When Don Quixote saw himself caged and hoisted on the cart in this way, he said, “Many grave histories of knights-errant have I read; —
当唐吉诃德看到自己被困在笼子里，被吊在马车上时，他说：“我读过许多骑士-冒险者的严肃历史； —

but never yet have I read, seen, or heard of their carrying off enchanted knights-errant in this fashion, or at the slow pace that these lazy, sluggish animals promise; —
但我从未读过、看过或听说过他们以这种方式将被施了魔法的骑士-冒险者带走，或像这些慵懒、迟缓的动物所承诺的那样缓慢前进； —

for they always take them away through the air with marvellous swiftness, enveloped in a dark thick cloud, or on a chariot of fire, or it may be on some hippogriff or other beast of the kind; —
因为它们总是用奇异的迅速将他们带走，包裹在黑厚的云层中，或在火车上，或者乘坐一些飞马或其他类似的动物； —

but to carry me off like this on an ox-cart! By God, it puzzles me! —
但像这样用一辆牛车把我带走！上帝啊，这让我困惑！ —

But perhaps the chivalry and enchantments of our day take a different course from that of those in days gone by; —
但也许我们这个时代的骑士精神和魔法走的路线与过去不同； —

and it may be, too, that as I am a new knight in the world, and the first to revive the already forgotten calling of knight-adventurers, they may have newly invented other kinds of enchantments and other modes of carrying off the enchanted. —
而且也许，由于我是这个世界上的一个新骑士，首位重新唤起已经被遗忘的骑士-冒险者职业的人，他们可能已经新发明了其他种类的魔法和其他带走被施了魔法的方式。 —

What thinkest thou of the matter, Sancho my son?”
你怎么看这件事，我的儿子桑丘？”

“I don’t know what to think,” answered Sancho, “not being as well read as your worship in errant writings; —
“我不知道怎么想，”桑丘回答说，“因为我并不像您那样精通冒险性质的著作； —

but for all that I venture to say and swear that these apparitions that are about us are not quite catholic.”
但尽管如此，我敢说并发誓，我们周围的这些幻觉并不完全符合天主教的特征。”

“Catholic!” said Don Quixote. “Father of me! —
“天主教！”唐吉诃德说，“我的天父！ —

how can they be Catholic when they are all devils that have taken fantastic shapes to come and do this, and bring me to this condition? —
它们怎么可能是天主教的，当它们都是恶魔，采取奇异的形状来这样做，把我带到这种境地？ —

And if thou wouldst prove it, touch them, and feel them, and thou wilt find they have only bodies of air, and no consistency except in appearance.”
如果你想证明的话，碰触它们，感觉它们，你会发现它们只有空气的实体，除了外表之外没有一致性。”

“By God, master,” returned Sancho, “I have touched them already; —
“上帝啊，主人，”桑丘回答说，“我已经碰过它们了； —

and that devil, that goes about there so busily, has firm flesh, and another property very different from what I have heard say devils have, for by all accounts they all smell of brimstone and other bad smells; —
那个到处忙碌的恶魔有坚实的肉体，和一个与我听说的恶魔完全不同的特性，因为据说它们都闻起硫磺和其他难闻的气味； —

but this one smells of amber half a league off. —
但这个却从半里外就散发着琥珀香味。 —

” Sancho was here speaking of Don Fernando, who, like a gentleman of his rank, was very likely perfumed as Sancho said.
“桑乔所说的唐费尔南多是一个地位高贵的绅士，很可能像桑乔所说的那样喷了香水。”

“Marvel not at that, Sancho my friend,” said Don Quixote; —
“不要对此感到惊讶，我的朋友桑乔”，堂吉诃德说； —

“for let me tell thee devils are crafty; —
“因为让我告诉你，恶魔很狡猾； —

and even if they do carry odours about with them, they themselves have no smell, because they are spirits; —
即使他们身上带有气味，他们本身没有气味，因为他们是灵魂； —

or, if they have any smell, they cannot smell of anything sweet, but of something foul and fetid; —
或者，如果他们有任何气味，他们也不能闻到任何甜味，而是恶臭和腐臭； —

and the reason is that as they carry hell with them wherever they go, and can get no ease whatever from their torments, and as a sweet smell is a thing that gives pleasure and enjoyment, it is impossible that they can smell sweet; —
原因是因为他们无论走到哪里都带着地狱，无法从折磨中获得任何安慰，而甜味是一种带来愉悦和享受的东西，所以他们不可能闻到甜味； —

if, then, this devil thou speakest of seems to thee to smell of amber, either thou art deceiving thyself, or he wants to deceive thee by making thee fancy he is not a devil.”
如果你所说的这个恶魔看起来闻起来像琥珀，要么是你在欺骗自己，要么是他想骗你让你认为他不是恶魔。”

