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Incredible as it seemed to him now, he had fallen in love with her while she recited from the more ponderous passages in The Ring and the Book. He had fallen in love with her then, though he had never really enjoyed Browning, and it had been a relief to him when the Unseen, in company with its illustrious poet, had at last gone out of fashion. Yet, since he was disposed to admire all the qualities he did not possess, he had never ceased to respect the firmness with which Victoria continued to deal in other forms with the Absolute.
现在看起来真是难以置信，他居然是在她背诵《戒指和书》中非常沉闷的段落时爱上她的。尽管他从来没有真正喜欢过布朗宁的诗，他还是在那时爱上了她。当这个杰出的诗人与他的诗“幽冥”终于不再时兴的时候，他感到如释重负般的轻松。可是，对维多利亚继续以其它形式信奉绝对真理所表现出的坚定精神，他向来无比钦佩，因为他总是钦佩他所没有的所有品质。
As the placid years passed, and she came to rely less upon her virginal features, it seemed to him that the ripe opinions of her youth began to shrink and flatten as fruit does that has hung too long on the tree. She had never changed, he realized, since he had first known her; she had become merely riper, softer, and sweeter in nature.
随着平静岁月的流逝，维多利亚美丽的容颜开始渐褪;他似乎觉得她年轻时的成熟思想也开始变得不再锋芒毕露，就像果实在树上挂得过久。他意识到自从他第一次见到她，她从来没有改变过;她只是变得更加成熟、温婉和甜美。
Her advantage rested where advantage never fails to rest, in moral fervour. To be invariably right was her single wifely failing. For his wife, he sighed, with the vague unrest of a husband whose infidelities are imaginary, was a genuinely good woman. She was as far removed from pretence as she was from the posturing virtues that flourish in the credulous world of the drama. The pity of it was that even the least exacting husband should so often desire something more piquant than goodness.
她优于别人的地方在于她的精神热诚，这种优势牢不可破。作为妻子,她惟一的缺点就是能在任何时候都不做错事。臆想对妻子有不忠行为的丈夫总会有种淡淡的不安，正是带着这种不安他叹息道，他的妻子是一个真正的好女人。她没有一点虚饰，也没有一点在这个容易轻信的世界上所流行的那种伪善。但遗憾的是，即使是最不挑剔的丈夫也时常会渴望一点更为活泼有趣的东西，而不仅仅是善良。（选自《他们不惜干蠢事》，1929）
*la Pompadour:庞巴度夫人(法语:Madame de Pompadour)法国皇帝路易十五的著名情妇、社交名媛(courtesan)。本文代指庞巴度发型。留这种发型的男性把前面的头发向上梳起,女性则在前额上留一绺卷发。这种发型在1960年代的美国的乡村歌手和电影演员中大受欢迎,如马龙·白兰度和詹姆斯·迪恩就很喜欢这种发型。
作者简介：
埃伦·格拉斯哥 (1874-1945),美国女小说家。她以现实主义手法描写家乡弗吉尼亚州的生活，有计划地描绘了1850年以后的弗吉尼亚州的社会历史，共写成5部。第一部为《人民之声》（1900），最成功的一部是《弗吉尼亚》（1913）。1925年发表描写农村的长篇小说《不毛之地》，得到评论界的赞许，但时已年过半百。以后发表带有讽刺性的三部曲：《浪漫的喜剧演员》（1926）、《他们不惜干蠢事》（1929）和《温室中的生活》（1932）。最后一部常与《不毛之地》并列为她的最佳作品。一生未婚，但在她去世后发表的回忆录《女人的内心世界》（1954）中写出她曾与两个男人有过长期的爱情。1958年出版《书信集》。1963年出版《短篇小说选》。 上一页 [1] [2] 【已有很多网友发表了看法，点击参与讨论】【对英语不懂，点击提问】【英语论坛】【返回首页】
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