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乡村医生(外研社双语读库)
巴尔扎克 |
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本书由外研社授权掌阅科技电子版制作与发行
版权所有 · 侵权必究 |
CHAPTER I The Countryside and the Man
On a lovely spring morning in the year 1829, a man of fifty or thereabouts was wending his way on horseback along the mountain road that leads to a large village near the Grande Chartreuse. This village is the market town of a populous canton that lies within the limits of a valley of some considerable length. The melting of the snows had filled the boulder……strewn bed of the torrent (often dry) that flows through this valley, which is closely shut in between two parallel mountain barriers, above which the peaks of Savoy and of Dauphine tower on every side.
一八二九年春天，在一个晴朗的早晨，一个约摸五十岁的男人骑着马，沿山路朝大沙特勒斯山附近的大村寨走去。这个村寨是一片人口密集行政区的集镇，行政区位于一条长长的山谷中。融化的雪水注满了流经山谷中的那条河流的卵石河床，这条河常常干涸，山谷夹在两座平行的大山之间。放眼望去，四周全是萨瓦省和多菲内省层峦叠嶂的山峰。
All the scenery of the country that lies between the chain of the two Mauriennes is very much alike; yet here in the district through which the stranger was traveling there are soft undulations of the land, and varying effects of light which might be sought for elsewhere in vain. Sometimes the valley, suddenly widening, spreads out a soft irregularly……shaped carpet of grass before the eyes; a meadow constantly watered by the mountain streams that keep it fresh and green at all seasons of the year. Sometimes a roughly……built sawmill appears in a picturesque position, with its stacks of long pine trunks with the bark peeled off, and its mill stream, brought from the bed of the torrent in great square wooden pipes, with masses of dripping filament issuing from every crack. Little cottages, scattered here and there, with their gardens full of blossoming fruit trees, call up the ideas that are aroused by the sight of industrious poverty; while the thought of ease, secured after long years of toil, is suggested by some larger houses farther on, with their red roofs of flat round tiles, shaped like the scales of a fish. There is no door, moreover, that does not duly exhibit a basket in which the cheeses are hung up to dry. Every roadside and every croft is adorned with vines; which here, as in Italy, they train to grow about dwarf elm trees, whose leaves are stripped off to feed the cattle.
两条莫列讷河谷的景致极为相似，然而这个外地人经过的地方地势起伏平缓、景色变化多样，这在其他地方实属罕见。有时山谷突然变得开阔起来，一片形状不规则的、像条毯子一样软软的草地便呈现在眼前。草地在山林小溪的不断灌溉下，常年绿草如茵。有时山谷里会出现一座简陋的锯木厂，周围却风景如画。厂房旁堆放着长长的、被剥了皮的冷杉木，庞大的树干上挖了方槽从河床里引水。大量水从每条裂缝中渗出，形成细细的水流。一座座小茅屋随处可见，茅屋的院落里长满了正开着花的果树，让人想到了生活的艰辛和贫苦。然而，远处一些由鱼鳞状的圆形平瓦砌成的红顶大房子却让人想起了多年辛劳之后获得的安逸生活。不仅如此，每户的门上都挂着晾晒奶酪的篮子。每条小路旁和每座围墙上都爬满了葡萄藤，就像在意大利一样，人们把葡萄藤种在叶子摘下来可以喂牛的白榆树上。
Nature, in her caprice, has brought the sloping hills on either side so near together in some places, that there is no room for fields, or buildings, or peasants huts. Nothing lies between them but the torrent, roaring over its waterfalls between two lofty walls of granite that rise above it, their sides covered with the leafage of tall beeches and dark fir trees to the height of a hundred feet. The trees, with their different kinds of foliage, rise up straight and tall, fantastically colored by patches of lichen, forming magnificent colonnades, with a line of straggling hedgerow of guelder rose, briar rose, box and arbutus above and below the roadway at their feet. The subtle perfume of this undergrowth was mingled just then with scents from the wild mountain region and with the aromatic fragrance of young larch shoots, budding poplars, and resinous pines.
