×

We use cookies to help make LingQ better. By visiting the site, you agree to our cookie policy.

image

Emma by Jane Austen, Volume 3. Chapter 13.

Volume 3. Chapter 13.

The weather continued much the same all the following morning; and the same loneliness, and the same melancholy, seemed to reign at Hartfield--but in the afternoon it cleared; the wind changed into a softer quarter; the clouds were carried off; the sun appeared; it was summer again. With all the eagerness which such a transition gives, Emma resolved to be out of doors as soon as possible. Never had the exquisite sight, smell, sensation of nature, tranquil, warm, and brilliant after a storm, been more attractive to her. She longed for the serenity they might gradually introduce; and on Mr. Perry's coming in soon after dinner, with a disengaged hour to give her father, she lost no time ill hurrying into the shrubbery.--There, with spirits freshened, and thoughts a little relieved, she had taken a few turns, when she saw Mr. Knightley passing through the garden door, and coming towards her.--It was the first intimation of his being returned from London. She had been thinking of him the moment before, as unquestionably sixteen miles distant.--There was time only for the quickest arrangement of mind. She must be collected and calm. In half a minute they were together. The "How d'ye do's" were quiet and constrained on each side. She asked after their mutual friends; they were all well.--When had he left them?--Only that morning. He must have had a wet ride.--Yes.--He meant to walk with her, she found. "He had just looked into the dining-room, and as he was not wanted there, preferred being out of doors." --She thought he neither looked nor spoke cheerfully; and the first possible cause for it, suggested by her fears, was, that he had perhaps been communicating his plans to his brother, and was pained by the manner in which they had been received.

They walked together. He was silent. She thought he was often looking at her, and trying for a fuller view of her face than it suited her to give. And this belief produced another dread. Perhaps he wanted to speak to her, of his attachment to Harriet; he might be watching for encouragement to begin.--She did not, could not, feel equal to lead the way to any such subject. He must do it all himself. Yet she could not bear this silence. With him it was most unnatural. She considered--resolved--and, trying to smile, began--

"You have some news to hear, now you are come back, that will rather surprize you." "Have I?" said he quietly, and looking at her; "of what nature?" "Oh! the best nature in the world--a wedding." After waiting a moment, as if to be sure she intended to say no more, he replied,

"If you mean Miss Fairfax and Frank Churchill, I have heard that already." "How is it possible?" cried Emma, turning her glowing cheeks towards him; for, while she spoke, it occurred to her that he might have called at Mrs. Goddard's in his way. "I had a few lines on parish business from Mr. Weston this morning, and at the end of them he gave me a brief account of what had happened." Emma was quite relieved, and could presently say, with a little more composure,

" You probably have been less surprized than any of us, for you have had your suspicions.--I have not forgotten that you once tried to give me a caution.--I wish I had attended to it--but--(with a sinking voice and a heavy sigh) I seem to have been doomed to blindness." For a moment or two nothing was said, and she was unsuspicious of having excited any particular interest, till she found her arm drawn within his, and pressed against his heart, and heard him thus saying, in a tone of great sensibility, speaking low,

"Time, my dearest Emma, time will heal the wound.--Your own excellent sense--your exertions for your father's sake--I know you will not allow yourself--." Her arm was pressed again, as he added, in a more broken and subdued accent, "The feelings of the warmest friendship--Indignation--Abominable scoundrel!" --And in a louder, steadier tone, he concluded with, "He will soon be gone. They will soon be in Yorkshire. I am sorry for her . She deserves a better fate." Emma understood him; and as soon as she could recover from the flutter of pleasure, excited by such tender consideration, replied,

"You are very kind--but you are mistaken--and I must set you right.--I am not in want of that sort of compassion. My blindness to what was going on, led me to act by them in a way that I must always be ashamed of, and I was very foolishly tempted to say and do many things which may well lay me open to unpleasant conjectures, but I have no other reason to regret that I was not in the secret earlier." "Emma!" cried he, looking eagerly at her, "are you, indeed?" --but checking himself--"No, no, I understand you--forgive me--I am pleased that you can say even so much.--He is no object of regret, indeed! and it will not be very long, I hope, before that becomes the acknowledgment of more than your reason.--Fortunate that your affections were not farther entangled!--I could never, I confess, from your manners, assure myself as to the degree of what you felt--I could only be certain that there was a preference--and a preference which I never believed him to deserve.--He is a disgrace to the name of man.--And is he to be rewarded with that sweet young woman?--Jane, Jane, you will be a miserable creature." "Mr. Knightley," said Emma, trying to be lively, but really confused--"I am in a very extraordinary situation. I cannot let you continue in your error; and yet, perhaps, since my manners gave such an impression, I have as much reason to be ashamed of confessing that I never have been at all attached to the person we are speaking of, as it might be natural for a woman to feel in confessing exactly the reverse.--But I never have." He listened in perfect silence. She wished him to speak, but he would not. She supposed she must say more before she were entitled to his clemency; but it was a hard case to be obliged still to lower herself in his opinion. She went on, however.

