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After we had duly condemned the want of candour which Mr Hoggins had evinced, and abused men in general, taking him for the representative and type, we got round to the subject about which we had been talking when Miss Pole came in;
接着我们适时地谴责了霍金斯先生所表现出的不坦率，还把他当作男人的代表和典型，把所有男人都骂了一通，之后我们又回到了波尔小姐进来时我们正在谈论的话题上，
namely, how far, in the present disturbed state of the country, we could venture to accept an invitation which Miss Matty had just received from Mrs Forrester, to come as usual and keep the anniversary of her wedding-day by drinking tea with her at five o’clock, and playing a quiet pool afterwards.
也就是在目前乡下如此不安宁的情况下，我们是否应该冒险接受福里斯特夫人刚刚给马蒂小姐的邀请，即像往常一样，五点钟去她家喝茶，庆祝她的结婚周年纪念日，然后再安静地打一轮牌。
Mrs Forrester had said that she asked us with some diffidence, because the roads were, she feared, very unsafe.
福里斯特夫人说，她邀请我们的时候有些犹豫，因为她担心路上非常不安全。
But she suggested that perhaps one of us would not object to take the sedan, and that the others, by walking briskly, might keep up with the long trot of the chairmen, and so we might all arrive safely at Over Place, a suburb of the town.
但是她提议也许我们中的某一个不反对坐轿子，其他人则可以快步走，跟上轿夫的大步子，这样我们就都能安全到达镇郊了。
(No; that is too large an expression: a small cluster of houses separated from Cranford by about two hundred yards of a dark and lonely lane.)
（不；说是镇郊太夸张了：就是一小簇房屋，与克兰福德隔着一条大约两百码的黑暗而幽静的小路。）
There was no doubt but that a similar note was awaiting Miss Pole at home; so her call was a very fortunate affair, as it enabled us to consult together.
毫无疑问，波尔小姐家里也有一封类似的便条在等着她，因此她来得非常巧，这样我们就能够一起商量了。
We would all much rather have declined this invitation; but we felt that it would not be quite kind to Mrs Forrester, who would otherwise be left to a solitary retrospect of her not very happy or fortunate life.
我们都宁愿拒绝这个邀请；但我们觉得这对福里斯特夫人不太好，我们不去，她就只能独自回顾自己并不十分幸福或幸运的生活。
Miss Matty and Miss Pole had been visitors on this occasion for many years, and now they gallantly determined to nail their colours to the mast, and to go through Darkness Lane rather than fail in loyalty to their friend.
马蒂小姐和波尔小姐多年来一直为了纪念日去福里斯特夫人家，现在她们勇敢地决定表明自己的立场，宁愿穿过黑暗的小路，也不愿对朋友不忠。
But when the evening came, Miss Matty (for it was she who was voted into the chair, as she had a cold), before being shut down in the sedan, like jack-in-a-box, implored the chairmen, whatever might befall, not to run away and leave her fastened up there, to be murdered; and even after they had promised, I saw her tighten her features into the stern determination of a martyr, and she gave me a melancholy and ominous shake of the head through the glass.
可是到了那天晚上，马蒂小姐（因为她感冒了，所以大家选她坐轿子）在像玩偶盒子里的玩偶一样被关进轿子之前，恳求轿夫无论发生什么事都不要跑掉，不要把她一个人扔在轿子任人宰割；即使轿夫们答应了，我还是看到她紧绷着脸，露出殉道者般的坚定神情，透过玻璃，她向我忧郁而不祥地摇了摇头。
However, we got there safely, only rather out of breath, for it was who could trot hardest through Darkness Lane, and I am afraid poor Miss Matty was sadly jolted.
不过，我们还是安全抵达了，只是有点气喘吁吁，因为我们一路上都在比谁能在黑暗小路里跑得最快，恐怕可怜的马蒂小姐被颠得够呛。
Mrs Forrester had made extra preparations, in acknowledgment of our exertion in coming to see her through such dangers.
