雙語·《刀鋒》 第四章 一

CHAPTER FOUR 1
第四章 一

Elliott, having installed the Maturins in his spacious apartment on the Left Bank, returned to the Riviera at the end of the year. He had planned his house to suit his own convenience and there was no room in it for a family of four, so that, even if he had wanted to, he could not have had them to stay with him there.I do not think he regretted it.He was well aware that as a man by himself he was a more desirable asset than if he must be accompanied by a niece and a nephew, and he could hardlv expect to arrange his own distinguished little parties（a matter over which he took immense trouble）if he had to count invariably on the presence of two house guests.
艾略特把馬圖林一家安頓在左岸自己的那套寬敞的公寓里，于歲尾返回了里維埃拉。里維埃拉的這套房子在設(shè)計(jì)上適合于他一人居住，無法再容納一個(gè)四口之家，所以即便他想請那一家子來跟自己住在一起，也是辦不到的。對此，他恐怕也并不覺得遺憾。他心里很清楚：凡是請客的，都愿意請一個(gè)獨(dú)居的人，而不愿請由外甥女和外甥女婿相陪的人；至于他自己舉辦宴會（他在這方面是很費(fèi)心機(jī)的），家里老有兩個(gè)房客，也別指望能把宴會辦得多么出色。

“It's much better for them to settle down in Paris and accustom themselves to civilized life. Besides, the two girls are old enough to go to school and I've found one not far from my apartment which I'm assured is very select.”
“他們還是住在巴黎要好得多，適應(yīng)適應(yīng)文明社會的生活。再說，那兩個(gè)小姑娘也到了上學(xué)的年齡，我找到一所學(xué)校，離公寓不遠(yuǎn)。那是個(gè)百里挑一的好學(xué)校?！?/p>

In consequence of this I did not see Isabel till the spring when, because I had some work to do that made it desirable for me to spend some weeks there, I went to Paris and took a couple of rooms in a hotel just out of the Place Vend?me.It was a hotel I frequented, not only for its convenient situation, but because it had an air.It was a big old house built around a courtyard and it had been an inn for close upon two hundred years.The bathrooms were far from luxurious and the plumbing far from satisfactory；the bedrooms with their iron beds, painted white, their old-fashioned white counterpanes, and their huge armoires à glace had a poverty-stricken look；but the parlours were furnished with fine old furniture.The sofa, the armchairs, dated from the gaudy reign of Napoleon the Third, and, though I could not say they were comfortable, they had a florid charm.In that room I lived in the past of the French novelists.When I looked at the Empire clock under its glass case I thought that a pretty woman in ringlets and a flounced dress might have watched the minute hand move as she waited for a visit from Rastignac, the well-born adventurer whose career in novel after novel Balzac followed from his humble beginnings to his ultimate grandeur.Dr.Bianchon, the physician who was so real to Balzac that when he lay dying he said：“Only Bianchon can save me，”might well have come into that room to feel the pulse and look at the tongue of a noble dowager from the provinces who had come to Paris to see an attorney about a lawsuit and had called in a doctor for a passing ailment.At that bureau a lovesick woman in a crinoline, her hair parted in the middle, may have written a passionate letter to her faithless lover, or a peppery old gentleman in a green frock coat and a stock indited an angry epistle to his extravagant son.
由于這個(gè)緣故，直到第二年春天我才見到了伊莎貝爾。當(dāng)時(shí)，有些事情需要辦理，得在巴黎待上幾個(gè)星期，我便在旺多姆廣場近旁的一家旅館租了兩個(gè)房間。我是這家旅館的?？?，不僅僅是為了圖方便，也是因?yàn)檫@兒彌漫著一種情調(diào)。這是一所高門大戶、年代悠久的房宅，圍成一圈，中心有個(gè)院落，作為旅館接客已有近兩百年的歷史了。旅館里的浴室遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)稱不上奢華，抽水馬桶遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不能叫人滿意；寢室里放著鐵架子床，漆成白色，上面鋪著老式的白床罩，還有一面大衣櫥，上邊鑲著鏡子，所有的一切都透出一股寒酸氣；不過，客廳里的擺設(shè)卻精致漂亮、古色古香。長沙發(fā)和扶手椅是拿破侖三世那個(gè)追求奢華時(shí)代的產(chǎn)物，不能說舒適，但外觀華麗，挺好看的。坐在客廳里，仿佛時(shí)光倒流，回到了法國小說家描寫的久遠(yuǎn)歲月里?？匆豢床Ａд掷锏哪羌艿蹏綍r(shí)鐘，我聯(lián)想到了一位美麗女子，頭發(fā)梳成小發(fā)卷，穿一件荷葉邊連衣裙，一面望著時(shí)鐘的長針，一面等候著拉斯蒂涅克的來訪——此君是巴爾扎克筆下的一個(gè)冒險(xiǎn)家，起自貧寒，終成顯赫人物。巴爾扎克用幾部小說的篇幅描寫了他的人生經(jīng)歷。比安松醫(yī)生也是巴爾扎克塑造的人物，那樣栩栩如生，以至于巴爾扎克臨死時(shí)還說：“只有比安松醫(yī)生能救我的命了?！蹦俏会t(yī)生很可能來過這個(gè)客廳，為一個(gè)外省的貴族寡婦把過脈、看過舌苔——那寡婦來巴黎找律師打官司，偶染微恙，請醫(yī)生看治。在那張寫字臺前，也許坐過一個(gè)穿撐裙的癡情女子，頭發(fā)對中分開，正在給她的負(fù)心情人寫一封情意綿綿的信；或者坐過一個(gè)憤怒的老者，穿一件綠顏色的雙排扣常禮服，正在寫信斥責(zé)他那揮霍無度的兒子。

