作者：Honoré de Balzac 巴尔扎克
出版社：外语教学与研究出版社
格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT
妇女再研究(外研社双语读库)试读：
Another Study of Woman妇女再研究At Paris there are almost always two separate parties going on at every ball and rout. First, an official party, composed of the persons invited, a fashionable and much-bored circle. Each one grimaces for his neighbor's eye; most of the younger women are there for one person only; when each woman has assured herself that for that one she is the handsomest woman in the room, and that the opinion is perhaps shared by a few others, a few insignificant phrases are exchanged, as: "Do you think of going away soon to La Crampade?""How well Madame de Portenduere sang!""Who is that little woman with such a load of diamonds?"Or, after firing off some smart epigrams, which give transient pleasure, and leave wounds that rankle long, the groups thin out, the mere lookers on go away, and the waxlights burn down to the sconces.
在巴黎，几乎每一个舞会与热闹的聚会都有两种截然不同的小聚会。第一种是正式的聚会，参加的都是那些受邀请、赶潮流却又时常感到生活无趣的一群人。聚会上人人都以假面示人，大多数较年轻的女士都只为一人而去。每一位女性都确信,自己在那人眼中是大厅里最美丽的女性，而且其他人也很可能认同这一看法，此时，她们就会展开一系列无关紧要的谈话，诸如：“你稍后想去克朗帕德吗？”“德波唐杜埃夫人唱得真好！”“那个浑身上下佩戴钻石首饰的小妇人是谁？”或者是随口说出几句俏皮话，给人短暂的快乐，却也留下持久的苦痛。在这之后，人群渐渐散去，纯粹的看客离开了，蜡烛也将燃烧殆尽。
The mistress of the house then waylays a few artists, amusing people or intimate friends, saying, "Do not go yet; we will have a snug little supper."These collect in some small room. The second, the real party, now begins; a party where, as of old, every one can hear what is said, conversation is general, each one is bound to be witty and to contribute to the amusement of all. Everything is made to tell, honest laughter takes the place of the gloom which in company saddens the prettiest faces. In short, where the rout ends pleasure begins.
这时，屋子的女主人就会拦住三五艺术家、有趣的人或是密友，说道：“别急着走，一起吃些温馨的夜宵吧。”于是，这些人就聚集到一个小房间里。现在，第二种聚会,名副其实的聚会才开始了：跟旧时的聚会一样，大家一起谈天说地，每个人都能听到别人在说什么，而且大伙儿总是巧言妙语，逗得众人哈哈大笑。所有的事情都能成为谈资，真诚的笑容取代了在大庭广众下能使最美丽的可人儿失色的忧郁。简而言之，当大聚会散去之时，真正的欢愉才开始。
The Rout, a cold display of luxury, a review of self-conceits in full dress, is one of those English inventions which tend to mechanize other nations. England seems bent on seeing the whole world as dull as itself, and dull in the same way. So this second party is, in some French houses, a happy protest on the part of the old spirit of our light-hearted people. Only, unfortunately, so few houses protest; and the reason is a simple one. If we no longer have many suppers nowadays, it is because never, under any rule, have there been fewer men placed, established, and successful than under the reign of Louis Philippe, when the Revolution began again, lawfully. Everybody is on the march some whither, or trotting at the heels of Fortune. Time has become the costliest commodity, so no one can afford the lavish extravagance of going home to-morrow morning and getting up late. Hence, there is no second soiree now but at the houses of women rich enough to entertain, and since July 1830 such women may be counted in Paris.
大型聚会是一场没什么人情味的奢侈品展示会，是自负之人身着盛装的展示，是英国人的发明之一——这些发明往往会使其他国家机械性地模仿。英国人似乎习惯于把全世界的人们看得和自己一样无趣，并且还是那种千篇一律的无趣。所以，这些在某些法国人家里进行的第二种聚会是我们这些无忧无虑的人们对那古老的传统进行的快乐的抗议。只是，很不幸，这样的家庭抗议太少，原因也很简单明了。如今我们吃夜宵的次数大幅减少，那是因为在合法的再次开始革命的路易·菲利普时代，得到安置的人、有成就的人和成功的人的数目超过了以往任何一个朝代。每个人都在追求着某一目标，或者是追求财富。时间已然成为了最昂贵的商品，因此没人愿意奢侈地第二天早上才回家，然后很晚才起床。因此，第二种聚会已经很少见，如今只在一些有钱享乐的妇女家中举办，而自从1830年7月开始，这样的妇女在巴黎屈指可数。
In spite of the covert opposition of the Faubourg Saint-Germain, two or three women, among them Madame d'Espard and Mademoiselle des Touches, have not chosen to give up the share of influence they exercised in Paris, and have not closed their houses.
尽管圣日耳曼城区的居民暗中反对，还是有两三位妇女，其中包括埃斯巴侯爵夫人和德图希小姐。她们没有放弃自己在巴黎的影响力，没有把自己的家门关上。
The salon of Mademoiselle des Touches is noted in Paris as being the last refuge where the old French wit has found a home, with its reserved depths, its myriad subtle byways, and its exquisite politeness. You will there still find grace of manner notwithstanding the conventionalities of courtesy, perfect freedom of talk notwithstanding the reserve which is natural to persons of breeding, and, above all, a liberal flow of ideas. No one there thinks of keeping his thought for a play; and no one regards a story as material for a book. In short, the hideous skeleton of literature at bay never stalks there, on the prowl for a clever sally or an interesting subject.
