Eliza had been brought up by her mistress, from girlhood, as a petted and indulged favorite.
伊莉莎从小被主人宠爱和溺爱，长大成为一个宠爱的宠儿。

The traveller in the south must often have remarked that peculiar air of refinement, that softness of voice and manner, which seems in many cases to be a particular gift to the quadroon and mulatto women. —
在南方旅行者常常会发现夸德鲁恩和混血儿女性身上那种独特的精致气质，柔和的声音和举止，似乎被赋予了一种特殊的魅力。 —

These natural graces in the quadroon are often united with beauty of the most dazzling kind, and in almost every case with a personal appearance prepossessing and agreeable. —
在许多情况下，这些天生的魅力与令人眼花缭乱的美貌结合在一起，几乎每个人都见到了一个令人印象深刻和令人愉快的人。 —

Eliza, such as we have described her, is not a fancy sketch, but taken from remembrance, as we saw her, years ago, in Kentucky. —
正如我们所描述的那样，伊莉莎并不是虚构的，而是取自我们多年前在肯塔基州见到的印象。 —

Safe under the protecting care of her mistress, Eliza had reached maturity without those temptations which make beauty so fatal an inheritance to a slave. —
在主人的保护下，伊丽莎已经成年，远离了那些让美貌成为奴隶致命遗产的诱惑。 —

She had been married to a bright and talented young mulatto man, who was a slave on a neighboring estate, and bore the name of George Harris.
她曾嫁给一位聪明伶俐的年轻混血男子，他是附近一个农场中的奴隶，名叫乔治·哈里斯。

This young man had been hired out by his master to work in a bagging factory, where his adroitness and ingenuity caused him to be considered the first hand in the place. —
这位年轻人被主人租出去在一个麻袋工场工作，他的灵巧和智慧使他成为工厂里最得力的手之一。 —

He had invented a machine for the cleaning of the hemp, which, considering the education and circumstances of the inventor, displayed quite as much mechanical genius as Whitney’s cotton-gin.[1]
他发明了一个用于清理大麻的机器，考虑到发明者的教育和境况，这显示出与惠特尼的棉籽轧机一样多的机械天赋。

[1] A machine of this description was really the invention of a young colored man in Kentucky. —
[1] 这种描述机器实际上是一个年轻的肯塔基有色人种的发明本。 —

[Mrs. Stowe’s note.]
[斯托夫夫人的注释]

He was possessed of a handsome person and pleasing manners, and was a general favorite in the factory. —
他拥有英俊的外表和讨人喜欢的举止，是工厂里的一位普遍受欢迎的人。 —

Nevertheless, as this young man was in the eye of the law not a man, but a thing, all these superior qualifications were subject to the control of a vulgar, narrow-minded, tyrannical master. —
尽管这位年轻人在法律上被视为一个东西而不是一个人，所有这些优秀的品质都受到一个庸俗、心胸狭窄、暴虐的主人的控制。 —

This same gentleman, having heard of the fame of George’s invention, took a ride over to the factory, to see what this intelligent chattel had been about. —
当这位绅士听说了乔治发明的名声后，就骑马到工厂去看看这个聪明的奴隶究竟做了什么。 —

He was received with great enthusiasm by the employer, who congratulated him on possessing so valuable a slave.
厂主对他报以极大的热情，祝贺他拥有这样一位宝贵的奴隶。

He was waited upon over the factory, shown the machinery by George, who, in high spirits, talked so fluently, held himself so erect, looked so handsome and manly, that his master began to feel an uneasy consciousness of inferiority. —
他在工厂里受到周到的招待，由乔治向他展示机器，乔治谈笑风生、姿态挺拔，看上去英俊帅气，他的主人开始感到自己的劣势意识。 —

What business had his slave to be marching round the country, inventing machines, and holding up his head among gentlemen? —
他这个奴隶有什么生意，在乡间四处走动，发明机器，在绅士面前抬着头？ —

He’d soon put a stop to it. He’d take him back, and put him to hoeing and digging, and “see if he’d step about so smart.” —
他很快就会制止这种行为。他会把他带回去，让他干锄头挖土，“看看他还能这么自命不凡。” —