自然界的鬼斧神功使山谷两边一座座起伏的小山，在某些地方如此紧密地靠在一起，使那里既没有能作为田野的空间，也没有能盖建筑物和农舍的地方。只有两排花岗岩石壁高高耸立，湍急的河流从其间奔腾而过，形成了瀑布。石壁上长满了高达一百英尺的山毛榉和冷杉。这些树笔直高大，长满了苔藓的树叶形状各异，使树木看上去增色不少。这些树构成了庄严宏伟的灌木篱墙，篱墙墙脚上上下下都被雪球树、犬蔷薇、黄杨和野草莓树缠绕着。就在那时，灌木丛的淡淡香味与荒无人烟的山区散发出的气味以及树丛里落叶松的嫩枝、发芽的白杨和脂松散发的芬芳混合在一起了。
Here and there a wreath of mist about the heights sometimes hid and sometimes gave glimpses of the gray crags, that seemed as dim and vague as the soft flecks of cloud dispersed among them. The whole face of the country changed every moment with the changing light in the sky; the hues of the mountains, the soft shades of their lower slopes, the very shape of the valleys seemed to vary continually. A ray of sunlight through the tree……stems, a clear space made by nature in the woods, or a landslip here and there, coming as a surprise to make a contrast in the foreground, made up an endless series of pictures delightful to see amid the silence, at the time of year when all things grow young, and when the sun fills a cloudless heaven with a blaze of light. In short, it was a fair land……it was the land of France!
灰色的峭壁在山间弥漫的雾气中若隐若现，像散落其中的几片浮云一样模糊不清。天空中光线不停变化，乡村的景象也随之变幻万千。山脉的色彩、低矮山坡柔和的影子以及山谷的形状似乎也一起不停地变化着。在万物散发出勃勃生机之时，天空阳光明媚、万里无云之际，穿过树干的一束阳光、在林间自然形成的空地、或时不时发生的山体滑坡都会突然出现，与前面的景色形成对比，成为静谧的山间一道道亮丽的风景线。总而言之，这里是风景优美的圣地……这就是法兰西大地！
The traveler was a tall man, dressed from head to foot in a suit of blue cloth, which must have been brushed just as carefully every morning as the glossy coat of his horse. He held himself firm and erect in the saddle like an old cavalry officer. Even if his black cravat and doeskin gloves, the pistols that filled his holsters, and the valise securely fastened to the crupper behind him had not combined to mark him out as a soldier, the air of unconcern that sat on his face, his regular features (scarred though they were with the smallpox), his determined manner, self……reliant expression, and the way he held his head, all revealed the habits acquired through military discipline, of which a soldier can never quite divest himself, even after he has retired from service into private life.
旅行者是个高个子的男人，穿着一身笔挺的蓝布制服，衣服刷得很干净，就像他那匹皮毛光泽的马，一定是每天早上都细心打理过。他稳稳当当地骑在马背上，像一名老骑兵军官。即使他那黑色的围巾、鹿皮手套、插在皮套里的手枪和牢牢绑在马屁股上的手提箱还不足以说明他是名军人的话，那么他冷漠的表情、端正的五官（脸上有伤疤和麻子）、坚定的态度、自信的神情、以及举手投足都无不展现了在从军生涯中养成的习惯。这些习惯是一名军人永远不会丢弃的，即使是退役后也不会。
Any other traveler would have been filled with wonder at the loveliness of this Alpine region, which grows so bright and smiling as it becomes merged in the great valley systems of southern France; but the officer, who no doubt had previously traversed a country across which the French armies had been drafted in the course of Napoleons wars, enjoyed the view before him without appearing to be surprised by the many changes that swept across it. It would seem that Napoleon has extinguished in his soldiers the sensation of wonder; for an impassive face is a sure token by which you may know the men who served erewhile under the short……lived yet deathless Eagles of the great Emperor. The traveler was, in fact, one of those soldiers (seldom met with nowadays) whom shot and shell have respected, although they have borne their part on every battlefield where Napoleon commanded.
任何其他旅行者都会惊叹于阿尔卑斯山地区的美丽，因为阿尔卑斯山与法兰西南部的大峡谷融为一体，景色如此明亮而欢快。然而这位军官显然已经穿越过法兰西军队在拿破仑战争中的所经之处，在欣赏眼前的美景时并没有惊诧于变化万千的风光。拿破仑好像已经消除了他的军人们遇事时理应表现出来的惊诧之感。一张冷峻而从容的脸已经成了一种可靠的标志，你可凭此辨认出曾经在拿破仑大帝短暂而辉煌的鹰旗下服过役的人。这个旅行者的确是那些曾经征战沙场、幸存下来的军人之一。虽然这样的军人曾经在拿破仑的战场上随处可见，在如今却已相当罕见。
There had been nothing unusual in his life. He had fought valiantly in the ranks as a simple and loyal soldier, doing his duty as faithfully by night as by day, and whether in or out of his officers sight. He had never dealt a sabre stroke in vain, and was incapable of giving one too many. If he wore at his buttonhole the rosette of an officer of the Legion of Honor, it was because the unanimous voice of his regiment had singled him out as the man who best deserved to receive it after the battle of Borodino.