The day after my arrival I called up Isabel and asked if she would give me a cup of tea if I came along at five. It was ten years since I'd seen her.She was reading a French novel when I was ushered into the drawing-room by a staid butler, and getting up she took both my hands and greeted me with a warm and winning smile.I had never seen her more than a dozen times, and only twice alone, but she made me feel at once that we were not casual acquaintances but old friends.The ten years that had passed had reduced the gulf that separated the young girl from the middle-aged man and I was no longer conscious of the disparity of age between us.With the delicate flattery of a woman of the world she treated me as if I were her contemporary, and in five minutes we were chatting as frankly and as unconstrainedly as though we were playmates who had been in the habit of meeting without interruption.She had acquired ease, self-possession, and assurance.
抵達(dá)巴黎的第二天，我給伊莎貝爾打了個(gè)電話，說我五點(diǎn)鐘去看望她，問她能不能請我喝杯茶。我已經(jīng)有十年沒有見過她了。一個(gè)臉色凝重的管家把我領(lǐng)進(jìn)客廳時(shí)，她正在看一本法國小說。見了我，她起身迎接，握住我的雙手，綻出燦爛、迷人的微笑。我和她過去見面頂多不過十一二次，而且只有兩次單獨(dú)在一起，但她讓我立刻覺得我們是老朋友，而非泛泛之交。十年的時(shí)光倏然流逝，縮短了一個(gè)年輕女子和一個(gè)中年男子之間的鴻溝，我不再覺得我們的年齡存在著十分大的差異了。她儼然是一個(gè)見過世面的女子，語氣委婉地對我說些入耳的話，待我如同齡人一般。沒出五分鐘，我們便坦坦蕩蕩，無話不談了，就好像我們是童年時(shí)的玩伴，經(jīng)常見面，從沒有間斷過似的。此時(shí)的她處事泰然，落落大方，充滿了自信。