德希图小姐的沙龙作为昔日法国式风趣的最后一个舒适的避难所，在巴黎，以它内敛的深沉、含蓄而又丰富的节目，以及高雅的礼节而著称。在那里，尽管有着传统的礼节，你仍会感受到举止的优雅；尽管有着有教养的人自然而然的矜持，你仍会感受到全然的谈话的自由；最重要的是，你能感受到思想的自由流动。在那里，没有人会想着把自己的想法保存起来写一出戏剧，也没有人把一个故事看成是一本书的题材。总之，妄图捕猎到一句俏皮话或一个有趣话题，这种构思文学的方式从未在那里出现过，它令人厌烦，已经走到了穷途末路。
The memory of one of these evenings especially dwells with me, less by reason of a confidence in which the illustrious de Marsay opened up one of the deepest recesses of woman's heart, than on account of the reflections to which his narrative gave rise, as to the changes that have taken place in the French woman since the fateful revolution of July.
这其中一个晚上的记忆尤其使我印象深刻。这不仅是因为名人德玛赛向我们透露了妇女心理深处的一个秘密，更是因为他的叙述所引发的对于七月那场重大的革命后法国妇女发生改变的思考。
On that evening chance had brought together several persons, whose indisputable merits have won them European reputations. This is not a piece of flattery addressed to France, for there were a good many foreigners present. And, indeed, the men who most shone were not the most famous. Ingenious repartee, acute remarks, admirable banter, pictures sketched with brilliant precision, all sparkled and flowed without elaboration, were poured out without disdain, but without effort, and were exquisitely expressed and delicately appreciated. The men of the world especially were conspicuous for their really artistic grace and spirit.
那个晚上有几个人碰巧都在。他们那无可争议的才能已经使他们闻名于整个欧洲。这不是对法国人的恭维，因为当时有许多外国人在场。实际上当晚表现最出众的并不是那些最出名的人。巧妙的问答、敏锐的评论、令人赞叹的玩笑，以及精细程度令人称奇的画像，都自然而然，不加修饰地呈现在大家面前，不被轻视，毫不费力的就能被精细地表现出来，并且被大家仔细欣赏。阅历丰富的人，由于他们极具艺术家般的风度和气质，而显得特别引人注目。
Elsewhere in Europe you will find elegant manners, cordiality, genial fellowship, and knowledge; but only in Paris, in this drawing-room, and those to which I have alluded, does the particular wit abound which gives an agreeable and changeful unity to all these social qualities, an indescribable river-like flow which makes this profusion of ideas, of definitions, of anecdotes, of historical incidents, meander with ease. Paris, the capital of taste, alone possesses the science which makes conversation a tourney in which each type of wit is condensed into a shaft, each speaker utters his phrase and casts his experience in a word, in which every one finds amusement, relaxation, and exercise. Here, then, alone, will you exchange ideas; here you need not, like the dolphin in the fable, carry a monkey on your shoulders; here you will be understood, and will not risk staking your gold pieces against base metal.
在欧洲的其他地方你也能发现优雅的举止、亲切的气氛、真诚的友谊及知识，但只有在巴黎的这间客厅，在我之前提到的那些人中，才充盈着这样一种独特的智慧。这种智慧把所有这些社交品质完美而又有机地结合在一起。在那里，数不清的想法、定义、奇闻轶事和历史典故似一条不可名状的河流一般悠闲地蜿蜒流动着。巴黎，这座品位之都独自拥有着一种能力，这种能力能把交谈变成一场锦标赛。在这场锦标赛中，每一种机智都被浓缩为一句调侃；每一个参与者都说出各自的妙言妙语并将自己的经历表现在话语中，这些话语能使每个人感到轻松愉悦，同时头脑又得到锻炼。因而只有在这里，你能够交流思想；在这里，你不必像寓言中的海豚一样，将猴子扛在自己的肩上；在这里，你将被理解，并且不用担心自己的黄金会换来普通的金属。
Here, again, secrets neatly betrayed, and talk, light or deep, play and eddy, changing their aspect and hue at every phrase. Eager criticism and crisp anecdotes lead on from one to the next. All eyes are listening, a gesture asks a question, and an expressive look gives the answer. In short, and in a word, everything is wit and mind.
还是在这里，秘密巧妙地被暴露，或深或浅的交谈轻松愉快地旋转环绕，在每一句话中变换着它们的外表与色彩。热切的评论以及新奇的轶事互相交替。所有的眼睛都在倾听，一个姿势就是一个问题，一个富于表现力的表情就是对于这个问题的回答。简要地说，所有的一切都关乎风趣与机智。
The phenomenon of speech, which, when duly studied and well handled, is the power of the actor and the story-teller, had never so completely bewitched me. Nor was I alone under the influence of its spell; we all spent a delightful evening. The conversation had drifted into anecdote, and brought out in its rushing course some curious confessions, several portraits, and a thousand follies, which make this enchanting improvisation impossible to record; still, by setting these things down in all their natural freshness and abruptness, their elusive divarications, you may perhaps feel the charm of a real French evening, taken at the moment when the most engaging familiarity makes each one forget his own interests, his personal conceit, or, if you like, his pretensions.
