Connie was surprised at her own feeling of aversion from Clifford. What is more, she felt she had always really disliked him. Not hate: there was no passion in it. But a profound physical dislike. Almost, it seemed to her, she had married him because she disliked him, in a secret, physical sort of way. But of course, she had married him really because in a mental way he attracted her and excited her. He had seemed, in some way, her master, beyond her.
康妮对克利福德的厌恶与日俱增，这使她惊讶不已。更有甚者，她发觉自己压根没有喜欢过他。那并非憎恨，只是缺乏激情。在肉体的层面，对他深恶痛绝。甚至她觉得自己嫁给他，正是因为厌恶他，在肉体的维度，秘而不宣地厌恶他。当然，她与他缔结连理，确实是因为他能在精神上吸引她，振奋她。在某种程度上，他似乎扮演着她的支配者的角色。
Now the mental excitement had worn itself out and collapsed, and she was aware only of the physical aversion. It rose up in her from her depths: and she realized how it had been eating her life away.
如今，精神愉悦已经消耗殆尽，土崩瓦解，她只能感觉到肉体的反感。这种感觉源自内心深处，她体验到自己的生命逐渐被蚕食。
She felt weak and utterly forlorn. She wished some help would come from outside. But in the whole world there was no help. Society was terrible because it was insane. Civilized society is insane. Money and so-called love are its two great manias; money a long way first. The individual asserts himself in his disconnected insanity in these two modes: money and love. Look at Michaelis! His life and activity were just insanity. His love was a sort of insanity.
她觉得虚弱无力，极为绝望无依。她盼着能得到他人的帮助。但整个世界都没人施以援手。这个疯狂的社会变得不可救药。文明社会陷入癫狂。金钱和虚伪的爱情，是人类狂热追求的两大目标，而金钱则扮演着更为重要的角色。每个人都在追爱逐利的不同道路上争先恐后，疯狂到不能自持的地步。米凯利斯就是个活生生的例子！他的生活与行为都只能用疯癫来界定。他的爱情都有几分疯气。
And Clifford the same. All that talk! All that writing! All that wild struggling to push himself forwards! It was just insanity. And it was getting worse, really maniacal.
克利福德也是一丘之貉。所有的空谈！所有的作品！所有为争名逐利而做出的狂乱举动！都不过是疯癫的表现。甚至变本加厉，变得无药可医。
Connie felt washed-out with fear. But at least, Clifford was shifting his grip from her on to Mrs. Bolton. He did not know it. Like many insane people, his insanity might be measured by the things he was not aware of the great desert tracts in his consciousness.
恐惧让康妮感觉精疲力竭。但至少，克利福德正将束缚从她那里移开，转嫁到博尔顿太太身上。他对此毫无觉察。像许多疯子一样，从他意识领域缺失的部分，便可判断出其癫狂的程度，那是他精神世界的无垠荒漠。
Mrs. Bolton was admirable in many ways. But she had that queer sort of bossiness, endless assertion of her own will, which is one of the signs of insanity in modern woman. She thought she was utterly subservient and living for others. Clifford fascinated her because he always, or so often, frustrated her will, as if by a finer instinct. He had a finer, subtler will of self-assertion than herself. This was his charm for her.
在许多方面，博尔顿太太确实值得赞赏。但她却有种无端的控制欲，总愿意阐明自己的主张，这恰恰是现代女性疯癫的表现之一。她认为自己无比恭顺，处处先人后己。克利福德让她意乱情迷，因为他似乎总能，或者说常能发挥更加敏锐的直觉，使她屈从于自己的意志。他比她更加固执己见，独断专行。而这也正是他吸引她的地方。
Perhaps that had been his charm, too, for Connie.