福里斯特夫人做了额外的准备，以感谢我们在如此危险的情况下还来看她。
The usual forms of genteel ignorance as to what her servants might send up were all gone through; and harmony and Preference seemed likely to be the order of the evening, but for an interesting conversation that began I don’t know how, but which had relation, of course, to the robbers who infested the neighbourhood of Cranford.
对于仆人可能会送上什么菜，我们还是像往常一样文雅地装作不知道，和谐与牌局似乎是今晚的主旋律，但还有一场有趣的谈话，但我不知道谈话是怎么开始的，当然，谈话的内容与侵扰克兰福德附近地区的强盗有关。
Having braved the dangers of Darkness Lane, and thus having a little stock of reputation for courage to fall back upon; and also, I daresay, desirous of proving ourselves superior to men (videlicet Mr Hoggins) in the article of candour, we began to relate our individual fears, and the private precautions we each of us took.
我们已经勇敢地面对了黑暗小路的危险，因此有了一点勇敢的名声可以依靠；而且我敢说，我们渴望在坦率这一点上证明自己比男人（即霍金斯先生）优越，于是我们开始讲述我们各自的恐惧，以及我们每个人采取的私人预防措施。
I owned that my pet apprehension was eyes—eyes looking at me, and watching me, glittering out from some dull, flat, wooden surface; and that if I dared to go up to my looking-glass when I was panic-stricken, I should certainly turn it round, with its back towards me, for fear of seeing eyes behind me looking out of the darkness.
我承认，我特别害怕的是眼睛——眼睛看着我，注视着我，从某个暗淡、扁平的木制表面发着光；如果我在惊慌失措时敢走到镜子前，我肯定会把镜子转过去，让它背对着我，因为害怕看到背后有一双眼睛从黑暗中望向我。
I saw Miss Matty nerving herself up for a confession; and at last out it came.
我看到马蒂小姐鼓起勇气准备坦白，最后她终于说出来了。
She owned that, ever since she had been a girl, she had dreaded being caught by her last leg, just as she was getting into bed, by some one concealed under it.
她承认，从她还是个小女孩的时候起，她就一直害怕在她正要爬上床时，被藏在床底下的人抓住她的最后一条腿。
She said, when she was younger and more active, she used to take a flying leap from a distance, and so bring both her legs up safely into bed at once; but that this had always annoyed Deborah, who piqued herself upon getting into bed gracefully, and she had given it up in consequence.
她说在她年轻好动的时候，她常常从远处飞身一跃，两条腿同时安全地上了床；但这总是惹得黛博拉不高兴，因为她以优雅地上床为荣，后来她就放弃了这种做法。
But now the old terror would often come over her, especially since Miss Pole’s house had been attacked (we had got quite to believe in the fact of the attack having taken place), and yet it was very unpleasant to think of looking under a bed, and seeing a man concealed, with a great, fierce face staring out at you;
但现在，旧日的恐惧常常袭上心头，尤其是自从波尔小姐家遇袭之后（我们已经完全相信这件事确实发生过），想到要往床底下看，看到一个男人藏在那里，一张凶恶的大脸正瞪着你，就让人感到非常不愉快。
so she had bethought herself of something—perhaps I had noticed that she had told Martha to buy her a penny ball, such as children play with—and now she rolled this ball under the bed every night: if it came out on the other side, well and good; if not she always took care to have her hand on the bell-rope, and meant to call out John and Harry, just as if she expected men-servants to answer her ring.
于是她想出了个法子——也许我已经注意到，她让玛莎给她买了个一便士的小球，就是孩子们玩的那种——现在她每天晚上都把这个球滚到床底下：如果球从另一边滚出来，那就万事大吉；如果没有，她总会把手放在铃绳上，打算叫约翰和哈里过来，就好像她料定会有男仆来应门一样。
