02 David is sent away to school(6)

As we continued our journey， I dried my tears and looked at what she had given me. The bag was full of Peggotty’ s special cakes， and in the purse were eight bright shilling coins. Thinking of my mother and Peggotty made me start crying again，but just then the driver, Mr Barkis, began to talk to me. He was a large，red-faced man, who clearly found conversation difficult.
　　‘Did she make those cakes？’ he asked slowly， having finished the one that I had offered him.
　　‘You mean Peggotty， sir？ Yes, she does all our cooking.’
‘Does she？’ replied Mr Barkis with great interest. There was a long silence while he considered his next question．
　　‘Does she have a young man？’he asked．‘You know，someone who wants to marry her？’
　　‘Peggotty？A young man？’I repeated，surprised.‘Oh no, she's never had any young men.’
　　‘Ah！’ replied Mr Barkis，looking very pleased. Again he thought for a long time before speaking.
　　‘Well，’he said at last,‘ perhaps if you write to her—will you be writing to her？ You could give her a message from me. You could say “Barkis is willing”． Would you do that？’
‘“Barkis is willing”，’ I repeated innocently， wondering what the message meant.‘Yes，of course. But you could tell her yourself， Mr Barkis, when you return to Blunderstone tomorrow．’
‘No，no’ he said, ‘ no,you just give her the message. Remember，“Barkis is willing”.’
我们继续往前赶路，我擦于泪水，打开她给我的东西。纸袋里是辟果提做的拿手糕点，钱包里有8先令闪亮的硬币。一想到母亲和辟果提我又一次哭起来。这时，车夫巴克斯先生开始说话了。他是一位红脸壮汉，显然很不擅长与人交谈。
　　“是她做的这些点心？”他吃了我给他的一块蛋糕后，不紧不慢地问道。
　　“你是指辟果提吧，先生？是的，我们家的饭菜全是由她做的。”
　　“是吗？”巴克斯先生饶有兴趣地应了一句。沉默了好一会儿，他想好了另一个问题。
　　“她有小伙子吗？”他问。“就是，有没有人想娶她？”
　　“辟果提？小伙子？”我不解地重复道，“哦，没有，她从未有过任何小伙子。”
　　“噢！”巴克斯先生答道，面露喜色。他又想了很长时间才开口说话。
　　“那么，”他最后说道，“或许你给她写信时——你会给她写信吧？你可以替我捎个信，你写上‘巴克斯很愿意’，可以吗？”
　　“‘巴克斯很愿意’，”我天真地重复道，捉摸着这句话的意思。“可以，当然。可你可以自己告诉她呀，巴克斯先生，等你明天回到布兰德斯通的时候。”
　　“不，不，”他说，“不，你只管给她写上。记住：‘巴克斯很愿意。’”