《简·爱》 Chapter 08 第八章（7）

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They conversed¹ of things I had never heard of; of nations and times past;

她们谈论着我从未听说过的事情，谈到了逝去的民族和时代，

of countries far away; of secrets of nature discovered or guessed at.

谈到了遥远的国度；谈到了被发现或臆测到的自然界的奥秘，

They spoke² of books: how many they had read!

还谈到了书籍。她们看过的书真多啊！

What stores of knowledge they possessed³!

她们掌握的知识真丰富！

Then they seemed so familiar with French names and French authors.

随后她们似乎对法国人名和法国作者了如指掌。

But my amazement⁴ reached its climax⁵ when Miss Temple asked Helen if she sometimes snatched a moment to recall the Latin her father had taught her,

但最使我惊讶的是，这时坦普尔小姐问海伦是不是抽空在复习她爸爸教她的拉丁文，

and taking a book from a shelf, bade her read and construe⁶ a page of Virgil.

还从书架上取了一本书，吩咐她朗读和解释维吉尔的一页著作。

And Helen obeyed, my organ of veneration⁷ expanding at every sounding line.

海伦照着做了。我每听一行朗朗的诗句，对她也就愈加肃然起敬。

She had scarcely finished ere the bell announced bedtime! No delay could be admitted.

她几乎还没有读完，上床铃就响了，已不允许任何拖延。

Miss Temple embraced us both, saying, as she drew us to her heart: "God bless you, my children!"

坦普尔小姐拥抱了我们俩，她把我们搂到怀里时说：“上帝保佑你们，我的孩子们！”

Helen she held a little longer than me. She let her go more reluctantly.

她拥抱海伦比拥抱我要长些，更不情愿放她走。

It was Helen her eye followed to the door.

她一直目送海伦到门边。

It was for her she a second time breathed a sad sigh.

为了海伦，她再次伤心地叹了口气。

For her she wiped a tear from her cheek.

为了海伦，她从脸上抹去了一滴眼泪。

On reaching the bedroom, we heard the voice of Miss Scatcherd.

到了寝室，我们听见了斯卡查德小姐的嗓音。

She was examining drawers. She had just pulled out Helen Burns's.

她正在检查抽屉。而且她刚好已把海伦的抽屉拉出来。

And when we entered Helen was greeted with a sharp reprimand,

我们一走进房间，海伦便当头挨了一顿痛骂。

and told that to-morrow she should have half-a-dozen of untidily folded articles pinned to her shoulder.

她告诉海伦，明天要把五六件叠得乱七八糟的东西别在她的肩上。

"My things were indeed in shameful⁸ disorder," murmured Helen to me, in a low voice: "I intended to have arranged them, but I forgot."

“我的东西乱糟糟的真丢脸，”海伦喃喃地同我说，“我是想把它们放整齐的，可总是忘了。”

Next morning, Miss Scatcherd wrote in conspicuous⁹ characters on a piece of pasteboard the word "Slattern,"

第二早上，斯卡查德小姐在一块纸牌上写下了十分醒目的两个字“邋遢”，

and bound it like a phylactery round Helen's large, mild, intelligent, and benign-looking forehead.

像经文护符匣一样，把它系在海伦那宽大、温顺、聪颖、一付善相的额头上。

She wore it till evening, patient, unresentful, regarding it as a deserved punishment.

她那么耐心而毫无怨言地佩戴着它，视之为应得的惩罚，一直戴到晚上。

The moment Miss Scatcherd withdrew after afternoon school, I ran to Helen, tore it off, and thrust it into the fire.

下午放学以后，斯卡查德小姐一走，我便跑到海伦那儿，一把撕下这块牌子，把它扔进火里。

The fury of which she was incapable¹⁰ had been burning in my soul all day, and tears, hot and large, had continually been scalding my cheek,

她所不会有的火气，整天在我心中燃烧着，大滴大滴热泪，一直烧灼着我的脸颊，

for the spectacle of her sad resignation gave me an intolerable pain at the heart.

她那付悲哀的、听天由命的样子，使我心里痛苦得难以忍受。

1 conversed   

v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 )

参考例句：

• I conversed with her on a certain problem. 我与她讨论某一问题。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She was cheerful and polite, and conversed with me pleasantly. 她十分高兴，也很客气，而且愉快地同我交谈。 来自辞典例句

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

4 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

5 climax   

n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点

参考例句：

• The fifth scene was the climax of the play.第五场是全剧的高潮。
• His quarrel with his father brought matters to a climax.他与他父亲的争吵使得事态发展到了顶点。

6 construe   

v.翻译，解释

参考例句：

• He had tried to construe a passage from Homer.他曾尝试注释荷马著作的一段文字。
• You can construe what he said in a number of different ways.他的话可以有好几种解释。

7 veneration   

n.尊敬，崇拜

参考例句：

• I acquired lasting respect for tradition and veneration for the past.我开始对传统和历史产生了持久的敬慕。
• My father venerated General Eisenhower.我父亲十分敬仰艾森豪威尔将军。

8 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

9 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

10 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。