购买
下载掌阅APP,畅读海量书库
立即打开
畅读海量书库
扫码下载掌阅APP

第二章

Chapter 2

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。 fptFwQS5HKz8X4e0EZzA2WojqOHStpfFrSU1rUbbh/JdBCadzJxjN8PVPKGk0zgh



第三章

Chapter 3

On the 16th, at one o'clock, I made my way to the rue d' Antin.

十六号下午一点钟,我就到安坦街去了。

The raised voices of the auctioneers could be heard from the carriage entrance.

拍卖师高亢响亮的声音在供马车进入的大门口就可以听见。

The apartment was filled with inquisitive spectators.

宅子里挤满了好奇的观众。

All the famous names from the world of fashionable vice were there. They were being slyly observed by a number of society ladies who had again used the sale as a pretext for claiming the right to see, at close quarters, women in whose company they would not otherwise have had occasion to find themselves, and whose easy pleasures they perhaps secretly envied.

所有烟花之地的知名人物都在那里了。她们正被一些贵妇人狡猾地打量着,这些贵妇又一次把这个拍卖作为一个借口,声称自己有权利近距离观察这些她们从来没有机会与之共同相处的女人,而且说不定这些贵妇人还暗自在羡慕她们自由放荡的轻松生活呢。

The Duchesse de F rubbed shoulders with Mademoiselle A, one of the sorriest specimens of our modern courtesans; the Marquise de Tshrank from buying an item of furniture for which the bidding was led by Madame D, the most elegant and most celebrated adulteress of our age; the Duc d'Y, who is believed in Madrid to be ruining himself in Paris, and in Paris to be ruining himself in Madrid, and who, when all is said and done, cannot even spend all his income, while continuing to chat with Madame M, one of our wittiest taletellers, who occasionally agrees to write down what she says and to sign what she writes, was exchanging confidential glances with Madame de N, the beauty who may be regularly seen driving on the Champs- lys es, dressed almost invariably in pink or blue, in a carriage drawn by two large black horses sold to her by Tony for ten thousand francs...and paid for in full; lastly, Mademoiselle R, who by sheer talent makes twice what ladies of fashion make with their dowries, and three times as much as what the rest make out of their love affairs, had come in spite of the cold to make a few purchases, and it was not she who attracted the fewest eyes.

F公爵夫人撞上了A小姐的肩膀,后者是当今妓女圈子里最不幸的一位;T侯爵夫人放弃了购买一件D夫人在不断抬价的家具,因为D夫人是眼下最有风姿又最有名的荡妇。Y公爵,马德里的人们说他在巴黎破了产,巴黎的人们说他在马德里破了产,但当这些流言都过去了之后,他其实有花不完的收入,这会儿他正在和M太太闲聊。M太太是最聪明,也是最爱搬弄是非的人之一,她常想把自己讲的东西写下来,并签上自己的大名。Y公爵同时还在和N夫人眉目传情。人们可以经常在香榭丽舍大街上看到N夫人乘马车驶过,她穿的衣衫总是粉红和天蓝两种颜色,她坐在由两匹高大的黑色骏马拉着的马车里,这两匹马,托尼向她要价一万法郎,她都如数照付。最后还有R小姐,她靠自己的才能挣得的财产比那些靠嫁妆的上流社会妇人挣得的要高两倍,比其他那些靠风流韵事赚钱的女人挣得的还要高三倍,尽管患了感冒她还是赶来购买一些东西,她吸引的目光绝不会是最少的。

We could go on quoting the initials of many of those who had gathered in that drawing-room and who were not a little astonished at the company they kept; but we should, we fear, weary the reader.

我们还可以继续列举聚集在这间客厅中的很多人的姓氏打头字母,他们对于在这里遇到的人都感觉非常惊讶;但是我们担心,那样让读者感到厌烦。

Suffice it to say that everyone was in the highest spirits and that, of all the women there, many had known the dead girl and gave no sign that they remembered her.

还值得一提的就是当时每个人都非常兴奋,在场的所有女人中有很多都认识那个死去的女孩,但她们没有做出任何怀念她的表示。

There was much loud laughter; the auctioneers shouted at the tops of their voices; the dealers who had crowded on to the benches placed in front of the auction tables called vainly for silence in which to conduct their business in peace. Never was a gathering more varied and more uproarious.

