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看来我来得不是时候，夫人，"他说，"正巧我的朋友罗切斯特先生出门去了，可是我远道而来，我想可以作为关系密切的老相识，冒昧在这儿呆一下，等到他回来。" His manner was polite; his accent, in speaking, struck me as beingsomewhat unusual,--not precisely foreign, but still not altogetherEnglish: his age might be about Mr. Rochester's,--between thirtyand forty; his complexion was singularly sallow: otherwise he was afine-looking man, at first sight especially. On closer examination,you detected something in his face that displeased, or rather thatfailed to please. His features were regular, but too relaxed: hiseye was large and well cut, but the life looking out of it was atame, vacant life--at least so I thought. 他的举止很客气，但说话的腔调听来有些异样--不是十足的外国腔，但也不完全是英国调。他的年龄与罗切斯特先生相仿--在三十与四十之间。他的肤色特别灰黄，要不然他倒是个英俊的男人，乍看之下尤其如此。仔细一打量，你会发现他脸上有种不讨人喜欢，或是无法让人喜欢的东西。他的五官很标准，但太松弛。他的眼睛大而悦目，但是从中透出的生气，却空洞乏味--至少我是这样想的。 The sound of the dressing-bell dispersed the party. It was not tillafter dinner that I saw him again: he then seemed quite at hisease. But I liked his physiognomy even less than before: it struckme as being at the same time unsettled and inanimate. His eyewandered, and had no meaning in its wandering: this gave him an oddlook, such as I never remembered to have seen. For a handsome andnot an unamiable-looking man, he repelled me exceedingly: there wasno power in that smooth-skinned face of a full oval shape: nofirmness in that aquiline nose and small cherry mouth; there was nothought on the low, even forehead; no command in that blank, browneye. 通知换装的铃声驱散了宾客。直到吃晚饭时我才再次见到他。那时他似乎已十分自在。但是我对他的面相却比初见面时更不喜欢了。我觉得它既不安稳又毫无生气。他的目光游移不定，漫无目的。这使他露出一付我从未见过的怪相。这样一个漂亮而且看来也并非不和蔼的男人，却使我极为讨厌。在那光滑的鹅蛋形脸蛋上没有魄力；在那个鹰钩鼻和那张樱桃小口上缺少坚毅；在那低平的额头上没有思想；在那空洞的褐色眼睛里没有控制力。 As I sat in my usual nook, and looked at him with the light of thegirandoles on the mantelpiece beaming full over him--for he occupiedan arm-chair drawn close to the fire, and kept shrinking stillnearer, as if he were cold, I compared him with Mr. Rochester. Ithink (with deference be it spoken) the contrast could not be muchgreater between a sleek gander and a fierce falcon: between a meeksheep and the rough-coated keen-eyed dog, its guardian. 我坐在往常的角落里，打量着他，借着壁炉上把他浑身照得透亮的枝形烛架上的光--因为他坐在靠近火炉的一把安乐椅上，还不住地挨近炉火，仿佛怕冷似的--我把他同罗切斯特先生作了比较。我想（但愿我这么说并无不敬）一只光滑的雄鹅和一只凶猛的猎鹰，一头驯服的绵羊和看守着它毛粗眼尖的猎狗之间的反差，也不见得比他们两者之间大。 He had spoken of Mr. Rochester as an old friend. A curiousfriendship theirs must have been: a pointed illustration, indeed,of the old adage that "extremes meet." 他说罗切斯特先生是他的故友，那必定是种奇怪的友谊，是古训"相反相成"的一个极好说明。 
两三位男士坐在他旁边，我听到了他们在房间另一头谈话的片断。起初我听不大懂，因为路易莎．埃希顿和玛丽.英格拉姆离我更近，她们的谈话使断断续续到我耳边的片言只语模糊不清。路易莎和玛丽两人在谈论着陌生人，都称他为"美男子"。路易莎说他是位"可爱的家伙"而且"喜欢他"，玛丽列举了"他的小嘴巴和漂亮鼻子"，认为是她心目中理想的魅力所在。 "And what a sweet-tempered forehead he has!" cried Louisa,--"sosmooth--none of those frowning irregularities I dislike so much; andsuch a placid eye and smile!"" 塑造得多好的额角！"路易莎叫道--"那么光滑--没有那种我讨厌透了的皱眉蹙额的怪样子，而且眼神和笑容多么恬静！" And then, to my great relief, Mr. Henry Lynn summoned them to theother side of the room, to settle some point about the deferredexcursion to Hay Common. 随后，我总算松了口气，因为亨利．林恩先生把她们叫到房间的另一头，去解决关于推迟去海村工地远足的某个问题了。 I was now able to concentrate my attention on the group by the fire,and I presently gathered that the new-comer was called Mr. Mason;then I learned that he was but just arrived in England, and that hecame from some hot country: which was the reason, doubtless, hisface was so sallow, and that he sat so near the hearth, and wore asurtout in the house. Presently the words Jamaica, Kingston,Spanish Town, indicated the West Indies as his residence; and it waswith no little surprise I gathered, ere long, that he had therefirst seen and become acquainted with Mr. Rochester. He spoke ofhis friend's dislike of the burning heats, the hurricanes, and rainyseasons of that region. I knew Mr. Rochester had been a traveller:Mrs. Fairfax had said so; but I thought the continent of Europe hadbounded his wanderings; till now I had never heard a hint given ofvisits to more distant shores. 