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'Assuredly,' said Mrs Blimber.
“一定，”布林伯夫人说道。
The Apothecary bending down, looked closely into Paul's eyes, and felt his head, and his pulse, and his heart, with so much interest and care, that Paul said, 'Thank you, Sir.'
药剂师弯下身子，仔细地观察着保罗的眼睛，非常关切、非常细心地摸摸他的头、他的 脉搏、他的心脏，因此，保罗说，“谢谢您，先生。”
'Our little friend,' observed Doctor Blimber, 'has never complained.'
“我们的小朋友，”布林伯博士说道，“从来没有喊叫过痛苦。”
'Oh no!' replied the Apothecary. 'He was not likely to complain.'
“啊没有！”药剂师回答道。“他是不大可能喊叫痛苦的。”
'You find him greatly better?' said Doctor Blimber.
“您觉得他好多了吗？”布林伯博士问道。
'Oh! he is greatly better, Sir,' returned the Apothecary.
“啊，他好多了，先生，”药剂师回答道。
Paul had begun to speculate, in his own odd way, on the subject that might occupy the Apothecary's mind just at that moment; so musingly had he answered the two questions of Doctor Blimber. But the Apothecary happening to meet his little patient's eyes, as the latter set off on that mental expedition, and coming instantly out of his abstraction with a cheerful smile, Paul smiled in return and abandoned it.
保罗开始按照自己奇怪的方式来思考当时引起药剂师思考的问题；他是那么沉思地回答 了布林伯博士的两个问题。可是，当他的小病人正开始进行内心探索时，药剂师正巧碰 上了他的眼光，于是他就立刻用一个愉快的微笑停止了出神，保罗也用微笑回答他，不再思考了。
He lay in bed all that day, dozing and dreaming, and looking at Mr Toots; but got up on the next, and went downstairs. Lo and behold, there was something thematterwith the great clock; and a workman on a pair of steps had taken its face off, and was poking instruments into the works by the light of a candle! This was a great event for Paul, who sat down on the bottom stair, and watched the operation attentively: now and then glancing at the clock face, leaning all askew, against the wall hard by, and feeling a little confused by a suspicion that it was ogling him.
他整天躺在床上，昏昏沉沉地睡着，做着梦，看着图茨先生；但第二天他起来了，走下 楼去。哎哟，你看，大钟出了点什么事，一位站在梯子上的工人已把钟面卸下，现在正 借着一支烛光，把工具戳进机械中去！对保罗来说，这是一件大事；他在楼梯最低的一 级上坐下来，专心致志地看着正在进行的操作；有时向歪斜地靠在近旁墙上的钟面看一 眼，心中有些不安地猜疑，它正在向他送秋波吧。
The workman on the steps was very civil; and as he said, when he observed Paul, 'How do you do, Sir?' Paul got into conversation with him, and told him he hadn't been quite well lately. The ice being thus broken, Paul asked him a multitude of questions about chimes and clocks: as, whether people watched up in the lonely church steeples by night to make them strike, and how the bells were rung when people died, and whether those were different bells from wedding bells, or only sounded dismal in the fancies of the living. Finding that his new acquaintance was not very well informed on the subject of the Curfew Bell of ancient days, Paul gave him an account of that institution; and also asked him, as a practical man, what he thought about King Alfred's idea of measuring time by the burning of candles; to which the workman replied, that he thought it would be the ruin of the clock trade if it was to come up again. In fine, Paul looked on, until the clock had quiterecoveredits familiar aspect, and resumed its sedate inquiry; when the workman, putting away his tools in a long basket, bade him good day, and went away. Though not before he had whispered something, on the door—mat, to the footman, in which there was the phrase 'old—fashioned' — for Paul heard it. What could that old fashion be, that seemed to make the people sorry! What could it be!
梯子上的工人很有礼貌；当他看到保罗的时候，问他，“您好吗，先生？”于是保罗就跟 他攀谈起来，告诉他，他最近身体不十分好。这样消除隔阂之后，保罗向他问了许多关 于钟乐和时钟的问题；例如，人们是不是在寂寞的教堂尖塔里值夜，以便到时候敲响时 钟；人们死去的时候，钟是怎样敲的，它们跟结婚的钟声是不是不同，还是仅仅是在活 着的人们的幻想中听起来凄凉而已。当保罗发现他新结识的朋友对古代的熄灯晚钟①没 有很多知识的时候，他就向他叙述了那个风俗；保罗还问他，作为一个讲究实际的人， 他觉得艾尔弗雷德国王②用燃烧蜡烛的办法来计算时间的主意怎么样；工人回答说，他 认为现在重新采用这种办法，时钟行业就会破产了。最后，保罗继续看着，直到时钟完 全恢复了它平时的外貌，重新发出了它那沉着冷静的问题为止。这时候这位工人把工具 收拾到一个长篮子中去，向他告别之后，离开了。虽然在这之前他走到门口擦鞋的棕垫 那里时曾向男仆低声说了几句话，其中有“老气”这两个字——因为保罗听到了。
Having nothing to learn now, he thought of this frequently; though not so often as he might have done, if he had had fewer things to think of. But he had a great many; and was always thinking, all day long.
似乎使人们感到遗憾的“老气”究竟是什么呢？它究竟是什么呢？ 由于他现在不需要学习什么，所以他不时想到这一点；如果他要想的事情比现在少一些 ，那么他想到这一点的次数就会更多了。但是他有很多很多的事情要想；因此整天经常在想着。
注释：①中世纪，根据一项特别法律，在欧洲的许多城市，夜间到了规定的熄灯时间，就敲钟发出通知。
②艾尔弗雷德国王（KingAlfred，849—899年），别称艾尔弗雷德大帝（AlfredtheGreat） ，是九世纪时英格兰西南部撒克逊－韦塞克斯（Saxon－Wessex）王朝的国王（在位时间 为871—899年）；他治国井井有条，善制订一部重要法典；用点蜡烛来计算时间的方法 就是他建议的。
