“Piacer e popone Vuol la sua stagione.” –Italian Proverb.
“Piacer e popone Vuol la sua stagione.” – 意大利谚语。

Mr. Casaubon, as might be expected, spent a great deal of his time at the Grange in these weeks, and the hindrance which courtship occasioned to the progress of his great work–the Key to all Mythologies–naturally made him look forward the more eagerly to the happy termination of courtship. —
在这几周里，卡索邦先生花了很多时间在农庄里，因为追求引起的阻碍影响了他伟大作品《所有神话的钥匙》的进展，这自然让他更急切地期待着追求的幸福结束。 —

But he had deliberately incurred the hindrance, having made up his mind that it was now time for him to adorn his life with the graces of female companionship, to irradiate the gloom which fatigue was apt to hang over the intervals of studious labor with the play of female fancy, and to secure in this, his culminating age, the solace of female tendance for his declining years. —
但是，他是故意招惹这种阻碍的，因为他已经决定现在是时候让自己的生活装点上女性陪伴的优雅，让劳累的疲惫在研究劳动间的间隙中常常挂上的阴影，通过女性的幻想来光耀，为他衰老的岁月获得女性的照顾的慰藉。 —

Hence he determined to abandon himself to the stream of feeling, and perhaps was surprised to find what an exceedingly shallow rill it was. —
于是，他决定沉浸在感情的潮流中，也许他会惊讶地发现这条溪流是多么浅薄。 —

As in droughty regions baptism by immersion could only be performed symbolically, Mr. Casaubon found that sprinkling was the utmost approach to a plunge which his stream would afford him; —
就像在干旱地区，只能象征性地进行全身浸水洗礼一样，卡索邦先生发现洒水是他的溪流给予他的最大冲击； —

and he concluded that the poets had much exaggerated the force of masculine passion. —
他总结说，诗人们大大夸大了男性激情的力量。 —

Nevertheless, he observed with pleasure that Miss Brooke showed an ardent submissive affection which promised to fulfil his most agreeable previsions of marriage. —
尽管如此，他高兴地观察到，布鲁克小姐表现出了一种热情而听话的爱，这种爱让他对婚姻的最美好预期颇有信心。 —

It had once or twice crossed his mind that possibly there was some deficiency in Dorothea to account for the moderation of his abandonment; —
多萝西娅可能有某种缺陷，以解释他放任的克制，这个念头曾偶尔闪过卡索邦先生的脑海； —

but he was unable to discern the deficiency, or to figure to himself a woman who would have pleased him better; —
但他无法发现这个缺陷，也无法想象有哪个女人能更让他满意； —

so that there was clearly no reason to fall back upon but the exaggerations of human tradition.
因此，显然没有别的理由可以依靠，除了人类传统的夸张。

“Could I not be preparing myself now to be more useful?” —
“我现在难道不能做些准备，让自己更有用吗？” —

said Dorothea to him, one morning, early in the time of courtship; —
多萝西娅在一个清晨对他说，那是在追求的初期； —

“could I not learn to read Latin and Greek aloud to you, as Milton’s daughters did to their father, without understanding what they read?”
“我难道不能学着给您念拉丁文和希腊文，就像弥尔顿的女儿给父亲念书一样，虽然不懂他们在读些什么？”

“I fear that would be wearisome to you,” said Mr. Casaubon, smiling; —
“我担心这会让您感到厌烦，”卡索邦先生笑着说； —

“and, indeed, if I remember rightly, the young women you have mentioned regarded that exercise in unknown tongues as a ground for rebellion against the poet.”
“而且，如果我记得没错，您提到的那几位年轻女子把对不懂的外语的练习看作反对这位诗人的理由。”

“Yes; but in the first place they were very naughty girls, else they would have been proud to minister to such a father; —
“是的; 但首先，她们是非常顽皮的女孩，否则她们本来会很自豪地侍奉这样一位父亲； —

and in the second place they might have studied privately and taught themselves to understand what they read, and then it would have been interesting. —
而其次，她们本可以私下学习，自学如何理解所读之物，那样就会变得有趣。 —