Such was the conversation that passed between master and man; —
这是主人与仆人之间进行的谈话； —

and Don Fernando and Cardenio, apprehensive of Sancho’s making a complete discovery of their scheme, towards which he had already gone some way, resolved to hasten their departure, and calling the landlord aside, they directed him to saddle Rocinante and put the pack-saddle on Sancho’s ass, which he did with great alacrity. —
唐费尔南多和卡登尼奥担心桑乔完全揭露了他们的计划，为了加快他们的离开，决定催促他们的启程，并把旅店老板叫到一旁，指示他给罗西南蒂备好鞍具，给桑乔的驴上上驮鞍，老板非常愉快地照做了。 —

In the meantime the curate had made an arrangement with the officers that they should bear them company as far as his village, he paying them so much a day. —
与此同时，教士已经与官员们达成协议，他们将陪同他们一直到他的村庄，他每天支付一笔费用。 —

Cardenio hung the buckler on one side of the bow of Rocinante’s saddle and the basin on the other, and by signs commanded Sancho to mount his ass and take Rocinante’s bridle, and at each side of the cart he placed two officers with their muskets; —
卡登尼奥把盾牌挂在罗西南蒂马鞍的弓一边，盆放在另一边，并用手势命令桑乔骑上他的驴，拉着罗西南蒂的笼头，车子两侧各站着两名官员拿着步枪； —

but before the cart was put in motion, out came the landlady and her daughter and Maritornes to bid Don Quixote farewell, pretending to weep with grief at his misfortune; —
但在车启动之前，老板太太和她的女儿以及马里托尔内斯都走出来向堂吉诃德告别，假装为他的不幸而流泪； —

and to them Don Quixote said:
对她们堂吉诃德说：

“Weep not, good ladies, for all these mishaps are the lot of those who follow the profession I profess; —
“不要哭泣，善良的女士们，因为这些不幸都是跟随我的职业所带来的命运； —

and if these reverses did not befall me I should not esteem myself a famous knight-errant; —
如果这些逆境不降临在我身上，我就不会认为自己是一个著名的骑士。” —

for such things never happen to knights of little renown and fame, because nobody in the world thinks about them; —
因为小名声和名誉的骑士从来不会发生这样的事情，因为世界上没有人会想到他们； —

to valiant knights they do, for these are envied for their virtue and valour by many princes and other knights who compass the destruction of the worthy by base means. —
对于勇敢的骑士们来说，却会，因为这些人的美德和勇气被许多王子和其他骑士所嫉妒，他们会用卑鄙手段来摧毁有品德的人。 —

Nevertheless, virtue is of herself so mighty, that, in spite of all the magic that Zoroaster its first inventor knew, she will come victorious out of every trial, and shed her light upon the earth as the sun does upon the heavens. —
然而，美德本身如此强大，以至于无论佐罗亚斯特这位第一位发现者发明了多么强大的魔法，美德仍将从每一场考验中胜利而出，并如同太阳照耀天空般，照耀大地。 —

Forgive me, fair ladies, if, through inadvertence, I have in aught offended you; —
如果我在无意中冒犯了你们，美丽的女士们，请原谅我； —

for intentionally and wittingly I have never done so to any; —
我从未有意故意冒犯任何人； —

and pray to God that he deliver me from this captivity to which some malevolent enchanter has consigned me; —
求上帝解救我脱离某个险恶的咒术师所加诸的这种苦难； —

and should I find myself released therefrom, the favours that ye have bestowed upon me in this castle shall be held in memory by me, that I may acknowledge, recognise, and requite them as they deserve.”
如果我得以从中解脱出来，这座城堡中你们对我施予的恩惠将会被我记在心中，我将予以承认、认可和报答，如它们所值。

While this was passing between the ladies of the castle and Don Quixote, the curate and the barber bade farewell to Don Fernando and his companions, to the captain, his brother, and the ladies, now all made happy, and in particular to Dorothea and Luscinda. —
在这时，城堡里的女士们与堂吉诃德之间的这场交流完毕，教士和理发师告别了多恩·费尔南多和他的同伴，告别了船长、他的兄弟和那些如今都变得幸福的女士们，尤其是多萝西亚和卢西恩达。 —

