The more I knew of the inmates of Moor House, the better I liked them. —
越了解摩尔屋的囚犯，我就越喜欢他们。 —

In a few days I had so far recovered my health that I could sit up all day, and walk out sometimes. —
几天后，我的健康已经恢复得差不多了，能够整天坐起来，有时还能出去走走。 —

I could join with Diana and Mary in all their occupations; —
我可以参与黛安娜和玛丽的所有活动； —

converse with them as much as they wished, and aid them when and where they would allow me. —
与她们交谈，按她们的意愿给予帮助。 —

There was a reviving pleasure in this intercourse, of a kind now tasted by me for the first time—the pleasure arising from perfect congeniality of tastes, sentiments, and principles.
这种交往给我带来了一种激动人心的愉悦感，这是我第一次尝到的乐趣，这种乐趣源于品味、情感和原则的完全一致。

I liked to read what they liked to read: what they enjoyed, delighted me; —
我喜欢读她们喜欢读的书，她们享受的，也让我高兴； —

what they approved, I reverenced. They loved their sequestered home. —
她们认可的，我敬重。她们热爱她们幽静的家园。 —

I, too, in the grey, small, antique structure, with its low roof, its latticed casements, its mouldering walls, its avenue of aged firs—all grown aslant under the stress of mountain winds; —
我也热爱这座灰色、小巧、古老的建筑物，它低矮的屋顶，有格子窗户，风化的墙壁，被山风压得歪倒的老杉树林。 —

its garden, dark with yew and holly—and where no flowers but of the hardiest species would bloom—found a charm both potent and permanent. —
这个花园，阴暗而有着红豆杉和冬青树，并且只有最耐寒的品种的花朵才会开放，拥有一种强大而永久的魅力。 —

They clung to the purple moors behind and around their dwelling—to the hollow vale into which the pebbly bridle-path leading from their gate descended, and which wound between fern-banks first, and then amongst a few of the wildest little pasture-fields that ever bordered a wilderness of heath, or gave sustenance to a flock of grey moorland sheep, with their little mossy-faced lambs: —
它们紧挨着紫色的荒原，环绕着他们的住所，延伸到他们的大门前延伸的砾石马道沿着这个凹地，穿过首先是蕨丛和一片野趣盎然的小牧场之间，这是一个边境纯野草地的荒原，有着灰色的荒野羊和它们的长着苔藓的小羊羔。 —

—they clung to this scene, I say, with a perfect enthusiasm of attachment. —
他们对这个景色深深的依恋，我可以理解这种感觉，并共享它的力量和真实性。 —

I could comprehend the feeling, and share both its strength and truth. —
我看到了这个地方的迷人之处。我感受到了它的孤独的神圣： —

I saw the fascination of the locality. I felt the consecration of its loneliness: —
我的眼睛沉醉在山丘和开阔处的轮廓上——在苔藓、金灿灿的草皮、鲜艳的蕨类植物和温暖的花岗岩悬崖所赋予的荒地的色彩。 —

my eye feasted on the outline of swell and sweep—on the wild colouring communicated to ridge and dell by moss, by heath-bell, by flower-sprinkled turf, by brilliant bracken, and mellow granite crag. —
我眼前的景象是这样的：不连绵的山峦和起伏线条，以及由苔藓、草培、花卉和花岗岩创造的野生的色彩。 —

These details were just to me what they were to them—so many pure and sweet sources of pleasure. —
对我来说，这些细节与他们对他们来说一样，是那么多纯净而甜蜜的快乐之源。 —

The strong blast and the soft breeze; the rough and the halcyon day; —
强烈的冲击和柔和的微风；粗糙的和平静的日子； —

the hours of sunrise and sunset; the moonlight and the clouded night, developed for me, in these regions, the same attraction as for them—wound round my faculties the same spell that entranced theirs.
日出和日落的时刻；月光和多云的夜晚，在这些地方，对我来说，也像对他们一样具有吸引力，给我的感官缠绕着同样的魔力，使我陶醉其中。

Indoors we agreed equally well. They were both more accomplished and better read than I was; —
在室内，我们也同样合拍。他们俩比我更有才华和博览群书； —

but with eagerness I followed in the path of knowledge they had trodden before me. —
但我怀着渴望之情，跟随在他们之前走过的知识之路。 —

I devoured the books they lent me: then it was full satisfaction to discuss with them in the evening what I had perused during the day. —
我狼吞虎咽地啃着他们借给我的书籍：傍晚时分与他们讨论白天所读的内容，这真是一种极大的满足。 —