"I have very little to say for my own conduct.--I was tempted by his attentions, and allowed myself to appear pleased.--An old story, probably--a common case--and no more than has happened to hundreds of my sex before; and yet it may not be the more excusable in one who sets up as I do for Understanding. Many circumstances assisted the temptation. He was the son of Mr. Weston--he was continually here--I always found him very pleasant--and, in short, for (with a sigh) let me swell out the causes ever so ingeniously, they all centre in this at last--my vanity was flattered, and I allowed his attentions. Latterly, however--for some time, indeed--I have had no idea of their meaning any thing.--I thought them a habit, a trick, nothing that called for seriousness on my side. He has imposed on me, but he has not injured me. I have never been attached to him. And now I can tolerably comprehend his behaviour. He never wished to attach me. It was merely a blind to conceal his real situation with another.--It was his object to blind all about him; and no one, I am sure, could be more effectually blinded than myself--except that I was not blinded--that it was my good fortune--that, in short, I was somehow or other safe from him." She had hoped for an answer here--for a few words to say that her conduct was at least intelligible; but he was silent; and, as far as she could judge, deep in thought. At last, and tolerably in his usual tone, he said,

"I have never had a high opinion of Frank Churchill.--I can suppose, however, that I may have underrated him. My acquaintance with him has been but trifling.--And even if I have not underrated him hitherto, he may yet turn out well.--With such a woman he has a chance.--I have no motive for wishing him ill--and for her sake, whose happiness will be involved in his good character and conduct, I shall certainly wish him well." "I have no doubt of their being happy together," said Emma; "I believe them to be very mutually and very sincerely attached." "He is a most fortunate man!" returned Mr. Knightley, with energy. "So early in life--at three-and-twenty--a period when, if a man chuses a wife, he generally chuses ill. At three-and-twenty to have drawn such a prize! What years of felicity that man, in all human calculation, has before him!--Assured of the love of such a woman--the disinterested love, for Jane Fairfax's character vouches for her disinterestedness; every thing in his favour,--equality of situation--I mean, as far as regards society, and all the habits and manners that are important; equality in every point but one--and that one, since the purity of her heart is not to be doubted, such as must increase his felicity, for it will be his to bestow the only advantages she wants.--A man would always wish to give a woman a better home than the one he takes her from; and he who can do it, where there is no doubt of her regard, must, I think, be the happiest of mortals.--Frank Churchill is, indeed, the favourite of fortune. Every thing turns out for his good.--He meets with a young woman at a watering-place, gains her affection, cannot even weary her by negligent treatment--and had he and all his family sought round the world for a perfect wife for him, they could not have found her superior.--His aunt is in the way.--His aunt dies.--He has only to speak.--His friends are eager to promote his happiness.--He had used every body ill--and they are all delighted to forgive him.--He is a fortunate man indeed!" "You speak as if you envied him." "And I do envy him, Emma. In one respect he is the object of my envy." Emma could say no more. They seemed to be within half a sentence of Harriet, and her immediate feeling was to avert the subject, if possible. She made her plan; she would speak of something totally different--the children in Brunswick Square; and she only waited for breath to begin, when Mr. Knightley startled her, by saying,

"You will not ask me what is the point of envy.--You are determined, I see, to have no curiosity.--You are wise--but I cannot be wise. Emma, I must tell you what you will not ask, though I may wish it unsaid the next moment." "Oh! then, don't speak it, don't speak it," she eagerly cried. "Take a little time, consider, do not commit yourself." "Thank you," said he, in an accent of deep mortification, and not another syllable followed. Emma could not bear to give him pain. He was wishing to confide in her--perhaps to consult her;--cost her what it would, she would listen. She might assist his resolution, or reconcile him to it; she might give just praise to Harriet, or, by representing to him his own independence, relieve him from that state of indecision, which must be more intolerable than any alternative to such a mind as his.--They had reached the house.

"You are going in, I suppose?" said he.

"No,"--replied Emma--quite confirmed by the depressed manner in which he still spoke--"I should like to take another turn. Mr. Perry is not gone." And, after proceeding a few steps, she added--"I stopped you ungraciously, just now, Mr. Knightley, and, I am afraid, gave you pain.--But if you have any wish to speak openly to me as a friend, or to ask my opinion of any thing that you may have in contemplation--as a friend, indeed, you may command me.--I will hear whatever you like. I will tell you exactly what I think." "As a friend!" --repeated Mr. Knightley.--"Emma, that I fear is a word--No, I have no wish--Stay, yes, why should I hesitate?--I have gone too far already for concealment.--Emma, I accept your offer--Extraordinary as it may seem, I accept it, and refer myself to you as a friend.--Tell me, then, have I no chance of ever succeeding?" He stopped in his earnestness to look the question, and the expression of his eyes overpowered her.

"My dearest Emma," said he, "for dearest you will always be, whatever the event of this hour's conversation, my dearest, most beloved Emma--tell me at once. Say 'No,' if it is to be said." --She could really say nothing.--"You are silent," he cried, with great animation; "absolutely silent! at present I ask no more." Emma was almost ready to sink under the agitation of this moment. The dread of being awakened from the happiest dream, was perhaps the most prominent feeling.

