shipping intelligence and office business

mr dombey's offices were in a court where there was an old-established stall of choice fruit at the corner: where perambulating merchants, of both sexes, offered for sale at any time between the hours of ten and five, slippers, pocket-books, sponges, dogs' collars, and windsor soap; and sometimes a pointer or an oil-painting.

the pointer always came that way, with a view to the stock exchange, where a sporting taste (originating generally in bets of new hats) is much in vogue. the other commodities were addressed to the general public; but they were never offered by the vendors to mr dombey. when he appeared, the dealers in those wares fell off respectfully. the principal slipper and dogs' collar man - who considered himself a public character, and whose portrait was screwed on to an artist's door in cheapside - threw up his forefinger to the brim of his hat as mr dombey went by. the ticket-porter, if he were not absent on a job, always ran officiously before, to open mr dombey's office door as wide as possible, and hold it open, with his hat off, while he entered.

the clerks within were not a whit behind-hand in their demonstrations of respect. a solemn hush prevailed, as mr dombey passed through the outer office. the wit of the counting-house became in a moment as mute as the row of leathern fire-buckets hanging up behind him. such vapid and flat daylight as filtered through the ground-glass windows and skylights, leaving a black sediment upon the panes, showed the books and papers, and the figures bending over them, enveloped in a studious gloom, and as much abstracted in appearance, from the world without, as if they were assembled at the bottom of the sea; while a mouldy little strong room in the obscure perspective, where a shaded lamp was always burning, might have represented the cavern of some ocean monster, looking on with a red eye at these mysteries of the deep.

when perch the messenger, whose place was on a little bracket, like a timepiece, saw mr dombey come in - or rather when he felt that he was coming, for he had usually an instinctive sense of his approach - he hurried into mr dombey's room, stirred the fire, carried fresh coals from the bowels of the coal-box, hung the newspaper to air upon the fender, put the chair ready, and the screen in its place, and was round upon his heel on the instant of mr dombey's entrance, to take his great-coat and hat, and hang them up. then perch took the newspaper, and gave it a turn or two in his hands before the fire, and laid it, deferentially, at mr dombey's elbow. and so little objection had perch to being deferential in the last degree, that if he might have laid himself at mr dombey's feet, or might have called him by some such title as used to be bestowed upon the caliph haroun alraschid, he would have been all the better pleased.

as this honour would have been an innovation and an experiment, perch was fain to content himself by expressing as well as he could, in his manner, you are the light of my eyes. you are the breath of my soul. you are the commander of the faithful perch! with this imperfect happiness to cheer him, he would shut the door softly, walk away on tiptoe, and leave his great chief to be stared at, through a dome-shaped window in the leads, by ugly chimney-pots and backs of houses, and especially by the bold window of a hair-cutting saloon on a first floor, where a waxen effigy, bald as a mussulman in the morning, and covered, after eleven o'clock in the day, with luxuriant hair and whiskers in the latest christian fashion, showed him the wrong side of its head for ever.

between mr dombey and the common world, as it was accessible through the medium of the outer office - to which mr dombey's presence in his own room may be said to have struck like damp, or cold air - there were two degrees of descent. mr carker in his own office was the first step; mr morfin, in his own office, was the second. each of these gentlemen occupied a little chamber like a bath-room, opening from the passage outside mr dombey's door. mr carker, as grand vizier, inhabited the room that was nearest to the sultan. mr morfin, as an officer of inferior state, inhabited the room that was nearest to the clerks.

the gentleman last mentioned was a cheerful-looking, hazel-eyed elderly bachelor: gravely attired, as to his upper man, in black; and as to his legs, in pepper-and-salt colour. his dark hair was just touched here and there with specks of gray, as though the tread of time had splashed it; and his whiskers were already white. he had a mighty respect for mr dombey, and rendered him due homage; but as he was of a genial temper himself, and never wholly at his ease in that stately presence, he was disquieted by no jealousy of the many conferences enjoyed by mr carker, and felt a secret satisfaction in having duties to discharge, which rarely exposed him to be singled out for such distinction. he was a great musical amateur in his way - after business; and had a paternal affection for his violoncello, which was once in every week transported from islington, his place of abode, to a certain club-room hard by the bank, where quartettes of the most tormenting and excruciating nature were executed every wednesday evening by a private party.

mr carker was a gentleman thirty-eight or forty years old, of a florid complexion, and with two unbroken rows of glistening teeth, whose regularity and whiteness were quite distressing. it was impossible to escape the observation of them, for he showed them whenever he spoke; and bore so wide a smile upon his countenance (a smile, however, very rarely, indeed, extending beyond his mouth), that there was something in it like the snarl of a cat. he affected a stiff white cravat, after the example of his principal, and was always closely buttoned up and tightly dressed. his manner towards mr dombey was deeply conceived and perfectly expressed. he was familiar with him, in the very extremity of his sense of the distance between them. 'mr dombey, to a man in your position from a man in mine, there is no show of subservience compatible with the transaction of business between us, that i should think sufficient. i frankly tell you, sir, i give it up altogether. i feel that i could not satisfy my own mind; and heaven knows, mr dombey, you can afford to dispense with the endeavour.' if he had carried these words about with him printed on a placard, and had constantly offered it to mr dombey's perusal on the breast of his coat, he could not have been more explicit than he was.

this was carker the manager. mr carker the junior, walter's friend, was his brother; two or three years older than he, but widely removed in station. the younger brother's post was on the top of the official ladder; the elder brother's at the bottom. the elder brother never gained a stave, or raised his foot to mount one. young men passed above his head, and rose and rose; but he was always at the bottom. he was quite resigned to occupy that low condition: never complained of it: and certainly never hoped to escape from it.

'how do you do this morning?' said mr carker the manager, entering mr dombey's room soon after his arrival one day: with a bundle of papers in his hand.

'how do you do, carker?' said mr dombey.

'coolish!' observed carker, stirring the fire.

'rather,' said mr dombey.

'any news of the young gentleman who is so important to us all?' asked carker, with his whole regiment of teeth on parade.

'yes - not direct news- i hear he's very well,' said mr dombey. who had come from brighton over-night. but no one knew it.

'very well, and becoming a great scholar, no doubt?' observed the manager.

'i hope so,' returned mr dombey.

'egad!' said mr carker, shaking his head, 'time flies!'

'i think so, sometimes,' returned mr dombey, glancing at his newspaper.

