Two days later, the sale was completely over. It had realized one hundred and fifty thousand francs.

两天以后，拍卖全部结束，一共售得十五万法郎。

The creditors had divided two thirds among themselves and the family—a sister and a young nephew—had inherited the rest.

债主们一起分掉了其中的三分之二，玛格丽特的家属——一个姐姐和一个年幼的外甥，继承了剩下的部分。

The sister's eyes had opened wide when the agent had written telling her that she had come into fifty thousand francs.

当公证人写信告诉她说她已经继承了五万法郎的遗产时，这个姐姐的眼睛都瞪大了。

It was six or seven years since this young woman had set eyes on her sister who had disappeared one day without anyone ever discovering, either from her or through other people, anything whatsoever about her life from the time of her disappearance.

这个年轻姑娘已经有六七年没有见过她失踪的妹妹了。有一天她的妹妹突然失踪了，从那以后，再也没有人从她或者其他人那里得到过任何关于她的消息。

So she had now arrived post-haste in Paris, and great was the astonishment of those who had known Marguerite when they saw that her sole heir was a hearty, good-looking country girl who, up to that moment, had never set foot outside her village.

所以这个姐姐急忙赶到了巴黎。那些认识玛格丽特的人看到她时都非常吃惊，这个唯一的继承人居然是一个热情、漂亮的乡下姑娘，她甚至还从来没有离开过自己居住的小村庄。

Her fortune had been made at a stroke, without her having the least idea of the source from which it had so unexpectedly materialized.

她一下子就发了大财，却完全不知道它的来源，它就那么出人意料地出现了。

She returned, I have since been told, to her part of the country, bearing away from her sister's death a deep sadness which was, however, eased by an investment at four and a half per cent which she had just made.

后来有人告诉我，她回到自己村子的时候，背负着对妹妹过世深深的悲伤，然而她把那笔继承的钱以四厘五的利率存起来，这悲伤也就愈合了。

All these happenings, which had gone the rounds of Paris, the mother town of scandal, were beginning to be forgotten, and I myself was forgetting quite what my part in events had been, when something occurred which led to my becoming acquainted with the whole of Marguerite's life, and put in my way particulars so affecting that I was seized with an urge to write this story and now do so.

所发生的这一切，在巴黎这个谣言丑闻的发源地里引来了人们纷纷的议论，可是，随着时间流走也开始慢慢被人遗忘了。就在连我都几乎快忘记自己在这些事情里参与了什么的时侯，我遇上一些事，并知道了玛格丽特一生的故事和一些非常感人的详细情节，这使我产生了把这个故事写下来的念头，现在我就来写这个故事。

The apartment, empty now of the furniture which had all been auctioned off, had been to let for three of four days when one morning there was a ring at my door.

那所空房子，里面的家具全部被拍卖了，又被重新租出去了，在那以后三四天的一个早上，有人拉响了我家的门铃。

My servant, or rather the porter who acted as my servant, went to see who it was and brought me a visiting card, saying that the person who had handed it to him wished to speak to me.

我的仆人，确切地说是兼职做我仆人的看门人，去看了看是谁，替我拿回来了一张名片，说那个客人把这个交给他，希望能和我聊聊。

I glanced at the card and there I saw these two words: Armand Duval.

我的目光扫过那张名片，看到上面写着：阿尔芒·迪瓦尔。

I tried to recall where I had seen the name, and then I remembered the fly-leaf of the copy of Manon Lescaut.

我尝试回忆自己曾经在什么地方看见过这个名字，然后我想起了《玛农·莱斯科》这本书的扉页。

What could the person who had given the book to Marguerite want with me? I said that the gentleman who was waiting should be shown in at once.

送这本书给玛格丽特的人怎么会要见我呢？我吩咐立刻请等在那里的先生进来。

The next moment I saw a young man with fair hair, tall, pale, wearing travelling clothes which looked as though they had not been off his back for several days and which, on his arrival in Paris, he had not even taken the trouble to brush down, for he was covered in dust.