"I cannot make speeches, Emma:" he soon resumed; and in a tone of such sincere, decided, intelligible tenderness as was tolerably convincing.--"If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am.--You hear nothing but truth from me.--I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it.--Bear with the truths I would tell you now, dearest Emma, as well as you have borne with them. The manner, perhaps, may have as little to recommend them. God knows, I have been a very indifferent lover.--But you understand me.--Yes, you see, you understand my feelings--and will return them if you can. At present, I ask only to hear, once to hear your voice." While he spoke, Emma's mind was most busy, and, with all the wonderful velocity of thought, had been able--and yet without losing a word--to catch and comprehend the exact truth of the whole; to see that Harriet's hopes had been entirely groundless, a mistake, a delusion, as complete a delusion as any of her own--that Harriet was nothing; that she was every thing herself; that what she had been saying relative to Harriet had been all taken as the language of her own feelings; and that her agitation, her doubts, her reluctance, her discouragement, had been all received as discouragement from herself.--And not only was there time for these convictions, with all their glow of attendant happiness; there was time also to rejoice that Harriet's secret had not escaped her, and to resolve that it need not, and should not.--It was all the service she could now render her poor friend; for as to any of that heroism of sentiment which might have prompted her to entreat him to transfer his affection from herself to Harriet, as infinitely the most worthy of the two--or even the more simple sublimity of resolving to refuse him at once and for ever, without vouchsafing any motive, because he could not marry them both, Emma had it not. She felt for Harriet, with pain and with contrition; but no flight of generosity run mad, opposing all that could be probable or reasonable, entered her brain. She had led her friend astray, and it would be a reproach to her for ever; but her judgment was as strong as her feelings, and as strong as it had ever been before, in reprobating any such alliance for him, as most unequal and degrading. Her way was clear, though not quite smooth.--She spoke then, on being so entreated.--What did she say?--Just what she ought, of course. A lady always does.--She said enough to shew there need not be despair--and to invite him to say more himself. He had despaired at one period; he had received such an injunction to caution and silence, as for the time crushed every hope;--she had begun by refusing to hear him.--The change had perhaps been somewhat sudden;--her proposal of taking another turn, her renewing the conversation which she had just put an end to, might be a little extraordinary!--She felt its inconsistency; but Mr. Knightley was so obliging as to put up with it, and seek no farther explanation.

Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised, or a little mistaken; but where, as in this case, though the conduct is mistaken, the feelings are not, it may not be very material.--Mr. Knightley could not impute to Emma a more relenting heart than she possessed, or a heart more disposed to accept of his.

He had, in fact, been wholly unsuspicious of his own influence. He had followed her into the shrubbery with no idea of trying it. He had come, in his anxiety to see how she bore Frank Churchill's engagement, with no selfish view, no view at all, but of endeavouring, if she allowed him an opening, to soothe or to counsel her.--The rest had been the work of the moment, the immediate effect of what he heard, on his feelings. The delightful assurance of her total indifference towards Frank Churchill, of her having a heart completely disengaged from him, had given birth to the hope, that, in time, he might gain her affection himself;--but it had been no present hope--he had only, in the momentary conquest of eagerness over judgment, aspired to be told that she did not forbid his attempt to attach her.--The superior hopes which gradually opened were so much the more enchanting.--The affection, which he had been asking to be allowed to create, if he could, was already his!--Within half an hour, he had passed from a thoroughly distressed state of mind, to something so like perfect happiness, that it could bear no other name.

Her change was equal.--This one half-hour had given to each the same precious certainty of being beloved, had cleared from each the same degree of ignorance, jealousy, or distrust.--On his side, there had been a long-standing jealousy, old as the arrival, or even the expectation, of Frank Churchill.--He had been in love with Emma, and jealous of Frank Churchill, from about the same period, one sentiment having probably enlightened him as to the other. It was his jealousy of Frank Churchill that had taken him from the country.--The Box Hill party had decided him on going away. He would save himself from witnessing again such permitted, encouraged attentions.--He had gone to learn to be indifferent.--But he had gone to a wrong place. There was too much domestic happiness in his brother's house; woman wore too amiable a form in it; Isabella was too much like Emma--differing only in those striking inferiorities, which always brought the other in brilliancy before him, for much to have been done, even had his time been longer.--He had stayed on, however, vigorously, day after day--till this very morning's post had conveyed the history of Jane Fairfax.--Then, with the gladness which must be felt, nay, which he did not scruple to feel, having never believed Frank Churchill to be at all deserving Emma, was there so much fond solicitude, so much keen anxiety for her, that he could stay no longer. He had ridden home through the rain; and had walked up directly after dinner, to see how this sweetest and best of all creatures, faultless in spite of all her faults, bore the discovery.

He had found her agitated and low.--Frank Churchill was a villain.--He heard her declare that she had never loved him. Frank Churchill's character was not desperate.--She was his own Emma, by hand and word, when they returned into the house; and if he could have thought of Frank Churchill then, he might have deemed him a very good sort of fellow.

Learn languages from TV shows, movies, news, articles and more! Try LingQ for FREE

Volume 3. Chapter 13. Volumen 3. Capítulo 13. Том 3. Глава 13.