此刻我可以把注意力集中到火炉边的一群人上了。我很快就明白来人叫梅森先生。接着我知道他刚到英国，来自某个气候炎热的国家，无疑那就是为什么他脸色那么灰黄，坐得那么靠近火炉，在室内穿着紧身长外衣的原因了。不久，诸如牙买加、金斯敦、西班牙城一类字眼，表明了他在西印度群岛居住过。没过一会儿，我颇为吃惊地了解到，他在那儿初次见到并结交了罗切斯特先生。他谈起他朋友不喜欢那个地区烤人的炎热，不喜欢飓风和雨季。我知道罗切斯特先生曾是位旅行家，费尔法克斯太太这么说过他。不过我想他游荡的足迹只限于欧洲大陆，在这之前我从未听人提起他到过更遥远的海岸。 I was pondering these things, when an incident, and a somewhatunexpected one, broke the thread of my musings. Mr. Mason,shivering as some one chanced to open the door, asked for more coalto be put on the fire, which had burnt out its flame, though itsmass of cinder still shone hot and red. The footman who brought thecoal, in going out, stopped near Mr. Eshton's chair, and saidsomething to him in a low voice, of which I heard only the words,"old woman,"--"quite troublesome." 我正在细想这些事儿的时候，一件事情，一件颇为意外的事情，打断了我的思路。有人碰巧把门打开时，梅森先生哆嗦着要求在炉子上再加些煤，因为尽管大块煤渣依然通红发亮，但火焰已经燃尽。送煤进来的仆人走出去时凑近埃希顿先生低声对他说了什么，我只听清了"老太婆"--"挺讨厌"几个字。 
要是她不走就把她铐起来，"法官回答说。 "No--stop!" interrupted Colonel Dent. "Don't send her away, Eshton;we might turn the thing to account; better consult the ladies." Andspeaking aloud, he continued--"Ladies, you talked of going to HayCommon to visit the gipsy camp; Sam here says that one of the oldMother Bunches is in the servants' hall at this moment, and insistsupon being brought in before 'the quality,' to tell them theirfortunes. Would you like to see her?"" 不--慢着！"登特上校打断了他。"别把她打发走，埃希顿。我们也许可以利用这件事，还是同女士们商量一下吧。"随后大着嗓门继续说道："女士们，你们不是说起要去海村工地看一下吉卜赛人营地吗，这会儿萨姆说，现在有位本奇妈妈在仆人的饭厅里，硬要让人带到"有身份"的人面前，替他们算算命。你们愿意见她吗？'" "Surely, colonel," cried Lady Ingram, "you would not encourage sucha low impostor? Dismiss her, by all means, at once!"" 上校，"英格拉姆太太叫道，"当然你是不会怂恿这样一个低级骗子的吧？一定要立即把她撵走！" "But I cannot persuade her to go away, my lady," said the footman;"nor can any of the servants: Mrs. Fairfax is with her just now,entreating her to be gone; but she has taken a chair in the chimney-comer, and says nothing shall stir her from it till she gets leaveto come in here."" 不过我没法说服她走，夫人，"仆人说，"别的佣人也不行，现在费尔法克斯太太求她快走，可是她索性在烟囱角落坐了下来，说是不准许她进来她就不走。" "What does she want?" asked Mrs. Eshton." 她要干什么？"埃希顿夫人间。 
她说是'给老爷们算命'，夫人，她发誓一定得给算一算，说到做到。" "What is she like?" inquired the Misses Eshton, in a breath." 她长相怎么样？"两位埃希顿小姐异口同声地问道。 "A shockingly ugly old creature, miss; almost as black as a crock."" 一个丑得吓人的老东西，小姐，差不多跟煤烟一般黑。" "Why, she's a real sorceress!" cried Frederick Lynn. "Let us haveher in, of course."" 嗨，她是个道地的女巫了！"弗雷德里克．林恩嚷道，"当然，我们得让她进来。" "To be sure," rejoined his brother; "it would be a thousand pitiesto throw away such a chance of fun."" 那还用说，"他兄弟回答说，"丢掉这样一个有趣的机会实在太可惜了。" 
亲爱的孩子们，你们认为怎么样？"林恩太太嚷嚷道。 "I cannot possibly countenance any such inconsistent proceeding,"chimed in the Dowager Ingram." 我可不能支持这种前后矛盾的做法，"英格拉姆夫人插话了。 "Indeed, mama, but you can--and will," pronounced the haughty voiceof Blanche, as she turned round on the piano-stool; where till nowshe had sat silent, apparently examining sundry sheets of music. "Ihave a curiosity to hear my fortune told: therefore, Sam, order thebeldame forward."" 说真的，妈妈，可是你能支持--你会的，"响起了布兰奇傲气十足的嗓音，这时她从琴凳上转过身来。刚才她还默默地坐着，显然在仔细翻阅各种乐谱。"我倒有兴趣听听人家算我的命，所以萨姆，把那个丑老太婆给叫进来。" "My darling Blanche! recollect--"" 布兰奇我的宝贝！再想一想一-"
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