I hope you don’t expect me to be naughty and stupid?”
希望你不指望我会邋遢和愚蠢吧？”

“I expect you to be all that an exquisite young lady can be in every possible relation of life. —
“我希望你在生活的每一个可能关系中都能做到一位精致的年轻淑女应有的一切。 —

Certainly it might be a great advantage if you were able to copy the Greek character, and to that end it were well to begin with a little reading.”
当然，如果你能够模仿希腊字母，并从中开始一点点阅读，那可能是一个巨大的优势。

Dorothea seized this as a precious permission. —
多萝西娅将这个视为珍贵的许可。 —

She would not have asked Mr. Casaubon at once to teach her the languages, dreading of all things to be tiresome instead of helpful; —
她没有立即要求卡索本先生教她语言，她害怕变得烦人而不是有帮助； —

but it was not entirely out of devotion to her future husband that she wished to know Latin and Creek. Those provinces of masculine knowledge seemed to her a standing-ground from which all truth could be seen more truly. —
但她渴望了解拉丁文和希腊文并不完全是出于对未来丈夫的献身。男性知识的那些领域对她来说像是一个立足之地，从那里可以更真实地看到所有的真理。 —

As it was, she constantly doubted her own conclusions, because she felt her own ignorance: —
因为自己感到无知，她不断地怀疑自己的结论； —

how could she be confident that one-roomed cottages were not for the glory of God, when men who knew the classics appeared to conciliate indifference to the cottages with zeal for the glory? —
当那些懂得古典语言的人似乎是以对小屋的冷漠换取对荣耀的热情时，她怎么能确信单室小屋不是为了上帝的荣耀？ —

Perhaps even Hebrew might be necessary–at least the alphabet and a few roots–in order to arrive at the core of things, and judge soundly on the social duties of the Christian. —
也许甚至需要学习希伯来文-至少掌握字母和一些词根-才能到达事物的核心，并就基督徒的社会责任做出明智的判断。 —

And she had not reached that point of renunciation at which she would have been satisfied with having a wise husband: —
她还没有达到仅仅满足于拥有一个智慧的丈夫就满足了的程度： —

she wished, poor child, to be wise herself. —
可怜的孩子，她想要自己变得聪明。 —

Miss Brooke was certainly very naive with all her alleged cleverness. —
布鲁克小姐确实非常天真，尽管她自称聪明。 —

Celia, whose mind had never been thought too powerful, saw the emptiness of other people’s pretensions much more readily. —
卢琳，虽然头脑从未被认为太强大，却更容易看出别人的虚伪。” —

To have in general but little feeling, seems to be the only security against feeling too much on any particular occasion.
对于一般感情不太丰富的人来说，似乎是对于在特定场合感情过于强烈的唯一防护。

However, Mr. Casaubon consented to listen and teach for an hour together, like a schoolmaster of little boys, or rather like a lover, to whom a mistress’s elementary ignorance and difficulties have a touching fitness. —
然而，卡索邦先生同意倾听并教导一个小时，像一个小男孩的老师，或者更像一个情人，对于他而言，情人那种初学者的无知和困难具有一种动人的合适性。 —

Few scholars would have disliked teaching the alphabet under such circumstances. —
很少有学者会不喜欢在这种情况下教授字母表。 —

But Dorothea herself was a little shocked and discouraged at her own stupidity, and the answers she got to some timid questions about the value of the Greek accents gave her a painful suspicion that here indeed there might be secrets not capable of explanation to a woman’s reason.
但是多萝西娅自身对自己的愚钝感到有些震惊和沮丧，而且她对一些关于希腊重音价值的胆怯问题所得到的答案给了她一个痛苦的怀疑，那就是在这里确实可能存在着无法用一个女人的理性解释的秘密。

Mr. Brooke had no doubt on that point, and expressed himself with his usual strength upon it one day that he came into the library while the reading was going forward.
布鲁克先生对此毫不怀疑，并在某天来到书房时对此表达了他一贯的强烈意见。

