Mrs Pipchin, in her deference, merely muttered at the young man as she passed on, and said, ’Oh! he was a precious fellow’ - leaving the young man, who was all meekness and incapacity, affected even to tears by the incident. But Mrs Pipchin had a way of falling foul of all meek people; and her friends said who could wonder at it, after the Peruvian mines!

　　皮普钦太太出于对董贝先生的尊敬，走过的时候对那位年轻人只是咕哝了几声，同时说道，“啊，他是个宝贝家伙”，一边离开那位年轻人；那位年轻人是极为温顺和愚钝的，这件事情甚至使他伤心地掉了泪。可是皮普钦太太惯于欺压所有温顺的人们；她的朋友们说，在秘鲁矿井的事情发生之后，这有什么好奇怪的呢？

　　The Doctor was sitting in his portentous study, with a globe at each knee, books all round him, Homer over the door, and Minerva on the mantel-shelf. ’And how do you do, Sir?’ he said to Mr Dombey, ’and how is my little friend?’ Grave as an organ was the Doctor’s speech; and when he ceased, the great clock in the hall seemed (to Paul at least) to take him up, and to go on saying, ’how, is, my, lit, tle, friend? how, is, my, lit, tle, friend?’ over and over and over again.

　　博士坐在他的奇特的书房中，每只膝盖上摆着一个地球仪，四周都是书籍，荷马①在门的上面，米涅瓦②在壁炉架上。“您好吗，先生？”他对董贝先生说道；“我的小朋友好吗？”博士的声音像风琴一样庄重沉着；当他停止讲话的时候，前厅中的大钟似乎（至少保罗觉得是这样）接着他的话，继续往下说道，“我，的，小，朋，友，好，吗？我，的，小，朋，友，好，吗？”一遍，一遍，又一遍地重复说着。

　　The little friend being something too small to be seen at all from where the Doctor sat, over the books on his table, the Doctor made several futile attempts to get a view of him round the legs; which Mr Dombey perceiving, relieved the Doctor from his embarrassment by taking Paul up in his arms, and sitting him on another little table, over against the Doctor, in the middle of the room.

　　小朋友太小了，从博士坐着的地方，越过桌子上的书去看是看不见的；博士就试图通过桌腿去看他，但也是徒劳无益；董贝先生看到这一点，就把保罗抱起来，让他坐在房间中间面对着博士的另一张小桌子上，使博士摆脱了困难。

　　’Ha!’ said the Doctor, leaning back in his chair with his hand in his breast. ’Now I see my little friend. How do you do, my little friend?’

　　“哈！”博士把手伸进上衣的胸间，仰靠在椅子中说道。“现在我看见我的小朋友了。您好吗，我的小朋友？”

　　The clock in the hall wouldn’t subscribe to this alteration in the form of words, but continued to repeat how, is, my, lit, tle, friend? how, is, my, lit, tle, friend?’

　　前厅中的钟不赞同把词的组合形式进行这样的改变，继续重复说道，“我，的，小，朋，友，好，吗？我，的，小，朋，友，好，吗？”

　　’Very well, I thank you, Sir,’ returned Paul, answering the clock quite as much as the Doctor.

　　“很好，谢谢您，先生，”保罗回答了博士，也回答了钟。

　　’Ha!’ said Doctor Blimber. ’Shall we make a man of him?’

　　“哈！”布林伯博士说道。“我们将把他培养成一个大人吗？”

　　’Do you hear, Paul?’ added Mr Dombey; Paul being silent.

　　“你听到了吗，保罗？”董贝先生补充了一句。保罗默不作声。

　　-------- ①荷马（Homer）：公元前10世纪前后的希腊盲诗人；《伊利亚特》及《奥德赛》两大著名史诗的作者。 ②米涅瓦（Minerva）：罗马神话中司智慧、学问、战争的女神。