When we were all too tired to stay awake, Steerforth got up to go."Goodnight,young Copperfield, " he said, putting a hand on my head."I'll take care of you."
当我们都感觉没劲再熬夜时,斯提福兹站起来要走。“晚安,小科波菲尔,”他把手放在我的头上,说道,“我会保护你的。”
"It's very kind of you," I replied gratefully.
“你真是个好心人,”我感激道。
"You haven't got a sister, have you?"he asked sleepily.
“你没有姐妹,是吧?”他困倦地问道。
"No, I haven't, "I answered. "What a pity! If you had one, I'm sure she'd be a pretty, bright-eyed little girl. I would have liked to meet her."
“没有,我没有姐妹,”我答道。“真遗憾!要是你有的话,我敢肯定她是个漂亮的大眼睛姑娘,我就可以有幸见见她啦。”
I thought of him a lot that night,with his laughing, handsome face, and his careless, confident manner. I could never have imagined what a dark shadow he would throw over the lives of people who were dear to me.
那晚,他让我捉摸不透,他的笑声,他那英俊的脸,他那不拘小节、桀骜不驯的气度。而我怎么也想像不到后来他会给我的亲友们的生活蒙上一层沉重的阴影。
I stayed at Salem House for three more months. Although one or two of the teachers,like Mr Mell, were kind to us boys,and tried to teach us properly, we were too afraid of Mr Creakle and his stick toconcentrate onour studies. But Tommy Traddles and I cheered each other up if we were beaten,and I was lucky enough to be friendly with the great Steerforth,in spite ofthe difference in our ages.
我在萨伦学校又呆了三个月。虽然也有一两个教师,如梅尔先生,对孩子们很和气,也设法给我们以正规的教育,但我们都害怕克里古尔先生和他的棍子,所以根本没法专心学习。不过,汤米·特拉德和我总是在挨打的时候互相安慰,而且我还很幸运与大孩子斯提福兹保持友好,虽然我们俩年龄相差很多。