A preface to the first edition of “Jane Eyre” being unnecessary, I gave none: —
第一版《简·爱》并不需要前言，所以我没有写一个。 —

this second edition demands a few words both of acknowledgment and miscellaneous remark.
这第二版需要一些致谢和其他说明。

My thanks are due in three quarters.
我要感谢三个方面。

To the Public, for the indulgent ear it has inclined to a plain tale with few pretensions.
向公众致谢，因为它对一个普通故事给予了宽容的耳朵，而这个故事并没有太多自吹自擂。

To the Press, for the fair field its honest suffrage has opened to an obscure aspirant.
向媒体致谢，因为它对一个不知名的有抱负的人开放了一个公平的竞争场。

To my Publishers, for the aid their tact, their energy, their practical sense and frank liberality have afforded an unknown and unrecommended Author.
向我的出版商致谢，因为他们的机智、能量、实践感和慷慨大方给予了一个未知且未推荐的作者所需的帮助。

The Press and the Public are but vague personifications for me, and I must thank them in vague terms; but my Publishers are definite: —
媒体和公众对我来说只是模糊的概念，所以我必须用模糊的词语感谢他们；但我的出版商是具体的存在。 —

so are certain generous critics who have encouraged me as only large-hearted and high-minded men know how to encourage a struggling stranger; —
还有某些慷慨的批评家，他们以心胸宽广和高尚的方式鼓励着一个奋斗的陌生人； —

to them, i.e., to my Publishers and the select Reviewers, I say cordially, Gentlemen, I thank you from my heart.
对于他们，即我的出版商和挑选的评论家，我衷心地说，先生们，我由衷地感谢你们。

Having thus acknowledged what I owe those who have aided and approved me, I turn to another class; —
因此，我承认我欠那些帮助和赞同我的人一些东西，我转向另一类人； —

a small one, so far as I know, but not, therefore, to be overlooked. —
一个我所知道的小类群，但却不应该被忽视。 —

I mean the timorous or carping few who doubt the tendency of such books as “Jane Eyre: —
我指的是那些胆怯或挑剔的少数人，他们对《简·爱》这样的书籍的倾向表示怀疑； —

” in whose eyes whatever is unusual is wrong; —
在他们眼中，一切不寻常的事物都是错误的； —

whose ears detect in each protest against bigotry—that parent of crime—an insult to piety, that regent of God on earth. —
他们的耳朵能够在每一个反对偏见、罪恶之母的抗议中察觉到对虔诚的侮辱，对上帝在地上的统治者的侮辱。 —

I would suggest to such doubters certain obvious distinctions; —
我想对这些怀疑者提出一些明显的区别； —

I would remind them of certain simple truths.
我想提醒他们一些简单的道理。

Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. —
墨守成规不等于道德。自以为是不等于宗教。 —

To attack the first is not to assail the last. —
攻击前者并不是攻击后者。 —

To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns.
揭开法利赛人的面具，并不是对荆棘冠冕亵渎。

These things and deeds are diametrically opposed: they are as distinct as is vice from virtue. —
这些事物和行为是截然相反的：它们就像是罪恶与美德一样不同。 —

Men too often confound them: they should not be confounded: —
人们经常混淆它们，但它们不应该混淆； —

appearance should not be mistaken for truth; —
外表不应被误认为是真理。 —

narrow human doctrines, that only tend to elate and magnify a few, should not be substituted for the world-redeeming creed of Christ. —
狭隘的人类教义，只倾向于抬高和放大少数人，不能取代基督教的拯救世界的信条。 —

There is—I repeat it—a difference; and it is a good, and not a bad action to mark broadly and clearly the line of separation between them.
我再重复一遍，存在着不同之处；明确而清晰地标出它们的界限是一种善行，而非恶行。

The world may not like to see these ideas dissevered, for it has been accustomed to blend them; —
世界可能不想看到这些观念被分开，因为它习惯了把它们混为一谈； —

finding it convenient to make external show pass for sterling worth—to let white-washed walls vouch for clean shrines. —
方便起见，让外在的表面显示为卓越的价值，让白墙为洁净的神殿作证。 —

