書蟲四級《克蘭福德》：9.幸福歸來

00:00

00:00

MP3下載 文本下載

https://online2.tingclass.net/lesson/shi0529/10000/10259/09.mp3

https://image.tingclass.net/statics/js/2012

9．A happy return

9．幸福歸來

Mrs Jamieson, when she returned, considered Miss Matty's situation for two or three days. Then she kindly gave her approval and allowed Miss Matty to sell tea and still remain in Cranford society, although she would be in trade. I think she was trying to annoy Lady Glenmire, by showing that a married woman comes down to her husband's level in society. An unmarried woman like Miss Matty, however, could keep the level that her father had. So Cranford was allowed to visit Miss Matty; and, whether allowed or not, it was going to visit Lady Glenmire.

賈米森夫人回來后，為馬蒂小姐的處境考慮了兩三天，然后她好心地同意馬蒂小姐賣茶葉，而且還可以繼續(xù)留在克蘭福德的上流社會(huì)，雖然她要做生意了。我想她是想惹惱格蘭米爾夫人，向她表明一位已婚婦女自甘墮落，把社會(huì)地位降到了她丈夫的水平。然而，一位像馬蒂小姐這樣的未婚女子卻可以保持她父親曾有過的社會(huì)地位。所以，克蘭福德的上流社會(huì)被允許造訪馬蒂小姐；而不管是否允許，她們都要去拜訪格蘭米爾夫人。

But then we learnt that 'Mr and Mrs Hoggins' were going to return the following week. 'Mrs Hoggins', not 'Lady Glenmire'! Mrs Jamieson was pleased. 'That woman' never had any taste, she said. But 'that woman' and her new husband looked very happy on Sunday at church—and we did not turn our faces away from them as Mrs Jamieson did.

不過，接著，我們就得知“霍金斯先生和夫人”將在下周回來。是“霍金斯夫人”而不是“格蘭米爾夫人”！賈米森夫人很高興。“那個(gè)女人”毫無品味，她說。不過“那個(gè)女人”和她的新丈夫在周日做禮拜時(shí)顯得很幸福——而且我們也沒有像賈米森夫人那樣把臉轉(zhuǎn)過去。

Miss Matty sold a lot of her furniture, though 'an unknown friend' (Mrs Fitz-Adam, I suspected) bought some favourite pieces back for her. The rector, too, bought the late Mr Jenkyns's library and then offered some of the books back to Miss Matty, saying he had not enough shelves for them all.

馬蒂小姐把很多家具都賣掉了，然而“一位不知名的朋友”（我懷疑是菲茨-亞當(dāng)夫人）又把她最喜歡的幾件家具給她買了回來。教區(qū)長也把已故的詹金斯先生的圖書室買了下來，并把其中的一些書還給了馬蒂小姐，說他沒有足夠的書架來放這些書。

The downstairs room was changed into a shop, as agreed, and we put a very small notice above the new door: 'Matilda Jenkyns, seller of tea'. Inside, the walls were white, and two great boxes of tea stood on the bare wooden floor. I spent my small savings on sweets for the children Miss Matty loved so much, and now her shop was ready to open.

按照事先說好的那樣，樓下的房間被改成了一間商店，我們在那扇新的門上方貼了一張很小的告示：“馬蒂爾達(dá)·詹金斯，出售茶葉”。屋里的墻壁都是白色的，兩個(gè)巨大的茶葉箱子立在光溜溜的木地板上。我用不多的一點(diǎn)兒積蓄買了糖果，給馬蒂很喜歡的孩子們，現(xiàn)在，她的店鋪可以開張了。

Well, not quite. Miss Matty was worried because Mr Johnson also sold tea and she did not want to take business away from him. So she went down the street to talk to him about it. He was very kind to her, and I know that he sent her some of his own customers, by telling them that Miss Jenkyns's teas were better than the ones he sold. My businessman father shook his head. 'All very well in Cranford perhaps. You could not do business like that in Drumble!'

啊，還沒有完全準(zhǔn)備好。馬蒂小姐很擔(dān)心，因?yàn)榧s翰遜先生也賣茶葉，而她不想搶他的生意。所以她沿著街走到他那里跟他說這件事。他對她很好，我知道他還把自己的一些主顧讓給了她，告訴他們詹金斯小姐的茶葉比他賣的要好。我做生意的父親直搖頭：“也許在克蘭福德行得通，在德萊姆伯爾卻不能這么做生意！”

But I was delighted. Everyone suddenly seemed to need tea. Indeed, Miss Matty sold so much of it on the first two days that I felt able to leave her and go home to Drumble.

