目 录 上一节 下一节 
姑娘往桌上靠得更紧了，没有提出要离开这间屋子，尽管她看得出孟可司是冲着她说的。老犹太可能有顾虑，如果硬要撵她出去的话，她没准会大声件气地谈到那笔钱的事，就朝楼上指了指，领着孟可司走出房间。 'Not that infernal hole we were in before,' she could hear the man say as they went upstairs. Fagin laughed; and making some reply which did not reach her, seemed, by the creaking of the boards, to lead his companion to the second story. “不要到从前咱们呆过的那个鬼窝子里去。”她听得出那个汉子一边上楼，一边还在说话。老犹太笑起来，回答了一句什么话，她没听清楚，楼板发出嘎嘎的响声，看来他把同伴带到了三楼上。 Before the sound of their footsteps had ceased to echo through the house, the girl had slipped off her shoes; and drawing her gown loosely over her head, and muffling her arms in it, stood at the door, listening with breathless interest. The moment the noise ceased, she glided from the room; ascended the stairs with incredible softness and silence; and was lost in the gloom above. 他俩的脚步声在房子里发出的回响还没有平息下来，南希已经脱掉鞋子，撩起衣据胡乱盖在头上，裹住肩膀，站在门口屏息谛听。响声刚一停下，她便迈开轻柔得令人难以置信的脚步，溜出房间，无声无息地登上楼梯，消失在幽暗的楼上。 The room remained deserted for a quarter of an hour or more; the girl glided back with the same unearthly tread; and, immediately afterwards, the two men were heard descending. Monks went at once into the street; and the Jew crawled upstairs again for the money. When he returned, the girl was adjusting her shawl and bonnet, as if preparing to be gone. 屋子里有一刻钟或一刻钟以上空无一人，随后，姑娘依旧像一丝游魂似的飘然而归，紧接着便听见那两个人下来了。孟可司直接出门往街上去了，老犹太为了钱的事又一次慢吞吞地走上楼去。他回来的功夫，姑娘正在整理她的披巾和软帽，像是准备离去。 'Why, Nance!,' exclaimed the Jew, starting back as he put down the candle, 'how pale you are!' “嗨，南希，”老犹太放下蜡烛，嚷嚷着往后退去，“你脸色这么苍白。” 
“苍白？”姑娘应声说道，她将双手罩在额上，像是打算仔细看看他似的。 'Quite horrible. What have you been doing to yourself?' “太可怕了，你一个人在干什么呢？” 'Nothing that I know of, except sitting in this close place for I don't know how long and all,' replied the girl carelessly. 'Come! Let me get back; that's a dear.' “什么也没干，不就是坐在这个闷热的地方，也不知过了多久了，”姑娘轻描淡写地回答，“好了。放我回去吧，这才乖。” With a sigh for every piece of money, Fagin told the amount into her hand. They parted without more conversation, merely interchanging a 'good-night.' 费金把钱如数点清递到她手里，每点一张钞票都要叹一声气。他们没再多谈，相互道了一声“晚安”就分手了。 When the girl got into the open street, she sat down upon a doorstep; and seemed, for a few moments, wholly bewildered and unable to pursue her way. Suddenly she arose; and hurrying on, in a direction quite opposite to that in which Sikes was awaiting her returned, quickened her pace, until it gradually resolved into a violent run. After completely exhausting herself, she stopped to take breath: and, as if suddenly recollecting herself, and deploring her inability to do something she was bent upon, wrung her hands, and burst into tears. 南希来到空旷的街上，在一个台阶上坐下来，有好一阵子，她仿佛全然处在困惑之中，不知道该走哪条路。忽然，她站起身来，朝着与赛克斯正在等候她返回的那个地方完全相反的方向匆匆而去，她不断加快步伐，最后逐渐变成了拼命奔跑。她一直跑得耗尽了浑身气力，才停下来喘喘气。这时她好像突然醒悟过来，意识到自己是在做一件想做而又做不到的事情，她深感痛惜，绞扭着双手，泪如泉涌。 
也许是眼泪使她心头轻松了一些，要不就是意识到自己完全无能为力，总之，她掉过头，用差不多同样快的速度朝相反的方向飞奔而去--一方面是为了抢回丢失的时间，另一方面也是为了与自己汹涌的思潮保持同样的节奏--很快就到了她先前丢下那个强盗一个人呆着的住所。 If she betrayed any agitation, when she presented herself to Mr. Sikes, he did not observe it; for merely inquiring if she had brought the money, and receiving a reply in the affirmative, he uttered a growl of satisfaction, and replacing his head upon the pillow, resumed the slumbers which her arrival had interrupted. 即使她出现的时候多少显得有些不安，赛克斯先生也没有看出来，他只是问了一声钱拿到没有，在得到一个肯定的回答之后，他发出一声满意的怪叫，就又把脑袋搁到枕头上，继续做被她的归来打断了的美梦。 