名著精讀《理智與情感》第四章 第3節

"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. "

“埃麗諾，我要是現在不認爲他漂亮，馬上就會這麼認爲的。既然你叫我愛他如愛兄長，我將看不到他外貌上的缺欠，就像我現在看不出他內心裏有什麼缺欠一樣。”

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.

一聽這話，埃麗諾不禁爲之一驚。她後悔自己不該那樣熱烈地讚揚愛德華。她覺得，她對愛德華尊崇備至。她認爲這種尊崇是雙方互有的。不過，對這種相互尊崇，她需要有更大的把握，才能讓瑪麗安確信他們是相互鍾情的，她自己也好感到踏實一些。她知道，瑪麗安和母親忽而胡猜亂想，忽而信以爲真。對她倆來說，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釋清楚。

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

“我不想否認，”她說，“我非常看重他—一我十分尊敬他，喜歡他。”

Marianne here burst forth with indignation--

瑪麗安突然勃然大怒起來。

"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！喜歡他！冷漠無情的埃麗諾。哼！比冷漠無情還壞！你怕羞才這樣講。你再說這些話，我馬上就離開這個房間。”

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. "
　　
埃麗諾忍不住笑了。“請原諒，”她說，“你儘管放心，我這樣平心靜氣地談論我的感情，決沒有冒犯你的意思。請你相信，我的感情比我表白的還要強烈。而且你要相信，由於他有那麼多優點，由於我懷疑他——希望他有情於我，我才理所當然地產生了這種感情，這既不輕率，也不唐突。但是除此之外，你切不可信以爲真。我不敢保證他一定有心於我。有些時候，這種事情還很難說。在沒有徹底摸清他的真實思想以前，我想自己還是不要縱容這種偏愛，不要以想象代替事實，輕信妄言，這你是不會感到奇怪的。講心裏話，我並不——幾乎一點也不懷疑他對我特別喜愛。但是，除此之外，還有別的問題需要考慮。他絕非是獨立自主的。他母親究竟是什麼樣的人，我們不得而知。不過，範妮偶爾談到過她的行爲和見解，我們從不認爲她是和悅的。愛德華自己也肯定知道，他假若想娶一個財產不多、身價不高的女人，一定會遇到重重困難。”

rfection n. 不完全, 不完備, 缺點

My father never tolerated imperfection.
我父親要求一切事情非盡善盡美不可。

ay [bi'trei] vt. 誤導, 出賣, 背叛, 泄露 vi. 證明...錯誤

His accent betrayed the fact that he was foreign.
他的口音顯露出他是外國人。

al adj. 共同的, 相互的

Let's give mutual support and inspiration to each other.
讓我們互相支持, 互相鼓勵。

ecture v.&n. 推測, 臆測

The general conjectures that the enemy will launch an attack against us this night.
將軍推測說敵人將於今天晚上突襲我們。

em [is'ti:m] n. 尊敬 vt. 認爲, 尊敬

We all have great esteem for you.
我們都非常敬重您。

gnation n. 憤怒, 憤慨, 義憤

The news roused great indignation.
這條消息引起了極大的憤慨。

udence n. 輕率, 不小心, 不謹慎

His father ticked him off for his imprudence.
他父親斥責他粗暴無禮。

ination n. 傾向, 意願, 傾斜度

I have little inclination to listen to you all evening.
我可不願意一晚上都聽你說話.