名著精读《理智与情感》第四章 第3节

"I shall very soon think him handsome, Elinor, if I do not now. When you tell me to love him as a brother, I shall no more see imperfection in his face, than I now do in his heart. "

“埃丽诺，我要是现在不认为他漂亮，马上就会这么认为的。既然你叫我爱他如爱兄长，我将看不到他外貌上的缺欠，就像我现在看不出他内心里有什么缺欠一样。”

Elinor started at this declaration, and was sorry for the warmth she had been betrayed into, in speaking of him. She felt that Edward stood very high in her opinion. She believed the regard to be mutual; but she required greater certainty of it to make Marianne's conviction of their attachment agreeable to her. She knew that what Marianne and her mother conjectured one moment, they believed the next--that with them, to wish was to hope, and to hope was to expect. She tried to explain the real state of the case to her sister.

一听这话，埃丽诺不禁为之一惊。她后悔自己不该那样热烈地赞扬爱德华。她觉得，她对爱德华尊崇备至。她认为这种尊崇是双方互有的。不过，对这种相互尊崇，她需要有更大的把握，才能让玛丽安确信他们是相互钟情的，她自己也好感到踏实一些。她知道，玛丽安和母亲忽而胡猜乱想，忽而信以为真。对她俩来说，想望着的便是有希望的，有希望的便是指日可待的。她想把事情的真相向妹妹解释清楚。

"I do not attempt to deny, " said she, "that I think very highly of him--that I greatly esteem, that I like him. "

“我不想否认，”她说，“我非常看重他—一我十分尊敬他，喜欢他。”

Marianne here burst forth with indignation--

玛丽安突然勃然大怒起来。

"Esteem him! Like him! Cold-hearted Elinor! Oh! worse than cold-hearted! Ashamed of being otherwise. Use those words again, and I will leave the room this moment. "

“尊敬他！喜欢他！冷漠无情的埃丽诺。哼！比冷漠无情还坏！你怕羞才这样讲。你再说这些话，我马上就离开这个房间。”

Elinor could not help laughing. "Excuse me, " said she; "and be assured that I meant no offence to you, by speaking, in so quiet a way, of my own feelings. Believe them to be stronger than I have declared; believe them, in short, to be such as his merit, and the suspicion--the hope of his affection for me may warrant, without imprudence or folly. But farther than this you must not believe. I am by no means assured of his regard for me. There are moments when the extent of it seems doubtful; and till his sentiments are fully known, you cannot wonder at my wishing to avoid any encouragement of my own partiality, by believing or calling it more than it is. In my heart I feel little--scarcely any doubt of his preference. But there are other points to be considered besides his inclination. He is very far from being independent. What his mother really is we cannot know; but, from Fanny's occasional mention of her conduct and opinions, we have never been disposed to think her amiable; and I am very much mistaken if Edward is not himself aware that there would be many difficulties in his way, if he were to wish to marry a woman who had not either a great fortune or high rank. "
　　
埃丽诺忍不住笑了。“请原谅，”她说，“你尽管放心，我这样平心静气地谈论我的感情，决没有冒犯你的意思。请你相信，我的感情比我表白的还要强烈。而且你要相信，由于他有那么多优点，由于我怀疑他——希望他有情于我，我才理所当然地产生了这种感情，这既不轻率，也不唐突。但是除此之外，你切不可信以为真。我不敢保证他一定有心于我。有些时候，这种事情还很难说。在没有彻底摸清他的真实思想以前，我想自己还是不要纵容这种偏爱，不要以想象代替事实，轻信妄言，这你是不会感到奇怪的。讲心里话，我并不——几乎一点也不怀疑他对我特别喜爱。但是，除此之外，还有别的问题需要考虑。他绝非是独立自主的。他母亲究竟是什么样的人，我们不得而知。不过，范妮偶尔谈到过她的行为和见解，我们从不认为她是和悦的。爱德华自己也肯定知道，他假若想娶一个财产不多、身价不高的女人，一定会遇到重重困难。”

rfection n. 不完全, 不完备, 缺点

My father never tolerated imperfection.
我父亲要求一切事情非尽善尽美不可。

ay [bi'trei] vt. 误导, 出卖, 背叛, 泄露 vi. 证明...错误

His accent betrayed the fact that he was foreign.
他的口音显露出他是外国人。

al adj. 共同的, 相互的

Let's give mutual support and inspiration to each other.
让我们互相支持, 互相鼓励。

ecture v.&n. 推测, 臆测

The general conjectures that the enemy will launch an attack against us this night.
将军推测说敌人将于今天晚上突袭我们。

em [is'ti:m] n. 尊敬 vt. 认为, 尊敬

We all have great esteem for you.
我们都非常敬重您。

gnation n. 愤怒, 愤慨, 义愤

The news roused great indignation.
这条消息引起了极大的愤慨。

udence n. 轻率, 不小心, 不谨慎

His father ticked him off for his imprudence.
他父亲斥责他粗暴无礼。

ination n. 倾向, 意愿, 倾斜度

I have little inclination to listen to you all evening.
我可不愿意一晚上都听你说话.