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"A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens (full novel), Stave Three. The Second of the Three Spirits - Part 6

Stave Three. The Second of the Three Spirits - Part 6

It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humour. When Scrooge's nephew laughed in this way: holding his sides, rolling his head, and twisting his face into the most extravagant contortions: Scrooge's niece, by marriage, laughed as heartily as he. And their assembled friends being not a bit behindhand, roared out lustily.

“Ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha, ha!”

“He said that Christmas was a humbug, as I live!” cried Scrooge's nephew. “He believed it too!”

“More shame for him, Fred!” said Scrooge's niece, indignantly. Bless those women; they never do anything by halves. They are always in earnest.

She was very pretty: exceedingly pretty. With a dimpled, surprised-looking, capital face; a ripe little mouth, that seemed made to be kissed—as no doubt it was; all kinds of good little dots about her chin, that melted into one another when she laughed; and the sunniest pair of eyes you ever saw in any little creature's head. Altogether she was what you would have called provoking, you know; but satisfactory, too. Oh, perfectly satisfactory.

“He's a comical old fellow,” said Scrooge's nephew, “that's the truth: and not so pleasant as he might be. However, his offences carry their own punishment, and I have nothing to say against him.”

“I'm sure he is very rich, Fred,” hinted Scrooge's niece. “At least you always tell me so.”

“What of that, my dear!” said Scrooge's nephew. “His wealth is of no use to him. He don't do any good with it. He don't make himself comfortable with it. He hasn't the satisfaction of thinking—ha, ha, ha!—that he is ever going to benefit US with it.” “I have no patience with him,” observed Scrooge's niece. Scrooge's niece's sisters, and all the other ladies, expressed the same opinion. “Oh, I have!” said Scrooge's nephew. “I am sorry for him; I couldn't be angry with him if I tried. Who suffers by his ill whims! Himself, always. Here, he takes it into his head to dislike us, and he won't come and dine with us. What's the consequence? He don't lose much of a dinner.” “Indeed, I think he loses a very good dinner,” interrupted Scrooge's niece. Everybody else said the same, and they must be allowed to have been competent judges, because they had just had dinner; and, with the dessert upon the table, were clustered round the fire, by lamplight.

“Well! I'm very glad to hear it,” said Scrooge's nephew, “because I haven't great faith in these young housekeepers. What do you say, Topper?”

Topper had clearly got his eye upon one of Scrooge's niece's sisters, for he answered that a bachelor was a wretched outcast, who had no right to express an opinion on the subject. Whereat Scrooge's niece's sister—the plump one with the lace tucker: not the one with the roses—blushed. “Do go on, Fred,” said Scrooge's niece, clapping her hands. “He never finishes what he begins to say! He is such a ridiculous fellow!”

Scrooge's nephew revelled in another laugh, and as it was impossible to keep the infection off; though the plump sister tried hard to do it with aromatic vinegar; his example was unanimously followed. “I was only going to say,” said Scrooge's nephew, “that the consequence of his taking a dislike to us, and not making merry with us, is, as I think, that he loses some pleasant moments, which could do him no harm. I am sure he loses pleasanter companions than he can find in his own thoughts, either in his mouldy old office, or his dusty chambers. I mean to give him the same chance every year, whether he likes it or not, for I pity him. He may rail at Christmas till he dies, but he can't help thinking better of it—I defy him—if he finds me going there, in good temper, year after year, and saying Uncle Scrooge, how are you? If it only puts him in the vein to leave his poor clerk fifty pounds, that's something; and I think I shook him yesterday.” It was their turn to laugh now at the notion of his shaking Scrooge. But being thoroughly good-natured, and not much caring what they laughed at, so that they laughed at any rate, he encouraged them in their merriment, and passed the bottle joyously.

