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第二章2

但次日清早,弗洛伊德先生起床后,在桌子上看到的那封信的开头却不是 “我非常震惊” ,那是一封慈母般的、语气恭谦的、前后矛盾的、充满歉意的信,多年以后他还保留着那封信;在他与来自安多弗的温布什小姐结婚许久后,在他离开村子许久后。因为他得到了他申请的在谢菲尔德地区的一个教区;派人把阿彻、雅各布和约翰叫去道别,他让他们在他的书房了随便挑点什么用以怀念他。阿彻选了一把裁纸刀,因为他不愿意挑太好的东西;雅各布挑了一卷拜伦作品集;约翰还太小,无法做出合适的选择,就要了弗洛伊德先生的小猫,他的哥哥们都认为这个选择太荒谬了,但弗洛伊德先生支持他,说: “它和你一样,毛绒绒的。” 然后弗洛伊德先生谈论了皇家海军(阿彻要参加海军);谈论了橄榄球(雅各布要参加);隔天他收到了一个银盘子,就走了……先前往谢菲尔德,在那里他遇见了温布什小姐,她正在她叔叔家做客,然后去哈克尼……然后抵达梅尔斯菲尔德学校,他成为了那里的校长,并最终做了著名的教会传记丛书的编辑,退休后,他与妻女搬到了汉普斯特德,人们常常能看见他在羊腿池边喂鸭子。至于弗兰德斯太太的信……前几天他要找这封信却找不到了,他又不愿意问太太是否她已将那封信扔了。不久前,他在皮卡迪利碰见了雅各布,三秒钟内就认出了他。而雅各布已经成长为一个英俊青年,弗洛伊德先生不愿意在大街上叫住他。

"Dear me, " said Mrs. Flanders, when she read in the Scarborough and Harrogate Courier that the Rev. Andrew Floyd, etc., etc., had been made Principal of Maresfield House, "that must be our Mr. Floyd. "

“天哪。” 弗兰德斯太太在《斯卡巴勒和哈罗盖特信使》报上看到安德鲁•弗洛伊德牧师,等等,等等,被任命为梅尔斯菲尔德学校的校长时说道, “一定就是我们的那位弗洛伊德先生。”

A slight gloom fell upon the table. Jacob was helping himself to jam; the postman was talking to Rebecca in the kitchen; there was a bee humming at the yellow flower which nodded at the open window. They were all alive, that is to say, while poor Mr. Floyd was becoming Principal of Maresfield House.

一丝淡淡的忧郁笼罩着餐桌。雅各布正自得其乐地吃着果酱;邮差在厨房里和丽贝卡说着话;那冲着敞开的窗户上下摆动的黄色花朵上,一只蜜蜂正嗡嗡飞舞。也就是说,正当可怜的弗洛伊德先生成为梅尔斯菲尔德学校校长的时候,他们都充满活力。

Mrs. Flanders got up and went over to the fender and stroked Topaz on the neck behind the ears.

弗兰德斯太太站起身,走到壁炉挡护板的旁边,轻抚着托帕斯耳朵后面的脖子。

"Poor Topaz, " she said (for Mr. Floyd's kitten was now a very old cat, a little mangy behind the ears, and one of these days would have to be killed).

“可怜的托帕斯。” 她说道(因为弗洛伊德先生的小猫现在已经是一只老猫了,耳后有一块疥藓,几天内就要将它处死了)。

"Poor old Topaz, " said Mrs. Flanders, as he stretched himself out in the sun, and she smiled, thinking how she had had him gelded, and how she did not like red hair in men. Smiling, she went into the kitchen.

“可怜的老托帕斯。” 弗兰德斯太太说道,当老猫在太阳下伸懒腰时,她笑了,想起她是如何让人把它阉割了,她又是如何不中意红头发的男人。她微笑着走进了厨房。

Jacob drew rather a dirty pocket……handkerchief across his face. He went upstairs to his room.