The weather continued much the same all the following morning; and the same loneliness, and the same melancholy, seemed to reign at Hartfield--but in the afternoon it cleared; the wind changed into a softer quarter; the clouds were carried off; the sun appeared; it was summer again. 第二天早上天氣基本上沒有變化。同樣的孤獨、同樣的憂鬱似乎也籠罩著哈特菲爾德——但到了下午,一切都消散了。風勢轉為柔和。雲朵被帶走了;太陽出現了;又到了夏天。 With all the eagerness which such a transition gives, Emma resolved to be out of doors as soon as possible. 懷著這種轉變所帶來的強烈渴望,艾瑪決定盡快走出家門。 Never had the exquisite sight, smell, sensation of nature, tranquil, warm, and brilliant after a storm, been more attractive to her. 暴風雨過後的大自然的精緻的視覺、嗅覺、感覺,寧靜、溫暖、燦爛,從未如此吸引過她。 She longed for the serenity they might gradually introduce; and on Mr. Perry's coming in soon after dinner, with a disengaged hour to give her father, she lost no time ill hurrying into the shrubbery.--There, with spirits freshened, and thoughts a little relieved, she had taken a few turns, when she saw Mr. Knightley passing through the garden door, and coming towards her.--It was the first intimation of his being returned from London. ||||calmness|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 她渴望他們逐漸帶來的寧靜;晚餐後不久,佩里先生進來了,給她父親一個閒暇的時間,她不失時機地衝進灌木叢。——在那裡,精神煥發,心情也稍稍放鬆了一些,她轉了幾圈。 ,當她看到奈特利先生穿過花園門,朝她走來時──這是他從倫敦回來的第一個暗示。 She had been thinking of him the moment before, as unquestionably sixteen miles distant.--There was time only for the quickest arrangement of mind. 剛才她一直在想他,毫無疑問,他在十六英里之外。--只有時間來最快地安排思想。 She must be collected and calm. 她必須鎮定自若、冷靜。 In half a minute they were together. The "How d'ye do's" were quiet and constrained on each side. 雙方都安靜而拘謹地問「你好」。 She asked after their mutual friends; they were all well.--When had he left them?--Only that morning. 她詢問了他們共同的朋友的情況。他們都很好。--他什麼時候離開他們的?--只有那天早上。 He must have had a wet ride.--Yes.--He meant to walk with her, she found. 他一定是淋濕了。--是的。--她發現,他打算和她一起散步。 "He had just looked into the dining-room, and as he was not wanted there, preferred being out of doors." “他剛剛參觀了餐廳,由於那裡不歡迎他,所以他寧願留在外面。” --She thought he neither looked nor spoke cheerfully; and the first possible cause for it, suggested by her fears, was, that he had perhaps been communicating his plans to his brother, and was pained by the manner in which they had been received. ——她認為他看起來和說話都不高興;她的擔憂表明,第一個可能的原因是,他可能正在向他的兄弟傳達他的計劃,並對他們接受的方式感到痛苦。

They walked together. He was silent. She thought he was often looking at her, and trying for a fuller view of her face than it suited her to give. And this belief produced another dread. Perhaps he wanted to speak to her, of his attachment to Harriet; he might be watching for encouragement to begin.--She did not, could not, feel equal to lead the way to any such subject. He must do it all himself. Yet she could not bear this silence. With him it was most unnatural. She considered--resolved--and, trying to smile, began--

"You have some news to hear, now you are come back, that will rather surprize you." "Have I?" said he quietly, and looking at her; "of what nature?" 他看著她,輕聲說。 “什麼性質的?” "Oh! the best nature in the world--a wedding." After waiting a moment, as if to be sure she intended to say no more, he replied,

"If you mean Miss Fairfax and Frank Churchill, I have heard that already." “如果你指的是費爾法克斯小姐和弗蘭克·丘吉爾,我已經聽說過。” "How is it possible?" cried Emma, turning her glowing cheeks towards him; for, while she spoke, it occurred to her that he might have called at Mrs. Goddard's in his way. 艾瑪喊道,把紅潤的臉轉向他。因為,當她說話的時候,她突然想到他可能以自己的方式拜訪了戈達德夫人家。 "I had a few lines on parish business from Mr. Weston this morning, and at the end of them he gave me a brief account of what had happened." “今天早上我收到了韋斯頓先生關於教區事務的幾句話,最後他向我簡要介紹了所發生的事情。” Emma was quite relieved, and could presently say, with a little more composure, 艾瑪鬆了一口氣,現在可以平靜地說:

" You probably have been less surprized than any of us, for you have had your suspicions.--I have not forgotten that you once tried to give me a caution.--I wish I had attended to it--but--(with a sinking voice and a heavy sigh) I seem to have been doomed to blindness." 「你可能比我們任何人都沒有那麼驚訝,因為你有你的懷疑。——我沒有忘記你曾經試圖給我一個警告。——我希望我當時注意到了——但是——(聲音低沉,重重地嘆了口氣)我似乎注定要失明了。” For a moment or two nothing was said, and she was unsuspicious of having excited any particular interest, till she found her arm drawn within his, and pressed against his heart, and heard him thus saying, in a tone of great sensibility, speaking low, 有那麼一會兒,什麼也沒說,她並不懷疑自己引起了任何特別的興趣,直到她發現自己的手臂被拉在他的懷裡,壓在他的心上,聽到他這樣說,語氣非常敏感,低聲說話。 ,

"Time, my dearest Emma, time will heal the wound.--Your own excellent sense--your exertions for your father's sake--I know you will not allow yourself--." 「時間,我最親愛的艾瑪,時間會治癒傷口。——你自己卓越的判斷力——你為你父親的緣故所付出的努力——我知道你不會允許自己——” Her arm was pressed again, as he added, in a more broken and subdued accent, "The feelings of the warmest friendship--Indignation--Abominable scoundrel!" 她的手臂再次被壓住,他用更加破碎和柔和的口音補充道:“最溫暖的友誼的感情——憤慨——可惡的惡棍!” --And in a louder, steadier tone, he concluded with, "He will soon be gone. ——他用更大聲、更穩定的語氣總結道:「他很快就會離開。 They will soon be in Yorkshire. I am sorry for  her . She deserves a better fate." Emma understood him; and as soon as she could recover from the flutter of pleasure, excited by such tender consideration, replied, 艾瑪理解他。當她從因這種溫柔的體貼而興奮的喜悅中恢復過來時,她回答:

