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In coming out of church, the first Sunday on which Lady Glenmire appeared in Cranford, we sedulously talked together, and turned our backs on Mrs Jamieson and her guest.
在走出教堂的时候，那是格兰米尔夫人出现在克兰福德的第一个星期天，我们故意在一起交谈，背对着贾米森夫人和她的客人。
If we might not call on her, we would not even look at her, though we were dying with curiosity to know what she was like.
如果我们不能去拜访她，那么我们甚至都不会看她一眼，尽管我们非常好奇她是什么样子。
We had the comfort of questioning Martha in the afternoon.
不过我们在下午询问了玛莎，心里总算舒服了些。
Martha did not belong to a sphere of society whose observation could be an implied compliment to Lady Glenmire, and Martha had made good use of her eyes.
玛莎不属于那种注视着格伦米尔夫人就像是在暗暗奉承她的阶层，而玛莎也充分利用了她的眼睛。
“Well, ma’am! Is it the little lady with Mrs Jamieson, you mean?
“是，太太！你是说和贾米森夫人在一起的那位小个子女士吗？
I thought you would like more to know how young Mrs Smith was dressed; her being a bride.” (Mrs Smith was the butcher’s wife).
我以为你更想知道年轻的史密斯夫人是如何打扮的；因为她是新娘。”（史密斯夫人是屠夫的妻子）。
Miss Pole said, “Good gracious me! As if we cared about a Mrs Smith;” but was silent as Martha resumed her speech.
波尔小姐说“天哪！好像我们在乎什么史密斯夫人似的”；但当玛莎继续讲时，她没有作声了。
“The little lady in Mrs Jamieson’s pew had on, ma’am, rather an old black silk, and a shepherd’s plaid cloak, ma’am, and very bright black eyes she had, ma’am, and a pleasant, sharp face; not over young, ma’am, but yet, I should guess, younger than Mrs Jamieson herself.
“和贾米森夫人坐在长椅上的那位小个子女士，太太，她穿着一件相当旧的黑色丝绸衣服，还有一件牧羊人格子呢披肩，太太，她的黑眼睛非常明亮，太太，脸型讨人喜欢、轮廓分明；年纪不算小，太太，但我猜，比贾米森夫人要年轻。
She looked up and down the church, like a bird, and nipped up her petticoats, when she came out, as quick and sharp as ever I see.
她像只小鸟一样，在教堂里上上下下地看，出来的时候，她猛地提起裙子，动作像我以前看到的那样敏捷、利落。
I’ll tell you what, ma’am, she’s more like Mrs Deacon, at the ‘Coach and Horses,’ nor any one.”
我跟你说，太太，她更像“马车与马”旅店的迪肯夫人，而不像其他人。”
“Hush, Martha!” said Miss Matty, “that’s not respectful.”
“嘘，玛莎！”马蒂小姐说，“这话可不太尊重人。”
“Isn’t it, ma’am? I beg pardon, I’m sure; but Jem Hearn said so as well.
“是吗，夫人？请原谅，真抱歉；但杰姆·赫恩也这么说。
He said, she was just such a sharp, stirring sort of a body”—
他说，她就是那种敏捷、活泼的女人”——
“Lady,” said Miss Pole.
“叫她夫人。”波尔小姐说。
“Lady—as Mrs Deacon.”
“夫人——她就是像迪肯夫人那样的敏捷、活泼的夫人。”
Another Sunday passed away, and we still averted our eyes from Mrs Jamieson and her guest, and made remarks to ourselves that we thought were very severe—almost too much so.
又一个星期天过去了，我们仍然不去看贾米森夫人和她的客人，自顾自地说一些我们认为非常严厉的话——甚至太过严厉的话。
Miss Matty was evidently uneasy at our sarcastic manner of speaking.
马蒂小姐显然对我们讽刺的语气感到不安。
Perhaps by this time Lady Glenmire had found out that Mrs Jamieson’s was not the gayest, liveliest house in the world;
也许到这个时候，格伦米尔夫人已经发现，贾米森夫人家并不是世界上最欢快、最热闹的家庭；
perhaps Mrs Jamieson had found out that most of the county families were in London, and that those who remained in the country were not so alive as they might have been to the circumstance of Lady Glenmire being in their neighbourhood.
也许贾米森夫人已经发现，大多数世家家族都在伦敦，而那些留在乡下的世家家族，对于格伦米尔夫人住在他们附近这件事，并没有表现出应有的热情。
Great events spring out of small causes; so I will not pretend to say what induced Mrs Jamieson to alter her determination of excluding the Cranford ladies, and send notes of invitation all round for a small party on the following Tuesday.
重大事件往往由微不足道的原因引发；因此我不会假装说是什么原因促使贾米森夫人改变了她把克兰福德的女士们排除在外的决定，并在接下来的周二广发邀请便条，请大家来参加一个小型聚会。
Mr Mulliner himself brought them round.
穆利纳先生亲自把便条送了过来。
He would always ignore the fact of there being a back door to any house, and gave a louder rat-tat than his mistress, Mrs Jamieson.
他总是会忽略所有房子都有后门这一事实，敲门的声音比他的女主人贾米森夫人还要大。
He had three little notes, which he carried in a large basket, in order to impress his mistress with an idea of their great weight, though they might easily have gone into his waistcoat pocket.