Thought fitted thought; opinion met opinion: —
思想契合思想；意见迎合意见： —

we coincided, in short, perfectly.
总之，我们完美地一致。

If in our trio there was a superior and a leader, it was Diana. Physically, she far excelled me: —
如果在我们三人中有人卓越一些，成为领导者的话，那就是黛安娜。在身体上，她远远胜过我： —

she was handsome; she was vigorous. In her animal spirits there was an affluence of life and certainty of flow, such as excited my wonder, while it baffled my comprehension. —
她很漂亮；她精力充沛。她的动物精神中充满生命和流动的确定性，令我感到惊讶，同时也困惑了我。 —

I could talk a while when the evening commenced, but the first gush of vivacity and fluency gone, I was fain to sit on a stool at Diana’s feet, to rest my head on her knee, and listen alternately to her and Mary, while they sounded thoroughly the topic on which I had but touched. —
晚上开始时，我可以说上一会儿，但一开始的活力和流畅度消失后，我只能坐在黛安娜脚边的凳子上，把头靠在她的膝盖上，同时听她和玛丽的讨论，他们全面探讨了我所提到的话题。 —

Diana offered to teach me German. I liked to learn of her: —
黛安娜主动提出教我德语。我喜欢向她学习。 —

I saw the part of instructress pleased and suited her; —
我看出来，担任教师的角色让她感到满意和适合。 —

that of scholar pleased and suited me no less. Our natures dovetailed: —
而作为学生，我同样感到满意和适合。我们的性格相互契合： —

mutual affection—of the strongest kind—was the result. They discovered I could draw: —
强烈的互相喜爱成为了结果。他们发现我擅长画画： —

their pencils and colour-boxes were immediately at my service. —
他们的铅笔盒和调色盒立即为我所用。 —

My skill, greater in this one point than theirs, surprised and charmed them. —
我在这方面的技巧比他们更出色，令他们惊讶和迷醉。 —

Mary would sit and watch me by the hour together: then she would take lessons; —
玛丽会坐着观看我整整一小时。然后她会上课学习。 —

and a docile, intelligent, assiduous pupil she made. —
她是一个温顺、聪明、勤奋的学生。 —

Thus occupied, and mutually entertained, days passed like hours, and weeks like days.
因此，我们互相娱乐、互相陪伴，日子过得就像小时一样，一周过得就像一天一样。

As to Mr. St John, the intimacy which had arisen so naturally and rapidly between me and his sisters did not extend to him. —
至于圣约翰先生，我和他的姐妹之间自然而然、迅速建立起来的亲密关系并没有延伸到他身上。 —

One reason of the distance yet observed between us was, that he was comparatively seldom at home: —
我们之间保持距离的其中一个原因是，他很少在家。 —

a large proportion of his time appeared devoted to visiting the sick and poor among the scattered population of his parish.
他的大部分时间似乎都花在了探望分散在教区中的病人和穷人身上。

No weather seemed to hinder him in these pastoral excursions: —
无论天气如何，他都不会因此而受阻。 —

rain or fair, he would, when his hours of morning study were over, take his hat, and, followed by his father’s old pointer, Carlo, go out on his mission of love or duty—I scarcely know in which light he regarded it. —
无论是下雨还是放晴，当他早上的学习时间结束后，他就会戴上帽子，带上他父亲的老猎犬卡洛，出去执行他的爱心或义务使命——我几乎不知道他是如何看待这件事的。 —

Sometimes, when the day was very unfavourable, his sisters would expostulate. —
有时候，当天气非常不好的时候，他的姐妹们会劝说他。 —

He would then say, with a peculiar smile, more solemn than cheerful—
这时，他会带着一种特殊的微笑，更加庄重而不是开心地说道——

“And if I let a gust of wind or a sprinkling of rain turn me aside from these easy tasks, what preparation would such sloth be for the future I propose to myself?”
“如果一阵风或一点雨让我远离这些容易的任务，那我的未来准备又将如何呢？”

Diana and Mary’s general answer to this question was a sigh, and some minutes of apparently mournful meditation.
达纳和玛丽对这个问题的一般回答是叹了口气，似乎沉思了几分钟。

But besides his frequent absences, there was another barrier to friendship with him: —
除了他经常离开外，还有另一个障碍阻碍着与他的友谊： —

he seemed of a reserved, an abstracted, and even of a brooding nature. —
他似乎是个沉默寡言、抽象和郁郁寡欢的人。 —

Zealous in his ministerial labours, blameless in his life and habits, he yet did not appear to enjoy that mental serenity, that inward content, which should be the reward of every sincere Christian and practical philanthropist. —
他在传道工作上热心，生活习惯无可指摘，但似乎没有享受到应该属于每个真诚的基督徒和实践慈善家的内心宁静和满足。 —

