《简·爱》 Chapter 16 第十六章（5）

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"Mrs. Poole," said she, addressing Grace, "the servants' dinner will soon be ready. Will you come down?"

“普尔太太，”她对格雷斯说，“佣人的午饭马上就好了，你下楼去吗？”

No, just put my pint¹ of porter and bit of pudding on a tray, and I'll carry it upstairs.

不啦，你就把我那一品特葡萄酒和一小块布丁放在托盘里吧，我会端到楼上去。

You'll have some meat?

你还要些肉吗？

Just a morsel², and a taste of cheese, that's all.

就来一小份吧，再来一点奶酪，就这些。

And the sago?

还有西米呢？

Never mind it at present. I shall be coming down before teatime. I'll make it myself.

现在就不用啦，用茶点之前我会下来的，我自己来做。

The cook here turned to me, saying that Mrs. Fairfax was waiting for me, so I departed.

这时厨师转向我，说费尔法克斯太太在等看我，于是我就离开了。

I hardly heard Mrs. Fairfax's account of the curtain conflagration³ during dinner,

吃午饭时候，费尔法克斯太太谈起帐幔失火的事。

so much was I occupied in puzzling my brains over the enigmatical character of Grace Poole,

我几乎没有听见，因为我绞尽脑汁，思索着格雷斯·普尔这个神秘人物，

and still more in pondering the problem of her position at Thornfield

尤其是考虑她在桑菲尔德的地位问题；

and questioning why she had not been given into custody⁴ that morning,

对为什么那天早晨她没有被拘留，

or, at the very least, dismissed from her master's service.

或者至少被老爷解雇，而感到纳闷。

He had almost as much as declared his conviction of her criminality last night.

昨天晚上，他几乎等于宣布确信她犯了罪。

What mysterious cause withheld⁵ him from accusing her?

是什么神秘的原因却使他不去指控她呢？

Why had he enjoined⁶ me, too, to secrecy⁷?

为什么他也嘱咐我严守秘密呢？

It was strange.

真也奇怪。

A bold, vindictive⁸, and haughty⁹ gentleman seemed somehow in the power of one of the meanest of his dependants¹⁰.

一位大胆自负、复仇心切的绅士，不知怎地似乎受制于一个最卑微的下属。

So much in her power, that even when she lifted her hand against his life,

而且被她控制得如此之紧，甚至当她动手要谋害他时，

he dared not openly charge her with the attempt, much less punish her for it.

竟不敢公开指控她的图谋，更不必说惩罚她了。

Had Grace been young and handsome,

要是格雷斯年轻漂亮，

I should have been tempted¹¹ to think that tenderer feelings than prudence¹² or fear influenced Mr. Rochester in her behalf.

我会不由得认为，那种比谨慎或忧虑更为温存的情感左右了罗切斯特先生，使他偏袒于她。

But, hard-favoured and matronly as she was, the idea could not be admitted.

可是她面貌丑陋，又是一付管家婆样子，这种想法也就站不住脚了。

1 pint   

n.品脱

参考例句：

• I'll have a pint of beer and a packet of crisps, please.我要一品脱啤酒和一袋炸马铃薯片。
• In the old days you could get a pint of beer for a shilling.从前，花一先令就可以买到一品脱啤酒。

2 morsel   

n.一口，一点点

参考例句：

• He refused to touch a morsel of the food they had brought.他们拿来的东西他一口也不吃。
• The patient has not had a morsel of food since the morning.从早上起病人一直没有进食。

3 conflagration   

n.建筑物或森林大火

参考例句：

• A conflagration in 1947 reduced 90 percent of the houses to ashes.1947年的一场大火，使90%的房屋化为灰烬。
• The light of that conflagration will fade away.这熊熊烈火会渐渐熄灭。

4 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

5 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 enjoined   

v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The embezzler was severely punished and enjoined to kick back a portion of the stolen money each month. 贪污犯受到了严厉惩罚，并被责令每月退还部分赃款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She enjoined me strictly not to tell anyone else. 她严令我不准告诉其他任何人。 来自辞典例句

7 secrecy   

n.秘密，保密，隐蔽

参考例句：

• All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
• Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。

8 vindictive   

adj.有报仇心的，怀恨的，惩罚的

参考例句：

• I have no vindictive feelings about it.我对此没有恶意。
• The vindictive little girl tore up her sister's papers.那个充满报复心的小女孩撕破了她姐姐的作业。

9 haughty   

adj.傲慢的，高傲的

参考例句：

• He gave me a haughty look and walked away.他向我摆出傲慢的表情后走开。
• They were displeased with her haughty airs.他们讨厌她高傲的派头。

10 dependants   

受赡养者，受扶养的家属( dependant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The government has agreed to take only 150 refugees plus their dependants. 政府承诺只收留150 名难民及家属。
• There are approximately 12 million migrants with their dependants living in the EU countries. 大约有1200万流动工人带着家属居住在欧盟诸国。

11 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

12 prudence   

n.谨慎，精明，节俭

参考例句：

• A lack of prudence may lead to financial problems.不够谨慎可能会导致财政上出现问题。
• The happy impute all their success to prudence or merit.幸运者都把他们的成功归因于谨慎或功德。