A MayorPrestige! Sir, is it nothing? To be revered by fools, gaped at bychildren, envied by the rich and scorned by the wise.
市长尊贵的先生，这难道不重要吗？受愚人崇敬，被孩童凝视，被富人羡慕，受智者蔑视。

BARNAVEFortunately for M. de Renal’s reputation as an administrator, a hugeretaining wall was required for the public avenue which skirts the hillside a hundred feet above the bed of the Doubs. To this admirable position it is indebted for one of the most picturesque views in France. —
幸运的是，为了修建一条沿着山腰百尺高的公共大道所需的巨大挡土墙，能让蓝宁河的河床下方的一百英尺有一个惊人的景色得以划分。 —

But,every spring, torrents of rainwater made channels across the avenue,carved deep gullies in it and left it impassable. —
但是，每年春天，雨水的洪流却在大道上形成了渠道，在上面刻出了深谷，使得道路不通。 —

This nuisance, which affected everybody alike, placed M. de Renal under the fortunate obligation to immortalise his administration by a wall twenty feet in heightand seventy or eighty yards long.
这种被所有人所影响的麻烦，使得伦副的管理得以永恒，通过修建一堵高达二十英尺、七八十码长的墙壁。

The parapet of this wall, to secure which M. de Renal was obliged tomake three journeys to Paris, for the Minister of the Interior before lasthad sworn a deadly enmity to the Verrieres avenue; —
M. de Renal为了这堵墙的护墙栏，不得不向前次的内政部长宣誓致命的敌意，不得不前往巴黎三次。 —

the parapet of thiswall now rises four feet above the ground. —
这堵墙的护墙栏现在高出地面四英尺。 —

And, as though to defy allMinisters past and present, it is being finished off at this moment withslabs of dressed stone.
而且，仿佛对所有过去和现在的部长挑衅一样，最后这堵墙正在此刻被用石板收尾。

How often, my thoughts straying back to the ball-rooms of Paris,which I had forsaken overnight, my elbows leaning upon those greatblocks of stone of a fine grey with a shade of blue in it, have I swept withmy gaze the vale of the Doubs! —
多少次，我的思绪漫游回巴黎的舞厅，我整夜没守望，我双手撑在那些优美的灰蓝色巨石上时，我凝视着蓝宁河谷！ —

Over there, on the left bank, are five orsix winding valleys, along the folds of which the eye can make out quiteplainly a number of little streams. —
在山的左侧岸边，有五六条蜿蜒的谷地，沿着这些折线，眼睛很清楚地可以看到几条小溪。 —

After leaping from rock to rock, theymay be seen falling into the Doubs. The sun is extremely hot in thesemountains; —
它们从石头跳过后，可以看到它们流入蓝宁河。这些山上阳光非常强烈； —

when it is directly overhead, the traveller’s rest is shelteredon this terrace by a row of magnificent planes. —
当太阳正好在头上时，旅行者在这个露台上的休息是由这一排壮丽的悬银杏提供的。 —

Their rapid growth, andhandsome foliage of a bluish tint are due to the artificial soil with whichthe Mayor has filled in the space behind his immense retaining wall, for, despite the opposition of the town council, he has widened the avenueby more than six feet (although he is an Ultra and I myself a Liberal, Igive him credit for it), that is why, in his opinion and in that of M. Valenod, the fortunate governor of the Verrieres poorhouse, this terrace isworthy to be compared with that of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
这些快速生长、带有蓝色色调的优美叶子，是由市长用来填补他巨大挡土墙后空间的人工土壤导致的，尽管市议会反对，他还是把大道的宽度扩展了六英尺以上（尽管他是极端派，我自己是自由派，我还是要给他点赞），这就是为什么在他和瓦伦诺先生（幸运的韦里埃贫民窟的管理者）的看来，这个露台堪与圣热尔曼昂莱的露台相提并论。

For my part, I have only one fault to find with the Cours de la Fidelite; —
对我而言，我只有一个对于忠诚大道有所怨言； —

one reads this, its official title, in fifteen or twenty places, on marble slabswhich have won M. de Renal yet another Cross; —
这一点，它的正式名称在十五到二十个地方都有，刻在大理石板上，这赢得了Renal先生另一枚十字勋章； —

what I should be inclined to condemn in the Cours de la Fidelite is the barbarous manner inwhich the authorities keep these sturdy plane trees trimmed and pollarded. —
我要谴责忠诚大道的一种野蛮方式，那就是当局以如何保持这些健壮的悬银杏树修剪和过度修剪。 —

Instead of suggesting, with their low, rounded, flattened heads, thecommonest of kitchen garden vegetables, they would like nothing betterthan to assume those magnificent forms which one sees them wear inEngland. —
相比于那些低矮、圆头扁脑的普通菜园蔬菜，他们更愿意呈现出像在英格兰见到的那些宏伟形态。 —

But the Mayor’s will is despotic, and twice a year every tree belonging to the commune is pitilessly lopped. —
但市长的意愿是专断的，每年两次，属于公社的每棵树都无情地被剪伐。 —

The Liberals of the placemaintain, but they exaggerate, that the hand of the official gardener hasgrown much more severe since the Reverend Vicar Maslon formed thehabit of appropriating the clippings.
当地的自由主义者坚称，但他们夸大了，即公园管理员的手变得更加严厉，自从马斯隆牧师习惯占有修剪的花草以来。

This young cleric was sent from Besancon, some years ago, to keep aneye upon the abbe Chelan and certain parish priests of the district. —
几年前，这位年轻的神职人员从贝桑松派往此地，去监视沙朗神父以及该地区几位牧师。 —

