《简·爱》 Chapter 11 第十一章（8）（在线收听）

He was a clergyman, incumbent 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 housekeeper.

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 ward.

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 enigma then was explained.

谜被揭开了。

This affable and kind little widow was no great dame, but a dependant 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 mere result of condescension 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 meditating 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 conversing 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 briefly 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 chattering 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。