或许这也曾是他令康妮为之着迷的地方。
"It's a lovely day, today!” Mrs. Bolton would say in her caressive, persuasive voice. "I should think you'd enjoy a little run in your chair today, the sun's just lovely.” "Yes? Will you give me that book—there, that yellow one. And I think I'll have those hyacinths taken out.” "Why they're so beautiful! " She pronounced it with the "y" sound: be-yutiful! "And the scent is simply gorgeous." "The scent is what I object to," he said. "It's a little funereal.” "Do you think so!" she exclaimed in surprise, just a little offended, but impressed. And she carried the hyacinths out of the room, impressed by his higher fastidiousness.
“今天天气多棒呀！”博尔顿太太的口吻极为亲昵，循循善诱。“依我看，您不妨驾着轮椅，出去兜上一小圈，太阳如此明媚。”“是么？把那本书递给我——那儿，那本黄色封皮的。把那些风信子拿出去。”“为什么？它们那样美丽！”她的发音并不规范，总是把美丽念成“米丽”。“那香味更是让人心醉。”“我讨厌的就是那味道。”他说。“感觉好像置身葬礼现场。”“您这样认为呀！”她惊讶地感叹道，虽然有些不悦，但也只能按照吩咐行事。她把风信子拿出房间，对爵爷的吹毛求疵深有感触。
"Shall I shave you this morning, or would you rather do it yourself?" Always the same soft, caressive, subservient, yet managing voice.
“今天早上，我来给您刮脸？还是您亲自动手？”语气依然轻柔亲切，恭敬顺服，但又力争将局势控制在可掌控的范围内。
"I don't know. Do you mind waiting a while. I'll ring when I'm ready.” "Very good, Sir Clifford!" she replied, so soft and submissive, withdrawing quietly. But every rebuff stored up new energy of will in her.
“我不知道。再等会儿可以吗？我做好准备，就按铃通知你。”“遵命，克利福德爵士！”她应道，语调温柔婉转，毕恭毕敬，然后悄无声息地退出房间。但每次碰壁都会使她的意志有所增强。
When he rang, after a time, she would appear at once. And then he would say: "I think I'd rather you shaved me this morning.” Her heart gave a little thrill, and she replied with extra softness: "Very good, Sir Clifford!" She was very deft, with a soft, lingering touch, a little slow. At first he had resented the infinitely soft touch of her lingers on his face. But now he liked it, with a growing voluptuousness. He let her shave him nearly every day: her face near his, her eyes so very concentrated, watching that she did it right. And gradually her fingertips knew his cheeks and lips, his jaw and chin and throat perfectly. He was well-fed and well-liking, his face and throat were handsome enough and he was a gentleman.
少顷，他按铃示意，她立马就位。接下来，他便发号施令：“今天还是你来帮我刮脸为好。”她的心房微微震颤，更为轻声细语地答道：“遵命，克利福德爵士！”她的动作敏捷熟练，触碰轻柔缠绵，稍显缓慢。起初，他很反感她的手指在自己脸上没完没了的抚触。但现在，他却陶醉其中，享受着日益增强的快感。他几乎每天都让她给自己刮脸，两人的脸庞贴得很近，她总是聚精会神，生怕哪里出了岔子。渐渐地，她的指尖彻底熟悉了他的脸颊、他的双唇、他的下颚以及脖项。他养尊处优，红光满面，脸孔和脖项也算得标致，是位地道的贵族。
She was handsome too, pale, her face rather long and absolutely still, her eyes bright, but revealing nothing. Gradually, with infinite softness, almost with love, she was getting him by the throat, and he was yielding to her.
而她也生得很是端庄，洁白的面孔稍长，显得极为沉静，双目炯炯有神，但却不动声色。渐渐地，她用无尽的柔情，近似于爱的温情，牢牢扼住他的喉咙，使他听命于自己。
She now did almost everything for him, and he felt more at home with her, less ashamed of accepting her menial offices, than with Connie. She liked handling him. She loved having his body in her charge, absolutely, to the last menial offices. She said to Connie one day: "All men are babies, when you come to the bottom of them. Why, I've handled some of the toughest customers as ever went down Tevershall pit. But let anything ail them so that you have to do for them, and they're babies, just big babies. Oh, there's not much difference in men!” At first Mrs. Bolton had thought there really was something different in a gentleman, a real gentleman, like Sir Clifford. So Clifford had got a good start of her. But gradually, as she came to the bottom of him, to use her own term, she found he was like the rest, a baby grown to man's proportions: but a baby with a queer temper and a fine manner and power in its control, and all sorts of odd knowledge that she had never dreamed of, with which he could still bully her.
