评论
打印
“Then, Mary Smith, will you tell me what you did mean, by speaking as you did, and convincing me against my will, and giving me a bad night?”
”那么，玛丽·史密斯，你能不能告诉我，你那样说、劝我违背自己的意愿、让我度过了一个糟糕的晚上，你到底是什么意思？”
“I meant—oh, Miss Pole, I meant to surprise you with a present from Paris; and I thought it would be a cap.
“我的意思是……哦，波尔小姐，我本想从巴黎给你带件礼物，给你个惊喜，我当时觉得礼物会是顶帽子。
Mrs Gordon was to choose it, and Mr Ludovic to bring it.
戈登夫人会去挑选礼物，卢多维克先生会把它带来。
I dare say it is in England now; only it's not a cap.
我敢说礼物现在已经在英国了，但它不是一顶帽子。
And I did not want you to buy Johnson's cap, when I thought I was getting another for you.”
当时我以为我要给你买一顶帽子，所以就不想让你买约翰逊店里的帽子。”
Miss Pole found this speech 'muddle-headed,' I have no doubt, though she did not say so, only making an odd noise of perplexity.
波尔小姐觉得这番话“糊里糊涂”，这一点我毫不怀疑，尽管她没有明说，只是发出了一声困惑的嘟囔。
I went on: “I wrote to Mrs Gordon, and asked her to get you a present—something new and pretty.
我接着说：“我给戈登夫人写了信，请她给你买件礼物，买一个新颖、漂亮的东西。
I meant it to be a dress, but I suppose I did not say so; I thought it would be a cap, for Paris is so famous for caps, and it is—”
我本来是想买件裙子的，可我想我没说清楚，我猜会是顶帽子，因为巴黎的帽子很有名，而且它……”
“You're a good girl, Mary” (I was past thirty, but did not object to being called a girl; and, indeed, I generally felt like a girl at Cranford, where everybody was so much older than I was), “but when you want a thing, say what you want; it is the best way in general.
“你是个好姑娘，玛丽（我都三十多岁了，可并不反感被叫做姑娘；而且在克兰福德，大家都比我年长许多，我也确实常常觉得自己像个姑娘），但你想要什么东西就要说你想要什么，一般来说，这是最好的办法。
And now I suppose Mrs Gordon has bought something quite different? —a pair of shoes, I dare say, for people talk a deal of Paris shoes.
我想戈登夫人已经买了完全不一样的东西？肯定是一双鞋，因为人们一直在谈论巴黎的鞋子。
Anyhow, I'm just as much obliged to you, Mary, my dear.
不管怎样，我还是非常感谢你，亲爱的玛丽。
Only you should not go and spend your money on me.”
只是你不应该把你的钱花在我身上。”
“It was not much money; and it was not a pair of shoes. You'll let me go and get the cap, won't you?
“没有花很多钱，也不是一双鞋。你会让我去买帽子的，对吧？
It was so pretty—somebody will be sure to snatch it up.”
那顶帽子那么漂亮，肯定会有人把它抢走的。”
“I don't like getting a cap that's sure to be unbecoming.”
“我不喜欢戴一顶肯定不适合我的帽子。”
“But it is not; it was not. I never saw you look so well in anything,” said I.
“但不是这样的，之前也没有不适合你。我从未见过你戴什么帽子能这么好看。”我说。
“Mary, Mary, remember who is the father of lies!”
“玛丽啊，玛丽，记住谁是谎言之父！”
“But he's not my father,” exclaimed I, in a hurry, for I saw Mrs Fitz-Adam go down the street in the direction of Johnson's shop.
“可我没有说谎，”我急忙喊道，因为我看到菲茨-亚当夫人沿着马路朝约翰逊商店的方向走去了，
“I'll eat my words; they were all false: only just let me run down and buy you that cap—that pretty cap.”
“我收回我说的话，那些话都是假的：只要你让我跑去给你买那顶帽子就行了——那顶漂亮的帽子。”
“Well! Run off, child. I liked it myself till you put me out of taste with it.”
“啊！跑吧，孩子。我本来是挺喜欢的，但你让我对它失去了兴趣。”
I brought it back in triumph from under Mrs Fitz-Adam's very nose, as she was hanging in meditation over it; and the more we saw of it, the more we felt pleased with our purchase.