"You are very kind--but you are mistaken--and I must set you right.--I am not in want of that sort of compassion. 「你非常善良——但你錯了——我必須糾正你的錯誤——我不需要那種同情心。 My blindness to what was going on, led me to act by them in a way that I must always be ashamed of, and I was very foolishly tempted to say and do many things which may well lay me open to unpleasant conjectures, but I have no other reason to regret that I was not in the secret earlier." 我對正在發生的事情視而不見,導致我以一種我必須永遠感到羞恥的方式行事,我非常愚蠢地想要說和做很多事情,這些事情很可能會讓我陷入不愉快的猜測,但我已經沒有其他理由後悔我沒有早點知道這個秘密。” "Emma!" cried he, looking eagerly at her, "are you, indeed?" --but checking himself--"No, no, I understand you--forgive me--I am pleased that you can say even so much.--He is no object of regret, indeed! ——但又檢視了一下自己——「不,不,我理解你——請原諒我——我很高興你能說這麼多。——確實,他並不是一個值得遺憾的對象! and it will not be very long, I hope, before that becomes the acknowledgment of more than your reason.--Fortunate that your affections were not farther entangled!--I could never, I confess, from your manners, assure myself as to the degree of what you felt--I could only be certain that there was a preference--and a preference which I never believed him to deserve.--He is a disgrace to the name of man.--And is he to be rewarded with that sweet young woman?--Jane, Jane, you will be a miserable creature." 我希望,用不了多久,你的理智就會承認這一點。——幸運的是,你的感情沒有進一步糾纏在一起!——我承認,從你的舉止來看,我永遠無法向自己保證你所感受到的程度——我只能確定有一種偏愛——而且是一種我從來不相信他應得的偏愛。——他是人類名譽的恥辱。——他是得到那個可愛的年輕女人的獎勵?——簡,簡,你將是一個悲慘的生物。” "Mr. Knightley," said Emma, trying to be lively, but really confused--"I am in a very extraordinary situation. 「奈特利先生,」艾瑪竭力表現得活潑,但實際上很困惑——「我的處境非常不尋常。 I cannot let you continue in your error; and yet, perhaps, since my manners gave such an impression, I have as much reason to be ashamed of confessing that I never have been at all attached to the person we are speaking of, as it might be natural for a woman to feel in confessing exactly the reverse.--But I never have." 我不能讓你繼續錯;然而,也許,既然我的舉止給人留下了這樣的印象,我就有足夠的理由羞於承認我從來沒有對我們正在談論的人有任何感情,就像一個女人很自然地感覺到承認恰恰相反。——但我從來沒有。” He listened in perfect silence. She wished him to speak, but he would not. She supposed she must say more before she were entitled to his clemency; but it was a hard case to be obliged still to lower herself in his opinion. ||||||||||||mercy|||||||||||||||| 她想,在她有資格得到他的寬大處理之前,她必須說得更多。但在他看來,仍要降低自己的地位是很困難的。 She went on, however.

"I have very little to say for my own conduct.--I was tempted by his attentions, and allowed myself to appear pleased.--An old story, probably--a common case--and no more than has happened to hundreds of my sex before; and yet it may not be the more excusable in one who sets up as I do for Understanding. 「我對自己的行為沒什麼好說的。——我被他的關注所吸引,並讓自己表現得很高興。——一個古老的故事,可能——一個常見的案例——而且只發生在數百人身上以前我的性別;然而,對於像我這樣為理解而做的人來說,這可能不是更可以原諒的。 Many circumstances assisted the temptation. He was the son of Mr. Weston--he was continually here--I always found him very pleasant--and, in short, for (with a sigh) let me swell out the causes ever so ingeniously, they all centre in this at last--my vanity was flattered, and I allowed his attentions. 他是韋斯頓先生的兒子——他一直在這裡——我總是覺得他很令人愉快——總之,因為(嘆了口氣)讓我如此巧妙地闡述原因,它們都集中在這個最後— —我的虛榮心得到了滿足,我接受了他的關注。 Latterly, however--for some time, indeed--I have had no idea of their meaning any thing.--I thought them a habit, a trick, nothing that called for seriousness on my side. 然而,最近——事實上,有一段時間——我對它們的意義一無所知。——我認為它們是一種習慣,一種詭計,不需要我認真對待。 He has imposed on me, but he has not injured me. 他強加給我,但他沒有傷害我。 I have never been attached to him. And now I can tolerably comprehend his behaviour. He never wished to attach me. It was merely a blind to conceal his real situation with another.--It was his object to blind all about him; and no one, I am sure, could be more effectually blinded than myself--except that I was  not blinded--that it was my good fortune--that, in short, I was somehow or other safe from him." 這只不過是一個盲人向另一個人隱瞞自己的真實情況。——他的目的是讓他周圍的一切都蒙蔽;我確信,沒有人比我自己更能被蒙蔽——除了我沒有被蒙蔽——這是我的幸運——簡而言之,我在某種程度上是安全的。” She had hoped for an answer here--for a few words to say that her conduct was at least intelligible; but he was silent; and, as far as she could judge, deep in thought. 她本來希望在這裡得到答案——希望能說幾句話來說明她的行為至少是可以理解的;但現在,她終於明白了。但他沉默了;據她判斷,她正在陷入沉思。 At last, and tolerably in his usual tone, he said,

