《简·爱》 Chapter 13 第十三章（10）（在线收听）

"You said Mr. Rochester was not strikingly peculiar, Mrs. Fairfax," I observed,

你说过罗切斯特先生并不特别古怪，费尔法克斯太太。

when I rejoined her in her room, after putting Adèle to bed.

安顿好阿黛勒上床后，我再次到了费尔法克斯太太的房间里时说。

Well, is he?

嗯，他是这样？

I think so. He is very changeful and abrupt.

我想是这样，他变幻无常，粗暴无礼。

True. No doubt he may appear so to a stranger, but I am so accustomed to his manner, I never think of it.

不错。毫无疑问，在一个陌生人看来，她似乎就是这样。但我已非常习惯于他的言谈举止，因此从来不去想它。

And then, if he has peculiarities of temper, allowance should be made.

更何况要是他真的脾气古怪的话，那也是应当宽容的。

Why?

为什么？

Partly because it is his nature — and we can none of us help our nature.

一半是因为他生性如此，而我们都对自己的天性无能为力。

And partly because he has painful thoughts, no doubt, to harass him, and make his spirits unequal.

一半是因为他肯定有痛苦的念头在折磨着他，使他的心里不平衡。

What about?

什么事情？

Family troubles, for one thing.

一方面是家庭纠葛。

But he has no family.

可是他压根儿没有家庭。

Not now, but he has had, or, at least, relatives.

不是说现在，但曾有过，至少是亲戚。

He lost his elder brother a few years since.

几年前他失去了哥哥。

His elder brother?

他的哥哥？

Yes. The present Mr. Rochester has not been very long in possession of the property; only about nine years.

是的，现在这位罗切斯特先生拥有这份财产的时间并不长，只有九年左右。

Nine years is a tolerable time. Was he so very fond of his brother as to be still inconsolable for his loss?

九年时间也不算短了，他那么爱他的哥哥，直到现在还为他的去世而悲伤不已吗？"

Why, no — perhaps not. I believe there were some misunderstandings between them.

唉，不 — 也许不是。我想他们之间有些隔阂。

Mr. Rowland Rochester was not quite just to Mr. Edward.

罗兰特.罗切斯特先生对爱德华先生不很公平。

And perhaps he prejudiced his father against him.

也许就是他弄得他父亲对爱德华先生怀有偏见。

The old gentleman was fond of money, and anxious to keep the family estate together.

这位老先生爱钱，急于使家产合在一起。

He did not like to diminish the property by division,

不希望因为分割而缩小。

and yet he was anxious that Mr. Edward should have wealth, too, to keep up the consequence of the name.

同时又很想让爱德华先生有自己的一份财产，以保持这名字的荣耀。

And, soon after he was of age, some steps were taken that were not quite fair, and made a great deal of mischief.

他成年后不久，他们采取了一些不十分合理的办法，造成了很大麻烦。为了使爱德华先生获得那份财产。

Old Mr. Rochester and Mr. Rowland combined to bring Mr. Edward into what he considered a painful position, for the sake of making his fortune.

老罗切斯特先生和罗兰特先生一起，使爱德华先生陷入了他自认为痛苦的境地。

What the precise nature of that position was I never clearly knew, but his spirit could not brook what he had to suffer in it.

这种境遇的确切性质，我从来都不十分清楚，但在精神上他无法忍受不得不忍受的一切。

He is not very forgiving.

他不愿忍让。

He broke with his family, and now for many years he has led an unsettled kind of life.

他便与家庭决裂。多年来，他一直过着一种漂泊不定的生活。

I don't think he has ever been resident at Thornfield for a fortnight together,

我想打从他哥哥没有留下遗嘱就去世，他自己成了房产的主人后，

since the death of his brother without a will left him master of the estate, and, indeed, no wonder he shuns the old place."

他从来没有在桑菲尔德一连住上过二周。说实在，也难怪他要躲避这个老地方。"

Why should he shun it?

他干嘛要躲避呢？

Perhaps he thinks it gloomy.

也许他认为这地方太沉闷。

The answer was evasive.

她的回答闪烁其辞。

I should have liked something clearer, but Mrs. Fairfax either could not, or would not,

我本想了解得更透彻些，但费尔法克斯太太兴许不能够，抑或不愿意，

give me more explicit information of the origin and nature of Mr. Rochester's trials.

向我进一步提供关于罗切斯特先生痛苦的始末和性质。

She averred they were a mystery to herself, and that what she knew was chiefly from conjecture.

她一口咬定，对她本人来说也是个谜，她所知道的多半是她自己的猜测。

It was evident, indeed, that she wished me to drop the subject, which I did accordingly.

说真的，她显然希望我搁下这个话题，于是我也就不再多问了。