名著阅读

'Nature is inviting us away now, Mama, if you are ready,' said the younger lady, curling her handsome lip. At this hint, the wan page, who had been surveying the party over the top of the chair, vanished behind it, as if the ground had swallowed him up.
'Stop a moment, Withers!' said Mrs Skewton, as the chair began to move; calling to the page with all the languid dignity with which she had called in days of yore to a coachman with a wig, cauliflower nosegay, and silk stockings. 'Where are you staying, abomination?' The Major was staying at the Royal Hotel, with his friend Dombey.
'You may come and see us any evening when you are good,' lisped Mrs Skewton. 'If Mr Dombey will honour us, we shall be happy. Withers, go on!'
"The Major again pressed to his blue lips the tips of the fingers that were disposed on the ledge of the wheeled chair with careful carelessness, after the Cleopatra model: and Mr Dombey bowed. The elder lady honoured them both with a very gracious smile and a girlish wave of her hand; the younger lady with the very slightest inclination of her head that common courtesy allowed.
The last glimpse of the wrinkled face of the mother, with that patched colour on it which the sun made infinitely more haggard and dismal than any want of colour could have been, and of the proud beauty of the daughter with her graceful figure and erect deportment, engendered such an involuntary disposition on the part of both the Major and Mr Dombey to look after them, that they both turned at the same moment. The Page, nearly as much aslant as his own shadow, was toiling after the chair, uphill, like a slow battering-ram; the top of Cleopatra's bonnet was fluttering in exactly the same corner to the inch as before; and the Beauty, loitering by herself a little in advance, expressed in all her elegant form, from head to foot, the same supreme disregard of everything and everybody.
'I tell you what, Sir,' said the Major, as they resumed their walk again. 'If Joe Bagstock were a younger man, there's not a woman in the world whom he'd prefer for Mrs Bagstock to that woman. By George, Sir!' said the Major, 'she's superb!'
'Do you mean the daughter?' inquired Mr Dombey.
'Is Joey B. a turnip, Dombey,' said the Major, 'that he should mean the mother?'
'You were complimentary to the mother,' returned Mr Dombey.
'An ancient flame, Sir,' chuckled Major Bagstock. 'Devilish ancient. I humour her.'

"大自然现在邀请我们上别处去了，妈妈，如果你同意的话，"年轻的女士歪着美丽的嘴唇，说道。脸无血色的童仆一直站在椅子背后观察着这一伙人，这时听到这个暗示以后，就在椅子后面消失不见了，仿佛土地已经把他吞下去似的。
"等一会儿，威瑟斯，"当椅子开始移动的时候，斯丘顿夫人无精打采而又端庄威严地向童仆呼喊道；她在往昔的日子里就是用这样的神态呼喊戴着假发、拿着菜花的花束、穿着长统丝袜的车夫的。"你待在哪里，可恶的人？" 少校和他的朋友董贝住在皇家旅馆。
如果你已经改邪归正的话，你可以在任何一个晚上来看我们，"斯丘顿夫人吐字不清地说道，"如果董贝先生肯大驾光临的话，那么我们将感到不胜荣幸。威瑟斯，走吧！"
少校又一次把她那模仿克利奥佩特拉的姿态，故意漫不经心地搁在轮椅横边上的指尖紧紧压在他的发青的嘴唇上；董贝先生则向她们鞠躬。年老的夫人对他们两人和蔼可亲地微笑了一下，少女似地挥了挥手，作为回礼；年轻的女士则按照通常的礼貌，极为轻轻地点了点头。
母亲那皱巴巴的脸孔，上面敷盖着一层饰颜片的颜色，在阳光下比没有任何颜色显得更加枯槁和丑陋；女儿则身材优美，举止高雅；少校和董贝向那位母亲的脸孔与那位女儿高傲而美丽的容貌看了最后一眼之后，都情不自禁地希望目送着她们离开，所以两人都在同一个瞬间转回了身子，童仆身子几乎和他自己的影子一样倾斜，正像一个缓慢的破城槌②一样，辛辛苦苦地推着椅子上坡；克利奥佩特拉的软帽丝毫不差地在原先的部位上摆动；那位美人独自一人稍稍走在前面，在她从头到脚的整个优雅的身形中，跟原先一样，表露出完全目空一切事物和一切人们的神情。
"这是我要跟您说的，先生，"当他们重新散步的时候，少校说道，"如果乔·白格斯托克比现在年轻一些，除了那个女人，世界上没有别的女人他最愿意娶来当白格斯托克夫人的了。确实是这样，先生！"少校说，"她是绝色佳人啊。"
"您是指女儿吗？"董贝先生问道。
"难道乔·白是个萝卜吗，董贝，他竟会指母亲？"少校说。
"您刚才恭维母亲啊，"董贝先生说道。
"那是旧日的情焰啦，先生，"白格斯托克少校吃吃地笑道，"非常非常旧的了。我迎合她。"
背景阅读

本书简介：
《董贝父子》是狄更斯最重要的作品之一，发表于1848年。小说描写了董贝父子公司的盛衰史。董贝是个贪得无厌的大资本家，妻子儿女都成了他追逐利润的工具和摆设。公司经理卡克尔是个奸诈小人，骗取了董贝的信任后又一手造成了他的破产。在现实的教训中，董贝的思想发生了转变。最后，虽然他已无法重整家业，却成全了真正的家庭幸福。

作者简介：

英国小说家查尔斯·约翰·赫芬姆·狄更斯（Charles John Huffam Dickens，1812年2月7日~1870年6月9日） 英国维多利亚时期的著名小说家，他的作品至今依然盛行，并对英国文学发展起到重要影响。 狄更斯1812年出生于英国朴次茅斯（Portsmouth），是海军职员约翰·狄更斯和伊丽莎白·巴洛所生的第二个孩子。狄更斯5岁时全家就迁居占松（Chatham），10岁时又搬到康登镇（Camden Town）。 小时候狄更斯曾经在一所私立学校接受过一段时间的教育，但是12岁时，狄更斯的父亲就因债务问题而入狱，狄更斯也因此被送到伦敦一家鞋油场当学徒，每天工作10个小时。或许是由于这段经历，使得狄更斯的作品更关注底层社会劳动人民的生活状态。 不过后来由于父亲继承了一笔遗产而令家庭经济状况有所好转，狄更斯也才有机会重新回到学校。15岁时他从威灵顿学院毕业，随后进入一家律师行工作，后来又转入报馆，成为一名报导国会辩论的记者。狄更斯并没有接受很多的正规教育，基本上是靠自学成才。