【荆棘鸟】第三章 03

As Father Ralph parked his car and walked across the lawn, the maid waited on the front veranda 1, her freckled 2 face wreathed in smiles. "Good morning, Minnie," he said.
  "Oh, Father, happy it is to see you this fine dear morning"," she said in her strong brogue, one hand holding the door wide and the other outstretched to receive his battered 3, unclerical hat.
  Inside the dim hall, with its marble tiles and greet brass-railed staircase, he paused until Minnie gave him a nod before entering the drawing room.
  Mary Carson was sitting in her wing chair by an open window which extended fifteen feet from floor to ceiling, apparently 4 indifferent to the cold air flooding in. Her shock of red hair was almost as bright as it had been in her youth; though the coarse freckled skin had picked up additional splotches from age, for a woman of sixty-five she had few wrinkles, rather a fine network of tiny diamond-shaped cushions like a quilted bedspread. The only clues to her intractable nature lay in the two deep fissures 5 which ran one on either side of her Roman nose, to end pulling down the corners of her mouth, and in the stony 6 look of the pale-blue eyes. Father Ralph crossed the Aubusson carpet silently and kissed her hands; the gesture sat well on a man as tall and graceful 7 as he was, especially since he wore a plain black soutane which gave him something of a courtly air. Her expressionless eyes suddenly coy and sparkling, Mary Carson almost simpered. "Will you have tea, Father?" she asked.
  "It depends on whether you wish to hear Mass," he said, sitting down in the chair facing hers and crossing his legs, the soutane riding up sufficiently 8 to show that under it he wore breeches and knee-high boots, a concession 9 to the locale of his parish. "I've brought you Communion, but if you'd like to hear Mass I can be ready to say it in a very few minutes. I don't mind continuing my fast a little longer."
  "You're too good to me, Father," she said smugly, knowing perfectly 10 well that he, along with everybody else, did homage 11 not to her but to her money. "Please have tea," she went on. "I'm quite happy with Communion." He kept his resentment 12 from showing in his face; this parish had been excellent for his self-control. If once he was offered the chance to rise out of the obscurity his temper had landed him in, 
 

拉尔夫神父将车停在车场里以后，漫步走上了草坪，这时，女仆已经在前廊上
等着了，她那长着雀斑的脸上堆满了笑容。
 
    “早安，明妮。”他说。
 
    “哦，神父，在这么个晴郎美丽的早晨看到您真是太高兴了。”她带着很重的
口音说着，用一只手把门推开，又伸出另一只手去接他那顶破旧的、并非教士用的
帽子。
 
    镶着大理石方砖的大厅里光线昏暗，宽大的楼梯上装着黄铜扶手。他站在那儿，
直到明妮向他点了一下头，他才走进客厅。
 
    玛丽·卡森正坐在高背椅中，窗户敞开着，这是一扇从地面直抵天花板的落地
窗，足足有15英尺高；对于从窗外吹来的冷风，她显然没有在意。她那浓密的红发
几乎依然像她年轻时一样光亮，尽管年龄已经使她那粗糙的、多斑的皮肤长出了更
多的斑点。对于一位65岁的女人来说，她的皱纹并不算多，很像洗过的床罩上的细
小的菱形折皱。她那罗马式的鼻子两边各有一条深深的纹路，直通嘴角；那双浅蓝
色的眼睛毫无表情，这是唯一显示性格倔强的地方。
 
    拉尔夫神父默默地走过奥巴松地毯，吻了吻她的手；这姿式十分适合于像
他这样身高的、优雅的男人，特别是因为他穿着这身使他具有某种宫廷气派的平绒
黑法衣。她那双毫无表情的眼睛突然露出了扭捏而又喜悦的样子，玛丽·卡森几乎
是在傻笑了。
 
    “你要喝点茶吗，神父？”她问道。
 
    “这就要看你是否愿意听弥撒了。”他边说着，边在她对面的椅子上坐了下来。
他交叉起双腿，拱起的法衣下面露出了马裤和高统靴，这是教会对他所在的教区的
让步。“我给你带来了圣餐，不过，要是你想听弥撒的话，我几分钟以后就可以为
你做的，等一会儿再吃我并不在乎。”
 
    “你对我太好了，神父，”她十分得体地说道，心里非常清楚，他和所有的人
一样，所敬重的并不是她，而是她的钱。“请用茶，”她接着道，“有圣餐我就很
高兴了。”