“By swaggering could I never thrive, For the rain it raineth every day. –Twelfth Night
“我绝不能依靠吹嘘来成功，因为雨天永远在下。”–《第十二夜》

The transactions referred to by Caleb Garth as having gone forward between Mr. Bulstrode and Mr. Joshua Rigg Featherstone concerning the land attached to Stone Court, had occasioned the interchange of a letter or two between these personages.
卡勒布·加思涉及到布尔斯特罗德先生和约书亚·里格·费瑟斯通先生之间有关斯通庄园土地的交易，这些交易引起了这两位人物之间几封信函的来往。

Who shall tell what may be the effect of writing? —
谁能告诉我们写作的影响会是什么？ —

If it happens to have been cut in stone, though it lie face down-most for ages on a forsaken beach, or “rest quietly under the drums and tramplings of many conquests,” it may end by letting us into the secret of usurpations and other scandals gossiped about long empires ago: —
如果它被雕刻在石头上，即使在一个被遗弃的海滩上躺了很多年，或者“沉睡于许多征服的鼓声和践踏之下”，最终也可以让我们了解长久以前帝国中谈论的篡位和其他丑闻的秘密：–这个世界似乎是一个巨大的传声廊。 —

– this world being apparently a huge whispering-gallery. —
这些情况往往在我们渺小的一生中被细致地描绘。 —

Such conditions are often minutely represented in our petty lifetimes. —
就像被世世代代的小丑踢过的石头可能会在学者的眼睛下通过一些奇特的联系而起作用一样，通过他的劳动，最终可能会确定入侵的日期并揭开宗教之谜，长期以来一直是一个无辜的包装或临时阻挠的一点墨水和纸张，最终可能在那个拥有足够知识的眼睛下被打开，使其成为一场灾难的开端。 —

As the stone which has been kicked by generations of clowns may come by curious little links of effect under the eyes of a scholar, through whose labors it may at last fix the date of invasions and unlock religions, so a bit of ink and paper which has long been an innocent wrapping or stop-gap may at last be laid open under the one pair of eyes which have knowledge enough to turn it into the opening of a catastrophe. —
对于乌列尔从太阳上观察行星历史的结果，一方面就像另一方面一样只是巧合。 —

To Uriel watching the progress of planetary history from the sun, the one result would be just as much of a coincidence as the other.
作出这种相当高尚的比较之后，我更不担心引起了低劣的人们的注意，尽管我们可能不太喜欢，世界的走向很大程度上是由他们的干涉决定的。

Having made this rather lofty comparison I am less uneasy in calling attention to the existence of low people by whose interference, however little we may like it, the course of the world is very much determined. —
当然，如果我们能帮助减少他们的数量，那是件好事，也许可以通过不轻易给予他们存在的机会来做一些事情。 —

It would be well, certainly, if we could help to reduce their number, and something might perhaps be done by not lightly giving occasion to their existence. —
从社会角度来看，约书亚·里格通常被认为是多余的。 —

Socially speaking, Joshua Rigg would have been generally pronounced a superfluity. —
但像彼得·费瑟斯通一样，从来没有要求复制自己的人，是最后一个等待在散文或诗歌中提到这种要求的人。 —

But those who like Peter Featherstone never had a copy of themselves demanded, are the very last to wait for such a request either in prose or verse. —
在这种情况下，复印件在外表上更像母亲，母亲的性别特征，配以红润的面颊和匀称的身材，与一类仰慕者有很大吸引力。 —

The copy in this case bore more of outside resemblance to the mother, in whose sex frog-features, accompanied with fresh-colored cheeks and a well-rounded figure, are compatible with much charm for a certain order of admirers. —
结果有时会是一个长相青蛙的男性，显然对任何有智慧的生物都不理想。 —

The result is sometimes a frog-faced male, desirable, surely, to no order of intelligent beings. —
特别是当他被突然提出来挫败别人的期望时-这是一个社会多余者可以展现自己的最低劣的方面。 —

