The sale was due to be held on the 16th.

拍卖定在十六号进行。

An interval of one day had been left between the viewing and the sale in order to give the upholsterers enough time to take down the hangings, curtains and so forth.

参观和正式拍卖之间有一天的间隔，这样可以让地毯商人有足够的时间取下帷帐、窗帘以及其他这一类的东西。

I was at that time recently returned from my travels. It was quite natural that no one had told me about Marguerite's death, for it was hardly one of those momentous news-items which friends always rush to tell anybody who has just got back to the capital city of News. Marguerite had been pretty, but the greater the commotion that attends the sensational lives of these women, the smaller the stir once they are dead. They are like those dull suns which set as they have risen: they are unremarkable. News of their death, when they die young, reaches all their lovers at the same instant, for in Paris the lovers of any celebrated courtesan see each other every day. A few reminiscences are exchanged about her, and the lives of all and sundry continue as before without so much as a tear.

我那时正好从外地旅游回来。很自然，没人告诉过我玛格丽特死了的事，因为这很难算得上是一件有重要意义的时事，不足以让朋友们急着转告给刚回到充满新闻的首都的人。玛格丽特活着的时候长得很漂亮，但是这些女人生前充满争议的生活引起的骚动越大，她们死后掀起的风波就越小。她们就像那些暗淡无光的星星，落下和升起的时候都一样不引人注意。如果是她们年纪轻轻就死了，那死讯会在同一时间传到她们所有情人那里，因为在巴黎，名妓的情人们关系通常很密切。他们会一起回忆一些她的往事，接着大家的生活就像平常一样继续，甚至没有人掉一滴眼泪。

For a young man of twenty-five nowadays, tears have become so rare a thing that they are not to be wasted on the first girl who comes along. The most that may be expected is that the parents and relatives who pay for the privilege of being wept for are indeed mourned to the extent of their investment.

现如今，对于一个二十五岁的男人来说，眼泪已经是一件稀罕的东西，是决不会浪费在遇到的第一个女人身上的。最多，也就是在他们身上花费过金钱的父母和亲戚才能得到特权，来让他们为自己哭上几声，作为过去投资的回报。

For my own part, though my monogram figured on none of Marguerite's dressing-cases, the instinctive forbearance and natural pity to which I have just admitted led me to dwell on her death for much longer than it perhaps warranted.

至于我自己，虽然我名字的缩写没有出现在玛格丽特的任何一件梳妆用具上，但是像我之前所承认的，出于本能的宽容和那种天生的怜悯，我对她的死久久不能忘怀，即使她并不值得我如此怀念。

I recalled having come across Marguerite very frequently on the Champs- lys es, where she appeared assiduously each day in a small blue brougham drawn by two magnificent bays, and I remembered having also remarked in her at that time an air of distinction rare in women of her kind and which was further enhanced by her truly exceptional beauty .

我记得以前经常在香榭丽舍大街上遇到玛格丽特，她每天都会准时出现，坐在两匹骏马拉着的一辆蓝色四轮小马车里。我也还记得那时我从她身上察觉到了她那类女人不常有的气质，这种气质又因她无与伦比的美貌而得到了进一步加强。

When these unfortunate creatures appear in public, they are invariably escorted by some companion or other.

这些不幸的人们在公众面前出现时，身边总有个伴侣或其他什么人陪伴着。

Since no man would ever consent to flaunt by day the predilection he has for them by night, and because they abhor solitude, they are usually attended either by less fortunate associates who have no carriages of their own, or else by elderly ladies of refinement who are not the least refined and to whom an interested party may apply without fear, should any information be required concerning the woman they are escorting.

既然没有男人会同意公开他们在私底下和烟花女子的特殊关系，而女人们又痛恨寂寞，所以她们总是和女伴们一同出行。这些女伴有些是因为境况不如她们，自己没有车；有些是怎么打扮也好看不了的老妇人。如果想知道马车女主人的任何私情秘事，尽可以放心大胆地去向那些女伴们请教。

It was not so with Marguerite. She always appeared alone on the Champs- lys es, riding in her own carriage where she sat as unobtrusively as possible, enveloped on winter days in a large Indian shawl and, in summer, wearing the simplest dresses. And though there were many she knew along her favourite route, when she chanced to smile at them, her smile was visible to them alone. A Duchess could have smiled no differently .

