有风景的房间，第 8 集，共 15 集

你都看到这儿了，肯定很喜欢这本书吧，这真让我开心。

Well, you must be enjoying this book since you've made it this far, and that makes me so happy.

你每天都该睡个好觉。

You deserve to sleep well every night.

别忘了订阅《 sleepy bookshelf》的高级频道，那里有独家的附加剧集。

So be sure to check out the sleepy bookshelf premium feed, where you'll find exclusive bonus episodes.

这样你就永远不会缺能帮你入眠的故事了。

That way, you'll never run out of stories to put you to sleep.

你好。

Hello.

我是伊丽莎白，很高兴向你介绍Slumber Studios的新节目。

It's Elizabeth, and I'm excited to share with you the newest show from Slumber Studios.

节目叫《Sleepy History》，名字就说明了一切。

It's called Sleepy History, and it's exactly what it sounds like.

我们会用极其舒缓的方式，为你讲述历史中那些引人入胜的故事、人物、谜团和事件。

Intriguing stories, people, mysteries, and events from history delivered in a supremely calming atmosphere.

探索黄金国的传说。

Explore the legend of El Dorado.

看看古罗马角斗士的生活是什么样子。

See what life was like for the Roman gladiators.

揭开巨石阵的神话与谜团。

Uncover the myths and mysteries of Stonehenge.

在《Sleepy History》里，你会找到这类既有趣又放松的节目，制作水准一如既往，和你熟悉的《Sleepy Bookshelf》一样出色。

You'll find interesting but relaxing episodes like these on Sleepy History and the same great production quality you've come to know and love from the Sleepy Bookshelf.

不妨去听听看，也许这会成为你每晚安眠的另一种方式。

So check it out, and perhaps you'll have another way to get a good night's rest.

在你常用的播客平台里搜索《Sleepy History》就行了。

Just search Sleepy History in your preferred podcast player.

晚上好，欢迎来到《Sleepy Bookshelf》，在这里，我们放下一天的烦忧，拿起一本好书。

Good evening, and welcome to the sleepy bookshelf, where we put down our worries from the day and pick up a good book.

我是你们的主持人伊丽莎白，今晚能和你们在一起，真好。

I'm your host, Elizabeth, and it is wonderful to be here with you tonight.

今晚我们将继续阅读E.M.福斯特的《看得见风景的房间》。

This evening we'll be continuing A Room with a View by E.

M.

M.

福斯特。

Forster.

在开始之前，想象你的身体正深深放松、舒适地躺着，仿佛每一寸肌肉都在缓缓融化，变得柔软轻盈。

But before we do that, imagine your body resting deeply and comfortably as though every muscle is slowly melting into softness beneath you.

缓缓吸一口气，再轻轻呼出。

Take a slow breath in and gently release it.

你再也不必扛着白天的重担了。

You no longer need to carry the weight of the day.

肩膀的紧绷、四肢的沉重，还有那种持续不断的疲惫感，现在都可以慢慢放下了。

The tension in your shoulders, the heaviness in your limbs and the quiet ache of constant movement can all drift away now.

此刻，只剩下你平稳的呼吸、四周温柔的宁静，以及前方故事缓缓展开的平和。

There is only the steady rhythm of your breathing, the gentle comfort surrounding you and the peaceful unfolding of the story ahead.

故事发生在风角山庄，

At Windy Corner, Mrs.

霍尼彻奇太太和儿子弗雷迪正焦急地等着，此时露西和塞西尔正在外面的花园里谈话。

Honeychurch and her son, Freddie waited anxiously while Lucy and Cecil talked outside in the garden.

故事里的赫尼奇夫人正在

As Mrs.

给塞西尔的母亲写信，两人聊起塞西尔屡次向露西求婚的事。

Honeychurch drafted a letter to Cecil's mother, the two discussed Cecil's repeated proposals to Lucy.

弗雷迪承认他不喜欢塞西尔，对这门婚事也感到不安，但他很难说清楚原因。

Freddie admitted he disliked Cecil and felt uneasy about the match, though he struggled to explain why.

霍尼彻奇夫人

Mrs.

为塞西尔辩护，认为他体面、富有且人脉广，而弗雷迪则担心露西订婚后会改变她身上某些本质的东西。

Honeychurch defended Cecil as respectable, wealthy and well connected, while Freddie worried that Lucy's engagement would change something essential about her.