'oh! you! you have no reason to think so,' observed carker. 'one who sits on such an elevation as yours, and can sit there, unmoved, in all seasons - hasn't much reason to know anything about the flight of time. it's men like myself, who are low down and are not superior in circumstances, and who inherit new masters in the course of time, that have cause to look about us. i shall have a rising sun to worship, soon.'

'time enough, time enough, carker!' said mr dombey, rising from his chair, and standing with his back to the fire. 'have you anything there for me?'

'i don't know that i need trouble you,' returned carker, turning over the papers in his hand. 'you have a committee today at three, you know.'

'and one at three, three-quarters,' added mr dombey.

'catch you forgetting anything!' exclaimed carker, still turning over his papers. 'if mr paul inherits your memory, he'll be a troublesome customer in the house. one of you is enough'

'you have an accurate memory of your own,' said mr dombey.

'oh! i!' returned the manager. 'it's the only capital of a man like me.'

mr dombey did not look less pompous or at all displeased, as he stood leaning against the chimney-piece, surveying his (of course unconscious) clerk, from head to foot. the stiffness and nicety of mr carker's dress, and a certain arrogance of manner, either natural to him or imitated from a pattern not far off, gave great additional effect to his humility. he seemed a man who would contend against the power that vanquished him, if he could, but who was utterly borne down by the greatness and superiority of mr dombey.

'is morfin here?' asked mr dombey after a short pause, during which mr carker had been fluttering his papers, and muttering little abstracts of their contents to himself.

'morfin's here,' he answered, looking up with his widest and almost sudden smile; 'humming musical recollections - of his last night's quartette party, i suppose - through the walls between us, and driving me half mad. i wish he'd make a bonfire of his violoncello, and burn his music-books in it.'

'you respect nobody, carker, i think,' said mr dombey.

'no?' inquired carker, with another wide and most feline show of his teeth. 'well! not many people, i believe. i wouldn't answer perhaps,' he murmured, as if he were only thinking it, 'for more than one.'

a dangerous quality, if real; and a not less dangerous one, if feigned. but mr dombey hardly seemed to think so, as he still stood with his back to the fire, drawn up to his full height, and looking at his head-clerk with a dignified composure, in which there seemed to lurk a stronger latent sense of power than usual.

'talking of morfin,' resumed mr carker, taking out one paper from the rest, 'he reports a junior dead in the agency at barbados, and proposes to reserve a passage in the son and heir - she'll sail in a month or so - for the successor. you don't care who goes, i suppose? we have nobody of that sort here.'

mr dombey shook his head with supreme indifference.

'it's no very precious appointment,' observed mr carker, taking up a pen, with which to endorse a memorandum on the back of the paper. 'i hope he may bestow it on some orphan nephew of a musical friend. it may perhaps stop his fiddle-playing, if he has a gift that way. who's that? come in!'

'i beg your pardon, mr carker. i didn't know you were here, sir,' answered walter; appearing with some letters in his hand, unopened, and newly arrived. 'mr carker the junior, sir - '

at the mention of this name, mr carker the manager was or affected to be, touched to the quick with shame and humiliation. he cast his eyes full on mr dombey with an altered and apologetic look, abased them on the ground, and remained for a moment without speaking.

'i thought, sir,' he said suddenly and angrily, turning on walter, 'that you had been before requested not to drag mr carker the junior into your conversation.'

'i beg your pardon,' returned walter. 'i was only going to say that mr carker the junior had told me he believed you were gone out, or i should not have knocked at the door when you were engaged with mr dombey. these are letters for mr dombey, sir.'

'very well, sir,' returned mr carker the manager, plucking them sharply from his hand. 'go about your business.'

but in taking them with so little ceremony, mr carker dropped one on the floor, and did not see what he had done; neither did mr dombey observe the letter lying near his feet. walter hesitated for a moment, thinking that one or other of them would notice it; but finding that neither did, he stopped, came back, picked it up, and laid it himself on mr dombey's desk. the letters were post-letters; and it happened that the one in question was mrs pipchin's regular report, directed as usual - for mrs pipchin was but an indifferent penwoman - by florence. mr dombey, having his attention silently called to this letter by walter, started, and looked fiercely at him, as if he believed that he had purposely selected it from all the rest.

'you can leave the room, sir!' said mr dombey, haughtily.

he crushed the letter in his hand; and having watched walter out at the door, put it in his pocket without breaking the seal.

'these continual references to mr carker the junior,' mr carker the manager began, as soon as they were alone, 'are, to a man in my position, uttered before one in yours, so unspeakably distressing - '

'nonsense, carker,' mr dombey interrupted. 'you are too sensitive.'

'i am sensitive,' he returned. 'if one in your position could by any possibility imagine yourself in my place: which you cannot: you would be so too.'

as mr dombey's thoughts were evidently pursuing some other subject, his discreet ally broke off here, and stood with his teeth ready to present to him, when he should look up.

'you want somebody to send to the west indies, you were saying,' observed mr dombey, hurriedly.

'yes,' replied carker.

'send young gay.'

'good, very good indeed. nothing easier,' said mr carker, without any show of surprise, and taking up the pen to re-endorse the letter, as coolly as he had done before. '"send young gay."'

'call him back,' said mr dombey.

mr carker was quick to do so, and walter was quick to return.

'gay,' said mr dombey, turning a little to look at him over his shoulder. 'here is a -

'an opening,' said mr carker, with his mouth stretched to the utmost.

'in the west indies. at barbados. i am going to send you,' said mr dombey, scorning to embellish the bare truth, 'to fill a junior situation in the counting-house at barbados. let your uncle know from me, that i have chosen you to go to the west indies.'

walter's breath was so completely taken away by his astonishment, that he could hardly find enough for the repetition of the words 'west indies.'

'somebody must go,' said mr dombey, 'and you are young and healthy, and your uncle's circumstances are not good. tell your uncle that you are appointed. you will not go yet. there will be an interval of a month - or two perhaps.'

'shall i remain there, sir?' inquired walter.

'will you remain there, sir!' repeated mr dombey, turning a little more round towards him. 'what do you mean? what does he mean, carker?'

'live there, sir,' faltered walter.

'certainly,' returned mr dombey.

walter bowed.

'that's all,' said mr dombey, resuming his letters. 'you will explain to him in good time about the usual outfit and so forth, carker, of course. he needn't wait, carker.'

'you needn't wait, gay,' observed mr carker: bare to the gums.

'unless,' said mr dombey, stopping in his reading without looking off the letter, and seeming to listen. 'unless he has anything to say.'

