评论
打印
And now I come to the love affair.
现在我终于要谈到那段爱情故事了。
It seems that Miss Pole had a cousin, once or twice removed, who had offered to Miss Matty long ago.
似乎波尔小姐有个表兄弟，隔了一两代的那种，他很久以前曾向马蒂小姐求过婚。
Now this cousin lived four or five miles from Cranford on his own estate;
现在这位表兄弟住在离克兰福德四五英里远的自家庄园里；
but his property was not large enough to entitle him to rank higher than a yeoman; or rather, with something of the “pride which apes humility,” he had refused to push himself on, as so many of his class had done, into the ranks of the squires.
但他的财产并不足以让他获得比自耕农更高的地位；或者更确切地说，他带着一种“以谦卑为傲”的态度，拒绝像他那个阶层的许多人那样，努力跻身上流社会。
He would not allow himself to be called Thomas Holbrook, Esq.;
他不允许别人叫他托马斯·霍尔布鲁克“绅士”。
he even sent back letters with this address, telling the post-mistress at Cranford that his name was Mr Thomas Holbrook, yeoman.
他甚至还把写有这个称呼的信件退了回去，告诉克兰福德的女邮政局长，他的名字是托马斯·霍尔布鲁克“先生”，自耕农。
He rejected all domestic innovations; he would have the house door stand open in summer and shut in winter, without knocker or bell to summon a servant.
他拒绝一切家庭生活上的改革；他夏天不让关家门，冬天不让开家门，也没有召唤仆人的门环或门铃。
The closed fist or the knob of a stick did this office for him if he found the door locked.
如果他发现门锁着，就会用握紧的拳头或棍子的把手来完成这个任务。
He despised every refinement which had not its root deep down in humanity.
他蔑视一切不是植根于人性的所谓高雅。
If people were not ill, he saw no necessity for moderating his voice.
如果人们没有生病，他就觉得没有必要降低声音。
He spoke the dialect of the country in perfection, and constantly used it in conversation;
他能说一口地道的乡下土话，谈话时也总是用这种口音，
although Miss Pole (who gave me these particulars) added, that he read aloud more beautifully and with more feeling than any one she had ever heard, except the late rector.
不过，波尔小姐（这些细节都是她告诉我的）补充说，他朗读起文章来，声情并茂，是她听过的人当中最棒的，只有已故的教区长可以与他媲美。
“And how came Miss Matilda not to marry him?” asked I.
“那玛蒂尔达小姐怎么没嫁给他呢？”我问道。
“Oh, I don’t know. She was willing enough, I think;
“哦，我不知道。我觉得她是很愿意的；
but you know Cousin Thomas would not have been enough of a gentleman for the rector and Miss Jenkyns.”
但是你知道，托马斯表哥对于教区长和詹金斯小姐来说，算不上是个绅士。”
“Well! But they were not to marry him,” said I, impatiently.
“好吧！但是嫁给他的又不是他们。”我不耐烦地说。
“No; but they did not like Miss Matty to marry below her rank.
“不是；但他们不喜欢马蒂小姐下嫁。
You know she was the rector’s daughter, and somehow they are related to Sir Peter Arley: Miss Jenkyns thought a deal of that.”
你知道她是教区长的女儿，而且好像还和彼得·阿利爵士有亲戚关系：詹金斯小姐很看重这一点。”
“Poor Miss Matty!” said I.
“可怜的马蒂小姐！”我说。
“Nay, now, I don’t know anything more than that he offered and was refused.
“不，现在，除了他求婚被拒绝了，其他的我都不知道了。
Miss Matty might not like him—and Miss Jenkyns might never have said a word—it is only a guess of mine.”
马蒂小姐可能不喜欢他——詹金斯小姐可能从未说过一个字——这只是我的猜测。”
“Has she never seen him since?” I inquired.
“从那以后她就再也没见过他吗？”我问道。
“No, I think not.
“没有，我想没见过了。
You see Woodley, Cousin Thomas’s house, lies half-way between Cranford and Misselton;
你瞧，伍德雷，也就是托马斯表哥的房子，位于克兰福德和米塞尔顿之间；
and I know he made Misselton his market-town very soon after he had offered to Miss Matty;
我知道他向马蒂小姐求婚后不久，就把米塞尔顿当作他买东西的小镇了；
and I don’t think he has been into Cranford above once or twice since—once, when I was walking with Miss Matty, in High Street, and suddenly she darted from me, and went up Shire Lane.
而且我觉得从那以后他只来过克兰福德一两次——有一次，我和马蒂小姐在高街散步，她突然从我身边跑开，沿着郡巷走了。
A few minutes after I was startled by meeting Cousin Thomas.”
几分钟后，我遇见托马斯表哥，吓了一跳。”
“How old is he?” I asked, after a pause of castle-building.