"I have never had a high opinion of Frank Churchill.--I can suppose, however, that I may have underrated him. 「我對弗蘭克邱吉爾從來沒有很高的評價。但是,我可以認為我可能低估了他。 My acquaintance with him has been but trifling.--And even if I have not underrated him hitherto, he may yet turn out well.--With such a woman he has a chance.--I have no motive for wishing him ill--and for her sake, whose happiness will be involved in his good character and conduct, I shall certainly wish him well." "I have no doubt of their being happy together," said Emma; "I believe them to be very mutually and very sincerely attached." "He is a most fortunate man!" returned Mr. Knightley, with energy. "So early in life--at three-and-twenty--a period when, if a man chuses a wife, he generally chuses ill. At three-and-twenty to have drawn such a prize! What years of felicity that man, in all human calculation, has before him!--Assured of the love of such a woman--the disinterested love, for Jane Fairfax's character vouches for her disinterestedness; every thing in his favour,--equality of situation--I mean, as far as regards society, and all the habits and manners that are important; equality in every point but one--and that one, since the purity of her heart is not to be doubted, such as must increase his felicity, for it will be his to bestow the only advantages she wants.--A man would always wish to give a woman a better home than the one he takes her from; and he who can do it, where there is no doubt of  her regard, must, I think, be the happiest of mortals.--Frank Churchill is, indeed, the favourite of fortune. |||happiness||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||happiness||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| 就人類的計算而言,這個男人在他面前有多麼幸福的歲月啊!--對這樣一個女人的愛的保證--無私的愛,對簡‧費爾法克斯的性格保證了她的無私;一切對他有利的事——處境平等——我的意思是,就社會而言,以及所有重要的習慣和舉止;除了一點之外,在每一點上都是平等的——而這一點,因為她內心的純潔是不容懷疑的,這樣就必須增加他的幸福,因為他將給予她唯一想要的優勢。——一個男人永遠會希望給一個女人一個比他帶走她的更好的家;我認為,能做到這一點的人,在她毫無疑問的尊重的情況下,一定是凡人中最幸福的人。--法蘭克邱吉爾確實是命運的寵兒。 Every thing turns out for his good.--He meets with a young woman at a watering-place, gains her affection, cannot even weary her by negligent treatment--and had he and all his family sought round the world for a perfect wife for him, they could not have found her superior.--His aunt is in the way.--His aunt dies.--He has only to speak.--His friends are eager to promote his happiness.--He had used every body ill--and they are all delighted to forgive him.--He is a fortunate man indeed!" 一切都對他有利。——他在水邊遇見了一位年輕女子,贏得了她的芳心,甚至不能因為疏忽的對待而讓她感到厭倦——他和他的全家在世界各地尋找一個完美的妻子對他來說,他們不可能找到她的上級。-他的姨媽擋道了。-他的姨媽死了。-他只需開口說話。-他的朋友們渴望促進他的幸福。-他曾用過每個人都生病了——他們都很高興原諒他——他確實是一個幸運的人!” "You speak as if you envied him." “你說得好像你很羨慕他一樣。” "And I do envy him, Emma. In one respect he is the object of my envy." Emma could say no more. They seemed to be within half a sentence of Harriet, and her immediate feeling was to avert the subject, if possible. 他們似乎和哈麗特只說了半句話,她的第一個反應是如果可能的話,要迴避這個話題。 She made her plan; she would speak of something totally different--the children in Brunswick Square; and she only waited for breath to begin, when Mr. Knightley startled her, by saying,

"You will not ask me what is the point of envy.--You are determined, I see, to have no curiosity.--You are wise--but  I cannot be wise. 「你不會問我嫉妒有什麼意義。——我明白,你決心沒有好奇心。——你很聰明——但我不可能聰明。 Emma, I must tell you what you will not ask, though I may wish it unsaid the next moment." 艾瑪,我必須告訴你你不會問的事情,儘管我可能希望下一刻不要說出來。” "Oh! then, don't speak it, don't speak it," she eagerly cried. "Take a little time, consider, do not commit yourself." “花一點時間,考慮一下,不要讓自己陷入困境。” "Thank you," said he, in an accent of deep mortification, and not another syllable followed. 「謝謝你,」他用一種深深的屈辱的口音說道,隨後就沒有再發出一個音節。 Emma could not bear to give him pain. He was wishing to confide in her--perhaps to consult her;--cost her what it would, she would listen. 他希望向她吐露心聲──或許向她請教──無論付出什麼代價,她都會聽。 She might assist his resolution, or reconcile him to it; she might give just praise to Harriet, or, by representing to him his own independence, relieve him from that state of indecision, which must be more intolerable than any alternative to such a mind as his.--They had reached the house. 她可能會幫助他做出決定,或讓他接受這個決定。她可以對哈麗雅特給予公正的讚揚,或者通過向他表明自己的獨立性,使他擺脫優柔寡斷的狀態,這種狀態一定比他這樣的頭腦更難以忍受。——他們已經到了房子。

"You are going in, I suppose?" said he.

