牛津書蟲系列 簡愛 chapter 11
11 The Thornfield house-party
11 特恩費得家庭晚會
T wo disappointing weeks passed before we heard from Mr Rochester again.During this time I tried hard to forget my feeling for him.I reminded myself that he paid me to teach Adèle，nothing more，and that no other relationship could exist between us.When his letter finally came，Mrs Fairfax announced with great excitement that he was planning a house-party at Thornfield.He was going to return in three days’time，and had invited a large number of ladies and gentlemen to stay for several days.We all worked extremely hard in the next few days，cleaning all the rooms and preparing the food.
令人失望的兩星期過去了，我們終于得到羅切斯特先生的消息。這期間我努力忘掉自己對他的情感。我提醒自己他付錢雇我是計我教阿黛拉，我們之間不可能再有別的其他關系。他的信終于到了，費爾法斯太太激動地宣布他打算在特恩費得舉辦家庭晚會。他三天后回來，邀請了許多女士先生在這里小住幾日，以后幾天里，大家打掃房間，準備食物，干得非常賣力。
The only person in the house who did not appear excited was Grace Poole，who stayed in her room upstairs，coming down once a day for food and drink.None of the servants seemed at all curious about her，but I once heard two of the maids talking，and I listened when I caught her name
家里唯一不顯得激動的人就是格麗絲·普爾。她待在樓上的房間里，每天下來一次取吃的喝的。似乎沒有一個仆人對她表示好奇，但有一次我聽到兩個女仆說話，提到她的名字，便聽了起來。
Does Grace Poole earn a lot，then? asked one.
“那格麗絲·普爾掙得多嗎?”一個問。
’Oh yes，live times what you and I earn!’answered the other.
“噢，當然，是你我掙的五倍。”另一個回答說。
’But she’s good at the work，I expect，’said the first. ’Ah!She understands what she has to do，that’s true，answered the second，’and not everyone would want to do her job，not even for all that money!’
“不過我想她干得不錯。”第一個又說。“啊，她明白自己該干什么，這沒錯兒的，”第二個答道，“而且不是每個人都愿于她那份差事，給那么多錢也不會干。”
’Quite right!I wonder whether the master-’Suddenly they saw me and broke off their conversation
“沒錯兒。我不知道主人是否……”突然她們看見我，中止了對話。
’Doesn ’t she know?I heard one of them whisper.
“她不知道嗎?”我聽見其中一個悄悄說。
’No，’said the other，and they were silent.So I realized there was a secret at Thornfield，which nobody wanted to tell me.
“不知道。”另一個說，而且兩人都不說話了。因此我意識到特思費得有一個秘密，誰都不想告訴我。
At last the great day came Everything was ready for the master and his guests.Adele and I watched from an upstairs window as the carriages arrived.In front rode Mr Rochester on his black horse，and with him rode a beautiful lady，her black curls streaming in the wind.Blanche Ingram!’I thought We listened to the laughing and talking in the hall，as the guests were welcomed by their host and his house-keeper From a dark corner of the stairs we admired the ladies as they went up to their rooms，and then again as they descended to dinner in their elegant evening dresses.Adèle was hoping Mr Rochester would call her down to meet the guests，but in the end she was so tired with all the excitement that she and I both went to bed early.
重大的日子終于來臨，為賓主準備的東西已一切就緒。我和阿黛拉透過樓上的窗戶看到馬車駛來。前面是騎著黑馬的羅切斯特，在他身邊同行的是一位漂亮的女士，黑色的鬈發(fā)隨風飄舞。“布朗蒂·英格姆。”我心想。我們聽到大廳里充滿歡聲笑語，主人和管家正忙著迎接客人。我們躲在樓梯的暗處，羨慕著那些上樓走進各自房間的女士們，又在她們穿著優(yōu)雅的晚裝重新下樓用晚餐時欣賞著她們。阿黛拉希望羅切斯特先生會叫她下去見客人，但最后她興奮得累了，我們倆都早早睡下了。
Next morning after breakfast the whole group went out for the day.Again I saw Mr Rochester and Blanche Ingram riding together.I pointed this out to Mrs Fairfax.
第二天一早吃過早飯后，所有人都外出了。我又一次看到羅切斯特和英格姆并駕齊驅。我跟費爾法斯太太提到了這點。
’You see，Mr Rochester clearly prefers her to any of the other ladies.’
“你瞧，羅切斯特先生顯然更喜歡她，而不是其他女士。”
’Yes，he does seem to admire her，’admitted the housekeeper.
“是的，他的確似乎很仰慕她。”管家贊同道。
’And she admires him.Notice how she looks at him!But I haven’t really seen her face yet.I’d like to.”