Especially when he is suddenly brought into evidence to frustrate other people’s expectations– the very lowest aspect in which a social superfluity can present himself.
尤其是当他突然被提出来挫败别人的期望时 - 一个社会多余者可能展示自己的最低劣方面。

But Mr. Rigg Featherstone’s low characteristics were all of the sober, water-drinking kind. —
但是里格·费瑟斯通先生的低劣特点全都是深思熟虑、不喝酒的类型。 —

From the earliest to the latest hour of the day he was always as sleek, neat, and cool as the frog he resembled, and old Peter had secretly chuckled over an offshoot almost more calculating, and far more imperturbable, than himself. —
从一天中的早到晚，他始终像青蛙一样光滑、整洁、凉爽，老彼得暗自笑了笑，盘算出了一个比自己更精明、更冷静的分支。 —

I will add that his finger-nails were scrupulously attended to, and that he meant to marry a well-educated young lady (as yet unspecified) whose person was good, and whose connections, in a solid middle-class way, were undeniable. —
我要补充说，他的指甲一丝不苟地修剪过，而且他打算娶一个受过良好教育、外表好看、家世可靠（目前尚未具体说明的）年轻女士。 —

Thus his nails and modesty were comparable to those of most gentlemen; —
因此，他的指甲和谦逊与大多数绅士相当； —

though his ambition had been educated only by the opportunities of a clerk and accountant in the smaller commercial houses of a seaport. —
尽管他的野心仅仅是在一个海港小商业公司的职员和会计的机会中受过教育。 —

He thought the rural Featherstones very simple absurd people, and they in their turn regarded his “bringing up” in a seaport town as an exaggeration of the monstrosity that their brother Peter, and still more Peter’s property, should have had such belongings.
他认为乡下的费瑟斯通家族是非常简单可笑的人，而他们却把他“在一个海港小镇长大”的方式看作是他哥哥彼得以及更多彼得的财产竟然有这样的亲戚这种怪事的夸大。

The garden and gravel approach, as seen from the two windows of the wainscoted parlor at Stone Court, were never in better trim than now, when Mr. Rigg Featherstone stood, with his hands behind him, looking out on these grounds as their master. —
从斯通庄园镶木饰板的客厅的两扇窗户望出去，花园和碎石道路从未像现在这样整洁，此刻里格·费瑟斯通先生站在那里，双手背后，俯视着这片地盘，仿佛他是这片领地的主人。 —

But it seemed doubtful whether he looked out for the sake of contemplation or of turning his back to a person who stood in the middle of the room, with his legs considerably apart and his hands in his trouser-pockets: —
但他看出来，不知道他是想凝视，还是为了把背转向房间中央的站在那里，脚距相当宽，手插在裤袋里的人： —

a person in all respects a contrast to the sleek and cool Rigg. He was a man obviously on the way towards sixty, very florid and hairy, with much gray in his bushy whiskers and thick curly hair, a stoutish body which showed to disadvantage the somewhat worn joinings of his clothes, and the air of a swaggerer, who would aim at being noticeable even at a show of fireworks, regarding his own remarks on any other person’s performance as likely to be more interesting than the performance itself.
一个明显朝着六十岁前后走去的人，皮肤非常发红、多毛，浓密的小胡须和卷曲的头发上有很多白发，泛着汗的身体显示出他衣服已经有些磨损，一副好像要引人注目、甚至在烟火表演上也要引人注意的装模作样之人气，将自己对别人表现的评论看作一定会比表演本身更有趣。