不過我很高興。好像突然間大家都需要茶葉了。真的，馬蒂小姐頭兩天賣了那么多茶葉，讓我覺得可以放心地離開她回德萊姆伯爾的家了。

I returned every three months to check the shop and help Miss Matty with her business letters. This reminded me, of course, that no reply had ever come from India. I began to be ashamed of my letter to the Aga Jenkyns, and was glad I had told nobody about it.

我每三個(gè)月回來一次看看商店，幫馬蒂小姐處理一下商業(yè)信函。當(dāng)然，這倒提醒了我，還沒有從印度得到任何回音。我開始為自己給阿加·詹金斯先生寫信感到羞愧，并慶幸自己沒有把這件事告訴任何人。

About a year after Miss Matty opened her shop, Martha begged me to come back to Cranford. I went immediately in case Miss Matty was ill. She was not. When I looked quietly into the shop, there she was behind the table, happily knitting. The only problem was that Martha was expecting her first baby very soon, and Miss Matty did not realize it.

馬蒂小姐的商店開張大約一年后，馬莎求我回到克蘭福德。我立刻趕了回去，生怕馬蒂小姐生病了。她好好的。我靜靜地望著店里，她正坐在桌子后面，愉快地織著毛線。唯一的問題是馬莎馬上就要生第一個(gè)孩子了，馬蒂小姐還沒意識(shí)到這一點(diǎn)。

I'm so afraid she won't approve!' cried Martha to me in the kitchen. 'Will you tell her?'

“我真擔(dān)心她不會(huì)同意！”馬莎在廚房里大聲對我說，“你能告訴她嗎？”

I decided I would not. But a week later, I went in to see Miss Matty with a baby in my arms. She asked for her glasses, looked at it in surprise and was very silent all day. Then she went up to see Martha and they both cried with happiness. Shy, proud Jem shook my hand so hard that I still remember the pain,

我決定不告訴她。不過一周后，我抱著一個(gè)嬰兒進(jìn)到店里去見馬蒂小姐。她要來她的眼鏡，驚奇地看著孩子，然后一整天都很沉默。后來，她上樓去看馬莎，她們倆都高興地哭了。靦腆而自豪的杰姆使勁握我的手，我到現(xiàn)在還都記得那疼痛。

While Martha was in bed, I was busy in the house. But sometimes I helped Miss Matty in the shop and was amused to watch her. She would never make a success of selling sweets! She gave away too many to every child who came in. But she had made more than ￡20 from selling tea in her first year, I discovered. She liked her new life, too, now that she was used to it. She met the country people, and they brought so many little presents of fruit and eggs for 'the old rector's daughter' that her table was sometimes quite full.

馬莎臥床期間，我在房子里忙進(jìn)忙出。但有時(shí)我也幫助馬蒂小姐打理店里的生意，而且喜歡看著她。她賣糖果絕對不會(huì)掙錢！她給每個(gè)進(jìn)來的孩子發(fā)糖吃，給得實(shí)在太多了。不過我發(fā)現(xiàn)她頭一年賣茶葉還是掙了20多英鎊?，F(xiàn)在她習(xí)慣了她的新生活，也喜歡上了它。她碰到的鄉(xiāng)下人帶了那么多水果雞蛋之類的小禮物給“老教區(qū)長的女兒”，以至于她的桌子上有時(shí)候堆得滿滿的。

Cranford itself went on as usual. Mr and Mrs Hoggins were very happy together, though Mrs Jamieson still did not speak to them and even her man Mulliner avoided them in the street. It was now June. Martha was up again, and I was sitting in the shop one afternoon with Miss Matty when I saw a gentleman walk slowly past the window. He stood at the door, searching for a name. Then he came in. His hair was white, but his face was deep brown from the sun. It was the Aga Jenkyns, I knew it!

克蘭福德還是一如既往。霍金斯先生和夫人在一起生活得很幸福，雖然賈米森夫人仍然不和他們說話，甚至連她的男仆馬利納在街上碰到他們都繞道而行。現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)是六月了。馬莎又能下床了。一天下午我正和馬蒂小姐在店里坐著，看到一位先生慢慢地走過窗前。他站在門口，尋找著一個(gè)名字。然后他就進(jìn)來了。他滿頭白發(fā)，臉卻被太陽曬成了棕色。是阿加·詹金斯，我就知道！

He stood opposite Miss Matty, just looking at her. Then he turned sharply to me. 'Is your name Mary Smith?'