"No,"--replied Emma--quite confirmed by the depressed manner in which he still spoke--"I should like to take another turn. 「不,」——艾瑪回答——他說話時仍然沮喪的態度證實了這一點——「我想再轉一圈。 Mr. Perry is not gone." And, after proceeding a few steps, she added--"I stopped you ungraciously, just now, Mr. Knightley, and, I am afraid, gave you pain.--But if you have any wish to speak openly to me as a friend, or to ask my opinion of any thing that you may have in contemplation--as a friend, indeed, you may command me.--I will hear whatever you like. 走了幾步後,她補充說——「奈特利先生,我剛才無禮地阻止了你,而且,我擔心,讓你感到痛苦。——但是,如果你願意公開地與我交談,作為一個朋友,或問我對你可能想到的任何事情的看法——事實上,作為朋友,你可以命令我。——我會聽你喜歡的任何話。 I will tell you exactly what I think." "As a friend!" --repeated Mr. Knightley.--"Emma, that I fear is a word--No, I have no wish--Stay, yes, why should I hesitate?--I have gone too far already for concealment.--Emma, I accept your offer--Extraordinary as it may seem, I accept it, and refer myself to you as a friend.--Tell me, then, have I no chance of ever succeeding?" 奈特利--「艾瑪,我擔心的是一個詞--不,我沒有願望--留下來,是的,我為什麼要猶豫?--我已經走得太遠了,無法隱瞞。--艾瑪,我接受你的提議——雖然看起來很不尋常,但我接受了,並以朋友的身份向你介紹自己。——那麼請告訴我,我沒有成功的機會嗎?” He stopped in his earnestness to look the question, and the expression of his eyes overpowered her. 他停下來,認真地看著這個問題,他的眼神壓倒了她。

"My dearest Emma," said he, "for dearest you will always be, whatever the event of this hour's conversation, my dearest, most beloved Emma--tell me at once. 「我最親愛的艾瑪,」他說,「因為無論這一小時的談話發生什麼,你永遠都是最親愛的,我最親愛的、最心愛的艾瑪——立刻告訴我。 Say 'No,' if it is to be said." --She could really say nothing.--"You are silent," he cried, with great animation; "absolutely silent! ——她真的什麼也說不出來。——「你沉默不語,」他興奮地喊道。 「絕對沉默! at present I ask no more." Emma was almost ready to sink under the agitation of this moment. The dread of being awakened from the happiest dream, was perhaps the most prominent feeling. 害怕從最幸福的夢中醒來,也許是最突出的感覺。

"I cannot make speeches, Emma:" he soon resumed; and in a tone of such sincere, decided, intelligible tenderness as was tolerably convincing.--"If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. 「我不能講話,艾瑪。」他很快又說。語氣真誠、堅定、可理解的溫柔,令人信服——「如果我愛你少一點,我也許可以多談論這件事。 But you know what I am.--You hear nothing but truth from me.--I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it.--Bear with the truths I would tell you now, dearest Emma, as well as you have borne with them. 但你知道我是什麼人。--你從我嘴裡聽到的只是實話。--我責備過你,教訓過你,而你卻忍受了這種痛苦,這是英國其他女人所無法承受的。--接受事實吧我現在要告訴你,最親愛的艾瑪,以及你已經忍受了他們。 The manner, perhaps, may have as little to recommend them. 或許,這種方式對他們來說沒有什麼好推薦的。 God knows, I have been a very indifferent lover.--But you understand me.--Yes, you see, you understand my feelings--and will return them if you can. 天知道,我一直是個非常冷漠的情人。--但你理解我。--是的,你看,你理解我的感受--如果可以的話,你會回報我的。 At present, I ask only to hear, once to hear your voice." While he spoke, Emma's mind was most busy, and, with all the wonderful velocity of thought, had been able--and yet without losing a word--to catch and comprehend the exact truth of the whole; to see that Harriet's hopes had been entirely groundless, a mistake, a delusion, as complete a delusion as any of her own--that Harriet was nothing; that she was every thing herself; that what she had been saying relative to Harriet had been all taken as the language of her own feelings; and that her agitation, her doubts, her reluctance, her discouragement, had been all received as discouragement from herself.--And not only was there time for these convictions, with all their glow of attendant happiness; there was time also to rejoice that Harriet's secret had not escaped her, and to resolve that it need not, and should not.--It was all the service she could now render her poor friend; for as to any of that heroism of sentiment which might have prompted her to entreat him to transfer his affection from herself to Harriet, as infinitely the most worthy of the two--or even the more simple sublimity of resolving to refuse him at once and for ever, without vouchsafing any motive, because he could not marry them both, Emma had it not. |||||||||||||speed|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| She felt for Harriet, with pain and with contrition; but no flight of generosity run mad, opposing all that could be probable or reasonable, entered her brain. She had led her friend astray, and it would be a reproach to her for ever; but her judgment was as strong as her feelings, and as strong as it had ever been before, in reprobating any such alliance for him, as most unequal and degrading. 她讓她的朋友誤入歧途,這將是她永遠的恥辱。但她的判斷力和她的感情一樣強烈,而且像以前一樣強烈,譴責他的任何這種聯盟,認為這是最不平等和有辱人格的。 Her way was clear, though not quite smooth.--She spoke then, on being so entreated.--What did she say?--Just what she ought, of course. 她的道路很清楚,雖然不太順利。——她在如此懇求下說話了。——她說什麼?——當然,正是她應該說的。 A lady always does.--She said enough to shew there need not be despair--and to invite him to say more himself. 一位女士總是這樣做。——她說得足夠多,表明不必絕望——並邀請他自己再說更多。 He  had despaired at one period; he had received such an injunction to caution and silence, as for the time crushed every hope;--she had begun by refusing to hear him.--The change had perhaps been somewhat sudden;--her proposal of taking another turn, her renewing the conversation which she had just put an end to, might be a little extraordinary!--She felt its inconsistency; but Mr. Knightley was so obliging as to put up with it, and seek no farther explanation. 他曾經一度絕望;他收到了這樣的命令,要小心謹慎,保持沉默,因為當時所有的希望都破滅了;——她一開始就拒絕聽他說話。——變化也許有點突然;——她提議再轉一圈,她的提議重新開始她剛結束的談話,可能有點不尋常!--她覺得這很矛盾;但奈特利先生非常樂於助人,容忍了這件事,沒有尋求進一步的解釋。

