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This subject of servants was a standing grievance, and I could not wonder much at it; for if gentlemen were scarce, and almost unheard of in the “genteel society” of Cranford, they or their counterparts—handsome young men—abounded in the lower classes.
仆人这个问题一直引起人们的不满，我对此并不感到惊讶；因为如果说在克兰福德的“上流社会”先生们是稀缺的、几乎闻所未闻的，那么在下层阶级中先生，或者说先生的同类——英俊的年轻男子——却比比皆是。
The pretty neat servant-maids had their choice of desirable “followers”;
漂亮爽利的女仆们可以选择自己心仪的“追求者”；
and their mistresses, without having the sort of mysterious dread of men and matrimony that Miss Matilda had, might well feel a little anxious lest the heads of their comely maids should be turned by the joiner, or the butcher, or the gardener, who were obliged, by their callings, to come to the house, and who, as ill-luck would have it, were generally handsome and unmarried.
而她们的女主人们，虽然不像玛蒂尔达小姐那样对男人和婚姻有着莫名的恐惧，但也很可能担心自己的俊俏女仆会被木匠、屠夫或园丁迷了心窍，这些人由于职业的原因不得不来到家里，而且不巧的是，他们通常都英俊且未婚。
Fanny’s lovers, if she had any—and Miss Matilda suspected her of so many flirtations that, if she had not been very pretty, I should have doubted her having one—were a constant anxiety to her mistress.
范妮的情人（如果她有的话）——玛蒂尔达小姐经常怀疑她在和其他人暧昧，如果她没有这么漂亮，我倒会怀疑她是否真的有情人——让她的女主人一直很焦虑。
She was forbidden, by the articles of her engagement, to have “followers”; and though she had answered, innocently enough, doubling up the hem of her apron as she spoke, “Please, ma’am, I never had more than one at a time,” Miss Matty prohibited that one.
她的聘用条款禁止她有“追求者”；虽然她的回答清白无辜，说话时她把围裙边卷了起来：“请原谅，夫人，我从来没有一次超过一个追求者。”但马蒂小姐连一个都不允许。
But a vision of a man seemed to haunt the kitchen.
但是一个男人的身影似乎萦绕在厨房里。
Fanny assured me that it was all fancy, or else I should have said myself that I had seen a man’s coat-tails whisk into the scullery once, when I went on an errand into the store-room at night;
范妮向我保证，这一切都是想太多，不然我自己也会说，有一次我晚上去储藏室帮人拿东西时，看到一个男人的衣摆闪进了洗碗间；
and another evening, when, our watches having stopped, I went to look at the clock, there was a very odd appearance, singularly like a young man squeezed up between the clock and the back of the open kitchen door:
还有一天晚上，我们的钟停了，我去看钟，结果看到了一个非常奇怪的景象，特别像一个年轻男人挤在钟和敞开的厨房门后面：
and I thought Fanny snatched up the candle very hastily, so as to throw the shadow on the clock face, while she very positively told me the time half-an-hour too early, as we found out afterwards by the church clock.
而且我觉得范妮非常匆忙地抓起蜡烛，以便把影子投在钟的表盘上，并非常肯定地告诉我时间，她说的时间早了半个小时，后来我们通过教堂的钟发现了这一点。
But I did not add to Miss Matty’s anxieties by naming my suspicions, especially as Fanny said to me, the next day, that it was such a queer kitchen for having odd shadows about it, she really was almost afraid to stay;
但是我没有说出我的怀疑，以免让马蒂小姐更加焦虑，尤其是因为第二天范妮对我说，那个厨房很奇怪，到处都是奇怪的影子，她真的有点不敢待在那里；
“for you know, miss,” she added, “I don’t see a creature from six o’clock tea, till Missus rings the bell for prayers at ten.”
“你知道的，小姐，”她还补充道，“从六点喝茶到十点夫人拉铃做祷告，我一个人影都见不到。”
However, it so fell out that Fanny had to leave and Miss Matilda begged me to stay and “settle her” with the new maid; to which I consented, after I had heard from my father that he did not want me at home.
