《简·爱》 Chapter 11 第十一章（13）（在线收听）

Well, but, leaving his land out of the question, do you like him? Is he liked for himself?

哦，不过撇开他的土地不谈，你喜欢他吗？别人喜欢他本人吗？

I have no cause to do otherwise than like him.

我没有理由不喜欢他。

And I believe he is considered a just and liberal landlord by his tenants, but he has never lived much amongst them.

我相信他的佃户们都认为他是个公正大方的乡绅，不过他从来没有在他们中间生活得很久。

But has he no peculiarities? What, in short, is his character?

但他没有跟别人不一样的地方吗？他的性格究竟怎样？

Oh! his character is unimpeachable, I suppose.

啊，我想他的性格是无可指责的。

He is rather peculiar, perhaps.

也许他有些特别。

He has travelled a great deal, and seen a great deal of the world, I should think.

我想他到过很多地方，见过很多世面。

I dare say he is clever, but I never had much conversation with him.

他一定很聪明，不过我没有同他说过很多话。

In what way is he peculiar?

他在哪方面跟别人不一样呢？

I don't know — it is not easy to describe — nothing striking, but you feel it when he speaks to you.

我不知道 — 不容易说清楚 — 不很突出，但他同你说话时，你感觉得出来。

You cannot be always sure whether he is in jest or earnest, whether he is pleased or the contrary.

你总是吃不准他在说笑还是当真，他是高兴，还是恰恰相反。

You don't thoroughly understand him, in short — at least, I don't.

总之，你没法彻底了解他——至少我不行。

But it is of no consequence, he is a very good master.

但这无关紧要，他是一个很好的主人。

This was all the account I got from Mrs. Fairfax of her employer and mine.

这就是我从费尔法克斯太太那儿听来，关于我们两人的雇主的全部情况。

There are people who seem to have no notion of sketching a character, or observing and describing salient points, either in persons or things.

有些人似乎不知道如何刻划一个人，不知道观察和描绘人和事的特点。

The good lady evidently belonged to this class.

这位善良的太太就属于这类人。

My queries puzzled, but did not draw her out.

我的问话使她大惑不解，却并没有掏出她的话来。

Mr. Rochester was Mr. Rochester in her eyes. A gentleman, a landed proprietor — nothing more.

在她眼里，罗切斯特先生就是罗切斯特先生。一个绅士，一位土地拥有者 — 别无其他。

She inquired and searched no further, and evidently wondered at my wish to gain a more definite notion of his identity.

她不作进一步询问和探求，显然对我希望进一步确切了解他的个性感到难以理解。

When we left the dining-room, she proposed to show me over the rest of the house.

我们离开餐厅时，她提议带我去看看房子其余的地方。

And I followed her upstairs and downstairs, admiring as I went; for all was well arranged and handsome.

我跟着她上楼下楼，一路走一路羡慕不已。一切都安排得那么妥贴，一切都那么漂亮。

The large front chambers I thought especially grand:

我想宽敞的前房特别豪华。

And some of the third-storey rooms, though dark and low, were interesting from their air of antiquity.

还有三楼的某些房间，虽然又暗又低，但从古色古香的气派看来，还是别有情趣的。

The furniture once appropriated to the lower apartments had from time to time been removed here, as fashions changed.

一度归层次更底房间使用的家具，因为时尚的变更，逐渐搬到了这里。

And the imperfect light entering by their narrow casement showed bedsteads of a hundred years old, chests in oak or walnut,

从狭窄的窗扉投射进来的斑驳光影，映照出了有上百年历史的床架，映照出了橡树或胡桃树做的柜子，

looking, with their strange carvings of palm branches and cherubs' heads, like types of the Hebrew ark, rows of venerable chairs, high-backed and narrow;

上面奇怪地雕刻着棕榈树枝和小天使头部，看上去很像各种希伯莱约柜，映照出了一排排历史悠久、窄小高背的椅子；

stools still more antiquated, on whose cushioned tops were yet apparent traces of half-effaced embroideries, wrought by fingers that for two generations had been coffin-dust.

映照出了更加古老的凳子，坐垫上明显留着磨损了一半的刺绣，当年做绣活的手指化为尘土已经有两代之久了。

All these relics gave to the third storey of Thornfield Hall the aspect of a home of the past: a shrine of memory.

这一切陈迹使桑菲尔德府三楼成了往昔的家园，回忆的圣地。