下一刻我就看到了一个金黄头发的年轻人，他身材很高，脸色苍白，穿着一身旅行服装，衣服看起来已经好几天没有脱下来过了，甚至是到了巴黎也没有好好洗刷一下，因为他身上满是尘土。

Monsieur Duval, deeply agitated, made no attempt to hide his feelings, and it was with tears in his eyes and a trembling in his voice that he said: Please excuse my visit and these clothes; not simply because young men do not stand much on ceremony with each other, but because I wanted to see you so badly today that I have not even taken time to stop off at the hotel where I set my luggage, and have rushed straight here, dreading even so, early as it is, that I should miss you.' I begged Monsieur Duval to sit down by the fire, which he did, taking from his pocket a handkerchief with which he momentarily hid his face.

迪瓦尔先生非常激动，他也毫不掩饰自己的情绪，眼眶里含着眼泪，声音颤抖地说：“请原谅我的冒昧来访，还穿着这样的衣服，这不是因为年轻人彼此间不讲究礼节，而是因为我今天就急切地想见到您，所以，在把行李送到旅馆之后，我甚至都没有时间停一下就直接赶到您这儿来了。虽然现在还很早，但我还是害怕会遇不到您。”我请迪瓦尔先生在炉火旁边坐下，他坐下了，从口袋里面掏出一块手帕，用它把脸捂住了一会儿。

You must be wondering,' he resumed with a melancholy sigh, 'what a stranger can want with you at such an hour, dressed in such clothes and weeping like this. I have come, quite simply, to ask you a great favour.'

“您一定很奇怪，”他唉声叹气地接着说，“为什么一个陌生人在这时候会想要见您，穿着这样的衣服，还哭成这样。”“我来这儿的目的很简单，是请您帮我一个大忙。”

'Say on.I am at your service.'

“您请讲。我愿意为您效劳。”

'Were you present at the Marguerite Gautier auction?'

“您参加了在玛格丽特·戈蒂埃家里举行的拍卖会吗？”

As he said this, the emotion which the young man had held in check was for an instant stronger than he, and he was obliged to put his hands to his eyes.

说到玛格丽特的名字时，这个年轻人暂时克制住的情绪一瞬间又变得激动起来，他不得不用双手捂住眼睛。

I must appear very ridiculous to you,' he added, 'forgive me this too, and please believe that I shall never forget the patience with which you are good enough to listen.'

“我在您看起来一定显得很可笑，”他又说，“请再一次原谅我的失礼，请相信我永远也不会忘记您耐心听我讲话的这种好意。”

Well,' I replied, 'if a service which it seems I can do for you will in some small way ease the pain that you feel, tell me at once in what way I can help, and you will find in me a man happy to oblige.'

“那么，”我回答他说，“如果我为您做的事情可以稍微减轻一些您遭受的痛苦，现在就告诉我，我能帮助您做什么吧，您会知道我是一个非常乐意为您效劳的人。”

Monsieur Duval's grief was affecting and, even had I felt differently, I should still have wished to be agreeable to him.

迪瓦尔先生的痛苦实在令人同情，就算我持异议，我也希望同意他。

He then said:

于是他对我说：

'Did you buy anything at Marguerite's sale?'

“您在玛格丽特遗产的拍卖会上买了什么东西吗？”

'Yes. A book.'

“是的，我买了一本书。”

'Manon Lescaut?'

“是《玛农·莱斯科》吗？”

'That's right.'

“正是。”

'Do you still have it?'

“这本书还在您这儿吗？”

'It's in my bedroom.'

“就在我的卧室里。”

At this, Armand Duval looked as though a great weight had been taken from his shoulders, and he thanked me as though I had already begun to render him a service simply by holding on to the volume.

听到这个消息时，阿尔芒·迪瓦尔看起来就像肩上卸下了很重的负担一样，他向我表示感谢，好像我拥有这本书就已经是在帮他的忙了。

I got up, went to fetch the book from my bedroom and handed it to him.

于是我站起来，去卧室把那本书取来交给了他。

This is it,' said he, glancing at the dedication on the first page and riffling through the rest, 'this is it.'

“就是这本，”他说，很快地看了看扉页上的题词就飞快地翻动着书页，“就是这本书。”

And two large tears fell on to the open pages.

两颗大大的泪珠落在了翻开的书页上。

'May I ask,' he said, raising his eyes to me and making no effort now to hide the fact that he had wept and was near to tears once more, 'if you are greatly attached to this book?'