They all embraced one another, and promised to let each other know how things went with them, and Don Fernando directed the curate where to write to him, to tell him what became of Don Quixote, assuring him that there was nothing that could give him more pleasure than to hear of it, and that he too, on his part, would send him word of everything he thought he would like to know, about his marriage, Zoraida’s baptism, Don Luis’s affair, and Luscinda’s return to her home. —
他们彼此拥抱，许下要让彼此知晓彼此的遭遇，多恩·费尔南多指示教士写信告诉他，汇报堂吉诃德的事，他向他保证，没什么能比得上听到这些消息给他带来的快乐，而且他也会把他认为他会喜欢知道的一切事情告诉他，关于他的婚姻、佐莱达的洗礼、多恩·路易斯的事，以及卢西恩达返回家乡。 —

The curate promised to comply with his request carefully, and they embraced once more, and renewed their promises.
教士郑重承诺会认真履行他的请求，他们再次拥抱，重新许下诺言。

The landlord approached the curate and handed him some papers, saying he had discovered them in the lining of the valise in which the novel of “The Ill-advised Curiosity” had been found, and that he might take them all away with him as their owner had not since returned; —
店主走近教士，递给他一些文件，并说他发现它们藏在“轻率的好奇心”小说所在的软箱衬里，他可以将它们全都带走，因为它们的主人一直未回来； —

for, as he could not read, he did not want them himself. —
因为他不识字，他也不需要这些文件。 —

The curate thanked him, and opening them he saw at the beginning of the manuscript the words, “Novel of Rinconete and Cortadillo,” by which he perceived that it was a novel, and as that of “The Ill-advised Curiosity” had been good he concluded this would be so too, as they were both probably by the same author; —
教士感谢他，打开文件，看到手稿的开头写着“林康内特和科塔迪略”的标题，由此他明白这是一部小说，因为“轻率的好奇心”的小说很好，他推断这部小说也会很好，因为它们很可能是同一位作者写的； —

so he kept it, intending to read it when he had an opportunity. —
所以他留下来打算在有机会时阅读它。 —

He then mounted and his friend the barber did the same, both masked, so as not to be recognised by Don Quixote, and set out following in the rear of the cart. —
然后，他上了马，他的朋友理发师也一样，他们都戴着面具，以免被堂吉诃德认出，并跟随在那辆马车后面出发。 —

The order of march was this: first went the cart with the owner leading it; —
行军的次序是这样的：由业主领着前行的马车； —

at each side of it marched the officers of the Brotherhood, as has been said, with their muskets; —
在车两旁是兄弟会的军官，手持火枪； —

then followed Sancho Panza on his ass, leading Rocinante by the bridle; —
然后是桑丘·潘萨骑着驴，拉着缰绳的洛辛安特； —

and behind all came the curate and the barber on their mighty mules, with faces covered, as aforesaid, and a grave and serious air, measuring their pace to suit the slow steps of the oxen. —
最后跟随在后的是神甫和理发师，骑在他们强壮的骡子上，如前所述，遮着脸，严肃庄重地步伐匹配着牛走路的缓慢步伐。 —

Don Quixote was seated in the cage, with his hands tied and his feet stretched out, leaning against the bars as silent and as patient as if he were a stone statue and not a man of flesh. —
唐吉诃德坐在笼子里，手被绑着，脚伸直，靠在栅栏上，安静耐心，像一座石像而不是有血有肉的人。 —

Thus slowly and silently they made, it might be, two leagues, until they reached a valley which the carter thought a convenient place for resting and feeding his oxen, and he said so to the curate, but the barber was of opinion that they ought to push on a little farther, as at the other side of a hill which appeared close by he knew there was a valley that had more grass and much better than the one where they proposed to halt; —
如此缓慢而无声地前行，也许走了大约两里，直到他们到达了一个车夫认为适合休息喂养牛的山谷；他这样告诉了神甫，但理发师认为他们应该再往前走一点，因为在山丘的另一侧他知道有一个山谷，那里的草更多而且更好； —

and his advice was taken and they continued their journey.
大家采纳了他的建议，继续前行。

Just at that moment the curate, looking back, saw coming on behind them six or seven mounted men, well found and equipped, who soon overtook them, for they were travelling, not at the sluggish, deliberate pace of oxen, but like men who rode canons’ mules, and in haste to take their noontide rest as soon as possible at the inn which was in sight not a league off. —
就在那时，教士回过头来，看见后面赶来了六七名装备齐全的骑手，他们很快就赶上了他们，因为他们不是慢悠悠地像牛那样旅行，而是快马加鞭，急着在视线中不到一里远处的小酒馆休息。 —