房子里充满了大笑声;拍卖师们用他们最大的声音吆喝着;满坐在拍卖桌前面板凳上的商人们徒劳地叫着让大家安静,好让他们在安静的环境里做生意。从来没有一个集会像今天这样,各种身份混杂,环境喧闹嘈杂。

I slipped unobtrusively into the middle of the distressing tumult, saddened to think that all this was taking place next to the very room where the unfortunate creature whose furniture was being sold up to pay her debts, had breathed her last. Having come to observe rather than to buy, I watched the faces of the tradesmen who had forced the sale and whose features lit up each time an item reached a price they had never dared hope for.

我默不作声地溜进了这堆闹闹嚷嚷的人群中间,悲伤地想着所有的这些就发生在这个不幸的女人呼出最后一口气的房间旁边,为的是拍卖她的家具来还清她生前的欠债。与其说我是来买东西的,倒不如说是来凑热闹的,我看着那些强迫拍卖进行的商人,每当一件物品被抬升到了一个他们都不敢奢望的价格时,他们的脸便会散发出光彩。

Honest men all, who had speculated in the prostitution of this woman, had obtained a one-hundred per cent return on her, had dogged the last moments of her life with writs, and came after she was dead to claim both the fruits of their honourable calculations and the interest accruing on the shameful credit they had given her.

那些诚实的男人们,他们在这个女人出卖肉体的时候给了钱,现在又全部从她身上拿了回来,他们在她生命的最后时刻还在用各种借据文件和她纠缠不清,在她死后就来收取他们冠冕堂皇的帐款和卑鄙可耻的高额利息。

How right were the Ancients who had one God for merchants and thieves!

古人说,商人和小偷信仰的是同样一个上帝,这是多么正确啊!

Dresses, Indian shawls, jewels, came under the hammer at an unbelievable rate. None of it took my fancy, and I waited on.

裙子、开司米披肩、珠宝,以令人吃惊的速度都落槌成交了。没有一样让我着迷,所以我一直等着。

Suddenly I heard a voice shout: A book, fully bound, gilt-edges, entitled: Manon Lescaut. There's something written on the first page: ten francs.'

突然我听见一个声音叫道:“一本书,精装,书边烫金,书名《玛农·莱斯科》。扉页上写着一些东西,起价十个法郎。”

'Twelve,' said a voice, after a longish silence.

“十二法郎。”一个声音说道,在很长的一阵沉默之后。

'Fifteen,' I said.

“十五法郎。”我说。

Why? I had no idea. No doubt for that 'something written'.

为什么我要出这个价钱呢?我自己也不清楚。毫无疑问是因为写在扉页上的“一些东西”。

'Fifteen,' repeated the auctioneer.

“十五法郎。”拍卖师重复道。

'Thirty,' said the first bidder, in a tone which seemed to defy anybody to go higher.

“三十法郎。”第一个出价的人叫道,那语气似乎是想阻止别人出更高的价钱。

It was becoming a fight.

这场拍卖变成了一场较量。

'Thirty-five!' I cried, in the same tone of voice.

“三十五法郎!”我叫道,也用一样的口气。

'Forty.'

“四十法郎!”

'Fifty.'

“五十法郎!”

'Sixty.'

“六十法郎!”

'A hundred.'

“一百法郎!”

I confess that if I had set out to cause a stir, I would have succeeded completely, for my last bid was followed by a great silence, and people stared at me to see who this man was who seemed so intent on possessing the volume.

我承认如果我是为了引起一阵骚动,那么我已经完全成功了,因为我最后的一次竞价之后紧跟着是全场的鸦雀无声,人们都盯着我看,想看看这个似乎一心要等到这本书的先生究竟是谁。

Apparently the tone in which I had made my latest bid was enough for my opponent: he chose therefore to abandon a struggle which would have served only to cost me ten times what the book was worth and, with a bow, he said very graciously but a little late:

很明显,我最后一次叫价的口气足以震慑住我的对手了,他因此选择放弃这场最后只是让我花了这本书本身价值十倍的钱的竞争,他向我鞠躬,过了一会,优雅地对我说:

'It's yours, sir.'

“这是你的了,先生。”

No other bids were forthcoming, and the book was knocked down to me.

没有其他竞价了,这本书就拍给我了。

Since I feared a new onset of obstinacy which my vanity might conceivably have borne but which would have assuredly proved too much for my purse, I gave my name, asked for the volume to be put aside and left by the stairs. I must have greatly intrigued the onlookers who, having witnessed this scene, doubtless wondered why on earth I had gone there to pay a hundred francs for a book that I could have got anywhere for ten or fifteen at most.