雅各布扯出一条脏兮兮的手绢,擦了擦脸。他上楼回自己屋里去了。

The stag……beetle dies slowly (it was John who collected the beetles). Even on the second day its legs were supple. But the butterflies were dead. A whiff of rotten eggs had vanquished the pale clouded yellows which came pelting across the orchard and up Dods Hill and away on to the moor, now lost behind a furze bush, then off again helter……skelter in a broiling sun. A fritillary basked on a white stone in the Roman camp. From the valley came the sound of church bells. They were all eating roast beef in Scarborough; for it was Sunday when Jacob caught the pale clouded yellows in the clover field, eight miles from home.

鹿角甲虫慢慢死去(约翰收集甲虫)。即使到了第二天,甲虫的腿脚还是柔软的。但蝴蝶已经死了。纹黄蝶散发出臭鸡蛋的怪味儿,它们徒劳地穿过果园,飞上多兹山,然后又飞往沼泽地,时而消失在金雀花丛后,时而又慌乱地飞在炽热的太阳下。罗马营地里一块白色的石头上,一只豹纹蝶在享受日光。山谷里传来教堂的钟声。在斯卡巴勒,人们都在吃着烤牛肉;因为雅各布在离家八英里远的苜蓿地里抓住纹黄蝶的那一天是星期天。

Rebecca had caught the death 's……head moth in the kitchen.

丽贝卡曾在厨房里捉到了骷髅天蛾。

A strong smell of camphor came from the butterfly boxes.

蝴蝶盒子里散发出浓烈的樟脑气味。

Mixed with the smell of camphor was the unmistakable smell of seaweed. Tawny ribbons hung on the door. The sun beat straight upon them.

与樟脑气味混合在一起的,毫无疑问,是海藻的气味。海藻是黄褐色的,一条条地挂在门上。阳光直射在上面。

The upper wings of the moth which Jacob held were undoubtedly marked with kidney……shaped spots of a fulvous hue. But there was no crescent upon the underwing. The tree had fallen the night he caught it. There had been a volley of pistol……shots suddenly in the depths of the wood. And his mother had taken him for a burglar when he came home late. The only one of her sons who never obeyed her, she said.

雅各布捏着的蛾子的前翅清楚地标记着黄褐色的肾形斑点。但后翅上却没有半月斑。在树倒下的那个夜晚,他捉住了这只蛾子。树林深处突然传来连续的枪响。他很晚才回到家,他的母亲还把他当成是个夜贼。他是几个儿子里唯一一个从来不听她话的,她说。

Morris called it "an extremely local insect found in damp or marshy places. " But Morris is sometimes wrong. Sometimes Jacob, choosing a very fine pen, made a correction in the margin.

莫里斯说它是 “一只在潮湿地带或沼泽地找到的当地土生土长的昆虫。” 但有时莫里斯是错的。有时,雅各布选用一只非常纤细的笔,在页边空白处做更正。

The tree had fallen, though it was a windless night, and the lantern, stood upon the ground, had lit up the still green leaves and the dead beech leaves. It was a dry place. A toad was there. And the red underwing had circled round the light and flashed and gone. The red underwing had never come back, though Jacob had waited. It was after twelve when he crossed the lawn and saw his mother in the bright room, playing patience, sitting up.

树倒了,尽管那夜没有风,立在地面上的提灯照亮了仍然绿油油的叶子和枯死了的山毛榉树叶。这是一处干燥的地方。有一只蟾蜍。红色的蛾子绕着灯光一圈一圈地飞,然后一闪,就不见了。红蛾子再也没有飞回来,尽管雅各布等待了许久。他穿过草坪时已过了十二点,他看见母亲在明亮的屋里,熬着夜,玩单人纸牌游戏。

"How you frightened me! " she had cried. She thought something dreadful had happened. And he woke Rebecca, who had to be up so early.

“你吓死我了!” 她大声喊道。她以为发生了什么可怕的事情。他惊醒了必须要早早起身的丽贝卡。

There he stood pale, come out of the depths of darkness, in the hot room, blinking at the light.

从黑暗深处钻出来,走进热烘烘的房间里,他面色苍白地站在那里,灯光晃得他直眨眼睛。

No, it could not be a straw……bordered underwing.

