Jane Eyre 简爱 Chapter 18

MERRY days were these at Thornfield Hall; and busy days too: how different from the first three months of stillness, monotony, and solitude ¹ I had passed beneath its roof! All sad feelings seemed now driven from the house, all gloomy associations forgotten: there was life everywhere, movement all day long. You could not now traverse the gallery, once so hushed, nor enter the front chambers ², once so tenantless ³, without encountering a smart lady's-maid or a dandy valet., ,The kitchen, the butler's pantry, the servants' hall, the entrance hall, were equally alive; and the saloons were only left void and still when the blue sky and halcyon ⁴ sunshine of the genial ⁵ spring weather called their occupants out into the grounds. Even when that weather was broken, and continuous rain set in for some days, no damp seemed cast over enjoyment ⁶: indoor amusements only became more lively and varied ⁷, in consequence of the stop put to outdoor gaiety., ,I wondered what they were going to do the first evening a change of entertainment was proposed: they spoke ⁸ of 'playing charades,' but in my ignorance I did not understand the term. The servants were called in, the dining-room tables wheeled away, the lights otherwise disposed, the chairs placed in a semicircle opposite the arch. While Mr. Rochester and the other gentlemen directed these alterations ¹⁰, the ladies were running up and down stairs ringing for their maids., , ,Meantime, Mr. Rochester had again summoned the ladies round him, and was selecting certain of their number to be of his party. 'Miss Ingram is mine, of course,' said he: afterwards he named the two Misses Eshton, and Mrs. Dent ¹³. He looked at me: I happened to be near him, as I had been fastening the clasp of Mrs. Dent's bracelet ¹⁴, which had got loose., ,'Will you play?' he asked. I shook my head. He did not insist, which I rather feared he would have done; he allowed me to return quietly to my usual seat., ,They searched for a place where they could live in solitude. 他们寻找一个可以过隐居生活的地方。,The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里 。 来自《简明英汉词典》