“她也仰慕他。你瞧她是怎么看著他的!可我還沒看清她的臉。我真想看看。”
’You’ll see her tonight，’answered Mrs Fairfax.’I mentioned to the master that Adèle wanted to be introduced to the ladies，and he asked you to bring her down to meet them this evening.’
“你今晚能見到她。”費爾法斯太太說，“我跟主人說阿黛拉想見見那些女士們，他讓你今晚帶她下樓來見她們。”
’Well，I’ll go if he wants me to，but I don’t like meeting strangers.I’m not used to it.’
“好吧，如果他讓我去我就去。不過我不喜歡見生人，我不習慣。”
’I understand how you feel，’said the old lady kindly，’but the guests won’t notice you much，and you can easily escape after a short time.’
“我了解你的感受。”老太太和善地說，“不過客人們不會太注意你，你過一會兒就可以很容易地溜走。”
So Adèle and I，dressed in our best，were waiting as the ladies came into the sitting-room after dinner.I was most impressed by the beauty and elegance of all of them，but was especially fascinated by the Ingram family .Lady Ingram，although between forty and fifty，was still a fine woman.Her hair still looked black，by candle-light at least，and her teeth still seemed perfect.But she had fierce，proud eyes，that reminded me of aunt Reed’s，and a hard，powerful voice.Her daughter Mary was rather quiet，but her other daughter Blanche was very different.As soon as the gentlemen came into the room and coffee was served，she became the centre of attention.She played the piano excellently,she sang sweetly，she discussed intelligently，and all the time her flashing eyes，rich black curls and fine figure attracted glances from every gentleman in the room.
于是我和阿黛拉穿上最好的衣服，靜等女士們晚飯后到客廳來。我被她們所有人的美麗和優(yōu)雅打動，更被英格姆一家打動。英格姆夫人盡管已經四五十歲，仍然保持著風采。她的頭發(fā)看上去依然是黑的，至少在燭光下如此，她的牙齒似乎仍是那么光潔。但她的目光嚴厲而傲慢，讓我想起里德舅媽的那種目光，說起話來聲音又硬又有力。她的女兒瑪麗非常文靜，但另一個千金布朗蒂就完全不一樣了。先生們剛進門，咖啡剛端上，她就成了大家注意的中心。她彈得一手好鋼琴，歌喉甜美，談吐機智，眨動著的大眼睛、濃密的黑色鬈發(fā)和纖巧的身軀一直吸引著屋里每個男人的目光。
But I was looking for someone else.The last time I had seen him，on the night of the fire，he had held my hands，told me I had saved his life，and looked at me as if he loved me How close we had been then!But now，he entered the room without even looking at me，and took a seat with the ladies.I could not stop looking at him rather like a thirsty man who knows the water is poisoned but cannot resist drinking.I had never intended to love him.I had tried hard to destroy all feelings of love for him，but now that I saw him again，I could not stop myself loving him.I compared him to the other gentlemen present.They were all fine，handsome men，but they did not have his power，his character，his strength，or indeed his deep laugh or his gentle smile.I felt that he and I were the same sort of person，that there was something in my brain and heart，in my blood and bone，that connected me to him for ever. And although I knew I must hide my feelings，must never allow myself to hope，I also knew that while there was breath in my body，I would always love him.
可是，我在找另一個人。我最后一次見到他時，是在那個起火的晚上，他曾握著我的雙手，告訴我我救了他的命，而且看著我，好像他愛我一樣。那時我們離得多近啊!但是現(xiàn)在他走進來甚至沒看我一眼，就坐到了女士們中間。我不能不看著他，就像一個口干舌燥的人明知水有毒但還是要喝。我從沒想過要愛他，也盡力毀掉自己對他的愛慕之情。然而現(xiàn)在我又見到了他，我不能讓自己不愛他。我把他和在場的其他先生進行比較。他們都很優(yōu)雅、英俊，但缺少他的威力、個性和力量，也沒有深沉的大笑和溫柔的微笑。我覺得他和我是一類人，在我的腦中、心中，在我的血中、骨中，已經有什么東西把我和他永遠聯(lián)系在一起了。盡管我知道我必須掩蓋自己的情感，永遠不允許自己有所希冀，但我也清楚只要我的身體中一息尚存，我就會永遠愛他。
Just then I heard Blanche Ingram say to him，’Mr Rochester，you should have sent that little girl-Adèle，is that her name?-to school，but I see you have a governess for her.I saw a strange little person with her just now .Has she gone?Oh no，there she is in the window-seat.It’s very foolish of you，you know.Governesses aren’t worth their salary，are they，Mamma?’
