Oliver Twist was born in a workhouse, and when he arrived in this hard world, it was very doubtful whether he would live beyond the first three minutes. He lay on a hard little bed and struggled to start breathing.
奥利弗·特威斯特在济贫院出生。他到这满是艰难的世界的头三分钟，人们很难相信他能活下来。他躺在坚硬的小床上，困难地呼吸着。
Oliver fought his first battle without much assistance from the two people present at his birth. One was an
old woman, who was nearly always drunk, and the other was a busy local doctor, who was not paid enough to be very interested in Oliver's survival. After all, death was a common event in the workhouse, where only the poor and homeless lived.
奥利弗出生后的第一场搏斗并没有从两个接生他的人那儿得到什么帮助。年长的女人是一副醉醺醺的模样，另一个是很忙的当地医生，因没什么报酬也就没想过要救奥利弗。毕竟，死亡在只有穷人和无家可归的人生活的济贫院里是很常见的。
However, Oliver managed to draw first breath, and then announced he arrival to the rest of the workhouse by crying loudly. His mother raised her pale young face from the pillow and whispered, 'Let me see the child and die.'
然而，奥利弗终于吸到了空气，响亮的哭声宣示着他是济贫院的一员。他妈妈从枕头上抬起她苍白的脸，气若游丝地说：“让我看看孩子，再死。”
The doctor turned away from the fire where he had been warming his hands. 'You must not talk about dying yet.' he said to her kindly. He gave her the child to hold. Lovingly, she kissed the baby on its forehead with her cold white lips, then stared wildly around the room, fell back - and died.
双手烤暖了的医生，将脸从炉火前转过来。“你还不能谈死，”他轻声说，顺手把孩子给她抱着。很可爱，她用她苍白的唇吻了吻孩子的前额，再环顾了眼房间，身子往后一仰――死了。
'poor dear'said the nurse, hurriedly putting a green glass bottle back in the packet of her long skirt.
“可伶的孩子”护士说，匆匆将绿色玻璃瓶藏进她护士服的口袋里。
The doctor began to put on his coat. 'The baby is weak and will probably have difficulties.'he said. 'If so, give it a little milk to keep it quiet.' Then he looked at the dead woman. 'The mother was a good-looking girl. where did she come from?'
医生穿上外套。“这孩子很虚弱，可能会熬不过去”医生说，“他要是哭的话，让他喝点牛奶就会不哭了”，然后他看了一眼那死了的女人。“这位母亲倒是个漂亮的女人，她是从哪来的？”
'She was brought here last night.' replied the old woman. 'She was found lying in the street. She'd walked some distance, judging by her shoes, which were worn to pieces. Where she came from, where she was going to, or what her name was, nobody knows.'
“她是昨晚到这的，”年长的女人回。“她被人发现昏倒在街上，且从她穿的鞋子来看，她走了好长一段路，鞋都破的不成样子了。至于她从哪来，要到哪去，姓甚名谁，这些都没人知道。”
The doctor lifted the girl's left hands. 'The old story.'he said sadly, shaking his head. 'No wedding ring, I see, Ah! Good night!'
医生抬起女孩的左手。“老样子，”他摇摇头，失望地说，“没
婚戒，哎，晚安！”
And so Oliver was left with only the drunken nurse. Without clothes, under his first blanket, he could have been the child of a king or a beggar. But when the woman dressed him later in rough cotton clothes, yellow with age, he looked exactly what he was - an orphan in a workhouse, ready for a life of misery, hungry, and neglect.
就只剩奥利弗和醉醺醺的护士了。没有衣服，奥利弗身上就裹着块毯子，他可能是贵族的子女也可能是乞丐的孩子。但护士给他穿了件泛黄的粗布棉衣，这才是他的样子――济贫院的孤儿，将会是有个充满痛苦、饥饿和不被关注的一生。
Oliver cried loudly. If he could have know that he was a workhouse orphan, perhaps he would had cried even more loudly.
奥利弗大声哭着。他要是知道他是济贫院的孤儿的话，或许他会哭得更起劲些。
There was no one to look after the baby in the workhouse, so Oliver was sent to a special "baby farm" nearby. There, he and thirty other children rolled around the floor all day. without the inconvenience of too much food or too much clothes. Mrs Mann, the old woman who 'looked after' them, was very experienced. She knew what was good for children, and a full stomach was very dangerous to their health. She also knew what was good for herself, so she kept for her own use the money that she was given for the children's food. The board responsible for the orphans sometimes checked on the health of the children, but they always sent the beadle, a kind of local policeman, to announce their visit the baby before. So whenever the board arrived, of course, the children were always neat and clean.
济贫院里无人照看孩子，所以奥利弗被送去了附近的寄养院。在那儿，他和另外的30个孩子整天在地板上滚来滚去，完全不用担心因吃得太饱或穿得太多的而滚不动。麦恩太太是一个经验丰富的老妇人，由她照看孩子。她知道怎样才是对孩子好，吃的太饱影响他们健康。她也知道怎样对自己才有利，所以她会把给孩子买食物的钱作为己用。孩子由董事会负责，所以他们偶尔会查看孩子的健康状况，但总是会提前派干事（当地警察）通知一声。所以，不论什么时候，董事会到寄养院时，孩子们都是干干净净的。
This was the way Oliver was brought up. Consequently, at the age of nine he was pale, thin child and short for his age. But despite frequent beatings by Mrs Mann, his spirit was strong, which was probably the reason why he managed to reach the age of nine at all.
奥利弗就是这么长大的，结果他9岁时，仍是一个面色苍白、骨瘦嶙峋、个头比实际年龄矮的男孩。麦恩太太总打他，但他意志坚定，或许这就是他为什么能活到9岁吧。
On Oliver's ninth birthday, Mr Bumble the beadle came to the house to see Mrs Mann. Through the front window Mrs Mann saw him at the gate and turned quickly to the girl who worked with her.
奥利弗9岁生日时，干事班布尔先生来麦恩太太的寄养院视察。麦恩太太透过朝门的窗子看到在寄养院门口的班布尔先生，立马转向跟她一起工作的女孩。
'Quick! Take Oliver and those others upstairs to be washed.'she said. Then she ran out to unlock the gate. (It was always kept locked to prevent offical visitors walking in unexpectedly.)
“快，把奥利弗和其他孩子带上楼洗干净。”她急匆匆地说完，就朝那扇没锁的门跑（为防止官员没打招呼就到寄养院来，门通常都是锁了的）。
'I have business to talk about,'Mr Bumble told Mrs Mann as he entered the house. He was a big fat man, often bad-tempered, and was full of self-important. He did not like to be kept waiting at a locked gate.
“我有事要和你说”班布尔先生一边往寄养院里走，一边对麦恩夫人说。班布尔先生是个大块头的胖男人，脾气差，很自以为是。他不喜欢在门边等。
Mrs Mann took his hat and coat, placed a chair for him, and expressed great concern for his comfort. 'You've had a long walk, Mr Bumble,'she said,'and you must be thirsty.' She took out a bottle from the cupboard.
麦恩夫人接过他的帽子和外套，搬了把椅子给他，还阿谀奉承一番。“你走了很长的路，班布尔先生”她说，“一定渴了吧！”她从橱柜里拿出一瓶酒。
译
《雾都孤儿》第一章：奥利弗的童年（二）
PS:本书为
牛津系列简易读物，有著名作家查理德·罗杰根据英国作家
查尔斯·狄更斯的同名小说改写。英文为书虫系列原文，译文是笔者翻译。