《简·爱》 Chapter 36 第三十六章（9）

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 thither¹, 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 misery².

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-aged³ 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 evade⁴.

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!" gasped⁵. "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。

Fully⁶ 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 tranquillity⁷.

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。

1 thither   

adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的

参考例句：

• He wandered hither and thither looking for a playmate.他逛来逛去找玩伴。
• He tramped hither and thither.他到处流浪。

2 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

3 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

4 evade   

vt.逃避，回避；避开，躲避

参考例句：

• He tried to evade the embarrassing question.他企图回避这令人难堪的问题。
• You are in charge of the job.How could you evade the issue?你是负责人，你怎么能对这个问题不置可否？

5 gasped   

v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要

参考例句：

• She gasped at the wonderful view. 如此美景使她惊讶得屏住了呼吸。
• People gasped with admiration at the superb skill of the gymnasts. 体操运动员的高超技艺令人赞叹。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 tranquillity   

n. 平静, 安静

参考例句：

• The phenomenon was so striking and disturbing that his philosophical tranquillity vanished. 这个令人惶惑不安的现象，扰乱了他的旷达宁静的心境。
• My value for domestic tranquillity should much exceed theirs. 我应该远比他们重视家庭的平静生活。