最后，塞西尔进来宣布，露西已经接受了他的求婚。

Eventually, Cecil entered and announced that Lucy had accepted his proposal.

家人们都道了喜，不过表面底下多少有点尴尬。

The family offered their congratulations, though not without awkwardness beneath the surface.

比布先生

Mr.

来的时候，家里人正在花园里商量求婚的具体细节。他并不知情，所以跟塞西尔聊起露西时特别直白，袒露了自己的疑虑，还说露西身上有种还没完全显露出来的热情和独立劲儿。

Beeb arrived as the family were in the garden discussing the particulars of the proposal, and without knowing about the engagement, he spoke quite candidly to Cecil about Lucy, revealing his own doubts and suggesting that Lucy possessed a hidden passion and independence that had not yet fully emerged.

家人们沿着草坪往上走的时候，这消息就传开了，比布先生

As the family rambled up the lawn, the news was announced and Mr.

比布有点不好意思，心里也挺过意不去的。

Beeb was quite sheepish and a little sorry.

不过大家还是聚在一起喝茶庆祝，被这场合的兴奋和仪式感带着走。

But the group gathered for tea and celebrated together, swept along by the excitement and ceremony of the occasion.

接下来我们跳到几天后的故事。

Tonight we pick up a few days later.

所以你就放松靠好，我要翻到《看得见风景的房间》的下一页了。

So just lie back and relax as I turn to the next pages of A Room with a View.

第九章。

Chapter nine.

露西作为一件艺术品。

Lucy as a Work of Art.

订婚消息公布几天后，霍尼彻奇夫人邀请露西和她一起参加附近的一个小型花园派对。

A few days after the engagement was announced, Mrs.

霍尼彻奇夫人邀请露西和她一起参加附近的一个小型花园派对。

Honeychurch made Lucy and her fiasco come to a little garden party in the neighborhood.

毕竟，她希望向人们展示，她的女儿嫁给了一个体面的男人。

For naturally, she wanted to show people that her daughter was marrying a presentable man.

塞西尔不仅体面，简直无可挑剔。

Cecil was more than presentable.

他看起来很有风度，看到他那修长的身材与露西并肩同行，露西跟他说话时他那头金发、面容也回应着，这一切都让人觉得十分惬意。

He looked distinguished, and it was very pleasant to see his slim figure keeping step with Lucy and his long, fair face responding when Lucy spoke to him.

人们向夫人道贺。

People congratulated Mrs.

哈尼彻奇夫人，我觉得这有点失礼，但她挺高兴的。

Honeychurch, which is, I believe, a social blunder, but it pleased her.

她还随便把塞西尔介绍给了几位古板的老太太。

And she introduced Cecil, indiscriminately, to some stuffy dowagers.

喝茶的时候，出了点意外。

At tea, a misfortune took place.

一杯咖啡洒在了露西的印花丝绸裙子上。

A cup of coffee was upset over Lucy's figured silk.

尽管露西装作不在意，她妈妈可没装，立马拉她进屋，找了个同情她的女仆处理裙子。

And though Lucy feigned indifference, her mother feigned nothing of the sort but dragged her indoors to have the frock treated by a sympathetic maid.

她们走了好一会儿，塞西尔就一个人留在了那些老太太中间。

They were gone some time, and Cecil was left with the dowagers.

等她们回来时，他的心情明显没之前好了。

When they returned, he was not as pleasant as he had been.

你常参加这种场合吗？

Do you go to much of this sort of thing?

他问他们什么时候开车回家。

He asked when they were driving home.

哦，偶尔去去，露西说，她其实挺享受的。

Oh, now and then, said Lucy who had rather enjoyed herself.

这算是乡村社交的典型吗？

Is it typical of country society?

我想是吧。

I suppose so.

妈妈，会是这样吗？

Mother, would it be?

社交活动挺多的，霍尼彻奇太太说。

Plenty of society, said Mrs.

霍尼彻奇太太正努力回忆某件裙子的剪裁。

Honey Church, who was trying to remember the hang of one of the dresses.

看出她心思不在这里，塞西尔凑近露西说，在我看来，简直太可怕了，太灾难性了，也太矫揉造作了。

Seeing that her thoughts were elsewhere, Cecil bent towards Lucy and said, To me, it seemed perfectly appalling, disastrous, pretentious.

很抱歉你被困住了。

I am sorry that you were stranded.