'no, sir,' returned walter, agitated and confused, and almost stunned, as an infinite variety of pictures presented themselves to his mind; among which captain cuttle, in his glazed hat, transfixed with astonishment at mrs macstinger's, and his uncle bemoaning his loss in the little back parlour, held prominent places. 'i hardly know - i - i am much obliged, sir.'

'he needn't wait, carker,' said mr dombey.

and as mr carker again echoed the words, and also collected his papers as if he were going away too, walter felt that his lingering any longer would be an unpardonable intrusion - especially as he had nothing to say - and therefore walked out quite confounded.

going along the passage, with the mingled consciousness and helplessness of a dream, he heard mr dombey's door shut again, as mr carker came out: and immediately afterwards that gentleman called to him.

'bring your friend mr carker the junior to my room, sir, if you please.'

walter went to the outer office and apprised mr carker the junior of his errand, who accordingly came out from behind a partition where he sat alone in one corner, and returned with him to the room of mr carker the manager.

that gentleman was standing with his back to the fire, and his hands under his coat-tails, looking over his white cravat, as unpromisingly as mr dombey himself could have looked. he received them without any change in his attitude or softening of his harsh and black expression: merely signing to walter to close the door.

'john carker,' said the manager, when this was done, turning suddenly upon his brother, with his two rows of teeth bristling as if he would have bitten him, 'what is the league between you and this young man, in virtue of which i am haunted and hunted by the mention of your name? is it not enough for you, john carker, that i am your near relation, and can't detach myself from that - '

'say disgrace, james,' interposed the other in a low voice, finding that he stammered for a word. 'you mean it, and have reason, say disgrace.'

'from that disgrace,' assented his brother with keen emphasis, 'but is the fact to be blurted out and trumpeted, and proclaimed continually in the presence of the very house! in moments of confidence too? do you think your name is calculated to harmonise in this place with trust and confidence, john carker?'

'no,' returned the other. 'no, james. god knows i have no such thought.'

'what is your thought, then?' said his brother, 'and why do you thrust yourself in my way? haven't you injured me enough already?'

'i have never injured you, james, wilfully.'

'you are my brother,' said the manager. 'that's injury enough.'

'i wish i could undo it, james.'

'i wish you could and would.'

during this conversation, walter had looked from one brother to the other, with pain and amazement. he who was the senior in years, and junior in the house, stood, with his eyes cast upon the ground, and his head bowed, humbly listening to the reproaches of the other. though these were rendered very bitter by the tone and look with which they were accompanied, and by the presence of walter whom they so much surprised and shocked, he entered no other protest against them than by slightly raising his right hand in a deprecatory manner, as if he would have said, 'spare me!' so, had they been blows, and he a brave man, under strong constraint, and weakened by bodily suffering, he might have stood before the executioner.

generous and quick in all his emotions, and regarding himself as the innocent occasion of these taunts, walter now struck in, with all the earnestness he felt.

'mr carker,' he said, addressing himself to the manager. 'indeed, indeed, this is my fault solely. in a kind of heedlessness, for which i cannot blame myself enough, i have, i have no doubt, mentioned mr carker the junior much oftener than was necessary; and have allowed his name sometimes to slip through my lips, when it was against your expressed wish. but it has been my own mistake, sir. we have never exchanged one word upon the subject - very few, indeed, on any subject. and it has not been,' added walter, after a moment's pause, 'all heedlessness on my part, sir; for i have felt an interest in mr carker ever since i have been here, and have hardly been able to help speaking of him sometimes, when i have thought of him so much!'

walter said this from his soul, and with the very breath of honour. for he looked upon the bowed head, and the downcast eyes, and upraised hand, and thought, 'i have felt it; and why should i not avow it in behalf of this unfriended, broken man!'

mr carker the manager looked at him, as he spoke, and when he had finished speaking, with a smile that seemed to divide his face into two parts.

'you are an excitable youth, gay,' he said; 'and should endeavour to cool down a little now, for it would be unwise to encourage feverish predispositions. be as cool as you can, gay. be as cool as you can. you might have asked mr john carker himself (if you have not done so) whether he claims to be, or is, an object of such strong interest.'

'james, do me justice,' said his brother. 'i have claimed nothing; and i claim nothing. believe me, on my -

'honour?' said his brother, with another smile, as he warmed himself before the fire.

'on my me - on my fallen life!' returned the other, in the same low voice, but with a deeper stress on his words than he had yet seemed capable of giving them. 'believe me, i have held myself aloof, and kept alone. this has been unsought by me. i have avoided him and everyone.

'indeed, you have avoided me, mr carker,' said walter, with the tears rising to his eyes; so true was his compassion. 'i know it, to my disappointment and regret. when i first came here, and ever since, i am sure i have tried to be as much your friend, as one of my age could presume to be; but it has been of no use.

'and observe,' said the manager, taking him up quickly, 'it will be of still less use, gay, if you persist in forcing mr john carker's name on people's attention. that is not the way to befriend mr john carker. ask him if he thinks it is.'

'it is no service to me,' said the brother. 'it only leads to such a conversation as the present, which i need not say i could have well spared. no one can be a better friend to me:' he spoke here very distinctly, as if he would impress it upon walter: 'than in forgetting me, and leaving me to go my way, unquestioned and unnoticed.'

'your memory not being retentive, gay, of what you are told by others,' said mr carker the manager, warming himself with great and increased satisfaction, 'i thought it well that you should be told this from the best authority,' nodding towards his brother. 'you are not likely to forget it now, i hope. that's all, gay. you can go.

walter passed out at the door, and was about to close it after him, when, hearing the voices of the brothers again, and also the mention of his own name, he stood irresolutely, with his hand upon the lock, and the door ajar, uncertain whether to return or go away. in this position he could not help overhearing what followed.

'think of me more leniently, if you can, james,' said john carker, 'when i tell you i have had - how could i help having, with my history, written here' - striking himself upon the breast - 'my whole heart awakened by my observation of that boy, walter gay. i saw in him when he first came here, almost my other self.'

'your other self!' repeated the manager, disdainfully.

'not as i am, but as i was when i first came here too; as sanguine, giddy, youthful, inexperienced; flushed with the same restless and adventurous fancies; and full of the same qualities, fraught with the same capacity of leading on to good or evil.'

'i hope not,' said his brother, with some hidden and sarcastic meaning in his tone.

'you strike me sharply; and your hand is steady, and your thrust is very deep,' returned the other, speaking (or so walter thought) as if some cruel weapon actually stabbed him as he spoke. 'i imagined all this when he was a boy. i believed it. it was a truth to me. i saw him lightly walking on the edge of an unseen gulf where so many others walk with equal gaiety, and from which

'the old excuse,' interrupted his brother, as he stirred the fire. 'so many. go on. say, so many fall.'