His name was John Raffles, and he sometimes wrote jocosely W.A.G. after his signature, observing when he did so, that he was once taught by Leonard Lamb of Finsbury who wrote B.A. after his name, and that he, Raffles, originated the witticism of calling that celebrated principal Ba-Lamb. Such were the appearance and mental flavor of Mr. Raffles, both of which seemed to have a stale odor of travellers’ rooms in the commercial hotels of that period.
他叫约翰·拉菲尔斯，有时签名时在后面开玩笑地写着W.A.G.，称自己曾经受到过芬斯伯里的伦纳德·兰布的教导，后者在签名后面写着B.A.，他，拉菲尔斯，创造了一个幽默的词语，称那位著名的校长为“羊人”。这就是拉菲尔斯先生的外表和心理品味，二者似乎都有着那个时代商业酒店旅行者房间的陈腐气味。

“Come, now, Josh,” he was saying, in a full rumbling tone, “look at it in this light: —
“来吧，乔什，”他用浑厚的声音说，“从这个角度看待问题： —

here is your poor mother going into the vale of years, and you could afford something handsome now to make her comfortable.”
你贫苦的母亲正在进入衰老之状，你现在可以负担得起一些体面的东西让她过得舒适。”

“Not while you live. Nothing would make her comfortable while you live,” returned Rigg, in his cool high voice. —
“你活着的时候，她永远也过不舒服。只要你活着，她就永远也不会过得舒服，”里格冷淡的高声音回答说。 —

“What I give her, you’ll take.”
“我给她的，你会拿走。”

“You bear me a grudge, Josh, that I know. —
“你怀恨在心，乔什，这点我知道。 —

But come, now–as between man and man–without humbug–a little capital might enable me to make a first-rate thing of the shop. —
但是，现在来说，作为人与人之间，毫无虚伪，一点资本可能使我能把店做得非常好。 —

The tobacco trade is growing. I should cut my own nose off in not doing the best I could at it. —
烟草贸易正在增长。我若不尽我的全力去做，那我就是在割我的鼻子来脸。 —

I should stick to it like a flea to a fleece for my own sake. I should always be on the spot. —
为了我自己，我会像跳蚤黏在羊毛上一样坚持不懈。我会永远在这里。 —

And nothing would make your poor mother so happy. —
而且没有什么能够比让你的可怜母亲更加快乐了。 —

I’ve pretty well done with my wild oats– turned fifty-five. —
我已经基本上结束了我那些放荡不羁的时光–已经五十五岁了。 —

I want to settle down in my chimney-corner. —
我想要在我的炉边安定下来。 —

And if I once buckled to the tobacco trade, I could bring an amount of brains and experience to bear on it that would not be found elsewhere in a hurry. —
如果我一旦投身烟草贸易，我能够运用一定数量的头脑和经验，使之发挥出威力，这种能力不会随随便便就能找到。 —

I don’t want to be bothering you one time after another, but to get things once for all into the right channel. —
我不想一次又一次地打搅你，只是一次把事情正确地安排好。 —

Consider that, Josh–as between man and man–and with your poor mother to be made easy for her life. —
请考虑这一点，乔什–作为人与人之间，要为了你可怜的母亲能够过上舒适的生活。 —

I was always fond of the old woman, by Jove!”
我一直很喜欢这位老太太，天哪！”

“Have you done?” said Mr. Rigg, quietly, without looking away from the window.
“你说完了吗？”里格先生平静地说，没有从窗户那边移开视线。

“Yes, I’ve done,” said Raffles, taking hold of his hat which stood before him on the table, and giving it a sort of oratorical push.
“是的，我说完了。”拉菲尔斯说着抓起桌子前方的帽子，有一种演说的感觉。

“Then just listen to me. The more you say anything, the less I shall believe it. —
“那么听着吧。你说得越多，我就越不信。 —

The more you want me to do a thing, the more reason I shall have for never doing it. —
你越想要我做某事，我就越有充分理由永远不去做。 —

Do you think I mean to forget your kicking me when I was a lad, and eating all the best victual away from me and my mother? —
你觉得我会忘记你小时候踢我的事，还有把所有最好的食物都吃光给我和我母亲吗？ —

