目 录 上一节 下一节 
接着，他一饮而尽。缪法伯爵和德·舒阿尔侯爵也跟着举杯。大家不再开玩笑了，仿佛都置身于宫廷。在煤气灯的热烘烘的水气之下，演出这幕严肃的滑稽剧，可说是把舞台世界延伸到现实世界里了。娜娜忘却自己穿着一条衬裤，裤子边还露出衬衫的一个角，俨然是一个贵妇人，成了维纳斯王后，她在打开她的小小居室，迎接国家要人。她每句话里，都脱口带上"王子殿下"几个字，她真心诚意地行屈膝礼，把两个丑角演员棗博斯克和普律利埃尔分别视为君王和陪同君王的大臣。这位真正的王子、王位继承人，竟然在喝一个蹩脚演员的香槟酒，在诸神的狂欢节上，在这王国的化装舞会上，居然自由自在地呆在服装员、妓女、布景工人以及玩弄女性的人中间，对于这种奇怪的混合，谁也没有发笑。博尔德纳夫被这次演出振奋了精神，他思量着，倘若王子殿下愿在《金发爱神》的第二幕里像这样露露面，将会给他增加多少收入。 "I say, shall we have our little women down?" he cried, becoming familiar." 喂！"他叫道，口气变得很随便，"我们去叫我的小娘儿们下来。" Nana would not hear of it. But notwithstanding this, she was giving way herself. Fontan attracted her with his comic make-up. She brushed against him and, eying him as a woman in the family way might do when she fancies some unpleasant kind of food, she suddenly became extremely familiar: 娜娜不赞同她们下来。不过，她自己却放肆起来。丰唐的滑稽可笑的面具吸引了她。她用身子碰了他一下，目光直溜溜地盯着他，就像一个嘴馋孕妇想吃一种不干净的东西似的，她突然用亲昵的口气对他说道： "Now then, fill up again, ye great brute!"" 喂，斟酒呀！大笨蛋！" Fontan charged the glasses afresh, and the company drank, repeating the same toasts. 丰唐把杯子里都斟得满满的，大家一边喝酒，一边举杯反复说那几句祝酒词： 
为殿下干杯！" "To the army!"" 为军队干杯！" "To Venus!"" 为爱神干杯！" But with that Nana made a sign and obtained silence. She raised her glass and cried: 这时，娜娜做了一下手势，叫大家安静下来。她把杯子举得高高的，说道： "No, no! To Fontan! It's Fontan's day; to Fontan! To Fontan!"" 不，不，为丰唐干杯！……今天是丰唐的圣名瞻礼日，为丰唐干杯！为丰唐干杯！" 
于是，大家第三次干杯，为丰唐欢呼祝贺。王子见娜娜的目光贪婪地盯住这个丑角，也向他致意。"丰唐先生，"王子彬彬有礼地说道，"我为你的成功干杯。" But meanwhile the tail of his highness's frock coat was sweeping the marble of the dressing table. The place, indeed, was like an alcove or narrow bathroom, full as it was of the steam of hot water and sponges and of the strong scent of essences which mingled with the tartish, intoxicating fumes of the champagne. The prince and Count Muffat, between whom Nana was wedged, had to lift up their hands so as not to brush against her hips or her breast with every little movement. And there stood Mme Jules, waiting, cool and rigid as ever, while Satin, marveling in the depths of her vicious soul to see a prince and two gentlemen in black coats going after a naked woman in the society of dressed-up actors, secretly concluded that fashionable people were not so very particular after all. 这时候，殿下的礼服的后摆扫到梳妆台的大理石上。这间屋子颇像卧室中放床的凹室，也像一间狭小的洗澡间，空气中弥漫着盥洗盆和湿海绵散发出来的水气，浓郁的香水气味，还夹杂着一点醉汉呼出来的香槟酒酸味。娜娜紧紧夹在王子和缪法伯爵中间，他俩不得不一直举着手，否则，他们只要稍微动一下手就会碰到她的屁股或乳房。朱勒太太脸上一滴汗也没有，依然呆板地呆在那里。连萨丹这样生活堕落的女人，看到王子殿下和几位穿着礼服的先生同几个身穿戏服的演员在一起，与一个半裸体的女人厮混，都感到惊讶，不禁暗暗思忖着，大人先生们也已经不那么干净了。 But Father Barillot's tinkling bell approached along the passage. At the door of the dressing room he stood amazed when he caught sight of the three actors still clad in the costumes which they had worn in the second act. 这时候，巴里约老爹的铃声在走廊里由远及近。当他走到化妆室门口时，发现第三幕的演员现在还穿着第二幕的戏装，猛然愣住了。 "Gentlemen, gentlemen," he stammered, "do please make haste. They've just rung the bell in the public foyer."" 啊！先生们，先生们，"他结结巴巴地说道，"请你们赶快……观众休息室里的铃已经响过了。" "Bah, the public will have to wait!" said Bordenave placidly." 唔！"博尔德纳夫满不在乎地说，"那就让观众等等好喽！" 
