双语·面纱 第六章

6

Within three months of her marriage she knew that she had made a mistake; but it had been her mother's fault even more than hers.

There was a photograph of her mother in the room and Kitty's harassed eyes fell on it. She did not know why she kept it there, for she was not very fond of her mother; there was one of her father too, but that was downstairs on the grand piano. It had been done when he took silk and it represented him in a wig and gown. Even they could not make him imposing; he was a little, wizened man, with tired eyes, a long upper lip, and a thin mouth; a facetious photographer had told him to look pleasant, but he had succeeded only in looking severe. It was on this account, for as a rule the down-turned corners of his mouth and the dejection of his eyes gave him an air of mild depression, that Mrs. Garstin, thinking it made him look judicial, had chosen it from among the proofs. But her own photograph showed her in the dress in which she had gone to Court when her husband was made a King's Counsel. She was very grand in the velvet gown, the long train so disposed as to show to advantage, with feathers in her hair and flowers in her hand. She held herself erect. She was a woman of fifty, thin and flat-chested, with prominent cheek-bones and a large, well-shaped nose. She had a great quantity of very smooth black hair and Kitty had always suspected that, if not dyed, it was at least touched up. Her fine black eyes were never still and this was the most noticeable thing about her; for when she was talking to you it was disconcerting to see those restless eyes in that impassive, unlined and yellow face. They moved from one part of you to another, to other persons in the room, and then back to you; you felt that she was criticising you, summing you up, watchful meanwhile of all that went on around her, and that the words she spoke had no connection with her thoughts.

第六章

结婚不到三个月，她就知道自己犯了个错误。但与其说是她的错，还不如说是她母亲的错。

房间里有一张她母亲的照片，凯蒂厌烦的目光落到了上面。她不知道为什么自己要把它放在那儿，其实她并不喜欢自己的母亲。她家里还有一张父亲的照片，但放在楼下的大钢琴上面。她父亲的照片是在被任命为王室律师时照的，他头戴假发，身着长袍，但即使如此场合和穿戴，也没能使他显得威风凛凛。他身材矮小、干瘦，目光疲惫，上嘴唇很长，两片嘴唇都偏薄。一个爱逗乐的摄影师告诉他要看上去开心点儿，可他看上去却更严肃了。正是由于这个原因，贾斯汀太太觉得她丈夫下垂的嘴角和忧郁的眼神，给了他一种平和而又不苟言笑的神气，使他看上去有种廉明公正的样子，正是可以做个法官的明证之一。然而，她自己的照片是在她丈夫成为王室的律师后，受邀进宫时照的，她身着天鹅绒的长袍，长期的训练显出了优势，她头发上插着羽毛，手上拿着一大把花，腰板挺得直直的。她是五十岁的妇人了，身材很瘦，胸很平，颧骨突出，大鼻子，却很有型；一头茂密而又光滑的黑发，凯蒂早就怀疑她的头发可能是染过的，至少也是仔细修剪过的；黑亮的双眼不停地转动，这可能是她身上最引人注目的部分了，她跟你说话的时候，你在她那张冷漠的、不显皱纹的、发黄的脸上看到一双骨碌乱转的眼睛，会感到困惑不安的。这双眼睛对你上上下下打量，一会儿转到屋里其他人身上，过了一会儿又重新回到你身上，你会感觉她正在挑你身上的刺，正在评价你，同时她又对周围的人和事充满警觉，说的话也往往言不由衷。