The quick travellers came up with the slow, and courteous salutations were exchanged; —
快马追上了慢马，有礼貌地打招呼。 —

and one of the new comers, who was, in fact, a canon of Toledo and master of the others who accompanied him, observing the regular order of the procession, the cart, the officers, Sancho, Rocinante, the curate and the barber, and above all Don Quixote caged and confined, could not help asking what was the meaning of carrying the man in that fashion; —
其中一位新来的人实际上是托莱多的一名牧师，也是伴随他的其他人的领导，他注意到了队伍的整齐排列，有马车、官员、桑丘、罗森安特、教士、理发师，尤其是笼中的堂吉诃德，无法免俗地问起押送这人是什么意思。 —

though, from the badges of the officers, he already concluded that he must be some desperate highwayman or other malefactor whose punishment fell within the jurisdiction of the Holy Brotherhood. —
尽管从官员们的徽章中他已经推断出他一定是某个危险的强盗或其他罪犯，属于圣兄团的管辖范围。 —

One of the officers to whom he had put the question, replied, “Let the gentleman himself tell you the meaning of his going this way, senor, for we do not know.”
其中一名官员回答说：“请让这位绅士自己告诉你为何这样带他，先生，因为我们不知道。”

Don Quixote overheard the conversation and said, “Haply, gentlemen, you are versed and learned in matters of errant chivalry? —
堂吉诃德听到这番对话，说：“也许，绅士们，你们对骑士冒险事迹很熟悉并且博学？ —

Because if you are I will tell you my misfortunes; —
因为如果你们是的话，我将告诉你们我的不幸； —

if not, there is no good in my giving myself the trouble of relating them; —
如果不是，那我就没必要费力去叙述。” —

” but here the curate and the barber, seeing that the travellers were engaged in conversation with Don Quixote, came forward, in order to answer in such a way as to save their stratagem from being discovered.
但是这时，教士和理发师看到旅行者正在和堂吉诃德交谈，为了不让自己的计谋被发现，他们走了过来。

The canon, replying to Don Quixote, said, “In truth, brother, I know more about books of chivalry than I do about Villalpando’s elements of logic; —
牧师回答堂吉诃德说：“事实上，兄弟，我对骑士冒险的书比对维拉尔潘多的逻辑要了解得多； —

so if that be all, you may safely tell me what you please.”
所以，如果只是这个问题，你可以放心地告诉我。”

“In God’s name, then, senor,” replied Don Quixote; —
堂吉诃德回答说：“那么，请在上帝的名义下，先生； —

“if that be so, I would have you know that I am held enchanted in this cage by the envy and fraud of wicked enchanters; —
“要是如此，我想让你知道，我被邪恶的巫师嫉妒和欺诈困在这个笼子里； —

for virtue is more persecuted by the wicked than loved by the good. —
因为美德受到邪恶的迫害，胜过受到善良的喜爱。 —

I am a knight-errant, and not one of those whose names Fame has never thought of immortalising in her record, but of those who, in defiance and in spite of envy itself, and all the magicians that Persia, or Brahmans that India, or Gymnosophists that Ethiopia ever produced, will place their names in the temple of immortality, to serve as examples and patterns for ages to come, whereby knights-errant may see the footsteps in which they must tread if they would attain the summit and crowning point of honour in arms.”
我是一名骑士-冒险家，不是那种名声从未被传颂留在传世记录中的；而是那种尽管遭受嫉妒，所有波斯的魔法师、印度的婆罗门、埃塞俄比亚的裸僧都无法阻挡，将把他们的名字镌刻在永恒的殿堂中，作为将来各个时代的骑士冒险家看到的脚印，如果他们想要在武装上获得荣誉的顶点和顶点。”

“What Senor Don Quixote of La Mancha says,” observed the curate, “is the truth; —
“西康多尼亚骑士所说的话，”牧师评论说，“那是真理； —

for he goes enchanted in this cart, not from any fault or sins of his, but because of the malevolence of those to whom virtue is odious and valour hateful. —
因为他被施了魔法，被困在这辆车里，不是因为他的过错或罪孽，而是因为那些厌恶美德、憎恨勇气的人的恶意。 —

This, senor, is the Knight of the Rueful Countenance, if you have ever heard him named, whose valiant achievements and mighty deeds shall be written on lasting brass and imperishable marble, notwithstanding all the efforts of envy to obscure them and malice to hide them.”
这位阁下，这就是苦恼之面骑士，如果您曾听说过他的名字，他的英勇壁垒和伟大事迹将被刻在持久的青铜和不朽的大理石上，尽管嫉妒力图掩盖、恶意企图隐藏。”