于是，大家又举杯祝了一阵酒，直到酒瓶里的酒喝光了，演员们才上楼去换衣服。博斯克喝酒时胡子沾湿了，他干脆把它摘下来；少了这把令人起敬的胡子，立刻露出一副酒鬼相。他面容枯槁，脸色铁青，一看就知道是个贪杯的老戏子。他们走到楼梯脚下时，还能听见他用酒徒的嗓音，同丰唐谈论王子哩。 "I pulverized him, eh?"" 我的样子他感到惊讶吧，嗯？" In Nana's dressing room none now remained save His Highness, the count and the marquis. Bordenave had withdrawn with Barillot, whom he advised not to knock without first letting Madame know. 在娜娜的化妆室里，现在只剩下王子殿下、伯爵和侯爵了。博尔德纳夫与巴里约一道走了，他叮嘱巴里约在没有通知娜娜太太前，不要敲开幕铃。 "You will excuse me, gentlemen?" asked Nana, again setting to work to make up her arms and face, of which she was now particularly careful, owing to her nude appearance in the third act." 先生们，请原谅。"娜娜说道，她开始化妆双臂和面部，这两部分她化妆得特别仔细，因为在第三幕里她要裸体上场。 The prince seated himself by the Marquis de Chouard on the divan, and Count Muffat alone remained standing. In that suffocating heat the two glasses of champagne they had drunk had increased their intoxication. Satin, when she saw the gentlemen thus closeting themselves with her friend, had deemed it discreet to vanish behind the curtain, where she sat waiting on a trunk, much annoyed at being compelled to remain motionless, while Mme Jules came and went quietly without word or look. 王子和德·舒阿尔侯爵在沙发上坐下来。只有缪法伯爵站着。他们喝了两杯香槟酒，加上房间里又闷又热，两人醉得较厉害。萨丹看见几位先生和她的女友关在屋子里，觉得自己还是隐蔽一下为好，便躲到帷幕后面去了。她坐在一只箱子上，心绪不宁地等待着，而朱勒太太悄悄地踱来踱去，一声不吭，看也不看她一眼。 
你那首圆舞曲唱得妙极了。"王子说道。 And with that they began a conversation, but their sentences were short and their pauses frequent. Nana, indeed, was not always able to reply. After rubbing cold cream over her arms and face with the palm of her hand she laid on the grease paint with the corner of a towel. For one second only she ceased looking in the glass and smilingly stole a glance at the prince. 于是，他们便开始交谈了，不过，他们说话断断续续，有时还沉默一会儿。娜娜顾不上对王子的话每句都回答。她用手把冷霜抹在膀子上和脸上，然后用毛巾一个角往上搽底粉。有一阵子，她不对着镜子照自己，不时笑吟吟地瞟王子一眼，手仍在搽底粉。 "His Highness is spoiling me," she murmured without putting down the grease paint." 殿下把我宠坏了。"她悄声说道。 Her task was a complicated one, and the Marquis de Chouard followed it with an expression of devout enjoyment. He spoke in his turn. 德·舒阿尔侯爵见化妆是如此复杂，就一直注视着娜娜的每一个动作，他那神态好像从观看化妆中得到了一种莫大的享受。他也开腔了： "Could not the band accompany you more softly?" he said. "It drowns your voice, and that's an unpardonable crime."" 乐队给你伴奏时，难道不能轻一些吗？乐器的声音盖住了你的声音，这个错误是不可原谅的。" 