当演讲被适当地研究及恰当地处理时，它就成为了演员以及说故事者的一种力量。之前我还从未被这样的一种魔力所彻底地吸引。并非只有我一个人着了魔，所有人都度过了一个愉快的夜晚。聊天的话题渐渐由轶事构成，在这一迅速的转变过程中，引出一些奇怪的忏悔、为数不多的描述以及对于上千的蠢事的叙述，使得这一使人着迷的即兴演说无法被记录下来。但这些事情自然新奇、令人意外又难以捉摸，变化无常，如果能记下来，你或许能感受到真正的法式聚会的魅力。在聚会上，令人着迷的亲切，使大家都忘了各自的利益，忘了自负，或者说是忘了各自的虚荣之心。
At about two in the morning, as supper ended, no one was left sitting round the table but intimate friends, proved by intercourse of fifteen years, and some persons of great taste and good breeding, who knew the world. By tacit agreement, perfectly carried out, at supper every one renounced his pretensions to importance. Perfect equality set the tone. But indeed there was no one present who was not very proud of being himself.
凌晨两点左右，夜宵结束。这时，围绕在桌子旁边坐着的，除了一些交往了十五年的亲密朋友，就是一些有教养、格调高雅、见过世面的人。在吃宵夜时，大家都十分默契地放下了自己的架子。绝对的平等，为接下来的活动奠定了基调。但事实上，在场的人中没有不为自己感到骄傲的。
Mademoiselle des Touches always insists on her guests remaining at table till they leave, having frequently remarked the change which a move produces in the spirit of a party. Between the dining-room and the drawing-room the charm is destroyed. According to Sterne, the ideas of an author after shaving are different from those he had before. If Sterne is right, may it not be boldly asserted that the frame of mind of a party at table is not the same as that of the same persons returned to the drawing-room? The atmosphere is not heady, the eye no longer contemplates the brilliant disorder of the dessert, lost are the happy effects of that laxness of mood, that benevolence which comes over us while we remain in the humor peculiar to the well-filled man, settled comfortably on one of the springy chairs which are made in these days. Perhaps we are not more ready to talk face to face with the dessert and in the society of good wine, during the delightful interval when every one may sit with an elbow on the table and his head resting on his hand. Not only does every one like to talk then, but also to listen. Digestion, which is almost always attent, is loquacious or silent, as characters differ. Then every one finds his opportunity.
德图希小姐多次说过，改变位置会改变一个聚会的气氛，所以她常常坚持客人在离开前一直待在桌旁。从餐厅到客厅，魅力会被破坏。斯特恩曾经说过，一个作者刮过胡须后的想法会与之前的不同。如果斯特恩是对的，那么认为再次回到客厅中的人的心态，与其之前在餐桌上的心态不同的这种想法，应该不会显得唐突吧？气氛不再狂热，人们的眼神也不再注视着琳琅满目的甜点，消失的是那些懒散的心情所带来的快感和吃饱喝足后悠然地坐在当时生产的软椅上时所感受到的惬意。或许当餐后面对着甜点以及各式美酒，众人都可以把胳膊撑在餐桌上，把脑袋放在手上惬意地休息时，人们更愿意面对面地交谈。此时，不仅每个人都愿意交谈，也愿意倾听。人们在消化时总是能够专心致志，具体表现为健谈抑或沉默，这取决于各自的性格。所以每个人都有表现的机会。
Was not this preamble necessary to make you know the charm of the narrative, by which a celebrated man, now dead, depicted the innocent jesuistry of women, painting it with the subtlety peculiar to persons who have seen much of the world, and which makes statesmen such delightful storytellers when, like Prince Talleyrand and Prince Metternich, they vouchsafe to tell a story?
这段很有必要的开场白，应该能使你感受到以下叙述的魅力。叙述者是一个已故的名人，以一种只有老于世故的人才拥有的机敏描绘了妇女那天真的狡黠。由于拥有这样一种机敏，他们承诺讲故事时，都能像塔莱朗亲王和梅特涅亲王那样成为能够带给人欢乐的叙述者。
De Marsay, prime minister for some six months, had already given proofs of superior capabilities. Those who had known him long were not indeed surprised to see him display all the talents and various aptitudes of a statesman; still it might yet be a question whether he would prove to be a solid politician, or had merely been moulded in the fire of circumstance. This question had just been asked by a man whom he had made a prefet, a man of wit and observation, who had for a long time been a journalist, and who admired de Marsay without infusing into his admiration that dash of acrid criticism by which, in Paris, one superior man excuses himself from admiring another.
在任六个月左右的内阁首相德玛赛，已经向人们证明了他出众的能力。那些很久以前就知道他的人，事实上，并不会吃惊于他所展示出的一个政治家所应该具备的各种各样的才能与天赋。然而，人们可能会问他一个问题，怀疑他是否能真正成为一位杰出的政治家，还是他仅仅是一个混乱时代的产物。一个被他任命为省长的男子刚刚问了这个问题。这位男子机智且善于观察，之前很长的一段时间是一名记者。他对于德玛赛的敬佩之情不带有一丝刻薄的批评。在巴黎，一个优秀的男子常常用这种批评来拒绝对另一个优秀的男子表示钦佩。
"Was there ever," said he, "in your former life, any event, any thought or wish which told you what your vocation was?" asked Emile Blondet; "for we all, like Newton, have our apple, which falls and leads us to the spot where our faculties develop—"“在你早年的生活中，”他问道，“有没有一些事情、一些想法或心愿告诉你,你的使命是什么？”爱弥尔·勃龙代继续说：“因为我们每个人都像牛顿那样，拥有自己的苹果。这颗苹果从天而降并且指引着我们才能的发展方向。”
"Yes," said de Marsay; "I will tell you about it."“有的，”德玛赛说，“我这就说给你们说说。”
Pretty women, political dandies, artists, old men, de Marsay's intimate friends,—all settled themselves comfortably, each in his favorite attitude, to look at the Minister. Need it be said that the servants had left, that the doors were shut, and the curtains drawn over them? The silence was so complete that the murmurs of the coachmen's voices could be heard from the courtyard, and the pawing and champing made by horses when asking to be taken back to their stable.