When the canon heard both the prisoner and the man who was at liberty talk in such a strain he was ready to cross himself in his astonishment, and could not make out what had befallen him; —
当教会法学家听到囚犯和自由之身者如此谈论时，他惊讶得差点做了个十字架，搞不清楚到底发生了什么； —

and all his attendants were in the same state of amazement.
他的所有侍从也都是一样惊讶。

At this point Sancho Panza, who had drawn near to hear the conversation, said, in order to make everything plain, “Well, sirs, you may like or dislike what I am going to say, but the fact of the matter is, my master, Don Quixote, is just as much enchanted as my mother. —
在这时，听着这番对话走近的圣托·潘萨为了一切都搞清楚，说道，“嗯，先生们，你们或许喜欢或不喜欢我要说的话，但事实就是，我的主人，堂·齐科堤，被施了魔法，就和我母亲一样。 —

He is in his full senses, he eats and he drinks, and he has his calls like other men and as he had yesterday, before they caged him. —
他神智清醒，进食和饮酒，如同其他人一样有他的生理需求，就像昨天他被关押之前一样。 —

And if that’s the case, what do they mean by wanting me to believe that he is enchanted? —
如果真是这样，他们想让我相信他被施了魔法是什么意思呢？ —

For I have heard many a one say that enchanted people neither eat, nor sleep, nor talk; —
因为我听人说过，被施了魔法的人既不吃饭，也不睡觉，更不说话； —

and my master, if you don’t stop him, will talk more than thirty lawyers. —
如果你不阻止我的主人，他会滔滔不绝地说个没完。 —

” Then turning to the curate he exclaimed, “Ah, senor curate, senor curate! —
然后他转向牧师，呼喊道：“啊，先生牧师，先生牧师！ —

do you think I don’t know you? Do you think I don’t guess and see the drift of these new enchantments? —
你觉得我不了解你吗？你觉得我猜不透这些新的魔法是什么意图吗？ —

Well then, I can tell you I know you, for all your face is covered, and I can tell you I am up to you, however you may hide your tricks. —
那么，我告诉你，我认得你，尽管你的脸蒙着面纱，我看穿你的把戏。 —

After all, where envy reigns virtue cannot live, and where there is niggardliness there can be no liberality. —
当嫉妒占主导地位时，美德无法生存；吝啬存在时，慷慨也无从谈起。 —

Ill betide the devil! if it had not been for your worship my master would be married to the Princess Micomicona this minute, and I should be a count at least; —
该死的魔鬼！要不是您的尊贵，我主人这一刻就能娶到Micomicona公主，我至少会成为一名伯爵； —

for no less was to be expected, as well from the goodness of my master, him of the Rueful Countenance, as from the greatness of my services. —
因为可以从我主人——那个悲伤的骑士——的善良以及我的伟大服务来预料，至少应该能这么期待。 —

But I see now how true it is what they say in these parts, that the wheel of fortune turns faster than a mill-wheel, and that those who were up yesterday are down to-day. —
可是我现在明白这里常说的话是多么正确，命运之轮比磨盘转得还快，昨天高高在上的人今天可能就会沦为底层。 —

I am sorry for my wife and children, for when they might fairly and reasonably expect to see their father return to them a governor or viceroy of some island or kingdom, they will see him come back a horse-boy. —
我为我的妻子和孩子感到难过，因为当他们有理由期待看到他们的父亲回归时，他会成为某个岛屿或王国的总督或副王时，他们会看到他回来当上一个骑马的男孩。 —

I have said all this, senor curate, only to urge your paternity to lay to your conscience your ill-treatment of my master; —
我说这些，先生牧师，只是想敦促您的良心，为你对待我的主人的不公行为而负责； —

and have a care that God does not call you to account in another life for making a prisoner of him in this way, and charge against you all the succours and good deeds that my lord Don Quixote leaves undone while he is shut up.
当上帝在另一个世界因为你的这种方式将他囚禁起来时，自省一下吧，不要因为我主Don Quixote在被困期间未完成的所有救援和善行而被指控。

“Trim those lamps there!” exclaimed the barber at this; —
理发师在这时大声说：“把那些灯修整一下！” —

“so you are of the same fraternity as your master, too, Sancho? —
“所以你也和你的主人一样是这个同伙团体的，对吧，Sancho？ —

