I don't know that he's very clever, she said one day, when I was looking at the photograph, "but I know he's good. He has a charming character."
“我想他不算太聪明，”有一天我正在看照片的时候，思特里克兰德太太说，“但是我知道他是个好孩子。性格很可爱。”
The daughter was fourteen. Her hair, thick and dark like her mother's, fell over her shoulders in fine profusion, and she had the same kindly expression and sedate, untroubled eyes.
女儿十四岁。头发同母亲一样，又粗又黑，浓密地披在肩膀上。温顺的脸相，端庄、明净的眼睛也同母亲活脱儿一样。
They're both of them the image of you, I said.
“他们两个人长得都非常象你，”我说。
Yes; I think they are more like me than their father.
“可不是，他们都更随我，不随他们的父亲。”
Why have you never let me meet him? I asked.
“你为什么一直不让我同他见面？”
Would you like to?
“你愿意见他吗？”
She smiled, her smile was really very sweet, and she blushed a little; it was singular that a woman of that age should flush so readily. Perhaps her naivete was her greatest charm.
她笑了，她的笑容很甜，脸上微微泛起一层红晕；象她这样年纪的女人竟这么容易脸红，是很少有的。也许她最迷人之处就在于她的纯真。
You know, he's not at all literary, she said. "He's a perfect philistine."
“你知道，他一点儿也没有文学修养，”她说，“他是个十足的小市民。”
She said this not disparagingly, but affectionately rather, as though, by acknowledging the worst about him, she wished to protect him from the aspersions of her friends.
她用这个词一点儿也没有贬抑的意思，相反地，倒是怀着一股深情，好象由她自己说出他最大的缺点就可以保护他不受她朋友们的挖苦以的。
He's on the Stock Exchange, and he's a typical broker. I think he'd bore you to death.
“他在证券交易所干事儿，是一个典型的经纪人。我猜想，他一定会叫你觉得很厌烦的。”
Does he bore you? I asked.
“你对他感到厌烦吗？”
You see, I happen to be his wife. I'm very fond of him.
“你知道，我刚好是他的妻子。我很喜欢他。”
She smiled to cover her shyness, and I fancied she had a fear that I would make the sort of gibe that such a confession could hardly have failed to elicit from Rose Waterford. She hesitated a little. Her eyes grew tender.
她笑了一下，掩盖住自己的羞涩。我想她可能担心我会说一句什么打趣的话，换了柔斯·瓦特尔芙德，听见她这样坦白，肯定会挖苦讽刺几句的。她踌躇了一会儿，眼神变得更加温柔了。
He doesn't pretend to be a genius. He doesn't even make much money on the Stock Exchange. But he's awfully good and kind.
“他不想假充自己有什么才华。就是在证券交易所里他赚的钱也不多。但是他心地非常善良。”
I think I should like him very much.
“我想我会非常喜欢他的。”
I'll ask you to dine with us quietly some time, but mind, you come at your own risk; don't blame me if you have a very dull evening.
“等哪天没有外人的时候，我请你来吃晚饭。但是我把话说在前头，你可是自愿冒这个风险；如果这天晚上你过得非常无聊，可千万不要怨我。”