他有三张便条，放在一个大篮子里，为了让他的女主人觉得三张便条很重，尽管这些便条很容易就能放进他的马甲口袋里。
Miss Matty and I quietly decided that we would have a previous engagement at home:
马蒂小姐和我悄悄决定，我们会说家里已经预先安排了其他事：
it was the evening on which Miss Matty usually made candle-lighters of all the notes and letters of the week; for on Mondays her accounts were always made straight—not a penny owing from the week before; so, by a natural arrangement, making candle-lighters fell upon a Tuesday evening, and gave us a legitimate excuse for declining Mrs Jamieson’s invitation.
在那天晚上，马蒂小姐通常会把一周内的所有便条和信件制成点蜡烛的火折子；因为在周一，她的账目总是被整理得很清楚——上周没有一分钱欠款；因此水到渠成地，制作火折子的任务落在了周二晚上，这给了我们一个合理的借口来拒绝贾米森夫人的邀请。
But before our answer was written, in came Miss Pole, with an open note in her hand.
但在我们把回信写好之前，波尔小姐走了进来，手里拿着一张打开的便条。
“So!” she said. “Ah! I see you have got your note, too. Better late than never.
“那么！”她说，“啊！我看到你也收到了便条。迟到总比不到好。
I could have told my Lady Glenmire she would be glad enough of our society before a fortnight was over.”
我早就想告诉格伦米尔夫人，不出两周，她就会非常想要我们作伴。”
“Yes,” said Miss Matty, “we’re asked for Tuesday evening.
“是的，”马蒂小姐说，“我们被邀请周二晚上去。
And perhaps you would just kindly bring your work across and drink tea with us that night.
或许你可以在那天晚上带着你的活计过来，和我们一起喝杯茶。
It is my usual regular time for looking over the last week’s bills, and notes, and letters, and making candle-lighters of them; but that does not seem quite reason enough for saying I have a previous engagement at home, though I meant to make it do.
周二是我每周固定查看上周账单、便条、信件的时间，并把它们做成火折子；但这个理由似乎还不够说我在家里预先已经有了安排，尽管我是想这样做。
Now, if you would come, my conscience would be quite at ease, and luckily the note is not written yet.”
如果你能来，我就完全不会因为拒绝而感到抱歉了，幸运的是，回复便条还没有写。”
I saw Miss Pole’s countenance change while Miss Matty was speaking.
我看到在马蒂小姐说话的时候，波尔小姐的脸色变了。
“Don’t you mean to go then?” asked she.
“那么你不打算去吗？”她问。
“Oh, no!” said, Miss Matty quietly. “You don’t either, I suppose?”
“哦，不打算！”马蒂小姐轻声说，“我想，你也不打算去吧？”
“I don’t know,” replied Miss Pole.
“我不知道，”波尔小姐回答。
“Yes, I think I do,” said she, rather briskly; and on seeing Miss Matty look surprised, she added, “You see, one would not like Mrs Jamieson to think that anything she could do, or say, was of consequence enough to give offence; it would be a kind of letting down of ourselves, that I, for one, should not like.
“是的，我想我会去的，”她相当轻快地说，看到马蒂小姐惊讶的表情，她又补充道：“你知道，谁也不想让贾米森夫人觉得，她做的事或说的话重要到足以让我们介怀；那样会降了我们自己的身份，至少我不想这种情况发生。
It would be too flattering to Mrs Jamieson if we allowed her to suppose that what she had said affected us a week, nay ten days afterwards.”
如果我们让贾米森夫人认为她所说的话在一周后，甚至十天后还影响着我们，那就太抬举她了。”
“Well! I suppose it is wrong to be hurt and annoyed so long about anything; and, perhaps, after all, she did not mean to vex us.
“嗯！我想为任何事情伤心和烦恼这么长时间都是不对的；而且，也许她并不是有意要惹我们生气。
But I must say, I could not have brought myself to say the things Mrs Jamieson did about our not calling.
但我必须说，我无法让自己说出贾米森夫人所说的让我们不要去拜访的那些话。
I really don’t think I shall go.”
我真的觉得我不该去。”
“Oh, come! Miss Matty, you must go; you know our friend Mrs Jamieson is much more phlegmatic than most people, and does not enter into the little delicacies of feeling which you possess in so remarkable a degree.”
“哦，来吧！马蒂小姐，你必须去；你知道我们的朋友贾米森夫人比大多数人都要冷淡得多，她不会像你那样对细微的情感有如此敏锐的感受。”
“I thought you possessed them, too, that day Mrs Jamieson called to tell us not to go,” said Miss Matty innocently.
“那天贾米森夫人来叫我们别去拜访，我以为你也很敏锐呢。”马蒂小姐无辜地说。
But Miss Pole, in addition to her delicacies of feeling, possessed a very smart cap, which she was anxious to show to an admiring world;
但是波尔小姐除了有细腻的情感之外，还有一顶漂亮的帽子，她急于让世人欣赏一番；
and so she seemed to forget all her angry words uttered not a fortnight before, and to be ready to act on what she called the great Christian principle of “Forgive and forget”;
因此她似乎忘记了不到两周前说过的那些气话，并且准备践行她所说的伟大的基督教原则“既往不咎”；
and she lectured dear Miss Matty so long on this head that she absolutely ended by assuring her it was her duty, as a deceased rector’s daughter, to buy a new cap and go to the party at Mrs Jamieson’s.
她就这个问题对亲爱的马蒂小姐滔滔不绝地讲了很久，最后居然让她相信，作为一位故去教区长的女儿，她有责任买一顶新帽子，去参加贾米森夫人举办的聚会。
So “we were most happy to accept,” instead of “regretting that we were obliged to decline.”
所以“我们非常高兴地接受了邀请”，而不是“很遗憾不得不拒绝”。