“Well, but now, Casaubon, such deep studies, classics, mathematics, that kind of thing, are too taxing for a woman–too taxing, you know.”
“哦，但是，卡索邦，研究如此深入，经典，数学，那种东西，对一个女人来说太过劳累了 - 太劳累了，你知道的。”

“Dorothea is learning to read the characters simply,” said Mr. Casaubon, evading the question. —
“多萝西娅只是简单地学习读取字符而已，”卡索邦先生回避了问题。 —

“She had the very considerate thought of saving my eyes.”
“她曾非常体贴地考虑过节约我的眼睛。”

“Ah, well, without understanding, you know–that may not be so bad. —
“啊，好吧，没有理解，你知道 - 那可能还不错。” —

But there is a lightness about the feminine mind–a touch and go–music, the fine arts, that kind of thing–they should study those up to a certain point, women should; —
“但是女性思维有一种轻盈感 - 一种摸吧感觉 - 音乐，美术，那种东西 - 他们应该学习到一定程度，女人应该； —

but in a light way, you know. A woman should be able to sit down and play you or sing you a good old English tune. —
但以一种轻松的方式，你知道。一个女人应该能坐下来给你弹奏或演唱一首优美的英国老调。 —

That is what I like; though I have heard most things–been at the opera in Vienna: —
那是我喜欢的；尽管我听过大部分的东西 - 在维也纳的歌剧院听过： —

Gluck, Mozart, everything of that sort. But I’m a conservative in music–it’s not like ideas, you know. —
格鲁克，莫扎特，各种那种东西。但是在音乐方面我是个保守派 - 这不像观念，你知道。 —

I stick to the good old tunes.”
我坚持听好听的老曲。”

“Mr. Casaubon is not fond of the piano, and I am very glad he is not,” said Dorothea, whose slight regard for domestic music and feminine fine art must be forgiven her, considering the small tinkling and smearing in which they chiefly consisted at that dark period. —
“卡索邦先生不喜欢钢琴，我非常高兴他不喜欢，”多萝西娅说，对待家庭音乐和女性美术的轻视应该被原谅，考虑到那个黑暗时代主要是小声的叮叮当当。 —

She smiled and looked up at her betrothed with grateful eyes. —
她微笑着抬头看着她的未婚夫，眼中充满感激之情。 —

If he had always been asking her to play the “Last Rose of Summer,” she would have required much resignation. —
如果他一直要求她演奏《夏日最后的玫瑰》，她会需要很多忍耐。 —

“He says there is only an old harpsichord at Lowick, and it is covered with books.”
“他说洛威克只有一架古钢琴，而且上面堆满了书籍。”

“Ah, there you are behind Celia, my dear. —
“啊，亲爱的，你就在西莉亚后面啊。” —

Celia, now, plays very prettily, and is always ready to play. —
西莉亚现在弹得很漂亮，而且总是愿意弹。 —

However, since Casaubon does not like it, you are all right. —
不过，既然卡萨本不喜欢，你就没问题了。 —

But it’s a pity you should not have little recreations of that sort, Casaubon: —
但是你不能没有那种小小的消遣，卡萨本： —

the bow always strung–that kind of thing, you know–will not do.”
弓总是拉着的――你知道的那种事情――是不行的。”

“I never could look on it in the light of a recreation to have my ears teased with measured noises,” said Mr. Casaubon. —
“我从来就不认为耳朵被重复的音调刺激是种消遣，”卡萨本先生说。 —

“A tune much iterated has the ridiculous effect of making the words in my mind perform a sort of minuet to keep time–an effect hardly tolerable, I imagine, after boyhood. —
“一首多次重复的曲调会让我的思维开始像进行一种社交舞一样保持节奏――这种效果在孩童时期后就几乎令人无法忍受了。 —

As to the grander forms of music, worthy to accompany solemn celebrations, and even to serve as an educating influence according to the ancient conception, I say nothing, for with these we are not immediately concerned.”
至于更宏伟的音乐形式，配合庄严庆典，甚至作为古代观念中的一种教化影响，我就不多说了，因为这些和我们目前无直接关系。”