Often, of an evening, when he sat at the window, his desk and papers before him, he would cease reading or writing, rest his chin on his hand, and deliver himself up to I know not what course of thought; —
常常在晚上，当他坐在窗前，桌上摆着他的文件和笔记时，他会停止阅读或写作，将下巴搁在手上，沉浸在不知道什么样的思绪中； —

but that it was perturbed and exciting might be seen in the frequent flash and changeful dilation of his eye.
但从他眼中频繁的闪光和不断变化的扩张可以看出，他内心是不安和激动的。

I think, moreover, that Nature was not to him that treasury of delight it was to his sisters. —
我认为，而且，对于他的姐妹们来说，大自然并不是他们所期望的那种令人愉悦的宝库。 —

He expressed once, and but once in my hearing, a strong sense of the rugged charm of the hills, and an inborn affection for the dark roof and hoary walls he called his home; —
只有一次，在我听到的时候，他表达了对山地的粗旷魅力的强烈感受，以及对他所称为家的黑暗屋顶和灰白的墙壁的内在情感。 —

but there was more of gloom than pleasure in the tone and words in which the sentiment was manifested; —
但在这种情感表达的语气和词语中，更多的是忧郁而不是快乐。 —

and never did he seem to roam the moors for the sake of their soothing silence—never seek out or dwell upon the thousand peaceful delights they could yield.
他似乎从未因为那些宁静的寂静而在荒野中漫游，从未寻找或停留于千种和平的乐趣之中。

Incommunicative as he was, some time elapsed before I had an opportunity of gauging his mind. —
尽管他寡言少语，但我花了一些时间才有机会评估他的思想。 —

I first got an idea of its calibre when I heard him preach in his own church at Morton. —
我第一次对他的思想水平有了一个概念，是当我在他在莫顿的教堂里听他讲道时。 —

I wish I could describe that sermon: but it is past my power. —
我希望我能描述那篇布道：但这是我无法做到的。 —

I cannot even render faithfully the effect it produced on me.
我甚至不能真实地描述它对我产生的影响。

It began calm—and indeed, as far as delivery and pitch of voice went, it was calm to the end: —
它一开始是平静的，事实上，从演讲和音调的角度来看，直到最后都是平静的。 —

an earnestly felt, yet strictly restrained zeal breathed soon in the distinct accents, and prompted the nervous language. —
一股真挚而克制的热情很快以独特的语调呼吸，并促使紧张的语言。 1，an earnestly felt, yet strictly restrained zeal soon breathed in distinct accents, and prompted the nervous language. —

This grew to force—compressed, condensed, controlled. —
这变得强大——压缩、浓缩、控制。 —

The heart was thrilled, the mind astonished, by the power of the preacher: neither were softened. —
心激动了，思绪震奇了，被传道者的力量所震撼，但两者都没有软化。 —

Throughout there was a strange bitterness; an absence of consolatory gentleness; —
全程充满了一种奇怪的苦涩，缺乏宽慰的温柔。 —

stern allusions to Calvinistic doctrines—election, predestination, reprobation—were frequent; —
对加尔文教义——选民、预定、推定——的严厉暗示频繁出现。 —

and each reference to these points sounded like a sentence pronounced for doom. —
每一次提及这些观点，都听起来像是宣判的句子，为了注定的命运。 —

When he had done, instead of feeling better, calmer, more enlightened by his discourse, I experienced an inexpressible sadness; —
当他讲完后，我并没有像他的演讲务实、冷静、更加明智。相反我感受到了一种无法言喻的悲伤。 —

for it seemed to me—I know not whether equally so to others—that the eloquence to which I had been listening had sprung from a depth where lay turbid dregs of disappointment—where moved troubling impulses of insatiate yearnings and disquieting aspirations. —
因为在我看来——我并不知道对其他人是否一样——我听到的那个雄辩的自成一体的来源，是存在着一种不满意的沉淀混浊，搬动不安的渴望和令人不安的愿望。 —

I was sure St. John Rivers—pure-lived, conscientious, zealous as he was—had not yet found that peace of God which passeth all understanding: —
我确信圣约翰里弗斯——生活纯粹、良心苦恳、热心奉献的他——还没有找到那超越人理的上帝的平安。 —

he had no more found it, I thought, than had I with my concealed and racking regrets for my broken idol and lost elysium—regrets to which I have latterly avoided referring, but which possessed me and tyrannised over me ruthlessly.
他似乎并没有找到它，我想，就像我对我破碎的偶像和失去的快乐藏在心里的懊悔一样。这些懊悔近来我一直避免提及，但它们却无情地占据了我并统治着我。