她几乎帮他打理一切，有她相伴，克利福德觉得更加轻松自在，甚至胜过与康妮相处，可以心安理得地接受她的服侍。她也愿意为他效劳。她热衷于掌控他的身体，甚至为他做最为卑下的服务。有一天，她对康妮说：“所有男人都与婴儿无异，关键是要清楚他们内心的想法。哦，我照料过特弗沙尔矿场最凶悍的矿工。但当遭遇伤痛，需要别人照顾时，他们就会变成婴儿，只是心智成熟的婴儿。噢，男人大抵都是如此！”起先，博尔顿太太以为贵族会与众不同，尤其是像克利福德爵爷这样真正的贵族。因此，才会被克利福德占得先手。但时间一久，她深谙他的脾气秉性，用她自己的话来讲，她发现他跟其他男人没什么两样，虽已长大成人，但本质上仍是个婴孩。只不过这个婴孩脾气性格怪异，举止文雅，手握权柄，懂得各种各样稀奇古怪的知识，她想都未曾想过，仅是这些仍足以让她自惭形秽。
Connie was sometimes tempted to say to him: "For God's sake, don't sink so horribly into the hands of that woman!” But she found she didn't care for him enough to say it, in the long run.
有时候，康妮很想对他说：“看在上帝的份上，千万别被那女人玩弄于股掌！”但她还是没有说出口，因为她发觉，从长远考虑，自己并不太在乎他会怎样。
It was still their habit to spend the evening together, till ten o'clock. Then they would talk, or read together, or go over his manuscript. But the thrill had gone out of it. She was bored by his manuscripts. But she still dutifully typed them out for him. But in time Mrs. Bolton would do even that.
不过，他俩还是照老习惯，每晚一起呆到十点。在那段时间，他们仍会交谈，品读书籍，不然就是校对手稿。但兴致早已荡然无存。他的书稿让她感到厌倦。但她还是尽职尽责，帮他完成打字的工作。但终有一天，这项任务也会由博尔顿太太接手。
For Connie had suggested to Mrs. Bolton that she should learn to use a typewriter. And Mrs. Bolton, always ready, had begun at once, and practised assiduously. So now Clifford would sometimes dictate a letter to her, and she would take it down rather slowly, but correctly. And he was very patient, spelling for her the difficult words, or the occasional phrases in French. She was so thrilled, it was almost a pleasure to instruct her.
因为康妮提议博尔顿太太学习打字。而博尔顿太太保持着时刻待命的作风，立刻投入练习，态度极为勤勉。于是，现在克利福德有时会口述信件给她听，虽然她敲字的速度慢得要命，但从不会犯错。而他也显得很有耐心，每逢生僻单词，或者偶尔的法语词句，都会逐字母地拼读出来。她总是兴致勃勃，因此教导她几乎可说是件乐事。
Now Connie would sometimes plead a headache as an excuse for going up to her room after dinner.
现在，晚饭过后，康妮有时会借口头疼，上楼回到自己的房间。
"Perhaps Mrs. Bolton will play piquet with you," she said to Clifford.
“博尔顿太太会陪你打皮克牌（注：一种两人玩的纸牌游戏）。”她对克利福德说。
"Oh, I shall be perfectly all right. You go to your own room and rest, darling." But no sooner had she gone, than he rang for Mrs. Bolton, and asked her to take a hand at piquet or bezique, or even chess. He had taught her all these games. And Connie found it curiously objectionable to see Mrs. Bolton, flushed and tremulous like a little girl, touching her queen or her knight with uncertain fingers, then drawing away again. And Clifford, faintly smiling with a half-teasing superiority, saying to her: "You must say j'adoube!"