这一次，娜娜可没有转过身来。她拿起粉扑，在脸上轻轻地、仔细地扑着，身子在梳妆台上方弯得很厉害，圆圆的屁股鼓了起来，绷得紧紧的白内裤都看得出来，还露出一小角衬衫。但是对老头子的恭维话也要有点反应，她就摇摇身子，屁股也随着扭几下，这就算是对老头子的回答。 Silence reigned. Mme Jules had noticed a tear in the right leg of her drawers. She took a pin from over her heart and for a second or so knelt on the ground, busily at work about Nana's leg, while the young woman, without seeming to notice her presence, applied the rice powder, taking extreme pains as she did so, to avoid putting any on the upper part of her cheeks. But when the prince remarked that if she were to come and sing in London all England would want to applaud her, she laughed amiably and turned round for a moment with her left cheek looking very white amid a perfect cloud of powder. Then she became suddenly serious, for she had come to the operation of rouging. And with her face once more close to the mirror, she dipped her finger in a jar and began applying the rouge below her eyes and gently spreading it back toward her temples. The gentlemen maintained a respectful silence. 他们沉默了一会儿。朱勒太太发现娜娜的右裤腿上撕了一道口子，她就在自己的衣服胸襟上取下一根别针，然后跪在地上，在娜娜的大腿周围忙了一阵子。娜娜似乎并不知道她在那儿，仍然搽她的香粉，她小心翼翼地搽，生怕粉搽到颧颊上。这时，王子说，如果她愿意到伦敦去演唱，全英国的人都会给她鼓掌。娜娜莞尔一笑，她把身子转过来一会儿。她的左颊搽得雪白，周围飘着白粉。接着，她突然严肃起来；她开始抹胭脂。她又把脸对准镜子，一个手指放在一个罐子里浸一下，她先把胭脂涂在眼睛下面，再把它慢慢抹开，一直抹到太阳穴。这几位先生们默不作声，恭恭敬敬地在一旁观看。 He was alluding to the prince. 他是能够自卫的。 Count Muffat, indeed, had not yet opened his lips. He was thinking perforce of his own youth. The bedroom of his childish days had been quite cold, and later, when he had reached the age of sixteen and would give his mother a good-night kiss every evening, he used to carry the icy feeling of the embrace into the world of dreams. One day in passing a half-open door he had caught sight of a maidservant washing herself, and that was the solitary recollection which had in any way troubled his peace of mind from the days of puberty till the time of marriage. Afterward he had found his wife strictly obedient to her conjugal duties but had himself felt a species of religious dislike to them. He had grown to man's estate and was now aging, in ignorance of the flesh, in the humble observance of rigid devotional practices and in obedience to a rule of life full of precepts and moral laws. And now suddenly he was dropped down in this actress's dressing room in the presence of this undraped courtesan.He, who had never seen the Countess Muffat putting on her garters, was witnessing, amid that wild disarray of jars and basins and that strong, sweet perfume, the intimate details of a woman's toilet. His whole being was in turmoil; he was terrified by the stealthy, all-pervading influence which for some time past Nana's presence had been exercising over him, and he recalled to mind the pious accounts of diabolic possession which had amused his early years. He was a believer in the devil, and, in a confused kind of way, Nana was he, with her laughter and her bosom and her hips, which seemed swollen with many vices. But he promised himself that he would be strong--nay, he would know how to defend himself. 