不,那不可能是一只后翅边缘是浅黄色的蛾子。

The mowing……machine always wanted oiling. Barnet turned it under Jacob's window, and it creaked……creaked, and rattled across the lawn and creaked again.

割草机总是得上润滑油。在雅各布的窗下,巴尼特将割草机调了个头,割草机咯吱咯吱地响,咔哒咔哒地穿过草地,又咯吱咯吱地响了起来。

Now it was clouding over.

这会儿,天上布满了云。

Back came the sun, dazzlingly.

太阳又探出头来,灿烂耀眼。

It fell like an eye upon the stirrups, and then suddenly and yet very gently rested upon the bed, upon the alarum clock, and upon the butterfly box stood open. The pale clouded yellows had pelted over the moor; they had zigzagged across the purple clover. The fritillaries flaunted along the hedgerows. The blues settled on little bones lying on the turf with the sun beating on them, and the painted ladies and the peacocks feasted upon bloody entrails dropped by a hawk. Miles away from home, in a hollow among teasles beneath a ruin, he had found the commas. He had seen a white admiral circling higher and higher round an oak tree, but he had never caught it. An old cottage woman living alone, high up, had told him of a purple butterfly which came every summer to her garden. The fox cubs played in the gorse in the early morning, she told him. And if you looked out at dawn you could always see two badgers. Sometimes they knocked each other over like two boys fighting, she said.

它像只眼睛一样落在了马蹬上,然后突然地,而又十分轻柔地栖息在床上,在闹钟上,在那打开着的装蝴蝶的盒子上。纹黄蝶快速地飞过沼泽地;它们曲折飞过紫色的苜蓿地。豹纹蝶沿着灌木篱墙肆意地翻飞。草地的小骨头上,停落着蓝蝴蝶,太阳直射着它们,苧胥和孔雀尽情地享用从一只老鹰嘴里掉下来的血淋淋的内脏。在离家几英里开外的地方,他在一处废墟下长着起绒草丛的凹地里,发现了银纹多角蛱蝶。他发现一只白色的蛱蝶绕着一棵橡树盘旋而飞,越飞越高,但他始终没捉到它。一位独自住在高处的老村妇曾告诉过他,有一种紫色的蝴蝶每年夏天都会飞到她的花园子里。清晨,狐狸幼仔在金雀花丛里玩耍,她告诉他。并且在破晓时分,如果向外张望,你总能看见两只獾。有时他们将对方撞倒,就像两个打架的男孩,她说道。

"You won't go far this afternoon, Jacob, " said his mother, popping her head in at the door, "for the Captain's coming to say good……bye. " It was the last day of the Easter holidays.

“今天下午,你别走远了,雅各布。” 他的母亲从门口伸进头来对他说, “因为上尉要来道别。” 这是复活节假期的最后一天。

Wednesday was Captain Barfoot's day. He dressed himself very neatly in blue serge, took his rubber……shod stick……for he was lame and wanted two fingers on the left hand, having served his country……and set out from the house with the flagstaff precisely at four o'clock in the afternoon.

星期三是巴富特上尉的日子。他给自己穿上非常整洁的蓝色哔叽呢服装,拿上橡胶头的手杖……他走路有点跛,左手缺了两根手指,他是为国家效过力的……下午四点钟他准时从有旗杆的那所房子出发。

At three Mr. Dickens, the bath……chair man, had called for Mrs. Barfoot.

三点钟,推轮椅的狄更斯先生来接巴富特太太。

"Move me, " she would say to Mr. Dickens, after sitting on the esplanade for fifteen minutes. And again, "That'll do, thank you, Mr. Dickens. " At the first command he would seek the sun; at the second he would stay the chair there in the bright strip.