“No; but music of that sort I should enjoy,” said Dorothea. —
“不；但那种音乐我会喜欢，”多萝西娅说。 —

“When we were coming home from Lausanne my uncle took us to hear the great organ at Freiberg, and it made me sob.”
“我们从洛桑回来的时候，我叔叔带我们去听弗莱贝格的大风琴，它让我哭泣。”

“That kind of thing is not healthy, my dear,” said Mr. Brooke. —
“亲爱的，那种事情对健康不利，”布鲁克先生说。 —

“Casaubon, she will be in your hands now: —
“卡萨本，现在她会听你的了。” —

you must teach my niece to take things more quietly, eh, Dorothea?”
你必须教导我的侄女更加沉稳一些，是吧，多萝西娅？

He ended with a smile, not wishing to hurt his niece, but really thinking that it was perhaps better for her to be early married to so sober a fellow as Casaubon, since she would not hear of Chettam.
他微笑着结束了这番话，不想伤害他的侄女，但其实还是认为她早日嫁给卡索邦这样稳重的人也许更好，因为她一直不愿意听琼尼姆的建议。

“It is wonderful, though,” he said to himself as he shuffled out of the room–“it is wonderful that she should have liked him. —
“不过，真是不可思议，”他自言自语地说，当他走出房间时—-“她怎么会喜欢上他呢。” —

However, the match is good. I should have been travelling out of my brief to have hindered it, let Mrs. Cadwallader say what she will. —
不过，这门婚事还算不错。要是我阻止的话，就违反了我的职责，无论卡德沃德夫人怎么说。 —

He is pretty certain to be a bishop, is Casaubon. —
卡索邦几乎可以肯定会成为主教。 —

That was a very seasonable pamphlet of his on the Catholic Question: —
他出版的关于天主教问题的小册子真是时候发行了。 —

–a deanery at least. They owe him a deanery.”
–至少会成为一位座堂牧师。他们应该封他为座堂牧师。

And here I must vindicate a claim to philosophical reflectiveness, by remarking that Mr. Brooke on this occasion little thought of the Radical speech which, at a later period, he was led to make on the incomes of the bishops. —
在此，我必须为我的哲思精神辩护，因为布鲁克先生在那个场合并没有想到他后来不得不作的有关主教们收入的激进演讲。 —

What elegant historian would neglect a striking opportunity for pointing out that his heroes did not foresee the history of the world, or even their own actions? —
哪位优雅的历史学家会错过指出他的英雄们没有预见到世界的历史，甚至连自己的行动？ —

–For example, that Henry of Navarre, when a Protestant baby, little thought of being a Catholic monarch; —
–例如，亨利·纳瓦尔的时候，还是一个新教婴儿，根本没想过自己会成为天主教君主； —

or that Alfred the Great, when he measured his laborious nights with burning candles, had no idea of future gentlemen measuring their idle days with watches. —
或者说，阿尔弗雷德大帝在用燃烧的蜡烛计算他辛勤的夜晚时，并没有想到未来绅士们会以手表计算他们悠闲的白天。 —

Here is a mine of truth, which, however vigorously it may be worked, is likely to outlast our coal.
这里是一个真理的宝藏，无论怎样努力开采，都有可能比我们的煤炭更加持久。

But of Mr. Brooke I make a further remark perhaps less warranted by precedent–namely, that if he had foreknown his speech, it might not have made any great difference. —
但对于布鲁克先生，我还要做一条或许不太有先例的评论–即使他预料到了他的演讲，事情或许也不会有太大不同。 —

To think with pleasure of his niece’s husband having a large ecclesiastical income was one thing–to make a Liberal speech was another thing; —
沉浸在对侄女的丈夫拥有丰厚教会收入的喜悦中，一回事–发表自由主义演讲，则是另一回事； —

and it is a narrow mind which cannot look at a subject from various points of view.
一个狭隘的思维不能从不同角度看待问题。