Accordingly, the manufacturer and all hands concerned were astounded when he suddenly demanded George’s wages, and announced his intention of taking him home.
因此，当他突然要求乔治的工资，并宣布要带他回家时，制造商和所有相关人员都感到震惊。

“But, Mr. Harris,” remonstrated the manufacturer, “isn’t this rather sudden?”
“但是，哈里斯先生，这不太突然了吗？”制造商反驳道。

“What if it is?–isn’t the man mine?”
“那又怎样？–这个人不是我的吗？”

“We would be willing, sir, to increase the rate of compensation.”
“先生，我们很愿意提高报酬。”

“No object at all, sir. I don’t need to hire any of my hands out, unless I’ve a mind to.”
“对我来说没什么意义，先生。我不需要雇用我的任何员工，除非我想要。”

“But, sir, he seems peculiarly adapted to this business.”
“但是，先生，他似乎特别适合这项工作。”

“Dare say he may be; never was much adapted to anything that I set him about, I’ll be bound.”
“也许他确实适合；但无论我让他做什么，他从来都不适应，我可以打赌。”

“But only think of his inventing this machine,” interposed one of the workmen, rather unluckily.
“但是想想他发明了这台机器。”一名工人插话说，这话说得相当不幸。

“O yes! a machine for saving work, is it? He’d invent that, I’ll be bound; —
“噢！一台节省工作的机器？他会发明那种机器，我可以保证； —

let a nigger alone for that, any time. They are all labor-saving machines themselves, every one of ‘em. —
让黑人自己发明吧，随时都可以。他们本身就是一台节省劳力的机器，每一个都是。 —

No, he shall tramp!”
不，他应该走！”

George had stood like one transfixed, at hearing his doom thus suddenly pronounced by a power that he knew was irresistible. —
乔治站在那里，像一个定格的人一样，听着他被一股他知道无法抗拒的力量突然宣告了他的厄运。 —

He folded his arms, tightly pressed in his lips, but a whole volcano of bitter feelings burned in his bosom, and sent streams of fire through his veins. —
他紧紧交叠双臂，紧闭双唇，但他心中燃烧着整个火山般的苦涩情感，热浪在他血管中奔流。 —

He breathed short, and his large dark eyes flashed like live coals; —
他呼吸急促，他那双大而深邃的眼睛闪烁着像活炭一样； —

and he might have broken out into some dangerous ebullition, had not the kindly manufacturer touched him on the arm, and said, in a low tone,
并且他可能会爆发出一些危险的情绪，如果那位友善的制造商没有碰了碰他的胳膊，低声说道，

“Give way, George; go with him for the present. We’ll try to help you, yet.”
“退一步，乔治；暂时跟他去。我们会试着帮助你的。”

The tyrant observed the whisper, and conjectured its import, though he could not hear what was said; —
暴君注意到了窃窃私语，并猜测了它的意思，尽管他听不见说了些什么； —

and he inwardly strengthened himself in his determination to keep the power he possessed over his victim.
他心里坚定了自己保持对受害者持有的权力的决心。

George was taken home, and put to the meanest drudgery of the farm. —
乔治被带回家，被安排到了农场里最卑贱的苦工中。 —

He had been able to repress every disrespectful word; —
他曾能够压抑每一个不敬之词； —

but the flashing eye, the gloomy and troubled brow, were part of a natural language that could not be repressed,–indubitable signs, which showed too plainly that the man could not become a thing.
但是闪烁的眼神，愁苦的眉头，是一种无法压抑的自然语言，不容质疑地显示出这个人无法成为一件物品。

It was during the happy period of his employment in the factory that George had seen and married his wife. —
在工厂受雇的幸福时期内，乔治见到了他的妻子并与她结了婚。 —

During that period,–being much trusted and favored by his employer,–he had free liberty to come and go at discretion. —
在那段时期内，受到雇主的信任和喜爱，他可以随意出入。 —