这位军人的从军生涯平凡无奇。他曾经以一名普通和忠诚的军人身份勇敢地征战沙场，不管白天还是黑夜，不管有没有得到军官的注意，他都尽职尽责。在战场上，他下手精准，从不需多砍一刀。他上衣领口的纽扣孔处戴了一枚玫瑰形的法国荣誉军团勋章，这是在博罗季诺之战后他所在的团授予他的，因为大家一致认为他在这次战斗中最有资格获此殊荣。
He belonged to that small minority of undemonstrative retiring natures, who are always at peace with themselves, and who are conscious of a feeling of humiliation at the mere thought of making a request, no matter what its nature may be. So promotion had come to him tardily, and by virtue of the slowly……working laws of seniority. He had been made a sub……lieutenant in 1802, but it was not until 1829 that he became a major, in spite of the grayness of his moustaches. His life had been so blameless that no man in the army, not even the general himself, could approach him without an involuntary feeling of respect. It is possible that he was not forgiven for this indisputable superiority by those who ranked above him; but, on the other hand, there was not one of his men that did not feel for him something of the affection of children for a good mother. For them he knew how to be at once indulgent and severe. He himself had also once served in the ranks, and knew the sorry joys and gaily……endured hardships of the soldiers lot. He knew the errors that may be passed over and the faults that must be punished in his men…… "his children, " as he always called them……and when on campaign he readily gave them leave to forage for provision for man and horse among the wealthier classes.
他属于那种腼腆、情感不外露、且一向问心无愧的少数人之一。仅仅是想到巴结钻营之事，无论是什么性质的，他都会感到羞耻。所以他晋升得很慢，他的每次晋升都是按正常的服役年限标准取得的。他在一八零二年取得少尉军衔，而直到一八二九年他胡子都灰白了才晋升为少校。他一生都问心无愧，因此军队里任何人，甚至包括将军在内，与他交往时都会不由自主地对他产生崇敬之情。也许正是他这种无可争议的优势，才不被上司原谅。然而，另一方面，所有士兵们对他的感情却多少像孩子对一位好母亲的感情那样。因为他对士兵们既分外疼爱，又严格管教。他曾经也是一名普通的士兵，能体会士兵们痛苦中获得的欢乐和欢乐中经历的心酸。在对待士兵时……他的孩子们……他经常这样叫，他知道哪些错误可以原谅，哪些过失必须受到惩罚。在行军路上，他放任士兵们到富人家里拿粮食，取饲料。
His own personal history lay buried beneath the deepest reserve. Like almost every military man in Europe, he had only seen the world through cannon smoke, or in the brief intervals of peace that occurred so seldom during the Emperors continual wars with the rest of Europe. Had he or had he not thought of marriage? The question remained unsettled. Although no one doubted that Commandant Genestas had made conquests during his sojourn in town after town and country after country where he had taken part in the festivities given and received by the officers, yet no one knew this for a certainty. There was no prudery about him; he would not decline to join a pleasure party; he in no way offended against military standards; but when questioned as to his affairs of the heart, he either kept silence or answered with a jest. To the words, "How are you, commandant? " addressed to him by an officer over the wine, his reply was, "Pass the bottle, gentlemen. "
他的私人生活史鲜为人知。和当时欧洲的所有士兵一样，他只是在战火中、或是在片刻的和平中了解这个世界，但那片刻的和平在拿破仑大帝不断征战欧洲其他地方的过程中实属罕见。他到底有没有想过结婚？答案无人知晓。虽然没有人怀疑热奈斯塔指挥官在一座又一座城市、一个又一个国家驻防期间，在军官们举办或受邀参加的盛会上有过艳遇，但也没人能肯定。他既不装模作样，也不拒绝参加舞会。他绝不触犯军规，但当人们问及他的恋爱故事时，他要么不作声，要么一笑了之。喝酒时，有的军官问他：那么你呢，少校？他会回答：先生们，大家快喝酒吧。
M. Pierre Joseph Genestas was an unostentatious kind of Bayard. There was nothing romantic nor picturesque about him……he was too thoroughly commonplace. His ways of living were those of a well……to……do man. Although he had nothing beside his pay, and his pension was all that he had to look to in the future, the major always kept two years pay untouched, and never spent his allowances, like some shrewd old men of business with whom cautious prudence has almost become a mania. He was so little of a gambler that if, when in company, some one was wanted to cut in or to take a bet at ecarte, he usually fixed his eyes on his boots; but though he did not allow himself any extravagances, he conformed in every way to custom.