“挪动一下吧。” 在平坦的空地呆上十五分钟后,她会对狄更斯先生说。然后又说, “行了,谢谢你,狄更斯先生。” 照着第一个指令,他往有太阳的地方推;照着第二个指令,他将轮椅停在阳光灿烂的地带。

An old inhabitant himself, he had much in common with Mrs. Barfoot…… James Coppard's daughter. The drinking……fountain, where West Street joins Broad Street, is the gift of James Coppard, who was mayor at the time of Queen Victoria's jubilee, and Coppard is painted upon municipal watering……carts and over shop windows, and upon the zinc blinds of solicitors' consulting……room windows. But Ellen Barfoot never visited the Aquarium (though she had known Captain Boase who had caught the shark quite well), and when the men came by with the posters she eyed them superciliously, for she knew that she would never see the Pierrots, or the brothers Zeno, or Daisy Budd and her troupe of performing seals. For Ellen Barfoot in her bath……chair on the esplanade was a prisoner…… civilization's prisoner……all the bars of her cage falling across the esplanade on sunny days when the town hall, the drapery stores, the swimming……bath, and the memorial hall striped the ground with shadow.

作为一个老居民,他和巴富特太太……詹姆斯•科珀德的女儿,有许多共同之处。西街和宽街交汇处的自动饮水机是詹姆斯•科珀德捐赠的,他在维多利亚女王银禧庆典时期是市长,科珀德被画在了市政洒水车、商店的橱窗以及律师事务所咨询室窗户的锌质百叶窗上。但艾伦•巴富特不曾参观过水族馆(尽管她与捕获鲨鱼的博斯上尉很熟络),而每当有人拿着海报走过时,她高傲地看着他们,因为她明白她永远都不会去看江湖小丑,或泽诺兄弟,或戴西•巴迪和她的海豹们的表演。因为坐在空地上轮椅里的艾伦•巴富特是个囚徒……文明的囚徒……艳阳高照的日子里,当市政厅、布店、室内游泳池和纪念碑在地面上留下剪影时,她牢笼上所有的栏杆就散落在空地上。

An old inhabitant himself, Mr. Dickens would stand a little behind her, smoking his pipe. She would ask him questions……who people were……who now kept Mr. Jones's shop……then about the season……and had Mrs. Dickens tried, whatever it might be……the words issuing from her lips like crumbs of dry biscuit.

狄更斯先生,一个本地老居民,会站在她身后稍远一点儿的位置,吸着烟斗。她会问他几个问题……这些人是谁……琼斯先生的店铺现在是谁在经营……接着是关于季节的问题……狄更斯太太试过没有,不管是什么……从她唇上蹦出的字眼,就像是干干的饼干屑。

She closed her eyes. Mr. Dickens took a turn. The feelings of a man had not altogether deserted him, though as you saw him coming towards you, you noticed how one knobbed black boot swung tremulously in front of the other; how there was a shadow between his waistcoat and his trousers; how he leant forward unsteadily, like an old horse who finds himself suddenly out of the shafts drawing no cart. But as Mr. Dickens sucked in the smoke and puffed it out again, the feelings of a man were perceptible in his eyes. He was thinking how Captain Barfoot was now on his way to Mount Pleasant; Captain Barfoot, his master. For at home in the little sitting……room above the mews, with the canary in the window, and the girls at the sewing……machine, and Mrs. Dickens huddled up with the rheumatics……at home where he was made little of, the thought of being in the employ of Captain Barfoot supported him. He liked to think that while he chatted with Mrs. Barfoot on the front, he helped the Captain on his way to Mrs. Flanders.

她闭上了双眼。狄更斯先生转悠了一圈。他还没有完全失去一个男人的情感,尽管当你看见他朝你走过来,你会注意到一只圆头黑靴子是如何微颤颤地摇到另一只的前面;在他的马甲和裤子之间有怎样的一块阴影;他又是怎样摇摇晃晃地向前倾斜着,像一匹突然发现自己已经卸下车辕不再拉车的老马。但在狄更斯先生吞云吐雾之际,能明显觉察到他眼里的那种男人的情怀。他在思忖着巴富特上尉此刻正在前往普莱森特山的路上;巴富特上尉,他的雇主。因为在家里,在马房上面的那间窗前挂着金丝雀的小小起居室里,女儿们在缝纫机上干着活,狄更斯太太因风湿而蜷缩在一旁……在家里他是没地位的,受雇于巴富特上尉的想法支撑着他。他愿意这么想,当他和巴富特太太在前边聊天时,他帮了上尉,让他能前往弗兰德斯太太那儿。

He, a man, was in charge of Mrs. Barfoot, a woman. Turning, he saw that she was chatting with Mrs. Rogers. Turning again, he saw that Mrs. Rogers had moved on. So he came back to the bath……chair, and Mrs. Barfoot asked him the time, and he took out his great silver watch and told her the time very obligingly, as if he knew a great deal more about the time and everything than she did. But Mrs. Barfoot knew that Captain Barfoot was on his way to Mrs. Flanders.