不是那个，是那些恭喜的话。

Not that, but the congratulations.

订婚被当成公共财产，这种态度真让人恶心。

It is so disgusting the way an engagement is regarded as public property.

简直像个任人随意发泄庸俗情感的荒地。

Kind of waste place where every outsider may shoot his vulgar sentiment.

那些老妇人一个个都在偷笑。

All those old women smirking.

大概只能忍着吧。

One has to go through it, suppose.

下次他们就不会这么关注我们了，但我想说的是，他们的态度根本就是错的。

They won't notice us so much next time, but my point is that their whole attitude is wrong.

订婚——这词本身就很讨厌——是私事，就该当私事来对待。

An engagement, horrid word in the first place, is a private matter and should be treated as such.

不过，那些冷笑的老太太们，虽然个人行为不对，但从种族角度看更是大错特错。

Yet, the smirking gold women, however wrong individually, were racially incorrect.

她们身上体现的是几代人的精神，她们为塞西尔和露西的订婚而欢欣，因为这预示着人类生命的延续。

The spirit of the generations had smiled through them, rejoicing in the engagement of Cecil and Lucy because it promised the continuance of life on Earth.

但对塞西尔和露西来说，订婚意味着完全不同的东西——真挚的爱情。

To Cecil and Lucy, it promised something quite different, personal love.

所以塞西尔感到烦躁，而露西觉得他的烦躁是有道理的。

Hence Cecil's irritation and Lucy's belief that his irritation was just.

真烦人啊，她说。

How tiresome, she said.

你不能去打网球躲一躲吗？

Couldn't you have escaped to tennis?

我不打网球，至少不在公共场合打。

I don't play tennis, at least not in public.

neighborhood 就少了点我英姿飒爽的浪漫故事。

The neighborhood is deprived of the romance of me being athletic.

我所拥有的那种浪漫，是那种英式意大利风的。

Such romance as I have is that of the Inglese Italianato.

英式意大利风。

Inglese Italianato.

你知道那句俗语吧。

You know the proverb.

她并不知道，而且这句俗语也完全不适用于一个和母亲在罗马安静度过整个冬天的年轻人。

She did not, nor did it seem applicable to a young man who had spent quiet winter in Rome with his mother.

但自从订婚之后，塞西尔就开始刻意表现一种世界主义的调皮劲儿，而她根本不是这种人。

But Cecil, since his engagement, had taken to effect a cosmopolitan naughtiness which she was far from possessing.

既然他们不喜欢我，我也管不了那么多。

Well, I cannot help it if they do disapprove of me.

我和他们之间有些无法跨越的隔阂，我只能接受。

There are certain irremovable barriers between myself and them and I must accept them.

我想，每个人都有自己的局限吧。

We all have our limitations, I suppose.

聪明的露西说道。

Said wise Lucy.

但有时候，这些限制是强加给我们的，”塞西尔说，他从她的话里看出她并不完全理解他的处境。

Sometimes they are forced on us though, said Cecil who saw from her remark that she did not quite understand his position.

怎么强加的？

How?

这还是有区别的，不是吗？

It makes a difference, doesn't it?

不管是我们自己把自己圈起来，还是被别人的界限挡在外面。

Whether we fully fence ourselves in or whether we are fenced out by the barriers of others.

她想了想，觉得确实是有区别的。

She thought for a moment and agreed that it did make a difference.

区别？

Difference?

莫太太说道。

Cried Mrs.

赫利许丘，突然警觉起来。

Honeychurch, suddenly alert.

我没觉得有什么区别。

I don't see any difference.

篱笆就是篱笆，尤其是当它们都在同一个地方的时候。

Fences are fences, especially when they are in the same place.

我们刚才说的是动机，塞西尔说，被打断让他有些不适。

We were speaking of motives, said Cecil on whom the interruption jarred.

亲爱的塞西尔，你瞧。

My dear Cecil, look here.

她张开双腿，把卡片盒放在膝盖上。

She spread out her knees and perched her card case on her lap.

这就是我。

This is me.

那是温迪角。

That is Windy Corner.

其余的部分就是其他人。

The rest of the pattern is the other people.

动机固然重要，

Motives are all very well,

但围栏就在这里。

but the fence comes here.

我们说的不是真正的围栏，”露西笑着说道。

We weren't talking of real fences, Said Lucy laughing.

哦，我明白了，这是诗意的表达。

Oh, I see dear poetry.

