CHAPTER 10 第十章-双语名著无障碍阅读丛书——《简·爱Jane Eyre》

CHAPTER 10 A snug,small room;a round table by a cheerful fire;an arm- chair,high-backed and old-fashioned,wherein sat the neatest imaginable little elderly lady,in widow's cap,black silk gown3,and snowy muslin apron exactly like what I had fancied Mrs Fairfax, only less stately and milder looking.She was occupied in knitting;a large cat sat demurely5 at her feet;nothing in short,was wanting to complete the beau-ideal of domestic comfort.A more reassuring introduction for a new governess could scarcely be conceived:there was no grandeur to overwhelm,no stateliness to embarrass;and then, as I entered,the old lady got up and promptly and kindly came forward to meet me. 'How do you do,my dear?I am afraid you have had a tedious ride;John drives so slowly;you must be cold;come to the fire.' Mrs Fairfax,I suppose?'said I. 'Yes,you are right:do sit down.' She conducted me to her own chair,and then began to remove my shawl and untie my bonnet strings:I begged she would not give ·058· 第十章 4。年中 ①smug/snng/.a舒适的 一个舒适的小屋子，明快的炉火旁摆着一 2 wherein/wear'n/iml.在其 中 张圆桌，一个老式高背安乐椅，上面坐着一位 3gowm/gaun/L.长袍，长外 衣 极其整洁的矮小的老妇人，头戴寡妇帽，身穿 ④apron /eipran/n.围裙 黑丝长袍，围着雪白的围裙，和我想象中的费 5 demurely /dI'mjuall/ad. 真地：娴静地 尔法克斯太太一模一样，只是少了威严，多了 6 domestic /da'mestik/a. 庭的 和蔼。她正忙着编织。一只硕大的猫安静地躺 ⑦grandeur/graend3a/h.庄 在她脚下。简而言之，能使家庭舒适的东西这 严，伟大 overwhelm /'ouva'welm/r. 里一样都不缺少。对一个新到的家庭女教师来 压倒 embarrass/mber3s/n.使 说，想不出比这更让人放心的初次见面了：没 …困窘，使……局促不安 有那种令人紧张的豪华，没有令人难受的庄 严。于是当我进门，那老妇人便马上站了起 来，和蔼地上前来迎接我。 “你好，亲爱的！恐怕一路坐车很厌倦吧 约翰驾车太慢，你一定很冷，到火炉边来。” “我想您是费尔法克斯太太？”我说。 “是呀，你说得对，请坐吧。” shawl/小b:lln.披肩 it bonnet'bonit/m,软帽 她把我领到她自己的椅子前，随后就动手 ·059· JaneEyre herself so much trouble. 'Oh,it is no trouble:I dare say your own hands are almost numbed with cold.Leah,make a little hot negus and cut a sandwich or two:here are the keys of the storeroom.' And she produced from her pocket a most housewifely bunch of keys,and delivered them to the servant. 'Shall I have the pleasure of seeing Miss Fairfax tonight?'I asked when I had partaken2 of what she offered me. 'What did you say,my dear?I am a little deaf,'returned the good lady,approaching her ear to my mouth. I repeated the question more distinctly. 'Miss Fairfax?Oh,you mean Miss Varens!Varens is the name of your future pupil.' 'Indeed!Then she is not your daughter?' 'No-I have no family.' I should have followed up my first inquiry,by asking in what way Miss Varens was connected with her;but I recollected3 it was not polite to ask too many questions:besides,I was sure to hear in time. My heart really warmed to the worthy lady,as I heard her talk; and I drew my chair a little nearer to her,and expressed my sincere wish that she might find my company as agreeable as she anticipated. 'Yes,'she said,'it is a pretty place;but I fear it will be getting ·060· 简·爱 帮我取下披巾，解开我的帽带，我请她不用如 此麻烦了。 ①negus/ni:g3s/礼.尼格斯酒 (由热水、糖、柠檬、香科和 “啊，一点也不麻烦。你的手几乎冻僵了 酒混合成的饮料) 吧。莉娅，弄点儿热的尼格斯酒，切一两片三 明治。储藏室的钥匙在这儿。” 她从口袋里掏出一串几乎是管家带的钥 匙，把它递给了仆人。 。 “今晚我能有幸见到费尔法克斯小姐吗？” ②partake /pa:'tek/.