他,一个男人,负责照顾巴富特太太,一个女人。转过身,他看见她正在和罗杰斯太太聊天。再次回过身时,他看见罗杰斯太太已经走开了。因此他走回轮椅边,巴富特太太问他时间,他掏出他那硕大的银表,非常亲切地告诉她时间,好像他知晓时间及其他一切事物,比她所知的要多得多。但巴富特太太知道巴富特上尉正在去往弗兰德斯太太家的路上。

Indeed he was well on his way there, having left the tram, and seeing Dods Hill to the south……east, green against a blue sky that was suffused with dust colour on the horizon. He was marching up the hill. In spite of his lameness there was something military in his approach. Mrs. Jarvis, as she came out of the Rectory gate, saw him coming, and her Newfoundland dog, Nero, slowly swept his tail from side to side.

确实如此,他在前往那里的路上已经走了很远了,他已经下了电车,望见多兹山在东南方向,绿莹莹地映衬在蓝天下,天地交接处弥漫着尘土的颜色。他正大步地向山上行进。尽管是跛足,但他仍具有某种军人的风度。贾维斯太太走出教区长宅第的大门时,看见他正走过来,她那只纽芬兰狗,尼罗,慢悠悠地左右摇动着尾巴。

"Oh, Captain Barfoot! " Mrs. Jarvis exclaimed.

“哦,巴富特上尉!” 贾维斯太太喊道。

"Good……day, Mrs. Jarvis, " said the Captain.

“日安,贾维斯太太。” 上尉说。

They walked on together, and when they reached Mrs. Flanders's gate Captain Barfoot took off his tweed cap, and said, bowing very courteously:

他们一起向前走去,当到达弗兰德斯太太家的大门时,巴富特上尉摘下花呢帽子,非常礼貌地躬身说道:

"Good……day to you, Mrs. Jarvis. "

“祝您日安,贾维斯太太。”

And Mrs. Jarvis walked on alone.

贾维斯太太则独自继续往前走。

She was going to walk on the moor. Had she again been pacing her lawn late at night? Had she again tapped on the study window and cried: "Look at the moon, look at the moon, Herbert! "

她要前往沼泽地。她是否又在深夜时分,在自家的草坪上踱来踱去?她是否又敲着书房的窗户,大声嚷道: “看那月亮,看那月亮,赫伯特!”

And Herbert looked at the moon.

于是,赫伯特就看那月亮。

Mrs. Jarvis walked on the moor when she was unhappy, going as far as a certain saucer……shaped hollow, though she always meant to go to a more distant ridge; and there she sat down, and took out the little book hidden beneath her cloak and read a few lines of poetry, and looked about her. She was not very unhappy, and, seeing that she was forty……five, never perhaps would be very unhappy, desperately unhappy that is, and leave her husband, and ruin a good man's career, as she sometimes threatened.

每当贾维斯太太不开心时,她就在沼泽地散步,一直走到某个碟形凹处,尽管她总是想走到更远一点儿的山脊那里;她在那里坐下,掏出藏在斗篷下的一本小书,读几行诗,又四下里看看。她并不是非常不开心,而且,就她四十五岁的年龄来看,也许永远不会非常不开心了,就是那种令人绝望的不开心,以致要离开她的丈夫,从而毁了一个好男人的事业,就像她有时威胁的那样。

