🔊 But when at last I met Charles Strickland, it was under circumstances which allowed me to do no more than just make his acquaintance. One morning Mrs. Strickland sent me round a note to say that she was giving a dinner-party that evening, and one of her guests had failed her. She asked me to stop the gap. She wrote: "It's only decent to warn you that you will be bored to extinction. It was a thoroughly dull party from the beginning, but if you will come I shall be uncommonly grateful. And you and I can have a little chat by ourselves." It was only neighbourly to accept.

当我终于见到查尔斯·斯特里克兰时,那是在一种我只能与他略作寒暄的场合。一天早上,斯特里克兰太太派人送来一张便条,说她当晚要举办晚宴,有一位客人临时爽约,请我去补缺。她写道:“好心地提醒你,你会无聊透顶。这宴会从一开始就沉闷得要命,但如果你能来,我将不胜感激。而且,你我可以私下聊聊天。”既是邻居,我也只好接受。

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uncommonly /ʌnˈkɒmənli/

adv. 异常地,极其地➕

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acquaintance /əˈkweɪntəns/

n. 相识的人；认识➕

🔊 When Mrs. Strickland introduced me to her husband, he gave me a rather indifferent hand to shake. Turning to him gaily, she attempted a small jest. "I asked him to show him that I really had a husband. I think he was beginning to doubt it." Strickland gave the polite little laugh with which people acknowledge a facetiousness in which they see nothing funny, but did not speak. New arrivals claimed my host's attention, and I was left to myself. When at last we were all assembled, waiting for dinner to be announced, I reflected, while I chatted with the woman I had been asked to "take in," that civilised man practises a strange ingenuity in wasting on tedious exercises the brief span of his life. It was the kind of party which makes you wonder why the hostess has troubled to bid her guests, and why the guests have troubled to come. There were ten people. They met with indifference, and would part with relief. It was, of course, a purely social function. The Stricklands "owed" dinners to a number of persons, whom they took no interest in, and so had asked them; these persons had accepted. Why? To avoid the tedium of dining tête-à-tête, to give their servants a rest, because there was no reason to refuse, because they were "owed" a dinner.

当斯特里克兰太太把我介绍给她丈夫时,他只是冷漠地握了握手。她兴冲冲地转向他,开了个小玩笑:“我请他来看看我真的有个丈夫。我想他开始怀疑了。”斯特里克兰礼貌地笑了笑,那种人们用来应付一个并不好笑的笑话的笑容,但一言不发。新到的客人吸引了主人的注意,我便独自待着。最终,当所有人都聚齐,等待宣布开饭时,我一边与应邀“带进来”的女客闲聊,一边思索着:文明人有一种奇特的巧思,把短暂的生命浪费在无聊的应酬上。这场宴会让你不禁疑惑,为何女主人费心邀请客人,客人又为何费心前来。共有十个人。他们见面时漠不关心,分手时如释重负。这当然纯粹是社交活动。斯特里克兰夫妇“欠”一些人的晚宴,他们对那些人毫无兴趣,所以请了他们；这些人接受了邀请。为什么呢？为了逃避两人对坐的乏味,为了给仆人放个假,因为没有理由拒绝,因为他们“被欠”了一顿饭。

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indifferent /ɪnˈdɪfrənt/

adj. 冷漠的,漠不关心的➕

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facetiousness /fəˈsiːʃəsnəs/

n. 开玩笑,诙谐（尤指在不合时宜时）➕

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ingenuity /ˌɪndʒəˈnjuːəti/

n. 独创性,巧妙；心灵手巧➕

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tedious /ˈtiːdiəs/

adj. 冗长乏味的,令人厌烦的➕

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tête-à-tête /ˌteɪt ɑː ˈteɪt/

n. 两人的私下交谈,密谈➕

🔊 The dining-room was inconveniently crowded. There was a K.C. and his wife, a Government official and his wife, Mrs. Strickland's sister and her husband, Colonel MacAndrew, and the wife of a Member of Parliament. It was because the Member of Parliament found that he could not leave the House that I had been invited. The respectability of the party was portentous. The women were too nice to be well dressed, and too sure of their position to be amusing. The men were solid. There was about all of them an air of well-satisfied prosperity.

餐厅拥挤不堪,令人不便。客人中有一位皇家律师和他的妻子,一位政府官员和他的妻子,斯特里克兰太太的妹妹和妹夫,麦克安德鲁上校,以及一位议员的妻子。正是因为那位议员发现无法离开议院,我才受邀来补缺。这个宴会的体面程度令人咋舌。女人们太端庄了,以至于穿得不够时髦；又太笃定自己的地位,以至于无趣。男人们则都很稳重。所有人身上都散发着一种心满意足的富足气息。

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portentous /pɔːˈtentəs/

adj. 预兆性的；装腔作势的,自命不凡的➕

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prosperity /prɒˈsperəti/

n. 繁荣,成功➕

🔊 Everyone talked a little louder than natural in an instinctive desire to make the party go, and there was a great deal of noise in the room. But there was no general conversation. Each one talked to his neighbour; to his neighbour on the right during the soup, fish, and entree; to his neighbour on the left during the roast, sweet, and savoury. They talked of the political situation and of golf, of their children and the latest play, of the pictures at the Royal Academy, of the weather and their plans for the holidays. There was never a pause, and the noise grew louder. Mrs. Strickland might congratulate herself that her party was a success. Her husband played his part with decorum. Perhaps he did not talk very much, and I fancied there was towards the end a look of fatigue in the faces of the women on either side of him. They were finding him heavy. Once or twice Mrs. Strickland's eyes rested on him somewhat anxiously.

