The monks seemed to stay on sufferance, as though they awaited a notice to quit; and in the smile of the abbot, with his beautiful politeness, was the irony of resignation.

僧侣们似乎一直在忍耐， 好像他们在等待退出的通知。在方丈的微笑中， 带着他美丽的礼貌， 是顺从的讽刺。