The day broke grey and dull. The clouds hung heavily, and there was a rawness in the air that suggested snow.
一位女仆走进房间，房间里正睡着一个孩子，她拉开了窗帘，机器地扫了一眼对面的屋子，那是一幢带有门廊的灰泥粉刷的建筑。然后，她走到孩子的床前。
“快醒醒，菲利普。”她敦促道。
A woman servant came into a room in which a child was sleeping and drew the curtains. She glanced mechanically at the house opposite, a stucco house with a portico, and went to the child’s bed.
“Wake up, Philip,” she said.
她拉开被子，把孩子搂在怀中，抱着他下了楼，孩子还处在半睡半醒的状态。
“你妈妈想让你过去。”她说道。
She pulled down the bedclothes, took him in her arms, and carried him downstairs. He was
only half awake.
“Your mother wants you,” she said.
她打开下面一层楼的一个房间的门，把孩子放到了房间里的一张床上，床上还躺着一个女人。女人是孩子的母亲，她伸脱手臂，孩子依偎在她的身边。
She opened the door of a room on the floor below and took the child over to a bed in which a
woman was lying. It was his mother. She stretched out her arms, and the child nestled by her side.
孩子没有问为什么要把他从睡梦中叫醒。母亲吻着他的双眼，一双瘦弱的手伸进孩子的白色法兰绒睡衣里，去抚摸他热乎乎的小身子。随即她把孩子揽得更紧了。
“你还困吗，乖宝贝？”她问道。
He did not ask why he had been awakened. The woman kissed his eyes, and with thin, small hands felt the warm body through his white flannel nightgown. She pressed him closer to herself.
“Are you sleepy, darling?” she said.
她的声音很微弱，像是从很远的地方传过来似的。孩子没有吭声，但愉快地笑了。躺
在这张温暖的大床上，被一双优柔的手臂拥着，他以为非常愉快。Her voice was so weak that it seemed to come already from a great distance. The child did not answer, but smiled comfortably. He was very happy in the large, warm bed, with those soft arms about him.
他尽力把身子缩得更小，依偎着妈妈，睡眼惺忪地亲了亲她。没过一下子，他闭上眼睛，很快又睡着了。年夜夫走了过来，站在床边。
“哦，先别把他抱走。”她呻吟着说。
He tried to make himself smaller still as he cuddled against his mother, and he kissed her sleepily. In a moment he closed his eyes and was fast asleep. The doctor came forwards and stood by the bedside.
“Oh, don’t take him away yet,” she moaned.
年夜夫没有说话，面色严明地看着她。女人知道年夜夫不会许可她再多留这孩子一下子了，于是又一次亲吻了他。她用手轻轻地抚摸着他的小身子，一贯摸到双脚，把孩子的右脚握在手中，摩挲着他的五个小脚指头，随后又逐步地把手放到孩子的左脚上，开始抽咽起来。
The doctor, without answering, looked at her gravely. Knowing she would not be allowed to
keep the child much longer, the woman kissed him again; and she passed her hand down his body till she came to his feet; she held the right foot in her hand and felt the five small toes; and then slowly passed her hand over the left one. She gave a sob.
“你怎么了？”年夜夫问道，“你一定是累了。”
她摇了摇头，说不出话来，大滴的泪珠从脸颊上滑落。年夜夫弯下腰去。
“让我把他抱走吧。”
她太虚弱了，无力反对，只好让年夜夫把孩子抱走。年夜夫抱起孩子，把他交给了保姆。
“What’s the matter?” said the doctor. “You’re tired.”
She shook her head, unable to speak, and the tears rolled down her cheeks. The doctor bent down.
“Let me take him.”
She was too weak to resist his wish, and she gave the child up. The doctor handed him back to his nurse.
“最好把他放回自己的床上去。”
“好的，师长西席。”
仍在熟睡中的小男孩又被抱走了。此时，他的母亲伤心欲绝地抽咽着。
“往后他可怎么办呀，我可怜的孩子？”
“You’d better put him back in his own bed.”
“Very well, sir.”
The little boy, still sleeping, was taken away. His mother sobbed now broken-heartedly.
“What will happen to him, poor child?”
临时雇来照顾产妇的护士想抚慰她，大概是精疲力竭了，她的哭声自动停了下来。年夜夫走到了房间另一侧的一张桌子旁，桌子上有个去世婴，身上盖着一条毛巾。他掀开毛巾看了看，只管有一张屏风遮挡在他和产妇的床中间，但她猜到了他正在做的事。
“是个男孩还是个女孩？”女人轻声地问护士。
“是个男孩。”
The monthly nurse tried to quiet her, and presently, from exhaustion, the crying ceased. The doctor walked to a table on the other side of the room, upon which, under a towel, lay the body of a still-born child. He lifted the towel and looked. He was hidden from the bed by a screen, but the woman guessed what he was doing.
“Was it a girl or a boy?” she whispered to the nurse.
“Another boy.”
床上的女人没吱声，过了一下子，卖力照料那孩子的保姆回来了。她走到床边。
“菲利普少爷一贯没醒，睡得很喷鼻香。”她说道。
房间里又涌现了一阵沉寂。然后，年夜夫又给他的病人诊了脉。
“我以为此刻我待在这儿也无事可做，”他说，“早饭后我再过来。”
“我领您出去，师长西席。”孩子的保姆说。
The woman did not answer. In a moment the child’s nurse came back. She approached the
bed.
“Master Philip never woke up,” she said.
There was a pause. Then the doctor felt his patient’s pulse once more.
“I don’t think there’s anything I can do just now,” he said. “I’ll call again after breakfast.”
“I’ll show you out, sir,” said the child’s nurse.
他们默默地走下楼梯。在门厅里，年夜夫愣住了脚步。
“你已经派人去请凯里太太的大伯哥了，是吗？”
“是的，师长西席。”
“你知道他什么时候能到这里吗？”
“不知道，师长西席，我正在等他的电报。”
They walked downstairs in silence. In the hall the doctor stopped.
“You’ve sent for Mrs. Carey’s brother-in-law, haven’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“D’you know at what time he’ll be here?”
“No, sir, I’m expecting a telegram.”
“那个小男孩怎么办？我以为他最好不在场。”
“沃特金小姐说她会照看他的，师长西席。”
“她是谁？”
“孩子的教母，师长西席。您以为凯里太太会好起来吗？”
年夜夫摇了摇头。
“What about the little boy? I should think he’d be better out of the way.”
“Miss Watkin said she’d take him, sir.”
“Who’s she?”
“She’s his godmother, sir. D’you think Mrs. Carey will get over it, sir?”
The doctor shook his head.
