Emma 爱玛 - Chapter 15

Mr. Woodhouse was soon ready for his tea; and when he had drank his tea he was quite ready to go home; and it was as much as his three companions could do, to entertain away his notice of the lateness of the hour, before the other gentlemen appeared. Mr. Weston was chatty and convivial ¹, and no friend to early separations of any sort; but at last the drawing-room party did receive an augmentation. Mr. Elton, in very good spirits, was one of the first to walk in. Mrs. Weston and Emma were sitting together on a sofa. He joined them immediately, and, with scarcely an invitation, seated himself between them.,Emma, in good spirits too, from the amusement afforded her mind by the expectation of Mr. Frank Churchill, was willing to forget his late improprieties, and be as well satisfied with him as before, and on his making Harriet his very first subject, was ready to listen with most friendly smiles.,He professed ² himself extremely anxious about her fair friend-- her fair, lovely, amiable ³ friend. "Did she know?--had she heard any thing about her, since their being at Randalls?-- he felt much anxiety--he must confess that the nature of her complaint alarmed him considerably ⁴." And in this style he talked on for some time very properly, not much attending to any answer, but altogether sufficiently ⁵ awake to the terror of a bad sore throat; and Emma was quite in charity with him., ,But at last there seemed a perverse ⁶ turn; it seemed all at once as if he were more afraid of its being a bad sore throat on her account, than on Harriet's--more anxious that she should escape the infection, than that there should be no infection in the complaint. He began with great earnestness to entreat ⁷ her to refrain from visiting the sick-chamber again, for the present--to entreat her to promise him not to venture into such hazard till he had seen Mr. Perry and learnt his opinion; and though she tried to laugh it off and bring the subject back into its proper course, there was no putting an end to his extreme solicitude ⁸ about her. She was vexed ⁹. It did appear--there was no concealing ¹⁰ it--exactly like the pretence ¹¹ of being in love with her, instead of Harriet; an inconstancy, if real, the most contemptible ¹² and abominable ¹³! and she had difficulty in behaving with temper. He turned to Mrs. Weston to implore ¹⁴ her assistance, "Would not she give him her support?--would not she add her persuasions ¹⁵ to his, to induce Miss Woodhouse not to go to Mrs. Goddard's till it were certain that Miss Smith's disorder ¹⁶ had no infection? He could not be satisfied without a promise-- would not she give him her influence in procuring ¹⁷ it?", , ,Emma saw Mrs. Weston's surprize, and felt that it must be great, at an address which, in words and manner, was assuming to himself the right of first interest in her; and as for herself, she was too much provoked and offended to have the power of directly saying any thing to the purpose. She could only give him a look; but it was such a look as she thought must restore him to his senses, and then left the sofa, removing to a seat by her sister, and giving her all her attention., ,She had not time to know how Mr. Elton took the reproof ²⁰, so rapidly did another subject succeed; for Mr. John Knightley now came into the room from examining the weather, and opened on them all with the information of the ground being covered with snow, and of its still snowing fast, with a strong drifting wind; concluding with these words to Mr. Woodhouse:, ,I found it odd to imagine a nation of convivial diners surrendering their birthright.我发现很难想象让这样一个喜欢热热闹闹吃饭的民族放弃他们的习惯。,These, at least, were their professed reasons for pulling out of the deal. 至少这些是他们自称退出这宗交易的理由 。