“那么，先生，”他抬起头来看着我说，不再试图掩饰他刚刚哭过的事实，而且又快要哭起来了，“这本书对您很重要吗？”

'Why do you ask?'

“您为什么要这样问呢？”

'Because I have come to ask you to surrender it to me.'

“因为我是来请您把它让给我的。”

'Forgive my curiosity,' I said next, 'but it was you, then, who gave it to Marguerite Gautier?'

“请原谅我的好奇，”我接着他的话往下说，“把这本书送给玛格丽特·戈蒂埃的人就是您吗？”

'It was I.'

“是我。”

'The book is yours. Take it. I am happy to be able to restore it to you.'

“那这本书就是您的啦。您尽管拿去好了。我很高兴能把它还给你。”

'But,' continued Monsieur Duval with embarrassment, 'the least I can do is to give you what you paid for it.'

“但是，”迪瓦尔先生不好意思地说，“至少让我把您付掉的书款还给您。”

'Please take it as a gift. The price fetched by a single volume in a sale like that is a trifle, and I can't even remember how much I gave for it.'

“就请把它当作我送您的一个礼物吧。区区一本书的价钱在那样的一次拍卖中是一个很小的数目，再说连我自己也不记得我为这本书花了多少钱。”

'You gave a hundred francs for it.'

“您花了一百法郎买下它的。”

'You are quite right,' said I, embarrassed in my turn, 'how did you know?'

“您说的很对，”我说，这次轮到我觉得尴尬了，“您是怎么知道的呢？”

Quite simple. I hoped to reach Paris in time for Marguerite's sale, but got back only this morning. I was absolutely determined to have something that had been hers, and I went directly to the auctioneer's to ask if I might inspect the list of items sold and of the buyers' names. I saw that this volume had been bought by you, and I resolved to beg you to let me have it, though the price you paid for it did make me fear that you yourself associated some memory with possession of the book.'

“这很简单。我原本希望能及时到达巴黎，赶上玛格丽特遗产的拍卖会，但是今天早上我才回来。我是一定要拿到一些生前伴随她的东西的，于是我直接去了拍卖商那儿，问他我是否能看一看卖出物品的清单和那些买家的名字。我看到这本书是被您买走了，所以我决定请您把它让给我，不过您为这本书出的价钱让我很担心，担心您买这本书是不是因为它和您的某些记忆有关？”

In speaking thus, Armand clearly seemed to be afraid that I had known Marguerite in the way that he had known her.

说这些话的时候，阿尔芒很明显是在担心我认识玛格丽特的方式和他一样。

I hastened to reassure him.

我赶紧让他放心。

I knew Mademoiselle Gautier by sight only ,' I said. Her death made the sort of impression on me that the death of any pretty woman he has had pleasure in meeting makes on any young man. I wished to buy something at her sale, and took it into my head to bid for this volume, I don't know why, for the satisfaction of annoying a man who was bent on getting it and seemed determined to prevent it going to me. I repeat, the book is yours, and I beg you once more to accept it. This way it won't come to you as it came to me, from an auctioneer, and it will be between us the pledge of a more durable acquaintance and closer bonds.'

“我只不过是见过玛格丽特罢了。”我说道。“她的去世留给我的印象，就和任何漂亮女人的死会留给有幸见过她的年轻男人的印象一样。我期望在玛格丽特遗产的拍卖会上买点儿什么，最后决定参与那本书的竞拍，其实我也不知道这是为什么。可能是存心为了惹恼一个一心要得到它，决不让它归我所有的先生后获得的满足感吧。因此，我再重复一次，这本书现在是您的了，并且我再一次请您接受它。不要像我从拍卖商手里买到它那样从我手里买回去，它还可以作为我们之间更加长久的友谊和紧密关系的见证。”

'Very well,' said Armand, extending his hand and grasping mine, 'I accept and shall be grateful to you for the rest of my life.'

“这实在是太好了，”阿尔芒伸出手紧紧抓住我的手说，“我接受这本书，我会感激您一辈子的。”

I very much wanted to question Armand about Marguerite, for the dedication in the book, the young man's journey, his desire to possess the volume, all excited my curiosity; but I feared that by questioning my visitor, I should appear to have refused his money simply to have the right to pry into his business.

