名著阅读

Yes, and he would have it hatred, and he made it hatred, though some sparkles of the light in which she had appeared before him on the memorable night of his return home with his Bride, occasionally hung about her still. He knew now that she was beautiful; he did not dispute that she was graceful and winning, and that in the bright dawn of her womanhood she had come upon him, a surprise. But he turned even this against her. In his sullen and unwholesome brooding, the unhappy man, with a dull perception of his alienation from all hearts, and a vague yearning for what he had all his life repelled, made a distorted picture of his rights and wrongs, and justified himself with it against her. The worthier she promised to be of him, the greater claim he was disposed to antedate upon her duty and submission. When had she ever shown him duty and submission? Did she grace his life - or Edith's? Had her attractions been manifested first to him - or Edith? Why, he and she had never been, from her birth, like father andchild! They had always been estranged. She had crossed him every way and everywhere. She was leagued against him now. Her very beauty softened natures that were obdurate to him, and insulted him with an unnatural triumph.
It may have been that in all this there were mutterings of an awakened feeling in his breast, however selfishly aroused by his position of disadvantage, in comparison with what she might have made his life. But he silenced the distant thunder with the rolling of his sea of pride. He would bear nothing but his pride. And in his pride, a heap of inconsistency, and misery, and self-inflicted torment, he hated her.
To the moody, stubborn, sullen demon, that possessed him, his wife opposed her different pride in its full force. They never could have led a happy life together; but nothing could have made it more unhappy, than the wilful and determined warfare of such elements. His pride was set upon maintaining his magnificent supremacy, and forcing recognition of it from her. She would have been racked to death, and turned but her haughty glance of calm inflexible disdain upon him, to the last. Such recognition from Edith! He little knew through what a storm and struggle she had been driven onward to the crowning honour of his hand. He little knew how much she thought she had conceded, when she suffered him to call her wife.
Mr Dombey was resolved to show her that he was supreme. There must be no will but his. Proud he desired that she should be, but she must be proud for, not against him. As he sat alone, hardening, he would often hear her go out and come home, treading the round of London life with no more heed of his liking or disliking, pleasure or displeasure, than if he had been her groom. Her cold supreme indifference - his own unquestioned attribute usurped - stung him more than any other kind of treatment could have done; and he determined to bend her to his magnificent and stately will.
He had been long communing with these thoughts, when one night he sought her in her own apartment, after he had heard her return home late. She was alone, in her brilliant dress, and had but that moment come from her mother's room. Her face was melancholy and pensive, when he came upon her; but it marked him at the door; for, glancing at the mirror before it, he saw immediately, as in a picture-frame, the knitted brow, and darkened beauty that he knew so well.
'Mrs Dombey,' he said, entering, 'I must beg leave to have a few words with you.'
'To-morrow,' she replied.
'There is no time like the present, Madam,' he returned. 'You mistake your position. I am used to choose my own times; not to have them chosen for me. I think you scarcely understand who and what I am, Mrs Dombey.
'I think,' she answered, 'that I understand you very well.'
She looked upon him as she said so, and folding her white arms, sparkling with gold and gems, upon her swelling breast, turned away her eyes.
If she had been less handsome, and less stately in her cold composure, she might not have had the power of impressing him with the sense of disadvantage that penetrated through his utmost pride. But she had the power, and he felt it keenly. He glanced round the room: saw how the splendid means of personal adornment, and the luxuries of dress, were scattered here and there, and disregarded; not in mere caprice and carelessness (or so he thought), but in a steadfast haughty disregard of costly things: and felt it more and more. Chaplets of flowers, plumes of feathers, jewels, laces, silks and satins; look where he would, he saw riches, despised, poured out, and. made of no account. The very diamonds - a marriage gift - that rose and fell impatiently upon her bosom, seemed to pant to break the chain that clasped them round her neck, and roll down on the floor where she might tread upon them.