漂亮的女士、穿着讲究的从政男子、艺术家、年长的人以及德玛赛亲密的朋友，一个个都舒适地以各自最喜欢的姿势坐下来，看着首相。不必说，此时，仆人们都已离开，门都已关上，窗帘也都被拉上。此时环境安静极了，能够听到来自于庭院中马车夫的低声抱怨，以及被牵回马厩的马儿们所发出的刨地声以及咀嚼声。
"The statesman, my friends, exists by one single quality," said the Minister, playing with his gold and mother-of-pearl dessert knife. "To wit: the power of always being master of himself; of profiting more or less, under all circumstances, by every event, however fortuitous; in short, of having within himself a cold and disinterested other self, who looks on as a spectator at all the changes of life, noting our passions and our sentiments, and whispering to us in every case the judgment of a sort of moral ready-reckoner."“朋友们，政治家维持生计的唯一品质，”首相边玩着他那由黄金和珍珠母制成的小餐刀，边说道，“就是机智。这种能力使得一个人总能够控制自身，能够在任何环境下，在任何偶然的事件中，为自己谋取到或多或少的利益。简而言之，这种能力使一个人拥有另一个冷静而又客观的自我，这一自我就像一个观众一样，观察着人生的变迁，留意着我们的各种情感及想法，还在每一件事中，都如同一个时刻准备着的道德计算者一样，对我们低声地说出他的判断。”
"That explains why a statesman is so rare a thing in France," said old Lord Dudley.“这就是法国为何如此缺少政治家的原因。”杜德莱老勋爵说。
"From a sentimental point of view, this is horrible," the Minister went on. "Hence, when such a phenomenon is seen in a young man—Richelieu, who, when warned overnight by a letter of Concini's peril, slept till midday, when his benefactor was killed at ten o'clock—or say Pitt, or Napoleon, he was a monster. I became such a monster at a very early age, thanks to a woman."“从情感的角度来看，这太可怕了，”首相接着说，“因此，当这种现象发生在年轻男子身上时，比如说黎塞留——那个前一晚已经从信中得知孔西尼面临着巨大危险，第二天却不顾自己恩人早上十点钟遇害，自己却睡到正午的年轻人，又比如说是皮特或拿破仑，这个男子就已经成为了一个怪物。因为一个女人，我在很年轻的时候就成为了这样的一个怪物。”
"I fancied," said Madame de Montcornet with a smile, "that more politicians were undone by us than we could make."“我原本认为，”德蒙柯奈夫人微笑着说，“我们所摧毁的政治家比我们所制造的政治家来得要多。”
"The monster of which I speak is a monster just because he withstands you," replied de Marsay, with a little ironical bow.“我所说的怪物之所以是怪物，正是因为他能抵挡得住你们的诱惑。”德玛赛答道，并有些讽刺地鞠了一躬。
"If this is a love-story," the Baronne de Nucingen interposed, "I request that it may not be interrupted by any reflections."“如果这是一个爱情故事，”纽沁根男爵夫人插话道，“我请求它不被任何深思所打断。”
"Reflection is so antipathetic to it!" cried Joseph Bridau.“任何深思都与它格格不入！”约瑟夫·勃里杜大声断言。
"I was seventeen," de Marsay went on; "the Restoration was being consolidated; my old friends know how impetuous and fervid I was then. I was in love for the first time, and I was—I may say so now—one of the handsomest young fellows in Paris. I had youth and good looks, two advantages due to good fortune, but of which we are all as proud as of a conquest. I must be silent as to the rest.—Like all youths, I was in love with a woman six years older than myself. No one of you here," said he, looking carefully round the table, "can suspect her name or recognize her. Ronquerolles alone, at the time, ever guessed my secret. He had kept it well, but I should have feared his smile. However, he is gone," said the Minister, looking round.“那年我十七岁，”德玛赛开始说道，“复辟王朝正处于巩固阶段，我当时十分冲动，有着满腔的热血，我的老朋友可以证明。那是我第一次坠入爱河，而且我那时是——现在我可以这么说了——巴黎最英俊的小伙子之一。我既年轻又帅气，这两项优点来源于好运气，但是对于它们，我们都像得到战利品般地感到自豪。其他的我就不能多说了。正如所有年轻人一样，我爱上了一个比我大六岁的女人。这儿没有一个人，”他仔细地环顾餐桌一圈说，“能够猜到她的名字，或者是认出她来。当时只有龙克罗尔猜到了我的秘密。他把秘密保守得很好，但我还是担心他的笑意。然而，他现在已经走了。”首相说着，再次环顾四周。
"He would not stay to supper," said Madame de Nucingen.“他不愿意留下来吃夜宵。”德纽沁根夫人说。
"For six months, possessed by my passion," de Marsay went on, "but incapable of suspecting that it had overmastered me, I had abandoned myself to that rapturous idolatry which is at once the triumph and the frail joy of the young. I treasured her old gloves; I drank an infusion of the flowers she had worn; I got out of bed at night to go and gaze at her window. All my blood rushed to my heart when I inhaled the perfume she used. I was miles away from knowing that woman is a stove with a marble casing."“有那么六个月，我被自己的激情所左右，”德玛赛又说，“但我又无法意识到自己已经被它冲昏了头脑，我沉湎于一种狂热的偶像崇拜之中，这种崇拜，既是年轻人的胜利，又是脆弱的快乐。”我珍藏她的旧手套，拿她戴过的花泡水喝，晚上起床凝望她的窗户。当我闻到她身上的香水味时，全身所有的血液都涌向心房。我那时还远远无法意识到女人是一个由大理石包裹着的火炉。”
"Oh! spare us your terrible verdicts," cried Madame de Montcornet with a smile.“噢！你那些可怕的结论就不要讲啦！”德冈夫人笑着说。
"I believe I should have crushed with my scorn the philosopher who first uttered this terrible but profoundly true thought," said de Marsay. "You are all far too keen-sighted for me to say any more on that point. These few words will remind you of your own follies.“我相信，当时的我会以一种鄙视的态度，将第一个表达这个可怕但是真实而又深刻的想法的哲学家压得粉碎，”德玛赛说，“你们都很有洞察力，在那一点上，我就不多说了。这些不多的话语就能使你们想起自己干过的蠢事。
"A great lady if ever there was one, a widow without children—oh! all was perfect—my idol would shut herself up to mark my linen with her hair; in short, she responded to my madness by her own. And how can we fail to believe in passion when it has the guarantee of madness?