Meantime a month was gone. Diana and Mary were soon to leave Moor House, and return to the far different life and scene which awaited them, as governesses in a large, fashionable, south-of-England city, where each held a situation in families by whose wealthy and haughty members they were regarded only as humble dependents, and who neither knew nor sought out their innate excellences, and appreciated only their acquired accomplishments as they appreciated the skill of their cook or the taste of their waiting-woman. —
与此同时，一个月过去了。黛安娜和玛丽很快就要离开莫尔豪斯，返回到一个截然不同的生活和环境中，成为英格兰南部一个大型时尚城市的家庭教师。在那里，她们只被富有而傲慢的家族成员们视为卑微的依赖者，她们的优秀才能并不为所知或关注，而只有她们所获得的技能才被欣赏，就像酒厨的技艺或侍女的品味被赞赏一样。 —

Mr. St. John had said nothing to me yet about the employment he had promised to obtain for me; —
圣约翰先生至今还没有对我提起过他答应给我找的工作。 —

yet it became urgent that I should have a vocation of some kind. —
然而，我迫切需要一个职业。 —

One morning, being left alone with him a few minutes in the parlour, I ventured to approach the window-recess—which his table, chair, and desk consecrated as a kind of study—and I was going to speak, though not very well knowing in what words to frame my inquiry—for it is at all times difficult to break the ice of reserve glassing over such natures as his—when he saved me the trouble by being the first to commence a dialogue.
有一天早晨，我被单独留在客厅里几分钟，我冒险走向窗台——那里有他的桌子、椅子和写字台，被视为一种研究的地方——我想要开口说话，虽然不太确定该用什么措辞来提出我的问题——因为要打破他这种性格上的冷漠总是很困难的——但他却帮我省了事，他首先开口对话。

Looking up as I drew near—“You have a question to ask of me?” he said.
当我走近时，他抬头看着我说：“你有什么问题要问我吗？”

“Yes; I wish to know whether you have heard of any service I can offer myself to undertake?”
“是的，我想知道是否有什么服务我可以自愿承担？”

“I found or devised something for you three weeks ago; —
“我在三周前找到或设计了一些东西给你； —

but as you seemed both useful and happy here—as my sisters had evidently become attached to you, and your society gave them unusual pleasure—I deemed it inexpedient to break in on your mutual comfort till their approaching departure from Marsh End should render yours necessary.”
但是因为你在这里似乎既有用又快乐——因为我的姐妹们显然对你产生了依恋，与你在一起让她们感到异常愉快——所以我认为在她们即将离开Marsh End之前，打破你们的互相舒适是不明智的。”

“And they will go in three days now?” I said.
“他们会在三天内离开吗？”我问道。

“Yes; and when they go, I shall return to the parsonage at Morton: —
“是的，当他们离开时，我将返回莫顿的牧师住宅， —

Hannah will accompany me; and this old house will be shut up.”
汉娜将陪我，而这座古老的房子将被关闭。”

I waited a few moments, expecting he would go on with the subject first broached: —
我等了一会儿，期望他会继续第一次提及的话题： —

but he seemed to have entered another train of reflection: —
但他似乎已经进入了另一个思考的轨道： —

his look denoted abstraction from me and my business. —
他的表情显示出对我和我的事务的漠视。 —

I was obliged to recall him to a theme which was of necessity one of close and anxious interest to me.
我不得不把他召回到对我而言紧迫而焦虑的话题上来。

“What is the employment you had in view, Mr. Rivers? —
“里弗斯先生，您心中有什么就业目标吗？” —

I hope this delay will not have increased the difficulty of securing it.”
“我希望这次延迟不会增加确保就业的难度。”

“Oh, no; since it is an employment which depends only on me to give, and you to accept.”
“哦，不会的，因为这份就业只取决于我愿意给予，以及你愿意接受。”

He again paused: there seemed a reluctance to continue. I grew impatient: —
他再次停顿下来，似乎有些不愿继续。我变得不耐烦起来： —

a restless movement or two, and an eager and exacting glance fastened on his face, conveyed the feeling to him as effectually as words could have done, and with less trouble.
他的脸上带着不安的表情，还有几次不安的动作和渴望的目光，无需言语，已经告诉了他我的感受，而且这样做简单省事。

“You need be in no hurry to hear,” he said: —
“你不必急着听，”他说道： —

“let me frankly tell you, I have nothing eligible or profitable to suggest. —
“坦率地告诉你，我没有什么可建议的有利可图的就业。” —

Before I explain, recall, if you please, my notice, clearly given, that if I helped you, it must be as the blind man would help the lame. —
在我解释之前，请回想一下，我曾明确告诉过你，如果我帮助你，就像瞎子帮助跛子一样。 —

I am poor; for I find that, when I have paid my father’s debts, all the patrimony remaining to me will be this crumbling grange, the row of scathed firs behind, and the patch of moorish soil, with the yew-trees and holly-bushes in front. —
我很穷；我发现，当我偿还了父亲的债务后，我剩下的全部家产将只有这座摇摇欲坠的农舍、后面一排被毁的冷杉和前面的一块沼泽土地，还有几棵钳形木和冬青丛。 —

