《简·爱》 Chapter 14 第十四章（6）

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Adele is a degree better, but still far below the mark;

阿黛勒稍微好一些，但还是远远低于标准。

Mrs. Fairfax ditto.

费尔法克斯太太同样如此。

You, I am persuaded, can suit me if you will.

而你，我相信是合我意的，要是你愿意。

You puzzled me the first evening I invited you down here.

第一天晚上我邀请你下楼到这里来的时候，你就使我迷惑不解。

I have almost forgotten you since.

从那时候起，我已几乎把你忘了。

Other ideas have driven yours from my head.

脑子里尽想着其他事情，顾不上你。

But tonight I am resolved to be at ease.

不过今天晚上我决定安闲自在些，

To dismiss what importunes¹, and recall what pleases.

忘掉纠缠不休的念头，回忆回忆愉快的事儿。

It would please me now to draw you out — to learn more of you — therefore speak.

现在我乐于把你的情况掏出来，进一步了解你，所以你就说吧.

Instead of speaking, I smiled, and not a very complacent² or submissive smile either.

我没有说话，却代之以微笑，既不特别得意，也不顺从。

"Speak," he urged.

"说吧，"他催促着。

What about, sir?

说什么呢，先生。

Whatever you like.

爱说什么就说什么，

I leave both the choice of subject and the manner of treating it entirely³ to yourself.

说的内容和方式，全由你自己选择吧。

Accordingly I sat and said nothing.

结果我还是端坐着，什么也没有说。

"If he expects me to talk for the mere⁴ sake of talking and showing off,

"要是他希望我为说而说，炫耀一番，

he will find he has addressed himself to the wrong person," I thought.

那他会发现他找错了人啦，"我想。

You are dumb, Miss Eyre.

你一声不吭，爱小姐。

I was dumb still.

我依然一声不吭。

He bent⁵ his head a little towards me, and with a single hasty glance seemed to dive into my eyes.

他向我微微低下头来，匆匆地投过来一瞥，似乎要探究我的眼睛。

"Stubborn?" he said, "and annoyed. Ah! It is consistent.

"固执？"他说，"而且生气了。噢，这是一致的。

I put my request in an absurd, almost insolent⁶ form.

我提出要求的方式，荒谬而近乎蛮横。

Miss Eyre, I beg your pardon.

爱小姐，请你原谅。

The fact is, once for all, I don't wish to treat you like an inferior. That is " (correcting himself) .

实际上，我永远不想把你当作下人看待。那就是（纠正他自己）。

"I claim only such superiority as must result from twenty years' difference in age and a century's advance in experience.

我有比你强的地方，但那只不过是年龄上大二十岁，经历上相差一个世纪的必然结果。

This is legitimate⁷, et j' y tiens, as Adele would say.

这是合理的，就像阿黛勒会说的那样，etj'ytiens。

And it is by virtue⁸ of this superiority,

而凭借这种优势，

and this alone, that I desire you to have the goodness to talk to me a little now,

也仅仅如此而已，我想请你跟我谈一会儿，

and divert my thoughts, which are galled⁹ with dwelling¹⁰ on one point — cankering as a rusty¹¹ nail.

转移一下我的思想苦苦纠缠在一点上，像一根生锈的钉子那样正在腐蚀着。

1 importunes   

v.纠缠，向（某人）不断要求( importune的第三人称单数 )；（妓女）拉（客）

参考例句：

2 complacent   

adj.自满的；自鸣得意的

参考例句：

• We must not become complacent the moment we have some success.我们决不能一见成绩就自满起来。
• She was complacent about her achievements.她对自己的成绩沾沾自喜。

3 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

4 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

5 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

6 insolent   

adj.傲慢的，无理的

参考例句：

• His insolent manner really got my blood up.他那傲慢的态度把我的肺都气炸了。
• It was insolent of them to demand special treatment.他们要求给予特殊待遇，脸皮真厚。

7 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

8 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

9 galled   

v.使…擦痛( gall的过去式和过去分词 )；擦伤；烦扰；侮辱

参考例句：

• Their unkind remarks galled her. 他们不友善的话语使她恼怒。 来自辞典例句
• He was galled by her insulting language. 他被她侮辱性的语言激怒了。 来自辞典例句

10 dwelling   

n.住宅，住所，寓所

参考例句：

• Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
• He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。

11 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。