Seldom, very seldom, does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised, or a little mistaken; but where, as in this case, though the conduct is mistaken, the feelings are not, it may not be very material.--Mr. 人類披露的資訊很少、非常少。很少有事情不是經過一點掩飾,或是一點點錯誤的。但是,就像在這個例子中一樣,雖然行為是錯誤的,但感情卻沒有,那麼它可能就不是很重要了。--先生。 Knightley could not impute to Emma a more relenting heart than she possessed, or a heart more disposed to accept of his. |||attribute|||||yielding||||||||||||| 奈特利無法將愛瑪歸咎為比她所擁有的更仁慈的心,或比她更願意接受他的心。

He had, in fact, been wholly unsuspicious of his own influence. He had followed her into the shrubbery with no idea of trying it. He had come, in his anxiety to see how she bore Frank Churchill's engagement, with no selfish view, no view at all, but of endeavouring, if she allowed him an opening, to soothe or to counsel her.--The rest had been the work of the moment, the immediate effect of what he heard, on his feelings. 他來是為了看看她如何接受弗蘭克·邱吉爾的訂婚,沒有自私的想法,根本沒有任何想法,而是努力,如果她允許他有機會的話,安慰或勸告她。當下的工作,他所聽到的對他的感受的直接影響。 The delightful assurance of her total indifference towards Frank Churchill, of her having a heart completely disengaged from him, had given birth to the hope, that, in time, he might gain her affection himself;--but it had been no present hope--he had only, in the momentary conquest of eagerness over judgment, aspired to be told that she did not forbid his attempt to attach her.--The superior hopes which gradually opened were so much the more enchanting.--The affection, which he had been asking to be allowed to create, if he could, was already his!--Within half an hour, he had passed from a thoroughly distressed state of mind, to something so like perfect happiness, that it could bear no other name. 她對弗蘭克·邱吉爾完全漠不關心,她的心完全脫離了他,這一令人愉快的保證催生了這樣的希望:到時候,他可能會自己贏得她的愛;——但目前還沒有希望—— ——他只是在暫時征服了判斷力的渴望中,渴望被告知她並沒有禁止他與她交往的企圖。——逐漸展開的高級希望更加令人著迷。——那種感情,他一直在請求被允許創造,如果可以的話,已經是他的了!——半個小時之內,他已經從一種徹底痛苦的精神狀態轉變為一種完美的幸福,它無法用其他名字來形容。 。

Her change was equal.--This one half-hour had given to each the same precious certainty of being beloved, had cleared from each the same degree of ignorance, jealousy, or distrust.--On his side, there had been a long-standing jealousy, old as the arrival, or even the expectation, of Frank Churchill.--He had been in love with Emma, and jealous of Frank Churchill, from about the same period, one sentiment having probably enlightened him as to the other. It was his jealousy of Frank Churchill that had taken him from the country.--The Box Hill party had decided him on going away. He would save himself from witnessing again such permitted, encouraged attentions.--He had gone to learn to be indifferent.--But he had gone to a wrong place. 他要避免再次目睹這種允許的、鼓勵的關注。——他已經學會了冷漠。——但他走錯了地方。 There was too much domestic happiness in his brother's house; woman wore too amiable a form in it; Isabella was too much like Emma--differing only in those striking inferiorities, which always brought the other in brilliancy before him, for much to have been done, even had his time been longer.--He had stayed on, however, vigorously, day after day--till this very morning's post had conveyed the history of Jane Fairfax.--Then, with the gladness which must be felt, nay, which he did not scruple to feel, having never believed Frank Churchill to be at all deserving Emma, was there so much fond solicitude, so much keen anxiety for her, that he could stay no longer. He had ridden home through the rain; and had walked up directly after dinner, to see how this sweetest and best of all creatures, faultless in spite of all her faults, bore the discovery. 他冒雨騎車回家。晚餐後,她徑直走過去,想看看這個最可愛、最優秀的生物,儘管有種種缺點,卻毫無缺點,是如何承受這一發現的。

He had found her agitated and low.--Frank Churchill was a villain.--He heard her declare that she had never loved him. 他發現她情緒激動、情緒低落。——弗蘭克·邱吉爾是個惡棍。——他聽到她宣稱她從未愛過他。 Frank Churchill's character was not desperate.--She was his own Emma, by hand and word, when they returned into the house; and if he could have thought of Frank Churchill then, he might have deemed him a very good sort of fellow.