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When Old Man Leras, bookkeeper for Messieurs Labuze and Company, left the store, he stood for a minute bewildered at the glory of the setting sun. He had worked all day in the yellow light of a small jet of gas, far in the back of the store, on a narrow court, as deep as a well. The little room where he had been spending his days for forty years was so dark that even in the middle of summer one could hardly see without gaslight from eleven until three.
拉菩时公司的记账员老勒腊先生从店里出来的时候，一时间被夕阳的光辉照昏了。他已经在昏黄的煤气灯光下工作一整天了，工作的地方是商店后面很远处的一个狭窄院子，深得像口井。四十年来他一直在一个小屋子里面度过白天，这个小屋子非常黑暗，甚至在盛夏从11点到3点之间也要点燃煤气灯才看得见东西。
It was always damp and cold, and from this hole on which his window opened came the musty odor of a sewer.
这间小屋子一年到头都是阴冷潮湿的，阴沟里发霉的气味不断地从窗口飘进来。
For forty years Monsieur Leras had been arriving every morning in this prison at eight oclock, and he would remain there until seven at night, bending over his books, writing with the industry of a good clerk.
四十年来，勒腊先生每天早上八点就到这座 “监狱” 来，直到晚上七点才离开。他弯着腰对着他的账簿，以称职职员的勤奋记着帐。
He was now making three thousand francs a year, having started at fifteen hundred. He had remained a bachelor, as his means did not allow him the luxury of a wife, and as he had never enjoyed anything, he desired nothing. From time to time, however, tired of this continuous and monotonous work, he formed a platonic wish: "Gad! If I only had an income of fifteen thousand francs, I would take life easy. "
刚入公司时，他每年的薪水才一千五百法郎，如今已经加到了每年三千法郎了。不过他还是一个单身汉，因为他的收入不容许他娶妻。他从来没有享受过，因此也没什么欲望。然而，有时当他对这个不断重复而又单调的工作感到厌烦时，他就会产生一个不切实际的愿望： “天哪！要是我每年拥有一万五千法郎的薪水，我就能舒舒服服地过日子了。”
He had never taken life easy, as he had never had anything but his monthly salary. His life had been uneventful, without emotions, without hopes. The faculty of dreaming with which every one is blessed had never developed in the mediocrity of his ambitions.
事实上，他的日子从来没有舒服过。因为除了每个月的工资，他没有其他任何的收入。他的生活没有起伏，没有情感，也没有什么希望。梦想的能力是人人都享有的，但是由于他胸无大志，所以这种能力在他那里从来没有得到过发挥。
When he was twenty—one he entered the employ of Messieurs Labuze and Company. And he had never left them.
在他21岁的时候，他就进了拉菩时公司。以后，他一直没有离开。
In 1856 he had lost his father and then his mother in 1859. Since then the only incident in his life was when he moved, in 1868, because his landlord had tried to raise his rent.
1856年，他的父亲去世了，之后他的母亲也在1859年去世了。从那以后，他人生中唯一值得一提的事情就是他在1868年搬了一次家，原因是他的房东要提高租金。
Every day his alarm clock, with a frightful noise of rattling chains, made him spring out of bed at 6 oclock precisely.
每天早上一到六点钟，他的闹钟就会像嘎嘎响的链子一样发出可怕的声响，他就会从床上惊跳起来。
Twice, however, this piece of mechanism had been out of order—once in 1866 and again in 1874; he had never been able to find out the reason why. He would dress, make his bed, sweep his room, dust his chair and the top of his bureau. All this took him an hour and a half.
然而有两次，这个闹钟失灵了——一次是在1866年，另一次是在1874年；他始终没有找出到底是什么原因。之后他会穿衣服，叠被子，打扫房间，擦桌椅斗橱。这些事情会花掉他一个半小时。
Then he would go out, buy a roll at the Lahure Bakery, in which he had seen eleven different owners without the name ever changing, and he would eat this roll on the way to the office.
接着他就出门了，他会到拉于尔面包店里买一个面包卷，这个面包店先后换了11个老板，可是店名却一直没变。然后他就在前往办公室的路上边走边吃。
His entire existence had been spent in the narrow, dark office, which was still decorated with the same wall paper. He had entered there as a young man, as assistant to Monsieur Brument, and with the desire to replace him.
他的一生都在这个狭窄黑暗的办公室里度过，办公室里糊墙的壁纸一直都没有变过。他很年轻的时候就进了这家公司，当时他是布吕芒先生的助手，并一心想接替他的职务。
He had taken his place and wished for nothing more.
他接替了布吕芒先生后，也就不再指望什么了。
The whole harvest of memories which other men reap in their span of years, the unexpected events, sweet or tragic loves, adventurous journeys, all the occurrences of a free existence, all these things had remained unknown to him.
