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Chapter ii. — A short description of squire Allworthy, and a fuller account of Miss Bridget Allworthy, his sister.
In that part of the western division of this kingdom which is commonly called Somersetshire, there lately lived, and perhaps lives still, a gentleman whose name was Allworthy, and who might well be called the favourite of both nature and fortune; for both of these seem to have contended which should bless and enrich him most. In this contention, nature may seem to some to have come off victorious, as she bestowed on him many gifts, while fortune had only one gift in her power; but in pouring forth this, she was so very profuse, that others perhaps may think this single endowment to have been more than equivalent to all the various blessings which he enjoyed from nature. From the former of these, he derived an agreeable person, a sound constitution, a solid understanding, and a benevolent heart; by the latter, he was decreed to the inheritance of one of the largest estates in the county.
This gentleman had in his youth married a very worthy and beautiful woman, of whom he had been extremely fond: by her he had three children, all of whom died in their infancy. He had likewise had the misfortune of burying this beloved wife herself, about five years before the time in which this history chuses to set out. This loss, however great, he bore like a man of sense and constancy, though it must be confest he would often talk a little whimsically on this head; for he sometimes said he looked on himself as still married, and considered his wife as only gone a little before him, a journey which he should most certainly, sooner or later, take after her; and that he had not the least doubt of meeting her again in a place where he should never part with her more—sentiments for which his sense was arraigned by one part of his neighbours, his religion by a second, and his sincerity by a third.
He now lived, for the most part, retired in the country, with one sister, for whom he had a very tender affection. This lady was now somewhat past the age of thirty, an aera at which, in the opinion of the malicious, the title of old maid may with no impropriety be assumed. She was of that species of women whom you commend rather for good qualities than beauty, and who are generally called, by their own sex, very good sort of women—as good a sort of woman, madam, as you would wish to know. Indeed, she was so far from regretting want of beauty, that she never mentioned that perfection, if it can be called one, without contempt; and would often thank God she was not as handsome as Miss Such-a-one, whom perhaps beauty had led into errors which she might have otherwise avoided. Miss Bridget Allworthy (for that was the name of this lady) very rightly conceived the charms of person in a woman to be no better than snares for herself, as well as for others; and yet so discreet was she in her conduct, that her prudence was as much on the guard as if she had all the snares to apprehend which were ever laid for her whole sex. Indeed, I have observed, though it may seem unaccountable to the reader, that this guard of prudence, like the trained bands, is always readiest to go on duty where there is the least danger. It often basely and cowardly deserts those paragons for whom the men are all wishing, sighing, dying, and spreading, every net in their power; and constantly attends at the heels of that higher order of women for whom the other sex have a more distant and awful respect, and whom (from despair, I suppose, of success) they never venture to attack.
Reader, I think proper, before we proceed any farther together, to acquaint thee that I intend to digress, through this whole history, as often as I see occasion, of which I am myself a better judge than any pitiful critic whatever; and here I must desire all those critics to mind their own business, and not to intermeddle with affairs or works which no ways concern them; for till they produce the authority by which they are constituted judges, I shall not plead to their jurisdiction. |
第2回——乡绅万德全的简介，以及其妹万丽姬小姐比较全面的介绍 在我们这个王国西部有个地方，人们通常称这个地方为萨默郡。不久之前这里居住着一位绅士，名叫万德全，很可能他现在仍居住于此。他或许可以称得上既是造物之主的宠儿，又是命运之神的最爱，因为这两者似乎一直在争斗不休，看是前者赐他福运最旺，还是后者给他财气最盛。在这场争斗中，造物之主似乎略微占了点上风，因为她赐予了万德全许多件礼物，而命运之神在她的权力范围内只给了他一件。尽管礼物只有一件，但命运之神却非常慷慨，以至于其他人很可能会认为单单这件礼物，就已经比他从造物之主那里享受的所有各种福祉加在一起的总和还要多。万德全从造物之主那里获得了和蔼可亲的容貌、强健有力的体魄、明察秋毫的头脑以及乐善好施的心肠。而命运之神注定为他安排的是，他继承了整个郡几份最大家业的其中一份。 这位绅士年轻时娶了一位德容兼备的女子为妻，他对她宠爱有加：她为他生了三个孩子，却都在襁褓中夭折了。同样在这段个人史开始的五年前，非常不幸的是，他又埋葬了他所至爱的这位妻子。尽管丧妻之痛对他打击很大，他却像个深明大义、忠贞不渝的人承受着这一切，不过我们必须承认，他在这个问题上经常有点语无伦次；因为他偶尔会说，他觉得自己并未丧偶，认为他的妻子外出旅行去了，只是比他先走了一段路，他非常确信迟早有一天他会步她的后尘。他毫不怀疑将来会在某个地方与她重逢，而且永远不会再和她分开——他对情感的这番言论遭到了左邻右舍的谴责，一部分人说他神智紊乱，另一部分人骂他信仰不纯，还有一部分人怪他心口不一。
万德全和他的一个妹妹现在大部分时间隐居在乡下，他对她的关怀温柔体贴。这位女士现已年过三十，在那些心术不正的人看来，这个年龄段的女人也许可冠以嫁不出去的老姑娘称号并无不妥之处。她属于那种与其夸她容貌漂亮，但不如赞她品行端庄的女人，她就是那种被其他女人通常称为的“淑女”——我说这位太太，就是那种你梦寐以求想要认识的淑女。事实上，她远不至于为自己的容貌欠佳而感到惭愧，反而一旦提及容貌十全十美（如果容貌有十全十美这一说法的话），她无不嗤之以鼻；她常常感谢上帝，自己没长得像某某小姐那样漂亮，正是因为长得漂亮，某某小姐才会误入歧途，否则她本可以避免这样的厄运。万丽姬（这正是这位女郎的姓名）小姐理所当然地认为，一个女人的千娇百媚对她自己和其他人来说都不过是重重陷阱；万丽姬行事小心，谨小慎微，严加防卫，仿佛她对曾经为全体女性布下的所有陷阱都了如指掌。事实上，我已经注意到，尽管读者可能觉得不可思议，这个“谨慎”卫兵，如同训练有素的警备队，总是最乐意去危险系数最小的地方值班放哨。“谨慎”往往卑鄙懦弱地抛弃那些绝代佳人，而她们却是男人们为之寤寐思服、夙夜叹息、倾倒献身、使出浑身解数撒下爱情罗网来追求的对象。“谨慎”时刻服侍在那些品行较高女性的脚后跟，男人们对她们则敬而远之，（我想可能他们感到追求无望）从未有胆量去攻克她们。
看官，我们一起把这部书往后翻之前，我觉得应该让诸位知道这一点，在讲述这部个人史过程中，只要情景需要，我就打算插上几句题外话，我自己比任何可怜又可笑的批评家更有资格成为一名更优秀的评委；在这里，我最希望说的就是让所有那些批评家少管闲事，不要插手与自己毫不相干的事情或工作；因为要等到他们出具正式被委任为评委的权威证明之后，我才会请求他们来做出评判。 |