他站在馬蒂小姐對面，就那么望著她。然后他突然轉(zhuǎn)向我：“你叫瑪麗·史密斯嗎？”

Yes!' I said.

“是的！”我說。

He clearly did not know how to announce himself to Miss Matty, who was always shy when a man entered the shop. 'Give me a pound of those things,' he said, waving at some sweets.

他顯然不知道該如何向馬蒂小姐宣布自己的身份，因?yàn)槟腥诉M(jìn)店的時(shí)候她總是很害羞。“給我稱一磅那些東西。”他說，朝一些糖果指了指。

A pound!' Now Miss Matty looked up at him. 'Oh, sir! Can you be Peter?' she said, and trembled from head to foot.

“一磅！”現(xiàn)在馬蒂小姐抬起頭看著他，“哦，先生！難道你是彼得嗎？”她說道，從頭到腳都在顫抖。

In a moment, he was round the table and holding her in his arms. She was so white that I told Mr Peter to take her up to the drawing-room and put her on the sofa. 'I've been too sudden for you, my little Matty,' he said. She held her brother's hand tightly and allowed him to carry her up. I left them to talk alone while I went down to tell a delighted Martha, and then back to the shop.

不一會(huì)兒，他就繞過桌子把她摟在了懷里。她面色白得嚇人，于是我告訴彼得先生帶她到樓上的休息室去，讓她躺在沙發(fā)上。“我來得太突然了，我的小馬蒂。”他說。她緊緊地抓著弟弟的手，任由他抱著自己上樓去了。我讓他們單獨(dú)在一起說話，我則下樓把這消息告訴了馬莎，她開心極了，接著我又回到了店里。

We had tea early that day. Miss Matty sat in the armchair opposite her brother, eating nothing, just looking at him. 'You were a boy when you left Cranford,' she said fondly, 'and now you have white hair!'

那天我們喝茶喝得很早。馬蒂小姐坐在一把扶手椅里，正對著她弟弟，她什么也沒吃，就望著他。“你離開克蘭福德的時(shí)候還是個(gè)孩子，”她憐愛地說，“現(xiàn)在你都有白頭發(fā)了！”

And I forgot how time passes, Matty! I've brought you a pretty little dress from India! I remembered your taste. It was so like my dear mother's.'

“我都忘了時(shí)間是怎么過去的，馬蒂！我從印度給你帶來了一條很好看的小裙子！我記得你的喜好，跟我親愛的母親那么像。”

At that time, the brother and sister held each other's hand even more tightly, and I got up to leave them together again. But Peter rose too. 'I must arrange for a room at the "George",' he said. 'My bag is there too.'

說到這里，姐弟倆把彼此的手握得更緊了。我站起身準(zhǔn)備再次把他們單獨(dú)留在一起，但是彼得也站了起來，“我必須在喬治旅館安排一個(gè)房間，”他說，“我的包也在那里。”

No!' cried Miss Matty. 'Please, dear Peter, don't go! Mary, don't allow it!'

“不！”馬蒂小姐大聲說道，“求你了，親愛的彼得，不要走！瑪麗，別讓他走！”

So I gave Mr Peter my room and moved in with Miss Matty. Poor Peter, she told me that night, had fought at Rangoon and been taken prisoner by the Burmese. Afterwards, his letters to England were returned with the word 'Dead' across them. So he had decided to stay out in the East as a planter. Then my letter arrived...

所以我把我的房間讓給了彼得先生，搬去和馬蒂小姐同住一屋。那天晚上她告訴我，可憐的彼得曾在仰光作戰(zhàn)，并被緬甸人俘虜。后來，他寫到英國的信被退了回來，信上寫著“死亡”。所以他決定待在東方做一個(gè)種植園主。后來我的信寄到了那里……

I do not think Peter came home from India a rich man, but a day or two later the shop was closed. The sweets were given to children, the tea was given to old people. The pretty dress was kept for Flora Gordon and, at about this time, many nice presents arrived for Miss Pole and Mrs Forrester, Mrs Fitz-Adam and Mrs Jamieson. I myself received handsome copies of Dr Johnson's books. Miss Matty begged me, with tears in her eyes, to consider them a present from her sister as well as herself.