我非常想问问阿尔芒关于玛格丽特的事情，因为这本书上的题词，这位年轻人的长途跋涉，他得到这本书的强烈愿望，都激起了我的好奇心；但是，我又害怕向我的客人提出这样的问题，会显得我是为了有权窥探他的隐私而拒绝接受他的钱。

It was as though he sensed my wishes, for he said:

不过，看起来他猜出了我的心思，因为他对我说：

'Have you read the book?'

“您看过这本书吗？”

'Every word.'

“每一个字都看过了。”

'What did you make of the two lines I wrote?'

“您对我写的两行题词怎么想呢？”

'I saw straightaway that, in your eyes, the poor girl to whom you had given the book did not belong in the usual category, for I could not bring myself to see the lines simply as a conventional compliment.'

“我能很直接地看出，在您眼里，接受您送书的这位可怜的女孩是不同寻常的，因为我不能让自己仅仅把这两行字看作是一般的恭维话。”

'And you were right. That girl was an angel. Here,' he said, 'read this letter.'

“您是对的，先生。那个女孩是一个天使。这儿，”他对我说，“看看这封信。”

And he handed me a sheet of paper which, by the look of it, had been read many times over.

然后他递给我一页纸，一看就知道已经被读过很多遍了。

I opened it. This is what it said: My dear Armand, I have received your letter. You are still good, and I thank God for it. Yes, my dear, I am ill, and mine is the sort of illness which spares no one; but the concern which you are generous enough still to show for me greatly eases my sufferings. I expect I shall doubtless not live long enough to have the happiness of grasping the hand which wrote the kindly letter I have just received; its words would cure me, it anything could. I shall not see you, for I am very close to death, and hundreds of leagues separate you from me. My poor friend!the Marguerite you knew is sadly altered, and it is perhaps better that you do not see her again than see her as she is. You ask if I forgive you; oh! with all my heart, my dear, for the hurt you sought to do me was but a token of the love you bore me. I have kept my bed now for a month, and so precious to me is your good opinion, that each day I write a little more of a journal of my life from the moment we parted until the moment when I shall be no longer able to hold my pen.

我打开了那张纸。上面是这样写的：“我亲爱的阿尔芒，我已经收到了你的来信。你还是和以前一样好，为此我感谢上帝。是的，亲爱的，我生病了，而且我的病是不治之症，但是你对我的关怀依然那样慷慨，这大大地减轻了我的痛苦。我刚刚收到了您写的那封感人的信件。不过我觉得自己肯定活不长了，没有福气再握一握写信人的手了。如果有什么东西可以医好我的病，那就是这封信里的话了。我不会再见到你了，我已经很接近死亡了，而你与我之间又远隔千里。我可怜的朋友！你认识的玛格丽特已经发生了可悲的变化，让你看见她现在的这幅模样，还不如不要再见到她。你问我是否能原谅你，哦！我从心底原谅你，亲爱的，因为你对我造成的伤害恰恰是你对我爱的证明。我已经卧床一个月了，你的好意对我太珍贵了，我每天都在写日记，从我们分离的那一刻开始，直到我不能再握笔为止。

If the interest you take in me is real, Armand, then on your return, go and see Julie Duprat. She will place this journal in your keeping. In it you will find the reasons and the excuse for what has passed between us. Julie is very good to me. We often talk about you. She was here when your letter came, and we wept together as we read it.

如果你对我的关心是真的，阿尔芒，那等你回来的时候，请去见朱莉·迪普拉。她会把那些日记交给你。在这里面你会找到我们之间发生这些事情的原因以及我对此的解释。朱莉对我非常好。我们在一起时经常谈到你。你的信寄来时她也在那儿，我们在看信的时候都哭了。

Should I not hear from you, she has been entrusted with seeing that you get these papers on your return to France. Do not be grateful to me. Returning each day to the only happy moments of my life does me enormous good and if, as you read, you find the past exonerated in my words, I for my part find in them a neverending solace.

如果我收不到你的回信，朱莉就负责在你回到法国的时候把这些日记交给你。不要感谢我写了这些日记。这些日记让我每天都重温我一生中仅有的开心时刻，这对我很有好处。如果你读这些东西的时候认为过去的事情可以原谅的话，那么我也可以从中得到永久的安慰了。

I would like to leave you something by which you would always remember me, but everything I own has been seized, and nothing belongs to me.