I am obscure: Rivers is an old name; but of the three sole descendants of the race, two earn the dependent’s crust among strangers, and the third considers himself an alien from his native country—not only for life, but in death. —
我很黑暗：里弗斯是一个古老的名字；但在这个种族的三个唯一的后裔中，有两个在陌生人中勉强维持着生计，第三个则认为自己是他祖国的外国人—不仅一生如此，死后也如此。 —

Yes, and deems, and is bound to deem, himself honoured by the lot, and aspires but after the day when the cross of separation from fleshly ties shall be laid on his shoulders, and when the Head of that church-militant of whose humblest members he is one, shall give the word, ‘Rise, follow Me!’”
是的，并且认为自己是受到荣耀的，他渴望的是那一天——与肉体的联系被切断的十字架将被放在他的肩上，当他所属的圣教会军事团的领袖向他说出“起来，跟随我！”的时候。

St. John said these words as he pronounced his sermons, with a quiet, deep voice; —
圣约翰平静而深沉地说出了这些话，他讲道时如此。 —

with an unflushed cheek, and a coruscating radiance of glance. He resumed—
脸颊不红，目光闪闪发光。他接着说道—

“And since I am myself poor and obscure, I can offer you but a service of poverty and obscurity. —
“因为我自己贫穷而默默无闻，所以我只能提供给你一种贫困和默默无闻的服务。 —

You may even think it degrading—for I see now your habits have been what the world calls refined: —
你们甚至可能认为这是有辱身份的——我现在看到你们的习惯是被世人称为精致的： —

your tastes lean to the ideal, and your society has at least been amongst the educated; —
你们的品味倾向于理想，而你们的社交至少都是受过教育的人之间的。 —

but I consider that no service degrades which can better our race. —
但是我认为没有任何会使我们种族变得更好的服务会变差。 —

I hold that the more arid and unreclaimed the soil where the Christian labourer’s task of tillage is appointed him—the scantier the meed his toil brings—the higher the honour. —
我认为，基督教劳动者在贫瘠和未开垦的土地上从事耕作的任务越艰苦，他们的努力所带来的报酬就越少，荣誉就越高。 —

His, under such circumstances, is the destiny of the pioneer; —
在这种情况下，他们的命运是拓荒者的命运； —

and the first pioneers of the Gospel were the Apostles—their captain was Jesus, the Redeemer, Himself.”
而福音的第一批拓荒者就是使徒们，他们的领袖是耶稣，救赎主自己。”

“Well?” I said, as he again paused—“proceed.”
“嗯？”我说，当他再次停顿时，“继续说。”

He looked at me before he proceeded: indeed, he seemed leisurely to read my face, as if its features and lines were characters on a page. —
他在继续之前看着我：事实上，他似乎悠闲地读着我的脸，好像脸上的特征和线条是一本书上的文字。 —

The conclusions drawn from this scrutiny he partially expressed in his succeeding observations.
他从这次审视中得出的结论部分地体现在他接下来的观察中。

“I believe you will accept the post I offer you,” said he, “and hold it for a while: —
“我相信你会接受我提供给你的职位，并且暂时担任它： —

not permanently, though: any more than I could permanently keep the narrow and narrowing—the tranquil, hidden office of English country incumbent; —
但并非永久地，就像我不能永久地担任英国乡村教区牧师一样； —

for in your nature is an alloy as detrimental to repose as that in mine, though of a different kind.”
“对于你来说，内心深处的杂质对安宁没有帮助，就像我内心的杂质一样有害，尽管种类不同。”

“Do explain,” I urged, when he halted once more.
“请解释一下”，我催促道，当他再次停下来时。

“I will; and you shall hear how poor the proposal is,—how trivial—how cramping. —
“我会解释的，你将会知道这个提议有多么糟糕-多么琐碎-多么约束。” —

I shall not stay long at Morton, now that my father is dead, and that I am my own master. —
“既然我父亲去世了，我成了自己的主人，我在莫顿不会停留太久了。 —

I shall leave the place probably in the course of a twelve-month; —
“也许在一年的时间里，我就会离开这个地方； —

but while I do stay, I will exert myself to the utmost for its improvement. —
“但是在我逗留期间，我将竭尽全力改善这个地方。 —

Morton, when I came to it two years ago, had no school: —
“两年前我来到莫顿时，这里没有学校： —

the children of the poor were excluded from every hope of progress. I established one for boys: —
“穷人的孩子无法期望进步。我建立了一个男孩学校： —