By God, I begin to see that you will have to keep him company in the cage, and be enchanted like him for having caught some of his humour and chivalry. —
我发现你得和他一起呆在笼子里，像他一样被他的幽默和骑士精神迷住。 —

It was an evil hour when you let yourself be got with child by his promises, and that island you long so much for found its way into your head.”
在你对他的承诺中让自己怀孕这一步，让你如此渴望的那座岛屿深入你的脑海，那是个邪恶的时刻。

“I am not with child by anyone,” returned Sancho, “nor am I a man to let myself be got with child, if it was by the King himself. —
“我没有怀孕，也不可能被任何人怀孕，就算是国王。” —

Though I am poor I am an old Christian, and I owe nothing to nobody, and if I long for an island, other people long for worse. —
“虽然我是贫穷的，但我是一个虔诚的基督徒，我谁也不欠，如果我渴望一座岛屿，也比其他人渴望更好。” —

Each of us is the son of his own works; and being a man I may come to be pope, not to say governor of an island, especially as my master may win so many that he will not know whom to give them to. —
“我们每个人都是自己行为的产物；作为一个男人，我可能会成为教皇，更不用说岛屿的总督了，尤其因为我的主人可能会赢得这么多，以至于不知道该把它们送给谁。” —

Mind how you talk, master barber; for shaving is not everything, and there is some difference between Peter and Peter. I say this because we all know one another, and it will not do to throw false dice with me; —
“注意你说话的方式，理发师；剃须不是一切，比如彼得和彼得之间就有些区别。我说这话是因为我们大家都互相了解，拿我开玩笑可不行；” —

and as to the enchantment of my master, God knows the truth; —
“至于我的主人被施了魔咒，只有上帝知道真相；” —

leave it as it is; it only makes it worse to stir it.”
“就让它保持现状吧，翻起来只会让情况变得更糟。”

The barber did not care to answer Sancho lest by his plain speaking he should disclose what the curate and he himself were trying so hard to conceal; —
理发师不想回答圣严先生，他担心通过直率的言辞，揭露他和牧师一直极力隐瞒的事情； —

and under the same apprehension the curate had asked the canon to ride on a little in advance, so that he might tell him the mystery of this man in the cage, and other things that would amuse him. —
出于同样的担忧，牧师请那位教士提前与他一起前行，这样他就可以向教士透露困在笼中的人的神秘身份，以及其他能引起他兴趣的事。 —

The canon agreed, and going on ahead with his servants, listened with attention to the account of the character, life, madness, and ways of Don Quixote, given him by the curate, who described to him briefly the beginning and origin of his craze, and told him the whole story of his adventures up to his being confined in the cage, together with the plan they had of taking him home to try if by any means they could discover a cure for his madness. —
那位教士表示同意，随着仆人们向前走去，他专心聆听牧师对唐吉诃德的性格、生活、疯狂和行为的描述，简要描述了他的疯狂开始和发展的原因，然后告诉教士所有有关唐吉诃德在被囚笼之前的冒险故事，并一同解释了他们带他回家的计划，希望以某种方式找出治愈他疯狂的方法。 —

The canon and his servants were surprised anew when they heard Don Quixote’s strange story, and when it was finished he said, “To tell the truth, senor curate, I for my part consider what they call books of chivalry to be mischievous to the State; —
当那位教士和他的仆人们听到唐吉诃德的离奇故事时，他们感到惊讶，当故事讲完后，他说：“说实话，牧师先生，我个人认为所谓的骑士小说对国家有害； —

and though, led by idle and false taste, I have read the beginnings of almost all that have been printed, I never could manage to read any one of them from beginning to end; —
尽管因为无聊和错误的品味，我读过几乎所有印刷过的骑士小说的开头，但我从来没有看完过一本； —

for it seems to me they are all more or less the same thing; —
因为在我看来，它们都差不多； —

and one has nothing more in it than another; this no more than that. —
这一本跟那一本没有什么不同； —

And in my opinion this sort of writing and composition is of the same species as the fables they call the Milesian, nonsensical tales that aim solely at giving amusement and not instruction, exactly the opposite of the apologue fables which amuse and instruct at the same time. —
我认为这种写作和构成与他们所谓的米利西亚寓言属于同一类型，无厘头的故事，目的只是为了娱乐而不是教诲，与同时娱乐并启发教诲的寓言故事恰恰相反。 —

And though it may be the chief object of such books to amuse, I do not know how they can succeed, when they are so full of such monstrous nonsense. —
尽管这类书籍的主要目的可能是娱乐，我不明白它们怎么会成功，当它们充斥着如此荒谬的胡言乱语时。” —