一位贵妇人——如果曾经有的话，一个无儿无女的寡妇——噢！一切都是那么完美——我的偶像会把自己关在家中，用自己的头发在我的亚麻布手帕上做标记。简单地说，她以自己的疯狂回应了我的疯狂。而当我们的激情由疯狂作担保时，我们怎么能不相信它？
"We each devoted all our minds to concealing a love so perfect and so beautiful from the eyes of the world; and we succeeded. And what charm we found in our escapades! Of her I will say nothing. She was perfection then, and to this day is considered one of the most beautiful women in Paris; but at that time a man would have endured death to win one of her glances. She had been left with an amount of fortune sufficient for a woman who had loved and was adored; but the Restoration, to which she owed renewed lustre, made it seem inadequate in comparison with her name. In my position I was so fatuous as never to dream of a suspicion. Though my jealousy would have been of a hundred and twenty Othello-power, that terrible passion slumbered in me as gold in the nugget. I would have ordered my servant to thrash me if I had been so base as ever to doubt the purity of that angel—so fragile and so strong, so fair, so artless, pure, spotless, and whose blue eyes allowed my gaze to sound it to the very depths of her heart with adorable submissiveness. Never was there the slightest hesitancy in her attitude, her look, or word; always white and fresh, and ready for the Beloved like the Oriental Lily of the 'Song of Songs!'Ah! my friends!" sadly exclaimed the Minister, grown young again, "a man must hit his head very hard on the marble to dispel that poem!"
我们想尽一切办法来隐藏这一如此完美而又如此美好的爱情；我们也成功做到了。在我们的疯狂举动中，我们发现了多少魅力啊！关于她本人我不想说什么。她当时十全十美，直至今日，还被认为是巴黎最漂亮的女人之一。而在那时，一个男人为了能被她看上一眼就是死也愿意。对于一个爱过别人，而现在也受人爱慕的女人来说，她所继承的财富足够了。但是，赋予她崭新光彩的复辟王朝，却使她的财富与她的姓氏相比，显得不那么光彩。我当时是多么愚昧啊，以致于我从来不会产生任何怀疑。虽然我的嫉妒心比得上一百二十个奥赛罗，那种可怕的激情在我的心中沉睡，就像是金子蕴藏于金块中那样。如果当时我卑劣地怀疑那位天使的纯洁，我会要求仆人痛打我一顿的。她那么纤弱，却又那么有力，那么白皙，不假雕饰，并且纯洁无邪，那双蓝色的眼睛迷人而又顺从，会让我凝望到她内心的最深处。她的态度、神情、言语中从来不带一丝犹豫；她总是那么洁白，那么有活力，并且随时准备投入到心上人的怀抱中去，就像《雅歌》中的东方百合那样！啊！我的朋友们！”首相重拾青春，大声感叹道，“一个男人只有把自己的头狠狠撞向大理石才能驱赶那样的一种诗意！”
This cry of nature, finding an echo in the listeners, spurred the curiosity he had excited in them with so much skill.