“我会好好照顾自己。你回房休息去吧，亲爱的。”但她前脚刚走，他会立马按铃，把博尔顿太太唤来，一起打皮克牌或者波齐克牌（注：一种两人或四人玩的纸牌游戏），甚至是下象棋。他教会她所有诸如此类的游戏。而博尔顿太太总是面色绯红，小女孩似的战战兢兢，犹豫不决地摩挲着自己的后或者马，然后又抽回手来。这样的场面让康妮感到莫名的反感。而克利福德则面露微笑，洋洋自得，用略带嘲弄的口吻，对博尔顿太太说：“你得说，我还需斟酌！”
She looked up at him with bright, startled eyes, then murmured shyly, obediently: "J'adoube!” Yes, he was educating her. And he enjoyed it, it gave him a sense of power. And she was thrilled. She was coming bit by bit into possession of all that the gentry knew, all that made them upper class: apart from the money. That thrilled her. And at the same time, she was making him want to have her there with him. It was a subtle deep flattery to him, her genuine thrill.
她抬头看着他，明亮的双眼里写满惊讶，接着羞答答地照办，低声说：“我还需斟酌！”没错，他在调教她。他乐此不疲，从中体验到某种权力感。而她更是激动不已。她正逐步掌握贵族们才懂的东西，具备那些足以跻身上流社会的品质，当然金钱并不包括在内。这令他为之迷醉。而且，她渐渐使克利福德感觉离不开自己。她的整个身心都陶醉其中，这对他而言，是种无法言喻的恭维。
To Connie, Clifford seemed to be coming out in his true colours: a little vulgar, a little common, and uninspired; rather fat. Ivy Bolton's tricks and humble bossiness were also only too transparent. But Connie did wonder at the genuine thrill which the woman got out of Clifford. To say she was in love with him would be putting it wrongly. She was thrilled by her contact with a man of the upper class, this titled gentleman, this author who could write books and poems, and whose photograph appeared in the illustrated newspapers. She was thrilled to a weird passion. And his "educating" her roused in her a passion of excitement and response much deeper than any love affair could have done. In truth, the very fact that there could be no love affair left her free to thrill to her very marrow with this other passion, the peculiar passion of knowing, knowing as he knew.
在康妮看来，克利福德正慢慢露出本来面目：庸俗不堪，平淡无奇，单调乏味，笨头笨脑。艾维·博尔顿的鬼把戏，还有那故作恭顺实作威福的态度，都太过明显。但她居然为克利福德意乱情迷，也让康妮大为不解。若说她堕入情网，确实过于牵强。她之所以激动，是因为有幸常伴克利福德左右，而他含着金汤匙出生，拥有从男爵头衔，擅长舞文弄墨，照片更是屡在报上刊登。她心醉不已，无法理解的热情才应运而生。他的调教，将她的热情彻底激发出来，让她更加积极地做出回应，其效果较爱情尤甚。实际上，正是不担心萌发恋情，使她可以忘我地投入到别样的热情中去，这种热情源自求知欲，渴望像他那样博古通今。
There was no mistake that the woman was in some way in love with him: whatever force we give to the word love. She looked so handsome and so young, and her grey eyes were sometimes marvellous. At the same time, there was a lurking soft satisfaction about her, even of triumph, and private satisfaction. Ugh, that private satisfaction. How Connie loathed it!
从某种角度来讲，这女人确实爱上了克利福德，无论我们赋予“爱”字怎样的含义。她面容娇好，青春未逝，灰白色的双眸有时倒也神采奕奕。同时，隐约可见的满足神情在她脸上闪现，志得意满，欲盖弥彰。唷，那欲盖弥彰的满足感。康妮真是腻歪透了！
But no wonder Clifford was caught by the woman! She absolutely adored him, in her persistent fashion, and put herself absolutely at his service, for him to use as he liked. No wonder he was flattered!