她平静地靠了回去。

She leant placidly back.

塞西尔不明白露西为什么觉得好笑。

Cecil wondered why Lucy had been amused.

我告诉你谁没有你所说的那种围栏，”她说，“那就是克里先生。

I'll tell you who has no fences as you call them, she said, and that's Mr.

比布。

Beeb.

一个没有围栏的牧师，意思就是个毫无防备的牧师。

A parson fenseless would mean a parson defenseless.

露西理解别人说的话总是慢半拍，但对言外之意却非常敏锐。

Lucy was slow to follow what people said but quick enough to detect what they meant.

她没抓住西塞尔那句俏皮话的精妙，却准确捕捉到了背后的情绪。

She missed Cecil's epigram but grasped the feeling that prompted it.

你不喜欢比布先生吗？

Don't you like Mr.

比布？

Beeb?

她若有所思地问。

She asked thoughtfully.

我可没这么说。

I never said so.

他哭了。

He cried.

我觉得他远超常人。

I consider him far above the average.

我只是否认了。

I only denied.

他又转回谈围栏的事，说得精彩极了。

And he swept off on the subject of fences again and was brilliant.

我讨厌的那种牧师是这样的，

Now a clergyman that I do hate,

她说着，想说点安慰的话。

said she wanting to say something sympathetic.

真正有围墙、而且是最糟糕的那种围墙的牧师，是佛罗伦萨的英国牧师伊格先生。

A clergyman that does have fences and the most dreadful ones is mister Eager, the English chaplain at Florence.

他确实虚伪，不只是那种不幸的做派。

He was truly insincere, not merely in the manner unfortunate.

他就是

He was

个势利眼，自以为是，还老说些刻薄的话

a snob and so conceited and he did say such unkind

这种话。

things.

都说了些什么？

What sort of things?

他在贝托利尼认识一位老人，说那人杀了自己妻子。

There was an old man at the Bertolini whom he said had murdered his wife.

也许他真干过。

Perhaps he had.

不，没有。

No.

为什么说没有？

Why no?

他肯定是个特别和蔼的老人。

He was such a nice old man, I'm sure.

塞西尔嘲笑她这种女人家无关紧要的感慨。

Cecil laughed at her feminine inconsequence.

但我确实试着

But I did try

去仔细查证了一下这件事。

to sift the thing.

伊格尔先生

Mr.

从来不肯把话说透。

Eager would never come to the point.

他就喜欢含糊其辞。

He prefers it vague.

他说那老头儿几乎把他老婆给杀了，确实把她给杀了

Said the old man had practically murdered his wife, had murdered her in

上帝的面容。

the sight of God.

安静点，亲爱的，

Hush, dear,

哈尼彻奇夫人随口说道。

said Mrs.

哈尼彻奇夫人心不在焉地回应。

Honeychurch absently.

但我们被要求效仿的人，却到处散布流言蜚语，这难道不让人无法忍受吗？

But isn't it intolerable that a person whom we're told to imitate should go around spreading slander?

我相信，正是因为他，那位老人才被大家疏远了。

It was, I believe, chiefly owing to him that the old man was dropped.

人们都说他粗俗，但他根本不是那种人。

People pretended he was vulgar, but he certainly wasn't that.

可怜的老人。

Poor old man.

他叫什么名字？

What was his name?

露西随口说：‘哈里斯。’

Harris, said Lucy glibly.

他妻子说不定根本就不存在，”她母亲说，

Let's hope that missus Harris there weren't so such person, said her mother.

塞西尔若有所思地点了点头。

Cecil nodded intelligently.

埃格先生不是那种有教养的人吗？

Isn't mister eager a person of the cultured type?

我不清楚。

I don't know.

我讨厌他。

I hate him.

我听过他讲乔托的讲座。

I heard him lecture on Giotto.

我讨厌他。

I hate him.

卑劣的本性是藏不住的。

Nothing can hide a petty nature.

我讨厌他。

I hate him.

天哪，孩子，

My goodness gracious me, child,

蜂蜜丘奇太太说。

said missus Honey Church.

你差点把我耳朵震聋了。

You blow my head off.

有什么好大喊大叫的，

Whatever is there

我禁止你和塞西尔再讨厌任何一位牧师。

to shout over, I forbid you and Cecil to hate any more clergyman.

他笑了。

He smiled.