'from which one traveller fell,' returned the other, 'who set forward, on his way, a boy like him, and missed his footing more and more, and slipped a little and a little lower; and went on stumbling still, until he fell headlong and found himself below a shattered man. think what i suffered, when i watched that boy.'

'you have only yourself to thank for it,' returned the brother.

'only myself,' he assented with a sigh. 'i don't seek to divide the blame or shame.'

'you have divided the shame,' james carker muttered through his teeth. and, through so many and such close teeth, he could mutter well.

'ah, james,' returned his brother, speaking for the first time in an accent of reproach, and seeming, by the sound of his voice, to have covered his face with his hands, 'i have been, since then, a useful foil to you. you have trodden on me freely in your climbing up. don't spurn me with your heel!'

a silence ensued. after a time, mr carker the manager was heard rustling among his papers, as if he had resolved to bring the interview to a conclusion. at the same time his brother withdrew nearer to the door.

'that's all,' he said. 'i watched him with such trembling and such fear, as was some little punishment to me, until he passed the place where i first fell; and then, though i had been his father, i believe i never could have thanked god more devoutly. i didn't dare to warn him, and advise him; but if i had seen direct cause, i would have shown him my example. i was afraid to be seen speaking with him, lest it should be thought i did him harm, and tempted him to evil, and corrupted him: or lest i really should. there may be such contagion in me; i don't know. piece out my history, in connexion with young walter gay, and what he has made me feel; and think of me more leniently, james, if you can.

with these words he came out to where walter was standing. he turned a little paler when he saw him there, and paler yet when walter caught him by the hand, and said in a whisper:

'mr carker, pray let me thank you! let me say how much i feel for you! how sorry i am, to have been the unhappy cause of all this! how i almost look upon you now as my protector and guardian! how very, very much, i feel obliged to you and pity you!' said walter, squeezing both his hands, and hardly knowing, in his agitation, what he did or said.

mr morfin's room being close at hand and empty, and the door wide open, they moved thither by one accord: the passage being seldom free from someone passing to or fro. when they were there, and walter saw in mr carker's face some traces of the emotion within, he almost felt as if he had never seen the face before; it was so greatly changed.

'walter,' he said, laying his hand on his shoulder. 'i am far removed from you, and may i ever be. do you know what i am?'

'what you are!' appeared to hang on walter's lips, as he regarded him attentively.

'it was begun,' said carker, 'before my twenty-first birthday - led up to, long before, but not begun till near that time. i had robbed them when i came of age. i robbed them afterwards. before my twenty-second birthday, it was all found out; and then, walter, from all men's society, i died.'

again his last few words hung trembling upon walter's lips, but he could neither utter them, nor any of his own.

'the house was very good to me. may heaven reward the old man for his forbearance! this one, too, his son, who was then newly in the firm, where i had held great trust! i was called into that room which is now his - i have never entered it since - and came out, what you know me. for many years i sat in my present seat, alone as now, but then a known and recognised example to the rest. they were all merciful to me, and i lived. time has altered that part of my poor expiation; and i think, except the three heads of the house, there is no one here who knows my story rightly. before the little boy grows up, and has it told to him, my corner may be vacant. i would rather that it might be so! this is the only change to me since that day, when i left all youth, and hope, and good men's company, behind me in that room. god bless you, walter! keep you, and all dear to you, in honesty, or strike them dead!'

some recollection of his trembling from head to foot, as if with excessive cold, and of his bursting into tears, was all that walter could add to this, when he tried to recall exactly what had passed between them.

when walter saw him next, he was bending over his desk in his old silent, drooping, humbled way. then, observing him at his work, and feeling how resolved he evidently was that no further intercourse should arise between them, and thinking again and again on all he had seen and heard that morning in so short a time, in connexion with the history of both the carkers, walter could hardly believe that he was under orders for the west indies, and would soon be lost to uncle sol, and captain cuttle, and to glimpses few and far between of florence dombey - no, he meant paul - and to all he loved, and liked, and looked for, in his daily life.

but it was true, and the news had already penetrated to the outer office; for while he sat with a heavy heart, pondering on these things, and resting his head upon his arm, perch the messenger, descending from his mahogany bracket, and jogging his elbow, begged his pardon, but wished to say in his ear, did he think he could arrange to send home to england a jar of preserved ginger, cheap, for mrs perch's own eating, in the course of her recovery from her next confinement?

董贝先生的营业所的办公室是在一个院子里；院子的角落里很久以来就设有一个出卖精选水果的货摊；男女行商在院子里向顾客兜售拖鞋、笔记本、海绵、狗的颈圈、温莎1肥皂；有时还出售一条猎狗（它能用鼻尖指示猎获物所在处）或一幅油画。

指示猎物的猎狗经常在那里出现，是考虑到证券交易所的人们可能对它会有兴趣，因为证券交易所里对运动的爱好很时兴（通常最早是从对新奇事物的打赌开始的）。其他的商品面向一般公众，但商贩们从来没有向董贝先生兜售过它们。当他出现的时候，出售这些货物的商人们都恭恭敬敬地向后退缩。当董贝先生走过的时候，拖鞋与狗的颈圈的主要商人把食指举到帽边行礼（这位商人认为自己是一位公众活动家，他的画像被钉在切普赛德街2）。搬运员如果当时不是因事不在的话，总是殷勤地跑到前面去把董贝先生营业所办公室的门尽量开得大大的；当董贝先生进门的时候，他脱下帽子，把门按住。

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1温莎（windsor）：英国城市。

2切普赛德街（cheapside）：伦敦中部东西向的大街，古时为闹市。

办公室里的职员们在显示敬意上丝毫也不逊色。当董贝先生走过最外面的一间办公室时，房间里一片肃静。会计室里那位富有机智、好说俏皮话的人片刻间就像挂在他后面的一排皮制的消防桶一样默不作声。通过毛玻璃窗与天窗渗透进来的日光缺乏生气，暗淡无力，在玻璃上面留下了一个黑色的沉淀物；它照出了帐册、票据以及低头弯腰坐在它们前面的人们的身影，他们被一片勤勉而阴郁的气氛笼罩着，从外表看来，他们与外界完全隔绝，仿佛是聚集在海底似的；幽暗的走廊尽头的一间生了霉的小金库（那里老是点着一盏灯）则可以代表某个海中妖怪的洞穴，那妖怪用一只红眼睛看着海底深处的这些神秘事物。