玛格丽特却不是这样的。她一直都是独自出现在香榭丽舍大街上，低调地坐在自己的马车中。冬天的时候裹在一条大大的开司米披肩里，夏天就穿着最朴素简单的衣服。虽然她最喜欢的街道上有许多认识的人，但当她偶尔朝他们微笑示意的时候，那笑容是只有对方才看得到的。那笑容和一个公爵夫人并无两样。

She did not ride from the Rond-Point down to the entrance to the Champs- Élysées as do — and did — all her sort. Her two horses whisked her off smartly to the Bois de Boulogne. There she alighted, walked for an hour, rejoined her brougham and returned home at a fast trot.

她不会像她所有同行一样坐着马车从圆形广场驶入香榭丽舍大街。她的两匹马飞快地把她载到郊外的布洛涅树林。她在那里走下车，散步一小时，再登上马车，疾驰回家。

These circumstances, which I had occasionally observed for myself, now came back to me and I sorrowed for this girl's death much as one might regret the total destruction of a beautiful work of art.

那些我自己偶尔观察到的情况现在都再次回到了我的脑海里，我深深地为这个姑娘的去世感到惋惜，就像人们会为一件精美的艺术品被完全摧毁而惋惜一样。

For it was impossible to behold beauty more captivating than Marguerite's.

因为没有比玛格丽特更令人神魂颠倒的女子了。

Tall and slender almost to a fault, she possessed in the highest degree the art of concealing this oversight of nature simply by the way she arranged the clothes she wore. Her Indian shawl, with its point reaching down to the ground, gave free movement on either side to the flounced panels of her silk dress, while the thick muff, which hid her hands and which she kept pressed to her bosom, was encompassed by folds so skillfully managed that even the most demanding eye would have found nothing wanting in the lines of her figure.

她虽然高挑、苗条得有些过分，但她拥有一种最顶级的才能，仅仅改变一下穿衣服的方法就可以掩盖这种天生的缺陷。她披着拖地的开司米大披肩，两边露出了丝绸长裙的镶边，就连她那紧贴在胸前藏手用的厚厚的暖手笼四周的褶裥都做得十分精巧，因此，不管用多挑剔的眼光来看，她的线条都是完美无暇的。

Her face, a marvel, was the object of her most fastidious attentions. It was quite small and, as Musset might have said, her mother had surely made it so to ensure it was fashioned with care.

她的脸型漂亮得让人惊异，那是她身上让人最无法挑剔的珍品。那张脸很小巧，就像缪塞说过的那样，她的母亲一定是有意让它生成那样，以便把它精心装扮。

Upon an oval of indescribable loveliness, place two dark eyes beneath brows so cleanly arched that they might have been painted on; veil those eyes with lashes so long that, when lowered, they cast shadows over the pink flush of the cheeks; sketch a delicate, straight, spirited nose and nostrils slightly flared in a passionate aspiration towards sensuality; draw a regular mouth with lips parting gracefully over teeth as white as milk; tint the skin with the bloom of peaches which no hand has touched — and you will have a comprehensive picture of her entrancing face.

在一张流露着无法用言语描述的可爱神情的鹅蛋脸上，嵌上两只乌黑的大眼睛，上面是两道弯弯的细长眉毛，轮廓清晰得像是描画出来的；长长的睫毛遮盖住眼睛，垂下来时会在玫瑰色的脸颊上投射出一抹淡淡的阴影；鼻子精致、挺拔而又充满灵气，鼻翼因对情欲的渴望而微微煽动；一张端正的嘴，嘴唇优雅地张开，露出如牛奶一样洁白的牙齿；皮肤的色泽就如那未经触碰过的桃花一般——这些就是她留在您的脑海中的大致印象了。

Her jet-black hair, naturally or artfully waved, was parted over her forehead in two thick coils which vanished behind her head, just exposing the lobes of her ears from which hung two diamonds each worth four or five thousand francs.

