🔊 The visions of romance were over. Catherine was completely awakened. Henry’s address, short as it had been, had more thoroughly opened her eyes to the extravagance of her late fancies than all their several disappointments had done. Most grievously was she humbled. Most bitterly did she cry. It was not only with herself that she was sunk—but with Henry. Her folly, which now seemed even criminal, was all exposed to him, and he must despise her forever. The liberty which her imagination had dared to take with the character of his father—could he ever forgive it? The absurdity of her curiosity and her fears—could they ever be forgotten? She hated herself more than she could express. He had—she thought he had, once or twice before this fatal morning, shown something like affection for her. But now—in short, she made herself as miserable as possible for about half an hour, went down when the clock struck five, with a broken heart, and could scarcely give an intelligible answer to Eleanor’s inquiry if she was well. The formidable Henry soon followed her into the room, and the only difference in his behaviour to her was that he paid her rather more attention than usual. Catherine had never wanted comfort more, and he looked as if he was aware of it.

浪漫的幻想已然破灭。凯瑟琳彻底清醒了。亨利的寥寥数语,比之前所有的失望加起来,都更彻底地让她看清了自己近来幻想的荒谬。她感到无比羞愧,痛哭流涕。她不仅为自己感到沮丧--还为亨利。她的愚蠢,如今看来甚至近乎罪过,全都暴露在他面前,他定会永远鄙视她。她竟敢在想象中对他父亲的品格妄加揣测--他能否原谅？她那荒唐的好奇与恐惧--他能否忘却？她恨透了自己,无以言表。他曾经--她以为他曾经,在这个不幸的早晨之前,有一两次流露出些许对她的好感。但现在--总之,她让自己痛苦了大约半个小时,五点钟敲响时,她心碎地下楼,几乎无法清晰回答埃莉诺对她是否安好的询问。令人生畏的亨利很快也进了房间,他对她的态度唯一的不同是比往常更关切了些。凯瑟琳从未如此需要安慰,而他看起来似乎意识到了这一点。

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extravagance /ɪkˈstrævəɡəns/

n. 奢侈；过度➕

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grievously /ˈɡriːvəsli/

adv. 严重地；令人悲伤地➕

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absurdity /əbˈsɜːrdəti/

n. 荒谬；荒唐➕

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fatal /ˈfeɪtl/

adj. 致命的；灾难性的➕

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intelligible /ɪnˈtelɪdʒəbl/

adj. 可理解的；清晰的➕

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formidable /ˈfɔːrmɪdəbl/

adj. 可怕的；令人敬畏的➕

🔊 The evening wore away with no abatement of this soothing politeness; and her spirits were gradually raised to a modest tranquillity. She did not learn either to forget or defend the past; but she learned to hope that it would never transpire farther, and that it might not cost her Henry’s entire regard. Her thoughts being still chiefly fixed on what she had with such causeless terror felt and done, nothing could shortly be clearer than that it had been all a voluntary, self-created delusion, each trifling circumstance receiving importance from an imagination resolved on alarm, and everything forced to bend to one purpose by a mind which, before she entered the abbey, had been craving to be frightened. She remembered with what feelings she had prepared for a knowledge of Northanger. She saw that the infatuation had been created, the mischief settled, long before her quitting Bath, and it seemed as if the whole might be traced to the influence of that sort of reading which she had there indulged.

夜晚在亨利那未曾减弱的温和礼貌中度过；她的情绪逐渐平复,达到了一种克制的宁静。她既未学会忘却过去,也未学会为之辩护；但她学会了希望此事不再外传,希望不至于因此完全失去亨利的尊重。她的思绪仍主要专注于自己那无端恐惧的感受和行为,不久便清晰地意识到,这一切都是一种自愿的、自我制造的错觉,每件琐事都因她那执意警觉的想象而被放大,一切都被她那在进入修道院前就渴望受惊的心灵强加于一个目的。她忆起自己是以何种心情准备了解诺桑觉寺的。她看出这种痴迷早在离开巴斯之前就已形成,祸根早已种下,仿佛这一切都可追溯到她当时沉迷的那类阅读的影响。

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abatement /əˈbeɪtmənt/

n. 减少；减轻➕

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soothing /ˈsuːðɪŋ/

adj. 舒缓的；安慰的➕

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modest /ˈmɒdɪst/

adj. 谦虚的；适度的➕

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tranquillity /træŋˈkwɪləti/

n. 平静；安宁➕

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transpire /trænˈspaɪər/

v. 发生；泄露➕

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causeless /ˈkɔːzləs/

adj. 无原因的；无缘无故的➕

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voluntary /ˈvɒləntri/

adj. 自愿的；主动的➕

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delusion /dɪˈluːʒn/

n. 错觉；妄想➕

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trifling /ˈtraɪflɪŋ/

adj. 琐碎的；微不足道的➕

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infatuation /ɪnˌfætʃuˈeɪʃn/

n. 迷恋；痴迷➕

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mischief /ˈmɪstʃɪf/

n. 恶作剧；损害➕

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indulged /ɪnˈdʌldʒd/

v. 沉溺；纵容（过去分词）➕

🔊 Charming as were all Mrs. Radcliffe’s works, and charming even as were the works of all her imitators, it was not in them perhaps that human nature, at least in the Midland counties of England, was to be looked for. Of the Alps and Pyrenees, with their pine forests and their vices, they might give a faithful delineation; and Italy, Switzerland, and the south of France might be as fruitful in horrors as they were there represented. Catherine dared not doubt beyond her own country, and even of that, if hard pressed, would have yielded the northern and western extremities. But in the central part of England there was surely some security for the existence even of a wife not beloved, in the laws of the land, and the manners of the age. Murder was not tolerated, servants were not slaves, and neither poison nor sleeping potions to be procured, like rhubarb, from every druggist. Among the Alps and Pyrenees, perhaps, there were no mixed characters. There, such as were not as spotless as an angel might have the dispositions of a fiend. But in England it was not so; among the English, she believed, in their hearts and habits, there was a general though unequal mixture of good and bad. Upon this conviction, she did not hesitate to expect that Miss Tilney would still be able to explain her engagements to her satisfaction, though not to be traced to any precise cause, and that Isabella would yet acknowledge herself to have been misled by some mistaken principle of right.

