★ 第8章 ★
The room seemed strangely quiet。
房子靜得出奇。
The mother and her daughters were making a small white cotton shirt together， while the usually noisy young Cratchits sat silently in a corner， and Peter was reading a book。
媽媽和女兒們正在一起縫製一件小白襯衫，而一向吵吵鬧鬧的小克拉奇蒂靜靜地坐在一個角落裡，彼得正在看書。
Mrs。 Cratchit put her work down on the table and covered her face with her hand。
克拉奇蒂夫人把手頭的活放在桌子上，用手捂住臉。
‘The color hurts my eyes，’ she said。 The color？ Ah， poor Tiny Tim！
“這顏色刺得我的眼睛都疼了，”她說。這顏色？ 啊，可憐的小蒂姆！
‘They’re a little better now，‘ she went on。 ’It‘s difficult to work by candlelight。
“現在眼睛好點了，”她繼續說。“在燭光下幹活真費勁，
And I don’t want to show red eyes to your father when he comes home。‘
我不想讓你父親回來時看到我的眼睛紅紅的。”
’He‘s a bit late，’ said Peter， ‘but I think he’s walked more slowly these last few days， mother。‘
“他稍晚了點，”彼得說，“但我覺得最近這幾天他走得更慢了，媽媽。”
They were very quiet again。
他們又都沉默了。
At last， she said bravely， ’I‘ve known him walk with — with Tiny Tim in his arms， very fast indeed。’
最後她勇敢地說，“我知道他是懷裡抱著——抱著小蒂姆走路的，實際上很快。”
‘So have I，’ cried Peter。 ‘Often！’
“我也知道，”彼得大聲說。“經常是這樣！”
‘But he was very light to carry， and your father loved him so much！ And there’s your father at the door now！‘
“但他很輕，抱著方便，你爸爸很喜歡他！現在爸爸到門口了！”
She got up quickly to kiss Bob as he came in。
她立刻起身，當鮑勃進屋的時候她吻了他。
He looked tired and thin， and needed his long scarf， poor man！
他看上去疲憊消瘦，而且需要他的長圍巾，好可憐的人啊！
Martha took his boots and scarf off， and Belinda brought him his tea， and the little Cratchits sat close to him。
瑪莎為他脫下靴子，摘下圍巾，貝琳達給他端來茶，小克拉奇蒂們緊挨著他坐下。
He was very cheerful with all of them and was pleased with the little shirt that his wife and daughters were making。
和他們在一起他開心極了，他妻子和女兒們縫製的小襯衫使他很高興。
’It‘ll be ready long before Sunday， won’t it？‘ he said。
“星期日之前能做好，不是嗎？”他問道。
’Sunday！ You went there today， then， Bob？‘ asked his wife。
“星期日！ 那麼你今天去那兒了，鮑勃？”他妻子問。
’Yes， my dear。 You‘d love to see it。 It’s a beautiful green place。 But you‘ll see it often。
“是的，親愛的。你想看看它，那地方綠綠的，很漂亮，但你會經常看到它的。
I promised him that we would go there every Sunday。
我答應他我們每個星期日都去那兒。
My little， little child！’ cried Bob， hiding his face in his hands。 He had loved the boy very much。
我的小寶貝啊！”鮑勃哭了，雙手捂住了臉。他過去一直深愛著這個男孩。
He went upstairs to the quiet bedroom， where the child lay。
他上樓來到了那孩子躺著的靜靜的臥室。
Poor Bob sat down beside him， and when he felt calmer， he kissed the little face and went downstairs again， almost happy。
可憐的鮑勃坐在他身邊，當孩子稍平靜了些的時候，他吻了他的小臉蛋然後下了樓，這時他似乎高興了。
‘My dears，’ he said to his children， ‘one of these days some of you will marry and leave home。
“我親愛的孩子們，”他對他們說，“總有一天你們中的一個孩子要結婚離開家，
In a few year’s time perhaps all of you will。 But I‘m sure none of us will ever forget Tiny Tim， will we？’
幾年之內你們都會這樣的，但我認為我們誰也不會忘記小蒂姆，是嗎？”
‘Never， father！’ they all cried。
“永遠不會的，爸爸！”他們都哭了。
‘And I know，’ said Bob， ‘that when we remember how patient and gentle he was， although he was only a little child， we won’t argue among ourselves。
“我知道，”鮑勃說，“當我們記起他是何等的有耐心何等的彬彬有禮時，儘管他還是個小孩子，我們的看法還是一致的。
We‘ll remember poor Tiny Tim， and love each other！’
我們將會記住小蒂姆，並互愛。”
‘We will， father！’ they all cried again。
“我們會的，爸爸！”他們又都哭了。
‘I am very happy，’ said Bob。
“我很高興，”鮑勃說。
‘I am very happy！’ Mrs。 Cratchit kissed him， his daughters kissed him， the two young Cratchitskissed him， and he and Peter shook hands。
“我很高興！”克拉奇蒂太太吻了他，他的女兒們吻了他，兩個小克拉奇蒂吻了他，他和彼得握了手。
Tiny Tim， your goodness lives on in your family！
小蒂姆，你的美德會永駐於你的家庭中的！
‘Spirit，’ said Scrooge， ‘I know that you will leave me soon。
