I met Monsieur Auguste Dupin while I was living in Paris during the spring and summer of 1839. This young Frenchman was from an old and famous family, but the family was now very poor and Dupin only had a little money to live on. He ate and drank very little, bought no clothes, and lived very quietly. Books were the love of his life, and in Paris it is easy to get books.
我是1839年的春天和夏天住在巴黎時認識奧古斯特·杜邦先生的。這個法國年輕人出身于一個古老的名門望族,可是如今家道已經(jīng)衰落,杜邦只能依靠著一點點錢勉強維持生計。他吃的喝的都很少,也不買衣服,過著非常平靜的生活。書籍是他的生活所愛,而且在巴黎是很容易得到書的。
Our first meeting was in a small bookshop in the Rue Montmartre. We were looking for the same old book, and that is how our conversation began. We met again and again, and were soon very friendly.
我們第一次相遇是在蒙馬特爾大街的一家小書店里。我們都在找同一本舊書,于是便開始攀談起來。后來我們又見過很多次面,很快成為了朋友。
He knew much more about books than I did. Conversation with a man like him was very helpful for my studies, and after a time we agreed to find a house and live there together for the time of my stay in Paris.
他讀過的書要比我讀過的多得多。和這樣的人交談對我的學習大有裨益,后來我們決定找一所房子,在我待在巴黎的這段時間里合住在一起。
We found a house in a quiet street in the Faubourg St. Germain. It was a very old house, and was neither beautiful nor comfortable. But it was right for us, and our strange way of life.
我們在圣日爾曼區(qū)一條僻靜的街道上找到了一所房子,非常古老,既不漂亮也不舒適,但是卻很適合我們,適合我們獨特的生活方式。
We saw no visitors, had no friends, and lived only for the night. When morning came, we closed all the shutters on our windows, and in this half-light we spent the day reading, writing, or talking, until the true darkness came. Then we went out into the streets, and walked for hours among the wild lights and shadows of the crowded city.
我們不見客人,也沒有什么朋友,只為夜晚而活著。白天我們關(guān)上所有窗戶上的窗板,就在這半明半暗的屋子里讀書、寫作,或者聊天,直到真正的黑暗來臨。然后我們就會到街上去,在擁擠的城市、紛亂的燈光和陰影中散步幾個小時。
During these night walks I learnt how clever my friend was. He could think so clearly and understood so much! He could read other people's thoughts as easily as writing on a wall. He often said, with a laugh, that people had windows in their faces and that he could see through them. Sometimes he read my thoughts in ways that surprised me very much.
就是在夜晚散步的這些時間里,我發(fā)現(xiàn)了我的朋友是多么聰明。他的思路是如此清晰,理解是如此深刻!他能輕而易舉地讀懂別人的心思,就像在墻上寫字一樣容易。他經(jīng)常笑著說人們臉上都有窗戶,他可以透過這些窗戶看見人們的內(nèi)心世界。有時候他洞穿我的心思的方法會讓我大吃一驚。
One night we were walking down a long street near the Jardin du Luxembourg. We were both thinking, and for fifteen minutes we did not say a word. Then, suddenly, Dupin said:
一天晚上我們正沿著盧森堡公園附近一條長長的街道散步。我們各自想著心事,15分鐘內(nèi)誰也沒有言語。突然,杜邦說道:
'He cannot write tragedy, that's true. He's much better at writing his funny pieces for the newspaper.'
“的確,他寫不了悲劇。他更擅長給報紙寫那些幽默搞笑的東西。”
'Oh yes, I agree with that. He—' Then I stopped, astonished. 'Dupin,' I said, 'I do not understand. How could you possibly know that I was thinking about—?' Again, I stopped. Did Dupin really know who I was thinking about?
“哦,對,我同意。他——”我沒說下去,驚訝萬分。“杜邦,”我說,“我不明白。你怎么能知道我在想什么——?”我又一次打住了。杜邦真的知道我在想誰嗎?
