Few things seemed to Newland Archer more awful than an offence against "Taste," that far-off divinity of whom "Form" was the mere visible representative and vicegerent. Madame Olenska's pale and serious face appealed to his fancy as suited to the occasion and to her unhappy situation; but the way her dress (which had no tucker) sloped away from her thin shoulders shocked and troubled him. He hated to think of May Welland's being exposed to the influence of a young woman so careless of the dictates of Taste.
在紐蘭·阿切爾看來，很少有什么事比與“品味”相悖更難堪的了。品味是一種看不見的神韻，“舉止”僅僅是它直觀的替代物與代表。奧蘭斯卡夫人蒼白而嚴肅的面孔，按他的想象是適合于這種場合及她的不幸處境的，但她的衣服（沒有衣領）從那單薄的肩頭坡下去的樣式卻令他震驚不安。他不愿設想梅·韋蘭受到一個如此不顧品味和情趣的年輕女子的影響。

"After all," he heard one of the younger men begin behind him (everybody talked through the Mephistopheles- and-Martha scenes), "after all, just WHAT happened?"
“究竟——”他聽到身后一個年輕人開口說（在靡菲斯特與瑪莎的幾場戲中，大家自始至終都在交談），“究竟發生了什么事？”

"Well--she left him; nobody attempts to deny that."
“哦——她離開了他；誰也不想否認這一點。”

"He's an awful brute, isn't he?" continued the young enquirer, a candid Thorley, who was evidently preparing to enter the lists as the lady's champion.
“他是個可怕的畜牲，不是嗎？”年輕人接著說，他是索利家族中一位直率的人，顯然準備加入那位女士的護花使者之列。

"The very worst; I knew him at Nice," said Lawrence Lefferts with authority. "A half-paralysed white sneering fellow--rather handsome head, but eyes with a lot of lashes. Well, I'll tell you the sort: when he wasn't with women he was collecting china. Paying any price for both, I understand."
“一個糟糕透了的家伙；我在尼斯見過他，”勞倫斯·萊弗茨以權威的口氣說。“老喝得半醉，蒼白的面孔上露出譏笑——但腦袋倒很漂亮，不過眼睫毛太多。噢，我來告訴你他那德行：他不是跟女人在一起，就是去收集瓷器。據我所知，他對兩者都不惜任何代價。”

There was a general laugh, and the young champion said: "Well, then----?"
這話引出一陣哄堂大笑，那位年輕的護花使者說：“唔，可是——”

"Well, then; she bolted with his secretary."
“唔，可是，她跟他的秘書逃跑了。”

"Oh, I see." The champion's face fell.
“噢，我明白了。”護花使者的臉沉了下來。

"It didn't last long, though: I heard of her a few months later living alone in Venice. I believe Lovell Mingott went out to get her. He said she was desperately unhappy. That's all right--but this parading her at the Opera's another thing."
“可是，這并沒有持續多久：我聽說她幾個月后就獨自住在威尼斯，我相信洛弗爾·明戈特那次出國是去找她的。他曾說她非常地不快活。現在沒事了——不過在歌劇院里這樣炫耀她卻另當別論。”