是一位海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生，這也進(jìn)一步加深了上述總的印象。但事情到這里也就完結(jié)了，因?yàn)樗_門·吉爾斯本人（人們通常更喜歡管他叫老所爾），根本沒有一位航海人員的外貌。他那威爾士假發(fā)自然不消說了，那是威爾士假發(fā)中最普通、最難梳理的，他帶上它看上去一點(diǎn)也不像海盜。從其他方面來看，他是個(gè)慢條斯理，講話平平靜靜，并喜愛思考的老人；他的眼睛紅紅的，仿佛是穿過迷霧看著您的小太陽；他的神態(tài)像是剛剛被喚醒的樣子，如果他通過店中每一架光學(xué)儀器連續(xù)凝視三、四天之后，突然重新回到周圍的世界上，發(fā)現(xiàn)它一片綠色的話，那么他就可能呈現(xiàn)出這樣的神態(tài)。他的外表中可以看到的變化是，他原來全身上下穿著一套咖啡色的服裝，裁剪得寬松肥大，上面裝飾著發(fā)亮的扣子，現(xiàn)在則仍舊穿著那同樣咖啡色的上衣，但褲子卻換成顏色較淡的本色布做的了。他襯衫的褶邊整整齊齊；前額上架著一副最上等的眼鏡；褲上的表袋中裝著一只很大的精密計(jì)時(shí)表，他寧肯相信倫敦城里所有的鐘表，甚至太陽都共同密謀來跟它作對(duì)，也決不會(huì)對(duì)他這個(gè)寶貴的財(cái)產(chǎn)產(chǎn)生懷疑。他現(xiàn)在就像過去一樣，年復(fù)一年地這樣待在這個(gè)小小的海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生身后的店鋪中和客廳里；每天夜里他定時(shí)爬上遠(yuǎn)離其他房客的一個(gè)凄涼的頂樓中去睡覺，當(dāng)安安逸逸住在下面的英國(guó)的先生們很少想到，或根本沒有想到天氣怎樣的時(shí)候，這頂樓上卻常常刮大風(fēng)。
讀者與所羅門·吉爾斯認(rèn)識(shí)是在一個(gè)秋天下午的五點(diǎn)半鐘。所羅門·吉爾斯那時(shí)正在看他那只完美無缺的精密計(jì)時(shí)表，看看是什么時(shí)候了。城市照常每天一次向外疏散人群，已經(jīng)進(jìn)行了一個(gè)小時(shí)或更長(zhǎng)久一些；人的浪潮仍然向西滾滾流動(dòng)著。就像吉爾斯先生所說的，“街上的人已經(jīng)稀少得多了。”今天晚上好像要下雨。店鋪里所有的晴雨表都呈現(xiàn)出垂頭喪氣的神態(tài)。雨滴已經(jīng)在木制海軍軍官候補(bǔ)生的三角帽上閃耀著亮光。
“不知道沃爾特在哪里！”吉爾斯把精密計(jì)時(shí)表重新小心地藏好以后，說道，“晚飯已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備好半個(gè)小時(shí)了，可是卻不見沃爾特！”
吉爾斯先生在柜臺(tái)后面的凳子上轉(zhuǎn)過身子，通過櫥窗中的儀器往外看，看看他的外甥是不是正在穿越馬路。沒有。他沒有在那些擺動(dòng)的雨傘中間。他也決不是那個(gè)戴油布帽子、賣報(bào)的男孩子，那男孩子正沿著外面的銅牌慢吞吞地走過去，并且用食指把自己的姓名寫在吉爾斯先生的姓名上面。
“如果我不知道，他太愛我了，不會(huì)逃跑，也不會(huì)違反我的意愿，自己跑到船上去的話，那么我真要開始坐立不安了，”吉爾斯先生用指關(guān)節(jié)輕輕敲打著兩、三個(gè)晴雨表?！拔艺鏁?huì)的！全都在很低的度數(shù)①，?。駳庹娲?！唔，是需要下雨了?！?BR> --------
①原文為AllintheDowns，吉爾斯這樣說是指晴雨表中的度數(shù)很低，但這又是英國(guó)劇作家和詩人約翰·蓋伊（JohnGay，1685—1732年）敘事詩《溫存的威廉和黑眼睛的蘇珊告別》（SweetWiliam’sFarewelltoBlack－eyedSusan）中開頭的詩句，意為“船隊(duì)全都在唐斯”。唐斯（theDowns）是英法之間多佛海峽的一部分，為船舶停泊處。狄更斯采用這種文字表現(xiàn)方法，是為了使讀者感到幽默有趣。
“我覺得，”吉爾斯先生把一個(gè)羅盤匣子玻璃頂上的灰塵吹去，說道，“孩子總是喜歡跑到后客廳里去，你畢竟不能比他更直接更準(zhǔn)確地指向后客廳。后客廳的方向是不能更正確的了。正北，不向其他方向偏離二十分之一度！”
“喂，所爾舅舅！”
“喂，我的孩子！”儀器制造商輕快地轉(zhuǎn)過身去，喊道，“啊，你回來了，是嗎？”
這是個(gè)興致勃勃、快快活活的男孩子，由于冒雨回家來，顯得十分精神；他的臉白嫩、漂亮，眼睛明亮，頭發(fā)卷曲。
“唔，舅舅，我不在，你整天是怎么過的？晚飯好了嗎？
我餓極了?！?BR> “說到這一天怎么過嘛，”所羅門和顏悅色地說道，“如果像你這樣一條小狗不在，我不能過得比你在的時(shí)候好得多，那就怪了。說到晚飯好了沒有嘛，它已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備好半個(gè)鐘頭了，正在等著你呢。說到餓嘛，·我也一樣！”