'About Chantilly,' Dupin said. 'You were saying to yourself that he was a good writer, but he cannot write tragedy.'
“在想尚蒂伊,”杜邦說,“你在心里說他是個好作家,但是他寫不了悲劇。”
'Yes, that's true,' I said. 'I was thinking that. But tell me, please! How did you know?'
“對,是的,”我說,“我的確是在想這些。但是請告訴我!你是如何知道的?”
This Chantilly wrote for one of the Paris newspapers. He wrote about Paris and Parisians in a way that was both clever and very funny. But then he wrote a book, a long story about the ancient Greeks, and Phaedra, the wife of King Theseus. It was, everybody in Paris agreed, a very bad book.
這個尚蒂伊為巴黎的一份報紙撰寫文章。他以一種睿智而又極其幽默的筆觸描寫巴黎和巴黎人。但后來他寫了一本書,一個關(guān)于古希臘人和國王鐵修斯的妻子費德拉的長篇故事。巴黎人都覺得這本書實在是糟糕至極。
'It was the apple-seller,' replied my friend. 'The apple-seller began the thoughts that took you to Chantilly and his book.'
“是因為那個賣蘋果的商販,”我的朋友回答道,“是賣蘋果的商販讓你逐步想到了尚蒂伊和他的書。”
'The apple-seller!' I said, astonished. 'But I don't know any apple-sellers.'
“賣蘋果的商販!”我吃驚地說,“可是賣蘋果的商販我一個都不認識啊。”
My friend was happy to explain. 'Some minutes ago we passed an apple-seller, who was carrying a big box of apples on his head, taking them to the fruit market. He didn't see you, and you had to jump out of his way. There were holes in the street, and you turned your foot in one of these holes and nearly fell.'
我的朋友很樂意解釋。“幾分鐘前我們和一個賣蘋果的商販擦身而過,他頭上頂著一大箱蘋果要運往果市。他沒看見你,所以你只得跳開給他讓路。街道上坑坑洼洼,你的腳正好踩在了一個坑里,險些跌倒。”
I remembered this now, but how did the apple-seller take us to Chantilly?
現(xiàn)在我想起來了,可是這個賣蘋果的商販又怎么會讓我們想到尚蒂伊呢?
'You looked around.' my friend went on, 'and saw all the other holes and broken stones in the street, and then you looked up, a little angrily, to see the name of the street. You were thinking, I am sure, that it was a dangerous street to walk down in the dark, when you could not easily see the holes.
“你四處看了看,”我的朋友接著說,“看見了其他坑洼和街上的碎石,然后有些生氣地抬起頭,去看街道的名字。”你肯定在想,摸黑走這條街實在不安全,因為不容易看清地上的坑。
'Then we turned a corner into the Rue Racine. Here, the stones were new and unbroken, and you looked up, pleased, to find the name of this street. This name began a new thought. You smiled a little and shook your head. The famous Racine, who wrote a play about Phaedra in 1677, was a better writer than Chantilly will ever be. And you remembered that when Chantilly's book first came out, the bookshops called Chantilly "the new Racine". Everybody in Paris laughed at poor Chantilly because of that. I was sure that you were thinking of that when you smiled. And when you shook your head, I knew you were thinking of poor Chantilly's book.'
“然后我們拐了一個彎到了拉辛大街。這兒的石路是剛鋪的,沒有什么坑洼,你欣慰地抬起頭,去看這條街道的名字。這個名字讓你想到了別的什么。你笑了一下,搖了搖頭。德高望重的拉辛在1677年也曾寫過一部關(guān)于費德拉的戲劇,他的成就是尚蒂伊永遠難以企及的。你想到了在尚蒂伊的書首次面世的時候,書店都把他稱為‘小拉辛’。所有的巴黎人都為此譏笑可憐的尚蒂伊。你剛才肯定是想到了這個才笑了起來。而當你搖頭的時候,我就知道你一定是想起了可憐的尚蒂伊的書。”