她留着深黑色的头发，自然而充满艺术感地卷曲着，在额头上被分成两大绺，一直拖到脑后，露出两个耳垂，耳垂上闪烁着两颗各值四五千法郎的钻石耳环。

Exactly how the torrid life she led could possibly have left on Marguerite's face the virginal, even childlike expression which made it distinctive, is something which we are forced to record as a fact which we cannot comprehend.

玛格丽特热情奔放的生活怎么会在她的脸上留下处女般纯洁、甚至带着稚气的表情，让她显得如此与众不同，这些我们只能当作事实记录下来，无法理解。

Marguerite possessed a marvelous portrait of herself by Vidal, the only man whose pencil strokes could capture her to the life. After her death, this portrait came into my keeping for a few days and the likeness was so striking that it has helped me to furnish details for which memory alone might not have sufficed.

玛格丽特拥有一幅维达尔为她画的精美肖像，只有他的画笔才能将玛格丽特画得惟妙惟肖。她去世之后，有几天，这幅画在我手里。画中人和玛格丽特的相似程度太惊人了，它帮助我拼凑出了光靠记忆无法呈现的细节。

Some of the particulars contained in the present chapter did not become known to me until some time later, but I set them down here so as not to have to return to them once the narrative account of this woman's life has begun.

这一章里出现的个别细节也是我后来才知道的，但我把它们在这儿都记下来，这样以来，开始叙述这个女人的故事时就不用回过头来重新提起。

Marguerite was present at all first nights and spent each evening in the theatre or at the ball. Whenever a new play was performed, you could be sure of seeing her there with three things which she always had with her and which always occupied the ledge of her box in the stalls: her opera glasses, a box of sweets and a bunch of camellias.

玛格丽特会出现在所有演出的首场，每天晚上都是在剧院或者舞会度过的。只要有新剧演出，你就一定能在剧院里看见她，她总是随身带着三件东西，而且总是放在她正厅前排包厢前面的栏杆上：用来看戏的望远镜、一盒蜜饯和一束茶花。

For twenty-five days in every month the camellias were white, and for five they were red. No one ever knew the reason for this variation in colour which I mention but cannot explain, and which those who frequented the theatres where she was seen most often, and her friends too, had noticed as I had.

一个月里有二十五天玛格丽特带的茶花是白色的，剩下的五天那些花是红色的。没人知道茶花颜色变换的原因是什么，我也只能指出现象但不能解释其中的道理。此外，在她经常去的那几个戏院里，那些常去的观众和她的朋友也都和我一样注意到了这种现象。

Marguerite had never been seen with any flowers but camellias. Because of this, her florist, Madame Barjon, had finally taken to calling her the Lady of the Camellias, and the name had remained with her.

除了茶花，没有人见过玛格丽特带其他的花。因为这样，她经常光顾的花店主人巴尔容夫人最终开始叫她茶花女，以后这个名字就一直跟着她了。

Like all who move in certain social circles in Paris, I knew further that Marguerite had been the mistress of the most fashionable young men, that she admitted the fact openly, and that they themselves boasted of it, which only went to show that lovers and mistress were well pleased with each other.

就像所有在巴黎的某一个社交圈子里活动的人一样，我还知道玛格丽特曾经做过巴黎最时髦风流的少爷们的情妇，她公开承认过这个事实，那些男人们也对此感到骄傲，这只能说明情夫和情妇们对彼此都很满意。

However, for some three years previously, ever since a visit she had made to Bagn res, she was said to be living with just one man, an elderly foreign duke who was fabulously wealthy and had attempted to detach her as far as possible from her old life. This she seems to have been happy enough to go along with.

然而，之前大概有三年的时间，自从一次去巴涅尔的旅行之后，据说她几乎都和一个年老的外国公爵住在一起，这个公爵极度富有，并且想方设法要让她和自己以前的生活一刀两断。对于这个安排，她看起来心甘情愿地就接受了。

Here is what I have been told of the matter.

以下是别人告诉我的关于这件事的经过：

In the spring of 1842, Marguerite was so weak, so altered in her looks, that the doctors had ordered her to take the waters. She accordingly set out for Bagn res.