其他人在他们的生活中总有各种各样的回忆，比如出乎意料的事件，甜美或悲伤的爱情，冒险的旅行以及在自由的生活状态下能发生的所有事情；然而他对这些东西竟一无所知。
Days, weeks, months, seasons, years, all were alike to him. He got up every day at the same hour, started out, arrived at the office, ate luncheon, went away, had dinner and went to bed without ever interrupting the regular monotony of similar actions, deeds and thoughts.
每一天，每个星期，每个月，每个季节，每一年，对他来说似乎都是一样的。他每天在同一时刻起床，出门，到达公司，吃午饭，离开公司，吃晚饭接着睡觉。这些常规单调的相似动作、事情、思想从未被打断过。
Formerly he used to look at his blond mustache and wavy hair in the little round mirror left by his predecessor. Now, every evening before leaving, he would look at his white mustache and bald head in the same mirror. Forty years had rolled by, long and rapid, dreary as a day of sadness and as similar as the hours of a sleepless night. Forty years of which nothing remained, not even a memory, not even a misfortune, since the death of his parents. Nothing.
以前，他常常在前任留下的小圆镜里，看自己那金黄的胡须和卷发。现在，每晚离开公司前他会在同一面镜子前看一下自己发白的胡须和光秃的脑门。四十年过去了，漫长而迅速，生活枯燥得就像一个个愁苦的白昼和失眠的漫漫长夜。四十年来，他什么也没留下，连一点回忆也没有，自从他的父母逝世以后，甚至一点不幸也没有。什么都没有。
That day Monsieur Leras stood by the door, dazzled at the brilliancy of the setting sun; and instead of returning home he decided to take a little stroll before dinner, a thing which happened to him four or five times a year.
这一天，勒腊先生站在门口，被夕阳的光辉照得头昏眼花；他并没有回家，而是决定在晚饭前散散步，这种兴致他一年中大概会有四五次。
He reached the boulevards, where people were streaming along under the green trees. It was a spring evening, one of those first warm and pleasant evenings which fill the heart with the joy of life.
他走在林荫大道上，在那里，人群在树荫下流动着。这是一个春天的黄昏，一个温暖的令人陶醉的黄昏，让人的心灵充满了生命的喜悦。
Monsieur Leras went along with his mincing old mans step; he was going along with joy in his heart, at peace with the world. He reached the Champs—Elysees, and he continued to walk, enlivened by the sight of the young people trotting along.
勒腊先生扭扭捏捏地迈着老人式的碎步往前走着；心中充满了愉悦，他与周围的世界融合在了一起。他走到了香榭丽舍大街，然后继续走着，看到年轻人轻捷的身影让他的心情很愉快。
The whole sky was aflame; the Arc de Triomphe stood out against the brilliant background of the horizon, like a giant surrounded by fire. As he approached the immense monument, the old bookkeeper noticed that he was hungry, and he went into a wine dealers for dinner.
天空一片火红；凯旋门耸立在地平线光辉的背景下，如同一个被火光包围的巨人。当他走近这个巨大的纪念门的时候，这个老记账员意识到自己饿了，于是就走进了一家酒馆吃晚饭。
The meal was served in front of the store, on the sidewalk. It consisted of some mutton, salad and asparagus. It was the best dinner that Monsieur Leras had had in a long time. He washed down his cheese with a small bottle of burgundy, had his after—dinner cup of coffee, a thing which he rarely took, and finally a little pony of brandy.
侍者招待他坐在酒馆前面人行道上的座位上。他叫了一份羊肉，一份色拉，一份芦笋。这是勒腊先生很长时间以来吃过的最好的一顿晚餐。他在乳酪上浇了一小瓶勃艮第红葡萄酒，并喝了一杯餐后咖啡，这对他来说是少有的，最后他还喝了一小杯白兰地。
When he had paid he felt quite youthful, even a little moved. And he said to himself: "What a fine evening! I will continue my stroll as far as the entrance to the Bois de Boulogne. It will do me good. " He set out. An old tune which one of his neighbors used to sing kept returning to his mind. He kept on humming it over and over again. A hot, still night had fallen over Paris. Monsieur Leras walked along the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne and watched the cabs drive by. They kept coming with their shining lights, one behind the other, giving horn a glimpse of the couples inside, the women in their light dresses and the men dressed in black.
