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The New York of Newland Archer's day was a small and slippery pyramid,
在纽兰·阿切尔那个时代，纽约的上流社会还是个滑溜溜的小金字塔，
in which, as yet, hardly a fissure had been made or a foothold gained.
人们很难在上面开凿裂缝，找到立足点。
At its base was a firm foundation of what Mrs. Archer called "plain people";
其底部的坚实基础，由阿切尔太太所说的“平民”构成，
an honourable but obscure majority of respectable families who (as in the case of the Spicers or the Leffertses or the Jacksons)
他们多数属于相当有身份的家庭，尽管体面，却没有名望（就像斯派塞夫妇、莱弗茨夫妇与杰克逊夫妇那样），
had been raised above their level by marriage with one of the ruling clans.
通过与某个占支配地位的家族联姻而崛起。
People, Mrs. Archer always said, were not as particular as they used to be;
阿切尔太太总是说，人们不像过去那样讲究了；
and with old Catherine Spicer ruling one end of Fifth Avenue, and Julius Beaufort the other,
有老凯瑟琳·斯派塞把持第五大街的一端，朱利叶斯·博福特把持另一端，
you couldn't expect the old traditions to last much longer.
你无法指望那些老规矩能维持多久。
Firmly narrowing upward from this wealthy but inconspicuous substratum was the compact and dominant group
从这个富有却不引人注目的底部坚固地向上收缩，
which the Mingotts, Newlands, Chiverses and Mansons so actively represented.
便是由明戈特家族、纽兰家族、奇弗斯家族及曼森家族代表的那个举足轻重的紧密群体。
Most people imagined them to be the very apex of the pyramid;
在多数人的想象中，他们便是金字塔的顶端了，
but they themselves (at least those of Mrs. Archer's generation) were aware that,
然而他们自己（至少阿切尔太太那一代人）却明白，
in the eyes of the professional genealogist, only a still smaller number of families could lay claim to that eminence.
在职业系谱学家的心目中，只有为数更少的几个家族才有资格享有那份显赫。
"Don't tell me," Mrs. Archer would say to her children, "all this modern newspaper rubbish about a New York aristocracy.
阿切尔太太经常对孩子们说，“不要相信现在报纸上关于纽约有个贵族阶层的胡说八道。
If there is one, neither the Mingotts nor the Mansons belong to it; no, nor the Newlands or the Chiverses either.
假如有的话，属于它的既不是明戈特家族，也不是曼森家族，更不是纽兰或奇弗斯家族。
Our grandfathers and great-grandfathers were just respectable English or Dutch merchants,
我们的祖父和曾祖父仅仅是有名望的英国或荷兰商人，
who came to the colonies to make their fortune, and stayed here because they did so well.
他们来到殖民地发家致富，因为干得特别出色而留在了这里。
One of your great-grandfathers signed the Declaration, and another was a general on Washington's staff,
你们的一位曾祖签署过《独立宣言》，另一位是华盛顿参谋部的一名将军，
and received General Burgoyne's sword after the battle of Saratoga.
他在萨拉托加之役后接受了伯戈因将军的投降。
These are things to be proud of, but they have nothing to do with rank or class.
这些事情是应该引以为荣的，不过这与身份、阶级毫无关系。
New York has always been a commercial community,
纽约向来都是个商业社会，
and there are not more than three families in it who can claim an aristocratic origin in the real sense of the word."
按字面的真正含义，能称得上贵族出身的不超过3个家族。”