信差珀奇像时钟一样，在托架上有一个座位1。当他看到董贝先生进来——或者正确地说，当他感觉到他正在进来，因为他通常对他的来到有一种直觉——的时候，他就急忙走进董贝先生的房间，捅一捅火，从煤箱的深处挖出新鲜的煤块，把报纸挂在火炉围栏上烘暖，把椅子摆好，并把围屏移到适当的位置；在董贝先生进来的那一瞬间，他立即转过身去，接下他的厚大衣和帽子，把它们挂好。然后珀奇取下报纸，在炉前把它在手里转上一两转，毕恭毕敬地放在董贝先生的身边。珀奇向董贝先生表示最大程度的敬意，他是丝毫也没有什么不愿意的；如果他可以躺在董贝先生的脚边，或者可以用人们通常对哈里发何鲁纳·拉施德2所使用的那样一些尊称来称呼他的话，那么他就只会感到更加高兴。

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1有一种小钟是摆放在托架上的，称为托架小钟（bracketclock）。

2《天方夜谭》（或译《一千零一夜》）故事中的一位阿拉伯国王。在阿拉伯语中，哈里发是王位继承人的意思，后成为阿拉伯国王的通称。

但由于采用这种致敬的方式将会是一种革新与试验，所以珀奇乐意按照他自己的方式，用他所能表达的话来满足自己的心愿：“您是我眼睛的亮光。您是我心灵的气息。您是忠实的珀奇的司令官！”这样高高兴兴、但意犹未竟地向他表达敬意之后，他就会轻轻地关上门，踮着脚走出去，把他伟大的老板留下，让丑陋的烟囱顶管、房屋的后墙、特别是二层楼理发厅的一扇突出的窗子，通过圆顶形的窗子，凝视着他（那理发厅里有一个蜡象，早上像穆斯林一样，头光秃秃的，十一点钟以后则仿照基督徒最时新的式样，蓄着连鬓胡子，它永远向董贝先生显露出它的后脑壳）。

董贝先生与普通世界之间有两级阶梯（因为要通过外面的办公室才能到达那个世界，而董贝先生在他自己的房间中，对外面的办公室来说可以说是泼上了冷水或者吹去了冷空气一样）。在自己办公室中的卡克先生是第一级阶梯；在自己办公室中的莫芬先生是第二阶梯。这两位先生每人都有一个像浴室般大小的房间，房门通向董贝先生门外的过道。作为内阁总理的卡克先生待在最挨近皇帝的房间里；作为职位略低的官员，莫芬先生待在最挨近职员们的房间里。

最后提到的这位先生是一位神情愉快、眼睛淡褐色、年纪较大的单身汉；他衣着庄重，上半身黑色，腿部是胡椒与盐的颜色。他的黑发中间这里那里夹杂着灰色的斑点。仿佛是时间老人行进时溅泼上的；他的连鬓胡子早已白了。他非常尊敬董贝先生，并向他表示适当的顺从，但由于他是一位性格愉快的人，在那位庄严的人的面前总是感到局促不安，所以他从来没有因为妒嫉卡克先生参加过许多商谈而烦恼；由于他必须履行他的职责，他很少得到那份特殊的光荣，他还为此暗暗感到高兴。他在某种程度上是一位伟大的业余音乐爱好者，对他的大提琴怀着父亲般的感情；他每个星期都要把它从他在伊斯灵顿1寓所搬到银行邻近的某个俱乐部里；有一个私人乐团每星期三晚上都在那里演出最令人伤心断肠的四重奏。

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1伊斯灵顿（islington）：英格兰大伦敦内一自治市。

卡克先生是一位三十八岁或四十岁的有身份的先生，脸色红润，有两排完整发亮的牙齿，那种整齐和白色使人看了十分难受。要想避开它们是不可能的，因为他一讲话总是露出它们；他微笑的时候嘴巴张得十分宽阔（可是他的微笑很少浮现在嘴巴以外的脸上），因此其中总有某些像猫叫一样的东西。他仿效他的老板，爱系一条硬挺的白领带，衣服穿得紧紧贴贴，总是扣上全部钮扣。他对待董贝先生的态度是经过深思熟虑的，而且出色地表达出来。他跟他无拘无束，但又深知他们之间存在的距离。“董贝先生，根据我们之间的业务关系，一位像我这种地位的人向一位像您这种地位的人不论表示什么样效忠的敬意，我都不认为已经足够了。坦率地对您说，先生，我完全否认这一点。我觉得我做得还不能使我自己称心满意；天知道，董贝先生，如果免除我进行这种努力，那么您怎么还能受得了。”如果他把这些话印在招贴上，放在他外衣的胸前，供董贝先生随时阅读，他也不会比他的行为表露得更为明显的了。

这就是经理卡克。沃尔特的朋友，低级职员卡克先生是他的哥哥，比他大两三岁，但地位比他低一大截。弟弟的位子是在职务阶梯的顶端，哥哥的位子则是在它的最底层。哥哥从来没有上升到上面的一个梯级或者抬起脚来攀登一下。年轻人从他的头顶跨越过去，步步高升，但他总是在最底层。他对占有那个低下的地位完全心安理得，从不抱怨，当然也从来不希望改变它。

“您今天早上好吗？”有一天董贝先生来到之后不久，经理卡克先生手里拿着一卷公文，走进他的房间，问道。

“您好吗，卡克？”董贝先生从椅子上站起来，背对着壁炉，问道，“您有什么事情需要告诉我的？”

“我不知道我是否需要打扰您，”卡克翻着手中的公文，回答道；“您知道，今天三点钟，委员会有一个会议您要参加。”

“还有一个会议是在三点三刻，”董贝先生补充说道。

“您从来不会忘记任何事情！”卡克高声喊道，一边仍在翻着公文。“如果保罗少爷把您的记性继承了下来，那么他将成为使公司不得安宁的人物了。有您一位就已足够了。”

“您自己的记性也很好，”董贝先生说道。

“啊，我吗？”经理回答道。“像我这样的人，这是唯一的资本哪。”

董贝先生背靠着壁炉，站在那里，从头到脚打量着他的下属（当然是无意识的），这时他那高傲自负的神色没有稍减半分，也没有任何不愉快的样子。卡克先生严谨而雅致的衣着和有几分妄自尊大的态度（也许是他生性如此，也许是从离他不远的榜样中模仿到的）给他的谦恭增添了特别的效果。如果他能够的话，他似乎是一位会对征服他的力量进行反抗的人；但是董贝先生的崇高与优越的地位却把他完全压倒了。

