名著精讀《理智與情感》第四章 第4節

Marianne was astonished to find how much the imagination of her mother and herself had outstripped the truth.

瑪麗安驚得地發現，她和母親的想象已經大大超越了事實真相。

"And you really are not engaged to him!" said she. "Yet it certainly soon will happen. But two advantages will proceed from this delay. I shall not lose you so soon, and Edward will have greater opportunity of improving that natural taste for your favourite pursuit which must be so indispensably necessary to your future felicity. Oh! if he should be so far stimulated by your genius as to learn to draw himself, how delightful it would be!"
　　
“你當真沒有和他訂婚：”她說。“然而，這準是馬上就要發生的事情。不過，這樣推遲一下倒有兩個好處，一則我不會這麼快就失去你，二則愛德華可以有更多的機會提高自己的天生的鑑賞力，以便欣賞你的特殊愛好，這對你們未來的幸福是必不可少的。哦!他若爲你的天才所激發，也學會畫畫，那該多麼令人高興啊!”

Elinor had given her real opinion to her sister. She could not consider her partiality for Edward in so prosperous a state as Marianne had believed it. There was, at times, a want of spirits about him which, if it did not denote indifference, spoke of something almost as unpromising. A doubt of her regard, supposing him to feel it, need not give him more than inquietude. It would not be likely to produce that dejection of mind which frequently attended him. A more reasonable cause might be found in the dependent situation which forbade the indulgence of his affection. She knew that his mother neither behaved to him so as to make his home comfortable at present, nor to give him any assurance that he might form a home for himself, without strictly attending to her views for his aggrandizement. With such a knowledge as this, it was impossible for Elinor to feel easy on the subject. She was far from depending on that result of his preference of her, which her mother and sister still considered as certain. Nay, the longer they were together the more doubtful seemed the nature of his regard; and sometimes, for a few painful minutes, she believed it to be no more than friendship.
　　
埃麗諾把自已的真實想法告訴了妹妹。她不像瑪麗安想象的那樣，把對愛德華的鐘情看得那麼遂心如意。他有時候沒精打采的，如果不是表示態度冷淡的話，就說明前景有點不妙。假如他對埃麗諾的鐘情感到懷疑，大不過使他憂慮一番，不可能惹得他老是那麼垂頭喪氣的。這裏或許有個更合乎情理的原因：他的從屬地位不允許他感情用事。埃麗諾知道，他母親對他的態度，既不是讓他把現在的家安排得舒適一些，又不是確認他可以不嚴格遵循她爲他制定的生財發跡之道，而自己成家。埃麗諾深知這一情況，心裏不可能感到安穩。她不相信他的鐘情會產生什麼結果，只有她母親和妹妹依然認爲很有把握。不，他們在一起呆的時間越長，他的情意似乎越令人感到可疑。有時，出現那麼痛苦的幾分鐘，她覺得這只不過是友情而已。

trip ['aut'strip] vt. 超過, 跑過

It is a case of the student outstripping the teacher.
這是一個學生超過老師的例子。

uit n. 追求, 追趕, 工作

We work hard in pursuit of happy life.
我們爲追求幸福生活而努力工作。

spensably adv. 不可缺少地, 絕對必要地

give help that is indispensably required
給予不可缺少的援助

ietude [in'kwaiitju:d] n. 焦慮, 不安

lgence n. 沉溺,放縱,嗜好

Sweets are my only indulgence.
甜食是我唯一的嗜好。

andizement n. 增大, 擴大, 強化

His sole aim is personal aggrandizement.
他唯一的目標就是要擴充個人的權勢。

e was, at times, a want of spirits about him which, if it did not denote indifference, spoke of something almost as unpromising. A doubt of her regard, supposing him to feel it, need not give him more than inquietude.

【難句解析】a want of sth.意思是“缺少...”；unpromising意思是“沒有希望的，結果未必良好的”

【句子翻譯】他有時候沒精打采的，如果不是表示態度冷淡的話，就說明前景有點不妙。假如他對埃麗諾的鐘情感到懷疑，大不過使他憂慮一番，不可能惹得他老是那麼垂頭喪氣的。