我希望留给你一些让你永远记得我的东西，但是我拥有的所有东西都被查封了，没有一样是属于我的了。

Do you understand, my dear? I am going to die, and from my bedroom I can hear the footsteps of the watchman my creditors have placed in the drawingroom to see that nothing is removed and to ensure that if I do not die, I shall be left with nothing. We must hope that they will wait for the end before they sell me up.

你明白吗，我亲爱的？我要死了，从我的卧室可以听见客厅里我的债主们派来的看守人的脚步声，以确保没有东西被搬走，确保即使我不死，我也不会拥有任何东西了。希望他们一定要等到我死了之后再拍卖东西！

Oh! How pitiless men are! Or rather, for I am wrong, it is God who is just and unbending.

哦！人是多么残忍无情啊！或者，是我错了，上帝才是铁面无私的。

And so, my love, you will have to come to my sale and buy something, for if I were to put aside the smallest item for you and they heard of it, they would be quite capable of prosecuting you for misappropriating distrained goods.

所以，我的爱人，你要来参加我的拍卖会，然后买些东西，因为如果我为你留下哪怕是最小的一件东西，要是被他们知道了，他们就可能会控告你侵吞被查封的财产。

How sad the life I now leave!

我现在要结束的生活是多么凄凉啊！

How good God would be if He granted that I should see you again before I die! Since the chances are remote, adieu, my dear; forgive me if I do not write more, for those who say they will cure me bleed me to exhaustion, and my hand refuses to write another line.

如果上帝允许我能在死之前再见你一面，那么他是多么的仁慈啊！看来这样的可能性很小，永别了，亲爱的。原谅我不能再写下去了，因为那些说要把我的病治好的人给我放血，把我搞得筋疲力尽，我的手不听使唤，不能再多写一行字了。

Marguerite Gautier.'

玛格丽特·戈蒂埃。”

And indeed, the last few words were scarcely legible.

的确，最后几个字几乎辨认不出。

I gave the letter back to Armand who had doubtless read it over in his thoughts while I had been reading it on the paper, for as he took it he said:

我把信还给了阿尔芒，他一定在我看信的同时在心里面又默念了一遍，因为他一边接过信一边说：

Who would ever believe that a kept woman wrote that!' And deeply affected by his memories, he stared for some time at the writing of the letter before finally putting it to his lips.

“谁会相信一个妓女写得出这样的东西！”他被自己的回忆深深感染，对着信上的字迹凝视了好一会儿，最后把它拿到嘴唇上吻着。

And when I think,' he went on, 'that she died before I saw her again, and that I shall see her no more; when I think that she did for me what no sister could ever have done—I cannot forgive myself for having let her die like that.

“当我想到，”他继续说着，“她在我见到她之前走了，我再也看不到她，又想到她待我比亲姐妹还好，我怎么也不能原谅自己让她就这样死去。

Dead! Dead! Thinking of me, writing and saying my name, poor dear Marguerite!'

她死了！她死了！她临死前也还在想着我，给我写信，喊着我的名字，可怜的、亲爱的玛格丽特啊！”

And Armand, giving free expression to his thoughts and tears, held out his hand to me and continued:

阿尔芒任凭自己的思绪翻腾、热泪横流，他向我伸出手，然后继续说着：

People would think me very childish if they saw me grieving like this for the death of such a woman; but people could not know what I made that woman suffer, how cruel I was, how good and uncomplaining she was. I believed that it was for me to forgive her, and today I find myself unworthy of the pardon she bestows on me. Oh! I would gladly give ten years of my life to be able to spend one hour weeping at her feet.'

“如果人们看到我为了这样一个女人的死如此悲痛，他们一定会认为我十分幼稚，但是，他们不能明白我做过什么让这个女人痛苦万分，我是多么残忍啊，而她又是多么善良和毫无怨言啊。我原来相信是我在原谅她，但是，今天我才发现我根本不配接受她赐给我的宽恕。哦！我愿意折寿十年，只要能在她的脚边哭上一个小时。”

It is always difficult to comfort a grief that one does not share, and yet so keenly did I feel for this young man who confided his sorrows with such frankness, that I felt that a few words of mine would not be unwelcome to him, and I said:

要安慰一个因为自己不能理解的原因而痛苦的人总是很难，然而，我对这个年轻人却感到十分的同情，他这么坦率地向我倾诉自己的悲伤，让我感觉我说几句话应该会对他有帮助，于是我对他说：

'Have you no relatives, no friends? Take hope. Go and see them for they will comfort you, whereas I can only pity you.'

