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From his nest among the pillows, Paul could see and hearalmosteverything that passed as if the whole were being done for his amusement. Among other little incidents that he observed, he observed Mr Baps the dancing-master get into conversation with Sir Barnet Skettles, and very soon ask him, as he had asked Mr Toots, what you were to do with your raw materials, when they came into your ports in return for your drain of gold—which was such a mystery to Paul that he was quite desirous to know what ought to be done with them. Sir Barnet Skettles had much to say upon the question, and said it; but it did not appear to solve the question, for Mr Baps retorted, Yes, but supposing Russia stepped in with her tallows; which struck Sir Barnet almost dumb, for he could only shake his head after that, and say, Why then you must fall back upon your cottons, he supposed.
保罗从坐垫中间她休息的地方可以看见和听见几乎所发生的每一件事情，仿佛一切都是为了他的娱乐而安排的。在他注意观察到的一些小事情中，他注意到舞蹈教师巴普斯跟巴尼特·斯克特尔斯爵士交谈，就像他曾间过图茨先生那样，很快就问他，当别人把原料运到您的港口来交换您的金子的时候，您将怎样处理您的原料——保罗觉得这是一件神秘莫测的事情，很想弄个明白，究竟应该怎么办呢。巴尼特·斯克特尔斯爵士在这个问题上有许多话要说，他也就说了，但好像没有解决问题，因为巴普斯先生反驳说，是的，但是假设俄国人用牛脂来干预，那该怎么办，它使巴尼特爵士几乎哑口无言，因为在这之后他只能摇摇头说，他想，那么您就必须求助于您的棉花了。
Sir Barnet Skettles looked after Mr Baps when he went to cheer up Mrs Baps (who, being quite deserted, was pretending to look over the music-book of the gentleman who played the harp), as if he thought him a remarkable kind of man; and shortly afterwards he said so in those words to Doctor Blimber, and inquired if he might take the liberty of asking who he was, and whether he had ever been in the Board of Trade. Doctor Blimber answered no, he believed not; and that in fact he was a Professor of.
巴普斯先生走到巴普斯夫人那里去，让她高兴起来（她因为被冷落在一旁，正假装在看那位演奏竖琴的先生的乐谱），这时巴尼特·斯克特尔斯爵士目送着他，仿佛他认为他是一位超群出众的人物似的。不久，他向布林伯博士说了这些话，并问道，他是否可以冒昧地问一下他是谁，他是否曾经在商业部工作过。布林伯博士回答说，没有，他相信没有；实际上他是一位教授。
Of something connected with statistics, I'll swear? observed Sir Barnet Skettles.
“我敢肯定，是教与统计有关的什么学科的吧？”巴尼特·斯克特尔斯爵士说道。
Why no, Sir Barnet, replied Doctor Blimber, rubbing his chin. No, not exactly.
“啊，不，巴尼特爵士，”布林伯博士擦擦下巴，回答道。“不，准确地说不是。”
Figures of some sort, I would venture a bet, said Sir Barnet Skettles.
“我敢打赌，是教某种数字计算的，”巴尼特·斯克特尔斯爵士说道。
Why yes,said Doctor Blimber, yes, but not of that sort. Mr Baps is a very worthy sort of man, Sir Barnet, and—in fact he's our Professor of dancing.
“啊不错，”布林伯博士说，“不错，不过不是您所说的那种。巴普斯先生是一位很值得尊敬的人，巴尼特爵士——实际上他是我们的舞蹈教授。”
Paul was amazed to see that this piece of information quite altered Sir Barnet Skettles's opinion of Mr Baps, and that Sir Barnet flew into a perfect rage, and glowered at Mr Baps over on the other side of the room. He even went so far as to D Mr Baps to Lady Skettles, in telling her what had happened, and tosaythat it was like his most con-sum-mate and con-foun-ded impudence.
保罗吃惊地看到，这个信息大大改变了巴尼特·斯克特尔斯爵士对巴普斯先生的看法，巴尼特爵士火冒三丈，怒视着在房间的另一边的巴普斯先生。他们经过的情形告诉斯克特尔斯夫人时，甚至当她的面咒骂巴普斯先生该死，说他真是无比的、十足的厚颜无耻。
重点讲解
一.almost：adv.几乎, 差不多 adj.相近的
【语法用法】
almost no，almost nothing和almost never都指“几乎没有”，属美国英语，而英国人更习惯说scarcely/hardly any，scarcely/hardly anything和scarcely/hardly ever。不过两国人都不说almost not，因almost不可被not修饰，可以说nearly not；
almost与nearly意思相近，不过美国人习惯用almost。
有时，almost只是比nearly更近了那么“一点点”。
It's nearly ten o'clock. (= perhaps 9.45)
It's almost ten o'clock. (= perhaps 9.57)
当描述即将达到目标或者接近于某数据等时，人们更习惯于用almost去表达“接近，但不完全一样”的意思，使得陈述的内容没有那么精确，明确。
Jake is almost like a father to me.
通常nearly不用在否定词前，如never，nobody，nothing，any等，习惯与almost连用。
【词义辨析】
almost, nearly, about, approximately, around, roughly
这些副词均有“大约，差不多”之意。
almost指在程度上相差很小，差不多。
nearly与almost含义基本相同，侧重指数量、时间或空间上的接近。
about常可分almost和nearly换用，但about用于表示时间、数量的“大约”时，实际数量可能多也可能少。
approximately多用于书面语，指精确度接近某个标准以致误差可忽略不计。
around多用于非正式场合，常见于美国英语。
roughly指按粗略估计，常代替about。
【例句用法】
He slipped and almost fell.
他脚下一滑，险些跌倒。
Dinner's almost ready.
饭差不多准备好了。
He's almost six feet tall.
他差不多有六英尺高。
She fell and almost/nearly broke her neck.
她跌倒了，险些跌断了脖子。
It's a mistake they almost always make.
那是他们几乎总要犯的错误。
二.say：v.说, 讲, 比如说, 表明 n.发言权, 意见
【词义辨析】
say, speak, state, talk, tell, utter
这些动词均有“说、讲”之意。
say最普通常用词，指用语言表达思想，着重所说的内容。
speak侧重于说话动作的本身，着重说话的能力而不在内容，比如能说某种语言。
state较正式用词，通常指用明确的语言或文字着重地叙述事实，既强调内容又注重语气。
talk普通用词，侧重指与人交谈时的连续说话，可指单方面较长谈话，和speak一样，着重说活动作而不侧重内容。
tell指告诉或讲述。
utter着重说话的行为，常指声音的使用，突出用噪子发声。
【例句用法】
Just what is the artist trying to say in her work?
那艺术家在她的作品中究竟想表达什麽？
Don't interrupt her: let her have her say.
别打断她的话，让她把意见说出来。
She said nothing to me about it.
关于这一点，她什么也没有对我讲。
We are considering giving them greater say in such matters.
我们正考虑在这样的事情上给他们更多的发言权。
It's hard to say who it was.
很难说那是谁。