“莫芬在这里吗？”董贝先生在短短的沉默之后，问道；卡克先生在那段时间中一直在翻着他的公文，并自言自语地嘀咕几句公文的摘要。

“莫芬在这里，”他抬起眼睛，露出那极为宽阔、极为急速的微笑，回答道：“正通过我们之间的隔墙哼唱着，我想大概是回想他昨天四重奏乐团的音乐吧，它把我弄得都快要疯了。我真希望他把他的大提琴烧了，把他的乐谱也一道扔到火里去。”

“我觉得，您什么人也不尊敬，卡克，”董贝先生说道。

“是吗？”卡克问道，一边又露出了一个宽阔的、极为狡诈的微笑，露出了他的牙齿；“唔！不是对好多人都尊敬，我想。也许是，”他低声嘀咕着，仿佛他只是在想这件事，“我不想对一个以上的人负责。”

如果这是真的话，那么这是危险的品质；如果这是假装的话，那么它也同样危险。可是董贝先生似乎并不这样想；这时他挺直了身子，仍旧背对着壁炉站着，同时威严而镇静地望着他下属中这位第一把手，在神态中似乎对他自己的权力隐藏着比平时更为强烈的潜在的意识。

“说到莫芬。”卡克先生从公文中抽出一页纸来，继续说道，“他报告说，巴巴多斯1代销处的一位低级职员死了，因此建议为接替他的人订购一张船票，乘‘儿子与继承人’这条船去，它大约在一个月左右开航。我想，您认为谁去都一样吧？我们这里没有合适的人。”

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1巴巴多斯（barbados）：位于西印度群岛最东端，为一珊瑚岛；在狄更斯写作此书时，它是英国的殖民地。

董贝先生非常漠不关心地点点头。

“这不是一项很重要的任命，”卡克先生取出一支笔，在公文背面签署了意见。“我想他可能把这个职位赠送给一位孤儿，他一位音乐朋友的侄子了。它也许会终止他的提琴演奏，如果他有那方面的天赋的话。是谁？进来吧！”

“请原谅，卡克先生。我不知道您在这里，先生，”沃尔特手里拿了几封没有启封的新到的信件，走进来，回答道：

“是低级职员卡克先生，先生——”

经理卡克先生一听到这个名字，立刻被触到了痛处，感到羞耻与屈辱，或者装出这种样子；他换了一副抱歉的神色，低垂着眼睛，注视着董贝先生，片刻间一言不发。

“我想，先生，”他突然怒冲冲地转身对着沃尔特，说道：“我以前曾经请求您在谈话中别把低级职员卡克先生扯进来的。”

“请您原谅，”沃尔特回答道。“我只是想要说，低级职员卡克先生告诉我，他想您出去了；否则，您与董贝先生正有事商谈的时候，我就不会来敲门了。这些是给董贝先生的信，先生。”

“很好，先生，”经理卡克先生把信从他手里猛抢过去，回答道。“回去干您的事情去吧。”

可是卡克先生把信拿到手里那样随便无礼，因此他把一封信掉在地上了，而且他自己还没有注意到这一点。董贝先生也没有留意到掉在他脚边的那封信。沃尔特迟疑了一会儿，心想他们两人当中这一位或那一位会注意到的，但发现他们谁也没有注意到，他就停下脚步，走回来，把它捡起来，亲自搁在董贝先生的办公桌上。这些信都是邮寄来的；我们提到的这封信碰巧是皮普钦太太的定期报告，寄发地址像往常一样，是由弗洛伦斯写的，因为皮普钦太太是一位不擅长写字的女人。当董贝先生的注意力被沃尔特默默地吸引到这封信的时候，他吃了一惊，凶猛地看着他，仿佛他相信他是故意把它从所有信中挑出来似的。

“您可以离开这个房间了，先生，”董贝先生傲慢地说道。

他把信在手里揉成一团，注视着沃尔特走出门外以后，没有启封就把它塞进衣袋。

“您刚才说，您要派一个人到西印度群岛去，”董贝先生急忙说道。

“是的，”卡克回答道。

“派年轻人盖伊去。”

“好，确实很好。没有什么比这更容易的了，”卡克先生说道；他没有露出任何惊奇的表情，而是像先前一样，冷冰冰地在公文背面重新签署了意见。“派年轻人盖伊去。”

“喊他回来，”董贝先生说道。

卡克先生迅速照办；沃尔特也迅速地回来了。

“盖伊，”董贝先生稍稍转过身子，以便回过头来看着他。

“有一个——”

“空缺，”卡克先生嘴巴张得极为宽阔地说道。

“在西印度群岛。在巴巴多斯。我打算派您去，”董贝先生说道；他不屑美化明摆着的事实真相，“去接替巴巴多斯会计室里一个低级的职位。请代我转告您的舅舅，我已选择您到西印度群岛去了。”

沃尔特惊愕得完全停止了呼吸，因此连“西印度群岛”这几个字也不能重复说出来。

“总得派个人去，”董贝先生说道，“您年轻，健康，舅舅的境况又不好。告诉您舅舅，已经指派您了。现在还不走。还有一个月的时间——或者也许是两个月。”

“我将留在那里吗，先生？”沃尔特问道。

“您将留在那里吗，先生！”董贝先生把身子朝他那边稍稍转过来一点，重复地说道。“您的话是什么意思？他的话是什么意思，卡克？”

“住在那里，先生，”沃尔特结结巴巴地说道。

“当然，”董贝先生回答道。

沃尔特鞠了个躬。

“我的话已经说完了，”董贝先生说道，一边重新看他的信。“当然，卡克，您在适当的时候向他交代一下旅行用品等等事情。他不必待在这里了，卡克。”

“您不必待在这里了，盖伊，”卡克先生露出牙床，说道。

“除非，”董贝先生说道，他停止阅读，但眼睛没有离开信件，好像在听话似的。“除非他有什么话要说。”

“没有，先生，”沃尔特回答道；当无数种形形色色的景象涌现到他的心头时，他感到激动和慌乱，几乎昏了过去；在这些景象当中，卡特尔船长戴着上了光的帽子，在麦克斯廷杰太太家里惊愕得目瞪口呆；他的舅舅在小后客厅里悲叹着他的损失，是最为突出的两幅。“我实在不知道——我——我很感谢，先生。”

“他不必待在这里了，卡克，”董贝先生说道。

卡克先生又随声重复了这句话，而且还收拾着他的公文，仿佛他也要走似的，这时候沃尔特觉得他再迟延下去就会是不可原谅的打扰了——特别是他已没有什么话要说的了——，因此就十分狼狈地走出了办公室。

