They were very fond of Ram Dass. He could have told any number of stories if he had been able to speak anything but Hindustani.
她们很喜欢拉姆·达斯。如果他除了兴都斯坦语外还能讲別的语言的话,他就可能已经讲了许许多多故事了。
The Indian gentleman's real name was Mr. Carrisford, and Janet told Mr. Carrisford about the encounter with the little-girl-who-was-not-a-beggar.
那位印度绅士的真名叫做卡里斯福特先生,珍尼特告诉了卡里斯福特先生关于和那个“不是乞丐的小姑娘”相遇的事。
He was very much interested, and all the more so when he heard from Ram Dass of the adventure of the monkey on the roof.
他很感兴趣。当他从拉姆·达斯那里听说那猴子在屋顶上的冒险行动时,就更感兴趣了。
Ram Dass made for him a very clear picture of the attic and its desolateness—of the bare floor and broken plaster, the rusty, empty grate, and the hard, narrow bed.
拉姆·达斯给他描述了一幅关于那阁楼的凄凉情况的清晰景象——没有地毯的地板、破损的白粉墙、生锈的空炉架以及那又硬又窄的床。
"Carmichael," he said to the father of the Large Family, after he had heard this description,
“卡迈克尔,”他听了这番描述后对那“大家庭”的父亲说,
"I wonder how many of the attics in this square are like that one, and how many wretched little servant girls sleep on such beds,
“不知道这场院里有多少像这样的阁楼,有多少不幸的小婢女睡这种床,
while I toss on my down pillows, loaded and harassed by wealth that is, most of it—not mine."
而我却埋在羽绒的枕头堆里,拥有大量的财富,为之感到困扰,而这些财富的大半还不是我的。”
"My dear fellow," Mr. Carmichael answered cheerily,
“我亲爱的朋友,”卡迈克尔先生欢快地回答,
"the sooner you cease tormenting yourself the better it will be for you.
“你越快停止折磨自己,对你来说就越好。
If you possessed all the wealth of all the Indies, you could not set right all the discomforts in the world,
你即使拥有整个东印度群岛的财富,也无力纠正世上所有的不平事,
and if you began to refurnish all the attics in this square, there would still remain all the attics in all the other squares and streets to put in order. And there you are!"
如果你着手重新装修这场院的所有阁楼,那还有其他场院和街道的阁楼有待整修。情况就是这样!”
Mr. Carrisford sat and bit his nails as he looked into the glowing bed of coals in the grate.
卡迈克尔先生坐着咬自己的指甲,一边紧盯着壁炉里燃烧着的煤层。
"Do you suppose," he said slowly, after a pause—
“你难道设想,”卡里斯福特先生慢慢地说,又顿了一下,
"do you think it is possible that the other child—the child I never cease thinking of, I believe—
“你难道认为那另一个孩子——我从来都没有停止过思念的那个孩子,我相信——
could be—could possibly be reduced to any such condition as the poor little soul next door?"
可能——也许有可能会沦落到这等地步,就像隔壁那个可怜的小孩子一样?”
Mr. Carmichael looked at him uneasily. He knew that the worst thing the man could do for himself,
卡迈克尔先生不安地望着对方。他知道这位先生对他本人,
for his reason and his health, was to begin to think in the particular way of this particular subject.
对他本身的利益和健康所能做的最糟糕的事就是又开始以这种特定的方式去考虑这个特定的问题。