这一发自肺腑的感叹引起了听众们的共鸣，他们那已经被巧妙地激发的好奇心也随之更加强烈。
"Every morning, riding Sultan—the fine horse you sent me from England," de Marsay went on, addressing Lord Dudley, "I rode past her open carriage, the horses' pace being intentionally reduced to a walk, and read the order of the day signaled to me by the flowers of her bouquet in case we were unable to exchange a few words. Though we saw each other almost every evening in society, and she wrote to me every day, to deceive the curious and mislead the observant we had adopted a scheme of conduct: never to look at each other; to avoid meeting; to speak ill of each other. Self-admiration, swagger, or playing the disdained swain,—all these old manoeuvres are not to compare on either part with a false passion professed for an indifferent person and an air of indifference towards the true idol. If two lovers will only play that game, the world will always be deceived; but then they must be very secure of each other.“每天早上，骑着素丹——那匹你从英国给我带来的良马，”德玛赛对着杜德莱勋爵接着说道，“我从她的敞篷马车旁经过，那时，我们就会有意让马缓缓而行，如果我们无法交谈几句的话，我就会通过她花束中的花朵得知当天的安排。尽管我们几乎每天晚上都能在社交场合中见到对方，她也每天都给我写信，但是为了欺骗与误导那些好奇的、有观察力的人，我们采取了一整套的行为方案：从不朝对方看；避免会面；互相说对方的坏话。自我欣赏，妄自尊大，或者是装出一副受人鄙视的情人样——这些老伎俩都比不上双方都虚假地公开对一个不相干的人的爱慕之情，并且对自己心目中真正的偶像装出一副毫无兴趣的样子。如果一对情侣坚持玩这样的把戏，所有的人都将一直被蒙在鼓里；但是他们必须十分信任对方。
"Her stalking-horse was a man in high favor, a courtier, cold and sanctimonious, whom she never received at her own house. This little comedy was performed for the benefit of simpletons and drawing-room circles, who laughed at it. Marriage was never spoken of between us; six years' difference of age might give her pause; she knew nothing of my fortune, of which, on principle, I have always kept the secret. I, on my part, fascinated by her wit and manners, by the extent of her knowledge and her experience of the world, would have married her without a thought. At the same time, her reserve charmed me. If she had been the first to speak of marriage in a certain tone, I might perhaps have noted it as vulgar in that accomplished soul.
她的挡箭牌是一个受宠的朝臣，冷漠而又道貌岸然，她从不在自己家中与他见面。这出小小的喜剧是为那些傻瓜以及沙龙中的人们而演的，而他们把它当作笑料。我们从未讨论过结婚，六岁的年龄差距或许会让她有所顾虑。她对我的财富一无所知；出于原则，我也对我的财富一直保密。至于我，被她的才智和举止，被她宽广的知识面，被她的见识所深深吸引，会毫不犹豫地娶她为妻。与此同时，她的矜持也使我着迷。如果是她最先用某种语气谈起婚姻，我或许会认为这相对于她那完美的灵魂来说，显得粗俗。
"Six months, full and perfect—a diamond of the purest water! That has been my portion of love in this base world.
整整六个月，充实而又完美——一颗最纯的、最有光泽的钻石！这就是我在这个卑劣的世界中的一份爱。
"One morning, attacked by the feverish stiffness which marks the beginning of a cold, I wrote her a line to put off one of those secret festivals which are buried under the roofs of Paris like pearls in the sea. No sooner was the letter sent than remorse seized me: she will not believe that I am ill! thought I. She was wont to affect jealousy and suspiciousness. —When jealousy is genuine," said de Marsay, interrupting himself, "it is the visible sign of an unique passion."
一天早上，我觉得自己要感冒了——身体发热、酸痛，我给她寄去一封短函，推迟了在巴黎的屋檐下的一个宛若隐匿于大海中的珍珠般的约会。短函一寄出，我的心中就充满了悔意：她是不会相信我生病的！我这样想。她习惯了装作妒忌还有怀疑的样子。当嫉妒是真实的时候，”德玛赛自己顿了顿，“这就是一种爱情专一的信号。”
"Why?" asked the Princesse de Cadignan eagerly.“此话怎讲？”卡迪央王妃急切地问道。
"Unique and true love," said de Marsay, "produces a sort of corporeal apathy attuned to the contemplation into which one falls. Then the mind complicates everything; it works on itself, pictures its fancies, turns them into reality and torment; and such jealousy is as delightful as it is distressing."“专一并且真正的爱情，”德玛赛说，“使你在注视对方时，身体处于一种麻木的状态。然后头脑把所有一切复杂化。它一直在想，勾勒出自己的幻想，把它们变成现实并自己折磨自己；这样的一种妒忌使人快乐的程度与它使人忧愁的程度一样。”
A foreign minister smiled as, by the light of memory, he felt the truth of this remark.
一位外国大臣笑了笑，觉得这个评论与自己的记忆相符。
"Besides," de Marsay went on, "I said to myself, why miss a happy hour? Was it not better to go, even though feverish? And, then, if she learns that I am ill, I believe her capable of hurrying here and compromising herself. I made an effort; I wrote a second letter, and carried it myself, for my confidential servant was now gone. The river lay between us. I had to cross Paris; but at last, within a suitable distance of her house, I caught sight of a messenger; I charged him to have the note sent up to her at once, and I had the happy idea of driving past her door in a hackney cab to see whether she might not by chance receive the two letters together. At the moment when I arrived it was two o'clock; the great gate opened to admit a carriage. Whose? —That of the stalking-horse!“并且，”德玛赛接着说，“我对自己说，为什么要失去这么一段快乐时光呢？发烧了还去，这样不是更好？再者，如果她知道我病了，我相信她能够放弃原则，赶来这儿。我打起精神，写了第二封短函，然后亲自带上它，因为我视为心腹仆人当时不在。我们之间隔着塞纳河。我得横穿巴黎，但最终，在距离她家还有一段适当的距离时，我看见了一位信使。我嘱咐他立即把我的短函给她送去，然后我兴奋地打算自己乘一辆出租马车从她门前经过，看看她是否会恰巧同时收到两封短函。当我到那里时已经两点了，大门因为迎接一辆马车而敞开着。是谁的？是那个挡箭牌的！
"It is fifteen years since—well, even while I tell the tale, I, the exhausted orator, the Minister dried up by the friction of public business, I still feel a surging in my heart and the hot blood about my diaphragm. At the end of an hour I passed once more; the carriage was still in the courtyard! My note no doubt was in the porter's hands. At last, at half-past three, the carriage drove out. I could observe my rival's expression; he was grave, and did not smile; but he was in love, and no doubt there was business in hand.