因为我害怕我的虚荣心很可能会再一次激起我的倔脾气,而这又一定是我的钱包不能承担的,我留下自己的名字,要求他们把书留在一边,就下楼离开了。我一定激起了目击了这个场景的旁观者们的强烈兴趣,他们无疑会好奇我究竟是为什么来到这里花一百法郎买一本我随便到哪里花十个或者最多十五个法郎就能买到的书。

An hour later, I had sent round for my purchase.

一个小时以后,我派人把我买下的那本书取了回来。

On the first page, written in ink in an elegant hand, was the dedication of the person who had given the book. This dedication consisted simply of these words: Manon to Marguerite, Humility.'

扉页上是赠书人用钢笔写的两行秀丽的字迹。题词只有寥寥几字:“玛农对玛格丽特,惭愧。”

It was signed: Armand Duval.

下面的署名是:阿尔芒·迪瓦尔。

What did this word 'Humility' mean?

“惭愧”这两个字是什么意思呢?

Was it that Manon, in the opinion of this Monsieur Armand Duval, acknowledged Marguerite as her superior in debauchery or in true love?

根据这位阿尔芒·迪瓦尔先生的意见,玛农是不是承认玛格丽特在生活放荡方面,抑或是在真爱方面,要更胜一筹?

The second interpretation seemed the more likely, for the first was impertinently frank, and Marguerite could never have accepted it, whatever opinion she had of herself.

第二种解释看起来更可能一些,因为第一种显得过于直白唐突,玛格丽特是绝不可能接受的,不管她对自己抱什么看法。

I went out again and thought no more of the book until that night, when I retired to bed.

我又出门了,没有再想着那本书,直到那天晚上我上床的时候。

Manon Lescaut is a truly touching story every detail of which is familiar to me and yet, whenever I hold a copy in my hand, an instinctive feeling for it draws me on. I open it and for the hundredth time I live again with the abb Pr vost's heroine. Now, his heroine is so lifelike that I feel that I have met her. In my new circumstances, the kind of comparison drawn between her and Marguerite added an unexpected edge to my reading, and my forbearance was swelled with pity, almost love, for the poor girl, the disposal of whose estate I could thank for possessing the volume. Manon died in a desert, it is true, but in the terms of the man who loved her with all the strength of his soul and who, when she was dead, dug a grave for her, watered it with his tears and buried his heart with her; whereas Marguerite, a sinner like Manon, and perhaps as truly converted as she, had died surrounded by fabulous luxury, if I could believe what I had seen, on the bed of her own past, but no less lost in the desert of the heart which is much more arid, much vaster and far more pitiless than the one in which Manon had been interred.

《玛农·莱斯科》确实是一个令人感动的故事,其中的每个细节我都熟悉,可是不论什么时候,只要我的手中有这本书,对它从心底生出的一种感情就吸引着我。我打开书,普雷沃神父塑造的女主角第一百次出现在我眼前。他的女主角显得如此栩栩如生,仿佛我真遇到过她似的。现在,把玛农和玛格丽特做比较又为我的阅读增添了意料之外的吸引力,我对这个可怜姑娘的怜悯,甚至可以说是喜爱,使我对她充满了同情。我得感谢那场拍卖,因此我才得到了这本书。不错,玛农是死在一个沙漠里的,但是一个用自己生命的全部力量来爱她的男人在她死后为她挖了一个坟墓,用自己的眼泪来浇灌它,还在那里把自己的心也一同埋葬了;但是玛格丽特,一个像玛农一样有罪的人,也有可能像玛农一样已经改邪归正了,却是在极尽奢华的环境中死去的,如果我所看到的值得相信的话。她死在过去一直睡觉的床上,内心却同样迷失沙漠中,这个沙漠比埋葬玛农的沙漠更加干燥、更加荒凉、更加无情。

Indeed Marguerite, as I had learned from friends informed of the circumstances of her final moments, had seen no true consolation settle at her bedside during the two months when she lay slowly and painfully dying.

确实,我从几个了解她临终情况的朋友那里听说,在玛格丽特慢慢而痛苦地死去的两个月中没有看到过谁在床边给她真正的安慰。

Then, from Manon and Marguerite, my thoughts turned to those women whom I knew and whom I could see rushing gaily towards the same almost invariable death.