Still there is no need to say what risks a clergyman's wife runs when she walks on the moor. Short, dark, with kindling eyes, a pheasant's feather in her hat, Mrs. Jarvis was just the sort of woman to lose her faith upon the moors……to confound her God with the universal that is…… but she did not lose her faith, did not leave her husband, never read her poem through, and went on walking the moors, looking at the moon behind the elm trees, and feeling as she sat on the grass high above Scarborough... Yes, yes, when the lark soars; when the sheep, moving a step or two onwards, crop the turf, and at the same time set their bells tinkling; when the breeze first blows, then dies down, leaving the cheek kissed; when the ships on the sea below seem to cross each other and pass on as if drawn by an invisible hand; when there are distant concussions in the air and phantom horsemen galloping, ceasing; when the horizon swims blue, green, emotional……then Mrs. Jarvis, heaving a sigh, thinks to herself, "If only some one could give me... if I could give some one.... " But she does not know what she wants to give, nor ……

不过,没有必要说明当一个牧师的妻子在沼泽地散步时,要冒什么风险。矮矮的个子,微黑的皮肤,加上一双明亮的眼睛,帽子上插着一根雉鸡的羽毛,贾维斯太太是那种会在沼泽地上丧失信仰的女人……以一般性的概念让她的上帝感到惶恐……但她并没有失去她的信仰,没有离开她的丈夫,未曾从头到尾地读过诗歌,然后继续行走在沼泽地上,看看榆树后的月亮,当她坐在斯卡巴勒高处的草坪时感受着……是的,是的,当云雀高飞,当羊群向前移动一两步,吃着草儿,与此同时它们身上的铃儿叮当作响;当清风第一次吹起,又渐渐消失,留下被轻抚过的面颊;当下方海上的轮船来来往往,似相互交织,似被一只无形的手拉着;空中传来远远的震动,幻影骑士策马疾驰,收缰急停;当地平线上泛起蓝色、绿色,叫人激动……此刻,贾维斯太太发出一声叹息,暗自思忖, “要是谁能给我就好了……如果我能给谁……” 但她并不知道她想给予什么,也不知道谁能给她。

"Mrs. Flanders stepped out only five minutes ago, Captain, " said Rebecca. Captain Barfoot sat him down in the arm……chair to wait. Resting his elbows on the arms, putting one hand over the other, sticking his lame leg straight out, and placing the stick with the rubber ferrule beside it, he sat perfectly still. There was something rigid about him. Did he think? Probably the same thoughts again and again. But were they "nice" thoughts, interesting thoughts? He was a man with a temper; tenacious, faithful. Women would have felt, "Here is law. Here is order. Therefore we must cherish this man. He is on the Bridge at night, " and, handing him his cup, or whatever it might be, would run on to visions of shipwreck and disaster, in which all the passengers come tumbling from their cabins, and there is the captain, buttoned in his pea……jacket, matched with the storm, vanquished by it but by none other. "Yet I have a soul, " Mrs. Jarvis would bethink her, as Captain Barfoot suddenly blew his nose in a great red bandanna handkerchief, "and it's the man's stupidity that's the cause of this, and the storm's my storm as well as his"... so Mrs. Jarvis would bethink her when the Captain dropped in to see them and found Herbert out, and spent two or three hours, almost silent, sitting in the arm……chair. But Betty Flanders thought nothing of the kind.

“弗兰德斯太太五分钟前刚刚出去,上尉。” 丽贝卡说。巴富特上尉在手扶椅上坐下等待。他一动不动地坐在那里,胳膊放在椅子的扶手上,一只手放在另一只手上面,那只跛足直挺挺地伸将出去,橡胶包头的手杖放在腿边上。他身上有某种刻板的东西。他思考吗?可能会反复地想同一个问题。但它们是 “好的” 思想,有趣的想法吗?他是个有脾气的男人;他固执、忠实。女人们会感受到: “这里有法律。这里有秩序。因此,我们必须珍爱这个男人。夜里他总在驾驶台里。” 并且,递给他杯子,或者别的什么的时候,会看到海难和灾难的景象,所有的乘客都跌跌撞撞地从各自的船舱里出来,而上尉就在这里,与风暴相衬的粗呢大衣扣得整整齐齐,除了风暴什么也不能将他击垮。 “然而我有灵魂。” 当巴富特上尉突然用一条红色的班丹纳大手绢擤鼻涕时,贾维斯太太这样想, “男人的愚蠢是造成灾难的原因,而我的风暴也正是他的风暴” ……因此上尉顺道拜访他们,发现赫伯特不在,就几乎一言不发地在扶手椅上坐了两三个小时,贾维斯太太这样认为。但弗兰德斯太太并不这样想。

