名著阅读

Whether she held cheap attractions that could only call forth admiration that was worthless to her, or whether she designed to render them more precious to admirers by this usage of them, those to whom they were precious seldom paused to consider.
'I hope, Mrs Granger,' said Mr Dombey, advancing a step towards her, 'we are not the cause of your ceasing to play?'
'You! oh no!'
'Why do you not go on then, my dearest Edith?' said Cleopatra.
'I left off as I began - of my own fancy.'
The exquisite indifference of her manner in saying this: an indifference quite removed from dulness or insensibility, for it was pointed with proud purpose: was well set off by the carelessness with which she drew her hand across the strings, and came from that part of the room.
'Do you know, Mr Dombey,' said her languishing mother, playing with a hand-screen, 'that occasionally my dearest Edith and myself actually almost differ - '
'Not quite, sometimes, Mama?' said Edith.
'Oh never quite, my darling! Fie, fie, it would break my heart,' returned her mother, making a faint attempt to pat her with the screen, which Edith made no movement to meet, ' - about these old conventionalities of manner that are observed in little things? Why are we not more natural? Dear me! With all those yearnings, and gushings, and impulsive throbbings that we have implanted in our souls, and which are so very charming, why are we not more natural?'
Mr Dombey said it was very true, very true.
'We could be more natural I suppose if we tried?' said Mrs Skewton. Mr Dombey thought it possible.
'Devil a bit, Ma'am,' said the Major. 'We couldn't afford it. Unless the world was peopled with J.B.'s - tough and blunt old Joes, Ma'am, plain red herrings with hard roes, Sir - we couldn't afford it. It wouldn't do.'
'You naughty Infidel,' said Mrs Skewton, 'be mute.'
'Cleopatra commands,' returned the Major, kissing his hand, 'and Antony Bagstock obeys.'
'The man has no sensitiveness,' said Mrs Skewton, cruelly holding up the hand-screen so as to shut the Major out. 'No sympathy. And what do we live for but sympathy! What else is so extremely charming! Without that gleam of sunshine on our cold cold earth,' said Mrs Skewton, arranging her lace tucker, and complacently observing the effect of her bare lean arm, looking upward from the wrist, 'how could we possibly bear it? In short, obdurate man!' glancing at the Major, round the screen, 'I would have my world all heart; and Faith is so excessively charming, that I won't allow you to disturb it, do you hear?'
The Major replied that it was hard in Cleopatra to require the world to be all heart, and yet to appropriate to herself the hearts of all the world; which obliged Cleopatra to remind him that flattery was insupportable to her, and that if he had the boldness to address her in that strain any more, she would positively send him home.
Withers the Wan, at this period, handing round the tea, Mr Dombey again addressed himself to Edith.
'There is not much company here, it would seem?' said Mr Dombey, in his own portentous gentlemanly way.
'I believe not. We see none.'
'Why really,' observed Mrs Skewton fom her couch, 'there are no people here just now with whom we care to associate.'
'They have not enough heart,' said Edith, with a smile. The very twilight of a smile: so singularly were its light and darkness blended.
'My dearest Edith rallies me, you see!' said her mother, shaking her head: which shook a little of itself sometimes, as if the palsy Bed now and then in opposition to the diamonds. 'Wicked one!'
'You have been here before, if I am not mistaken?' said Mr Dombey. Still to Edith.
'Oh, several times. I think we have been everywhere.'
'A beautiful country!'