他沿着走廊走过去，像在梦中一样感到既清醒而又束手无策，这时候他听到卡克先生走出来时董贝先生的房门又关上的声音，因为在这之后，这位先生立即喊住了他。

“劳驾您把您的朋友，低级职员卡克先生领到我的房间里来，先生。”

沃尔特走到外面的办公室里，把他的使命告诉了低级职员卡克先生。于是低级职员卡克先生就从一个隔板后面（他单独坐在一个角落里）走出来，沃尔特跟他一起回到经理卡克先生的房间里。

那位先生背对着壁炉站着，手抄在燕尾服里面，从白领带上面看着前面，那种严厉可怕的神色只有董贝先生本人才能有。他接待他们的时候，丝毫没有改变姿势或使他那生硬与阴沉的表情柔和下来，而仅仅向沃尔特示意，要他把门关上。

“约翰·卡克，”门关上以后，经理突然转向他的哥哥，露出两排牙齿，仿佛想要咬他似的。“您跟这位年轻人之间订立了什么同盟，凭着它，把我的名字挂在嘴上，来跟我纠缠不休？约翰·卡克，难道你觉得还不够吗？我是你的近亲，不能摆脱掉那份——”

“说耻辱吧，詹姆斯，”另一位看到他在整个词上结巴住了，就低声插嘴道。“你是想这样说，也有理由这样说的，就说耻辱吧。”

“那份耻辱，”他的弟弟同意，并强烈地加重了语气，“可是难道有必要把这事实在公司的老板面前不断地吆喝、张扬和通告吗？甚至在我受到信任的时候也要这样做吗？你以为提到你的名字跟在这里博得信赖与重用是协调的吗，约翰·卡克？”

“不是，”那一位回答道。“不是，詹姆斯。上帝知道，我没有这样的想法。”

“那么，你的想法是什么呢？”他的弟弟说道，“你又为什么硬要挡住我的道路？难道你还嫌伤害我不够吗？”

“我从来没有故意伤害过你，詹姆斯。”

“你是我的哥哥，”经理说道，“这伤害就足够了。”

“我但愿我能消除这个伤害，詹姆斯。”

“我但愿你能消除它，而且将消除它。”

在这谈话中间，沃尔特怀着痛苦与惊奇的心情，望望这一位，又望望那一位弟兄。那位年龄较大、但在公司里职务很低的人的眼睛向地面低垂着，脑袋搭拉着，站在那里，恭顺地听着另一位的谴责。虽然谴责的语气很尖刻，神色很严厉，而且当着震惊的沃尔特的面，但他却没有表示什么抗议，而只是用哀求的态度，稍稍抬起右手，仿佛想说：“饶恕我吧！”如果这些谴责是打击，而他是一位体力衰弱的勇士，那么他也会在刽子手面前站着。

沃尔特在感情上是一位宽厚与急躁的人，他认为他本人是无意间引起这些辱骂的原因，所以这时怀着诚挚的心情插进来说话。

“卡克先生，”他对经理说道，“这完全是我一个人的过错，这一点是千真万确的。由于我粗心大意，这一点我怎么责怪自己也不会过分，因此我，我，毫无疑问，我经常提到职务较低的卡克先生，提到的次数大大地超过了必要，有时我也允许让他的名字脱口而出地说了出来，而这是违背您的明确的意愿的。但这都是我本人的错误，先生。我们从没有在这个问题上交谈过一句话——说实在的，我们在任何问题上都很少交谈。就我这方面来说，先生，”沃尔特停了片刻之后，接着说道，“也并不是完全由于粗心大意。自从我到这里来以后，我对卡克先生一直很感兴趣，当我多么想念他的时候，有时就情不自禁地提到了他。”

沃尔特是真心诚意，并怀着高尚的心情讲这些话的。因为他看到那搭拉的脑袋、低垂的眼睛和抬起的手，心中想道，“我感觉到这点；我为什么不为这位孤立无援、伤心失望的人认错呢？”

“事实上，您一直在避开我，卡克先生，”沃尔特说道；他对他真正感到怜悯，因此泪水都涌到眼睛里了。“我知道这一点，它使我感到失望和惋惜。当我初到这里来的时候，而且从那时候起，我确实很想成为您的好朋友，像我这样年龄的人所指望的那样，可是一切都是白费心思。”

“请注意，盖伊，”经理迅速接过他的话头，说下去，“如果您还像过去那么硬要人们注意约翰·卡克的名字的话，那么您还会更加白费心思。那不是以朋友态度对待约翰·卡克先生的方式。问问他，他是不是这样认为的？”

“那对我不是帮助，”哥哥说道。“它只会引起像现在这样的一场谈话；我不用说，我本来很可以避免参加的。谁要想成为我更好的朋友，”这时他说得很清楚，仿佛想要引起沃尔特的格外注意似的，“那就是忘掉我，让我没人理睬、默默无闻地过我自己的日子。”

“别人对您说的话您是记不住的，盖伊，”经理卡克先生感到极为满意，心情兴奋起来，“所以我想应当让最有权威的人来对您说这一点，”这时他向他的哥哥点了点头，“我希望现在您不至于再把这忘掉了吧。这就是我要说的一切。盖伊。

您可以走了。”

沃尔特走到门口，正想把门在身后关上，这时他又听到了兄弟两人的声音，而且还提到了他自己的名字，于是犹豫不决地站住，手还握着门的拉手，门还半开着，他不知道究竟是回去还是走开。在这种情况下，他不是有意地听到了随后发生的谈话。

“如果你能够的话，詹姆斯，请想到我的时候宽厚一些吧，”约翰·卡克说道，“当我告诉你，我对那孩子，沃尔特·盖伊的观察，已把我整个心灵都唤醒了；——我怎么能不这样呢。我的历史写在这里，”——这时他敲打着自己的胸膛——“当他初到这里来的时候，我在他身上看到了几乎是另一个我。”

“另一个你！”经理轻蔑地重复着。

“并不是现在的我，而是也是初到这里时的我，那时候我跟他一样乐观、轻率、年轻、没有经验，跟他一样扬扬得意地充满了永不平静、爱好冒险的幻想，跟他一样赋有能通向善良或通向邪恶的品质。”