But what chiefly struck me was the change in her appearance. I remembered her as a pretty, bouncing girl who threatened to run to fat；I did not know whether, realizing this, she had taken heroic measures to reduce her weight or whether it was an unusual, though happy, accident of childbearing；but now she was as slender as anyone could wish.The mode of the moment accentuated this.She was in black, and at a glance I noticed that her silk dress, neither too plain nor too fancy, had been made by one of the best dressmakers in Paris, and she wore it with the careless confidence of a woman to whom it is second nature to wear expensive clothes.Ten years before, even with Elliott to advise, her frocks had been somewhat on the showy side and she had worn them as though she were not quite at home in them.Marie Louise de Florimond could not have said now that she lacked chic.She had chic to the tips of her rose-painted nails.Her features had fined down and it occurred to me that she had as pretty and as straight a nose as I had ever seen on a woman's face.There was not a line on her forehead or under her hazel eyes, and though her skin had lost the fresh bloom of extreme youth, its texture was as fine as ever；it obviously owed something now to lotions, creams, and massage, but they had given it a soft, transparent delicacy that was singularly attractive.Her thin cheeks were very faintly rouged and her mouth was painted with discretion.She wore her bright brown hair bobbed as was the fashion of the moment and marcelled.She had no rings on her fingers, and I remembered that Elliott had told me that she had sold her jewellery；her hands, though not remarkably small, were well made.At that period women wore short frocks in the day-time and I saw that her legs in champagne-coloured stockings were shapely, long, and slender.Legs are the undoing of many a comely woman；Isabel's legs, as a girl her most unfortunate trait, were now uncommonly good.In fact from the pretty girl whose glowing health, high spirits, and brilliant colour had given her attractiveness she was become a beautiful woman.That she owed her beauty in some degree to art, discipline, and mortification of the flesh did not seem to matter.The result was vastly satisfactory.It might be that the grace of her gestures, the felicity of her carriage, had been acquired by takingthought, but they had a look of perfect spontaneity.I conceived the notion that these four months in Paris had put the finishing touches to a work of conscious art that had been years in the making.Elliott, even in his most censorious mood, could not but have approved of her；I, a person less difficult to please, found her ravishing.
然而，最叫我感到意外的是她容貌上的變化。在我的記憶中，她是個(gè)漂亮、活潑，一不小心就會發(fā)胖的女孩子。不知道是她意識到了這一點(diǎn)而不屈不撓地采取措施進(jìn)行減肥，還是因?yàn)樯⒆佣a(chǎn)生了意想不到的可喜效果，反正她現(xiàn)在有一個(gè)人人都渴望具備的苗條身段。她的一身裝束更突出了這一點(diǎn)。她穿著一身黑色絲綢衣，既不十分樸素也不十分華麗，我一眼就看出是在巴黎的一家頂級服裝店定做的，被她隨隨便便、漫不經(jīng)心地穿在身上，那股勁兒就好像她天生應(yīng)該穿高檔服裝似的。十年前，盡管有艾略特為她指點(diǎn)迷津，她的穿著仍不夠典雅，而且那樣的行頭好像老讓她覺得不自在。而現(xiàn)在，就是瑪麗·路易絲·德·弗洛里蒙在跟前，也不能說她缺乏品味了。如今的她，就連染成了玫瑰色的指甲蓋都是有品位的。她出落得更加水靈了。我覺得在我見過的女性中，她的鼻子長得最直、最美。不論在前額上或者在她淡褐色的眼睛下面，都看不見一絲皺紋；她的皮膚雖然失去了幾分少女時(shí)期的清新光澤，但仍如凝脂一般；也許是由于使用護(hù)膚液、乳霜，以及面部按摩的緣故，她的皮膚如今顯得滋潤光滑、吹彈可破，獨(dú)具一種魅力。她那清秀的臉龐略施粉黛，芳唇上淡淡涂了點(diǎn)朱色；淺棕色的頭發(fā)按照當(dāng)時(shí)的風(fēng)尚剪得很短，并且燙過。她的手上沒有戴戒指，這使我想起艾略特說過她把首飾都賣掉了；她的手算不上特別纖巧，但十分勻稱。那個(gè)時(shí)候的女子白天喜歡穿短裙，我發(fā)現(xiàn)她那兩條穿著香檳酒色長襪的腿十分修長，特別好看。許多漂亮女子壞就壞在腿長得不夠好看。記得伊莎貝爾的一雙腿在當(dāng)姑娘時(shí)極不入眼，而今一變?yōu)楫惓Ｃ烙^。事實(shí)上，在過去，她的魅力來自于大放異彩的健康、高揚(yáng)的青春氣息和亮麗的氣色，昔日的那個(gè)漂亮小姑娘如今變成了一位如花似玉的美少婦。至于她的美有幾分靠的是素養(yǎng)、訓(xùn)練和修飾容貌，似乎并不重要，反正結(jié)果極其理想。也許，經(jīng)過了苦心經(jīng)營，她才有了這般綽約的風(fēng)姿和嫻雅的舉止，但看上去卻自然天成。我有一種感覺：她的美猶如一件藝術(shù)品，已著墨數(shù)年，而在巴黎居住的這四個(gè)月點(diǎn)上了最后一筆，使之脫穎而出。艾略特即便用最苛刻的眼光加以挑剔，恐怕也挑不出毛病來。我本來就不是個(gè)吹毛求疵的人，自然覺得她美壓群芳。

