(单词翻译:单击)
Mr. Manson Mingott had died when she was only twenty-eight,
曼森·明戈特先生去世的时候她只有28岁。
and had "tied up" the money with an additional caution born of the general distrust of the Spicers;
出于对斯派塞家族的不信任，他用一条附加条款“冻结”了自己的遗产。
but his bold young widow went her way fearlessly, mingled freely in foreign society,
他那位年轻、果敢的遗孀大无畏地走着自己的路，她无拘无束地混迹在外国的社交界，
married her daughters in heaven knew what corrupt and fashionable circles,
把女儿嫁到天知道何等腐化时髦的圈子里，
hobnobbed with Dukes and Ambassadors,
与公爵大使们开怀畅饮，
associated familiarly with Papists,
与教皇政治家亲密交往，
entertained Opera singers,
款待歌剧演员，
and was the intimate friend of Mme. Taglioni;
并做了芭蕾名门之后塔戈里奥尼夫人的密友。
and all the while (as Sillerton Jackson was the first to proclaim) there had never been a breath on her reputation;
与此同时，正如西勒顿·杰克逊首先宣布的，关于她的名声却从没有一句口舌。
the only respect, he always added, in which she differed from the earlier Catherine.
这是她惟一一点，他总是接着说，与以前那位凯瑟琳的不同之处。
Mrs. Manson Mingott had long since succeeded in untying her husband's fortune, and had lived in affluence for half a century;
曼森·明戈特太太早已解冻了丈夫的财产，并殷殷实实地活了半个世纪。
but memories of her early straits had made her excessively thrifty,
早年困境的记忆使她格外节俭，
and though, when she bought a dress or a piece of furniture, she took care that it should be of the best,
虽然她在买衣服或添置家具时总是关照要最好的，
she could not bring herself to spend much on the transient pleasures of the table.
但却舍不得为餐桌上瞬间的享乐过多破费。
Therefore, for totally different reasons, her food was as poor as Mrs. Archer's, and her wines did nothing to redeem it.
所以，由于完全不同的原因，她的饭菜跟阿切尔太太家的一样差，她的酒也不能为之增光添彩。
Her relatives considered that the penury of her table discredited the Mingott name, which had always been associated with good living;
亲戚们认为，她餐桌上的吝啬损害了明戈特家的名誉——它一向是与吃喝讲究连在一起的。
but people continued to come to her in spite of the "made dishes" and flat champagne,
然而人们还是不顾那些“拼盘”与走味的香槟，继续到她家来。
and in reply to the remonstrances of her son Lovell (who tried to retrieve the family credit by having the best chef in New York)
针对她儿子洛弗尔的劝告，他企图雇佣纽约最好的厨师以恢复家族的名誉，
she used to say laughingly:
她常常笑着说：
"What's the use of two good cooks in one family, now that I've married the girls and can't eat sauces?"
“既然姑娘们都嫁出去了，我又不能用调味品，一个家庭用两个好厨师还有什么用？”
Newland Archer, as he mused on these things, had once more turned his eyes toward the Mingott box.
纽兰·阿切尔一面沉思着这些事情，又把目光转向了明戈特包厢。
He saw that Mrs. Welland and her sister-in-law were facing their semicircle of critics with the Mingottian aplomb which old Catherine had inculcated in all her tribe,
他见韦兰太太与她的嫂嫂正带着老凯瑟琳向族人灌输的那种明戈特家特有的镇定自若，面对着组成半圆形的批评者。
and that only May Welland betrayed, by a heightened colour
只有梅·韦兰面色绯红
(perhaps due to the knowledge that he was watching her)
也许由于知道他在看她，
a sense of the gravity of the situation.
流露出事态严峻的意味。