不过，克利福德被那女人俘获，倒也不足为奇！她对他的崇拜达到无以附加的程度，没有片刻懈怠，没有半点杂念，只愿服侍他，任他随意差遣。难怪他会有飘飘然的感觉！
Connie heard long conversations going on between the two. Or rather, it bas mostly Mrs. Bolton talking. She had unloosed to him the stream of gossip about Tevershall village. It was more than gossip. It was Mrs. Gaskell and George Eliot and Miss Mitford all rolled in one, with a great deal more, that these women left out." Once started, Mrs. Bolton was better than any book, about the lives of the people. She knew them all so intimately, and had such a peculiar, flamey zest in all their affairs, it was wonderful, if just a trifle humiliating to listen to her. At first she had not ventured to "talk Tevershall", as she called it, to Clifford. But once started, it went on. Clifford was listening for "material", and he found it in plenty. Connie realized that his so-called genius was just this: a perspicuous talent for personal gossip, clever and apparently detached. Mrs. Bolton, of course, was very warm when she "talked Tevershall". Carried away, in fact. And it was marvellous, the things that happened and that she knew about. She would have run to dozens of volumes.
康妮曾听过他俩间的长谈。或者说，那基本上是博尔顿太太的个人演说。她将特弗沙尔村的家长里短，向克利福德和盘托出。甚至超越流言蜚语的范畴。张家长，李家短，周家的孩子四只眼。博尔顿太太打开话匣子，讲起街坊四邻的日常琐事，远比小说精彩得多。她对其中的主人公再熟悉不过，对他们那些鸡毛蒜皮的俗事饶有兴致，听她滔滔不绝，也觉不乏精彩之处，但仍不免感到低俗庸陋。起初，她还不敢在克利福德面前“大话特弗沙尔”——她这样称呼自己的闲扯。但话锋一起，便收声不住。克利福德听她东拉西扯，为的是搜集素材，也发觉其中可用的确实不少。康妮终于认清，他所谓的天赋不过尔尔，通晓借用坊间传闻之道，加以理解吸收，但却装出置身事外的超然态度。当然，博尔顿太太“大话特弗沙尔”时，总是热情高涨。甚至激动得难以自持。村里发生的事，她所知晓的事，都确实令人赞叹。写上十几部小说也绰绰有余。
Connie was fascinated, listening to her. But afterwards always a little ashamed. She ought not to listen with this queer rabid curiosity. After all, one may hear the most private affairs of other people, but only in a spirit of respect for the struggling, battered thing which any human soul is, and in a spirit of fine, discriminative sympathy. For even satire is a form of sympathy. It is the way our sympathy flows and recoils that really determines our lives. And here lies the vast importance of the novel, properly handled. It can inform and lead into new places the flow of our sympathetic consciousness, and it can lead our sympathy away in recoil from things gone dead. Therefore, the novel, properly handled, can reveal the most secret places of life: for it is in the PASSIONAL secret places of life, above all, that the tide of sensitive awareness needs to ebb and flow, cleansing and freshening.
康妮也乐得听她天南海北。但过后总觉得有些羞愧。她不该对这些闲言闲语充满好奇。毕竟，或许倾听他人的家常私务无伤大雅，但至少应该对那些痛苦挣扎、受尽煎熬的灵魂报以尊重，怀有深切的同情，且能够明辨是非。就算讽刺也是同情的一种形式。我们的同情心就这样时进时退，真切地决定着生活的走向。如果掌握得当，小说的重要性也正在于此。它能够娓娓道来，将我们同情的意识洪流引向从未到过的地方，适时后退，远离那些僵化腐朽的东西。因此，铺排精巧的小说能揭示出生命最隐秘的所在，因为越是这些不为人知的情感密境，越需要敏感的意识波涛时起时落，扬清激浊。