唉，十五年过去了，当我讲这个故事时，我，一个疲惫不堪的演讲者，那个被公众事务所榨干的首相，还是能感觉到自己心潮澎湃，热血涌向横膈膜。快要一个小时时，我再次经过了她家门口。那辆马车依然停留在庭院中！我的短函无疑是在门房的手中。最后，在三点半时，马车离开了。我可以看到竞争对手的表情：他一脸严肃，没有笑容。但他是恋爱了，并且无疑他来是要办什么事。
"I went to keep my appointment; the queen of my heart met me; I saw her calm, pure, serene. And here I must confess that I have always thought that Othello was not only stupid, but showed very bad taste. Only a man who is half a Negro could behave so: indeed Shakespeare felt this when he called his play 'The Moor of Venice.'The sight of the woman we love is such a balm to the heart that it must dispel anguish, doubt, and sorrow. All my rage vanished. I could smile again. Hence this cheerfulness, which at my age now would be the most atrocious dissimulation, was the result of my youth and my love. My jealousy once buried, I had the power of observation. My ailing condition was evident; the horrible doubts that had fermented in me increased it. At last I found an opening for putting in these words: 'You have had no one with you this morning?' making a pretext of the uneasiness I had felt in the fear lest she should have disposed of her time after receiving my first note. —'Ah!' she exclaimed, 'only a man could have such ideas! As if I could think of anything but your suffering. Till the moment when I received your second note I could think only of how I could contrive to see you.'—'And you were alone?'—'Alone,' said she, looking at me with a face of innocence so perfect that it must have been his distrust of such a look as that which made the Moor kill Desdemona. As she lived alone in the house, the word was a fearful lie. One single lie destroys the absolute confidence which to some souls is the very foundation of happiness.
我去履行自己的约定。心目中的女王接待了我，我看她显得镇静、纯洁、安宁。说到这里，我必须承认，我一直认为奥赛罗不仅愚蠢，并且品位低下。只有一个具有一半黑人血统的人会这么做——事实上，当莎士比亚把他的戏剧称为《威尼斯的摩尔人》时，他已经觉察到了这一点。当我们看到自己心爱的女人时，内心所受到的安慰定会驱散怒气、怀疑和悲伤。我的暴怒突然全部消散了。我又能够面带微笑了。所以，这样一种在我这个年龄最蹩脚虚伪的喜悦，是我的年轻以及爱情的结果。一旦嫉妒被埋葬，我就有了观察的力量。我的病情已经明显，而那在我心中发酵的可怕的怀疑更加剧了它。最终我找到了机会，开口说了句‘你早上没有人陪吧？’作为我的不安的借口——我担心她是在收到我的第一个便条后，以此来安排自己的时间的。‘啊！’她大声说，‘只有男人才会有这样的想法！好像我除了你的病痛，还能考虑其他事情一样。直到收到你的第二个便条之前，我一直都只想着自己如何才能去见你。’‘所以你是独自一人？’‘独自一人。’她说道，以一种无懈可击的天真的表情看着我，摩尔人就是因为不相信这样的表情而杀死苔丝德蒙娜的。由于她一个人住在那栋房子里，这句话成了一个可怕的谎言。仅一个谎言，就摧毁了绝对信任，这对许多人来说是幸福的基础。
"To explain to you what passed in me at that moment it must be assumed that we have an internal self of which the exterior I is but the husk; that this self, as brilliant as light, is as fragile as a shade—well, that beautiful self was in me thenceforth for ever shrouded in crape. Yes; I felt a cold and fleshless hand cast over me the winding-sheet of experience, dooming me to the eternal mourning into which the first betrayal plunges the soul. As I cast my eyes down that she might not observe my dizziness, this proud thought somewhat restored my strength: 'If she is deceiving you, she is unworthy of you!'“要向你们解释我当时的感受就必须假设我们有一个内在的自我，对它来说，外在的我只是一个躯壳。这个自我如光一般灿烂，又如影一般脆弱。唉！从那以后，我那美丽的自我就永远地被绉纱所覆盖。是的，我感到一只冰冷瘦弱的手给我裹上了裹尸布，判决我承受由第一次背叛而使灵魂陷入的永恒哀痛。我目光低垂，避免她注意到我的晕眩状态，这样一个骄傲的想法在某种程度上帮我恢复了力量：‘如果她正在欺骗你，她就配不上你!'
"I ascribed my sudden reddening and the tears which started to my eyes to an attack of pain, and the sweet creature insisted on driving me home with the blinds of the cab drawn. On the way she was full of a solicitude and tenderness that might have deceived the Moor of Venice whom I have taken as a standard of comparison. Indeed, if that great child were to hesitate two seconds longer, every intelligent spectator feels that he would ask Desdemona's forgiveness. Thus, killing the woman is the act of a boy.—She wept as we parted, so much was she distressed at being unable to nurse me herself. She wished she were my valet, in whose happiness she found a cause of envy, and all this was as elegantly expressed, oh! as Clarissa might have written in her happiness. There is always a precious ape in the prettiest and most angelic woman!”“我把脸上突然上涌的气血及眼中开始产生的泪水归因于突然的疼痛，然后那个温柔的女人坚持用放下帘子的马车送我回家。一路上她对我充满了柔情与关爱，这或许能够骗过我拿来作对比的那个威尼斯的摩尔人。事实上，如果那个伟大的小孩再迟疑两秒，每一个聪明的观众都能猜想到他会请求苔丝德蒙娜的原谅的。所以说，杀死那个女人是一个小男孩的举动。我们要分开时她流下了眼泪，痛心于自己无法亲自照顾我。她恨不能成为我的贴身仆人，她嫉妒他的幸福。噢！所有的这一切都表现得很优雅，就像克拉丽莎在幸福当中写下的文字所描述的那样。最漂亮、最天使般的女人总是有着类人猿般的矫揉造作！”
At these words all the women looked down, as if hurt by this brutal truth so brutally stated.