“那么來吧，舅舅！”孩子喊道，“海軍上將萬歲！”
“去你的海軍上將！”所羅門·吉爾斯回答道?！澳闶窍胝f市長(zhǎng)先生吧。”
“不，我不是想說他！”孩子喊道?！昂＼娚蠈⑷f歲！海軍上將萬歲！前——進(jìn)！”
這道命令一下，威爾士假發(fā)和它的佩戴者就立刻毫無抵抗地被帶領(lǐng)到后客廳去，就好像走在由五百人組成的攻入敵船的隊(duì)伍的最前面似的；然后所爾舅舅和他的外甥很快就開始吃起煎箬鰨魚來；旁邊擺著的牛排是他們的下一道菜。
“永遠(yuǎn)是市長(zhǎng)，沃利，”所羅門說道，“不要再提海軍上將了。市長(zhǎng)就是·你·的海軍上將?！?BR> “哦，難道是這樣嗎？”孩子搖搖頭，說道，“唔，捧劍侍從也比市長(zhǎng)強(qiáng)些。捧劍侍從有時(shí)還能抽出·他·們的劍來?！?BR> “盡管他費(fèi)盡力氣，但還是顯出一副愚蠢的樣子，”舅舅回答道?！奥犖艺f，沃利，聽我說。看那壁爐架?！?BR> “哎呀，誰把我的銀杯子掛在釘子上了？”孩子高聲喊道。
“我掛的，”他的舅舅說道。“現(xiàn)在不用這種有柄的大杯子了。從今天起我們必須用玻璃杯喝了，沃爾特。我們是做生意的人。我們屬于倫敦市。從今天早上起，我們開始過新的生活了?！?BR> “好吧，舅舅，”孩子說道，“只要我能為你祝福就行，我可以用任何你喜歡的東西來喝?，F(xiàn)在，所爾舅舅。為你的健康干杯！我還要為——”
“為市長(zhǎng)歡呼?！崩先舜驍嗨脑挕?BR> “為市長(zhǎng)，為名譽(yù)郡長(zhǎng)，為市參議會(huì)，為同業(yè)工會(huì)會(huì)員歡呼！”孩子說道，“祝他們?nèi)f歲！”
舅舅十分滿意地點(diǎn)點(diǎn)頭。“現(xiàn)在，”他說道，“讓我來聽你談?wù)劰镜氖裁词虑榘?。?BR> “??！公司的事情沒有什么好談的，舅舅，”孩子使用著刀和叉，說道，“那里有好多非常陰暗的辦公室；在我坐的那個(gè)房間里，有一個(gè)很高的火爐圍欄，一個(gè)鐵的保險(xiǎn)柜，一些關(guān)于即將啟航的商船公告，一個(gè)日歷，幾張寫字臺(tái)和凳子，一個(gè)墨水瓶，幾本書，幾個(gè)箱子，還有好多蜘蛛網(wǎng)，其中有一個(gè)正好在我的頭頂，里面有一只干癟的青蠅，看上去掛在那里已經(jīng)好久了?！?BR> “沒有別的了嗎？”舅舅問道。
“是的，沒有別的了，不過還有一只舊的鳥籠子，我不知道它怎么到那里去的！還有一個(gè)煤桶。”
“難道就沒有銀行存折、支票簿、證券或者其他象征著每天滾滾涌進(jìn)來的財(cái)富之類的東西嗎？”老所爾說道，一邊通過那永遠(yuǎn)好像籠罩在他的四周的迷霧，渴望了解似地望著他的外甥，并故意討好地強(qiáng)調(diào)那些詞兒。
“啊是的，我想那會(huì)有好多，”他的外甥漫不經(jīng)心地回答道，“不過所有那些東西都是在卡克先生的房間里，或者在莫芬先生的房間里，或者在董貝先生的房間里?！?BR> “董貝先生今天在那里嗎？”舅舅問道。
“啊是的。整天進(jìn)進(jìn)出出?！?BR> “我想他沒有注意到你吧?！?BR> “不，他注意到了。他走到我的坐位跟前——我真但愿他不那么嚴(yán)肅，不那么生硬呆板，舅舅——，說，‘哦！您就是船舶儀器制造商吉爾斯先生的兒子吧?！艺f，‘他的外甥，先生?！f，‘我是說外甥，孩子?！?，舅舅，我可以發(fā)誓，他確實(shí)是說兒子。”
“我想是你弄錯(cuò)了，這不要緊。”
“是的，這不要緊，但是我想，他不用那么嚴(yán)厲。雖然他確實(shí)是說兒子，但這話倒不含有什么惡意。然后他告訴我，你曾經(jīng)對(duì)他說到我，因此他就在公司里給我找了個(gè)工作；他希望我勤勤懇懇工作，按時(shí)上班下班，然后他就走開了。我覺得他好像不是很喜歡我?！?BR> “我想，你的意思是想說，”儀器制造商說道，“你好像不很喜歡他吧？”
“唔，舅舅，”孩子大笑著回答道，“也許是的。我從沒有想到過這一點(diǎn)?！?BR> 所羅門吃完晚飯的時(shí)候，神情比剛才沉著一些；他不時(shí)向孩子快活的臉看一眼。當(dāng)晚餐已經(jīng)結(jié)束，桌布已經(jīng)撤走（這頓飯菜是從鄰近的小餐館里取來的）以后，他點(diǎn)亮了一支蠟燭，下樓走到一個(gè)小地窖里；他的外甥則站在生了霉的樓梯上，孝順地拿著蠟燭照他；他這里那里摸索了一番之后，不久就拿著一個(gè)樣子很古老并積滿了灰塵的瓶子回來了。
“哎呀，所爾舅舅！”孩子說道，“你想干什么？那是珍貴的馬德拉白葡萄酒①呀！那里只剩下一瓶了。”
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