After tea, they had some music. For they were a musical family, and knew what they were about, when they sung a Glee or Catch, I can assure you: especially Topper, who could growl away in the bass like a good one, and never swell the large veins in his forehead, or get red in the face over it. Scrooge's niece played well upon the harp; and played among other tunes a simple little air (a mere nothing: you might learn to whistle it in two minutes), which had been familiar to the child who fetched Scrooge from the boarding-school, as he had been reminded by the Ghost of Christmas Past. When this strain of music sounded, all the things that Ghost had shown him, came upon his mind; he softened more and more; and thought that if he could have listened to it often, years ago, he might have cultivated the kindnesses of life for his own happiness with his own hands, without resorting to the sexton's spade that buried Jacob Marley. But they didn't devote the whole evening to music. After a while they played at forfeits; for it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself. Stop! There was first a game at blind-man's buff. Of course there was. And I no more believe Topper was really blind than I believe he had eyes in his boots. My opinion is, that it was a done thing between him and Scrooge's nephew; and that the Ghost of Christmas Present knew it. The way he went after that plump sister in the lace tucker, was an outrage on the credulity of human nature. Knocking down the fire-irons, tumbling over the chairs, bumping against the piano, smothering himself among the curtains, wherever she went, there went he! He always knew where the plump sister was. He wouldn't catch anybody else. If you had fallen up against him (as some of them did), on purpose, he would have made a feint of endeavouring to seize you, which would have been an affront to your understanding, and would instantly have sidled off in the direction of the plump sister. She often cried out that it wasn't fair; and it really was not. But when at last, he caught her; when, in spite of all her silken rustlings, and her rapid flutterings past him, he got her into a corner whence there was no escape; then his conduct was the most execrable. For his pretending not to know her; his pretending that it was necessary to touch her head-dress, and further to assure himself of her identity by pressing a certain ring upon her finger, and a certain chain about her neck; was vile, monstrous! No doubt she told him her opinion of it, when, another blind-man being in office, they were so very confidential together, behind the curtains.

Stave Three. The Second of the Three Spirits - Part 6 스테이브 3. 세 가지 정신 중 두 번째 - 파트 6 Pauta Três. O segundo dos três espíritos - Parte 6 板条三。三灵中的第二个 - 第 6 部分

It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humour. C'est un ajustement juste, équitable et noble des choses, que tandis qu'il y a infection dans la maladie et le chagrin, il n'y a rien au monde d'aussi irrésistiblement contagieux que le rire et la bonne humeur. When Scrooge's nephew laughed in this way: holding his sides, rolling his head, and twisting his face into the most extravagant contortions: Scrooge's niece, by marriage, laughed as heartily as he. Quand le neveu de Scrooge riait de cette façon : se tenant les côtés, roulant la tête et tordant son visage dans les contorsions les plus extravagantes : la nièce de Scrooge, par alliance, riait aussi chaleureusement que lui. And their assembled friends being not a bit behindhand, roared out lustily. Et leurs amis rassemblés n'étant pas un peu en retard, rugirent vigoureusement.

“Ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha, ha!”

“He said that Christmas was a humbug, as I live!” cried Scrooge's nephew. « Il a dit que Noël était une farce, comme je vis ! cria le neveu de Scrooge. “He believed it too!”

“More shame for him, Fred!” said Scrooge's niece, indignantly. « Plus de honte pour lui, Fred ! dit la nièce de Scrooge, indignée. Bless those women; they never do anything by halves. Bénis ces femmes ; ils ne font jamais rien à moitié. They are always in earnest. Ils sont toujours sérieux.

She was very pretty: exceedingly pretty. Elle était très jolie : extrêmement jolie. With a dimpled, surprised-looking, capital face; a ripe little mouth, that seemed made to be kissed—as no doubt it was; all kinds of good little dots about her chin, that melted into one another when she laughed; and the sunniest pair of eyes you ever saw in any little creature's head. Avec un visage capitonné, à l'air surpris; une petite bouche mûre, qui semblait faite pour être embrassée, comme c'était le cas sans doute ; toutes sortes de bons petits points autour de son menton, qui se fondaient les uns dans les autres quand elle riait ; et la paire d'yeux la plus ensoleillée que vous ayez jamais vue dans la tête d'une petite créature. Altogether she was what you would have called provoking, you know; but satisfactory, too. Dans l'ensemble, elle était ce que vous auriez appelé provocante, vous savez ; mais satisfaisant aussi. Oh, perfectly satisfactory.

“He's a comical old fellow,” said Scrooge's nephew, “that's the truth: and not so pleasant as he might be. « C'est un vieil homme comique, dit le neveu de Scrooge, c'est la vérité : et pas aussi agréable qu'il pourrait l'être. However, his offences carry their own punishment, and I have nothing to say against him.” Cependant, ses offenses entraînent leur propre punition, et je n'ai rien à dire contre lui.

“I'm sure he is very rich, Fred,” hinted Scrooge's niece. "Je suis sûre qu'il est très riche, Fred", a laissé entendre la nièce de Scrooge. “At least you always tell me so.” « Au moins, tu me le dis toujours. »