然后,从玛农和玛格丽特,我的思想又转到了那些我认识的女人,我能看到她们都快乐地奔向那个几乎不变的同样的死亡。

Poor creatures! If it is wrong to love them, the least one can do is to pity them. You pity the blind man who has never seen the light of day, the deaf man who has never heard the harmonies of nature, the mute who has never found a voice for his soul, and yet, under the specious pretext of decency, you will not pity that blindness of heart, deafness of soul and dumbness of conscience which turn the brains of poor, desperate women and prevent them, despite themselves, from seeing goodness, hearing the Lord and speaking the pure language of love and religion.

可怜的女人啊!如果说爱她们是一个错误,那么至少也应该同情她们的遭遇。你们同情从没见过阳光的瞎子,同情从没听过大自然和谐交响的聋子,同情从没有找到声音来表达自己思想的哑巴;但是,在虚伪的以礼貌道德为名的借口之下,你们却不会同情心灵上的失明、灵魂上的失聪、良心上的无语,这些残疾扭曲了可怜、绝望的女人们,并让她们无可奈何地看不到善良美德、听不到上帝的召唤、讲不出关于爱情和信仰的纯洁语言。

Hugo wrote Marion Delorme, Musset wrote Bernerette, Alexandre Dumas wrote Fernande. Thinkers and poets throughout the ages have offered the courtesan the oblation of their mercy and, on occasion, some great man has brought them back to the fold through the gift of his love and even his name. If I dwell on this point, it is because among those who will read these pages, many may already be about to throw down a book in which they fear they will see nothing but an apology for vice and prostitution, and doubtless the youth of the present author is a contributing factor in providing grounds for their fears. Let those who are of such a mind be undeceived. Let them read on, if such fears alone gave them pause.

雨果刻画了马里翁·德洛姆,缪塞创作了贝尔纳雷特,大仲马塑造了费尔南德。各个时期的思想家和诗人将他们的仁慈作为献礼给了妓女,有时候,伟人挺身而出,用他的爱情、甚至姓氏来为她们恢复名誉。我之所以强调这个观点,是因为在那些会读到我这本书的读者中间,很多人可能已经准备把这本书抛开了,他们害怕看到的都是为邪恶和卖淫辩护,而且作者是年轻人这一点想必更容易使人产生这种顾虑。让那些有着这样思想的人觉悟吧。如果只是这样的忧虑使他们停止阅读这本书,那还是请他们继续看下去吧。

I am quite simply persuaded of a principle which states that: To any woman whose education has not imparted knowledge of goodness, God almost invariably opens up two paths which will lead her back to it; these paths are suffering and love. They are rocky paths; women who follow them will cut their feet and graze their hands, but will at the same time leave the gaudy rags of vice hanging on the briars which line the road, and shall reach their journey's end in that naked state for which no one need feel shame in the sight of the Lord.

我只信奉一个原则,即对于任何没有受到过“善”的教育的女子,上帝几乎总是为她们打开两条路,这两条路会让她们殊途同归回到他身边:它们是痛苦和爱。这两条路都是曲折艰难的道路。走上它们的女人会划破她们的脚,磨破她们的手,但同时她们也会把罪孽的盛装留在道路边的荆棘上,以全身赤裸的状态到达旅途的终点,没有人会在上帝面前不好意思。

Any who encounter these brave wayfarers are duty bound to comfort them and to say to all the world that they have encountered them, for by proclaiming the news they show the way.

遇到这些勇敢的旅客的人们都有责任安慰她们,并且告诉所有人说他们曾经遇到过这些女人,因为在告诉大家这件事情的时候,他们也就为这些女人们指出了道路。

It is not a simple matter of erecting two signposts at the gateway to life, one bearing the inscription: 'The Way of Goodness' and the other carrying this warning: 'The Way of Evil', and of saying to those who come: 'Choose!' Each of us, like Christ himself, must point to those paths which will redirect from the second way to the first the steps of those who have allowed themselves to be tempted by the approach roads; and above all let not the beginning of these paths be too painful, nor appear too difficult of access.

这不仅仅是在人生道路的入口处立起两块牌子这么简单的事:一块上面刻着“善之路”,另一块写着警告“恶之路”,然后告诉走过来的人说:“选择吧!”我们中的每一个人,都必须像基督自己一样,向那些受到诱惑走上岔路的人指出从第二条路返回第一条路的途径;尤其是不能让这些途径的开头那一段太痛苦,显得太不好走。

Christianity is ever-present, with its wonderful parable of the prodigal son, to urge us to counsels of forbearance and forgiveness. Jesus was full of love for souls of women wounded by the passions of men, and He loved to bind their wounds, drawing from those same wounds the balm which would heal them. Thus he said to Mary Magdalene: 'Your sins, which are many, shall be forgiven, because you loved much'—a sublime pardon which was to awaken a sublime faith.