It may hate him who dares to scrutinise and expose—to rase the gilding, and show base metal under it—to penetrate the sepulchre, and reveal charnel relics: —
它可能厌恶那些敢于审视和揭露真相的人——把镀金剥离，揭示金属之下的低劣品质——深入坟墓，展示尸体的残骸： —

but hate as it will, it is indebted to him.
尽管它恨他，但却是受他的恩惠。

Ahab did not like Micaiah, because he never prophesied good concerning him, but evil; —
亚哈不喜欢迈凯亚，因为他从未为他预言好事，只说坏话； —

probably he liked the sycophant son of Chenaanah better; —
他可能更喜欢基纳纳的马屁精儿子； —

yet might Ahab have escaped a bloody death, had he but stopped his ears to flattery, and opened them to faithful counsel.
亚哈本可以避免一个血腥的死亡，只要他对奉承塞耳，对忠告敞开耳朵。

There is a man in our own days whose words are not framed to tickle delicate ears: —
有一个人在我们这个时代，他的话语并不是为了逗弄娇耳： —

who, to my thinking, comes before the great ones of society, much as the son of Imlah came before the throned Kings of Judah and Israel; —
在我看来，他在社会的伟人面前显得更加重要，就像姆拉之子站在犹大和以色列的王室之前一样； —

and who speaks truth as deep, with a power as prophet-like and as vital—a mien as dauntless and as daring. —
他说出的真理如此深刻，带着像先知般的力量和生命力，有着无畏和大胆的态度。 —

Is the satirist of “Vanity Fair” admired in high places? I cannot tell; —
“名利场”的讽刺家在高位上受人尊敬吗？我不能说； —

but I think if some of those amongst whom he hurls the Greek fire of his sarcasm, and over whom he flashes the levin-brand of his denunciation, were to take his warnings in time—they or their seed might yet escape a fatal Rimoth-Gilead.
但我认为，如果他所抨击的人中有些人能够及时接受他的警告，他们或他们的后代可能还能逃脱一场致命的灾难。

Why have I alluded to this man? I have alluded to him, Reader, because I think I see in him an intellect profounder and more unique than his contemporaries have yet recognised; —
我为什么提及这个人？读者，我提及他是因为我认为他的智慧比他的同时代人更为深刻和独特，尽管他的同时代人尚未认识到这一点。 —

because I regard him as the first social regenerator of the day—as the very master of that working corps who would restore to rectitude the warped system of things; —
因为我认为他是当今社会中第一位重建者，作为那个将扭曲的体制恢复正直的工作团队的大师； —

because I think no commentator on his writings has yet found the comparison that suits him, the terms which rightly characterise his talent. —
因为我认为在评论他的作品的人中还没有人找到适合他的比较，恰当描述他的才华的词汇； —

They say he is like Fielding: they talk of his wit, humour, comic powers. —
他们说他像费尔丁：他们谈论他的机智、幽默、喜剧才能； —

He resembles Fielding as an eagle does a vulture: —
他像老鹰一样像秃鹫： —

Fielding could stoop on carrion, but Thackeray never does. —
费尔丁能够俯冲捕食腐肉，但萨克雷从不这样做。 —

His wit is bright, his humour attractive, but both bear the same relation to his serious genius that the mere lambent sheet-lightning playing under the edge of the summer-cloud does to the electric death-spark hid in its womb. —
他的机智明亮，他的幽默有魅力，但二者对于他的严肃天才来说，就像夏季云层边缘下的舞动的蓝光与腹中隐藏的电流雷火之关系一样。 —

Finally, I have alluded to Mr. Thackeray, because to him—if he will accept the tribute of a total stranger—I have dedicated this second edition of “JANE EYRE.”
最后，我提到萨克雷先生，因为如果他愿意接受一个完全陌生人的致敬，我向他献上这本《简·爱》的第二版；

CURRER BELL.
科勒·贝尔。

December 21st, 1847.
1847年12月21日。

NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITION
致第三版的注释。

I avail myself of the opportunity which a third edition of “Jane Eyre” affords me, of again addressing a word to the Public, to explain that my claim to the title of novelist rests on this one work alone. —
我乐于利用第三版的《简·爱》这个机会，再次向公众发表一番言辞，解释我作为小说家的称号只凭这一部作品。 —

If, therefore, the authorship of other works of fiction has been attributed to me, an honour is awarded where it is not merited; —
因此，如果其他小说的作者归功于我，那就是一种不应得的荣誉； —

and consequently, denied where it is justly due.
相反地，如果这种荣誉是应该属于我的，那就被剥夺了。

This explanation will serve to rectify mistakes which may already have been made, and to prevent future errors.
这一解释将纠正可能已经发生的错误，并防止未来出现的错误。

CURRER BELL.
科勒·贝尔

April 13th, 1848.
1848年4月13日