Gray had gone to Mortefontaine to play golf, but she told me he would be in presently.
格雷到莫特芳丹打高爾夫去了，伊莎貝爾說他不一會兒就會回來的。

“And you must see my two little girls. They've gone to the Tuileries Gardens, but they ought to be in soon.They're sweet.”
“我要讓你看看我的兩個(gè)小女兒。她們?nèi)ザ乓晾绽锕珗@了，應(yīng)該馬上就能回家了。她們都很可愛的?！?/p>

We talked of one thing and another. She liked being in Paris and they were very comfortable in Elliott's apartment.Before leaving them he had made them acquainted with such of his friends as he thought they would like and they had already a pleasant circle of acquaintances.He had pressed them to entertain as abundantly as he had been in the habit of doing.
我們說這說那的，聊個(gè)沒完。她說她喜歡巴黎的生活，說住在艾略特的公寓里十分舒適。艾略特臨行之前，把他的一些這小兩口很可能會喜歡的朋友介紹給了他們，現(xiàn)在他們有了一個(gè)很開心的朋友圈。艾略特要求他們按照他慣常的那種做法設(shè)盛宴待友。

“You know, it tickles me to death to think that we're living like quite rich people when really we're absolutely broke.”
“要知道，我們現(xiàn)在老擺闊，其實(shí)一貧如洗，想起來就覺得好笑?！?/p>

“Is it as bad as that?”
“真的一貧如洗嗎？”

She chuckled, and now I remembered the light, gay laugh that I had found so pleasing in her ten years before.
她咯咯笑了，這使我想起十年前她的那種輕松、快活、令人心情愉悅的笑聲。

“Gray hasn't a penny and I have almost exactly the income Larry had when he wanted me to marry him and I wouldn't because I thought we couldn't possibly live on it and now I've got two children besides. It's rather funny, isn’t it?”
“格雷一個(gè)銅板也沒有。我的進(jìn)項(xiàng)很少，差不多跟拉里當(dāng)年一樣。那時(shí)候拉里想娶我，我不肯嫁給他，因?yàn)槲矣X得靠那點(diǎn)錢難以維持生計(jì)，殊不知我現(xiàn)在多了兩個(gè)孩子，照樣過日子。你說滑稽不滑稽？”

“I'm glad you can see the joke of it.”
“很高興你以幽默的眼光看待此事?！?/p>

“What news have you of Larry?”
“你有拉里的消息嗎？”

“I?None. I haven't set eyes on him since before you were last in Paris.I knew slightly some of the people he used to know and I did ask them what had become of him, but that was years ago.No one seemed to know anything about him.He just vanished.”
“我嗎？沒有。你上次離開巴黎之前，我就再也沒見過他了。他的朋友圈里，有幾個(gè)我也認(rèn)識，我還打聽過他的情況呢。不過，那都是多年以前的事了。好像沒人知道他的下落。他就這么蒸發(fā)了。”

“We know the manager of the bank in Chicago where Larry has his account and he told us that every now and then he got a draft from some queer place. China, Burma, India.He seems to have been getting around.”
“拉里在芝加哥的一家銀行開有賬戶，我們認(rèn)識該行的經(jīng)理。經(jīng)理說他時(shí)不時(shí)會從哪個(gè)怪地方開來一張付款支票——有中國的，有緬甸的，有印度的。他好像在周游世界?！?/p>

I did not hesitate to put the question that came to the tip of my tongue. After all, if you want to know something the best way is to ask.
一個(gè)問題已經(jīng)溜到了嘴邊，我便索性說了出來。再怎么樣，想了解情況，最好的辦法就是開口問。

“D'you wish now that you had married him?”
“你沒嫁給他，現(xiàn)在后悔嗎？”