露西对伊格先生大发道德雷霆，这实在有点不合时宜。

There was indeed something rather incongruous in Lucy's moral outburst over mister Eager.

就像你抬头看见西斯廷教堂天花板上挂着达·芬奇的画一样。

It was as if one should see the Leonardo on the ceiling of the Sistine.

他真想暗示她，真正的使命并不在这里。

He longed to hint to her that not here lay her vocation.

女人的力量和魅力在于神秘，而不是歇斯底里的咆哮。

That a woman's power and charm reside in mystery, not in muscular rant.

不过，咆哮也许正是生命力的体现。

But possibly rant is a sign of vitality.

它破坏了这份美，却证明她确实活着。

It mars the beautiful creature but shows that she is alive.

过了一会儿，他带着几分赞许，看着她泛红的脸和激动的手势。

After a moment, he contemplated her flushed face and excited gestures with certain approval.

他没有压制青春的源泉。

He forebore to repress the sources of youth.

他觉得，大自然是最简单不过的话题，就环绕在他们周围。

Nature, simplest of topics he thought lay around them.

他赞美松林、茂密的蕨丛、点缀在灌木丛中的深红落叶，还有那条实用又美丽的公路。

He praised the pine woods, the deep lasts of bracken, the crimson leaves that spotted the hurt bushes, the serviceable beauty of the Turnpike Road.

他对户外世界并不太熟悉，偶尔会在事实判断上出错。

The outdoor world was not very familiar to him, and occasionally, he went wrong in a question of fact.

当他提到落叶松常年翠绿时，哈尼·丘奇太太的嘴角微微抽动了一下。

Missus Honey Church's mouth twitched when he spoke of the perpetual green of the larch.

我觉得自己是个幸运的人。

I count myself a lucky person.

他总结道，我在伦敦时，觉得永远离不开那里。

He concluded, when I'm in London, I feel I could never live out of it.

可当我身在乡下，又对乡下产生同样的感觉。

When I'm in the country, I feel the same about the country.

毕竟，我真心觉得，鸟儿、树木和天空才是生活中最美好的事物，而生活在它们身边的人也一定是最棒的。

After all, I do believe that birds and trees and the sky are the most wonderful things in life, and that the people who live amongst them must be the best.

确实，十有八九的时候，他们似乎对什么都视而不见。

It's true that in nine cases out of 10, they don't seem to notice anything.

乡绅和乡间劳工，各自都有各自让人提不起劲的地方，都是挺沉闷的伙伴。

The country gentleman and the country laborer are each in their way the most depressing of companions.

不过，他们或许对大自然的运作有一种心照不宣的共鸣，这是咱们城里人体会不到的。

Yet they may have a tacit sympathy with the workings of nature, which is denied to us of the town.

您有同感吗，夫人？

Do you feel that, Mrs.

霍尼彻奇夫人？

Honeychurch?

夫人。

Mrs.

霍尼彻奇夫人愣了一下，随即笑了。

Honeychurch started and smiled.

她根本没听塞西尔说话，塞西尔闷闷不乐地坐在维多利亚马车的前座上，她也懒得搭理，决心再也不说任何有意思的话了。

She had not been attending Cecil, who was rather crushed on the front seat of the Victoria, felt irritable and determined not to say anything interesting again.

露西也没在听。

Lucy had not attended either.

她眉头紧锁，脸上依旧怒气冲冲。

Her brow was wrinkled, and she still looked furiously cross.

他觉得，这都是她过度自我道德约束的结果。

The result, he concluded, of too much moral gymnastics.

看到她对八月森林的美景视而不见，真让人惋惜。

It was sad to see her thus blind to the beauties of an August wood.

下来吧，老姑娘，别再高高在上了。

Come down, old maid, from yonder mountain height.

他一边引用诗句，一边轻轻碰了碰她的膝盖。

He quoted and touched her knee with his own.

她又脸红了，问：‘什么高度？’

She flushed again and said, what height?

下来吧，姑娘，从那高高的山巅。

Come down, o maid, from yonder mountain height.

牧羊人唱道，高处有什么乐趣？高处和山峦的壮丽才真正动人。

What pleasure lives in height, the shepherd sang, in height and in the splendor of the hills.

咱们听哈尼彻太太的劝吧，别再讨厌牧师了。

Let us take missus Honeychurch's advice and hate clergymen no more.

这是什么地方？

What's this place?

