Lesson 49

It is a good thing my aunt Harriet died years ago.
幸亏我的哈丽特姨妈多年前就去世了。
If she were alive today she would not be able to air her views on her favourite topic of conversation: domestic servants.
如果她今天还活着，她将无法就她最喜欢的谈话话题——家政仆人——发表见解。
Aunt Harriet lived in that leisurely age when servants were employed to do housework.
哈丽特姨妈生活在那个雇佣仆人做家务的悠闲时代。
She had a huge, rambling country house called 'The Gables'.
她有一座巨大且漫延的乡间别墅，名叫“山墙庄园”。
She was sentimentally attached to this house, for even though it was far too big for her needs, she persisted in living there long after her husband's death.
她在情感上依恋这栋房子，因为尽管它对于她的需求来说太大了，但在她丈夫去世后很久，她仍坚持住在那里。
Before she grew old, Aunt Harriet used to entertain lavishly.
在她变老之前，哈丽特姨妈过去常常慷慨大方地款待客人。
I often visited The Gables when I was a boy.
当我还是个孩子的时候，我经常去盖布尔斯庄园。
No matter how many guests were present, the great house was always immaculate.
无论有多少客人在场，这座大房子总是一尘不染。
The parquet floors shone like mirrors; highly polished silver was displayed in gleaming glass cabinets; even my uncle's huge collection of books was kept miraculously free from dust.
镶木地板亮如镜面；高度抛光的银器陈列在闪闪发光的玻璃柜里；甚至我叔叔的大量藏书也被保持得奇迹般地一尘不染。
Aunt Harriet presided over an invisible army of servants that continuously scrubbed, cleaned, and polished.
哈丽特姨妈掌管着一支隐形的仆人大军，这支大军不停地进行擦洗、清理和抛光。
She always referred to them as 'the shifting population', for they came and went with such frequency that I never even got a chance to learn their names.
她总是把他们称为“流动人口”，因为他们来去如此频繁，以至于我甚至没有机会记住他们的名字。
Though my aunt pursued what was, in those days, an enlightened policy, in that she never allowed her domestic staff to work more than eight hours a day, she was extremely difficult to please.
虽然我的姨妈奉行了在当时看来是一项开明的政策，即她从不允许她的家政人员每天工作超过八小时，但她还是极其难以取悦。
While she always criticized the fickleness of human nature, she carried on an unrelenting search for the ideal servant to the end of her days, even after she had been sadly disillusioned by Bessie.
虽然她总是批评人性的多变，但直到她去世，甚至在被贝西伤了心而幻想破灭之后，她仍一直在坚持不懈地寻找理想的仆人。
Bessie worked for Aunt Harriet for three years.
贝西在哈丽特姨妈那里工作了三年。
During that time she so gained my aunt's confidence, that she was put in charge of the domestic staff.
在那段时间里，她如此赢得了我姨妈的信任，以至于她被委派负责管理家政人员。
Aunt Harriet could not find words to praise Bessie's industriousness and efficiency.
哈丽特姨妈无法用言语来表扬贝西的勤奋和效率。
In addition to all her other qualifications, Bessie was an expert cook.
除了她所有的其他资历之外，贝西还是一位精湛的厨师。
She acted the role of the perfect servant for three years before Aunt Harriet discovered her 'little weakness'.
她扮演完美仆人的角色长达三年之久，直到哈丽特姨妈发现了她的“小弱点”。
After being absent from The Gables for a week, my aunt unexpectedly returned one afternoon with a party of guests and instructed Bessie to prepare dinner.
在缺席了盖博庄园一周之后，我的姨妈一个下午带着一群客人出人意料地回来了，并吩咐贝西准备晚餐。
Not only was the meal well below the usual standard, but Bessie seemed unable to walk steadily.
不仅这顿饭远低于通常的标准，而且贝西似乎无法平稳行走。
She bumped into the furniture and kept mumbling about the guests.
她撞到了家具，并一直嘀咕着关于客人们的事。
When she came in with the last course — a huge pudding — she tripped on the carpet and the pudding went flying through the air, narrowly missed my aunt, and crashed on the dining table with considerable force.
当她端着最后一道菜——一个大布丁——进来时，她在地毯上绊了一跤，布丁飞向空中，险些撞到我的姨妈，最后重重地摔在餐桌上。
Though this caused great mirth among the guests, Aunt Harriet was horrified.
虽然这在宾客中引起了巨大的欢笑，但哈里特姨妈感到惊恐。
She reluctantly came to the conclusion that Bessie was drunk.
她不情愿地得出了贝西喝醉了的结论。
The guests had, of course, realized this from the moment Bessie opened the door for them and, long before the final catastrophe, had had a difficult time trying to conceal their amusement.
客人们当然从贝西为他们开门的那一刻起就意识到了这一点，而且早在最后的灾难发生前，他们就费了好大劲才掩饰住笑意。
The poor girl was dismissed instantly.
这个可怜的女孩被立即解雇了
After her departure, Aunt Harriet discovered that there were piles of empty wine bottles of all shapes and sizes neatly stacked in what had once been Bessie's wardrobe.
在她离开后，哈里特姨妈发现，在曾经是贝西衣柜的地方，整齐地堆放着一堆堆形状各异、大小不一的空酒瓶。
They had mysteriously found their way there from the wine cellar
他们神秘地从酒窖里找到了去那里的路