缪法伯爵还未开口说话。他不禁回忆起自己的青年时代。他孩提时代的卧室很冷。后来，到了十六岁时，他每天晚上睡觉前都要亲吻他的母亲，并把这个冷冰冰的吻带进睡梦中。一天，他走过一扇半掩着的门口时，发现一个女仆在擦身子；从他的青春期到结婚时，这是唯一令他惴惴不安的回忆。结婚后，他发现妻子严格尽她做妻子的本分。而他自己呢，则是一个虔诚的信徒，对两性生活感到反感。他长大了，变老了，还没有领受过肉体的快感，他的信条是屈从严厉的教规，在生活中，按照教训和教律行事。而现在他却被人突然带到了这间女明星的化妆室，置身于这个赤身裸体的年轻女子前面。过去，他连缪法伯爵夫人怎样系袜带都从未见过。而现在却在这个罐子和面盆狼藉的地方，在这如此浓郁和芳香的气味中，亲眼目睹女人化妆时的隐秘细节。他的整个身心都充满反感，一段时期以来，娜娜对他的潜移默化，令他恐惧起来。他回忆起阅读过的宗教书籍，回忆起儿童时代听到的魔鬼附身的故事。他相信魔鬼的存在。他隐约感到，娜娜就是魔鬼，她的笑声，她的乳房，她的屁股，无不充满了罪恶。不过，他决心做一个强者。 "Well then, it's agreed," said the prince, lounging quite comfortably on the divan. "You will come to London next year, and we shall receive you so cordially that you will never return to France again. Ah, my dear Count, you don't value your pretty women enough. We shall take them all from you!"" 那么，就这样说定啦，"王子神态自若地坐在沙发上，说道，"你明年到伦敦来，我们盛情接待你，使你永远不想回法国……啊！原来如此，我亲爱的伯爵，你对你们的那些美人儿不够重视。我们要把她们全部带走啦。" 
他才不在乎呢，"德·舒阿尔侯爵低声调侃道，他在知己人当中说话常会走火，"伯爵就是道德的化身。" Hearing his virtue mentioned, Nana looked at him so comically that Muffat felt a keen twinge of annoyance. But directly afterward he was surprised and angry with himself. Why, in the presence of this courtesan, should the idea of being virtuous embarrass him? He could have struck her. But in attempting to take up a brush Nana had just let it drop on the ground, and as she stooped to pick it up he rushed forward. Their breath mingled for one moment, and the loosened tresses of Venus flowed over his hands. But remorse mingled with his enjoyment, a kind of enjoyment, moreover, peculiar to good Catholics, whom the fear of hell torments in the midst of their sin. 娜娜听见谈到伯爵的德行，用奇异的目光瞧瞧他，缪法随之产生了强烈的反感。接着，他对自己的反感又感到奇怪，便责怪起自己来。在这个婊子面前，为什么想到自己有道德，就感到不好意思呢？他早该揍她一顿。这时，娜娜要去拿一支画眉笔，不小心把它碰落到地上；当她弯腰去捡时，他也赶紧跑过去捡，两个人的呼气汇合在一起了，爱神披散的头发落到他的手上。顿时他感到一种快感，快感中又夹杂着内疚，这是一种天主教徒的快感，由于怕因犯罪而入地狱使这种快感变得更加强烈了。 At this moment Father Barillot's voice was heard outside the door. 这会儿，巴里约老爹在门外喊道： "May I give the knocks, madame? The house is growing impatient."" 太太，我可以敲开场锣了吗？观众在大厅里都等急了。" "All in good time," answered Nana quietly." 等会儿敲。"娜娜若无其事地回答。 
