05-02-大卫·科波菲尔 [48]
那会给我们带来每年70英镑左右的收入，我想我们靠这些生活是远远不够的。”
“您和大卫住这套房子，迪克先生就住拐脚处租来的那间房间，开销很小嘛，”阿格尼斯建议道。“而且我想我能给大卫找一份差事。你还记得斯特朗博士吗，坎特伯雷城那所学校的校长？他现已退休，住在伦敦，他需要一位私人秘书，早晚到他家为他工作。他那天向父亲打听此事。你觉得如何？”
“阿格尼斯！”我叫起来，“没有你我们能做什么呢？你是我的好天使，我以前就已经告诉过你！我可以毫不费力地做斯特朗博士的秘书，同时可以继续在斯本罗先生的事务所工作。我今天就去见他，把此事跟他谈妥。”
阿格尼斯起身告辞时冲我甜美地一笑。我送她下楼，并一同走到长途马车站，在街上我看见一位年老的乞丐，手拿一根白手杖。他伸着干瘦的手要钱，嘴里叫着，“盲目！盲目！盲目呀！”听起来与我姨婆那天说的那几句相响应。啊，阿格尼斯，亲爱的姐姐！要是我当时就知道这个我很久以后才明白的道理就好了！
■ 8 David's new life
With Agnes's encouragement I felt much stronger，and no longer depressed．My life now bad a purpose．I intended to work as hard as I could，to help my aunt and to earn enough money to marry Dora．I got up every morning at five o’clock，walked to Dr Strong's house on the other side of London，worked with him for two hours every morning，and then walked back to Mr Spenlow's office，where I spent most of the day in the lawcourts．Then I returned to Dr Strong's for two or three more hours in the evening，and finally came home to my flat，where my aunt，Peggotty and Mr Dick would be waiting for me．I was glad to be able to tell my aunt that Dr Strong would pay me seventy pounds a year for my work．With that，and the rent from my aunt's house in Kent，we could live quite well，if we were careful．Because I was young and healthy，I did not mind hard work，and whenever I was tired，I told myself，‘You're doing it for Dora！’and that made me work even harder．
When I met Traddles one day near the courts，I told him about my new situation，and he was very sympathetic．
‘But I have news for you too，Copperfield！’he said．‘The Micawbers are moving to Canterbury．’
‘Oh！That means something must have turned up for them！’I replied，interested．
‘Yes，Mr Micawber is going to become assistant to someone called Uriah Heep，a partner in a firm of Canterbury lawyers．’
‘Heep！’I cried in horror．‘I know him！Why would Mr Micawber want to work for him？’
‘Well，I do know that Heep has paid all Mr Micawber's debts in London，’answered Traddles．‘The whole family is leaving tomorrow．They asked me to tell you．’
I wondered why Heep wanted Micawber to work for him，and I felt sure Uriah had some evil plan in his ugly head．
The next day Peggotty was returning to Yarmouth to look after Ham，while Daniel was away．After I had taken her to the coach station and said goodbye to her，I hurried to Miss Mills's house．I had not yet told Dora about the changes in my life，because I had not wanted to explain it all in a letter，but today she was visiting Julia Mills and was expecting me to come to tea．
How happy and heautiful Dora looked when she met me in the sitting-room！And how shocked and miserable she looked when I asked her immediately，‘Can you love a beggar，Dora？’My pretty little Dora！She had no idea what I meant．
‘Don't be silly，David！’she cried．‘What are you talking about？’
‘It's true，Dora，my love！’I cried．‘I've lost all my money！I'm a beggar！’And I looked so serious that Dora was frightened，and began to sob bitterly on my shoulder．
‘But I love you，Dora，and always
“您和大卫住这套房子，迪克先生就住拐脚处租来的那间房间，开销很小嘛，”阿格尼斯建议道。“而且我想我能给大卫找一份差事。你还记得斯特朗博士吗，坎特伯雷城那所学校的校长？他现已退休，住在伦敦，他需要一位私人秘书，早晚到他家为他工作。他那天向父亲打听此事。你觉得如何？”
“阿格尼斯！”我叫起来，“没有你我们能做什么呢？你是我的好天使，我以前就已经告诉过你！我可以毫不费力地做斯特朗博士的秘书，同时可以继续在斯本罗先生的事务所工作。我今天就去见他，把此事跟他谈妥。”
阿格尼斯起身告辞时冲我甜美地一笑。我送她下楼，并一同走到长途马车站，在街上我看见一位年老的乞丐，手拿一根白手杖。他伸着干瘦的手要钱，嘴里叫着，“盲目！盲目！盲目呀！”听起来与我姨婆那天说的那几句相响应。啊，阿格尼斯，亲爱的姐姐！要是我当时就知道这个我很久以后才明白的道理就好了！
■ 8 David's new life
With Agnes's encouragement I felt much stronger，and no longer depressed．My life now bad a purpose．I intended to work as hard as I could，to help my aunt and to earn enough money to marry Dora．I got up every morning at five o’clock，walked to Dr Strong's house on the other side of London，worked with him for two hours every morning，and then walked back to Mr Spenlow's office，where I spent most of the day in the lawcourts．Then I returned to Dr Strong's for two or three more hours in the evening，and finally came home to my flat，where my aunt，Peggotty and Mr Dick would be waiting for me．I was glad to be able to tell my aunt that Dr Strong would pay me seventy pounds a year for my work．With that，and the rent from my aunt's house in Kent，we could live quite well，if we were careful．Because I was young and healthy，I did not mind hard work，and whenever I was tired，I told myself，‘You're doing it for Dora！’and that made me work even harder．
When I met Traddles one day near the courts，I told him about my new situation，and he was very sympathetic．
‘But I have news for you too，Copperfield！’he said．‘The Micawbers are moving to Canterbury．’
‘Oh！That means something must have turned up for them！’I replied，interested．
‘Yes，Mr Micawber is going to become assistant to someone called Uriah Heep，a partner in a firm of Canterbury lawyers．’
‘Heep！’I cried in horror．‘I know him！Why would Mr Micawber want to work for him？’
‘Well，I do know that Heep has paid all Mr Micawber's debts in London，’answered Traddles．‘The whole family is leaving tomorrow．They asked me to tell you．’
I wondered why Heep wanted Micawber to work for him，and I felt sure Uriah had some evil plan in his ugly head．
The next day Peggotty was returning to Yarmouth to look after Ham，while Daniel was away．After I had taken her to the coach station and said goodbye to her，I hurried to Miss Mills's house．I had not yet told Dora about the changes in my life，because I had not wanted to explain it all in a letter，but today she was visiting Julia Mills and was expecting me to come to tea．
How happy and heautiful Dora looked when she met me in the sitting-room！And how shocked and miserable she looked when I asked her immediately，‘Can you love a beggar，Dora？’My pretty little Dora！She had no idea what I meant．
‘Don't be silly，David！’she cried．‘What are you talking about？’
‘It's true，Dora，my love！’I cried．‘I've lost all my money！I'm a beggar！’And I looked so serious that Dora was frightened，and began to sob bitterly on my shoulder．
‘But I love you，Dora，and always