“幽靈，”斯克羅吉說，“我知道一會兒你就要離開我了。
Tell me who that dead man on the bed was！’
告訴我床上的死人是誰！”
No answer came in words， but the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come took Scrooge through the streets of London again。
沒有回答的聲音，但“來日聖誕”鬼魂帶著斯克羅吉再一次地穿越了倫敦的大街。
‘Wait a moment，’ said Scrooge。
“等一會兒，”斯克羅吉說。
‘We’re passing my office。 Let me see how I shall look in the future！‘
“我們正在經過我的辦公室，讓我看看我將來是什麼樣子！”
The spirit stopped。 Its hand was pointing away from the office。
幽靈停了下來。它的手並沒有指著辦公室，
But Scrooge hurried up to the window and looked in。
但斯克羅吉匆忙走到窗前往裡看了看，
It was an office still， but not his。
還是間辦公室，但已不屬於他了。
The furniture was not the same， and the figure in the chair was not himself。
傢俱變了，椅子裡坐著的也不是他自己了。
The ghost continued to point onwards， and Scrooge followed。
鬼魂繼續朝前指，斯克羅吉跟著。
They reached a church and entered the churchyard。
他們來到一座教堂前，進了教堂的院落。
Here， among the untidy graves and the uncut grass， lay the miserable man whose nameScrooge would soon learn。
在這裡不整齊的墳墓和未修剪的雜草中躺著一個可憐的人，一會兒斯克羅吉就會知道他是誰。
It was a lonely place， most suitable for a man so unloved。
這是一個冷清的地方，對一個如此不受愛戴的人來說這兒再合適不過了。
The spirit stood and pointed down at one of the graves。
幽靈站在那兒，朝下指著其中的一個墳墓。
Scrooge was strangely afraid。
斯克羅吉感到莫名的恐懼。
’Before I look more closely at that gravestone，‘ he said， ’answer me one question。
“在我更仔細地看墓碑前，”他說，“回答我一個問題。
Are these the shadows of the things that will be， or are they only shadows of the things that may be？‘
這些影子是將來會實現的事情還是可能會實現的事情？”
Without replying， the ghost pointed silently down at the grave。
鬼魂沒有回答，它默默地朝下指著墳墓。
Scrooge moved slowly towards it， and following the finger， read on the stone his own name， EBENEZER SCROOGE。
斯克羅吉慢慢地向它走去，順著幽靈手指頭的方向，他看見墓碑上寫著他自己的夕字：埃比尼澤·斯克羅吉。
’Am I that man who was lying on the bed？‘ he cried。
“我就是那個躺在床上的人嗎？”他大聲問。
The spirit pointed from the grave to him， and back again。
幽靈從墳墓指向他，然後又指向墳墓。
’No， Spirit！ Oh， no， no！‘
“不，幽靈！ 噢，不，不！”
The finger was still there。
手指依然還是指著墳那裡。
Scrooge fell to the ground in front of the ghost， holding its long dark robe。
斯克羅吉倒在鬼魂前面的地上，抓住它長長的黑袍子。
’Spirit！ Listen！ I am a changed man！ I have learned my lesson from your spirits！
“幽靈！聽著！我是一個改過自新的人了！我從你們這些幽靈身上吸取了教訓！
Why show me this terrible end， if there is no hope for me！‘
如果我沒有希望的話，為什麼要讓我看如此可怕的結局！”
For the first time， the hand appeared to shake。
他的手第一次顫抖起來。
’Good spirit， tell me that my future will change if I change my life now！‘
“我的好幽靈，告訴我如果我現在改變我的生活，我的未來也會改變的！”
The kind hand shook again。
他善良的手有些顫抖了。
’I will remember the past， and think of the future。 I will be good to other people。
“我將記住過去，並且會為未來考慮的。我會對他人行善的，
I will keep Christmas in my heart and will try to be kind， and cheerful， and merry， every day。
我會把聖誕記在心中並儘可能的善良、高興、快樂，每天都這樣。
Oh， tell me I can clean away the writing on this stone！‘
噢，對我說我能夠把這石頭上的名字弄掉！”
Wildly， he caught the ghostly hand and held it for a moment。
他死命地抓住鬼魂的手並攥了一會兒。
But the spirit was stronger than him and pulled its hand away。
但幽靈比他要強壯，它把手掙脫開。
Just then Scrooge noticed that something strange was happening to the spirit。
這時斯克羅吉看到奇怪的事情在幽靈的身上發生了。
It was getting smaller and smaller， and suddenly it became — a bedpost。
它變得越來越小，突然變成了——一根床柱子。
《聖誕頌歌》是1843年查爾斯·狄更斯創作的小說，該小說是查爾斯·狄更斯三部聖誕小說之一。
該小說主要講的是一個吝嗇鬼的故事。一個吝嗇鬼積攢了很多錢，然而他卻不捨得為職員的爐火加一塊兒煤，他的侄子好意的邀請他參加聖誕夜的晚會，他卻認為侄子是為了佔他的便宜而推辭，社會活動者請他為窮人施捨一點聖誕的飯菜，也被他無情地斷然拒絕。他晚上回到了家，夜幕裡他看見了一張鬼臉，這真的是鬼？還是他的幻像？然而，鬼的出現卻使他發生了天翻地覆的變化。