我覺得彼得并沒有在印度發(fā)了財(cái)回來，不過一兩天后商店就關(guān)門了。糖果都給了孩子們，茶葉給了老人，那條漂亮的裙子為弗洛拉·戈登留著。大約就在這個(gè)時(shí)候，波爾小姐、福里斯特夫人、菲茨-亞當(dāng)夫人和賈米森夫人都收到了很多很好的禮物，我本人則收到了很多精美的約翰遜博士的書籍。馬蒂小姐含著眼淚求我，把它們看作是她姐姐和她的禮物。

Peter became a great favourite with the ladies of Cranford. He told 'wonderful stories' (though these stories were less wonderful, I noticed, when the rector was present). He had 'wonderful foreign ways'—he even sat on the floor at one of Miss Pole's parties. When Mrs Jamieson smiled her approval, I remembered she had once called Mr Hoggins 'vulgar' just because he crossed his legs as he sat on his chair.

彼得深受克蘭福德的女士們的青睞。他講述“精彩的故事”（不過我注意到，教區(qū)長在場的時(shí)候，這些故事的精彩程度就大打折扣了）。他有一種“令人羨慕的異國情調(diào)”——在波爾小姐的一次晚會(huì)上他甚至坐在了地板上。賈米森夫人笑著表示贊許的時(shí)候，我想起有一次她把霍金斯先生稱為“俗人”，就因?yàn)樗E著二郎腿坐在椅子上。

So I returned to Drumble, leaving Miss Matty and Mr Peter very happy together. Martha and Jem remained willingly in the house, with baby Matilda. The only sadness was that Mrs Jamieson and the Hogginses were still not friends.

于是我回到了德萊姆伯爾，留下馬蒂小姐和彼得先生非常幸福地生活在一起。馬莎和杰姆仍然愿意留在那幢房子里，帶著小馬蒂爾達(dá)。唯一美中不足的是，賈米森夫人和霍金斯夫婦仍然不和。

But then, one October morning, I received letters from Miss Pole and Miss Matty, asking me to come to Cranford. The dear Gordons were arriving on the fourteenth, they wrote, and had invited everyone to a lunch at the George Inn—even Miss Betty Barker, even Mr Hoggins and his wife, whom Major Gordon had met in Scotland.

不過就在那時(shí)，十月的一個(gè)早上，我收到了波爾小姐和馬蒂小姐的兩封信，請我來克蘭福德。親愛的戈登一家要在14號(hào)來，她們寫道，已經(jīng)邀請了所有的人在喬治旅館共進(jìn)午餐——甚至還請了貝蒂·巴克小姐，還有霍金斯夫婦，戈登少校在蘇格蘭見過他們。

Would Mrs Jamieson go to the lunch? When I arrived in Cranford, no one yet knew. Mr Peter, however, said she should and would go. 'Leave Mrs Jamieson to me,' he announced. The next thing we heard, from Miss Pole, was that Mrs Jamieson was indeed going.

賈米森夫人會(huì)去赴午宴嗎？我到克蘭福德的時(shí)候，大家還都不知道。然而，彼得先生說她應(yīng)該去，也會(huì)去。“把賈米森夫人交給我。”他宣布。后來我們從波爾小姐那里聽說，賈米森夫人的確要去。

Clever Mr Peter had arranged for 'Signor Brunoni, Conjurer to the King of Delhi' to return to Cranford Assembly Room 'in honour of the Honourable Mrs Jamieson'. Mrs Jamieson's name was written large on the notice. Mr Peter was sending everyone free tickets. And when was Signor Brunoni going to show his magic? On the evening of the Gordons' lunch...

聰明的彼得先生安排“德里郡主的魔術(shù)師布魯諾尼先生”回到克蘭福德的大會(huì)廳“以示對尊敬的賈米森夫人的敬意”。告示上用很大的字寫著賈米森夫人的名字。彼得先生給大家免費(fèi)贈(zèng)票。布魯諾尼先生什么時(shí)候開始表演魔術(shù)呢？就在戈登家的午餐會(huì)當(dāng)晚……

So Mrs Jamieson came to the lunch, all smiles at Mr Peter's fantastic stories of his travels—and he entered the Assembly Room that evening with the Honourable Mrs Jamieson on one side and my lady, Mrs Hoggins, on the other.

所以賈米森夫人來到了午餐會(huì)，滿面笑容地聽著彼得先生講他旅行中遇到的稀奇古怪的事情——那天晚上他進(jìn)到大會(huì)廳的時(shí)候，一邊是尊敬的賈米森夫人，另一邊是我尊敬的夫人，霍金斯夫人。

Since that day, the old friendliness has returned to Cranford. I am pleased about this. My dear Miss Matty loves peace and kindness, and I think we are all better people when she is near.

從那天起，克蘭福德從前的友好氣氛又恢復(fù)了。對此我感到很高興。我親愛的馬蒂小姐熱愛和平和友好，我想她在我們身邊的時(shí)候，我們都變得更好了。