It was fortunate for her that the possession of money occasioned him so much employment next day in the way of eating and drinking; and withal had so beneficial an effect in smoothing down the asperities of his temper; that he had neither time nor inclination to be very critical upon her behaviour and deportment. That she had all the abstracted and nervous manner of one who is on the eve of some bold and hazardous step, which it has required no common struggle to resolve upon, would have been obvious to the lynx-eyed Fagin, who would most probably have taken the alarm at once; but Mr. Sikes lacking the niceties of discrimination, and being troubled with no more subtle misgivings than those which resolve themselves into a dogged roughness of behaviour towards everybody; and being, furthermore, in an unusually amiable condition, as has been already observed; saw nothing unusual in her demeanor, and indeed, troubled himself so little about her, that, had her agitation been far more perceptible than it was, it would have been very unlikely to have awakened his suspicions. 算她运气好，钞票到手的第二天，赛克斯先生尽顾了吃吃喝喝，加上在安抚他的暴躁脾气方面又产生了很好的效果，他既没有时间也没有心思对她的行为举止横挑鼻子竖挑眼了。她显得心不在焉，神经紧张，似乎即将迈出大胆而又危险的一步，而这一步是经过了激烈的斗争才下定决心的。这种神态瞒不过眼睛像山猫一样厉害的费金，他很可能会立刻警觉起来，但赛克斯先生就不一样了--他是个粗人，无论对谁一贯采取粗暴的态度，从来不为一些比较细致微妙的事操心，更何况前边已经讲过，他又正处于一种少有的好情绪之中--他看不出南希的举动有什么不对劲的地方，的的确确，他一点也没有为她操心，即使她的不安表现得远比实际情况还要引人注目，也不大可能引起他的疑心。 As that day closed in, the girl's excitement increased; and, when night came on, and she sat by, watching until the housebreaker should drink himself asleep, there was an unusual paleness in her cheek, and a fire in her eye, that even Sikes observed with astonishment. 白昼渐渐过去了，姑娘的兴奋有增无已。天色暗下来以后，她坐在一旁，单等那个强盗醉倒入睡，她的脸颊苍白得异乎寻常，眼睛里却有一团火，连赛克斯也惊讶地注意到了。 Mr. Sikes being weak from the fever, was lying in bed, taking hot water with his gin to render it less inflammatory; and had pushed his glass towards Nancy to be replenished for the third or fourth time, when these symptoms first struck him. 由于发烧，赛克斯先生十分虚弱，躺在床上，正在喝为减少刺激作用而掺上热水的杜松子酒。他已经是第三次或第四次把杯子推到南希面前，要她给重新斟上，这些迹象才头一次引起他的注意。 
“唔，该死的，”他用手支起身子，打量着姑娘的脸色，说道。“你看上去就跟死人活过来一样。出什么事儿了？” 'Matter!' replied the girl. 'Nothing. What do you look at me so hard for?' “出什么事儿了？”姑娘回答，“没出什么事。你这样瞪着我干吗？” 'What foolery is this?' demanded Sikes, grasping her by the arm, and shaking her roughly. 'What is it? What do you mean? What are you thinking of?' “这是哪门子蠢事？”赛克斯抓住她的肩膀，狠命地摇晃，问道。“怎么回事？你是什么意思？你在想什么？” 'Of many things, Bill,' replied the girl, shivering, and as she did so, pressing her hands upon her eyes. 'But, Lord! What odds in that?' “我在想好多事，比尔，”姑娘浑身发抖，双手捂住眼睛，回答道。“可是，天啦！这有什么大不了的？” The tone of forced gaiety in which the last words were spoken, seemd to produce a deeper impression on Sikes than the wild and rigid look which had preceded them. 她故作轻松，说出了最后一句话，但那种口吻给赛克斯留下的印象似乎比她开口说话之前那种慌乱任性的神态还要深一些。 
“我来告诉你是咋回事吧，”赛克斯说，“你要不是得了热病，眼看着就要发作，那就是有什么事不对头了，有点危险呢。你该不是--不，他妈的。你不会于那种事。” 'Do what?' asked the girl. “干什么事？”姑娘问。 'There ain't,' said Sikes, fixing his eyes upon her, and muttering the words to himself; 'there ain't a stauncher-hearted gal going, or I'd have cut her throat three months ago. She's got the fever coming on; that's it.' “不，”赛克斯直瞪瞪地望着她，一边喃喃自语，“没有比这小娘们更死心塌地的了，要不我三个月以前就已经割断她的喉咙了。她准是要发热病了，就这么回事。” Fortifying himself with this assurance, Sikes drained the glass to the bottom, and then, with many grumbling oaths, called for his physic. The girl jumped up, with great alacrity; poured it quickly out, but with her back towards him; and held the vessel to his lips, while he drank off the contents. 赛克斯凭着这份信心打起精神来，将那杯酒喝了个底朝天，接着，他骂骂咧咧地叫着给他药。姑娘非常敏捷地跳起来，背朝着他迅速把药倒进杯子，端到他的嘴边，他喝光了里边的东西。 'Now,' said the robber, 'come and sit aside of me, and put on your own face; or I'll alter it so, that you won't know it agin when you do want it.' “好了，”那强盗说道，“过来坐在我旁边，拿出你平常的模样来，不然的话，我可要叫你变个样子，让你想认也认不出来。” 
姑娘顺从了。赛克斯紧紧握住她的手，倒在枕头上，眼睛盯着她的脸，合上又睁开，再合上，再睁开。他不停地改变姿势，两三分钟之间，他几次差一点睡着了，又几次带着惊恐的神情坐起来，若有所失地看看周围。终于，正当他好像要强撑着起来的时候，却突然堕入了沉睡。紧抓着的手松开了，举起的胳膊软弱无力地垂在身旁。他躺在那里，不省人事。
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