Anold Surgeon-Major of the Army of Italy, in retirement at Verrieres, whoin his time had been simultaneously, according to the Mayor, a Jacobinand a Bonapartist, actually ventured one day to complain to him of theperiodical mutilation of these fine trees.
一个在韦里埃尔的退休意大利军医，他曾经同时被市长批评为雅各宾党人和波拿巴党人，竟然一天向他抱怨这些优美树木的周期性毁伤。

‘I like shade,’ replied M. de Renal with the touch of arrogance appropriate when one is addressing a surgeon, a Member of the Legion ofHonour; —
‘我喜欢阴凉’，韦内尔先生回答道，他表现出适当的傲慢，仿佛在对待一个外科医生、一个荣誉军团会员； —

‘I like shade, I have my trees cut so as to give shade, and I donot consider that a tree is made for any other purpose, unless, like theuseful walnut, it yields a return.’
‘我喜欢阴凉，我剪树只为提供阴凉，并且我不认为树有其他目的，除非像多产的核桃树那样有回报。’

　　There you have the great phrase that decides everything at Verrieres:
在韦里埃尔，有一句决定一切的大话：

　　YIELD A RETURN; it by itself represents the habitual thought of morethan three fourths of the inhabitants.
回报；它本身代表了三分之四以上居民的固定思想。

Yielding a return is the consideration that settles everything in this littletown which seemed to you, just now, so attractive. —
回报是这个小镇中决定一切事宜的考虑因素。 —

The stranger arrivingthere, beguiled by the beauty of the cool, deep valleys on every side,imagines at first that the inhabitants are influenced by the idea of beauty; —
到这个地方的陌生人，被四面环绕的凉爽深谷的美丽所迷惑，最初会认为居民受到美的影响； —

they are always talking about the beauty of their scenery: —
他们总是谈论他们的风景之美： —

no one candeny that they make a great to-do about it; —
没有人可以否认他们对此大惊小怪； —

but this is because it attracts acertain number of visitors whose money goes to enrich the innkeepers, and thus, through the channel of the rate-collector, yields a return to thetown.
但这是因为吸引了一定数量的游客，他们的花钱财富了旅店老板，进而通过税务员这个渠道，将回报带给了小镇。

It was a fine day in autumn and M. de Renal was strolling along theCours de la Fidelite, his lady on his arm. —
那是个晴朗的秋日，韦内尔先生正漫步在忠诚大道上，夫人挽着他的胳膊。 —

While she listened to her husband, who was speaking with an air of gravity, Madame de Renal’s eyewas anxiously following the movements of three little boys. —
当她听着丈夫严肃的语气讲话时，德勒内夫人焦急地注视着三个小男孩的动作。 —

The eldest,who might be about eleven, was continually running to the parapet asthough about to climb on top. —
长子，可能约十一岁，一直跑到护栏边，好像要爬上去。 —

A gentle voice then uttered the nameAdolphe, and the child abandoned his ambitious project. —
一个温和的声音接着喊出了阿道夫这个名字，孩子放弃了他雄心勃勃的计划。 —

Madame deRenal looked like a woman of thirty, but was still extremely pretty.
德勒内夫人看起来像一个三十岁左右的女人，但依旧非常漂亮。

‘He may live to rue the day, that fine gentleman from Paris,’ M. deRenal was saying in a tone of annoyance, his cheek paler even than wasits wont. —
“他可能会后悔那天，那位来自巴黎的绅士，” 伦纳尔先生不快地说着，他的脸颊甚至比往常更苍白。 —

‘I myself am not entirely without friends at Court… .’
“我自己在宫廷里也并非一无依靠….”

　　But albeit I mean to speak to you of provincial life for two hundredpages, I shall not be so barbarous as to inflict upon you the tedium andall the clever turns of a provincial dialogue.
尽管我打算在二百页中谈论乡村生活，但我并不会像野蛮人一样使你承受乡村对话的乏味和一切巧妙的转折。

　　This fine gentleman from Paris, so odious to the Mayor of Verrieres,was none other than M. Appert, 1 who, a couple of days earlier, had contrived to make his way not only into the prison and the poorhouse ofVerrieres, but also into the hospital, administered gratuitously by theMayor and the principal landowners of the neighbourhood.
这位让维瑞瑞市长厌恶的巴黎绅士是维瑞瑞的卢先生，他在前几天不仅混入了维瑞瑞的监狱和救济院，还混入了市长和周边地主们无偿管理的医院。

　　’But,’ Madame de Renal put in timidly, ‘what harm can this gentlemanfrom Paris do you, since you provide for the welfare of the poor with themost scrupulous honesty?’
“但是，” 德勒内夫人小声地插话说，“这位来自巴黎的绅士对你有什么伤害呢，既然你对弱势群体的福利提供非常谨慎的帮助呢？”

　　’He has only come to cast blame, and then he’ll go back and have articles put in the Liberal papers.’
“他只是来批评的，然后回去让自由派报纸登载文章。”

　　’You never read them, my dear.’
“亲爱的，你从来不读它们。”

‘But people tell us about those Jacobin articles; —
“但是人们告诉我们那些雅各宾文章； —

all that distracts us, andhinders us from doing good. —
那一切让我们分心，妨碍我们做善事。” —

2 As for me, I shall never forgive the cure.’
至于我，我永远不会原谅这位神父。

　　1.A contemporary philanthropist and prison visitor.
一个当代的慈善家和监狱访客。

　　2.authentic
2. 真实的