“What of that, my dear!” said Scrooge's nephew. « Et ça, mon cher ! » dit le neveu de Scrooge. “His wealth is of no use to him. « Ses richesses ne lui sont d'aucune utilité. He don't do any good with it. He don't make himself comfortable with it. He hasn't the satisfaction of thinking—ha, ha, ha!—that he is ever going to benefit US with it.” Il n'a pas la satisfaction de penser — ha, ha, ha ! “I have no patience with him,” observed Scrooge's niece. "Je n'ai aucune patience avec lui", a observé la nièce de Scrooge. Scrooge's niece's sisters, and all the other ladies, expressed the same opinion. “Oh, I have!” said Scrooge's nephew. “I am sorry for him; I couldn't be angry with him if I tried. « Je suis désolé pour lui ; Je ne pourrais pas être en colère contre lui si j'essayais. Who suffers by his ill whims! Qui souffre de ses mauvais caprices ! Himself, always. Here, he takes it into his head to dislike us, and he won't come and dine with us. Ici, il se met en tête de nous détester, et il ne viendra pas dîner avec nous. What's the consequence? He don't lose much of a dinner.” Il ne perd pas beaucoup d'un dîner. “Indeed, I think he loses a very good dinner,” interrupted Scrooge's niece. Everybody else said the same, and they must be allowed to have been competent judges, because they had just had dinner; and, with the dessert upon the table, were clustered round the fire, by lamplight. Tout le monde disait la même chose, et il fallait leur permettre d'avoir été des juges compétents, parce qu'ils venaient de dîner ; et, avec le dessert sur la table, étaient groupés autour du feu, à la lumière de la lampe.

“Well! I'm very glad to hear it,” said Scrooge's nephew, “because I haven't great faith in these young housekeepers. Je suis très content de l'entendre », a déclaré le neveu de Scrooge, « parce que je n'ai pas une grande confiance en ces jeunes femmes de ménage. What do you say, Topper?” Qu'en dis-tu, Topper ? »

Topper had clearly got his eye upon one of Scrooge's niece's sisters, for he answered that a bachelor was a wretched outcast, who had no right to express an opinion on the subject. Topper avait visiblement aperçu l'une des sœurs de la nièce de Scrooge, car il avait répondu qu'un célibataire était un misérable paria, qui n'avait pas le droit d'exprimer une opinion sur le sujet. Whereat Scrooge's niece's sister—the plump one with the lace tucker: not the one with the roses—blushed. Alors que la sœur de la nièce de Scrooge - la dodue avec le tucker de dentelle : pas celle avec les roses - rougit. “Do go on, Fred,” said Scrooge's niece, clapping her hands. “He never finishes what he begins to say! « Il ne finit jamais ce qu'il commence à dire ! He is such a ridiculous fellow!”

Scrooge's nephew revelled in another laugh, and as it was impossible to keep the infection off; though the plump sister tried hard to do it with aromatic vinegar; his example was unanimously followed. Le neveu de Scrooge se délecta d'un autre rire, et comme il était impossible d'empêcher l'infection ; bien que la sœur dodue ait essayé de le faire avec du vinaigre aromatique; son exemple fut unanimement suivi. “I was only going to say,” said Scrooge's nephew, “that the consequence of his taking a dislike to us, and not making merry with us, is, as I think, that he loses some pleasant moments, which could do him no harm. « J'allais seulement dire », a déclaré le neveu de Scrooge, « que la conséquence de son aversion pour nous, et de ne pas se réjouir avec nous, est, comme je pense, qu'il perd quelques moments agréables, ce qui pourrait lui faire aucun préjudice. I am sure he loses pleasanter companions than he can find in his own thoughts, either in his mouldy old office, or his dusty chambers. Je suis sûr qu'il perd des compagnons plus agréables qu'il ne peut en trouver dans ses propres pensées, soit dans son vieux bureau moisi, soit dans ses chambres poussiéreuses. I mean to give him the same chance every year, whether he likes it or not, for I pity him. Je veux lui donner la même chance chaque année, qu'il le veuille ou non, car je le plains. He may rail at Christmas till he dies, but he can't help thinking better of it—I defy him—if he finds me going there, in good temper, year after year, and saying Uncle Scrooge, how are you? Il peut pester à Noël jusqu'à sa mort, mais il ne peut s'empêcher d'y penser – je le défie – s'il me trouve y allant, de bonne humeur, année après année, et disant Oncle Scrooge, comment allez-vous ? If it only puts him in the vein to leave his poor clerk fifty pounds, that's something; and I think I shook him yesterday.” Si cela lui donne envie de laisser cinquante livres à son pauvre clerc, c'est déjà quelque chose ; et je pense que je l'ai secoué hier. It was their turn to laugh now at the notion of his shaking Scrooge. C'était à leur tour de rire maintenant à l'idée de son Scrooge tremblant. But being thoroughly good-natured, and not much caring what they laughed at, so that they laughed at any rate, he encouraged them in their merriment, and passed the bottle joyously. Mais étant de bonne humeur et peu soucieux de ce dont ils riaient, de sorte qu'ils riaient au moins, il les encouragea dans leur gaieté, et passa joyeusement la bouteille.

