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Your father’s seven hundred pence—or pounds is it?—stand in the way, and must be refunded. Even when I am stripped of all have, and am ever to have, and am granted a discharge as a hopeless Insolvent, I have still got to pay my debts. The Savoy dinners—the clear turtle-soup, the luscious ortolans wrapped in their crinkled Sicilian vine-leaves, the heavy amber-coloured, indeed almost amber-scented champagne—Dagonet 1880, I think, was your favourite wine?—all have still to be paid for[162a]. The suppers at Willis’s, the special cuvee of Perrier—Jouet reserved always for us, the wonderful pates procured directly from Strasburg, the marvellous fine champagne served always at the bottom of great bell-shaped glasses that its bouquet might be the better savoured by the true epicures of what was really exquisite in life—these cannot be left unpaid, as bad debts of a dishonest client. Even the dainty sleeve-links—four heart-shaped moon stones of silver mist, girdled by alternate ruby and diamond for their setting—that I designed, and had made at Henry Lewis’s as a special little present to you, to celebrate the success of my second comedy—these even—though I believe you sold them for a song a few months afterwards —have to be paid for. I cannot leave the jeweller out of pocket for the presents I gave you, no matter what you did with them. So, even if I get my discharge, you see I have still my debts to pay.
你父亲的那七百便士——或者是英镑？——就这么堵着路，非还不可。 即使我所有的、将有的，统统被剥夺殆尽，作为一个落魄的破产者放了出去，欠的债还是得还。萨瓦伊的餐餐酒食——清爽的海龟汤，皱皱地裹在西西里葡萄叶中的美味蒿雀，那色重如琥珀、说真的几乎是香醇如琥珀的香槟——1 8 8 0年的“达贡聂”，我想，是不是你最喜欢的佳酿？——笔笔帐还都得还呢[162a]。在威利斯吃的夜宵，总是为咱们备着的佩里埃－儒埃特酿葡萄酒，直接从法国斯特拉斯堡买来的美味馅饼，还有那令人心旷神怡的上等白兰地，总是在钟形大杯的杯底斟上那么一点，好让那酒香给能够领略生活之美味雅趣的真正美食家品尝——这些总不能不还，像不老实的顾客留下的坏帐吧。即使那副精致的袖纽——四颗心形银辉月亮石，周围红宝石和钻石相间，镶成一圈——我自己设计，在亨利?刘易斯珠宝行里定做，为庆祝我第二个喜剧成功而特别送你的小小礼物——即使是这个——虽然我知道你几个月后便把它贱价卖了——我也得还。不能因为送你礼物而叫珠宝店赔钱，不管你把这礼物怎样了。所以，你看我就是放出去了，还有债要还呢。
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