Charles Dickens
One night in Doughty Street, Mrs. Charles Dickens, my wife and myself were sitting round the fire cosily enjoying a chat, when Dickens, for some purpose came suddenly into the room. “What, you here!” he exclaimed; “I’ll bring my work.” It was his monthly portion of Oliver Twist for Bentley’s. In a few minutes he returned, manu in hand, and while he was pleasantly discoursing he employed himself in carrying1 to a corner of the room a little table, at which he seated2 himself and recommenced his writing. We, at his bidding, went on talking our “little nothings,”— he, every now and then (the feather of his pen still moving rapidly from side to side), put in a cheerful interlude. It was interesting to watch, upon the sly,3 the mind and the muscles working. And to note the working brow, the set of the mouth, with the tongue tightly pressed against the closed lips, as was his habit.4
— H. Burnet
cosily adv. 暖和舒適地
portion n. 一部分
manu n. 手稿
discourse v. 交談
recommence v. 重新開始
bidding n. 吩咐
nothing n. 無關緊要的事物
interlude n. 插曲
upon the sly adv. 偷偷地
set n.（身體或其部位的）姿勢；模樣
中譯 筆耕（狄更斯）
在道蒂街的一個夜晚，我和查爾斯·狄更斯太太，還有我的夫人，舒適愜意地圍坐在火爐旁，欣然閑聊。突然間，狄更斯不知有什麼事來到房間裏。“怎麼，你們在這兒呀！”他驚喊道，“我去把我的活兒拿來。”這活兒是他為賓特萊的雜誌撰寫的每月一期的《霧都孤兒》連載稿。幾分鍾後，他拿著手稿回來了。他一邊樂嗬嗬地說著話，一邊自己動手把一張小桌子挪到房間的一個角落裏，坐定了就動手寫起來。我們依照他的吩咐，繼續談著那些無關緊要的事情，而他（隻見他筆上的羽毛迅速地從稿紙的一端移到另一端）時而還會高興地插上幾句。暗中看著他的腦袋和肌肉正在運作，注意到他那正在思索的眉梢，習慣性地用舌頭頂著抿合的雙唇時的那種嘴形，真叫人覺得饒有趣味。
——〔英〕伯內特
原來如此！
Charles Dickens（狄更斯，1812-1870），英國作家，由於家境日衰，他十二歲生日剛過，就不得不到鞋油作坊做工；後來在律師事務所當過繕寫員。當他成為報社采訪記者後，在新聞界嶄露頭角，最後走上了文學創作的道路，並一躍成為英國文壇上眾目所矚的明星。他的作品甚多，重要的有《匹克威克外傳》（Pickwick Papers, 1836-1937）、《大衛·科波菲爾》（David Copperfield, 1849-50）、《雙城記》（A Tale of Two Cities, 1859）等等。