结完账以后，他觉得自己还相当年轻，甚至还有点活力。他对自己说： “多美好的夜晚啊！我要继续散步，一直走到布洛涅森林的入口处。这会对我的身体有好处。” 他向前走着。他的一位邻居过去常哼的那首古老的曲子，一直回荡在他的脑海里。他不停地哼着曲子，一遍又一遍。夜幕已经在巴黎降临，那是一个暖和又静谧的夜。勒腊先生沿着布洛涅森林大道往前走，观看着大道上驶过的车。车子上的车灯闪亮着，车上的喇叭按着，车子一辆接着一辆向前驶去，使人能在瞬间瞥见车里成对的人们，女人们穿着浅色连衣裙，而男人们则穿着黑色礼服。
It was one long procession of lovers, riding under the warm, starlit sky. They kept on coming in rapid succession. They passed by in the carriages, silent, side by side, lost in their dreams, in the emotion of desire, in the anticipation of the approaching embrace. The warm shadows seemed to be full of floating kisses. A sensation of tenderness filled the air. All these carriages full of tender couples, all these people intoxicated with the same idea, with the same thought, seemed to give out a disturbing, subtle emanation.
这是一个由恋人们组成的长队伍，他们在暖和而又繁星点点的夜空下兜着风。车子接连不断地快速开过。恋人们坐在车里不断掠过，他们静静地并排坐着，沉醉在他们的梦幻中，沉醉在情欲中，沉醉在对即将到来的拥抱的期待中。和暖的阴影里似乎充满了飘浮着的吻。空气中充满了温存的情感气息。所有的车子里都满载着情意绵绵的恋人，他们被相同的想法和相同的思想所陶醉，所有这些仿佛散发出一种令人不安的难以捉摸的气息。
At last Monsieur Leras grew a little tired of walking, and he sat down on a bench to watch these carriages pass by with their burdens of love.
后来勒腊先生走得有点累了，他就坐在一条长凳上看着那些满载爱情的车子一辆辆驶过。
Almost immediately a woman walked up to him and sat down beside him. "Good—evening, papa, " she said.
不久，一个女人向他走来，并挨着他坐下了。 “晚上好，亲爱的。” 她说。
He answered: "Madame, you are mistaken. "
他答道： “您认错人了，太太。”
She slipped her arm through his, saying: "Come along, now; dont be foolish. Listen—He arose and walked away, with sadness in his heart. A few yards away another woman walked up to him and asked: " Wont you sit down beside me? "he said: " What makes you take up this life? "
她伸出胳膊挽着他说： “现在就跟我来吧；别犯傻了。听话——” 他站起来走开了，心里很不开心。他往前走了几码远，又有一个女人走近他并问： “你不想坐在我的身旁吗？” 他对她说： “你为什么干这行啊？”
She stood before him and in an altered, hoarse, angry voice exclaimed: "Well, it isnt for the fun of it, anyhow!
她站在他面前，用变化了的嘶哑的声音怒喊道： “活见鬼，干这行总不是为了找乐吧！”
He insisted in a gentle voice: "Then what makes you? "
他仍用温和的语气问： “那是为什么呢？”
She grumbled: "Ive got to live! Foolish question! And she walked away, humming.
她抱怨道： “我总得要生活吧！多愚蠢的问题！” 她哼着小调走开了。
Monsieur Leras stood there bewildered. Other women were passing near him, speaking to him and calling to him. He felt as though he were enveloped in darkness by something disagreeable.
勒腊先生不知所措地站在那里。又有其他女人从他身边走过，招呼他，邀请他。他觉得他好像身处黑暗，被一些令人生厌的东西包围着。
He sat down again on a bench. The carriages were still rolling by. He thought: "I should have done better not to come here; I feel all upset. " He began to think of all this venal or passionate love, of all these kisses, sold or given, which were passing by in front of him. Love! He scarcely knew it. In his lifetime he had only known two or three women, his means forcing him to live a quiet life, and he looked back at the life which he had led, so different from everybody else, so dreary, so mournful, so empty.
他又重新坐在一条凳子上。车子仍然在不停地驶过。他想： “要是当初我没来这里就好了；现在我只觉得心烦意乱。” 他开始思考在他眼前发生的这一切：用金钱买到的或者出自真心的爱情，给钱才卖的或者自愿献出的吻。爱情！他是不大懂的。他一生只认识两个或者三个女人，因为他的收入迫使他过着清静的生活。他回想起他过去的生活，那是多么与众不同，多么枯燥，多么忧郁，多么空虚。
Some people are really unfortunate. And suddenly, as though a veil had been torn from his eyes, he perceived the infinite misery, the monotony of his existence: the past, present and future misery; his last day similar to his first one, with nothing before him, behind him or about him, nothing in his heart or any place.
有些人确实不幸。突然间，仿佛有人把他眼前的面罩撕开了一样，他意识到了自己生活中无尽的苦楚和单调：过去的、现在的和将来的苦楚；最后的日子跟最初的日子一样，他的前面、后面或者周围什么都没有，他的心里也什么都没有，哪里都是一无所有。
The stream of carriages was still going by. In the rapid passage of the open carriage he still saw the two silent, loving creatures. It seemed to him that the whole of humanity was flowing on before him, intoxicated with joy, pleasure and happiness. He alone was looking on. Tomorrow he would again be alone, always alone, more so than any one else. He stood up, took a few steps, and suddenly he felt as tired as though he had taken a long journey on foot, and he sat down on the next bench.