這時，我聽到布朗蒂·英格姆對他說：“羅切斯特先生，你應該已把這個小女孩——阿黛拉是她的名字吧?——送進學校，可我看到你卻為她請了一位家庭教師。剛才我見到一個小怪人和她在一起。她走了嗎?噢，沒有，她就坐在窗戶那兒。你知道，你很傻。家庭教師根本不值那么多工資，媽媽，是不是?”
’My dear，don’t mention governesses to me!’cried Lady Ingram，holding a white hand to her forehead.’How I have suffered with them!’One of the older ladies whispered to her，pointing in my direction.
“親愛的，別跟我提家庭教師。”英格姆夫人叫道，用白凈的手撫住了額頭。“我受盡了她們的罪。”一位上年紀的女士指著我的方向悄聲對她說著什么。
’Oh，I don’t care if she hears me!’said Lady Ingram.’All governesses are useless.They never teach children anything.’
“噢，我才不管她是否能聽見我呢!”英格姆夫人說。“所有的家庭教師都沒用，她們從來不教什么給孩子。”
’What fun we used to have，playing tricks on them，didn’t we，Mary?’laughed Blanche.’But governesses are boring.Let’s change the subject.Mr Rochester，Will you sing with me?’
“我們拿她們開心，真是高興，瑪麗，是不是?”布朗蒂笑道，“不過家庭教師乏味得很，我們換個話題吧!羅切斯特先生，你和我一起唱歌吧。”
’with pleasure，’he answered，bowing，and the group moved towards the piano.This was the moment for me to escape，but I had only just left the sitting-room and reached the hall，when Mr Rochester appeared through another door.
“樂意從命。”他躬身答道，大家都來到鋼琴邊。是我溜走的時候了?？晌覄倓傋叱隹蛷d來到大廳，羅切斯特先生就從另一扇門中走了出來。
’Come back，you’re leaving too early，’he said to me.
“回來，你走得太早了。”他對我說。
’I’m tired，sir.’He looked at me for a minute.
“先生，我累了。”他看了我一會兒。
’And a little depressed .Why?Tell me.’
“還有點兒不高興。為什么?告訴我。”
’Nothing-it’s nothing，sir.l’m not depressed.’
“沒什么，沒有什么，先生。我沒不高興。”
’But I think you are.You’re almost crying.But I haven’t got time now to discover the reason.Well，tonight you may leave early，but I want to see you with my guests every evening.Good night，my-’He stopped，bit his lip，and turned quickly away.
“可我覺得是，你都快哭了?，F(xiàn)在我沒時間搞清原因。好吧，今晚你可以早走一會兒，但我希望每晚都看到你和我的客人在一起。晚安，我的——”他停住了，咬著嘴唇，迅速轉身走了。
Those were cheerful，busy days at Thornfield The old house had never seen so，much life and activity.When it was fine the host and his guests went riding，visited places of interest，and walked in the gardens，and when it was wet they played games indoors.Mr Rochester and Blanche Ingram were always together.Observing them closely，I felt very sure that he would soon marry this fine lady.But I did not feel jealous，because I knew he did not love her.She had made every effort to attract him，but he had not given her his heart.I saw her faults very clearly.She was intelligent but had no opinions of her own.She was beautiful but not good.She spoke of feelings but she knew nothing of sympathy or pity.And above all she had her mother’s pride and hardness.Other eyes apart from mine saw all these faults.Mr Rochester himself knew she was not perfect，but he was clearly preparing to marry her，perhaps because she was of good family，perhaps for some other reason.
這幾天特恩費得歡歡鬧鬧的。老房子從來沒有像現(xiàn)在這樣充滿活力和生機。天好時，賓主一起騎馬，停?？纯?，漫步花園;下雨時，他們就在室內玩游戲。羅切斯特先生和布朗蒂·英格姆小姐總是在一起。我仔細觀察著他們，感到他很快就會娶這位漂亮的女士。但我并不嫉妒，因為我知道他不愛她。她使出渾身解數吸引他，但他沒有把心交給她。我對她的缺點看得一清二楚。她聰明卻毫無主見，她美麗卻不善良，她奢談感情卻不懂得什么是同情和憐憫。最重要的是，她繼承了母親的強硬和傲慢。除我以外，其他人的眼睛也看到了這些缺點。羅切斯特先生自己也知道她不是完美的，但他顯然準備娶她，也許是因為她有個好家庭，也許出于其他原因。
One day when Mr Rochester was out alone on business，a stranger arrived in a carriage，and introduced himself as an old friend of the master’s.His name was Mason，and he had just returned from the West Indies，where Mr Rochester had once lived.
一天，羅切斯特先生有事獨自外出。一個陌生人乘馬車來到這里，稱自己是主人的老朋友。他的名字叫梅森，剛從西印度群島歸來，羅切斯特先生曾在那里住過。
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