然而，最终范妮还是要离开，玛蒂尔达小姐恳求我留下，帮她和新女仆“磨合好”；我听父亲说家里还不需要我后，我就同意了。
The new servant was a rough, honest-looking, country girl, who had only lived in a farm place before; but I liked her looks when she came to be hired; and I promised Miss Matilda to put her in the ways of the house.
新女仆是个有些粗野，但起来很诚实的乡下姑娘，她之前只在农场干过活，不过她来应聘时，我挺喜欢她的长相，我还向玛蒂尔达小姐保证，会教她熟悉家里的规矩。
The said ways were religiously such as Miss Matilda thought her sister would approve.
家里的规矩严格遵照玛蒂尔达小姐认为姐姐会赞成的方式来行事。
Many a domestic rule and regulation had been a subject of plaintive whispered murmur to me during Miss Jenkyns’s life; but now that she was gone, I do not think that even I, who was a favourite, durst have suggested an alteration.
在詹金斯小姐生前，许多家庭规章制度都曾是其他人轻声向我抱怨的主题；但现在她离世了，我认为即使詹金斯小姐最喜欢我，我也不敢提议改变规矩。
To give an instance: we constantly adhered to the forms which were observed, at meal-times, in “my father, the rector’s house.”
举个例子：我们一直遵守着“我父亲，那位教区长家里”在用餐时间所遵守的规矩。
Accordingly, we had always wine and dessert; but the decanters were only filled when there was a party, and what remained was seldom touched, though we had two wine-glasses apiece every day after dinner, until the next festive occasion arrived, when the state of the remainder wine was examined into in a family council.
因此，我们总是有葡萄酒和甜点；但只在聚会时才会把酒瓶装满，聚会剩下的酒很少有人动，尽管每天晚饭后我们每人面前都会摆两个葡萄酒杯，直到下一个聚会到来，那时全家人会一起检查剩余葡萄酒的状况。
The dregs were often given to the poor: but occasionally, when a good deal had been left at the last party (five months ago, it might be), it was added to some of a fresh bottle, brought up from the cellar.
剩余的一点酒通常会送给穷人：但偶尔，当上一次聚会（可能是五个月前）剩下了很多酒时，余酒会被倒入从酒窖里拿出来的新瓶子里。
I fancy poor Captain Brown did not much like wine, for I noticed he never finished his first glass, and most military men take several.
我想可怜的布朗上尉并不太喜欢葡萄酒，因为我注意到他第一杯酒都没喝完，而大多数军人会喝好几杯。
Then, as to our dessert, Miss Jenkyns used to gather currants and gooseberries for it herself, which I sometimes thought would have tasted better fresh from the trees; but then, as Miss Jenkyns observed, there would have been nothing for dessert in summer-time.
然后，至于我们的甜点，詹金斯小姐过去常常亲自收集小葡萄干和醋栗，我有时觉得要是刚从树上摘下来的会更好吃；但是，正如詹金斯小姐所说，那样的话，夏天就没有什么甜点了。
As it was, we felt very genteel with our two glasses apiece, and a dish of gooseberries at the top, of currants and biscuits at the sides, and two decanters at the bottom.
于是，我们每人有两个杯子，上面还有一盘醋栗，旁边佐以小葡萄干和饼干，下面是两个酒瓶，并觉得自己非常文雅。
When oranges came in, a curious proceeding was gone through.
当橙子进入餐桌时，便有了一个奇怪的程序。
Miss Jenkyns did not like to cut the fruit; for, as she observed, the juice all ran out nobody knew where;
詹金斯小姐不喜欢把水果切开，因为，她认为，汁水会流得到处都是，谁也不知道流到哪里去了；
sucking (only I think she used some more recondite word) was in fact the only way of enjoying oranges; but then there was the unpleasant association with a ceremony frequently gone through by little babies;
吸吮（我想她用的是某个更晦涩的词）实际上是吃橙子的唯一方法；但那样的话，就会让人不愉快地联想到小婴儿常做的一个动作；
and so, after dessert, in orange season, Miss Jenkyns and Miss Matty used to rise up, possess themselves each of an orange in silence, and withdraw to the privacy of their own rooms to indulge in sucking oranges.
所以，吃完甜点，在橙子上市的季节，詹金斯小姐和马蒂小姐就会站起来，默默地各自拿一个橙子，然后回到自己的房间里，尽情地吸吮美味的橙子。