I mean now to open a second school for girls. —
“现在我打算开设一个女孩学校。 —

I have hired a building for the purpose, with a cottage of two rooms attached to it for the mistress’s house. —
“我已经租了一栋楼，用于这个目的，并且附带了一个两居室的小屋，作为女主任的住宅。 —

Her salary will be thirty pounds a year: —
“她的薪水将是三十镑一年： —

her house is already furnished, very simply, but sufficiently, by the kindness of a lady, Miss Oliver; —
“她的住宅已经由一位女士，奥利弗小姐，简单而充分地提供了家具。” —

the only daughter of the sole rich man in my parish—Mr. Oliver, the proprietor of a needle-factory and iron-foundry in the valley. —
在我所在教区，那位唯一富有的男人奥利弗先生，拥有一家位于山谷中的针厂和铁铸造厂的唯一女儿。 —

The same lady pays for the education and clothing of an orphan from the workhouse, on condition that she shall aid the mistress in such menial offices connected with her own house and the school as her occupation of teaching will prevent her having time to discharge in person. —
同一位女士支付孤儿院孤儿的教育和衣物费用，条件是她要在女校长因为教学工作而无法亲自完成的家务和学校相关工作上帮助女校长。 —

Will you be this mistress?”
你愿意接任这位女校长吗？

He put the question rather hurriedly; he seemed half to expect an indignant, or at least a disdainful rejection of the offer: —
他问得相当匆忙，似乎他半途并不期待我愤怒或至少鄙视地拒绝这个提议。 —

not knowing all my thoughts and feelings, though guessing some, he could not tell in what light the lot would appear to me. —
他不了解我的想法和感受，虽然猜到了一些，但他无法判断这个命运在我眼中会显得如何。 —

In truth it was humble—but then it was sheltered, and I wanted a safe asylum: —
事实上，这是一个低微的命运，但它是有庇护的，而我想要一个安全的庇护所。 —

it was plodding—but then, compared with that of a governess in a rich house, it was independent; —
它是一种辛勤劳作，但与富人家庭的家庭教师相比，这是独立的。 —

and the fear of servitude with strangers entered my soul like iron: —
与陌生人做奴仆的恐惧如铁入我的灵魂。 —

it was not ignoble—not unworthy—not mentally degrading, I made my decision.
这并不是可耻的，也不是不值得，也不会让人屈辱地退步，我已经做出了决定。

“I thank you for the proposal, Mr. Rivers, and I accept it with all my heart.”
“里弗斯先生，感谢你的提议，我全心全意地接受。”

“But you comprehend me?” he said. “It is a village school: —
“但你明白我吗？”他说。“这是一个乡村学校： —

your scholars will be only poor girls—cottagers’ children—at the best, farmers’ daughters. —
你的学生只有贫穷的女孩子-至多也只是农民的女儿们。 —

Knitting, sewing, reading, writing, ciphering, will be all you will have to teach. —
织布、缝纫、阅读、写作、计算将是你唯一要教授的内容。 —

What will you do with your accomplishments? —
你将如何运用你的才能？ —

What, with the largest portion of your mind—sentiments—tastes?”
那么，你最重要的部分-感情-品味要怎么办呢？”

“Save them till they are wanted. They will keep.”
“存起来，等到有需要的时候再用。它们会一直保持下去。”

“You know what you undertake, then?”
“那你知道你要承担什么了？”

“I do.”
“我知道了。”

He now smiled: and not a bitter or a sad smile, but one well pleased and deeply gratified.
他现在笑了起来：不是苦涩或悲伤的笑，而是一个十分满足和深深感激的笑容。

“And when will you commence the exercise of your function?”
“那你何时开始履行职责呢？”

“I will go to my house to-morrow, and open the school, if you like, next week.”
“我明天就去我的住所，下周就开办学校，如果你愿意的话。”

“Very well: so be it.”
“很好，那就这样吧。”

He rose and walked through the room. Standing still, he again looked at me. He shook his head.
他站起身，在房间里走动。他站定了，再次看向我。他摇了摇头。

“What do you disapprove of, Mr. Rivers?” I asked.
“你不赞同什么，里弗斯先生？”我问道。

“You will not stay at Morton long: no, no!”
“你不会在莫顿待很久的：不会的，不会的！”

“Why? What is your reason for saying so?”
“为什么？你为什么这样说？”

“I read it in your eye; it is not of that description which promises the maintenance of an even tenor in life.”
“我从你的眼中看出来了，它不是那种能够保证生活平稳的特点。”

“I am not ambitious.”
“我并不雄心勃勃。”

He started at the word “ambitious.” He repeated, “No. What made you think of ambition? —
他听到“雄心勃勃”这个词时吃了一惊。他重复道：“不，你怎么想到雄心勃勃呢？ —

Who is ambitious? I know I am: but how did you find it out?”
谁有雄心？我知道我有：但你是怎么发现的呢？”

