《简·爱》 Chapter 14 第十四章（4）

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What do you mean by it?

你的话是什么意思？

Sir, I was too plain; I beg your pardon.

先生，怪我太直率了，请你原谅。

I ought to have replied that it was not easy to give an impromptu¹ answer to a question about appearances; that tastes mostly differ.

我本应当说，像容貌这样的问题，不是轻易可以当场回答的；应当说人的审美趣味各有不同。

And that beauty is of little consequence, or something of that sort.

应当说漂亮并不重要，或者诸如此类的话。

You ought to have replied no such thing.

你本来就不应当这样来回答。

Beauty of little consequence, indeed!

漂亮并不重要，确实如此！

And so, under pretence² of softening³ the previous outrage⁴, of stroking and soothing⁵ me into placidity⁶, you stick a sly penknife under my ear!

原来你是假装要缓和一下刚才的无礼态度，抚慰我使我心平气和，而实际上你是在我耳朵下面狡猾地捅了一刀。

Go on. What fault do you find with me, pray?

讲下去，请问你发现我有什么缺点？

I suppose I have all my limbs and all my features like any other man?

我想我像别人一样有鼻子有眼睛的。

Mr. Rochester, allow me to disown my first answer. I intended no pointed⁷ repartee⁸. It was only a blunder.

罗切斯特先生，请允许我收回我第一个回答。我并无妙语伤人的意思，只不过是失言而已。

Just so. I think so. And you shall be answerable for it. Criticise⁹ me. Does my forehead not please you?

就是这么回事，我想是这样。而你要对此负责。你就挑我的毛病吧，我的前额使你不愉快吗？

He lifted up the sable¹⁰ waves of hair which lay horizontally over his brow, and showed a solid enough mass of intellectual organs, but an abrupt¹¹ deficiency where the suave¹² sign of benevolence¹³ should have risen.

他抓起了横贴在额前的波浪似的黑发，露出一大块坚实的智力器官，但是却缺乏那种本该有的仁慈敦厚的迹象。

Now, ma' am, am I a fool?

好吧，小姐，我是个傻瓜吗？

Far from it, sir. You would, perhaps, think me rude if I inquired in return whether you are a philanthropist?

绝对不是这样，先生。要是我反过来问你是不是一个慈善家，你也会认为我粗暴无礼吗？

There again! Another stick of the penknife, when she pretended to pat my head.

你又来了！又捅了我一刀，一面还假装拍拍我的头。

And that is because I said I did not like the society of children and old women (low be it spoken! ).

那是因为我曾说我不喜欢同孩子和老人在一起（轻声点儿！）。

No, young lady, I am not a general philanthropist, but I bear a conscience;

不，年轻小姐，我不是一个一般意义上的慈善家，不过我有一颗良心。

And he pointed to the prominences¹⁴ which are said to indicate that faculty¹⁵, and which, fortunately for him, were sufficiently¹⁶ conspicuous¹⁷, giving, indeed, a marked breadth to the upper part of his head.

于是他指了指据说是表示良心的突出的地方。幸亏对他来说，那地方很显眼，使他脑袋的上半部有着引人注目的宽度。

"And, besides, I once had a kind of rude tenderness of heart.

“此外，我曾有过一种原始的柔情。

1 impromptu   

adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地)

参考例句：

• The announcement was made in an impromptu press conference at the airport.这一宣布是在机场举行的临时新闻发布会上作出的。
• The children put on an impromptu concert for the visitors.孩子们为来访者即兴献上了一场音乐会。

2 pretence   

n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰

参考例句：

• The government abandoned any pretence of reform. 政府不再装模作样地进行改革。
• He made a pretence of being happy at the party.晚会上他假装很高兴。

3 softening   

变软，软化

参考例句：

• Her eyes, softening, caressed his face. 她的眼光变得很温柔了。它们不住地爱抚他的脸。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• He might think my brain was softening or something of the kind. 他也许会觉得我婆婆妈妈的，已经成了个软心肠的人了。

4 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

5 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

6 placidity   

n.平静，安静，温和

参考例句：

• Miss Pross inquired,with placidity.普洛丝小姐不动声色地问。
• The swift and indifferent placidity of that look troubled me.那一扫而过的冷漠沉静的目光使我深感不安。

7 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

8 repartee   

n.机敏的应答

参考例句：

• This diplomat possessed an excellent gift for repartee.这位外交官具有卓越的应对才能。
• He was a brilliant debater and his gift of repartee was celebrated.他擅长辩论，以敏于应答著称。

9 criticise   

v.批评，评论；非难

参考例句：

• Right and left have much cause to criticise government.左翼和右翼有很多理由批评政府。
• It is not your place to criticise or suggest improvements!提出批评或给予改进建议并不是你的责任！

10 sable   

n.黑貂；adj.黑色的

参考例句：

• Artists' brushes are sometimes made of sable.画家的画笔有的是用貂毛制的。
• Down the sable flood they glided.他们在黑黝黝的洪水中随波逐流。

11 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

12 suave   

adj.温和的；柔和的；文雅的

参考例句：

• He is a suave,cool and cultured man.他是个世故、冷静、有教养的人。
• I had difficulty answering his suave questions.我难以回答他的一些彬彬有礼的提问。

13 benevolence   

n.慈悲，捐助

参考例句：

• We definitely do not apply a policy of benevolence to the reactionaries.我们对反动派决不施仁政。
• He did it out of pure benevolence. 他做那件事完全出于善意。

14 prominences   

n.织物中凸起的部分；声望( prominence的名词复数 )；突出；重要；要事

参考例句：

• Prominences occur in a variety of forms. 日珥以各种形状出现。 来自辞典例句
• Bony prominences are padded with cotton sheeting. 要在骨头突起处垫上大片棉花。 来自辞典例句

15 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

16 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

17 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。