Do you think I forget your always coming home to sell and pocket everything, and going off again leaving us in the lurch? —
你以为我会忘记你总是回家兜售一切然后再离开，让我们陷入困境吗？ —

I should be glad to see you whipped at the cart-tail. My mother was a fool to you: —
我会很高兴看到你被在车尾处鞭打。我母亲对你太愚蠢了。 —

she’d no right to give me a father-in-law, and she’s been punished for it. —
她让我有了一个岳父，而她已经为此受到惩罚。 —

She shall have her weekly allowance paid and no more: —
她会继续得到每周的津贴，不会再多了。 —

and that shall be stopped if you dare to come on to these premises again, or to come into this country after me again. —
如果你再敢来这些地盘，或者再次来找我，这个津贴就会停止。 —

The next time you show yourself inside the gates here, you shall be driven off with the dogs and the wagoner’s whip.”
下次你闯进大门，我会让狗和车夫用鞭子赶你走。

As Rigg pronounced the last words he turned round and looked at Raffles with his prominent frozen eyes. —
当Rigg说完最后几句话的时候，他转过身来盯着Raffles，眼睛中透着冷冽。 —

The contrast was as striking as it could have been eighteen years before, when Rigg was a most unengaging kickable boy, and Raffles was the rather thick-set Adonis of bar-rooms and back-parlors. —
当Rigg还是一个令人生厌的小孩时，Raffles是酒吧和后屋里的偶像时，他们之间的对比可能是如此引人注目。 —

But the advantage now was on the side of Rigg, and auditors of this conversation might probably have expected that Raffles would retire with the air of a defeated dog. —
但现在优势在Rigg这边，在场的人可能会认为Raffles会像失败的狗一样退出。 —

Not at all. He made a grimace which was habitual with him whenever he was “out” in a game; —
完全不是。他做了一个在游戏“失败”时习惯性的鬼脸； —

then subsided into a laugh, and drew a brandy-flask from his pocket.
然后笑了起来，从口袋里拿出一瓶白兰地。

“Come, Josh,” he said, in a cajoling tone, “give us a spoonful of brandy, and a sovereign to pay the way back, and I’ll go. —
“来吧，Josh，”他用一种哄人的口吻说，“给我们一勺白兰地，一个金币支付回程的路费，我就会走。 —

Honor bright! I’ll go like a bullet, by Jove!”
我发誓！我会像子弹一样飞走，天啊！”

“Mind,” said Rigg, drawing out a bunch of keys, “if I ever see you again, I shan’t speak to you. —
“记住，”Rigg拿出一把钥匙，说道，“如果我再看到你，我不会和你说话。 —

I don’t own you any more than if I saw a crow; —
我对你和看到一只乌鸦一样，一点也没有亲属关系。” —

and if you want to own me you’ll get nothing by it but a character for being what you are–a spiteful, brassy, bullying rogue.”
如果你想要拥有我，那你将一无所获，因为你只会被记住为一个恶毒、倔强、欺负人的恶棍。

“That’s a pity, now, Josh,” said Raffles, affecting to scratch his head and wrinkle his brows upward as if he were nonplussed. —
“那真是遗憾，乔什，”拉弗尔斯假装挠头，皱起眉头，好像感到为难。 —

“I’m very fond of you; by Jove, I am! There’s nothing I like better than plaguing you–you’re so like your mother, and I must do without it. —
“我真的很喜欢你；天哪，我是的！没有什么比取笑你更让我高兴了——你和你的妈妈如此相像，而我必须忍受不能戏弄她。” —

But the brandy and the sovereign’s a bargain.”
但白兰地和一英镑就是交易。

He jerked forward the flask and Rigg went to a fine old oaken bureau with his keys. —
他抛过来一只白兰地瓶，里格走向一个漂亮的古老橡木橱柜，用钥匙打开。 —

