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Chapter 9
第九章
The Countess Olenska had said "after five";
奥兰斯卡伯爵夫人说的是“5点钟以后”。
and at half after the hour Newland Archer rang the bell of the peeling stucco house with a giant wisteria throttling its feeble cast-iron balcony,
5点半的时候，纽兰·阿切尔摁响了她家的门铃。那是一所灰馒剥落的住宅，一株硕大的紫藤压迫着摇摇欲坠的铸铁阳台。
which she had hired, far down West Twenty-third Street, from the vagabond Medora.
房子是她从四处漂泊的梅多拉手中租下的，在西23街的最南端。
It was certainly a strange quarter to have settled in.
她住进的确实是个陌生的地段，
Small dress-makers, bird-stuffers and "people who wrote" were her nearest neighbours;
小裁缝、卖假货的及“搞写作的”是她的近邻。
and further down the dishevelled street Archer recognised a dilapidated wooden house, at the end of a paved path,
沿着这条乱哄哄的街道再往南去，在一段石铺小路的尽头，阿切尔认出一所快要倒塌的木房子，
in which a writer and journalist called Winsett, whom he used to come across now and then, had mentioned that he lived.
一位名叫温塞特的作家兼记者住在里面，此人阿切尔过去时常遇见，他说起过他住在这里。
Winsett did not invite people to his house;
温塞特从不邀请人到他家作客，
but he had once pointed it out to Archer in the course of a nocturnal stroll, and the latter had asked himself, with a little shiver,
不过有一次夜间散步时他曾向阿切尔指出过这幢房子，当时阿切尔曾不寒而栗地自问，
if the humanities were so meanly housed in other capitals.
在其他大都市里，人们是否也住得如此简陋？
Madame Olenska's own dwelling was redeemed from the same appearance only by a little more paint about the window-frames;
奥兰斯卡夫人住所惟一的不同之处，仅仅是在窗框上多涂了一点儿漆。
and as Archer mustered its modest front he said to himself that the Polish Count must have robbed her of her fortune as well as of her illusions.
阿切尔一面审视着这幢屋子简陋的外观，一面想道：那个波兰伯爵抢走的不仅是她的财产，而且还抢走了她的幻想呢。
The young man had spent an unsatisfactory day.
阿切尔闷闷不乐地过了一天。
He had lunched with the Wellands, hoping afterward to carry off May for a walk in the Park.
他与韦兰一家一起吃的午饭，指望饭后带着梅到公园去散散步。
He wanted to have her to himself, to tell her how enchanting she had looked the night before,
他想单独跟她在一起，告诉她昨天晚上她那神态有多么迷人、
and how proud he was of her, and to press her to hasten their marriage.
他多么为她感到自豪，并设法说服她早日和他成婚。
But Mrs. Welland had firmly reminded him that the round of family visits was not half over, and,
然而韦兰太太却态度坚决地提醒他，家族拜访进行还不到一半呢。
when he hinted at advancing the date of the wedding, had raised reproachful eye-brows and sighed out:
当他暗示想把婚礼的日期提前时，她责怪地皱起眉头，叹息着说：
"Twelve dozen of everything--hand-embroidered--"
“还有12打手工刺绣的东西没有……”
Packed in the family landau they rolled from one tribal doorstep to another, and Archer, when the afternoon's round was over,
他们挤在家用四轮马车里，从族人的一个门阶赶到另一个门阶。下午的一轮拜访结束，
parted from his betrothed with the feeling that he had been shown off like a wild animal cunningly trapped.
阿切尔与未婚妻分手之后，觉得自己仿佛是一头被巧妙捕获的野兽，刚刚被展览过一番。