当然是萨默斯街，露西说着，打起了瞌睡。

Summer Street, of course, said Lucy and drowsed herself.

树林豁然开朗，露出一片倾斜的三角形草地。

The woods had opened to leave space for a sloping triangular meadow.

两侧排列着漂亮的农舍，上端和第三边则矗立着一座新落成的石砌教堂，朴素而精致，尖顶覆盖着精美的木瓦。

Pretty cottages lined it on two sides, and the upper and third side was occupied by a new stone church, expensively simple, a charming shingled spire.

亨利先生。

Mr.

比布的家就在教堂附近。

Beeb's house was near the church.

它的高度 barely 超过那些小屋。

In height, it scarcely exceeded the cottages.

附近虽然有几座大宅，但都被树木遮住了。

Some great mansions were at hand, but they were hidden in the trees.

这景象更像瑞士阿尔卑斯山，而不是一个悠闲世界的圣地，唯一煞风景的是两栋丑陋的小别墅。

The scene suggested a Swiss Alp rather than the shrine and center of a leisure world and was marred only by two ugly little villas.

那些曾与塞西尔的安排竞争的别墅，被亨利·奥特韦爵士在露西被塞西尔‘收下’的当天下午买走了。其中一栋叫西茜，另一栋叫阿尔伯特。这些名字不仅用阴影勾勒的哥特字体写在花园大门上，还在门廊处再次出现，沿着入口拱门的半圆形，用大写字母刻着。

The villas that had competed with Cecil's arrangement having been acquired by Sir Henry Otway on the very afternoon that Lucy had been acquired by Cecil Sissy was the name of one of these villas, Albert of the other These titles were not only picked out in shaded Gothic on the garden gates, but appeared a second time on the porches where they followed the semicircular curve of the entrance arch in block capitals.

阿尔伯特有人住着。

Albert was inhabited.

他那被折腾过的花园里，天竺葵、鼠尾草和光亮的贝壳点缀得格外鲜艳。

His tortured garden was bright with geraniums and lobeliers and polished shells.

他家的小窗户上，优雅地垂着诺丁汉蕾丝窗帘。

His little windows were chastily swathed in Nottingham lace.

西茜的房子要出租了。

Sissy was to let.

她家围栏上挂着三块告示牌，都是中介发布的，毫不意外地说明了情况。

Three notice boards belonging to dork engagements lolled on her fence and announced the not surprising fact.

她家的小路早就长满了杂草。

Her paths were already weedy.

她那块像手帕一样小的草坪，已经被蒲公英染黄了。

Her pocket handkerchief of a lawn was yellow with dandelions.

这地方彻底毁了，”女士们机械地说道。

The place is ruined, said the ladies mechanically.

夏日街再也不会是原来的样子了。

Summer Street will never be the same again.

马车经过时，西茜家的门开了，一位先生从她家走了出来。

As the carriage passed, Sissy's door opened and a gentleman came out of her.

停下，”奥特威太太喊道。

Stop, cried Mrs.

哈尼彻奇夫人用阳伞轻轻碰了碰车夫。

Honeychurch, touching the coachman with her parasol.

瞧，哈里爵士来了。

Here's sir Harry.

这下我们总算知道了。

Now we shall know.

哈里爵士，马上把这些东西都拆了。

Sir Harry, pull those things down at once.

哈里·奥特威爵士，不用我多介绍了吧，走到马车旁说：‘哈尼彻奇夫人，我本打算……’

Sir Harry Otway, who need not to be described, came to the carriage and said, Missus Honeychurch, I meant to.

我做不到。

I can't.

我真的不能赶走弗拉格小姐。

I really can't turn out miss Flagg.

我是不是总说对了？

Am I not always right?

她本该在合同签之前就搬走的。

She ought to have gone before the contract was signed.

她现在还免费住着吗？就像她侄子在世时那样？

Does she still live rent free as she did in her nephew's time?

可我能怎么办呢？

But what can I do?

他压低了声音。

He lowered his voice.

一位老太太，举止粗俗，几乎卧床不起。

An old lady so very vulgar and almost bedridden.

“把她赶出去，”塞西尔勇敢地说。

Turn her out, said Cecil bravely.

哈里爵士叹了口气，哀伤地望着那些小别墅。

Sir Harry sighed and looked at the villas mournfully.

他早就收到过明确的警告，说那位先生。

He had had full warning of Mr.