He felt his disadvantage, and he showed it. Solemn and strange among this wealth of colour and voluptuous glitter, strange and constrained towards its haughty mistress, whose repellent beauty it repeated, and presented all around him, as in so many fragments of a mirror, he was conscious of embarrassment and awkwardness. Nothing that ministered to her disdainful self-possession could fail to gall him. Galled and irritated with himself, he sat down, and went on, in no improved humour:
'Mrs Dombey, it is very necessary that there should be some understanding arrived at between us. Your conduct does not please me, Madam.'
She merely glanced at him again, and again averted her eyes; but she might have spoken for an hour, and expressed less.
'I repeat, Mrs Dombey, does not please me. I have already taken occasion to request that it may be corrected. I now insist upon it.'
'You chose a fitting occasion for your first remonstrance, Sir, and you adopt a fitting manner, and a fitting word for your second. You insist! To me!'
是的，他想恨她，而且他已经在心中种下了这种恨，尽管在他和他新婚的妻子回家来的那个难忘的夜晚，她出现在他面前时所闪耀的一些亮光有时还会在她身边游动。他现在明白，她长得美丽；他不怀疑，她优雅可爱；当她初露出成年女性的妩媚的风姿，出现在他面前时，他曾吃了一惊。可是甚至这也成为他憎恶她的理由。在他愁眉不展、有碍健康地在进行沉思的时候，他模糊地意识到他疏离了所有的人们，不很明确地想望得到他这一生所曾厌弃的东西；怀着这样的心绪，这位不幸的人对他的是非曲直作出了一幅歪曲的图画，并因此认为他厌恨她是正确的。她对他看来愈是有价值，他就愈爱对她的孝敬与顺从进行挑剔。她什么时候曾经向他表示过孝敬与顺从呢？她给谁的生活增添了光彩呢，是给他的还是给伊迪丝的？她首先向谁显示了她动人的魅力的呢，是向他还是向伊迪丝？啊，自从她出生以来，他和她从来就不像是父亲和女儿的关系！他们经常是疏远的。她到处妨碍他。现在她又结盟来反对他。正是她的美丽使那些对他执拗不屈的性格温和下来，并以一种不合常情的胜利凌辱了他。