For the enjoyment the mind feels must come from the beauty and harmony which it perceives or contemplates in the things that the eye or the imagination brings before it; —
心灵感受到的愉悦必须源自它所感知或沉思的事物中展现的美和和谐； —

and nothing that has any ugliness or disproportion about it can give any pleasure. —
任何带有丑陋或不协调的东西都无法带来任何乐趣。 —

What beauty, then, or what proportion of the parts to the whole, or of the whole to the parts, can there be in a book or fable where a lad of sixteen cuts down a giant as tall as a tower and makes two halves of him as if he was an almond cake? —
那么，在一个书籍或寓言中，一个十六岁的少年砍倒一位像塔一样高的巨人，将他切成两半，那里又有什么美丽或部分与整体的比例？ —

And when they want to give us a picture of a battle, after having told us that there are a million of combatants on the side of the enemy, let the hero of the book be opposed to them, and we have perforce to believe, whether we like it or not, that the said knight wins the victory by the single might of his strong arm. —
当他们想要给我们描述一场战斗时，在告诉我们敌人一方有一百万人参战后，让书中的英雄与他们对抗，我们别无选择，不管喜欢与否，都要相信这位骑士凭强壮的臂力赢得胜利。 —

And then, what shall we say of the facility with which a born queen or empress will give herself over into the arms of some unknown wandering knight? —
然后，对于一个天生的女王或女皇会如何轻易地投入某个不知名的游荡骑士的怀抱，我们又该说些什么？ —

What mind, that is not wholly barbarous and uncultured, can find pleasure in reading of how a great tower full of knights sails away across the sea like a ship with a fair wind, and will be to-night in Lombardy and to-morrow morning in the land of Prester John of the Indies, or some other that Ptolemy never described nor Marco Polo saw? —
在一本书中描述一个充满骑士的高塔如何象船一样随风航行，今晚将在龙巴第，明天早晨将在印度的约翰大帝之地，或者其他托勒密从未描述过、马可·波罗从未见过的地方，能否让不完全蛮野或未开化的心灵找到快乐？ —

And if, in answer to this, I am told that the authors of books of the kind write them as fiction, and therefore are not bound to regard niceties of truth, I would reply that fiction is all the better the more it looks like truth, and gives the more pleasure the more probability and possibility there is about it. —
如果对此我被告知那些写这类书籍的作者将其写成小说，因此不必考虑真实性，我会回答小说越像真实，越富有可能性和概率，就越好且能带来更多乐趣。 —

Plots in fiction should be wedded to the understanding of the reader, and be constructed in such a way that, reconciling impossibilities, smoothing over difficulties, keeping the mind on the alert, they may surprise, interest, divert, and entertain, so that wonder and delight joined may keep pace one with the other; —
小说的情节应与读者的理解相结合，构思出让人惊奇、感兴趣、娱乐的情节，将可能性和概率相结合，克服困难，让心灵保持警惕，从而让惊奇和喜乐并存； —

all which he will fail to effect who shuns verisimilitude and truth to nature, wherein lies the perfection of writing. —
谁回避逼真和符合自然的真实性，便会无法实现这一切，而这正是写作的完美所在。 —

I have never yet seen any book of chivalry that puts together a connected plot complete in all its numbers, so that the middle agrees with the beginning, and the end with the beginning and middle; —
我从未看过任何一本骑士小说能将连贯的情节完整地构建起来，使中间与开头相符，结尾与开头和中间相符； —

on the contrary, they construct them with such a multitude of members that it seems as though they meant to produce a chimera or monster rather than a well-proportioned figure. —
相反，它们用如此之多的成员构建情节，以至于看起来似乎是要创造一个怪兽而非一个比例匀称的形象。 —

And besides all this they are harsh in their style, incredible in their achievements, licentious in their amours, uncouth in their courtly speeches, prolix in their battles, silly in their arguments, absurd in their travels, and, in short, wanting in everything like intelligent art; —
另外它们的风格高傲，成就不可思议，爱情放荡，宫廷演讲粗俗，战斗冗长，争论愚蠢，旅行荒谬，总之，它们缺乏像样的智能艺术； —

for which reason they deserve to be banished from the Christian commonwealth as a worthless breed.”
因此，他们理应被逐出基督教共和国，作为一支毫无价值的种族。”

