有声名著之简爱Jene Eyer Chapter11

　　CHAPTER¹ ELEVEN A Great Party at Thornfield
It was two weeks before I heard anything about Mr. Rochester. All that time, I tried hard not to think about him. I told myself that I was Adele’s teacher, and nothing more. Finally one day Mrs. Fairfax told us that she had gotten a note from Mr. Rochester. He was planning a house party at Thornfield. He would return in three days, and had asked a large number of ladies and gentlemen to stay at Thornfield for several days. We all worked hard, cooking many delicious dishes and cleaning all the rooms.
The only person in the house who was not excited by the party was Grace² Poole. She stayed in her room upstairs, and came down once a day to get food and drink. None of the servants spoke³ to her and she never spoke to anyone. However, once I heard two servants who I did not know talking together, and when I heard Grace’s name, I listened to them.
“Maggie, dies Grace make a lot of money?” said one.
“Oh, yes, Mildred, she earns five times more than you or me!” Maggie said crossly.
“But she’s good at the work, I expect,” said Mildred.
“Ah! She understands what she has to do, and she’s good at the work because she’s so strange, that quiet little mouse!” said Maggie. “And, you can be sure, no one for miles would want to do her job, even for all that money!”
“You’re right! I wonder if Mr. Edward—“ suddenly they saw me and immediately⁴ stopped speaking so loudly. They turned around so I could not see their faces.
“Dies she know?” Mildred whispered⁵.
“No, and she isn’t going to find out! Do you understand? Don’t tell her anything!” it was then that I knew there was a secret at Thornfield.
At last the day of the party came. Everything was ready for Mr. Rochester and his guests. As the people arrived Adele and I watched from an upstairs window. We saw Mr. Rochester on his black horse, and with him rode a beautiful lady, her black curls⁶ flying in the wind. “That must be Blanche Ingram!” I thought. Soon many ladies and gentlemen were walking through the house, talking and laughing.
Adele loved parties and hoped that Mr. Rochester would ask her to meet the guests, but she and I both went to bed early. Mr. Rochester asked for me to bring Adele down the next evening.
The next night, Adele and I were in the sitting room when the ladies came in after dinner. We were dressed in our best clothes. All the women were beautiful, but I was especially interested in Blanche Ingram. After the gentlemen had had their wine, they came into the sitting room and coffee and tea were served. Everyone was paying attention to Miss Ingram. She played the piano excellently and sang sweetly. Her shining eyes, black hair, and fine figure⁷ made every man in the room look at her.
But I was looking at someone else. The last time I had seen him was on the night of the strange fire. That night, he had held my hands, told me I had saved his life, and looked at me with love. But now, he entered the room without even looking at me, and took a seat with the ladies. I had tried hard to forget about Mr. Rochester, but now that I saw him again, I could not hide my feelings from myself. I felt that there was something in our minds and hearts that connected⁸ us.
Just then I heard Blanche Ingram say to him.
“Oh Edward, you should have sent Adele away to school instead of getting her a teacher. I saw that young woman with her. She’s not very pretty, is she! Adele should have a pretty teacher. It’s silly, you know! These girls never teach children anything. Oh, but what a boring thing to talk about! Edward ,will you sing with me?”
“Certainly,” he answered. I did not want to hear any more. I left the room quietly and was in the hall when Mr. Rochester appeared.
“Come back, Jane, you’re leaving too early,” he said to me.
“I’m sorry, sir. I’m very tired.” He looked at me for a minute.
“Something is wrong. What is it? Tell me.”
“nothing—it’s nothing, sir.”
“But I see you’re almost crying. I don’t have time now to find out why. Well, tonight you may leave early, but I want to see you every evening. Good night, my---“ he stopped, looked away from me and walked away quickly. I stood there, thinking⁹. Why did Mr. Rochester want me to be at the party?
The old house had never seen so much life and activity during the days of the party. Everyday¹⁰ Mr. Rochester and his guests rode horses, and walked in the beautiful gardens. He and Miss Ingram were together every day. I watched them closely¹¹. The way the acted made me believe that Mr. Rochester would soon marry her. But I did not feel jealous¹², because I knew he did not love her. She had tried to make him love her, but he had not given her his heart. I saw Miss Ingram’s faults¹³ very clearly. She was intelligent¹⁴, but had no thoughts of her own. She was beautiful, but unkind¹⁵. She could never be a loving wife and mother. Mr. Rochester knew all of these things, but he would marry her anyway. But I did not know why.
One day when Mr. Rochester was away, a stranger¹⁶ came to the house. His name was Mason, and he told us that he was an old friend of Mr. Rochester’s. he had just returned from the islands of the West Indies, where Mr. Rochester had once lived.

