《简·爱》 Chapter 36 第三十六章（9）（在线收听）

My eye involuntarily wandered to the grey church tower near the gates, and I asked,

我的目光不由自主地飘向了大门边灰色的教堂塔楼，我问道，

"Is he with Damer de Rochester, sharing the shelter of his narrow marble house?"

“难道他已随戴默尔·德·罗切斯特而去，共住在狭窄的大理石房子里？”

Some answer must be had to these questions.

这些问题都得找到答案。

I could find it nowhere but at the inn, and thither, ere long, I returned.

而除了旅店，别处是找不到的。于是不久我便返回那里。

The host himself brought my breakfast into the parlour.

老板亲自把早餐端到客厅里来，

I requested him to shut the door and sit down: I had some questions to ask him.

我请他关了门，坐下来。我有些问题要问他，

But when he complied, I scarcely knew how to begin; such horror had I of the possible answers.

但待他答应之后，我却不知道从何开始了。我对可能得到的回答怀着一种恐俱感，

And yet the spectacle of desolation I had just left prepared me in a measure for a tale of misery.

然而刚才看到的那番荒凉景象，为一个悲惨的故事作好了一定的准备。

The host was a respectable-looking, middle-aged man.

老板看上去是位体面的中年人。

"You know Thornfield Hall, of course?"

“你当然知道桑菲尔德府了？”

I managed to say at last.

我终于启齿了。

"Yes, ma'am; I lived there once."

“是的，小姐，我以前在那里住过。”

"Did you?" Not in my time, I thought: you are a stranger to me.

“是吗？”不是我在的时候，我想。我觉得他很陌生。

"I was the late Mr. Rochester's butler," he added.

“我是已故的罗切斯特先生的管家，”他补充道。

The late! I seem to have received, with full force, the blow I had been trying to evade.

已故的！我觉得我避之不迭的打击重重地落到我头上了。

"The late!" gasped. "Is he dead?"

“已故的！”我透不过气来了。“他死了？”

"I mean the present gentleman, Mr. Edward's father," he explained.

“我说的是现在的老爷，爱德华先生的父亲，”他解释说。

I breathed again: my blood resumed its flow.

我又喘过气来了，我的血液也继续流动。

Fully assured by these words that Mr. Edward -- my Mr. Rochester

他的这番话使我确信，爱德华先生——我的罗切斯特先生

(God bless him, wherever he was!) -- was at least alive: was, in short, "the present gentleman."

（无论他在何方，愿上帝祝福他！）至少还活着，总之还是“现在的老爷”，

Gladdening words!

（多让人高兴的话！）

It seemed I could hear all that was to come -- whatever the disclosures might be -- with comparative tranquillity.

我似乎觉得，不管他会透露什么消息，我会比较平静地去倾听。

Since he was not in the grave, I could bear, I thought, to learn that he was at the Antipodes.

我想，就是知道他在新西兰和澳大利亚，我都能忍受。