“I was speaking of myself.”
“我是在谈论自己。”

“Well, if you are not ambitious, you are—” He paused.
“好吧，如果你不是有雄心壮志的，那你就是——”他停顿了一下。

“What?”
“什么？”

“I was going to say, impassioned: but perhaps you would have misunderstood the word, and been displeased. —
“我本来要说，热情洋溢：但也许你会误解这个词，并感到不悦。 —

I mean, that human affections and sympathies have a most powerful hold on you. —
我的意思是，人类的情感和共鸣对你有着极强的吸引力。 —

I am sure you cannot long be content to pass your leisure in solitude, and to devote your working hours to a monotonous labour wholly void of stimulus: —
我相信你不会长时间满足于独自度过休闲时间，将工作时间完全投入到毫无刺激的单调劳动中。 —

any more than I can be content,” he added, with emphasis, “to live here buried in morass, pent in with mountains—my nature, that God gave me, contravened; —
我不能忍受这里埋在泥沼之中，被山脉囚禁——上帝赐予我的天性遭到了阻碍； —

my faculties, heaven-bestowed, paralysed—made useless. You hear now how I contradict myself. —
我从天而来的才能失去了作用。你现在听到了我是如何自相矛盾的。 —

I, who preached contentment with a humble lot, and justified the vocation even of hewers of wood and drawers of water in God’s service—I, His ordained minister, almost rave in my restlessness. —
我曾经宣扬满足于谦卑的命运，甚至为作为砍柴者和挑水者来服务于上帝的职业辩护——我，上帝所任命的传教士，几乎要为我的不安疯狂。 —

Well, propensities and principles must be reconciled by some means.”
好吧，倾向和原则必须通过某种手段相互调和。

He left the room. In this brief hour I had learnt more of him than in the whole previous month: —
他离开了房间。在这短暂的一小时内，我对他的了解超过了之前一个月的了解： —

yet still he puzzled me.
然而他仍然让我感到困惑。

Diana and Mary Rivers became more sad and silent as the day approached for leaving their brother and their home. —
随着离开他们的兄弟和家的日子越来越近，黛安娜和玛丽·里弗斯变得更加悲伤和沉默。 —

They both tried to appear as usual; but the sorrow they had to struggle against was one that could not be entirely conquered or concealed. —
她们都试图看起来像往常一样，但是她们所努力抗争的悲伤是无法完全征服或隐藏的。 —

Diana intimated that this would be a different parting from any they had ever yet known. —
Diana暗示这将是一个与他们以往所经历的任何分别都不同的离别。 —

It would probably, as far as St. John was concerned, be a parting for years: —
对于St. John来说，这可能是数年的离别： —

it might be a parting for life.
它可能是一生的分离。

“He will sacrifice all to his long-framed resolves,” she said: —
“他将为他那长久计划的决定而牺牲一切，”她说： —

“natural affection and feelings more potent still. St. John looks quiet, Jane; —
“自然的感情和更强烈的情感。St. John看起来很安静，但他体内隐藏着一种发烧的感觉； —

but he hides a fever in his vitals. You would think him gentle, yet in some things he is inexorable as death; —
在某些事情上，他无情得像死神一样； —

and the worst of it is, my conscience will hardly permit me to dissuade him from his severe decision: —
最糟糕的是，我的良心几乎不允许我劝阻他做出那严苛的决定： —

certainly, I cannot for a moment blame him for it. It is right, noble, Christian: —
当然，我无法因此责怪他的。这是正确的，高尚的，基督徒的： —

yet it breaks my heart!” And the tears gushed to her fine eyes. —
可它却伤透了我的心！”她的眼睛里湿润了。 —

Mary bent her head low over her work.
玛丽低下头专心做自己的工作。

“We are now without father: we shall soon be without home and brother,” she murmured.
“我们现在没有父亲了，我们很快就会没有家和兄弟了，”她低声说道。

At that moment a little accident supervened, which seemed decreed by fate purposely to prove the truth of the adage, that “misfortunes never come singly,” and to add to their distresses the vexing one of the slip between the cup and the lip. —
就在那一刻，发生了一个小意外，似乎命中注定要证明一句谚语的真理：“祸不单行”，并为他们的困扰增添了一个让人烦恼的事情，破了一桥又一桥。 —

St. John passed the window reading a letter. He entered.
圣约翰走过窗前读信，然后进来了。

“Our uncle John is dead,” said he.
“我们的叔叔约翰去世了。”他说。

Both the sisters seemed struck: not shocked or appalled; —
两个姐妹似乎都被震撼了，不是震惊或惊骇； —

the tidings appeared in their eyes rather momentous than afflicting.
在她们的眼中，这个消息似乎更重要，而不是令人痛苦。