她把画眉笔放在黑色颜料罐子里蘸了一下，接着鼻子靠近镜子，闭起左眼，轻轻在睫毛上描过去。缪法站在她身后注视着。他看见镜子里的娜娜，肩膀滚圆，胸部淹没在一片玫瑰色光影中，他竭力想移开自己的视线，但目光仍然不能离开她的脸庞。她那只闭上的眼睛令人春心欲动，脸上的两只小酒窝仿佛充满了情欲。当她闭上右眼，用笔描画时，他知道自己已经被她征服了。 "They are stamping their feet, madame," the callboy once more cried. "They'll end by smashing the seats. May I give the knocks?"" 太太，"催场员气喘吁吁地又叫道，"观众急得跺脚了，这样下去，他们会把座位砸烂的……我可以敲锣了吗？" "Oh, bother!" said Nana impatiently. "Knock away; I don't care! If I'm not ready, well, they'll have to wait for me!"" 见鬼！"娜娜不耐烦地说道，"你敲你的，我才不管呢！……我还没有化好妆，让他们等好了。" She grew calm again and, turning to the gentlemen, added with a smile: 她心情平静了下来，转过身子，笑着对几位先生说道： "It's true: we've only got a minute left for our talk."" 真是的，我们连聊一会儿都不行。" 
现在，她的面部和手臂都化妆完毕。在她用手指在嘴唇上抹了宽宽两道口红时，缪法伯爵感到更加心神不定，他被令人神魂颠倒的浓妆艳抹迷住了，被这个化妆的少妇的淫荡欲念俘获了。她的脸白皙，双唇鲜红，眼睛涂了黑圆，显得更大了，眼里燃烧着淫欲的火焰，仿佛因情欲而变得憔悴了。这时，娜娜到帷幔后面呆了一会，她脱下衬衫，穿上了爱神的紧身衣。然后，她毫不害羞地出来，解开薄纱短上衣的钮扣，把两只胳膊伸给朱勒太太，让她给自己穿上短袖上衣。 "Make haste; they're growing angry!" she muttered." 快点！观众都生气了！"她悄声说道。 The prince with half-closed eyes marked the swelling lines of her bosom with an air of connoisseurship, while the Marquis de Chouard wagged his head involuntarily. Muffat gazed at the carpet in order not to see any more. At length Venus, with only her gauze veil over her shoulders, was ready to go on the stage. Mme Jules, with vacant, unconcerned eyes and an expression suggestive of a little elderly wooden doll, still kept circling round her. With brisk movements she took pins out of the inexhaustible pincushion over her heart and pinned up Venus' tunic, but as she ran over all those plump nude charms with her shriveled hands, nothing was suggested to her. She was as one whom her sex does not concern. 王子的眼睛半睁半闭，以内行人的目光欣赏着她隆起的胸部的轮廓，而舒阿尔侯爵却不由自主地摇了一下头。缪法不想再看她，两眼瞧着地毯。爱神已经化妆好了，她只在肩上披一块薄纱。朱勒太太在她身边忙得团团转，神态像木偶小老太婆，眸子无神，却很明亮。她突然从自己胸前的取之不尽的针垫上，拔下几根别针，把爱神的紧身上衣别好，她的干瘪的手触到娜娜的丰腴的裸体上，并未勾起她的任何回忆，仿佛她对女性毫无兴趣。 "There!" said the young woman, taking a final look at herself in the mirror." 好啦！"娜娜对着镜子看了自己最后一眼，说道。 Bordenave was back again. He was anxious and said the third act had begun. 博尔德纳夫焦急地跑回来，他说第三幕已经开始了。 
好喽！我现在就去。"她说道，"这也算回事情！平常总是我等别人。" The gentlemen left the dressing room, but they did not say good-by, for the prince had expressed a desire to assist behind the scenes at the performance of the third act. Left alone, Nana seemed greatly surprised and looked round her in all directions. 几位先生走出化妆室，他们与娜娜不告而别。王子已经表示过，演第三幕时，他想呆在后台观看。化妆室里只剩下娜娜一个人了，她感到很吃惊，向四处张望。 "Where can she be?" she queried." 她到哪里去了？"她问道。 She was searching for Satin. When she had found her again, waiting on her trunk behind the curtain, Satin quietly replied: 她在寻找萨丹。她发现萨丹呆在帷幕后面，坐在一只箱子上等候着，她平静地回答道： "Certainly I didn't want to be in your way with all those men there!"And she added further that she was going now. But Nana held her back. What a silly girl she was! Now that Bordenave had agreed to take her on! Why, the bargain was to be struck after the play was over! Satin hesitated. There were too many bothers; she was out of her element! Nevertheless, she stayed." 你和这些先生呆在一起，当然我不想妨碍你！"萨丹说，她马上就走，但是娜娜把她留住了。萨丹真蠢！博尔德纳夫已经同意录用她，演完戏这事就可以定下来。萨丹有些举棋不定。这里人多，不像她生活的圈子。不过，她最后总算留下来了。 