She smiled engagingly.
她嫣然一笑說道：

“I've been very happy with Gray. He's been a wonderful husband.You know, until the crash came we had a grand time together.We like the same people, and we like doing the same things.He's very sweet.And it's nice being adored；he's just as much in love with me now as when we first married.He thinks I’m the most wonderful girl in the world.You can’t imagine how kind and considerate he is.It was quite absurd how generous he was；you see, he thought nothing was too good for me.D’you know, he’s never said an unkind or harsh thing to me all these years we’ve been married.Oh, I’ve been very lucky.”
“和格雷在一起，我感到十分幸福。他是個(gè)‘五好’老公。在經(jīng)濟(jì)大崩潰發(fā)生之前，我們的日子開心極了。我們喜歡同樣的人，喜歡做同樣的事情。他對我體貼入微。受到老公的寵愛，那感覺真好。至今，他都對我恩愛如初。在他的眼里，我是天下最棒的女孩子。你無法想象他是多么溫柔和體貼。他對我的慷慨大度，簡直到了讓人覺得荒唐的地步。他認(rèn)為天下沒有我不配得到的東西。結(jié)婚多年來，他沒有沖我說過一句刺耳或難聽的話。啊，我真是太幸運(yùn)了。”

I asked myself if she thought she'd answered my question. I changed the conversation.
我暗想她可能覺得這就算回答了我的問題了，于是便轉(zhuǎn)了話題。

“Tell me about your little girls.”
“給我講講你的兩個(gè)小女兒吧?！?/p>

As I spoke the doorbell rang.
我話音未落，就聽見了門鈴響。

“Here they are. You shall see for yourself.”
“她們來了。你自己看吧?！?/p>

In a moment they came in followed by a nursery governess and I was introduced first to Joan, the elder, and then to Priscilla. Each in turn gave a polite little knick as she took my hand.One was eight and the other six.They were tall for their age；Isabel of course was tall, and Gray, I remembered, was immense；but they were pretty only in the way all children are pretty.They looked frail.They had their father's black hair and their mother's hazel eyes.The presence of a stranger did not make them shy, and they talked eagerly to her of their doings in the gardens.They cast eager eyes on the dainties Isabel's cook had provided for tea, but which neither of us had touched, and being given permission to have one thing were thrown into a small agony of doubt as to which to choose.It was pleasant to see the demonstrative affectionthey had for their mother and the three of them clustered together made a charming picture.When they had eaten the little cake each had selected, Isabel sent them away and they went without a word of expostulation.I received the impression that she was bringing them up to do as they were told.
一轉(zhuǎn)眼，就有兩個(gè)小姑娘走了進(jìn)來，身后跟著她們的保育員。伊莎貝爾先介紹我認(rèn)識大女兒瓊，然后介紹小女兒普里西拉。她們依次和我握手，同時(shí)微微鞠躬致意。兩姐妹一個(gè)八歲，一個(gè)六歲，跟同齡人相比個(gè)頭顯高。伊莎貝爾個(gè)子就高，我記得格雷也是個(gè)大塊頭。這倆孩子的美僅僅是普通兒童的那種美。她們看上去身子骨比較單薄，有著父親的黑發(fā)以及母親的淺褐色眼睛。在生人面前，她們絲毫也不害羞，爭先恐后地告訴媽媽她們在花園里都做了些什么。她們的目光緊緊盯在伊莎貝爾的廚子端來的可口茶點(diǎn)上——那茶點(diǎn)我們倆誰都還沒有碰過。伊莎貝爾允許她們每人挑一塊吃，這倒叫二人頗費(fèi)腦筋，不知挑哪一塊好。顯然，她們對自己的母親懷著深深的愛，叫人看了為之感動(dòng)。母女三人在一起享受天倫之樂，構(gòu)成一幅美好的圖畫。兩姐妹吃完各自挑選的蛋糕，伊莎貝爾便將她們支走了。她們一聲不吭，乖乖走掉了。我所得的印象是：伊莎貝爾把她們管教得十分聽話。

When they were gone I said the usual things one says to a mother about her children and Isabel accepted my compliments with evident, but somewhat casual, pleasure. I asked her how Gray was liking Paris.
她們走后，我又說了幾句閑話，無非就是“慈母乖兒”那一類的話。伊莎貝爾聽了我的一番恭維顯然很受用，但樣子有些淡然。隨后，我問格雷喜不喜歡巴黎。