But Raffles had reminded himself by his movement with the flask that it had become dangerously loose from its leather covering, and catching sight of a folded paper which had fallen within the fender, he took it up and shoved it under the leather so as to make the glass firm.
但拉弗尔斯的动作提醒了他，白兰地瓶已经从皮套中掉出，他发现了一个折叠的纸张掉到了壁炉下，于是他把它拿起来塞进皮套下，使杯子更稳固。

By that time Rigg came forward with a brandy-bottle, filled the flask, and handed Raffles a sovereign, neither looking at him nor speaking to him. —
这时里格拿着白兰地瓶走了过来，装满了瓶子，递给拉弗尔斯一个英镑，既没有看他也没有和他说话。 —

After locking up the bureau again, he walked to the window and gazed out as impassibly as he had done at the beginning of the interview, while Raffles took a small allowance from the flask, screwed it up, and deposited it in his side-pocket, with provoking slowness, making a grimace at his stepson’s back.
重新锁好橱柜后，他走到窗前，冷漠地望着外面，像一开始面试时一样，而拉弗尔斯则从口袋里拿出一小块白兰地，慢条斯理地盖好，塞进一侧口袋里，对着他的继子的背影做了个鬼脸。

“Farewell, Josh–and if forever!” said Raffles, turning back his head as he opened the door.
“再见，乔什——也许永别！”拉弗尔斯说着，打开门时抬起头。

Rigg saw him leave the grounds and enter the lane. —
里格看着他离开庄园，进了小路。 —

The gray day had turned to a light drizzling rain, which freshened the hedgerows and the grassy borders of the by-roads, and hastened the laborers who were loading the last shocks of corn. —
灰蒙蒙的天气变成了微蒙蒙的细雨，滋润了路边的篱笆和草地，加快了最后捆好的谷物被车的工人们运走。 —

Raffles, walking with the uneasy gait of a town loiterer obliged to do a bit of country journeying on foot, looked as incongruous amid this moist rural quiet and industry as if he had been a baboon escaped from a menagerie. —
拉弗尔斯的步伐显得有些不安，像是城里的游荡者被迫在乡间徒步行走，他在这潮湿的乡村宁静和勤劳中显得格格不入，就像是从游船中逃脱的狒狒。 —

But there were none to stare at him except the long-weaned calves, and none to show dislike of his appearance except the little water-rats which rustled away at his approach.
但除了已断奶的小牛犊外，没有人会盯着他看，也没有人会因为他的出现而显露不悦，只有在他靠近时匆匆逃开的水鼠。

He was fortunate enough when he got on to the highroad to be overtaken by the stage-coach, which carried him to Brassing; —
他走上大路时幸运地赶上了马车，把他载到了布拉辛。 —

and there he took the new-made railway, observing to his fellow-passengers that he considered it pretty well seasoned now it had done for Huskisson. —
在那里他乘上了新建成的铁路，对他的同行乘客说，他觉得铁路现在算是相当有经验了，已经胜任了哈斯基森。 —

Mr. Raffles on most occasions kept up the sense of having been educated at an academy, and being able, if he chose, to pass well everywhere; —
拉夫尔斯先生在大多数时候都能保持在学院受过教育的感觉，有能力如果他选择的话可以在任何地方表现出色； —

indeed, there was not one of his fellow-men whom he did not feel himself in a position to ridicule and torment, confident of the entertainment which he thus gave to all the rest of the company.
实际上，他觉得没有一个人是他不能嘲笑和折磨的，他相信这样做可以给所有其他人带来娱乐；

He played this part now with as much spirit as if his journey had been entirely successful, resorting at frequent intervals to his flask. —
现在他以极大的热情扮演这个角色，就好像他的旅程完全成功一样，频繁地回到他的水瓶； —

The paper with which he had wedged it was a letter signed Nicholas Bulstrode, but Raffles was not likely to disturb it from its present useful position.
夹在水瓶里的纸条上签着尼古拉斯·布尔斯特罗德的名字，但拉夫尔斯不太可能把它从目前的有用位置取出来。