基督教义无时无刻不在显现,它用浪子回头的动人寓言,督促我们对人要仁慈、要宽容。耶稣对那些被男人热情伤害的女人的灵魂充满了爱,他喜欢在包扎她们伤口的时候,从伤口本身取出能治愈伤口的香膏敷在其上。因此,他对从良的马丽说:“你深重的罪孽将得到宽恕,因为你爱得多。”这种崇高的宽恕行为自然唤起了一种崇高的信仰。

Why should we judge more strictly than Christ? Why, clinging stubbornly to the opinions of the world which waxes hard so that we shall think it strong, why should we too turn away souls that bleed from wounds oozing with the evil of their past, like infected blood from a sick body, as they wait only for a friendly hand to bind them up and restore them to a convalescent heart?

我们做出评价的时候为什么要比基督严厉呢?这个世界为了让我们认为它很强大而故作严厉,而我们也固执地接受它的成见。我们为什么要和它一样抛弃那些伤口里流着血的灵魂呢?这些伤口里面像病人渗出污血一样渗出他们过去的罪恶,它们在等待着一只友好的手来包扎它们的伤口,治愈它们心头的创伤。

It is to my generation that I speak, to those for whom the theories of Monsieur de Voltaire are, happily, defunct, to those who, like myself, can see that humanity has, these fifteen years past, been engaged in one of its boldest leaps forward. The knowledge of good and evil is ours forever; religion is rebuilding, the respect for holy things has been restored to us, and, if the world is not yet wholly good, then at least it is becoming better. The efforts of all intelligent men tend to the same goal, and all those firm in purpose are yoked to the same principle: let us be good, let us be young, let us be true! Evil is but vanity: let us take pride in Goodness and, above all, let us not despair. Let us not scorn the woman who is neither mother nor sister nor daughter nor wife. Let us not limit respect to the family alone nor reduce forbearance to mere egoism. Since there is more rejoicing in heaven for the repentance of one sinner than for a hundred just men who have never sinned, let us try to give heaven cause to rejoice. Heaven may repay us with interest. Let us leave along our way the charity of our forgiveness for those whom earthly desires have brought low, who shall perhaps be saved by hope in heaven and, as wise old dames say when they prescribe remedies of their own making, if it does no good then at least it can do no harm.

我这是在向我同时代的人呼吁,向那些对他们来说伏尔泰的理论已经不起作用的人们呼吁,向那些像我一样知道近十五年来人道主义向前跨了有史以来最大一步的人呼吁。我们已经永远地拥有了善与恶的知识,宗教信仰正得到重建,我们又重新开始尊敬神圣的事物,如果还不能说这个世界是十全十美的,至少它正变得越来越好。所有聪明人努力的结果都是朝向同一个目标,所有坚定的意志都服从于同一个原则:让我们变善良、变年轻、变真实!邪恶只不过是一种空虚的东西。让我们为善良的行为感到骄傲,除此之外更重要的是,不要丧失希望。不要鄙视那些既不是母亲、姐妹,又不是女儿、妻子的女人。不要将尊敬仅限于对亲人,也不要将宽容仅限于对自己。既然天堂因一个罪人的悔悟而体验到的喜悦,要多于一百个从来没有犯过罪的正直的人所能带来的喜悦,那么我们就努力地给上帝高兴的理由吧。上天会加倍赐福于我们。让我们在前进的道路上给那些被世俗的欲望所打击的人们一些宽恕吧!他们也许可以被天上的希望所拯救,就像老妇人们在开出自制的处方时说的那样,即使没有什么好处,至少也不会有害于人。

In truth, it must seem very forward of me to seek to derive such great results from the slender subject which I treat; but I am of those who believe that the whole is in the part. The child is small, and yet he is father to the man; the brain is cramped, and yet it is the seat of thought; the eye is but a point, yet it encompasses leagues of space.

实际上,我看起来一定太极端、太鲁莽了,试图从细小的论题里面得出如此伟大的结论来,但是我是相信一切都存在于渺小之中的众人之一。孩子虽然幼小,但足以看出他成年后的样子;大脑虽然狭窄,但它是无限思想的产生之处;眼睛只有一点儿大,但它可以看见广阔的天地。 fptFwQS5HKz8X4e0EZzA2WojqOHStpfFrSU1rUbbh/JdBCadzJxjN8PVPKGk0zgh

点击中间区域
呼出菜单
上一章
目录
下一章
×