究竟是她不重视她那只能引起对她爱慕（这种爱慕对她是毫无价值的）的魅力呢，还是她有意这样对待她的魅力，使那些爱慕者感到这种魅力更为宝贵呢，那些把这种魅力看得很宝贵的人们很少停下来想一想。
"格兰杰夫人，"董贝先生向她走近一步，说道，"我希望，我们不是使您停止弹琴的原因吧？"
"·你·们？哦，不！"
"那么你为什么不继续弹下去呢，我最亲爱的伊迪丝？"克利奥佩特拉问道。
"我弹不弹——都随我自己喜欢。"
她讲这些话时态度非常冷淡；这种冷淡与感觉迟钝或麻木不仁截然不同，因为它是由于高傲的原因而有意显露出来的；这时她用手带过琴弦，走到房间的另一端去；她那漫不经心的神态把她的冷淡衬托得更为突出。
"您知道吗，董贝先生，"衰弱无力的母亲玩弄着一块手提的遮光板，说道，"我最亲爱的伊迪丝偶尔跟我的意见实际上几乎是不一致的——"
"不是偶尔吧，我们不是时常不一致吗，妈妈？"伊迪丝说道。
"啊，不，我亲爱的宝贝！别那么说，那会使我很伤心的，"她的母亲回答道，一边想用遮光板轻轻拍打她，伊迪丝却没有挨近去让她拍打，"在一些小事情上，在待人接物的态度方面必须遵守的严格的陈规旧俗上，我的伊迪丝是经常跟我意见不一致的，是不是？为什么我们不能更自然些呢？阿，我的天！既然在我们的心灵中灌输进了这些急切的希望、洋溢的热情、激动的感情，而它们又是多么十分可爱，那么为什么我们不能更自然一些呢？"
董贝先生说，她的话说得很对，很对。
"我想，如果我们设法去做，我们就能够更自然一些。"斯丘顿夫人说道。
"绝对不行，夫人，"少校说道，"那样做我们受不了。除非这世界上满都是乔·白——坚强不屈、直肠直肚的老乔，夫人，满都是清淡的带卵的熏鲱鱼，先生——否则我们就受不了，万万不能那样！"
"你这没礼貌的异教徒！"斯丘顿夫人说道，"别吱声！"
"克利奥佩特拉命令，安东尼·白格斯托克服从。"少校送了一个飞吻，问答道。
少校在这里把自己比作马克·安东尼。"这是个麻木不仁的人，"斯丘顿夫人说道，一边狠狠地举起遮光板，把少校挡在外面，"他没有任何同情心；如果没有同情心的话，我们还能生活吗？还有什么别的能像它这么极为可爱的呢？如果没有这道阳光照耀到我们这冰冷冰冷的土地上的话，那么我们怎么可能忍受得了这种寒冷呢？"斯丘顿夫人说，一边整整她的花边领布，得意扬扬地从手腕往上看，观察着她露在衣服外面的枯瘦的胳膊所发挥的作用，"一句话，冷淡无情的人！"她又从遮光板旁边向少校看了一眼，"我想使我的世界全都是心；信仰又是这么非常可爱，因此我不容许你去搅乱它，你听见了没有？"
少校回答说，克利奥佩特拉要求全世界都是心，而且还要求全世界的心都归她占有，这是个苛刻的要求；这迫使克利奥佩特拉提醒他，谄媚是她所不能忍受的，如果他胆敢再用这种腔调来对她说话，那么她一定要把他撵回家去。
这时脸无血色的威瑟斯送上茶来，董贝先生又转向伊迪丝。
"这里似乎没有什么社交活动吧？"董贝先生保持着他那特有的自命不凡的绅士派头，说道。
"我想没有。我们没有看到。"
"啊，真的，"斯丘顿夫人从她的长沙发椅中说道，"现在这里没有什么我们愿意跟他们来往的人。"
"他们没有足够的心，"伊迪丝露出一丝微笑，说道。这是若隐若现的微笑，就像薄暮或黎明，光明与黑暗是多么奇怪地混合在一起。
"你看，我最亲爱的伊迪丝在嘲笑我呢！"母亲摇摇头说道；她的头有时无意在摇着，仿佛麻痹症不时发作一下，要跟不时闪耀着的钻石比赛高低似的。"坏东西！"
"如果我没错，您以前来过这里吧？"董贝先生仍然对着伊迪丝，说道。
"啊，来过好几次了。我想我们什么地方都去过了。"
"这是个美丽的地方！"
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。