一八四二年的春天，玛格丽特的身体虚弱极了，她的气色越来越差，所以医生要求她泡温泉疗养。因此她就去了巴涅尔。

Among the other sufferers there, was the Duke's daughter who not only had the same complaint but a face so like Marguerite's that they could have been taken for sisters. The fact was that the young Duchess was in the tertiary stage of consumption and, only days after Marguerite's arrival, she succumbed.

在巴涅尔疗养的其他病人里面就有那位公爵的女儿，她不止和玛格丽特有着一样的病，而且和玛格丽特有着一张非常相似的脸，她们甚至会被旁人误认成姐妹俩。不过事实是：那位年轻的公爵小姐已经到了肺结核的第三期，玛格丽特来了仅仅几天后，她就死去了。

One morning the Duke, who had remained at Bagn res just as people will remain on ground where a piece of their heart lies buried, caught sight of Marguerite as she turned a corner of a gravel walk.

就像人们不愿离开埋葬着自己至亲的地方一样，公爵留在了巴涅尔，一天早上，他在一条碎石子路的转角看见了玛格丽特。

It seemed as though he was seeing the spirit of his dead child and, going up to her, he took both her hands, embraced her tearfully and, without asking who she was, begged leave to call on her and to love in her person the living image of his dead daughter.

他仿佛看见了死去孩子的灵魂，走过去抓住她的双手，眼含热泪地拥抱她，甚至没有问问她究竟是谁，就恳求玛格丽特同意他去看望她，并且像爱自己去世女儿的替身一样爱她。

Marguerite, alone at Bagn res with her maid, and in any case having nothing to lose by compromising herself, granted the Duke what he asked.

和玛格丽特一起留在巴涅尔的只有她的侍女，她觉得答应这件事也没有什么损失，就同意了公爵的请求。

Now there were a number of people at Bagn res who knew her, and they made a point of calling on the Duke to inform him of Mademoiselle Gautier's true situation. It was a terrible blow for the old man, for any resemblance with his daughter stopped there. But it was too late. The young woman had become an emotional necessity, his only pretext and his sole reason for living.

在巴涅尔也有不少人认识玛格丽特，他们特地拜访了公爵，告诉了他戈蒂埃小姐真实的社会地位。对一个老人来说，这是一个沉重打击，因为到此为止，玛格丽特与他的女儿再也谈不上有什么相似之处了。但是，这已经太晚了。这个年轻女人已经成为了公爵的一种精神必需，是他的唯一寄托和活下去的最后理由。

He did not reproach her, he had no right to, but he did ask her if she felt that she could change her way of life, and, in exchange for this sacrifice, offered all the compensations she could want. She agreed.

他没有责怪玛格丽特，他也没有这样做的权利，但是他确实问了玛格丽特是否觉得可以改变自己的生活方式，而且作为她的这种牺牲的交换条件，他可以提供任何她想要的补偿。玛格丽特同意了。

It should be said that at this juncture Marguerite, who was by nature somewhat highly strung, was seriously ill. Her past appeared to her to be one of the major causes of her illness, and a kind of superstition led her to hope that God would allow her to keep her beauty and her health in exchange for her repentance and conversion.

需要说明的是，那个时侯，天生性格热情奔放的玛格丽特正生着重病。过去的生活在她看来是生病的一个主要原因，一种迷信的想法使她希望上帝能以她的痛改前非和皈依为交换，允许她保留自己的美貌和健康。

And indeed the waters, the walks, healthy fatigue and sleep had almost restored her fully by the end of that summer.

果然，巴涅尔的温泉、散步、自然的体力消耗和正常的睡眠使她在夏天结束时几乎完全恢复了健康。

The Duke accompanied Marguerite to Paris, where he continued to call on her as at Bagn res.

公爵陪着玛格丽特回到了巴黎，他还是像在巴涅尔一样继续看望玛格丽特。

This liaison, of which the true origin and true motive were known to no one, gave rise here to a great deal of talk, since the Duke, known hitherto as an enormously wealthy man, now began to acquire a name for prodigality.