“我希望不是，”他的弟弟说道，语气中有着某种隐藏的与讽刺的意义。

“你把我刺得很痛；你的手没有颤抖，你戳进得很深，”另一位回答道，仿佛在他说话的时候，什么残酷的武器真正捅了他似的（或者沃尔特觉得是这样）。“当他初到这里来的时候，我想像着这一切。我相信它。对我来说，这是真实的。我看到他在一个看不到的深渊的边缘轻快地走着，那么多其他的人们都以同样愉快的神情在那里走着，并且从那里——”

“老借口，”弟弟捅捅炉火，插嘴道，“那么多的人们。说下去吧。说，那么多的人们掉下去了。”

“一位走着的人从那里掉下去了；”另一位回答道，“一位像他那样的孩子开始走上路途，一次又一次地失足，一点一点地往下滑，继续摔倒，直到后来，他倒栽葱地掉下去，并在底层发现他自己成了一个体无完肤的人。请想一想当我注意观察那个孩子的时候，我心里是多么痛苦呵。”

“那只能怪你自己，”弟弟回答道。

“只怪我自己，”他叹了一口气，表示同意。“·我不想寻找别人来分担我的罪过或耻辱。”

“你·已·经让别人来分担你的耻辱了，”詹姆斯·卡克通过他的牙齿咕哝着。虽然他的牙齿那么多那么密，但是他却能咕哝得清清楚楚。

“啊，詹姆斯，”他的哥哥回答道；他第一次用责备的声调说话，而且从他说话的声音听起来，他似乎用手捂着脸，“从那时起，我就成了你的一个有用的衬托物。在你向上爬的时候，你任意地践踏我。请别用你的脚后跟踢我吧！”

接着是静默无声。过了一些时候，只听到经理卡克沙沙地翻阅公文的声音，仿佛他已决定结束这次会晤了。在这同时，他的哥哥退到门口。

“这就是一切，”他说道。“我是那么担心、那么害怕地注意观察着他，就像这是对我的一种小小的惩罚一样，直到他走过了我第一次失足掉下的地方，那时候我相信，即使我是他的父亲，我也不会比那更为虔诚地感谢上帝的了。我不敢预先警戒他，向他提出忠告；但是如果我看到了直接的原因的话，那么我就会向他显示我本人经历过的先例。我怕被别人看到我跟他讲话，唯恐人们会认为我加害于他，引诱他走向邪恶，使他堕落，或者唯恐我真正这样做。也许在我身上有这种传染性的病毒；有谁知道呢？请把我的历史跟沃尔特·盖伊联系起来想一下，也请把它跟他使我产生的感觉联系起来想一下，詹姆斯，如果你能够的话，那么请想到我的时候更宽厚一些吧！”

他说完这些话之后，走出到沃尔特站着的地方。当他看到他在那里的时候，他的脸色稍稍比先前苍白了一些；当沃尔特抓住他的手，低声说了下面一些话的时候，他的脸色就白得更厉害了。

“卡克先生，请允许我谢谢您！请允许我说，我对您是多么同情！我成了这一切的根由，我是多么遗憾！我现在几乎把您看成是我的保卫者与庇护人了！我是多么多么感谢您和可怜您啊！”沃尔特紧紧地握着他的双手，说道；他在激动中几乎不知道他做了什么事情或说了什么话。

莫芬先生的房间就在近旁，里面没有人，门敞开着；他们就不约而同地向里面走去，因为走廊里是难得让人自由来回经过的。当他们到了里面的时候，沃尔特在卡克先生的脸上看到心慌意乱的迹象，这时他几乎感到他以前从来没有见过他的脸孔似的；它变化得多么大啊。

“沃尔特，”他把手搁在他的肩膀上，说道。“我跟您之间隔着一段很远的距离，让我们永远这样吧。您知道我是什么人吗？”

“您是什么人！”当沃尔特目不转睛地注视着他的时候，这句话好像已经到了他的嘴边了。

“那是在我二十一周岁之前开始的，”卡克说道，“——很久以前早就有了这样的趋向，但一直到大概那个时候才开始。当我开始成年的时候。我盗窃了他们的钱财。后来我又盗窃了他们的钱财。在我二十二周岁之前，全都被发觉了；从那之后，沃尔特，对于整个人类社会来说，我已经死了。”

他最后的那几个字又颤抖着到了沃尔特的嘴边，但是他说不出来，也说不出他自己想要说的任何一句话。

“公司对我很好。那位老人宽大为怀，愿上天为此好好报答他吧！这一位，他的儿子，也一样；那时他刚刚到公司里来，而我在公司里是曾经得到很大信任的！我被召唤到现在属于他的房间里——从那时以后，我再也没有进去过——，出来以后就成了一位您所知道的人。我在我现在的位子上坐了许多年，像现在一样孤独，但那时候对其余的人来说，我成了一个有名的、公认的榜样。他们对我都很仁慈，我也活下来了。随着时间的推移，我在痛苦赎罪的这一方面已经有了改变；我想，现在除了公司的三位头头以外，这里没有一个人真正了解我的历史。在那个小孩子长大，并把这件事告诉他之前，我的那个角落可能是个空缺。我希望就这样！从那天起，对我来说，这是唯一的变化；那天我们青春、希望和与善良人们的交往都留在我身后的那间房间里了。上帝保佑您！沃尔特！让您自己和所有对您亲爱的人们都保持着诚实的品质吧，否则就让他们不得好死！”

当沃尔特试图准确地回忆他们之间所发生的一切经过的时候，除了上面的情况外，他所能记起的就是他仿佛感到过度寒冷似的，从头到脚，全身颤抖着，而且痛哭流涕。

当沃尔特再次看到他的时候，他又以过去那种不声不响、意气消沉、卑躬屈节的态度伏在他的办公桌前。那时他看到他正在工作，并觉得他显然已坚决不再跟他来往，而且一再想到那天上午在短短的时间中所看到的和所听到的与两位卡克历史有关的所有事情，沃尔特几乎不相信：他已接到前往西印度群岛的命令；所尔舅舅和卡特尔船长不久就将失去他；弗洛伦斯·董贝——不，他是说保罗——不久将不再跟他次数很少、而且远远地相互看上几眼了；他日常生活中所热爱、喜欢与依恋的一切不久就将跟他告别了。

可是这是真实的，消息已流传到外面的办公室中，因为当他一只手支托着头，并怀着沉重的心情坐在那里沉思着这些事情的时候，信差珀奇从他的红木托架上下来，轻轻地推推他的胳膊肘，请他原谅，但又凑着他的耳朵，向他请求说，他想他能不能设法送回一罐价格便宜的腌制的生姜到英国来，好让珀奇太太在下次分娩后康复的过程中滋补滋补身体？