我在菲茨-亚当夫人对着帽子沉思的时候，当着她的面把帽子买下并凯旋而归，我们越看帽子越觉得买对了。
We turned it on this side, and we turned it on that; and though we hurried it away into Miss Pole's bedroom at the sound of a double knock at the door, when we found it was only Miss Matty and Mr Peter, Miss Pole could not resist the opportunity of displaying it, and said in a solemn way to Miss Matty: “Can I speak to you for a few minutes in private?”
我们把它翻过来，又把它翻过去；听到两声敲门声时，我们赶紧把它藏到波尔小姐的卧室里，但发现来的只是马蒂小姐和彼得先生，波尔小姐还是忍不住要炫耀一下，于是郑重其事地对马蒂小姐说：“我能和你私下谈几分钟吗？”
And I knew feminine delicacy too well to explain what this grave prelude was to lead to; aware how immediately Miss Matty's anxious tremor would be allayed by the sight of the cap.
我太了解女性的敏感了，所以我没有解释这句严肃的话是什么事情的开场白，我知道马蒂小姐看到帽子后，她的紧张心情就会立刻平息下来。
I had to go on talking to Mr Peter, however, when I would far rather have been in the bedroom, and heard the observations and comments.
我不得不继续和彼得先生交谈，然而我更愿意待在卧室里，听听她们对帽子的评价。
We talked of the new cap all day; what gowns it would suit; whether a certain bow was not rather too coquettish for a woman of Miss Pole's age.
我们一整天都在谈论那顶新帽子：它适合什么样的长袍，对于波尔小姐这个年纪的女人来说，某个蝴蝶结是不是太花哨了。
“No longer young,” as she called herself, after a little struggle with the words; though at sixty-five she need not have blushed as if she were telling a falsehood.
“我已经不算年轻了。”波尔小姐在与这句话做了一番小小的斗争之后这样承认，尽管她已经六十五岁了，但她说这句话时本不必像在说谎一样脸红。
But at last the cap was put away, and with a wrench we turned our thoughts from the subject.
最后帽子被收起来了，我们把思绪从这个话题上转移开，因不舍而心痛了一下。
We had been silent for a little while, each at our work with a candle between us, when Miss Pole began: “It was very kind of you, Mary, to think of giving me a present from Paris.”
我们沉默了一会儿，各做各的事，中间点着一支蜡烛，这时波尔小姐开始说：“玛丽，你真好，还想着从巴黎给我带礼物。”
“Oh, I was only too glad to be able to get you something!
“哦，能给你送点东西我非常高兴！
I hope you will like it, though it is not what I expected.”
希望你会喜欢它，虽然和我预期的不太一样。”
“I am sure I shall like it. And a surprise is always so pleasant.”
“我肯定会喜欢的。而且，惊喜总是如此令人愉快。”
“Yes ; but I think Mrs Gordon has made a very odd choice.”
“是的，但我认为戈登夫人选了一个非常奇怪的东西。”
“I wonder what it is. I don't like to ask, but there's a great deal in anticipation; I remember hearing dear Miss Jenkyns say that 'anticipation was the soul of enjoyment,' or something like that.
“我倒想知道是什么东西。我不喜欢打听，但非常期待，我记得曾听亲爱的詹金斯小姐说过‘期待是享受之灵魂’之类的话。
Now there is no anticipation in a surprise; that's the worst of it.”
而惊喜中不再有期待，这是最糟糕的。”
“Shall I tell you what it is?”
“要不我告诉你是什么吧？”
“Just as you like, my dear. If it is any pleasure to you, I am quite willing to hear.”
“只要你愿意就好，亲爱的。如果这让你感到快乐，我非常愿意听。”
“Perhaps I had better not. It is something quite different to what I expected, and meant to have got; and I'm not sure if I like it as well.”
“也许我最好不要说。它和我预期的、打算买的东西完全不同，我也不确定我是否也喜欢它。”
“Relieve your mind, if you like, Mary. In all disappointments sympathy is a great balm.”
“如果你愿意的话，放松一点，玛丽。不管多么失望，同情都是极大的安慰。”
“Well, then, it's something not for you; it's for Polly. It's a cage.
“唔，那我就说了，不是给你用的东西，是给波利的。是一个笼子。
Mrs Gordon says they make such pretty ones in Paris.”
戈登夫人说巴黎做的笼子非常漂亮。”
