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Chapter XVI Peace to Cranford
第十六章 克兰福德重归平静
It was not surprising that Mr Peter became such a favourite at Cranford.
彼得先生在克兰福德如此受欢迎，这并不奇怪。
The ladies vied with each other who should admire him most; and no wonder, for their quiet lives were astonishingly stirred up by the arrival from India—especially as the person arrived told more wonderful stories than Sindbad the Sailor; and, as Miss Pole said, was quite as good as an Arabian Night any evening.
女士们互相竞争，看谁最崇拜他；这也难怪，因为她们平静的生活被这位从印度归来的人彻底打乱了——尤其是这位来客讲述的故事比辛巴达水手的故事还要精彩；而且正如波尔小姐所说，他的每一个故事都像《一千零一夜》的每一夜那样精彩。
For my own part, I had vibrated all my life between Drumble and Cranford, and I thought it was quite possible that all Mr Peter’s stories might be true, although wonderful;
就我自己而言，我一生都在德拉姆布尔和克兰福德之间来回奔波，我认为彼得先生所有的故事虽然很神奇，但都有可能是真的；
but when I found that, if we swallowed an anecdote of tolerable magnitude one week, we had the dose considerably increased the next, I began to have my doubts; especially as I noticed that when his sister was present the accounts of Indian life were comparatively tame; not that she knew more than we did, perhaps less.
但是我发现，如果我们这周听到一个相当精彩的轶事，那么下周故事的精彩程度就会大大增加，这时我开始产生怀疑；尤其是当我注意到，当他的姐姐在场时，关于印度生活的描述就相对平淡了；并不是因为她比我们知道的更多，也许她知道的比我们还少。
I noticed also that when the rector came to call, Mr Peter talked in a different way about the countries he had been in.
我还注意到，当教区长来拜访时，彼得先生会以不同的方式谈论他去过的国家。
But I don’t think the ladies in Cranford would have considered him such a wonderful traveller if they had only heard him talk in the quiet way he did to him.
但我认为，如果克兰福德的女士们只听到他像对教区长那样平静地讲故事，她们就不会认为他是如此了不起的旅行者。
They liked him the better, indeed, for being what they called “so very Oriental.”
实际上女士们更喜欢他了，因为她们称他“非常有东方风度”。
One day, at a select party in his honour, which Miss Pole gave, and from which, as Mrs Jamieson honoured it with her presence, and had even offered to send Mr Mulliner to wait, Mr and Mrs Hoggins and Mrs Fitz-Adam were necessarily excluded—one day at Miss Pole’s, Mr Peter said he was tired of sitting upright against the hard-backed uneasy chairs, and asked if he might not indulge himself in sitting cross-legged.
有一天，波尔小姐为他举办了一个派对，宾客都是精心挑选的少数人，贾米森夫人也光临了，甚至还提出派穆利纳先生去服侍，因此霍金斯夫妇和菲茨-亚当夫人自然被排除在外，在波尔小姐家的这一天，彼得先生说他挺直身子靠在硬邦邦的不舒服的椅子上都坐累了，问他是否可以放纵一下，盘腿而坐。
Miss Pole’s consent was eagerly given, and down he went with the utmost gravity.
波尔小姐欣然应允，然后他便极其严肃地开始盘腿坐。
But when Miss Pole asked me, in an audible whisper, “if he did not remind me of the Father of the Faithful?” I could not help thinking of poor Simon Jones, the lame tailor,
但是当波尔小姐用听得见的耳语问我“他是否让我想起了虔诚之父亚伯拉罕？”时，我只能想起可怜的西蒙·琼斯，那个跛脚的裁缝。
and while Mrs Jamieson slowly commented on the elegance and convenience of the attitude, I remembered how we had all followed that lady’s lead in condemning Mr Hoggins for vulgarity because he simply crossed his legs as he sat still on his chair.
当贾米森夫人慢悠悠地评论着这种坐姿既优雅又方便时，我想起了我们是如何在这位夫人的带领下批评霍金斯先生粗俗无礼，而这只是因为他端正地坐在椅子上时跷了二郎腿。
Many of Mr Peter’s ways of eating were a little strange amongst such ladies as Miss Pole, and Miss Matty, and Mrs Jamieson, especially when I recollected the untasted green peas and two-pronged forks at poor Mr Holbrook’s dinner.
彼得先生的许多进餐习惯在波尔小姐、马蒂小姐和贾米森夫人这样的女士中显得有些奇怪，尤其是当我想起在可怜的霍尔布鲁克先生家的晚宴上，那些没有人吃的豌豆和两齿叉。
The mention of that gentleman’s name recalls to my mind a conversation between Mr Peter and Miss Matty one evening in the summer after he returned to Cranford.
一提到这位绅士的名字，我就想起了彼得先生和马蒂小姐之间的一次谈话，那是在他回到克兰福德后的一个夏天的晚上。
The day had been very hot, and Miss Matty had been much oppressed by the weather, in the heat of which her brother revelled.
那天非常热，马蒂小姐简直热得受不了，而她弟弟却尽情享受着酷热。
I remember that she had been unable to nurse Martha’s baby, which had become her favourite employment of late, and which was as much at home in her arms as in its mother’s, as long as it remained a light-weight, portable by one so fragile as Miss Matty.
我记得她无法照顾玛莎的孩子，而那是她近来最喜欢做的事，如果那孩子体重一直很轻，像马蒂小姐这样体弱的人也能抱得动的话，那孩子在她怀里就跟在妈妈怀里一样舒服。
This day to which I refer, Miss Matty had seemed more than usually feeble and languid, and only revived when the sun went down, and her sofa was wheeled to the open window, through which, although it looked into the principal street of Cranford, the fragrant smell of the neighbouring hayfields came in every now and then, borne by the soft breezes that stirred the dull air of the summer twilight, and then died away.
在我提到的这一天，马蒂小姐似乎比平时更加虚弱和无精打采，只有当太阳落山，她的沙发被推到敞开的窗户前时，她才恢复了精神。窗户虽然朝向克兰福德的主街，但不时有微风吹过，带来附近干草地的芬芳气息，搅动了夏季日暮时分的沉闷空气，然后风又渐渐平息。
The silence of the sultry atmosphere was lost in the murmuring noises which came in from many an open window and door; even the children were abroad in the street, late as it was (between ten and eleven), enjoying the game of play for which they had not had spirits during the heat of the day.
闷热空气中弥漫着的寂静，被许多敞开的门窗传出的低沉声音打破了；尽管已经很晚了（十点到十一点之间），但孩子们也还在街上，尽情玩着在炎热的白天没有精神玩的游戏。
It was a source of satisfaction to Miss Matty to see how few candles were lighted, even in the apartments of those houses from which issued the greatest signs of life.
看到即使在那些生活气息最浓厚的房子里，点着的蜡烛也很少，这让马蒂小姐感到很满意。