“您有亲戚、朋友吗？想开一点儿。去看看他们，因为他们会安慰您，而我只能同情您。”

'You are right,' he said, rising to his feet and striding around my bedroom, 'I am boring you. Forgive me, I was forgetting that my grief must mean little to you, and that I trespass upon your patience with a matter which neither can nor should concern you in the slightest.'

“您是对的，”他站起来说，然后绕着我的卧室大步走着，“我让您厌烦了。请原谅我，我忘记了我的悲伤对您来说并不意味着什么，忘了我在拿一件不能也不该把您牵扯进来的事来占用您的耐心。”

'No, you misunderstand me. I am entirely at your disposal; only I regret I am unable to calm your sorrow. If the company of myself and my friends can beguile your thoughts, if you need me in any way, I would like you to know how very happy I would be to help.'

“不，您误会我的意思了。我完全听您的安排，只是我很遗憾不能减轻您的痛苦。如果我，或者我的朋友的陪伴能够减轻您的苦恼，不管您在哪一方面用得到我，我都很希望您知道我是多么高兴能帮您的忙。”

'Forgive me, forgive me,' he said, 'grief magnifies the feelings. Allow me to stay a few minutes more, long enough to dry my eyes so that idlers in the street shall not stare to see a grown man weeping as though he were a freak. You've made me very happy by giving me this book; I'll never know how to repay the debt I owe you.'

“请原谅我，请原谅我，”他说，“痛苦让情绪夸张，让人神经过分敏感。请容许我再呆一会儿，好让我擦干我的眼泪，免得街上闲逛的人盯着我看，看一个大男人还像怪人一样哭鼻子。您把书送给了我，这让我非常开心，我永远也无法报答您的好意。”

'By granting me a little of your friendship,' I told Armand, 'and by telling me the cause of your sorrow. There is consolation in speaking of one's suffering.'

“那么就给我一些您的友谊吧，”我对阿尔芒说，“还有告诉我您悲伤的起因。把心里的痛苦讲出来会让人觉得轻松一些。”

You are right. But today my need for tears is too great, and what I said would make no sense. Some day I shall acquaint you with the story, and you shall judge whether I am right to mourn the poor girl. And now,' he added, rubbing his eyes one last time and looking at himself in mirror, 'tell me that you do not think me too foolish, and say you give me leave to call on you again.'

“您说的对。但是今天我太需要哭泣了，我讲的话都是毫无意义的。改天我会把这件事讲给您听，您就可以判断我为这个可怜的姑娘感到伤心是否正确。而现在，”他最后一次揉了揉自己的眼睛，照着镜子又对我说，“希望您不要认为我很傻，并且允许我再来拜访您。”

The look in the eyes of this young man was good and gentle; I was almost tempted to embrace him.

这个年轻人的眼光善良而温柔，让我几乎想要去拥抱他。

For his part, his eyes began again to cloud with tears; he saw that I noticed them and he turned his glance away from me.

而他呢，他的眼睛又一次被泪水模糊，他看到我发现了眼泪，就把目光从我身上移开了。

'Come now,' I told him, 'take heart.'

“好吧，”我告诉他，“振作起来。”

'Goodbye,' he said.

“再见。”他说。

And, making an extraordinary effort not to weep, he fled rather than left my apartment.

然后，他拼命忍住哭泣，从我家里逃了出去，因为很难说他是走出去的。

I lifted the curtain at my window and saw him get into the cab which was waiting at the door; but he was hardly inside when he burst into tears and buried his face in his handkerchief.

我升起窗帘，看见他走进了等在门口的轻便双轮马车，他刚进车厢就将脸埋进手帕里面哭了起来。 lBw7kU8+icR8SgpfEGE4H1idO1kZU6/XIPjmRdNj+UovMiq8vegcwNwum/LbjXGs