"Oh, Captain, " said Mrs. Flanders, bursting into the drawing……room, "I had to run after Barker's man... I hope Rebecca... I hope Jacob... "

“哦,上尉,” 弗兰德斯太太冲进客厅,说道, “我不得不去追赶巴克公司的人……我希望丽贝卡……我希望雅各布……”

She was very much out of breath, yet not at all upset, and as she put down the hearth……brush which she had bought of the oil……man, she said it was hot, flung the window further open, straightened a cover, picked up a book, as if she were very confident, very fond of the Captain, and a great many years younger than he was. Indeed, in her blue apron she did not look more than thirty……five. He was well over fifty.

她上气不接下气,却并不心烦,当她放下从送油工那里买来的炉刷时,她说天气太热了,就将窗子开得更大些,将罩子拉直,拿起一本书,好像她非常自信,非常喜欢上尉,并且比他年轻许多岁似的。确实,穿着蓝色围裙的她看上去还没有三十五岁。他则五十好几了。

She moved her hands about the table; the Captain moved his head from side to side, and made little sounds, as Betty went on chattering, completely at his ease……after twenty years.

她的手在桌上摩挲;上尉左右晃着脑袋,发出小小的动静,贝蒂一直在喋喋不休,他则完全轻松悠闲……已经过去二十年了。

"Well, " he said at length, "I've heard from Mr. Polegate. "

“唔,” 他终于开口了, “我收到波尔盖特先生的来信了。”

He had heard from Mr. Polegate that he could advise nothing better than to send a boy to one of the universities.

他收到波尔盖特先生的来信,信上说最好的建议就是送一个男孩上大学。

"Mr. Floyd was at Cambridge... no, at Oxford... well, at one or the other, " said Mrs. Flanders.

“弗洛伊德先生在剑桥……不,在牛津……嗯,反正在其中一个。” 弗兰德斯太太说道。

She looked out of the window. Little windows, and the lilac and green of the garden were reflected in her eyes.

她望向窗外。小窗户、丁香以及花园的翠绿映入她的眼帘。

"Archer is doing very well, " she said. "I have a very nice report from Captain Maxwell. "

“阿彻的表现非常好。” 她说道。 “我从马克斯韦尔上尉那儿收到了不错的报告。”

"I will leave you the letter to show Jacob, " said the Captain, putting it clumsily back in its envelope.

“我给你留下这封信,让雅各布看看。” 上尉说道,将信笨拙地塞回信封里。

"Jacob is after his butterflies as usual, " said Mrs. Flanders irritably, but was surprised by a sudden afterthought, "Cricket begins this week, of course. "

“雅各布仍旧摆弄他的蝴蝶,” 弗兰德斯太太烦躁地说,但又惊喜地突然想起, “当然,板球赛这一周就要开始了。”

"Edward Jenkinson has handed in his resignation, " said Captain Barfoot.

“爱德华•詹金森已经递交辞呈了。” 巴弗特上尉说。

"Then you will stand for the Council? " Mrs. Flanders exclaimed, looking the Captain full in the face.

“那么你将竞选市议员了?” 弗兰德斯太太直盯着上尉的脸,大声说道。

"Well, about that, " Captain Barfoot began, settling himself rather deeper in his chair.

“嗯,差不多吧。” 巴富特上尉说道,同时让自己在椅子里陷得更深。

Jacob Flanders, therefore, went up to Cambridge in October, 1906.

因此,1906年10月,雅各布进入了剑桥大学。

CHAPTER THREE pQadx8J1Tmbv4JTLN9tY6bge02xNxR/ViD8+s2rW4cKUVjVuO8BvxrozqH/ZttRr

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