也许在这一切当中可以听到他心胸中被唤醒了的一种感情的愤愤不平的，这种感情是由于他目前不利的处境，而她本可以使他的生活变成另外一种样子，相形之下所激发出来的（不管这种激发是多么自私）。可是他的高傲的海洋的滚滚浪涛淹没了远方的雷鸣。除了他的高傲外，他不能容忍任何东西。在他的高傲中，堆积着自相矛盾、不幸和自己造成的痛苦。怀着这样的心情，他恨她。
他的妻子以她不同的高傲竭尽全力对抗着摆布他的那个易怒的、固执的和绷着脸的恶魔。他们永远不能在一起过幸福的生活。可是没有什么能比这种蓄意的、坚决的感情争斗能使他们的生活更加不幸的了。他的高傲决心要维护他的堂堂皇皇、至高无上的地位，并强迫她承认它。她则宁肯被折磨至死，直到最后，也只能把她那傲慢的眼光向他投射过去，在眼光中平静地、不屈地流露出对他的鄙视。这就是他从伊迪丝那里所能得到的承认！他不知道，当她被迫得到和他结婚的无上光荣时，她在感情上是经历了怎样的风暴与斗争。他不知道，当她容许他称她为妻子的时候，她认为她是作出了多大的让步啊。
董贝先生准备向她表明，他是至高无上的。除了他的意志之外，不应当有别的意志。他愿意她是高傲的，但是她应当因为他而高傲，而不应当反对他而高傲。当他独自坐在那里，心情变得冷酷起来的时候，他时常听到她出去，回来，在伦敦社交界周旋，毫不关心他的喜爱或厌恶，高兴或不快；如果他是她的马夫的话，那么他也不会受到更多的注意。她的冷淡的、极度的漠不关心--他本人这一无可争辩的性格被她夺走了--比其他任何对待他的态度都更刺痛了他；他决心强迫她向他的崇高的、庄严的意志屈服。
这些思想在他脑子里已经盘旋了好久，有一天夜间，当他听到她很晚回家以后，他就走到她的房间里去找她。她独自一人，穿着华丽的服装，刚刚从她母亲房间中回来。当他见到她的时候，她脸上的表情是忧郁的、沉思的；可是当他还在门口的时候，她就觉察到他了；因为当他向她面前的镜子看了一眼的时候，他立刻看到他十分熟悉的、那皱着的眉毛和那阴沉的、漂亮的脸孔，就像在一个画框里似的。
“董贝夫人，”他走进去，说道，”请允许我跟您说几句话。”
“明天吧，”她回答道。
“没有比现在更合适的时间了，夫人，”他回答道，”您把您的地位摆错了。我一向是由我本人来选定时间，而不是让别人来给我选定时间的。我想，您还不了解我是谁，我是什么样的人，董贝夫人。”
“我想，”她回答道，”我十分清楚地了解您。”
她说这些话的时候，看着他，然后把洁白的、闪耀着金子和宝石的胳膊交叉在隆起的胸前，眼睛转向别处。
如果她在冷静、沉着的态度中不是那么漂亮，不是那么庄严的话，那么她也许就没有力量使他感觉到他处于不利的地位了；这个感觉穿透了他极度高傲的盔甲。可是她有这个力量；他敏锐地感觉到这一点。他向房间四处看了一眼，看到华丽的装饰品和奢华的服装被零乱地散放在各处，丝毫也不被珍惜--这不只是由于任性和粗心（在他看来是这样的），而是由于对贵重物品坚决的、傲慢的蔑视。这时候他愈来愈感觉到她有力量使他处于不利的地位。花冠，羽毛饰物，宝石，花边，绸缎--不论他往哪里去看，他都看到珍贵的物品被轻蔑地、毫不在乎地乱扔。甚至那结婚的礼品--钻石，也在她胸前一起一落，仿佛渴望着挣断把它们紧扣起来的、环绕着她的脖子的链子，滚到地板上，她可以践踏它们。
他感到他处境不利，也没有掩饰这一点。严肃而又生疏地处在这些鲜艳的色彩和妖娆的闪光中间，生疏而又拘束地面对着高傲的女主人（这些闪光把她那难以亲近的美貌不断重复地呈现在他的周围，就像是由镜子的许多碎片映照着似的），他感到局促不安，处境尴尬。有助于她保持蔑视一切、沉着冷静的态度的所有东西都使他烦恼。他烦恼地、生气地独自坐下来，情绪没有好转地往下说道：
“董贝夫人，我们之间很有必要达成某些谅解。您的行为并不使我感到高兴。”
她仅仅再看了他一眼，然后又转开了眼睛；可是如果她可以说上一个钟头的话，那么她也不会比这表示得更多了。
