Sometimes, when the day was very unfavourable, his sisters would expostulate.
天气很糟的时候妹妹们会劝他别去。
He would then say, with a peculiar smile, more solemn than cheerful, --
但他脸上浮起了庄严甚于愉快的笑容说:
"And if I let a gust of wind or a sprinkling of rain turn me aside from these easy tasks,
“要是一阵风和几滴雨就弄得我放弃这些轻而易举的工作,
what preparation would such sloth be for the future I propose to myself?"
那么这样懒懒散散,又怎么能为我设想的未来作准备呢?”
Diana and Mary's general answer to this question was a sigh, and some minutes of apparently mournful meditation.
黛安娜和玛丽对这个问题的回答,往往是一声叹息和几分钟明显伤心的沉默。
But besides his frequent absences, there was another barrier to friendship with him:
但是除了因为他频繁外出之外,还有另一大障碍使我无法与他建立友情。
he seemed of a reserved, an abstracted, and even of a brooding nature.
他似乎是个生性寡言少语、心不在焉、沉思默想的人,
Zealous in his ministerial labours, blameless in his life and habits,
尽管他对牧师工作非常热情,生活习惯上也无可指摘,
he yet did not appear to enjoy that mental serenity, that inward content,
但他好像并没有享受到内心的宁静和满足,
which should bet he reward of every sincere Christian and practical philanthropist.
每个虔诚的基督徒和脚踏实地的慈善家应得的酬报。
Often, of an evening, when he sat at the window, his desk and papers before him,
晚上,他常常坐在窗前,对着面前的书桌和纸张
he would cease reading or writing, rest his chin on his hand,
会停止阅读和写作,把下巴靠在手上,
and deliver himself up to I know not what course of thought;
任自己的思绪不知向什么方向飘忽,
but that it was perturbed and exciting might be seen in the frequent flash and changeful dilation of his eye.
但显得局促不安,从他眼睛频繁的闪烁和变幻莫测的张合中,可以看到兴奋与激动。