为了不让冷场,每个人都本能地提高了嗓门,房间里一片嘈杂。但没有真正的交谈。每个人只和邻座说话:喝汤、吃鱼和上主菜时,与右边邻座交谈；烤肉、甜点和开胃菜时,与左边邻座交谈。他们谈论政治形势和高尔夫,谈论孩子和最新的戏剧,谈论皇家艺术学院的画展,谈论天气和度假计划。谈话从未间断,噪音越来越大。斯特里克兰太太或许可以自庆宴会成功。她的丈夫举止得体,恪尽职责。或许他话不多,而且我猜想,到了晚宴尾声,他左右两边的女士脸上都露出了疲惫之色。她们觉得他沉闷乏味。有那么一两次,斯特里克兰太太的目光落在他身上,带着些许焦虑。

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entree /ˈɒntreɪ/

n. 主菜前的小菜；进入➕

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savoury /ˈseɪvəri/

adj./n. 咸味的,美味的；一道美味的咸点（尤指餐末小食）➕

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decorum /dɪˈkɔːrəm/

n. 端庄得体,礼仪➕

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fatigue /fəˈtiːɡ/

n. 疲劳,疲乏➕

🔊 At last she rose and shepherded the ladies out of one room. Strickland shut the door behind her, and, moving to the other end of the table, took his place between the K.C. and the Government official. He passed round the port again and handed us cigars. The K.C. remarked on the excellence of the wine, and Strickland told us where he got it. We began to chat about vintages and tobacco. The K.C. told us of a case he was engaged in, and the Colonel talked about polo. I had nothing to say and so sat silent, trying politely to show interest in the conversation; and because I thought no one was in the least concerned with me, examined Strickland at my ease. He was bigger than I expected: I do not know why I had imagined him slender and of insignificant appearance; in point of fact he was broad and heavy, with large hands and feet, and he wore his evening clothes clumsily. He gave you somewhat the idea of a coachman dressed up for the occasion. He was a man of forty, not good-looking, and yet not ugly, for his features were rather good; but they were all a little larger than life-size, and the effect was ungainly. He was clean shaven, and his large face looked uncomfortably naked. His hair was reddish, cut very short, and his eyes were small, blue or grey. He looked commonplace. I no longer wondered that Mrs. Strickland felt a certain embarrassment about him; he was scarcely a credit to a woman who wanted to make herself a position in the world of art and letters. It was obvious that he had no social gifts, but these a man can do without; he had no eccentricity even, to take him out of the common run; he was just a good, dull, honest, plain man. One would admire his excellent qualities, but avoid his company. He was null. He was probably a worthy member of society, a good husband and father, an honest broker; but there was no reason to waste one's time over him.

终于,她站起身,引领女士们走出房间。斯特里克兰在她身后关上门,走到餐桌的另一端,在皇家律师和政府官员之间坐下。他又传了一圈波特酒,递给我们雪茄。皇家律师夸赞酒好,斯特里克兰便告诉我们是从哪里买的。我们开始聊起年份酒和烟草。皇家律师说起他正在处理的一个案子,上校则谈起马球。我无话可说,便静静坐着,礼貌地装作对谈话感兴趣；因为我觉得没人理会我,便自在端详起斯特里克兰来。他比我想象中要高大:不知为何,我曾把他想象得瘦削而貌不惊人；实际上他身材宽阔粗壮,手脚都很大,晚礼服穿在身上显得笨拙。他给人一种打扮起来参加场合的马车夫的感觉。他是个四十岁的男人,不算英俊,但也不丑,因为五官还算端正；只是都略大于常人尺寸,整体效果笨拙不雅。他刮得干干净净,大脸盘光秃秃的,看着不舒服。他头发泛红,剪得很短,眼睛小而蓝或灰。他看起来平庸无奇。我不再奇怪斯特里克兰太太为何对他感到些许尴尬；对于一个想在文艺界谋得一席之地的女人来说,他实在难以为她增光添彩。显然,他毫无社交天赋,但男人没有这些也无妨；他甚至没有怪癖,可以让他与众不同；他只是一个善良、乏味、诚实、平庸的男人。人们会赞赏他的优点,却避免与他为伍。他是个无足轻重的人。他或许是个体面的社会成员,一个好丈夫、好父亲,一个诚实的经纪人；但实在没有理由在他身上浪费时间。

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shepherded /ˈʃepədɪd/

v. 带领,引导（过去式）➕

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vintages /ˈvɪntɪdʒɪz/

n. 特定年份酿造的葡萄酒（复数）；最佳时期➕

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insignificant /ˌɪnsɪɡˈnɪfɪkənt/

adj. 微不足道的,不重要的➕

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ungainly /ʌnˈɡeɪnli/

adj. 笨拙的,不优雅的➕

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embarrassment /ɪmˈbærəsmənt/

n. 尴尬,难堪➕

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eccentricity /ˌeksenˈtrɪsəti/

n. 古怪,怪癖➕

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null /nʌl/

adj. 无价值的,无效的,等于零的➕

Chapter six (第六章)

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