offered her amusement, stories, films, plays: and the other, much less showy, much more savage breed, those who gave her meat, the real substance of money. The well-groomed showy dogs of amusement wrangled and snarled among themselves for the favours of the bitch-goddess. But it was nothing to the silent fight-to-the-death that went on among the indispensables, the bone-bringers.

没错，两大群狗为赢得堕落女神的青睐，斗得不可开交。一群是谄媚者，他们献上小说、电影、戏剧等消遣元素。而另一群虽然低调许多，但更加野蛮粗暴，他们奉上的则是肉食——真正的金钱与财富。那群贡献娱乐元素的狗总是衣着光鲜，好出风头，他们彼此咆哮着，吼叫着，希望得到堕落女神的垂青。但他们跟那群提供肉和骨头的狗相比，简直不值一提，后者更加举足轻重，而他们暗中的较量更是生死攸关。

But under Mrs. Bolton's influence, Clifford was tempted to enter this other fight, to capture the bitch-goddess by brute means of industrial production. Somehow, he got his pecker up.

由于博尔顿太太的影响，克利福德渴望投身更为激烈的争斗中去，用工业生产的原始手段，来俘虏堕落女神的芳心。不知是何原因，他此番鼓足了勇气。

In one way, Mrs. Bolton made a man of him, as Connie never did. Connie kept him apart, and made him sensitive and conscious of himself and his own states. Mrs. Bolton made hint