After tea, they had some music. For they were a musical family, and knew what they were about, when they sung a Glee or Catch, I can assure you: especially Topper, who could growl away in the bass like a good one, and never swell the large veins in his forehead, or get red in the face over it. Car ils étaient une famille de musiciens, et savaient de quoi ils parlaient, quand ils chantaient un Glee ou un Catch, je peux vous l'assurer : surtout Topper, qui pouvait grogner dans la basse comme un bon, et ne jamais gonfler les grosses veines de son front, ou devenir rouge au visage par-dessus. Scrooge's niece played well upon the harp; and played among other tunes a simple little air (a mere nothing: you might learn to whistle it in two minutes), which had been familiar to the child who fetched Scrooge from the boarding-school, as he had been reminded by the Ghost of Christmas Past. La nièce de Scrooge jouait bien de la harpe ; et jouait entre autres un petit air simple (un rien : vous pourriez apprendre à le siffler en deux minutes), qui était familier à l'enfant qui est allé chercher Scrooge au pensionnat, comme le lui avait rappelé le fantôme de Noël passé. When this strain of music sounded, all the things that Ghost had shown him, came upon his mind; he softened more and more; and thought that if he could have listened to it often, years ago, he might have cultivated the kindnesses of life for his own happiness with his own hands, without resorting to the sexton's spade that buried Jacob Marley. Lorsque ce son de musique retentit, toutes les choses que Ghost lui avait montrées lui vinrent à l'esprit ; il s'adoucit de plus en plus ; et pensa que s'il avait pu l'écouter souvent, il y a des années, il aurait pu cultiver de ses propres mains les douceurs de la vie pour son propre bonheur, sans recourir à la pelle du sexton qui a enterré Jacob Marley. But they didn't devote the whole evening to music. Mais ils n'ont pas consacré toute la soirée à la musique. After a while they played at forfeits; for it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself. Au bout d'un moment, ils jouèrent aux forfaits ; car il est bon d'être des enfants parfois, et jamais mieux qu'à Noël, quand son puissant Fondateur était lui-même un enfant. Stop! There was first a game at blind-man's buff. Il y eut d'abord un jeu chez Blind-man's buff. Of course there was. And I no more believe Topper was really blind than I believe he had eyes in his boots. Et je ne crois pas plus que Topper était vraiment aveugle que je ne crois qu'il avait des yeux dans ses bottes. My opinion is, that it was a done thing between him and Scrooge's nephew; and that the Ghost of Christmas Present knew it. Mon opinion est que c'était une chose faite entre lui et le neveu de Scrooge ; et que le fantôme du cadeau de Noël le savait. The way he went after that plump sister in the lace tucker, was an outrage on the credulity of human nature. La façon dont il s'en est pris à cette sœur dodue dans le tucker de dentelle, était un outrage à la crédulité de la nature humaine. Knocking down the fire-irons, tumbling over the chairs, bumping against the piano, smothering himself among the curtains, wherever she went, there went he! Renversant les fers à repasser, culbutant sur les chaises, se cognant contre le piano, s'étouffant parmi les rideaux, partout où elle allait, le voilà ! He always knew where the plump sister was. He wouldn't catch anybody else. If you had fallen up against him (as some of them did), on purpose, he would have made a feint of endeavouring to seize you, which would have been an affront to your understanding, and would instantly have sidled off in the direction of the plump sister. Si vous vous étiez heurté à lui (comme certains l'ont fait) exprès, il aurait fait semblant de tenter de vous saisir, ce qui aurait été un affront à votre entendement, et se serait aussitôt glissé dans la direction de la soeur dodue. She often cried out that it wasn't fair; and it really was not. Elle criait souvent que ce n'était pas juste ; et ce n'était vraiment pas le cas. But when at last, he caught her; when, in spite of all her silken rustlings, and her rapid flutterings past him, he got her into a corner whence there was no escape; then his conduct was the most execrable. Mais quand enfin, il l'a attrapée; quand, malgré tous ses bruissements soyeux et ses rapides voltige devant lui, il l'entraîna dans un coin d'où il n'y avait pas d'échappatoire ; alors sa conduite était la plus exécrable. For his pretending not to know her; his pretending that it was necessary to touch her head-dress, and further to assure himself of her identity by pressing a certain ring upon her finger, and a certain chain about her neck; was vile, monstrous! Pour son semblant de ne pas la connaître ; le fait qu'il prétendait qu'il était nécessaire de toucher à sa coiffure, et de s'assurer en outre de son identité en lui serrant un certain anneau au doigt et une certaine chaîne autour du cou ; était vil, monstrueux ! No doubt she told him her opinion of it, when, another blind-man being in office, they were so very confidential together, behind the curtains. Sans doute lui en fit-elle part, quand, un autre aveugle étant en fonction, ils étaient si intimes ensemble, derrière les rideaux.