“Dead?” repeated Diana.
“去世了？”戴安娜重复说。

“Yes.”
“是的。”

She riveted a searching gaze on her brother’s face. —
她用一种探询的目光盯着她兄弟的脸。 —

“And what then?” she demanded, in a low voice.
“然后呢？”她用低声问道。

“What then, Die?” he replied, maintaining a marble immobility of feature. —
“然后呢，迪？”他回答道，脸上维持着一种冷酷的不动声色。 —

“What then? Why—nothing. Read.”
“然后呢？什么都没有。看吧。”

He threw the letter into her lap. She glanced over it, and handed it to Mary. Mary perused it in silence, and returned it to her brother. —
他把信扔到她的膝盖上。她扫了一眼，递给玛丽。玛丽默默地阅读了一下，又还给了她的兄弟。 —

All three looked at each other, and all three smiled—a dreary, pensive smile enough.
三人互相看了看，都露出了一个沉闷而苦思冥想的微笑。

“Amen! We can yet live,” said Diana at last.
“阿门！我们还能活下去，”达安娜最后说道。

“At any rate, it makes us no worse off than we were before,” remarked Mary.
“无论如何，它并没有让我们比以前更差，”玛丽说道。

“Only it forces rather strongly on the mind the picture of what might have been,” said Mr. Rivers, “and contrasts it somewhat too vividly with what is.”
“只是它在心中强烈地勾勒出了’本可以是什么情况‘的画面，与’现在是什么情况‘形成了鲜明的对比，”里弗斯先生说道。

He folded the letter, locked it in his desk, and again went out.
他将信迭好，锁进了他的桌子里，然后再次出去。

For some minutes no one spoke. Diana then turned to me.
在几分钟的沉默后，没有人说话。接着，达安娜转向我。

“Jane, you will wonder at us and our mysteries,” she said, “and think us hard-hearted beings not to be more moved at the death of so near a relation as an uncle; —
“简，你会对我们和我们的神秘感到惊讶，”她说，“你会认为我们是冷酷无情的人，对一个亲人的去世没有更多的悲伤； —

but we have never seen him or known him. He was my mother’s brother. —
但我们从未见过他也不认识他。他是我母亲的兄弟。 —

My father and he quarrelled long ago. It was by his advice that my father risked most of his property in the speculation that ruined him. —
我父亲和他很久以前就吵架了。他建议我父亲将大部分财产都冒险用在了最终害了他的投资上。 —

Mutual recrimination passed between them: they parted in anger, and were never reconciled. —
他们互相指责，愤怒地分手了，再也没有和好。 —

My uncle engaged afterwards in more prosperous undertakings: —
我的叔叔后来参与了更为成功的事业： —

it appears he realised a fortune of twenty thousand pounds. —
他意识到自己的财富是两万英镑。 —

He was never married, and had no near kindred but ourselves and one other person, not more closely related than we. —
他从未结婚，没有亲戚，除了我们和另外一位与我们的关系并不更亲近的人。 —

My father always cherished the idea that he would atone for his error by leaving his possessions to us; —
我父亲一直怀抱这样的想法，他会通过将他的财产留给我们来弥补他的错误。 —

that letter informs us that he has bequeathed every penny to the other relation, with the exception of thirty guineas, to be divided between St. John, Diana, and Mary Rivers, for the purchase of three mourning rings. —
信里告诉我们，他把每一分钱都遗赠给了这位其他亲戚，除了三十英镑给圣约翰、黛安娜和玛丽•里弗斯，用于购买三枚哀悼戒指。 —

He had a right, of course, to do as he pleased: —
他当然有权做任何他想做的事情。 —

and yet a momentary damp is cast on the spirits by the receipt of such news. —
然而，这样的消息仍然让人瞬间感到沮丧。 —

Mary and I would have esteemed ourselves rich with a thousand pounds each; —
玛丽和我会觉得每人一千英镑都很富裕； —

and to St. John such a sum would have been valuable, for the good it would have enabled him to do.”
对于圣约翰来说，这样的金额将是有价值的，因为它将使他能够做更多有益的事情。”

This explanation given, the subject was dropped, and no further reference made to it by either Mr. Rivers or his sisters. —
解释过后，这个话题被放下，里弗斯先生和他的姐妹们再也没有提到过。 —

The next day I left Marsh End for Morton. —
第二天，我离开了莫顿去往马什艾恩德。 —

The day after, Diana and Mary quitted it for distant B——. —
第二天，戴安娜和玛丽离开了它去到了遥远的B——。 —

In a week, Mr. Rivers and Hannah repaired to the parsonage: —
在一个星期内，里弗斯先生和汉娜来到了牧师住宅。 —

and so the old grange was abandoned.
于是，旧农舍被弃置了。