王子正从一道木头小楼梯上往下走时，听见舞台的另一边传来一阵奇怪的声音，像是有人在低声谩骂，还听到顿足的声音。原来发生了一场纠纷，等待上场的演员都被吓坏了。刚才米尼翁又同福什利开玩笑，他以亲热为借口，对福什利拍拍打打。他还想出了一个小把戏，用手指头轻轻地弹福什利的鼻子，说这是为了不让苍蝇落在上面。当然这种玩笑演员们看了很开心。米尼翁对自己成功的一招感到得意忘形，又突发奇想，伸手打了新闻记者一记耳光，一记真正的耳光，而且打得很重。这一次，米尼翁开玩笑开得太过分了。当着众人的面，福什利不能含笑忍受这样一记耳光。于是两人翻了脸，个个脸色铁青，满腔怒火，互相扑向对方，抓住脖下的衣服，扭打起来。接着两人在一根布景撑架后边的地上滚打着，并互相谩骂对方是拉皮条的家伙。 "Monsieur Bordenave, Monsieur Bordenave!" said the stage manager, coming up in a terrible flutter." 博尔德纳夫先生！博尔德纳夫先生！"舞台监督惊恐万状，跑来说道。 Bordenave made hi excuses to the prince and followed him. When he recognized Fauchery and Mignon in the men on the floor he gave vent to an expression of annoyance. They had chosen a nice time, certainly, with His Highness on the other side of the scenery and all that houseful of people who might have overheard the row! To make matters worse, Rose Mignon arrived out of breath at the very moment she was due on the stage. Vulcan, indeed, was giving her the cue, but Rose stood rooted to the ground, marveling at sight of her husband and her lover as they lay wallowing at her feet, strangling one another, kicking, tearing their hair out and whitening their coats with dust. They barred the way. A sceneshifter had even stopped Fauchery's hat just when the devilish thing was going to bound onto the stage in the middle of the struggle. Meanwhile Vulcan, who had been gagging away to amuse the audience, gave Rose her cue a second time. But she stood motionless, still gazing at the two men. 博尔德纳夫对王子说了声"失陪"，便跟着舞台监督跑过去。他看见在地上的是福什利和米尼翁，便做了一个愤怒的手势。确实，他们选择了一个好时机，王子殿下正好在布景的另一边，整个大厅都听得一清二楚！更糟的是罗丝·米尼翁来了，她气喘吁吁，而这时恰巧是该她上场的时候。火神已经念了台词，下边就应由她接下去。但是，罗丝却愣在那儿，看着丈夫和情人在她的脚边滚打，互相勒脖子，用脚踢，揪头发，礼服上满是灰尘。他们挡住了她的路。在扭打中，福什利那顶该死的帽子差点被扔到舞台上，幸亏被一个布景工人一把抓住。这时，火神胡诌了一些插科打诨的台词，来引观众开心。罗丝呆立在那儿，眼睁睁地瞅着两个男人。 "Oh, don't look at THEM!" Bordenave furiously whispered to her. "Go on the stage; go on, do! It's no business of yours! Why, you're missing your cue!"" 别再看了！"博尔德纳夫恼羞成怒地在她耳边低声说，"走吧！走吧！……这与你无关！你误场啦！" And with a push from the manager, Rose stepped over the prostrate bodies and found herself in the flare of the footlights and in the presence of the audience. She had quite failed to understand why they were fighting on the floor behind her. Trembling from head to foot and with a humming in her ears, she came down to the footlights, Diana's sweet, amorous smile on her lips, and attacked the opening lines of her duet with so feeling a voice that the public gave her a veritable ovation.Behind the scenery she could hear the dull thuds caused by the two men. They had rolled down to the wings, but fortunately the music covered the noise made by their feet as they kicked against them. 博尔德纳夫把罗丝一推，她从两个男人的身上跨过去，走到舞台上，在台前脚灯的照耀下，出现在观众面前。她真不明白他们两人为什么要在这地方殴斗。她身上打着哆嗦，脑子里嗡嗡作响，她向着脚灯走去，脸上浮现出钟情月神的甜蜜的微笑。她开始唱出二重唱中的第一句，嗓音是那样热情奔放，观众报以热烈的掌声。她还隐隐约约听到布景后边两个男人扭打的声音。他们还一直滚到了舞台的檐幕旁边，所幸的是音乐淹没了他们在布景框架下面殴打的响声。 