尽管拉德克利夫夫人的所有作品都魅力非凡,甚至她所有模仿者的作品也都如此,但人性或许并非在这些作品中可寻,至少在英国中部诸郡不是如此。对于阿尔卑斯山脉和比利牛斯山脉,连同它们的松林与罪恶,这些作品或许能给予忠实描绘；意大利、瑞士和法国南部也可能如其所绘那般充满恐怖。凯瑟琳不敢怀疑本国之外的地方,即使对本国,若被逼问,她或许也会承认北部和西部边境地区有所不同。但在英格兰中部,即使是不被爱的妻子,其生存也肯定有某种保障,这源于国家法律和时代风尚。谋杀不被容许,仆人不是奴隶,毒药或安眠药也不像大黄那样从每个药剂师处可得。在阿尔卑斯山脉和比利牛斯山脉之间,或许没有性格混杂的人物。在那里,若非如天使般纯洁无瑕,便可能拥有魔鬼般的性情。但在英格兰却非如此；她相信,在英国人心中和习惯里,善恶普遍混合,尽管比例不均。基于这一信念,她毫不犹豫地期望蒂尔尼小姐仍能向她满意地解释自己的约定,尽管无法追溯至任何确切原因,并期望伊莎贝拉会承认自己被某种错误的正义原则误导了。

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imitators /ˈɪmɪteɪtərz/

n. 模仿者（复数）➕

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Alps /ælps/

n. 阿尔卑斯山脉➕

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Pyrenees /ˌpɪrəˈniːz/

n. 比利牛斯山脉➕

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vices /vaɪsɪz/

n. 恶习；缺点（复数）➕

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delineation /dɪˌlɪniˈeɪʃn/

n. 描绘；描述➕

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fruitful /ˈfruːtfl/

adj. 多产的；富有成果的➕

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extremities /ɪkˈstremətiz/

n. 极端；末端（复数）➕

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tolerated /ˈtɒləreɪtɪd/

v. 容忍；忍受（过去分词）➕

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potions /ˈpəʊʃnz/

n. 药剂；药水（复数）➕

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druggist /ˈdrʌɡɪst/

n. 药剂师➕

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spotless /ˈspɒtləs/

adj. 无瑕疵的；一尘不染的➕

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fiend /fiːnd/

n. 魔鬼；恶魔➕

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conviction /kənˈvɪkʃn/

n. 信念；定罪➕

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engagements /ɪnˈɡeɪdʒmənts/

n. 约会； engagement 的复数➕

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acknowledge /əkˈnɒlɪdʒ/

v. 承认；确认➕

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misled /ˌmɪsˈled/

v. 误导；使误解（过去分词）➕

🔊 Here ceased the rapid flow of her self-reproving spirit; and Henry, who had hitherto been a silent listener, began to talk of the weather, a topic on which he had before given her many a lesson; and in the course of their walk, he taught her to admire a fine sky, and to know the signs of a coming storm. And from weather he passed to the country, and from country to the election, from the election to politics, from politics to quietness, and from quietness to his father, and the pleasure he hoped Catherine might have in seeing him again; "for he will be truly glad of your acquaintance," said he, "and I am sure you will like him. He is a very respectable man, though his name is Richard—and he has never been handsome." Catherine, who had by this time recovered her spirits, was able to reply, and to hope that she should see him soon, with all the composure that became her; and the subject was dropped till they reached the house, when, after a few minutes’ conversation between the brother and sister, Henry left them, and Catherine went directly to her own room.

她自我谴责的思绪洪流在此止息；亨利,此前一直默默倾听,开始谈论天气,这是他之前多次教导过她的一个话题；散步途中,他教她欣赏晴朗的天空,并识别暴风雨将至的征兆。接着,他从天气谈到乡村,从乡村谈到选举,从选举谈到政治,从政治谈到宁静,从宁静谈到他的父亲,以及他期望凯瑟琳再次见到他时的喜悦；“因为他定会真心高兴认识你,”他说,“我相信你会喜欢他的。他是个非常可敬的人,尽管名字叫理查德--而且他从未英俊过。”凯瑟琳此时已恢复了情绪,能够以符合她身份的镇定回答,并希望很快能见到他；这个话题在他们到达房子前就此打住,兄妹俩交谈了几分钟后,亨利离开了她们,凯瑟琳径直回了自己的房间。

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self-reproving /ˌself rɪˈpruːvɪŋ/

adj. 自责的➕

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hitherto /ˌhɪðərˈtuː/

adv. 迄今；到目前为止➕

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respectable /rɪˈspektəbl/

adj. 可敬的；体面的➕

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composure /kəmˈpəʊʒər/

n. 镇静；沉着➕

Chapter twenty-five (第二十五章)

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