“我再说一遍，董贝夫人，您的行为并不使我感到高兴。有一次我曾经请求您改正。我现在坚持这一点。”
“您第一次选择了一个适当的场合来责备我，先生；现在您第二次又采取了一个适当的态度和一个适当的词来责备我。您坚持！对我！”
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。
豆瓣热评：永恒的大团圆结局
来自: 阿壳
在读托尔金，C.S.刘易斯和狄更斯的小说前，我很少思想关于大团圆结局的事。而这三位作家是毫不掩饰自己热爱大团圆结局的，他们都是英国人。我不知道英国文学里是否有这一种传承，我读的很少；不过我相信，在信仰上他们确实是一脉相承。刘易斯的《纳尼亚传奇》和《裸颜》是基督教寓言小说，当他有更多更清晰直白的见解时，他就放下寓言，转而将它们变为论述或演讲。托尔金不太赞成他的好朋友那样赤裸裸地谈论信仰，他自己的魔戒系列和精灵宝钻是另一种类型的寓言体，不过依然深深渗透了基督教思想——只要把它们放在圣经面前，就会很容易识别出托尔金的信念是从哪里寻得依傍。他极其喜爱公式化的“从此以后他过着幸福的生活”，狄更斯也一样，甚至有过之而无不及。
在我所读过的《雾都孤儿》、《大卫?科波菲尔》、《圣诞颂歌》和《董贝父子》中，狄更斯不管形势有多严峻，某些人能过上幸福生活的可能性是多么微小——依然坚持到结尾时把他们全部聚拢在一起，使他们苦尽甘来，平平安安，欢欢乐乐，相亲相爱，永不分离。有时候我不由猜想，他是不是想要实现某种人间天国，但很快便打消了这念头。不如说大团圆在他笔下之所以成为可能、那样牢固，正是由他对这个世界以外有天国怀有真切的盼望。他随时描写那看不见的天国，随时使他的故事与人物浸透在那种光芒中。我没见过比他更天真的作家，天真到令人感动的地步，就像他钟爱自己笔下各种各样的“憨人”，不惜亲自出马保护他们，尽管他们傻气，不谙世事，偶尔会因自己的轻信挨近危险边缘——但他们绝不会有真正的危险，真正危险的是那种因聪明而自负的人。狄更斯以他叫人眼花缭乱的幽默手法描写这些傻乎乎的人，用上他最亲切的笔墨，仿佛是在叫喊：在这样的世界里做一个天真的人是可以的！你信上帝吗？上帝保佑你！——这句话的意思其实是“在人这是不能的，在神凡事都能。”（马太福音19:26）从同一个思路出发，因此他也毫不为自己的故事有一个美好结局而感到羞赧或犹疑。
我从娱乐作品中见过同样被称作“团圆”的结局，但它们不是同一种，和狄更斯的作品比起来，那不是真团圆。香港晚间黄金时段的电视剧几乎都有譬如真相大白，破镜重圆，有情人终成眷属，好有好报坏有坏报等等情节，也时常可见“从此以后他们过上幸福的生活”。类似的结尾也出现在给小学生改写的童话里。一本叫《屠猫记?法国文化史钩沉》的书谈到，《小红帽》的最初版本是极其血腥的，在几个世纪间，类似的民间传说大多是为了告诫年轻人这个世界的残酷，要想活下去（甚至不是为了能活得多么好）你就得留神。因此，真团圆首先要面对的问题是在一个残酷世界中得到幸福怎么可能。这其实是个严肃的问题，通常电视剧不负有探讨的责任，言情小说也没有，改写的童话同样不予理会。于是我们不得不遭遇断裂：小时候事情是一个版本，等到我们长大后——它们就无情地改变了。
真团圆必须得迎难而上，否则它就不过是娱乐，演和看的人同样不信。狄更斯信，而且似乎不需要论证。和他相比，雨果不但是个雄辩家，而且简直是个没多大信心的人，他在自己的小说里长篇累牍地辩论，甚至给我一种印象，如果他在每一章的开头不把事情为什么可以那样进行说清楚，事情就真的没法儿那样进行了。而且，即便它如期进行，却充满了暴力的痕迹。就像雨果本人对法国大革命十分推崇，认为人类要想有大团圆结局便无法绕道。他把暴力写得那样激昂，那样美。和他比起来狄更斯真是毫不进取，缺乏光荣，也一点都不浪漫。他只是温和却严肃地看着自己笔下的人物，也看着他的读者，仿佛是说：你应当舍己去爱。为什么？——你信上帝吗？愿上帝保佑你！