弗拉克本可以早点买下这块地，在施工前就做好规划，但他一直漠不关心，拖拖拉拉。

Flack's intentions and might have bought the plot before building commenced, but he was apathetic and dilatory.

他认识桑默街这么多年，根本没法想象这条街会被毁掉，直到弗拉克太太……

He had known Summer Street for so many years that he could not imagine it being spoiled, Not till Mrs.

直到弗拉克奠基，红白相间的砖墙开始拔地而起，他才意识到事态不对。

Flack had laid the foundation stone and the apparition of red and cream brick began to rise did he take alarm.

他去拜访了弗拉克先生……

He called on Mr.

弗拉克是当地的一位建筑商，为人非常通情达理、态度恭敬，他同意瓷砖会让屋顶更有艺术感，但指出瓦片更便宜。

Flack, the local builder, a most reasonable and respectful man, who agreed that tiles would have made more artistic roof, but pointed out that slates were cheaper.

不过他对那些像水蛭一样贴在凸窗框架上的科林斯柱子提出了不同意见，说他自己更喜欢用一点装饰来点缀立面。

He ventured to differ, however, about the Corinthian columns which were to cling like leeches to the frames of the bow windows, saying that for his part, he liked to relieve the facade by a bit of decoration.

哈里爵士暗示，如果可能的话，柱子最好既有装饰作用，也能承重。

Sir Harry hinted that a column, if possible, should be structural as well as decorative.

弗拉克先生回答说，所有柱子都已订好，而且每个柱头都不一样——一个雕着龙纹，一个接近爱奥尼风格，还有一个加入了弗拉克太太……

Mr Flack replied that all the columns had been ordered, adding, and all the capitals different, One with dragons in the foliage, another approaching to the Ionian style, another introducing Mrs.

弗莱克的姓名首字母，每一个都不一样。

Flack's initials, everyone different.

因为他读过罗斯金的书。

For he had read his Ruskin.

他按照自己的心意建造别墅，直到他把一个无法搬走的姑妈塞进其中一间，哈里爵士才买下。

He built his villas according to his desire, and not until he had inserted an immovable aunt into one of them did Sir Harry buy.

这笔毫无意义又亏本的买卖让他整晚都心情沉重，他靠在Mrs.

This futile and unprofitable transaction filled the night with sadness as he lent on Mrs.

哈尼·丘奇家的马车。

Honey Church's carriage.

他没能尽到对乡间的责任，连乡间都在笑话他。

He had failed in his duties to the countryside, and the countryside was laughing at him as well.

他花了不少钱，可夏默街还是被毁得不成样子。

He had spent money, and yet Summer Street was spoiled as much as ever.

他现在能做的，就是给西茜找个合适的租客，真正合适的那种。

All he could do now was to find a desirable tenant for Sissy, someone really desirable.

租金低得离谱，他告诉他们，也许我是个挺随和的房东，但这房子的尺寸实在让人头疼。

The rent is absurdly low, he told them, and perhaps I am an easy landlord, but it is such an awkward size.

对普通百姓来说太大了，但对稍微像我们一点的人来说又太小了。

It is too large for the peasant class and too small for anyone the least like ourselves.

塞西尔一直在犹豫，是该鄙视那些别墅，还是该鄙视因为鄙视别墅而显得可笑的哈里爵士。

Cecil had been hesitating whether he should despise the villas or despise Sir Harry for despising them.

后一种冲动似乎更有道理。

The latter impulse seemed the more fruitful.

你最好赶紧找个租客，他恶意地说道。

You ought to find a tenant at once, he said maliciously.

那对银行职员来说简直是个完美的天堂。

It would be a perfect paradise for a bank clerk.

没错，哈里爵士兴奋地说。

Exactly, said sir Harry excitedly.

这正是我所担心的，比斯先生。

That is exactly what I fear, mister Bice.

这会吸引来不合适的人。

It will attract the wrong type of people.

服务是进步了，可在我看来，这进步太要命了。

The trading service has improved, a fatal improvement to my mind.

现在骑自行车，五英里远算得了什么？

And what are five miles from a station in these days of bicycles?

那会是个挺拼命的职员，露西说。

Rather a strenuous clerk it would be, said Lucy.

萨松向来爱恶作剧，他回答说，中下阶层的体格正以惊人的速度变好。

Sasson, who had his full share of medieval mischievousness, replied that the physique of the lower middle classes was improving at a most appalling rate.