他妈的！"博尔德纳夫终于把他们拉开了，他怒不可遏地嚷道，"难道你们不能在你们自己家里打吗？你们明明知道我是不喜欢这样……你吗，米尼翁，你要听我的话，呆在这里，在院子这一边；而你，福什利，如果你不呆在花园那一边，我就把你赶出剧院的大门……嗯？就这样说定了，一个呆在院子一边，一个呆在花园一边，否则我就不准罗丝带你们到这里来。" When he returned to the prince's presence the latter asked what was the matter. 他回到王子面前时，王子问他发生了什么事。 "Oh, nothing at all," he murmured quietly." 哦！没有什么。"他神态镇静自若，喃喃说道。 Nana was standing wrapped in furs, talking to these gentlemen while awaiting her cue. As Count Muffat was coming up in order to peep between two of the wings at the stage, he understood from a sign made him by the stage manager that he was to step softly. Drowsy warmth was streaming down from the flies, and in the wings, which were lit by vivid patches of light, only a few people remained, talking in low voices or making off on tiptoe. The gasman was at his post amid an intricate arrangement of cocks; a fireman, leaning against the side lights, was craning forward, trying to catch a glimpse of things, while on his seat, high up, the curtain man was watching with resigned expression, careless of the play, constantly on the alert for the bell to ring him to his duty among the ropes. And amid the close air and the shuffling of feet and the sound of whispering, the voices of the actors on the stage sounded strange, deadened, surprisingly discordant. Farther off again, above the confused noises of the band, a vast breathing sound was audible. It was the breath of the house, which sometimes swelled up till it burst in vague rumors, in laughter, in applause. Though invisible, the presence of the public could be felt, even in the silences. 娜娜站在那里，身上穿着一件裘皮大衣，一边等待上场，一边同这几位先生谈话。缪法伯爵又上来了，想从两个布景架之间，再看舞台一眼。舞台监督对他做了一个手势，他知道走路脚步要轻些。从舞台上空吊布景的地方降下来一股炎热的空气，这里显得很宁静。一片强烈灯光照耀下的后台，只有几个人在低声说话。他们滞留在那里，即使走动也蹑手蹑脚。管煤气灯的工人一直忠于职守，呆在装置复杂的煤气灯光控制板旁边；一个消防队员倚在一根撑架上，脖子伸得长长的，想看看演出；拉幕工坐在高处的一张凳子上，一直守在自己的岗位上，一副尽心尽责的样子，他对演出的戏一无所知，他在等铃声一响，就去拉幕绳。在这令人窒息的空气中，在这轻轻的脚步声中和窃窃私语声中，舞台上演员的声音传到这里，变得十分古怪而又沉闷，失真得令人难以置信。另外，再过去一点的地方，就是乐声嘈杂的乐队的另一边，好像传来阵阵巨大的呼吸声。这是全场观众的呼吸声，这声音有时变大，甚至有时变成喧哗声、笑声和掌声。在这里虽然看不见观众，但仍然知道有观众，即使大厅里一片寂静时，也有这样感觉。 "There's something open," said Nana sharply, and with that she tightened the folds of her fur cloak. "Do look, Barillot. I bet they've just opened a window. Why, one might catch one's death of cold here!"" 好像有哪扇门窗没关上，"娜娜突然说道，她把皮大衣裹裹紧，"你去看一看，巴里约。我保证，有人打开了哪扇窗户……这里真能冻死人！"
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