“Well enough. Uncle Elliott left us a car so he can go and play golf almost every day and he's joined the Traveller's Club and he plays bridge there.Of course, Uncle Elliott's offer to support us in this apartment has been a godsend.Gray's nerves went all to pieces and he still has those terrible headaches；even if he could get a job he isn't really fit to take it；and naturally that worries him.He wants to work, he feels he ought to, and it humiliates him not to be wanted.You see, he feels it’s a man’s business to work and if he can’t work he may just as well be dead.He can’t bear his feeling of being a drug on the market, and I only got him to come here by persuading him that rest and change would bring him back to normalcy.But I know he won’t be happy till he gets back into harness.”
“非常喜歡。艾略特舅舅留下一輛汽車給我們，所以他幾乎每天都能夠去打高爾夫球；他還加入了旅行家俱樂部，在那兒打打橋牌。說起來，艾略特舅舅讓出這套公寓供我們住，真是天降洪恩。當(dāng)初，格雷精神崩潰，至今仍頭痛欲裂。就是能找到工作，他也干不了。為此，他把腸子都愁斷了。他想工作，也覺得自己應(yīng)該工作，不能干活養(yǎng)家會叫他無地自容。他認(rèn)為一個(gè)男子漢有責(zé)任工作，否則生不如死。一想到自己成了多余的人，他便無法忍受。我好言相勸，說休息休息、換換環(huán)境可以使他恢復(fù)常態(tài)，好說歹說把他勸到了巴黎來。但我清楚，除非他能夠東山再起，否則他不會真正開心的。”

“I'm afraid you've had a very rough time these last two and a half years.”
“這兩年半，你們的日子恐怕是十分艱難?！?/p>

“Well, you know, when the crash came at first I simply couldn't believe it. It seemed inconceivable to me that we should be ruined.I could understand that other people should be ruined, but that we should be-well, it just seemed impossible.I went on thinking that something would happen to save us at the last moment.And then, when the final blow came, I felt that life wasn't worth living any more, I didn't think I could face the future；it was too black.For a fortnight I was absolutely miserable.God, it was awful, having to part with everything, knowing there wouldn't be any fun any more, having to do without everything I liked-and then at the end of a fortnight I said：‘Oh, to hell with it, I'm not going to give it another thought，’and I promise you I never have.I don’t regret anything.I had a lot of fun while it lasted and now it’s gone, it’s gone.”
“唉，想當(dāng)初經(jīng)濟(jì)大崩潰降臨時(shí)，我簡直不敢相信那是真的。無法想象，我們竟會傾家蕩產(chǎn)。要說別人破產(chǎn)，我還能相信，可是至于我們……唉，實(shí)在讓人意想不到。我一直到最后都心存希望，認(rèn)為老天會拯救我們的。后來，致命的一擊落在了我們身上，我覺得沒法再活下去，無法再面對未來，一時(shí)間感到天昏地暗。有兩個(gè)星期的時(shí)間，我悲慟欲絕。天呀，所有的家產(chǎn)都離你而去，今后再無歡樂可言，你所喜歡的一切都跟你再也無緣，那種感覺真是可怕極了……兩個(gè)星期過后，我痛定思痛，對自己說道：‘見它的鬼吧，我再也不去想了！’從那以后，我再也沒有發(fā)過愁。沒有什么可遺憾的。不管昨天多么燦爛，如今過去了，就讓它過去吧。”

“It's obvious that ruin is easier to bear in a luxurious apartment in a fashionable quarter, with a competent butler and an excellent cook free and for nothing, and when one can cover one's haggard bones with a dress by Chanel, isn't it?”
“顯然，住在上等住宅區(qū)的一套豪華公寓里，有一個(gè)能干的管家和一個(gè)廚藝高超的廚子，自己分文不用花，還可以給自己的瘦骨頭穿上沙諾爾式女裝店縫制的衣服，破產(chǎn)的痛苦是容易忍受的，你說是不是？”

“Lanvin，”she giggled.“I see you haven't changed much in ten years. I don't suppose you'll believe me, being a cynical brute, but I'm not sure if I'd have accepted Uncle Elliott’s offer except for Gray and the children.On my twenty-eight hundred a year we could have managed perfectly well on the plantation and we’d have grown rice and rye and corn and kept pigs.After all I was born and raised on a farm in Illinois.”
“不是沙諾爾式衣服，而是朗萬女裝?！彼┛┮恍φf，“十年沒見，你可是一點(diǎn)都沒有變。你是個(gè)憤世嫉俗的人，想必不會相信我的話的。也可能，我當(dāng)初接受艾略特舅舅的邀請，全都是為了格雷和孩子。按說，有我那每年兩千八百塊的進(jìn)項(xiàng)，我們一家可以在農(nóng)場過得很好——種種稻子、黑麥和玉米，再養(yǎng)養(yǎng)豬。再怎么說，我也是在伊利諾伊的一個(gè)農(nóng)場出生和成長大的。”