皮埃尔•约瑟夫•热奈斯塔先生是一个朴实的贝亚尔类型的人。在他身上，既没有浪漫情调，也没有诗情色彩……他太过平凡了。他过着殷实的生活。虽然薪水是他唯一的财产，养老金是他未来生活的唯一保障，但他手上却总能攒着两年的薪水不动，也从不花光津贴。他就像生意场上精明的老手一样，节俭得近乎偏执。他几乎从不赌钱，如果观战时需要有人赌钱或下注，他通常便会把目光转向自己的靴子。虽然他从不奢侈浪费，在正常的开支上却从不吝啬。
His uniforms lasted longer than those of any other officer in his regiment, as a consequence of the sedulously careful habits that somewhat straitened means had so instilled into him, that they had come to be like a second nature. Perhaps he might have been suspected of meannesss if it had not been for the fact that with wonderful disinterestedness and all a comrades readiness, his purse would be opened for some harebrained boy who had ruined himself at cards or by some other folly. He did a service of this kind with such thoughtful tact, that it seemed as though he himself had at one time lost heavy sums at play; he never considered that he had any right to control the actions of his debtor; he never made mention of the loan. He was the child of his company; he was alone in the world, so he had adopted the army for his fatherland, and the regiment for his family. Very rarely, therefore, did any one seek the motives underlying his praiseworthy turn for thrift; for it pleased others, for the most part, to set it down to a not unnatural wish to increase the amount of the savings that were to render his old age comfortable. Till the eve of his promotion to the rank of lieutenant……colonel of cavalry it was fair to suppose that it was his ambition to retire in the course of some campaign with a colonels epaulettes and pension.
他的军装比军团里其他任何军官都穿得久，因为他十分爱惜自己的衣服，这多少有些生活不宽裕的因素，但已逐渐成为他的一种习惯，也是他的第二大特征。然而，如果遇到哪个家伙因赌钱或做了蠢事而身无分文时，他都会慷慨相助。要不是因为他这种轻财之举和对战友的义举，别人可能会觉得他很小气。他在解囊相助时总是做得很得体，好像他曾经也有输光钱的经历一样。他从不认为有权监督债务人的行为，也不在他们面前提借款的事。他在军中长大，没有什么亲人，因此他以部队为国，以团为家。也正因如此，人们很少去探究他那值得称赞的节约之举背后的真正动机，而总是乐于认为他如此节俭是为了攒钱防老，以便安度晚年，他的这种愿望没什么可怪异的。在他还没有晋升为中校时，大家都认为他的理想就是以上校身份退役，并顺利地领到养老金。
If Genestas name came up when the officers gossiped after drill, they were wont to classify him among the men who begin with taking the good……conduct prize at school, and who, throughout the term of their natural lives, continue to be punctilious, conscientious, and passionless……as good as white bread, and just as insipid. Thoughtful minds, however, regarded him very differently. Not seldom it would happen that a glance, or an expression as full of significance as the utterance of a savage, would drop from him and bear witness to past storms in his soul; and a careful study of his placid brow revealed a power of stifling down and repressing his passions into inner depths, that had been dearly bought by a lengthy acquaintance with the perils and disastrous hazards of war. An officer who had only just joined the regiment, the son of a peer of France, had said one day of Genestas, that he would have made one of the most conscientious of priests, or the most upright of tradesmen.
