《简·爱》 Chapter 11 第十一章（8）

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He was a clergyman, incumbent¹ of Hay — that little village yonder on the hill — and that church near the gates was his.

他是个牧师，是海村的 — 那边山上的那个小村 — 靠近大门的那个教堂是他管的。

The present Mr. Rochester's mother was a Fairfax, and second cousin to my husband.

现在这位罗切斯特的母亲是费尔法克斯家的人，她的父亲和我丈夫的父亲是堂兄弟。

But I never presume on the connection — in fact, it is nothing to me.

但我从来没有指望这层关系，其实这与我无关。

I consider myself quite in the light of an ordinary housekeeper².

我把自己看作一个普普通通的管家。

My employer is always civil, and I expect nothing more.

我的雇主总是客客气气的，而别的我都不指望了。

And the little girl — my pupil!

那么，那位小姑娘呢 — 我的学生？

She is Mr. Rochester's ward³.

她是罗切斯特先生的受监护人。

He commissioned me to find a governess for her.

他委托我替她找个家庭教师。

He intended to have her brought up in —shire, I believe.

我想他有意将她在××郡养育大。

Here she comes, with her 'bonne,' as she calls her nurse.

瞧她来了，同她称作‘bonne’的保姆一起来了。

The enigma⁴ then was explained.

谜被揭开了。

This affable and kind little widow was no great dame⁵, but a dependant⁶ like myself.

这个和蔼善良的矮小寡妇不是位大贵妇，而是像我一样的寄生者。

I did not like her the worse for that.

但我并没有因此而不喜欢她。

On the contrary, I felt better pleased than ever.

相反，我感到了从未有过的愉快。

The equality between her and me was real; not the mere⁷ result of condescension⁸ on her part.

她与我之间的平等是实实在在的，不是她屈尊就驾的结果。

So much the better — my position was all the freer.

这样倒更好，我的处境就更自由了。

As I was meditating⁹ on this discovery, a little girl, followed by her attendant, came running up the lawn.

我还在沉思着这个新发现时，一个小女孩由她的侍候者陪着，向草坪这边奔跑过来了。

I looked at my pupil, who did not at first appear to notice me.

我瞧了一眼我的学生，她开始并没有注意到我。

She was quite a child, perhaps seven or eight years old,

她十足是个孩子，大约七、八岁，

slightly built, with a pale, small-featured face, and a redundancy of hair falling in curls to her waist.

个头瘦小，脸色苍白，五官很小，一头累赘的卷发直披到腰上。

"Good morning, Miss Adela," said Mrs. Fairfax.

“早上好，阿德拉小姐，”费尔法克斯太太说，

"Come and speak to the lady who is to teach you, and to make you a clever woman some day."

“过来同这位小姐说说话，她会教你读书，让你有一天成为聪明的女人。”

She approached.

她走近了。

"C' est le ma gouverante!" said she, pointing to me, and addressing her nurse who answered: "Mais oui, certainement."

她指着我对她的保姆说："这是我的家庭教师！"保姆回答：“当然是的（法语）。”

"Are they foreigners?" I inquired, amazed at hearing the French language.

“他们都是外国人吗？”我听到他们讲法语，便吃惊地问道。

The nurse is a foreigner, and Adela was born on the Continent.

保姆是个外国人，而阿德拉却是生在大陆上的。

And, I believe, never left it till within six months ago.

而且我相信除了六个月前的一次，她从来没有离开过大陆。

When she first came here she could speak no English.

她初到这儿来的时候，一句英语也不会说。

Now she can make shift to talk it a little.

现在倒能转过来讲一点了。

I don't understand her, she mixes it so with French.

她把英语和法语混着讲，我听不懂。

But you will make out her meaning very well, I dare say.

我想你会把她的意思搞得很清楚的。

Fortunately I had had the advantage of being taught French by a French lady.

幸好我得益于曾拜一个法国太太为师，学过法语。

And as I had always made a point of conversing¹⁰ with Madame Pierrot as often as I could.

那时我下了决心抓紧一切机会同皮埃罗夫人交谈。

And had besides, during the last seven years, learnt a portion of French by heart daily,

此外，过去七年来还坚持每天背诵一段法语，在语调上狠下功夫，

applying myself to take pains with my accent, and imitating as closely as possible the pronunciation of my teacher,

逼真地模仿我老师的发音，

I had acquired a certain degree of readiness and correctness in the language,

因而我的法语已经相当流利和准确，

and was not likely to be much at a loss with Mademoiselle Adela.

不至于听不懂阿德拉小姐说的话。

She came and shook hand with me when she heard that I was her governess.

她听说我是她的家庭教师，便走过来同我握手。

And as I led her in to breakfast, I addressed some phrases to her in her own tongue.

我领她进去吃早饭，又用她自己的语言说了几句。

She replied briefly¹¹ at first, but after we were seated at the table,

起初她回答得很简短，但等我们在桌旁坐定，

and she had examined me some ten minutes with her large hazel eyes, she suddenly commenced chattering¹² fluently.

她用淡褐色的大眼睛审视了我十来分钟之后，突然叽叽喳喳地说开了。

1 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

2 housekeeper   

n.管理家务的主妇，女管家

参考例句：

• A spotless stove told us that his mother is a diligent housekeeper.炉子清洁无瑕就表明他母亲是个勤劳的主妇。
• She is an economical housekeeper and feeds her family cheaply.她节约持家，一家人吃得很省。

3 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

4 enigma   

n.谜，谜一样的人或事

参考例句：

• I've known him for many years,but he remains something of an enigma to me.我与他相识多年，他仍然难以捉摸。
• Even after all the testimonies,the murder remained a enigma.即使听完了所有的证词，这件谋杀案仍然是一个谜。

5 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

6 dependant   

n.依靠的，依赖的，依赖他人生活者

参考例句：

• The dependent dependant cannot live independently.依靠别人的被赡养者不能独立生活。
• The fact that the woman is still regarded as the man's dependant.再加上女人仍被看作是男人的附属品这一事实。

7 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

8 condescension   

n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人)

参考例句：

• His politeness smacks of condescension. 他的客气带有屈尊俯就的意味。
• Despite its condescension toward the Bennet family, the letter begins to allay Elizabeth's prejudice against Darcy. 尽管这封信对班纳特家的态度很高傲，但它开始消除伊丽莎白对达西的偏见。

9 meditating   

a.沉思的，冥想的

参考例句：

• They were meditating revenge. 他们在谋划进行报复。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics. 这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

10 conversing   

v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I find that conversing with her is quite difficult. 和她交谈实在很困难。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were conversing in the parlor. 他们正在客厅谈话。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

12 chattering   

n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The teacher told the children to stop chattering in class. 老师叫孩子们在课堂上不要叽叽喳喳讲话。
• I was so cold that my teeth were chattering. 我冷得牙齿直打战。