车流仍继续着。在迅速经过的敞着篷的车里，他仍然能看到两个沉默的、充满浓情蜜意的恋人。在他看来，全世界所有的人都沉醉在喜悦、快乐、幸福中，他们仿佛排成了队伍在他前面走过。他独自一人在观看。明天，他会依旧孤单，总是这样孤单，比其他任何人都要孤单。他站起来走了几步，突然感到很累，仿佛进行了一次远程徒步旅行，于是他又在另一个长凳上坐了下来。
What was he waiting for? What was he hoping for? Nothing. He was thinking of how pleasant it must be in old age to return home and find the little children. It is pleasant to grow old when one is surrounded by those beings who owe their life to you, who love you, who caress you, who tell you charming and foolish little things which warm your heart and console you for everything.
他在等待什么？他在渴望什么？什么也没有。他在想，要是一个人在年老的时候回到家里能看到小孩子，那该有多美好。当一个人逐渐变老的时候，如果他能被自己抚养的孩子围绕，被爱自己、在乎自己的人围着，被那些能向自己说些温暖心灵的有趣和天真的话的人围着，被那些能够给自己一切安慰的人围着，那该多甜美幸福。
And, thinking of his empty room, clean and sad, where no one but himself ever entered, a feeling of distress filled his soul; and the place seemed to him more mournful even than his little office. Nobody ever came there; no one ever spoke in it. It was dead, silent, without the echo of a human voice. It seems as though walls retain something of the people who live within them, something of their manner, face and voice. The very houses inhabited by happy families are gayer than the dwellings of the unhappy. His room was as barren of memories as his life. And the thought of returning to this place, all alone, of getting into his bed, of again repeating all the duties and actions of every evening, this thought terrified him. As though to escape farther from this sinister home, and from the time when he would have to return to it, he arose and walked along a path to a wooded corner, where he sat down on the grass.
后来，他想起了他那间空房子，整洁又凄凉，除了他自己没有谁进去过，一阵悲痛感便充斥了他的心灵；在他看来那间房间比他那小办公室更让他伤心。那间屋子谁也没有进去过，从来也没有人在里面说过话。它一片死寂，没有发出过一点人声的回音。似乎住在房间里的人能在墙壁上保留下一些东西，留下他们的一点姿态、形象和言论。那些幸福家庭居住的房子要比不幸福的人居住的房子更加喜气。他的房间就像他的人生一样没有任何的记忆。一想到要回到他那间房间，孤零零地躺在床上，重复着每天晚上该做的事情，他就感到害怕。为了远离这个可怕的家和即将到来的回家时间，他站了起来，沿着一条小路走到了一个树木繁盛的角落，然后坐在了草坪上。
About him, above him, everywhere, he heard a continuous, tremendous, confused rumble, composed of countless and different noises, a vague and throbbing pulsation of life: the life breath of Paris, breathing like a giant.
他听见一种连续不断的巨大的模糊的隆隆声从他周围，他的头顶和四面八方传来。这声音是由无数不同的噪音组成，是模糊而跳跃的生命悸动：这是巴黎的生命气息，它像一个巨人似的呼吸着。
The sun was already high and shed a flood of light on the Bois de Boulogne. A few carriages were beginning to drive about and people were appearing on horseback.
太阳已升得老高，并在布洛涅森林上面投下一层光浪。有一些车子开始流动了，还有一些人骑在马背上。
A couple was walking through a deserted alley.
一对男女在一条无人的小路上散步。
Suddenly the young woman raised her eyes and saw something brown in the branches. Surprised and anxious, she raised her hand, exclaiming: "Look! what is that? "
突然，这个年轻的女子抬头看到树枝里有一个棕色的东西。她惊讶和恐慌地用手指着大喊： “看！那是什么？”
Then she shrieked and fell into the arms of her companion, who was forced to lay her on the ground.
接着她惊叫了一声就扑倒在她的男伴怀里，他只好把她放倒在地上。
The policeman who had been called cut down an old man who had hung himself with his suspenders.
警察被叫来了，并解下了这个用裤子背带自缢的老人。
Examination showed that he had died the evening before. Papers found on him showed that he was a bookkeeper for Messieurs Labuze and Company and that his name was Leras.
检查证明他是前一天晚上死的。从他身上找出的证件表明他是拉菩时公司的记账员，名字叫勒腊。
His death was attributed to suicide, the cause of which could not be suspected. Perhaps a sudden access of madness!
他的死被归结为自杀，原因则无从揣测。或许是突然发疯了吧。