参与 分享，吃，喝 我吃完了她递给我的东西后问。 “你说什么呢，亲爱的？我耳朵有些背。” 好心的夫人转过来，把耳朵凑近我的嘴巴。 我把这个问题更清楚地重复了一遍。 “费尔法克斯小姐？噢，你的意思是瓦伦 小姐！瓦伦是你要教的学生的名字。” “真的，那她不是你女儿？” “不是，我没有家人。” 我本想接着第一个问题继续问下去，询问 一下瓦伦小姐同她有什么关系，但想到问那么 recollect /reka'lekt/v. 忆，回想 多问题不太礼貌，而且到时候我肯定会听到 的。 4 听着她的谈话，我对这位可敬的老妇人产 生了真正的暖意，我把椅子又挪近了她，并表 ④anticipate /aen'tisipeit/预 期，期待 达了我真诚的愿望，我这个伙伴会像她想象的 那样令人愉快。 年t年年年年 ·061· JaneEyre out of order,unless Mr Rochester should take it into his head to come and reside here permanentlyor,at least,visit it rather oftener.Great houses and fine grounds require the presence of the proprietor2' 'Mr Rochester!I exclaimed.'Who is he?' "The owner of Thornfield,'she responded quietly.Did you not know he was called Rochester?' Of course I did not:I had never heard of him before;but the old lady seemed to regard his existence as a universally understood fact, with which everybody must be acquainted by instinct. 'I thought,I continued,'Thornfield belonged to you.' 'To me?Bless you,child;what an idea!To me?I am only the housekeeper-the manager.To be sure,I am distantly related to the Rochesters by the mother's side-or,at least,my husband was.He was a clergyman,incumbent of Hay-that little village yonder on the hill and that church near the gate was his.The present Mr Rochester's mother was a Fairfax,and second cousin to my husband;but I never presume on the connexion-in fact,it is nothing to me.I consider myself quite in the light of an ordinary housekeeper.My employer is always civil,and I expect nothing more.' ‘And the little girl-一my pupil?' 'She in Mr Rochester's ward.He commissioned me to find a governess for her.He intends to have her brought up in-shire I believe.Here she comes,with her "bonne",as she calls her nurse.' The enigma then explained:this affable and kind little widow was no great dame,but a dependant like myself.I did not like her the worse ·062· 简·爱 “是呀，”她说，“这是个漂亮的地方。但 D permanendly /'p3:montli/ 我担心慢慢地会败落，除非罗切斯特先生好好 d.永久地 想想下定决心要来这儿永住，或者至少常来看 2proprietor /pra'praiata/n. 所有者 看，大住宅和好庭院需要主人经常光顾才行。” “罗切斯特先生！”我惊叫，“他是谁？” “桑菲尔德的主人，”她平静地回答，“你 不知道他叫罗切斯特吗？” 我当然不知道，我以前从来没有听说过 他。但这位老妇人似乎把他的存在看做尽人皆 acquaint/'kweint/私.使. 知的事实，而且对此每个人都能凭直觉就应该 熟知 知道。 “我以为，”我又说，“桑菲尔德是你的。” “我的？天啊！我的孩子！怎么想的！我 的？我不过是个管家—管理人。确实，从他 母亲那方面说，我与罗切斯特家是远亲，或 4 incumbent /in'kAmbant/n. 者，至少我丈夫与他这样。他是个牧师，在那 领圣职的俸禄的牧师，在职 者 边山上的那个干草村的，靠近大门的那个教堂 yonder /jonda/a那边的， 远处的 是他管的。现在这位罗切斯特的母亲姓费尔法 克斯，她的父亲和我丈夫的父亲是堂兄弟，但 我从来没有指望这层关系，事实上这与我无 关。我把自己看做一个普通的管家，我的主人 很客气，而别的我都不指望了。” “那么，那位小姑娘一我的学生呢？” “她是受罗切斯特先生监护的人。他委托 6ward /wo:d/m.由监护人或 我替她找个家庭教师。我想他有意在希瑞郡把 法院保护的人（尤指儿童） 她抚养成人。看，她来了，同她称做‘波妮' commission /ka'mifon/v. 委托 的保姆一起来了。”谜被揭开了，这个和蔼善 shire'∫aia/n.n enigma/'ngm/h.谜 良的矮小寡妇不是位贵妇，而是像我一样的受 10 dame/deim/L.夫人 雇者。但我并没有因此而不喜欢她，相反，我 ·063· JaneEyre for that;on the contrary,I felt better pleased than ever.The equality between her and me was real:not the mere result of condescension on her part.So much the better;my position was all the freer. ·064· 简·爱 比以前更加感到愉快。她与我之间的平等是实 ①condescension 实在在的，不是她屈尊就驾的结果。这样更 /kond'senfan/n自以为 高人一等，贬低别人 好，我的处境就更自由了。 ·065·