不过，即使对狄更斯而言，真团圆的难题也是不容易解决的，因为疑虑多半来自生活中确实没有那么多的幸福美满——果真如此吗？我想起那几本书的结尾，是否有人死亡或奄奄一息呢，是的，有，有两种情况。一种是误入歧途的人，无论他们之前多么坏，此时潘然悔悟，迎接他们的是“当一个忏悔的罪人夹在九十九个正直人中间进入天堂时，天使们的脸上可能出现的就是这种狂喜的神情”。他们离开这个绊倒人和叫人悲伤的世界，去往那真正使人安息的国度。这种结局，是从福音书耶稣基督的口里得来的。另一种情况是悲剧。作恶的人直到最后都不承认自己做了可怕的事，伤害了爱他的人和无辜的人，心里没有半点怜悯和恻隐，而只有无尽的骄傲、欲望和唯我独尊的念头——狄更斯描写这种人也是不遗余力。于是，最后他们被从“好人”中放逐出去，就像狼被从羊群中赶走，免得羊群的苦楚没有尽头。在《董贝父子》里，唯一的悲剧是那个人掉到火车的铁轨中央，狂乱中被火车撞死。然而，最可怕还不在于这种死，而是狄更斯相信有另一种永恒的死如同有永恒的活一样，两者同样出自福音书。狄更斯是节制的。小说里有不少糟糕的人物，只有这一个被“处以死刑”，不是由于他罪孽深重，而是由于他不肯回转。那个人心里有那么多肮脏的欲望和自私自利的念头，几乎等于是自己跳入到死亡之中。
狄更斯坦然书写这两种结局，对他来说那是确切无疑的，他就是那样相信的。通过他的故事，我对真团圆多了一层领悟。原来，疾病不能伤害真团圆，死也不能；贫穷和破产不能伤害真团圆，爱能填补它的空缺，它却不能填补爱的空缺；辛劳、付出得不到回报、爱一个人却眼看她与别人成婚、忍耐、默默承担，以及盼望非常遥远的事情——这一切都不能伤害真团圆，而这一切，不正是我们平常所害怕、以为一旦挨着就再也无能过上幸福生活的东西吗？那么狄更斯以为真团圆是什么呢？
“她念那永恒的书，那是给世上所有疲累的、心情沉重的人，和所有可怜的、堕落的、被忽视的人的书。她念那神圣的历史。失明的、跛腿的、瘫痪的乞丐、罪犯、蒙受耻辱的女人，我们所有正人君子避开的人，都在这历史中占一个部分。在这个世界继续存在的所有纪元里，没有任何人类的骄傲、冷淡或者诡辩能把这个部分除掉，或者减少千分之一格令。她念上帝的恩典，祂对整个人生，从出生到死亡，从婴儿到老年的一切希望和不幸都怀有亲切的同情，对人生中每一个场景、每一个阶段、每一个痛苦和悲哀，都很关心。”以及——
“海浪里的声音总是以它们那不停的喃喃声向弗洛伦斯悄悄谈论爱。那爱是永恒的，无限的，并不被今世和末日所局限，而是扩展开去，越过大海，越过天空，一直到远处那个看不见的地方！”（引自《董贝父子》）
于是，狄更斯在他的故事的结尾，把所有曾经痛苦、误入歧途和懊悔的人聚集在一起，使他们最远不会离开彼此一条街。我曾经疑惑，为什么这些人总是会相聚、相识，相爱，在现实生活中这可能吗？然而，是可能的！因为他们最后总会成为某种相像的人，总是随时乐于给予而将自己的益处置之度外。经过种种磨难后，他们终于在一起，因为信仰，盼望和爱而联合了。这就是作者所相信的大团圆，它们是如此沉甸甸，因为不是不付出代价的。如果疾病，患难，贫穷，痛苦，伤害——这个残酷世界所具有的一切武器——都不能使他们仇恨彼此，不信上帝的恩慈，那么还有什么能阻挡他们，使他们无法过上幸福美满的生活呢？
于是这永恒的大团圆结局仿佛是在说：选择过幸福的生活吧，亲爱的朋友！愿上帝祝福你！