18 My Father As I Recall Him
回忆我的父亲狄更斯
From his earliest childhood, throughout his earliest married life to the day of his death, his nature was home-loving. He was a "home man" in every respect . When he became celebrated at a very early age, as we know, all his joys and sorrows were taken home; and he found there sympathy and the companionship of his "own familiar friends". In his letters to these latter, in his letters to my mother, to my aunt, and, later on, to us children, he never forgot anything that he knew would be of interest about his work, his successes, his hopes or fears. And there was a sweet simplicity in his belief that such news would most certainly be acceptable to all, that is wonderfully touching and child-like coming from a man of genius.
父亲从幼年起，到新婚燕尔，直至辞世的那一天，其本质都是一个爱家的人。不论从哪方面看，父亲都是一个“顾家的男人”。众所周知，父亲少年成名，从那时起，他就把自己在外的所有快乐与忧伤带回家中，而父亲自己也从家里获得了慰藉以及他“熟悉的朋友们”的相伴情谊。在他给这些朋友、给我母亲和姨妈以及后来给我们这些孩子们写的信中，他从未忘记过分享任何他觉得有趣的事——关于他的工作、他的成功、他的期盼抑或担心。而他这么做的原因简单得可爱：因为他相信这样的消息大家肯定最愿意听。这样的想法出自一个天才真的很令人感动，也很单纯。
His care and thoughtfulness about home matters, nothing being deemed too small or trivial to claim his attention and consideration, were really marvelous when we remember his active, eager, restless, working brain. No man was so inclined naturally to derive his happiness from home affairs. He was full of the kind of interest in a house which is commonly confined to women, and his care of and for us as little children did most certainly "pass the love of women"! He was a tender and most affectionate nature.
在父亲看来，家事无小事，事无巨细都值得他关心和思虑。每当我们想到他的大脑总是在高速运转，他在饱含激情、笔耕不辍的时候还能对家事如此关注和细心，都觉得这真是太不可思议了。没有哪一个男人像他那样天性爱家，把家事当成快乐的源泉。通常只有女性才会喜欢家事，可父亲却对家里的一切都充满兴趣，他对我们这些小孩子的关心和照顾也的确完全“超越了女性的那种爱”！他就是这样天性温柔，充满慈爱。
For many consecutive summers we used to be taken to Broadstairs. This little place became a great favorite with my father. He was always very happy there, and delighted in wandering about the garden of his house, generally accompanied by one or other of his children. In later years, at Boulogne, he would often have his youngest boy, "The Noble Plorn ",trotting by his side. These two were constant companions in those days, and after these walks my father would always have some funny anecdote to tell us. And when years later the time came for the boy of his heart to go out into the world, my father, after seeing him off, wrote: "Poor Plorn has gone to Australia. It was a hard parting at the last. He seemed to become once more my youngest and favorite little child as the day drew near, and I did not think I could have been so shaken. These are hard, hard things, but they might have to be done without means or influence, and then they would be far harder. God bless him!"
连着好几年夏天，父亲都带我们去布罗德斯泰斯避暑。这个小地方成了父亲的最爱。在那里，他总是很快乐，很享受在家里的花园漫步的愉悦，通常身旁都有自己的这个或那个孩子陪着。后来在布洛涅的那几年里，他总是让自己最小的儿子“高雅的普罗恩”小跑着跟在他身边。那段日子里，两人常常形影不离。和普罗恩一起散完步后，父亲总会有一些趣闻轶事要讲给我们听。多年以后，当他心爱的儿子普罗恩出国的那一刻到来时，父亲在为他送行之后写道：“可怜的普罗恩已经去了澳大利亚。最后的分别尤为艰难。随着离别的日子越来越近，他似乎又一次变回了那个年龄最小、最让我疼爱的小孩。我从未想过自己竟会如此不安。离别总有千愁万苦，可你却不得不装作若无其事、毫不在意，于是这样的离别就更加令人难过。愿上帝保佑他！”
When my father was arranging and rehearsing his readings from "Dombey", the death of "little Paul" caused him such real anguish, the reading being so difficult to him, that he told us he could only master his intense emotion by keeping the picture of Plorn, well, strong and hearty, steadily before his eyes. We can see by the different child characters in his books what a wonderful knowledge he had of children, and what a wonderful and truly womanly sympathy he had with them in all their childish joys and griefs. I can remember with us, his own children, how kind, considerate and patient he always was. But we were never afraid to go to him in any trouble, and never had a snub from him or a cross word under any circumstances. He was always glad to give us "treats", as he called them, and used to conceive all manner of those "treats" for us, and if any favor had to be asked we were always sure of a favorable answer. On these occasions my sister "Katie" was generally our messenger, we others waiting outside the study door to hear the verdict . She and I used to have delightful treats in those summer evenings, driving up to Hampstead in the open carriage with him, our mother, and "Auntie", and getting out for a long walk through the lovely country lanes, picking wild roses and other flowers, or walking hand in hand with him listening to some story.
父亲在筹划和排练《董贝父子》的朗诵表演时(编注：狄更斯从1858年起经常举办作品朗诵会)，“小保罗”之死这个部分让他真切地感到了极度的痛苦，朗诵于他太过艰难，他告诉我们，他只有一直把普罗恩的照片摆在眼前，看着照片中儿子健康强壮、活力四射的样子才能控制住自己强烈的情感。父亲在他的作品中塑造了许多不同的儿童形象，从中我们可以看出父亲对儿童的了解多么深刻，他对孩子们所有的快乐与悲伤抱有多么美好而又真诚的、如女性般的同情。我记得父亲和我们这些孩子在一起的时候，总是那么和蔼可亲、体贴入 微、无比耐心。而且无论遇到什么麻烦，我们都不会怕去找他，而他无论如何都从未斥责我们或者说一句生气的话。他总是乐于“款待”我们——他称之为“款待”，而且总能想出各种“款待”我们的法子。如果真有什么事必须要找他帮忙，我们也很有信心能得到想要的答复。每当这种时候，我的妹妹凯蒂一般就负责当我们的信使，其他人就守在书房外敬候佳音。在那些年的夏天傍晚，我和凯蒂就常常可以开心地享受这样的“款待”。我们俩与父亲、母亲还有“姨妈”一起坐上敞篷马车前往汉普斯特德公园，等下了马车，便沿着美丽的乡间小路一起长久地散步，一边摘一些野玫瑰或其他野花，或是和父亲手拉着手，边走边听他给我们讲某个故事。
In later years there came changes in our home, inevitable changes. But no changes could ever alter my father"s home-loving nature. As he wrote to Mr. Forster, as a young man, so it was with him to the time of his death: "We shall soon meet, please God, and be happier than ever we were in all our lives. Oh! Home—home—home!!!"
在后来的几年里，范文，家里发生了一些变故，一些不可避免的变故。但什么变故都无法改变父亲爱家的本性。正如他年轻时写给福斯特先生的信中所说(这也是他至死都一直坚守的信念)：“如系天意，我们很快会相聚，未来的日子里，我们将拥有前所未有的快乐。哦！家啊——我亲爱的家！！！”
(By Mamie Dickens )
