On one of these occasions, when they had both been perfectly quiet for a long time, and Mr Dombey only knew that the child was awake by occasionally glancing at his eye, where the bright fire was sparkling like a jewel, little Paul broke silence thus: 'Papa! what's money?'
有一次他们两人一言不发地沉默了很久，董贝先生只是由于偶尔往他的眼睛看上一眼，看到他眼中的亮光像珠子一样闪耀，因此知道他没有睡着，这时候，小保罗这样打破了沉默： “爸爸，钱是什么？”
The
abrupt
question
had
such
immediate
reference
to
the
subject
of
Mr
Dombey's
thoughts,
that
Mr
Dombey
was
quite
disconcerted.
这个突然提出的问题跟董贝先生正在思考的问题十分直接地联结着，因此董贝先生感到困窘。
'What
is
money,
Paul?
'
he
answered.
'Money?
'
“你问钱是什么吗，保罗？”他回答道。“钱？”
'Yes,
'
said
the
child,
laying
his
hands
upon
the
elbows
of
his
little
chair,
and
turning
the
old
face
up
towards
Mr
Dombey's;
'what
is
money?
'
“是的，”孩子把手搁在小椅子的扶手上，抬起他那老气横秋的脸，望着董贝先生的脸，说道，“钱是什么？”
Mr
Dombey
was
in
a
difficulty.
He
would
have
liked
to
give
him
some
explanation
involving
the
terms
circulating-
medium,
currency,
depreciation
of
currency',
paper,
bullion,
rates
of
exchange,
value
of
precious
metals
in
the
market,
and
so
forth;
but
looking
down
at
the
little
chair,
and
seeing
what
a
long
way
down
it
was,
he
answered:
'Gold,
and
silver,
and
copper.
Guineas,
shillings,
half-
pence.
You
know
what
they
are?
'
董贝先生陷入了困境。他本来真想把流通手段、通货、通货贬值、钞票、金条银条、汇率、市场上贵金属的价值等等一类术语向他作出一些解释，可是他向下看看那小椅子，看到下面还有那么远远的一段距离，就回答道，“金，银，铜，基尼，先令，半便士。①，你知道它们是什么吗？”
-------- ①当时的英国货币单位。1基尼等于21先令；1镑等于20先令；1先令等于12便士。
'Oh
yes,
I
know
what
they
are,
'
said
Paul.
'I
don't
mean
that,
Papa.
I
mean
what's
money
after
all?
'
“啊，是的，我知道它们是什么，”保罗说道，“我问的不是这意思，爸爸。我是想问，钱究竟是什么？”
Heaven
and
Earth,
how
old
his
face
was
as
he
turned
it
up
again
towards
his
father's!
哎呀，天老爷！当他抬起脸望着他父亲的脸的时候，那是一张多么老气的脸啊！
'What
is
money
after
all!
'
said
Mr
Dombey,
backing
his
chair
a
little,
that
he
might
the
better
gaze
in
sheer
amazement
at
the
presumptuous
atom
that
propounded
such
an
inquiry.
“钱究竟是什么！”董贝先生大为惊异地把椅子挪后一点，以便仔细看看提出这样一个问题的自以为是的小东西。
'I
mean,
Papa,
what
can
it
do?
'
returned
Paul,
folding
his
arms
(
they
were
hardly
long
enough
to
fold),
and
looking
at
the
fire,
and
up
at
him,
and
at
the
fire,
and
up
at
him
again.
“爸爸，我的意思是它能做什么？”保罗合抱着两只胳膊（它们不够长，不容易合抱），看着火，又抬起眼睛来看着他，又看着火，然后又抬起眼睛来看着他。
Mr
Dombey
drew
his
chair
back
to
its
former
place,
and
patted
him
on
the
head.
'You'll
know
better
by-
and-
by,
my
man,
'
he
said.
'Money,
Paul,
can
do
anything.
'
He
took
hold
of
the
little
hand,
and
beat
it
softly
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