其他军官在训练之余谈及热奈斯塔时，总会把他划入在学校时就开始受嘉奖的那类人。这类人一辈子循规蹈矩，勤勤勉勉，却无激情……如同白面包一样有用却单调无味。但是，心思缜密的人对他的评价却截然不同。时常，他不经意的一瞥，或是突然冒出来的话，像野蛮人说出了意义深刻的话一样，都证明了他内心的不平静。细心地观察他的前额，你可以发现他那种努力克制情绪，并将激情深藏于内心深处的力量，那种力量是在长期战争的危难与痛苦中付出巨大代价而获得的。有位新来的军官是法国某贵族的儿子，当他谈到热奈斯塔时，评价他可能是最正直的神职人员之一，或是最诚信的店老板。
"Add, the least of a courtier among marquises, " put in Genestas, scanning the young puppy, who did not know that his commandant could overhear him.
这个年轻的军官不知道自己的话被少校听到了。热奈斯塔瞥了他一眼，说：再补充一句，最不会在侯爵面前献媚的人。
There was a burst of laughter at the words, for the lieutenants father cringed to all the powers that be; he was a man of supple intellect, accustomed to jump with every change of government, and his son took after him.
一听这话，大家哄堂大笑，因为这位中尉的父亲就是个马屁精。他精通在权贵面前能屈能伸的伎俩，在屡次政府更迭中倒向掌权者，而他的儿子在这点上和他如出一辙。
Men like Genestas are met with now and again in the French army; natures that show themselves to be wholly great at need, and relapse into their ordinary simplicity when the action is over; men that are little mindful of fame and reputation, and utterly forgetful of danger. Perhaps there are many more of them than the shortcomings of our own characters will allow us to imagine. Yet, for all that, any one who believed that Genestas was perfect would be strangely deceiving himself. The major was suspicious, given to violent outbursts of anger, and apt to be tiresome in argument; he was full of national prejudices, and above all things, would insist that he was in the right, when he was, as a matter of fact, in the wrong. He retained the liking for good wine that he had acquired in the ranks. If he rose from a banquet with all the gravity befitting his position, he seemed serious and pensive, and had no mind at such times to admit any one into his confidence.
法国军队中像热奈斯塔这样的人并不少见。他们的个性就是在重大事件中表现自己的伟大，之后却恢复到极为平常的状态。他们不在乎名利，置危险于不顾。或许他们的优点比我们能够想到自身的缺点还多。然而，如果有人因此认为他们很完美，那就是自欺欺人了。热奈斯塔多疑、易动怒、喜欢无聊的争论。他有很强的民族偏见，而且最大的缺点是，他固执己见。当他实际上是错的时候，也会坚持认为自己是正确的。他在军中养成了嗜酒的习惯。当他离席而去时，总是表现出与身份相符的庄重，带着一副严肃、沉思的模样，这种时候他不容许任何人看出他的心思。
Finally, although he was sufficiently acquainted with the customs of society and with the laws of politeness, to which he conformed as rigidly as if they had been military regulations; though he had real mental power, both natural and acquired; and although he had mastered the art of handling men, the science of tactics, the theory of sabre play, and the mysteries of the farriers craft, his learning had been prodigiously neglected. He knew in a hazy kind of way that Caesar was a Roman Consul, or an Emperor, and that Alexander was either a Greek or a Macedonian; he would have conceded either quality or origin in both cases without discussion. If the conversation turned on science or history, he was wont to become thoughtful, and to confine his share in it to little approving nods, like a man who by dint of profound thought has arrived at scepticism.
总而言之，虽然他熟知人际交往中的风俗、礼节，并且能像遵守军规一样加以严格遵守，虽然他具备先天和后天的才能，虽然他也懂得制人之术、战术、刀法和兽医术，他在其他方面的知识却相当匮乏。他只是模糊地知道凯撒是罗马的执政官或皇帝，亚历山大是希腊人或马其顿人。所以不管你说这些人的身份是什么或祖籍在哪里，他都会表示赞同。如果话题转到科学或历史上时，他会变得很谨慎，一般只是轻轻点头表示赞同，就像个经过深思熟虑而采取怀疑态度的人一样。
When, at Schonbrunn, on May 13, 1809, Napoleon wrote the bulletin addressed to the Grand Army, then the masters of Vienna, in which he said that like Medea, the Austrian princes had slain their children with their own hands; Genestas, who had been recently made a captain, did not wish to compromise his newly conferred dignity by asking who Medea was; he relied upon Napoleons character, and felt quite sure that the Emperor was incapable of making any announcement not in proper form to the Grand Army and the House of Austria. So he thought that Medea was some archduchess whose conduct was open to criticism. Still, as the matter might have some bearing on the art of war, he felt uneasy about the Medea of the bulletin until a day arrived when Mlle. Raucourt revived the tragedy of Medea. The captain saw the placard, and did not fail to repair to the Theatre Francais that evening, to see the celebrated actress in her mythological role, concerning which he gained some information from his neighbors.