他们的这种关系，因为没人知道其真正的起因和动机，引起了大量流言蜚语，公爵曾经是一个有名的富翁，现在又因为挥霍无度而名声更响了。

The relationship between the old Duke and the young woman was put down to the salacity which is frequently found in rich old men. People imagined all manner of things, except the truth.

老公爵和年轻的玛格丽特之间的关系被大家归结于有钱老头儿身上常有的好色毛病。人们猜想了他们关系的所有情况，就是没有想到事情的真相。

The truth was that the affection of this father for Marguerite was a feeling so chaste, that anything more than a closeness of hearts would have seemed incestuous in his eyes. Never once had he said a single word to her that his daughter could not have heard.

事实是这位父亲对玛格丽特的喜爱是一种如此纯洁的感情，以至于任何超越心灵上的密切交往关系都会被他视作乱伦。他从没有对玛格丽特说过一句不该对女儿说的话。

The last thing we wish is to make our heroine seem anything other than what she was. We shall say therefore that, as long as she remained at Bagn res, the promise given to the Duke had not been difficult to keep, and she had kept it. But once she was back in Paris, it seemed to her, accustomed as she was to a life of dissipation, balls and even orgies, that her newfound solitude, broken only by the periodic visits of the Duke, would make her die of boredom, and the scorching winds of her former life blew hot on both her head and her heart.

我们最不希望的就是把我们的女主角描写得和她本人不一样。因此我们可以说，只要玛格丽特留在巴涅尔，她对公爵许下的诺言是不难遵守的，事实上她也确实遵守了。但是一旦回到了巴黎，对她来说，那只能靠老公爵定期看望才能缓解的孤独，会使得她因无聊而死去，因为她习惯了充满挥霍、舞会，甚至还有饮酒狂欢的生活，过去生活的灼热气息热热地吹着她的头脑和心灵。

Add to this that Marguerite had returned from her travels more beautiful than she had ever been, that she was twenty years old and that her illness, subdued but far from conquered, continued to stir in her those feverish desires which are almost invariably a result of consumptive disorders.

除此之外，玛格丽特从旅行回来之后变得比以前更漂亮了，她正当二十岁的大好年华，她的病虽然并未根除，但已经大有起色，这也激起了她狂热的情欲，这种情欲往往也就是肺病的症状。

The Duke was therefore sadly grieved the day his friends, constantly on the watch for scandalous indiscretions on the part of the young woman with whom he was, they said, compromising himself, called to inform him, indeed to prove to him that at those times when she could count on his not appearing, she was in the habit of receiving other visitors, and that these visitors often stayed until the following morning.

公爵的朋友总是说他和那个年轻女子在一起是在损害自己的名誉，他们一直监视着她的不轨行为；他们后来去告诉公爵，确切地说是向他证明，玛格丽特在确信公爵不会出现的时候会接待其他访客，而且这些访客经常逗留到第二天早上。公爵知道后心里非常痛苦。

When the Duke questioned her, Marguerite admitted everything, and, without a second thought, advised him not to concern himself with her any more, saying she did not have the strength to keep faith with the pledges she had given, and adding that she had no wish to go on receiving the liberalities of a man whom she was deceiving.

公爵质问玛格丽特时，她承认了所有的事情，并毫不犹豫地建议公爵不要再关心她了，她说自己没有力量去继续遵守他们之间的承诺，也不愿意再接受一个受她欺骗的男人的好意了。

The Duke stayed away for a week, but this was as long as he could manage. One week later to the day , he came and implored Marguerite to take him back, promising to accept her as she was, provided that he could see her, and swearing that he would die before he uttered a single word of reproach.

公爵一个星期没有露面，但他也只能忍耐这么久。到了第八天，他又回来恳求玛格丽特像过去一样跟他来往，承诺接受她现在的样子，只要能见到她，还发誓说即使丧命也不会再说一句责备她的话了。

This was how things stood three months after Marguerite's return, that is, in November of December 1842.

这就是玛格丽特返回巴黎三个月之后的情况，时间是一八四二年十一月或者十二月。 fMJWvF6OwdDvXc+67k/VGIuHbzaQTmD1AfHVUtqY+cVqoWl4+D6AxwDLEZNilsEd