她看出他在嘲笑隔壁那位无害的邻居，于是赶紧出声制止他。

She saw that he was laughing at their harmless neighbor and roused herself to stop him.

哈里爵士，她喊道，

Sir Harry, she exclaimed,

我有个主意。

I have an idea.

你觉得独身女性怎么样？

How would you like spinsters?

亲爱的露西，那简直太棒了。

My dear Lucy, it would be splendid.

你认识这样的女人吗，塞尔日？

Do you know any, Serge?

认识。

Yes.

我在国外遇到过。

I met them abroad.

是温柔的女性吗？

Gentle women?

他试探着问。

He asked tentatively.

当然了。

Yes, indeed.

现在他们无家可归。

And at the present moment, homeless.

上周我刚收到特蕾莎小姐和凯瑟琳·艾伦小姐的消息。

I heard from them last week, miss Teresa and miss Catherine Allen.

我真没开玩笑。

I'm really not joking.

她们真是再合适不过了。

They are quite the right people.

比布先生也认识她们。

Mister Beeb knows them too.

我能不能让她们给你写信？

May I tell them to write to you?

当然可以，他喊道。

Indeed you may, he cried.

瞧，难题就这么解决了。

Here we are with the difficulty solved already.

这真是太好了。

How delightful it is.

额外的设施。

Extra facilities.

你告诉他们，我会提供额外设施，但我不会付任何中介费。

Please tell them they shall have extra facilities for I shall have no agents fees.

那些中介，简直让人受不了，他们派来的人。

The agents, the appalling people they have sent me.

有个女人，我写了一封很客气的信，问她能不能说明一下她的背景，她居然回我说她可以预付房租，好像谁真在乎这个似的。

One woman, when I wrote a tactful letter, you know, asking her to explain her social position to me, replied that she would pay the rent in advance as if one cares about that.

我查过的几个推荐人，都让人非常失望。

And several references I took up were most unsatisfactory.

那些人要么是骗子，要么根本不靠谱。

People swindlers or not respectable.

至于那个骗子，真是够了。

Beard on the deceit.

这周我见识了不少阴暗面。

I've seen a good deal of the seemy side this last week.

那些看起来最有希望的人，竟然也这么虚伪。

The deceit of the most promising people.

亲爱的露西，真是人心难测啊。

My dear Lucy, the deceit.

她点了点头。

She nodded.

我给你的建议是，你去找霍尼·彻奇夫人，

My advice, put in missus Honey Church,

和那边彻底断联

is to have nothing to

都和露西还有那群落魄的所谓淑女搅和在一起。

do with Lucy and her decayed gentle women at all.

我太了解这种人了。

I knew the type.

别让我跟那些曾经风光过、还带着传家宝住进来，搞得屋里一股霉味的人打交道。

Preserve me from people who have seen better days and bring heirlooms with them that make the house smell stuffy.

这确实让人难过，但我宁愿租给那些正往上走的人，也不愿租给那些一路下滑的人。

It's a sad thing, but I'd far rather let to someone who is going up in the world than someone who has come down.

我大概明白你的意思了，哈里爵士说。

I think I follow you, said Sir Harry.

但正如你所说，这确实很令人惋惜。

But it is as you say a very sad thing.

艾伦太太不就是这样的吗？

The missus Allen aren't that?

露西喊道。

Cried Lucy.

没错，他们就是，塞西尔说。

Yes, they are, said Cecil.

我还没见过他们，但我觉得，他们要是搬来这 neighborhood，简直是再不合适不过了。

I haven't met them, but I should say they were a highly unsuitable addition to the neighborhood.

别听他的，哈里爵士。

Don't listen to him, sir Harry.

他真烦人。

He's tiresome.

才是我烦人呢，他回答道。

It is I who am tiresome, he replied.

我不该把烦恼带给年轻人，可我真的太担心了。

I wouldn't to come with my troubles to young people, but really I'm so worried.

奥特威夫人总说我不够小心，这话没错，但根本帮不上忙。

And lady Otway will only say that I cannot be too careful, which is quite true, but no real help.

那我可以写信给艾伦太太吗？

Then may I write to my missus Allen?

当然可以。

Please.

但当亨尼彻奇太太喊着‘小心’时，他的眼神却躲闪了。

But his eye wavered when missus Honeychurch exclaimed, beware.