The marriage was highly approved of by Mrs. Shelby, who, with a little womanly complacency in match-making, felt pleased to unite her handsome favorite with one of her own class who seemed in every way suited to her; —
这段婚姻得到了雪尔比夫人的高度赞扬，她作为一个有些幸灾乐祸的媒人，很高兴将自己的英俊宠儿与一个在各方面都适合她的同类人结合在一起； —

and so they were married in her mistress’ great parlor, and her mistress herself adorned the bride’s beautiful hair with orange-blossoms, and threw over it the bridal veil, which certainly could scarce have rested on a fairer head; —
于是他们在她女主人的大客厅里结了婚，女主人亲自用橙花点缀新娘漂亮的头发，并给她披上了新娘头纱，这固然难以放在比她更美丽的头上； —

and there was no lack of white gloves, and cake and wine,–of admiring guests to praise the bride’s beauty, and her mistress’ indulgence and liberality. —
没有缺少白手套、蛋糕和酒、仰慕的客人来赞美新娘的美丽，以及她女主人的宠爱和慷慨。 —

For a year or two Eliza saw her husband frequently, and there was nothing to interrupt their happiness, except the loss of two infant children, to whom she was passionately attached, and whom she mourned with a grief so intense as to call for gentle remonstrance from her mistress, who sought, with maternal anxiety, to direct her naturally passionate feelings within the bounds of reason and religion.
在结婚后的一两年里，伊丽莎经常见到她的丈夫，除了失去两个她狂热喜爱的婴儿，她为他们哀悼的悲痛如此之深，以至于引起了女主人的温和劝诫，女主人以母性的焦虑寻求着让她的天性中天然的激情保持在理性和宗教的范围内。

After the birth of little Harry, however, she had gradually become tranquillized and settled; —
然而，小哈里出生后，她逐渐变得安静和稳定。 —

and every bleeding tie and throbbing nerve, once more entwined with that little life, seemed to become sound and healthful, and Eliza was a happy woman up to the time that her husband was rudely torn from his kind employer, and brought under the iron sway of his legal owner.
每一根脉络和每一根神经都在搏动，䴫回与那个小生命紧密交织在一起，似乎都变得健康有力，伊丽莎成了一个幸福的女人，直到她的丈夫被粗暴地从慈悲的雇主手中扯出来，被带到他的法定主人的铁腕之下。

The manufacturer, true to his word, visited Mr. Harris a week or two after George had been taken away, when, as he hoped, the heat of the occasion had passed away, and tried every possible inducement to lead him to restore him to his former employment.
制造商信守诺言，在乔治被带走后的一两周拜访了哈里斯先生，希望事态的热度已经过去，试图尽一切可能劝说他让乔治恢复到以前的工作岗位。

“You needn’t trouble yourself to talk any longer,” said he, doggedly; “I know my own business, sir.”
“您不必浪费口舌了，”他顽固地说; “我自己的事情我知道，先生。”

“I did not presume to interfere with it, sir. —
“我没有越俎代庖，先生。 —

I only thought that you might think it for your interest to let your man to us on the terms proposed.”
我只是认为你可能会认为按照提出的条款把你的人租给我们对你有利。”

“O, I understand the matter well enough. I saw your winking and whispering, the day I took him out of the factory; —
“噢，我很清楚这件事。我可是看到你在那天我把他从工厂里带走的时候挤眉弄眼、窃窃私语; —

but you don’t come it over me that way. It’s a free country, sir; —
但你无法愚弄我。这是一个自由的国家，先生; —

the man’s mine, and I do what I please with him,–that’s it!”
这个人是我的，我想怎么对待他就怎么对待他，–就这样!”

And so fell George’s last hope;–nothing before him but a life of toil and drudgery, rendered more bitter by every little smarting vexation and indignity which tyrannical ingenuity could devise.
于是乔治的最后希望破灭了;–他面前只有劳动和苦役的人生，每一点小小的烦恼和屈辱都使他的日子变得更加苦涩，是暴虐的创伤给予了更多痛楚。

A very humane jurist once said, The worst use you can put a man to is to hang him. —
一位非常人道的法官曾说过，最糟糕的对待一个人的方式是绞刑。 —

No; there is another use that a man can be put to that is WORSE!
不，还有一种对待一个人更糟糕的方式！