听到这话的所有女士都低下了头，似乎为这一如此残酷地表达的残忍事实所中伤。
"I will say nothing of the night, nor of the week I spent," de Marsay went on. "I discovered that I was a statesman."“至于那个晚上，或者之后那个星期，我不想说些什么，”德玛赛接着说，“我意识到自己应该成为一名政治家。”
It was so well said that we all uttered an admiring exclamation.
这话说得太漂亮了，以至于我们都发出啧啧的赞叹声。
"As I thought over the really cruel vengeance to be taken on a woman," said de Marsay, continuing his story, "with infernal ingenuity—for, as we had loved each other, some terrible and irreparable revenges were possible—I despised myself, I felt how common I was, I insensibly formulated a horrible code—that of Indulgence. In taking vengeance on a woman, do we not in fact admit that there is but one for us, that we cannot do without her? And, then, is revenge the way to win her back? If she is not indispensable, if there are other women in the world, why not grant her the right to change which we assume?“我思忖着对于一个女人来说真正残酷的报复，”德玛赛继续着他的故事，“带着一种地狱般的邪恶智慧——因为我们曾经彼此相爱，一些可怕的、无法弥补的报复是可能的——我看不起自己，觉得自己十分庸俗，并且不知不觉采取了一套糟糕的准则——宽容的准则。在向一个女人报复时，我们实际上没有承认了自己只有这一个合适的对象，没了她就活不下去？况且，报复能把她给赢回来么？如果她不是不可或缺的，如果这个世界上还有其他合适的女人，为什么不将我们所拥有的改变的权利给她呢？
"This, of course, applies only to passion; in any other sense it would be socially wrong. Nothing more clearly proves the necessity for indissoluble marriage than the instability of passion. The two sexes must be chained up, like wild beasts as they are, by inevitable law, deaf and mute. Eliminate revenge, and infidelity in love is nothing. Those who believe that for them there is but one woman in the world must be in favor of vengeance, and then there is but one form of it—that of Othello.“当然，这只适用于爱情。在任何其他的社会领域，这都是错误的。爱情的不稳定，最清晰地证明了牢不可破的婚姻的必要性。必须用不可避免的、如聋哑般的法律将野兽般的两性拴在一起。没有了报复，爱情中的不忠就没什么大不了的。那些认为世上只有一个适合自己的女人的人一定赞同报复，这样的话也就只有一种报复的方式——奥赛罗的方式。
Mine was different."
我的就不同了。”
The words produced in each of us the imperceptible movement which newspaper writers represent in Parliamentary reports by the words: great sensation.
这句话引发了在场每个人的不易察觉的反应，用报刊记者关于议会演说的报道中的措辞来说就是四个字：全场轰动。
"Cured of my cold, and of my pure, absolute, divine love, I flung myself into an adventure, of which the heroine was charming, and of a style of beauty utterly opposed to that of my deceiving angel. I took care not to quarrel with this clever woman, who was so good an actress, for I doubt whether true love can give such gracious delights as those lavished by such a dexterous fraud. Such refined hypocrisy is as good as virtue. —I am not speaking to you Englishwomen, my lady," said the Minister, suavely, addressing Lady Barimore, Lord Dudley's daughter. "I tried to be the same lover.“治愈了我的感冒，还有我那纯洁、绝对、神圣的爱情后，我把自己投到了新的一次冒险行动中去。这一次的女主角十分迷人，拥有的美丽与我的那位欺骗天使截然不同。我小心谨慎，避免与这位聪明的女人发生争吵。她是一名极佳的女演员，因为我怀疑真爱是否能给予人如此丰富的喜悦，就像那些被各种巧妙的伎俩所欺骗的人那样。如此精致的虚情假意就如同美德一般美好。我不是对你们英国妇女说这话的，夫人，”首相朝着杜德莱勋爵的女儿巴里莫尔夫人温文尔雅地说道，“我尝试着成为如同过去一样的情人。
"I wished to have some of my hair worked up for my new angel, and I went to a skilled artist who at that time dwelt in the Rue Boucher. The man had a monopoly of capillary keepsakes, and I mention his address for the benefit of those who have not much hair; he has plenty of every kind and every color. After I had explained my order, he showed me his work. I then saw achievements of patience surpassing those which the story books ascribe to fairies, or which are executed by prisoners. He brought me up to date as to the caprices and fashions governing the use of hair. 'For the last year,' said he, 'there has been a rage for marking linen with hair; happily I had a fine collection of hair and skilled needlewomen,'—on hearing this a suspicion flashed upon me; I took out my handkerchief and said, 'So this was done in your shop, with false hair?'—He looked at the handkerchief, and said, 'Ay! that lady was very particular, she insisted on verifying the tint of the hair. My wife herself marked those handkerchiefs. You have there, sir, one of the finest pieces of work we have ever executed.'Before this last
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