評論
打印
The family of Dashwood had long been settled in Sussex. Their estate was large, and their residence was at Norland Park, in the centre of their property, where, for many generations, they had lived in so respectable a manner as to engage the general good opinion of their surrounding acquaintance.
達什伍德家在蘇塞克斯定居，可有些年代了。家里置下一個偌大的田莊，府第就設在田莊中心的諾蘭莊園。祖祖輩輩以來，一家人一直過著體面日子，贏得了四近鄉鄰的交口稱譽。
The late owner of this estate was a single man, who lived to a very advanced age, and who for many years of his life, had a constant companion and housekeeper in his sister. But her death, which happened ten years before his own, produced a great alteration in his home; for to supply her loss, he invited and received into his house the family of his nephew Mr. Henry Dashwood, the legal inheritor of the Norland estate, and the person to whom he intended to bequeath it.
已故莊園主是個單身漢，活到老大年紀。在世時，妹妹長年陪伴他，替他管管家務。不想妹妹早他十年去世，致使府上發生巨變。為了填補妹妹的空缺，他將侄兒亨利．達什伍德一家接到府上。亨利．達什伍德先生是諾蘭田莊的法定繼承人，老達什伍德打算把家業傳給他。
In the society of his nephew and niece, and their children, the old Gentleman's days were comfortably spent. His attachment to them all increased. The constant attention of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dashwood to his wishes, which proceeded not merely from interest, but from goodness of heart, gave him every degree of solid comfort which his age could receive; and the cheerfulness of the children added a relish to his existence.
這位老紳士有侄兒、侄媳及其子女作伴，日子過得倒也舒心。他越來越喜愛他們。亨利．達什伍德夫婦不僅出自利害關系，而且由于心地善良，對他總是百般照應，使他晚年享盡了天倫之樂。而那些天真爛漫的孩子也給他的生活增添了樂趣。
By a former marriage, Mr. Henry Dashwood had one son: by his present lady, three daughters. The son, a steady respectable young man, was amply provided for by the fortune of his mother, which had been large, and half of which devolved on him on his coming of age. By his own marriage, likewise, which happened soon afterwards, he added to his wealth.
亨利．達什伍德先生同前妻生下一個兒子，同現在的太太生了三個女兒。兒子是個踏實體面的青年。當年他母親留下一大筆遺產，到他成年時有一半交給了他，為他奠定了厚實的家底。此后不久，他成了親，又增添了一筆財產。
To him therefore the succession to the Norland estate was not so really important as to his sisters; for their fortune, independent of what might arise to them from their father's inheriting that property, could be but small. Their mother had nothing, and their father only seven thousand pounds in his own disposal; for the remaining moiety of his first wife's fortune was also secured to her child, and he had only a life-interest in it.
所以，對他說來，父親是不是繼承諾蘭田莊，遠不像對他幾個妹妹那樣至關緊要。這幾個妹妹假若不依賴父親繼承這筆家業可能給她們帶來的進益，她們的財產便將微乎其微。她們的母親一無所有，父親僅僅掌管著七千鎊，而對前妻另一半遺產的所有權只在生前有效，他一去世，這一半財產也歸兒子承襲。