“In a manner of speaking，”I smiled, knowing that in point of fact she had been born in an expensive clinic in New York.
“任你怎么說吧。”我笑了笑說道。其實(shí)，我知道她是在紐約的一家價(jià)錢昂貴的產(chǎn)科醫(yī)院出生的。

At this point Gray came in. It is true that I had only seen him two or three times twelve years before, but I had seen a photograph of him with his bride（Elliott kept it in a splendid frame on his piano along with signed photo-graphs of the King of Sweden, the Queen of Spain, and the Duc de Guise）and I had a fair recollection of him.I was taken aback.His hair had receded on the temples and there was a small bald patch on the crown, his face was puffy and red, and he had a double chin.He had put on a lot of weight during years of good living and hard drinking, and only his great height saved him from being grossly obese.But the thing I most noticed was the expression of his eyes.I remembered quite well the trusting, open frankness of their Irish blue, when the world was before him and he hadn't a care in the world；now I seemed to see in them a sort of puzzled dismay, and even if I hadn't known the facts I think I might have guessed that something had occurred to destroy his confidence in himself and in the ordered course of events.I felt a kind of diffidence in him, as though he had done wrong, though unwittingly, and were ashamed.It was plain that his nerve was shaken.He greeted me with pleasant cordiality and indeed seemed as glad to see me as if I were an old friend, but I had the impression that his rather noisy heartiness was a habit of manner that scarcely corresponded with his inner feeling.
就在這時(shí)，格雷走了進(jìn)來。十二年前，我只見過他兩三次，這倒是真的，但他的結(jié)婚照我還是見過的（艾略特把那張結(jié)婚照鑲在一個(gè)漂亮的鏡框里，和瑞典國王、西班牙王后、吉斯公爵簽過名的各自的照片一同放在鋼琴上面）。他的模樣我記得很清楚。這時(shí)一見面，我卻嚇了一大跳。他的鬢角禿得很厲害，頭上有一小塊禿頂，一張臉又紅又胖，都胖成雙下巴了。多年來養(yǎng)尊處優(yōu)的生活以及飲酒過量讓他的體重大大增加，只是由于個(gè)子高，才沒有叫他顯得過分臃腫。但最能吸引我注意力的是他的眼神。我記得很清楚，當(dāng)他前途無量、無憂無慮的時(shí)候，那雙愛爾蘭人的藍(lán)眼睛里充滿著信任和坦率，如今在那雙眼睛里似乎看到的是迷茫和惶恐。即便不了解內(nèi)情，恐怕也能猜得到：一定是天降大禍，摧毀了他的自信心以及他對社會秩序的信任。我覺得他有一種自卑感，仿佛做了錯(cuò)事一樣，雖則并非出于有意，卻仍羞愧難當(dāng)。顯而易見，他的心理世界已經(jīng)崩潰。他熱情、禮貌地跟我寒暄，像是老友重逢一樣滿臉的高興，但我卻感到他表面的興奮和開心只是待客的方式，與他的心里感受并不相符。

Drinks were brought in and he mixed us a cocktail. He'd played a couple of rounds of golf and was satisfied with his game.He went into somewhat verbose detail over the difficulties he had surmounted over one of the holes and Isabel listened with an appearance of lively interest.After a few minutes having made a date to take them to dine andsee a play, I left.
酒水送來后，他為我們每人調(diào)了杯雞尾酒。他剛剛打完兩輪高爾夫球，對自己的球技頗為滿意。在談到其中一次擊球進(jìn)洞的經(jīng)歷時(shí)，他大講特講自己是如何克服了重重困難，整個(gè)敘述過程冗長、啰唆，伊莎貝爾卻似乎聽得津津有味。又過了幾分鐘，我跟他們約了個(gè)日子請他們吃飯和看戲，便告辭了。