拿破仑于一八零九年五月十三号在申本伦给维也纳大军的公报上写到：奥地利的亲王们像美狄亚一样亲手杀害了自己的孩子。时任上尉的热奈斯塔怕丢面子，而不愿问别人美狄亚是谁。他相信拿破仑的为人，也绝对肯定他不会提及军队和奥地利皇室之外的事。所以，他据此推测美狄亚是某个该遭众人谴责的大公之妃。而且由于这事可能关系到军中机密，直到有一天罗占小姐重演了《美狄亚》这幕悲剧，他才不再为公报中提及的美狄亚感到不安。他看到剧院贴的海报，当晚便去了法国剧院看演出。他向邻座打听才得知，这位著名演员的角色是个神话人物。
A man, however, who as a private soldier had possessed sufficient force of character to learn to read, write, and cipher, could clearly understand that as a captain he ought to continue his education. So from this time forth he read new books and romances with avidity, in this way gaining a half……knowledge, of which he made a very fair use. He went so far in his gratitude to his teachers as to undertake the defence of Pigault……Lebrun, remarking that in his opinion he was instructive and not seldom profound.
一个人如果在身为一名普通士兵时就有足够的动力学习阅读、写作与算术，那么当他成为上尉时，就清楚地明白他应继续学习。所以从那时起，他如饥似渴地阅读新书、爱情小说。在学习中他获取了知识，虽了解不甚透彻，却大有收获。他非常感激自己的老师，甚至为皮戈•勒布伦辩护，声称他的观点有指导意义，并且思想深邃。
This officer, whose acquired practical wisdom did not allow him to make any journey in vain, had just come from Grenoble, and was on his way to the Grande Chartreuse, after obtaining on the previous evening a weeks leave of absence from his colonel. He had not expected that the journey would be a long one; but when, league after league, he had been misled as to the distance by the lying statements of the peasants, he thought it would be prudent not to venture any farther without fortifying the inner man. Small as were his chances of finding any housewife in her dwelling at a time when every one was hard at work in the fields, he stopped before a little cluster of cottages that stood about a piece of land common to all of them, more or less describing a square, which was open to all comers.
这位军官积累的阅历和知识令他从不做无用功。他昨晚刚向上校请了一周的假，离开格勒诺布尔，赶往大沙特勒斯山。他没料到旅程会如此漫长，但当他发现自己一次次被沿途的农民误导，越走越远后，他觉得谨慎起见，最好还是先填饱肚子再赶路。他很难碰到一个在家的主妇，因为此时几乎人人都在田地里忙着干农活，但他还是在几处茅屋前停下了脚步。屋舍前面有块公用空地，不是很方正，任何人都可以自由进出。
The surface of the soil thus held in conjoint ownership was hard and carefully swept, but intersected by open drains. Roses, ivy, and tall grasses grew over the cracked and disjointed walls. Some rags were drying on a miserable currant bush that stood at the entrance of the square. A pig wallowing in a heap of straw was the first inhabitant encountered by Genestas. At the sound of horse hoofs the creature grunted, raised its head, and put a great black cat to flight. A young peasant girl, who was carrying a bundle of grass on her head, suddenly appeared, followed at a distance by four little brats, clad in rags, it is true, but vigorous, sunburned, picturesque, bold……eyed, and riotous; thorough little imps, looking like angels. The sun shone down with an indescribable purifying influence upon the air, the wretched cottages, the heaps of refuse, and the unkempt little crew.