1 chapter   

n.章，篇，重要章节

参考例句：

• I will skip the next chapter.我将略过下一章。
• Go and open a wonderful new chapter.去开启美好的新篇章。

2 grace   

n.优雅，雅致，魅力，恩惠，慈悲

参考例句：

• She is a beautiful girl with the grace and poise.她是一位仪态优雅的佳丽。
• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。

3 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。

4 immediately   

ad.立即地，即刻地；直接地，紧密地

参考例句：

• I'll change it immediately for you.我立刻给您换。
• I immediately become happy again.我立马就变的高兴起来了。

5 whispered   

adj.耳语的，低语的v.低声说( whisper的过去式和过去分词 )；私语；小声说；私下说

参考例句：

• She sidled up to me and whispered something in my ear. 她悄悄走上前来，对我耳语了几句。
• His ill luck has been whispered about the neighborhood. 他的不幸遭遇已在邻居中传开。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 curls   

n.一绺鬈发( curl的名词复数 )；卷曲物；螺旋状物；（指头发）拳曲v.（使）弯曲( curl的第三人称单数 )；（使）卷曲；盘旋；缠绕

参考例句：

• His hair curls naturally. 他的头发天生鬈曲。
• Her hair fell over her shoulders in a cascade of curls. 她的卷发像瀑布一样垂在肩上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 figure   

n.数字，算术，图解；轮廓；vi.计算，出现，扮演角色；vt.计算在内，估计，推测，认为

参考例句：

• I will check up the figure.我来核对一下这个数字。
• I'm watching my figure.我一直注意保持身材。

8 connected   

adj.连接的，有关系的，有联系的；连贯的；有血统[婚姻]关系的v.连接( connect的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The towns are connected by train and bus services. 这些城镇由火车和公共汽车连接起来。
• This leads to the inescapable conclusion that the two things are connected. 这就必然得出一个结论：这两件事互有关联。

9 thinking   

n.思考，思想；adj.思考的，有理性的；vbl.想，思考

参考例句：

• All thinking men will protest against it.凡是有思想的人都会抗议这件事。
• Thinking is mainly performed with words and other symbols.思想主要是用言语和其他符号来表达的。

10 everyday   

adj.每天的，日常的，平常的

参考例句：

• Sweeping the floor is his everyday work.扫地是他的日常工作。
• He practices speaking English everyday.他每天练习说英语。

11 closely   

adv.紧密地；严密地，密切地

参考例句：

• We shall follow closely the development of the situation.我们将密切注意形势的发展。
• The two companies are closely tied up with each other.这两家公司之间有密切联系。

12 jealous   

adj.妒忌的，猜忌的；精心守护的

参考例句：

• He was jealous when he discovered that she loved someone else.当他发现她爱别人的时候，他吃醋了。
• An honorable Chinese citizen should be jealous of his own rights.一名光荣的中国公民应当珍惜自己的公民权利。

13 faults   

n.缺点( fault的名词复数 )；毛病；失误；过失

参考例句：

• The report itemizes 23 different faults. 报告列举了23处错误。
• We're all mortals, with our human faults and weaknesses. 我们都是凡人，自然都有过错和弱点。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 intelligent   

adj.聪明的，伶俐的，有才智的

参考例句：

• All human beings are much more intelligent than animal.整个人类都比动物聪明得多。
• She was intelligent enough to turn off the gas.她关掉了煤气,够机灵的。

15 unkind   

adj.不仁慈的，不和善的

参考例句：

• He was never unkind to her.他从未亏待过她。
• Unkindness often reacts on the unkind person.恶人有恶报。

16 stranger   

n.陌生人；外地人，异乡人

参考例句：

• A stranger walked up to me and asked me the time.一个陌生人走到我跟前，问我时间。
• It's hard for a stranger to make friends in this town.外地人在这个城里很难交朋友。