The curate listened to him attentively and felt that he was a man of sound understanding, and that there was good reason in what he said; —
牧师认真地听着他说的话，感到他是个头脑清醒的人，他的话很有道理； —

so he told him that, being of the same opinion himself, and bearing a grudge to books of chivalry, he had burned all Don Quixote’s , which were many; —
于是他告诉他，自己也持相同观点，并怀恨骑士小说，便焚烧了唐吉柯德的所有书，而书卷颇多。 —

and gave him an account of the scrutiny he had made of them, and of those he had condemned to the flames and those he had spared, with which the canon was not a little amused, adding that though he had said so much in condemnation of these books, still he found one good thing in them, and that was the opportunity they afforded to a gifted intellect for displaying itself; —
并向他描述了他对这些书进行的审查，以及哪些被定为火烧，哪些被放过，这些都让教士感到不无兴致，并补充道，虽然他已多次批评这些书，但仍然在其中找到一件好事，那就是它们为有天赋的智者提供了一个施展的广阔领域。 —

for they presented a wide and spacious field over which the pen might range freely, describing shipwrecks, tempests, combats, battles, portraying a valiant captain with all the qualifications requisite to make one, showing him sagacious in foreseeing the wiles of the enemy, eloquent in speech to encourage or restrain his soldiers, ripe in counsel, rapid in resolve, as bold in biding his time as in pressing the attack; —
因为这些书提供了一个广大而宽阔的领域，让笔可自由地挥洒，描述船只失事、暴风雨、战斗、厮杀，描绘一个具备所有必要资格的勇猛上将，现身言表以鼓励或制约士兵，睿智地预料到敌人的诡计，雄辩洪亮，谋定后动，胆大于等候战机，与发起进攻一样大胆。 —

now picturing some sad tragic incident, now some joyful and unexpected event; —
有时描绘一些悲惨的惨剧事件，有时是一些喜悦和意外的事件； —

here a beauteous lady, virtuous, wise, and modest; there a Christian knight, brave and gentle; —
这里是一位美丽的贤惠谨慎的贵妇人；那里是一位基督骑士，勇敢而温和； —

here a lawless, barbarous braggart; there a courteous prince, gallant and gracious; —
这里是一个无法无天、野蛮嚣张的人物；那里是一位彬彬有礼的亲王，勇敢而和蔼； —

setting forth the devotion and loyalty of vassals, the greatness and generosity of nobles. —
表现群臣忠诚和忠诚的伟大和慷慨。 —

“Or again,” said he, “the author may show himself to be an astronomer, or a skilled cosmographer, or musician, or one versed in affairs of state, and sometimes he will have a chance of coming forward as a magician if he likes. —
“或者，”他说，“作者可以表现自己是一个天文学家、或熟谙宇宙学、音乐或政治事务的人，有时他可以表现自己是一个魔术师，如果他愿意的话。 —

He can set forth the craftiness of Ulysses, the piety of AEneas, the valour of Achilles, the misfortunes of Hector, the treachery of Sinon, the friendship of Euryalus, the generosity of Alexander, the boldness of Caesar, the clemency and truth of Trajan, the fidelity of Zopyrus, the wisdom of Cato, and in short all the faculties that serve to make an illustrious man perfect, now uniting them in one individual, again distributing them among many; —
他可以展示尤利西斯的狡猾、埃涅阿斯的虔诚、阿喀琉斯的勇猛、赫克托尔的不幸、西农的背信、尤利阿卢斯的友谊、亚历山大的慷慨、凯撒的大胆、图拉真的仁慈和真实、佐比路斯的忠诚、卡托的智慧，总之，展现成为杰出人物所需要的所有才能，有时将它们合而为一，有时分散在许多人物之间； —

and if this be done with charm of style and ingenious invention, aiming at the truth as much as possible, he will assuredly weave a web of bright and varied threads that, when finished, will display such perfection and beauty that it will attain the worthiest object any writing can seek, which, as I said before, is to give instruction and pleasure combined; —
如果以精美的风格和巧妙的构思完成，力求实现真实，那么他必定会编织出五光十色的线缕，当完成时，将展示出这样的完美和美丽，使其达到任何作品都追求的最高目标，正如我之前所说的，就是结合教育和娱乐； —

for the unrestricted range of these books enables the author to show his powers, epic, lyric, tragic, or comic, and all the moods the sweet and winning arts of poesy and oratory are capable of; —
因为这些书的广泛范围使作者展示其才华，无论是史诗、抒情、悲剧还是喜剧，以及所有甘美迷人的诗歌和雄辩艺术的情绪； —

for the epic may be written in prose just as well as in verse.”
因为史诗一样可以用散文写成，也可以用韵文。