这家院子的地面坚实，打扫得很干净，不过地上布着露天排水沟。断裂的墙壁上长满了玫瑰、常春藤和高高的野草。在院子的门口处，一棵难看的醋栗树上晾着些破破烂烂的衣服。在草堆里打滚的一头猪是热奈斯塔在这里遇到的第一个住户。那头猪听到马蹄声，便哼哼叽叽地抬起头，把一只大黑猫吓得跑开了。一个头顶着稻草的年轻乡下姑娘突然出现了，远处还跟着四个小孩子。孩子们一个个穿得实在是破破烂烂的，不过都很活泼，皮肤晒得黑黑的，模样漂亮，目光放肆，一副天不怕地不怕的淘气样子，那些小顽童简直就像天使一样可爱。在阳光的照耀下，这里的空气、破旧的茅屋、一堆堆乱七八糟的废品，以及一群破衣烂衫的调皮鬼都散发出难以形容的纯洁气息。
The soldier asked whether it was possible to obtain a cup of milk. All the answer the girl made him was a hoarse cry. An old woman suddenly appeared on the threshold of one of the cabins, and the young peasant girl passed on into a cowshed, with a gesture that pointed out the aforesaid old woman, towards whom Genestas went; taking care at the same time to keep a tight hold on his horse, lest the children who were already running about under his hoofs should be hurt. He repeated his request, with which the housewife flatly refused to comply. She would not, she said, disturb the cream on the pans full of milk from which butter was to be made. The officer overcame this objection by undertaking to repay her amply for the wasted cream, and then tied up his horse at the door, and went inside the cottage.
军人向女孩讨杯牛奶喝。而姑娘只是用沙哑的声音喊了一声，算作回答。这时，从一间茅屋里突然出来一位老妇人，站在门口。那位年轻乡下姑娘指了指老妇人，自己便径直走进了牛栏。于是，热奈斯塔走向老妇人，同时紧紧拉住缰绳，以免马伤到跟在后面的小孩。他又向老妇人说明了自己的请求，却被她直接拒绝了。她说不愿意因为倒奶而把奶罐上的奶皮揭去，她要用奶皮做黄油。军官提出愿意多出点儿钱来补偿损失，最终说服了老妇人。随后他把马拴在门边，进了屋。
The four children belonging to the woman all appeared to be of the same age……an odd circumstance which struck the commandant. A fifth clung about her skirts; a weak, pale, sickly……looking child, who doubtless needed more care than the others, and who on that account was the best beloved, the Benjamin of the family.
老妇人的四个孩子似乎年纪相仿……这一奇怪的情形让军官惊诧不已。第五个孩子紧紧拽着老妇人的衣裙，这孩子看上去很虚弱，脸色苍白，一副病怏怏的样子。很显然他比其他孩子更需要照顾，也因此是家里最受宠的一个。
Genestas seated himself in a corner by the fireless hearth. A sublime symbol met his eyes on the high mantel……shelf above him……a colored plaster cast of the Virgin with the Child Jesus in her arms. Bare earth made the flooring of the cottage. It had been beaten level in the first instance, but in course of time it had grown rough and uneven, so that though it was clean, its ruggedness was not unlike that of the magnified rind of an orange. A sabot filled with salt, a frying……pan, and a large kettle hung inside the chimney. The farther end of the room was completely filled by a four……post bedstead, with a scalloped valance for decoration. The walls were black; there was an opening to admit the light above the worm……eaten door; and here and there were a few stools consisting of rough blocks of beech……wood, each set upon three wooden legs; a hutch for bread, a large wooden dipper, a bucket and some earthen milk……pans, a spinning……wheel on the top of the bread……hutch, and a few wicker mats for draining cheeses. Such were the ornaments and household furniture of the wretched dwelling.
热奈斯塔在没生火的壁炉旁的角落坐下。他看到壁炉的台面上供奉着一尊彩色的圣母玛利亚石膏像，那是令人崇敬的象征，她手里抱着童年耶稣。小屋的地板其实是泥地。一开始地面应该挺平整，但时间久了便变得坑坑洼洼，所以即便打扫得很干净，看上去仍像放大了的、凹凸不平的橘子皮。壁炉膛里挂着一个装了盐的木屐形的罐子、一只煎锅和一个大水壶。房子的最里边被一个有四根柱子的架子床填满了，床柱上挂着带有锯齿花边的短帷幔，作为装饰。屋子里的墙壁黑乎乎的，还有一扇带有透气窗但被虫蛀了的大门、几个用山毛榉木做的简易三角凳、一只装面包的箱子、一个大水瓢、一只桶和几只牛奶罐、一架放在面包箱上的纺线车，以及几个用来沥奶酪的柳制筛子。这些便是这间破茅屋里的全部家什。
The officer, who had been absorbed in flicking his riding……whip against the floor, presently became a witness to a piece of by……play, all unsuspicious though he was that any drama was about to unfold itself. No sooner had the old woman, followed by her scald……headed Benjamin, disappeared through a door that led into her dairy, than the four children, after having stared at the soldier as long as they wished, drove away the pig by way of a beginning. This animal, their accustomed playmate, having come as far as the threshold, the little brats made such an energetic attack upon him, that he was forced to beat a hasty retreat. When the enemy had been driven without, the children besieged the latch of a door that gave way before their united efforts, and slipped out of the worn staple that held it; and finally they bolted into a kind of fruit……loft, where they very soon fell to munching the dried plums, to the amusement of the commandant, who watched this spectacle. The old woman, with the face like parchment and the dirty ragged clothing, came back at this moment, with a jug of milk for her visitor in her hand.
