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The arrival of a new family in the country was always a matter of joy to him, and in every point of view he was charmed with the inhabitants he had now procured for his cottage at Barton. The Miss Dashwoods were young, pretty, and unaffected. It was enough to secure his good opinion; for to be unaffected was all that a pretty girl could want to make her mind as captivating as her person. The friendliness of his disposition made him happy in accommodating those, whose situation might be considered, in comparison with the past, as unfortunate. In showing kindness to his cousins therefore he had the real satisfaction of a good heart; and in settling a family of females only in his cottage, he had all the satisfaction of a sportsman; for a sportsman, though he esteems only those of his sex who are sportsmen likewise, is not often desirous of encouraging their taste by admitting them to a residence within his own manor.
鄉(xiāng)里新來了一戶人家，這對約翰爵士總是一件喜幸事兒。不管從哪個角度看，他給巴頓鄉(xiāng)舍招來的新房客都使他著迷。三位達(dá)什伍德小姐年輕漂亮，毫不做作，這就足以博得他的好評，因?yàn)椴恍甲鲎髡悄贻p姑娘所缺乏的東西，裝腔作勢使其心靈不能像外貌一樣具有魅力。爵士性情善良，每逢誰遭到不幸，總是提供方便。因此，能對幾個表侄女表明一番好意，使他感到一個好心人的由衷喜悅；而能讓一家女眷住進(jìn)他的鄉(xiāng)舍，卻又使他感到一個行獵愛好者的由衷喜悅。因?yàn)閷τ谝粋€行獵愛好者來說（雖然他只敬佩那些與他屬于同一性別、也愛好打獵的人們），他并不是經(jīng)常愿意把女人們引進(jìn)自己的莊園居住，縱容她們得寸進(jìn)尺。
Mrs. Dashwood and her daughters were met at the door of the house by Sir John, who welcomed them to Barton Park with unaffected sincerity; and as he attended them to the drawing room repeated to the young ladies the concern which the same subject had drawn from him the day before, at being unable to get any smart young men to meet them. They would see, he said, only one gentleman there besides himself; a particular friend who was staying at the park, but who was neither very young nor very gay. He hoped they would all excuse the smallness of the party, and could assure them it should never happen so again. He had been to several families that morning in hopes of procuring some addition to their number, but it was moonlight and every body was full of engagements. Luckily Lady Middleton's mother had arrived at Barton within the last hour, and as she was a very cheerful agreeable woman, he hoped the young ladies would not find it so very dull as they might imagine. The young ladies, as well as their mother, were perfectly satisfied with having two entire strangers of the party, and wished for no more.
約翰爵士在門口迎接達(dá)什伍德母女，真誠地歡迎她們光臨巴頓莊園。他陪著客人步入客廳，一再向幾位小姐表示，沒有找來幾位漂亮小伙子來歡迎她們，他深感不安；前一天，這個問題已經(jīng)引起了他的不安。他說，除他之外，她們在這里只能見到一位男客。這是他的一位特別要好的朋友，現(xiàn)在就住在他的宅第里，不過他既不年輕，也不活躍。賓客這么少，希望小姐們見諒，并且向她們保證：以后決不會再發(fā)生類似情況。那天上午，他跑了好幾家，想多拉幾個人來，怎奈今宵是月明之夜，大家都有約會。幸運(yùn)的是，米德爾頓夫人的母親才來到巴頓不久。她是個非常快樂、非常和藹的女人，爵士希望小姐們不會像她們想象的那樣感到枯燥無味。幾位小姐和她們的母親見席上有兩位素不相識的客人，也就心滿意足，并沒有別的奢望。