“他多大了？”我停顿了一会儿，脑海中浮想联翩，然后接着问道。
“He must be about seventy, I think, my dear,” said Miss Pole, blowing up my castle, as if by gun-powder, into small fragments.
“亲爱的，我想他一定有七十岁了。”波尔小姐说道，她的话就像火药一样，把我的幻想炸得粉碎。
Very soon after—at least during my long visit to Miss Matilda—I had the opportunity of seeing Mr Holbrook; seeing, too, his first encounter with his former love, after thirty or forty years’ separation.
没过多久——至少在我与玛蒂尔达小姐长住期间——我有机会见到了霍尔布鲁克先生；也见到了他和他的旧爱分别三四十年后的第一次相遇。
I was helping to decide whether any of the new assortment of coloured silks which they had just received at the shop would do to match a grey and black mousseline-delaine that wanted a new breadth, when a tall, thin, Don Quixote-looking old man came into the shop for some woollen gloves.
我正在帮忙决定，店里新到的一批彩色丝绸中有没有哪一种可以用来搭配一条需要加宽的灰黑色薄花呢，这时一个又高又瘦、看起来像堂吉诃德的老人走进店里买羊毛手套。
I had never seen the person (who was rather striking) before, and I watched him rather attentively while Miss Matty listened to the shopman.
我以前从未见过这个人（他相当引人注目），我相当专注地看着他，而马蒂小姐则在听店员说话。
The stranger wore a blue coat with brass buttons, drab breeches, and gaiters, and drummed with his fingers on the counter until he was attended to.
这个陌生人穿着一件有铜纽扣的蓝色外套、黄褐色马裤和绑腿，他用手指在柜台上敲打着，直到有人来招呼他。
When he answered the shop-boy’s question, “What can I have the pleasure of showing you to-day, sir?”
当他回答店员的问题“先生，今天我能有幸为您介绍什么？”时，
I saw Miss Matilda start, and then suddenly sit down; and instantly I guessed who it was.
我看到玛蒂尔达小姐吃了一惊，接着突然坐了下来；于是我立刻猜到了那是谁。
She had made some inquiry which had to be carried round to the other shopman.
她问了店员一些问题，这些问题必须转达给另一个店员。
“Miss Jenkyns wants the black sarsenet two-and-twopence the yard”; and Mr Holbrook had caught the name, and was across the shop in two strides.
“詹金斯小姐要每码两先令两便士的黑色里子薄绸”；霍尔布鲁克先生听到了这个名字，迈了两大步就来到店铺另一边。
“Matty—Miss Matilda—Miss Jenkyns!
“马蒂——玛蒂尔达小姐——詹金斯小姐！
God bless my soul!
上帝保佑我的灵魂！
I should not have known you.
我都认不出你了。
How are you? How are you?”
你好吗？你好吗？”
He kept shaking her hand in a way which proved the warmth of his friendship; but he repeated so often, as if to himself, “I should not have known you!” that any sentimental romance which I might be inclined to build was quite done away with by his manner.
他不停地握着她的手，以此证明他的友谊是多么热烈；但他又似乎是在自言自语地反复说“我都认不出你了！”，我可能想要建立的任何浪漫情感都被他的态度完全消除了。
However, he kept talking to us all the time we were in the shop; and then waving the shopman with the unpurchased gloves on one side, with “Another time, sir! Another time!” he walked home with us.
然而，我们在店里的时候，他一直在和我们说话；接着他挥了挥手，让那个拿着还没被购买的手套的店员站到一边，说着“下次吧，先生！下次我再买！”，然后和我们一起走回家。
I am happy to say my client, Miss Matilda, also left the shop in an equally bewildered state, not having purchased either green or red silk.
我很高兴地说，我的同伴玛蒂尔达小姐也像我一样困惑地离开了商店，她既没有买绿色的丝绸，也没有买红色的丝绸。
Mr Holbrook was evidently full with honest loud-spoken joy at meeting his old love again; he touched on the changes that had taken place; he even spoke of Miss Jenkyns as “Your poor sister! Well, well! We have all our faults”;
霍尔布鲁克先生再次见到他的旧爱，显然满心欢喜，他坦率地大声表达着自己的喜悦之情；他谈到了发生的变化；他谈到詹金斯小姐时甚至说“你可怜的姐姐！唉，唉，我们都有自己的缺点”；
and bade us good-bye with many a hope that he should soon see Miss Matty again.
和我们道别时，他希望很快能再次见到马蒂小姐。
She went straight to her room, and never came back till our early tea-time, when I thought she looked as if she had been crying.
马蒂小姐径直去了她的房间，直到我们喝下午茶的时候才出现，我觉得她看起来好像哭过。