军官本来在投入地用皮鞭轻打着地面，随后却目睹了一场闹剧。他有点不敢相信自己的眼睛，但好戏的确上演了。老妇人刚走进放奶间，身后跟着那个癞痢头儿子，其他四个孩子盯着军人看了大半天后，便开始赶起猪来。这头猪是孩子们惯常的玩伴，这时它已经走到了门槛边，这些小捣蛋鬼们猛地打了它一下，它不得不立刻掉头逃窜。打退了敌人后，孩子们开始折腾门闩，在他们的共同努力之下，门闩崩溃了，从固定它的破烂不堪的卡钉里滑了出来。最后他们又冲进了放水果的房间，拿起干李子就啃。这位指挥官看到这一幕觉得很有意思。正在这时，那位面容苍老、衣衫褴褛的老妇走了出来，给客人端来了一罐牛奶。
"Oh! you good……for……nothings! " cried she.
天哪！你们这帮废物！老妇喊道。
She ran to the children, clutched an arm of each child, bundled them into the room, and carefully closed the door of her storeroom of plenty. But she did not take their prunes away from them.
她冲向孩子，抓起孩子们的胳膊，把他们拉到屋里，然后小心翼翼地关上贮藏间的门。但她并没有把孩子们偷吃的李子拿走。
"Now, then, be good, my pets! If one did not look after them, " she went on, looking at Genestas, "they would eat up the whole lot of prunes, the madcaps! "
行了，宝贝们，放乖点儿！一帮馋猫！如果不看着点儿，看了看热奈斯塔，她继续说，他们会把所有的李子都吃掉的，一帮馋猫！
Then she seated herself on a three……legged stool, drew the little weakling between her knees, and began to comb and wash his head with a womans skill and with motherly assiduity. The four small thieves hung about. Some of them stood, others leant against the bed or the bread……hutch. They gnawed their prunes without saying a word, but they kept their sly and mischievous eyes fixed upon the stranger. In spite of grimy countenances and noses that stood in need of wiping, they all looked strong and healthy.
随后老妇在一只三角凳上坐下，把癞痢头儿子夹在两腿间，开始给他洗头、梳头。她的动作无不显示出女性的心灵手巧和母性慈爱的一面。四个小偷吃鬼在旁边无所事事。他们有的站着，有的靠着床边或面包箱。他们吃着李子，一声不吭，却用狡猾、恶作剧般的眼神盯着陌生人看。尽管他们脏兮兮的，鼻涕也需要擦一擦，但看上去都又结实又健康。
"Are they your children? " the soldier asked the old woman.
他们都是您的孩子吗？军人问老妇人。
"Asking your pardon, sir, they are charity children. They give me three francs a month and a pounds weight of soap for each of them.
不好意思，先生，他们是福利院的孩子。每领养一个孩子，我每月就可以领到三法郎和一磅肥皂的补助。
"But it must cost you twice as much as that to keep them, good woman? "
但是抚养他们不是得要双倍的开支吗，大嫂？
"That is just what M. Benassis tells me, sir; but if other folk will board the children for the same money, one has to make it do. Nobody wants the children, but for all that there is a good deal of performance to go through before they will let us have them. When the milk we give them comes to nothing, they cost us scarcely anything. Besides that, three francs is a great deal, sir; there are fifteen francs coming in, to say nothing of the five pounds weight of soap. In our part of the world you would simply have to wear your life out before you would make ten sous a day.