(单词翻译:单击)
Chapter 5
第五章
The next evening old Mr. Sillerton Jackson came to dine with the Archers.
第二天晚上，老西勒顿·杰克逊先生前来与阿切尔一家共进晚餐。
Mrs. Archer was a shy woman and shrank from society; but she liked to be well-informed as to its doings.
阿切尔太太是位腼腆的女人。她畏避社交界，但对其中的种种活动却喜欢了解得一清二楚。
Her old friend Mr. Sillerton Jackson applied to the investigation of his friends' affairs the patience of a collector and the science of a naturalist;
她的老朋友西勒顿·杰克逊善于将收藏家的耐心与博物学家的知识应用于对朋友们私事的调查，
and his sister, Miss Sophy Jackson, who lived with him, and was entertained by all the people who could not secure her much-sought-after brother,
而与他同住的胞妹索菲·杰克逊，受到那些无法接触她那位广受欢迎的兄长的人们的款待，
brought home bits of minor gossip that filled out usefully the gaps in his picture.
则把闲言碎语带回家来，有效地充实他的生动描述。
Therefore, whenever anything happened that Mrs. Archer wanted to know about, she asked Mr. Jackson to dine;
因此，每有阿切尔太太想了解的事情发生，她便请杰克逊先生前来一聚。
and as she honoured few people with her invitations, and as she and her daughter Janey were an excellent audience,
由于蒙她邀请的人寥若晨星，由于她与她的女儿詹尼都是极出色的听众，
Mr. Jackson usually came himself instead of sending his sister.
杰克逊先生通常都是亲自赴约，而不是派他的妹妹代劳。
If he could have dictated all the conditions, he would have chosen the evenings when Newland was out;
假如一切都能由他作主，他会选择纽兰不在家的晚上前来，
not because the young man was uncongenial to him (the two got on capitally at their club)
这并非因为年轻人与他情趣不投（他两人在俱乐部相处甚笃），
but because the old anecdotist sometimes felt,
而是由于这位喜谈轶闻的老人有时候感到，
on Newland's part, a tendency to weigh his evidence that the ladies of the family never showed.
纽兰有一种惦量他的证据的倾向，这在女眷们身上却是绝对见不到的。
Mr. Jackson, if perfection had been attainable on earth, would also have asked that Mrs. Archer's food should be a little better.
假如能做到尽善尽美，杰克逊先生还会要求阿切尔太太的饭菜稍加改善。
But then New York, as far back as the mind of man could travel,
然而那时的纽约上流社会，自人们能记得的时候起就一直分成两大派。
had been divided into the two great fundamental groups of the Mingotts and Mansons and all their clan,
一派是明戈特与曼森两姓及其宗族，
who cared about eating and clothes and money,
他们关心吃、穿与金钱；
and the Archer-Newland- van-der-Luyden tribe, who were devoted to travel, horticulture and the best fiction,
另一派是阿切尔一纽兰一范德卢顿家族，他们倾心于旅游、园艺以及最佳的小说，
and looked down on the grosser forms of pleasure.
对粗俗的享乐形式则不屑一顾。
You couldn't have everything, after all.
毕竟，一个人不可能好事样样有份。
If you dined with the Lovell Mingotts you got canvas-back and terrapin and vintage wines;
假如你与洛弗尔·明戈特一家共餐，你可以享用灰背野鸭、水龟和陈年佳酿；
at Adeline Archer's you could talk about Alpine scenery and "The Marble Faun";
而在艾德琳·阿切尔家，你却可以高谈阔论阿尔卑斯山的风景和“大理石的半人半羊神像”，
and luckily the Archer Madeira had gone round the Cape.
而且幸运的是，那位阿切尔·马迪拉曾经游历过好望角。
